Massive Update: The End

I definitely made up for lost time. Do I have anything else to add? Maybe. I turned two dozen in March. That was anticlimactic! I also got into grad school! That was definitely NOT anticlimactic. I got pretty sweet funding, so I won't have to sell my poems on the street. Hooray! It does mean that I'll be staying in the city, so if anyone needs a roommate in Brooklyn, let me know please. I'm not excited to be moving twice in four months--my lease in Hoboken expires at the end of May, so I'm going to move home for a little while to save money, then get an apartment in time for the school year--but I'm much happier about staying in the city than I was this time last year.

In case you didn't know, today is Good Friday, which is the day Jesus died. It means that Catholics go to church. In Hoboken, it means that churchgoers have a procession down my street and then stage a crucifixion, complete with roman soldiers and Jesus, right outside my window. Yay? Why can't he just meet up with the Easter bunny and eat some peeps?

Tomorrow, I'm going to a city-wide pillow fight. I expect it to be awesome.

- FIN -

Massive Update: Macarons, the Redux

But back to baking. Once the power was back and all was right with the world, I decided to try my hand at macarons once again. I thought I'd make pink ones with two fillings; lemon curd and caramel. Sounds simple enough, right?

False.

I ended up having to do every step twice. Macarons, caramel, lemon curd, all twice. It took all day, but I had nothing better to do, so by then end I was kind of in the zone. Look at my fluffy pink pretties!

I also learned a lot. For example, the secret of making caramel. What's the secret? YOU DO NOT FUCK WITH CARAMEL. You dissolve sugar in water and then you don't stir it. Ever. Until it is light brown. Then you whip it off the stove at the speed of sound and frantically whisk in some warm cream as it bubbles and hisses. Then you let it cool, and you get this delicious, burny, sophisticated caramel:

It's amazing how much better it tastes when you make it yourself. I actually lied when I said it took me two attempts to do it, because in reality it took four. I got it right the first time, only to discover that I had used a really unfortunate spatula that had shed melty plastic bits everywhere. I figured it would be better to redo the caramel than to eat cancer, right? The next two times I stirred it constantly and it turned into sugar crystals. You know what they say though: 4th time's the charm. Oh. That's not what they say? SHHHHHHH!

Massive Update: Pandemonium!

My life is not all glamorous travels and baking. No sir! I went home for what I thought would be a relaxing week at my parents house, only to be confronted by the biggest storm in 10 years. Not having checked the weather when the worst of it hit, I was in the car, on my way to Sasha's house. When I encountered a tree down across the road, I thought "oh . . . ok, I'll go a different way." But no! I re-routed, only to come upon a downed power line that was about to light a house on fire. There was already a man calling the police, so I turned around once again, figuring I'd cut my losses and go home, but lo and behold, there was a tree blocking off my entire cul-de-sac. I finally made it to Sasha's house, where I had to spend the night. It was pretty fun, because even though the power was out she has a gas stove and we could still cook. We made some food, drank some scotch with her parents, and sat in front of the fireplace. The next day I was able to get home, only to find this in my driveway:

Crazy, right? You can just hear the little branches reaching out for the house screaming "I'll get youuuuu!" Thankfully, the tree missed by about 3 feet, only managing to take a little piece of the gutter down. My dad did many heroic things to get the other car out of the garage. Later, on a grocery run, I decided to take some pictures. Now I understand why our power was out for three days:



Down by the canal, part of the path was completely obliterated. There must be about 4 feet of water here:


Thankfully, though there were hundreds of trees down, nobody in my area was hurt, and it seems like the property damage was minimal. Then, afterward, the sun came out and we were rewarded with these:

Massive Update: Providence

And then there was Providence, which is where loveliest Dana lives. Her boyfriend was away, so we did ALL KINDS of girly things. We went shopping at all of the little vintage shops, watched bad TV, were crafty, and went to a high tea at this place called the Duck and Bunny. It's a snuggery! I don't know what that means. I think it means 'a really cozy place to have tea and cupcakes.' They definitely make the best cupcakes I've ever had in my life.

Aside from wandering, we tried our hand at a few baking projects. Firstly, we made macarons. For those of you that don't know, macarons are a super-fancy French (slash Italian) cookie made of almond flour and filled with buttercream, ganache, or anything magical. It's pretty much the haute-est of Oreos. Our first batch was a total wash because of an accidental overdose of egg whites. Our second batch was a lot more successful, but our buttercream was a little intense. I made them a third time when I went home for spring break, but more on that later.

Our second baking project came from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, which, if you want to try the fancier recipes, involves making nests of spun sugar. We, however, opted for Tres Leches Cupcakes with cinnamon whipped cream. They were pretty great:

Massive Update: Seattle

I realize it's been about two months since I last posted. I wish I could say I have good reasons, but really, I'm just lazy. So, without further ado, a series of mostly-photo posts about my life over the last 8 weeks:

Firstly, I went to Seattle to visit my friends Paul and Laura! Paul is the Master of Lattes. Behold his creation!

Laura is the master of biostatistics, but that's a little intangible. She's still awesome, though. Also, those Seattleites like conserving energy. They even get to be cheeky about it:

You know what else I liked about this city? Hipsters eat food there! I know, I know. Cat, you say, how do you reconcile skinny man-jeans with a love of all things delicious? The answer is: I have no idea. But they did it! Seattle hipsters are a lovely blend of style and hugability. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to back up my claim, so you'll just have to trust me.

Sasha Turns Two Dozen

It's the big 2-4 everyone! And by big, I mean one of those non-event birthdays that just feel kind of like you're getting older for no reason. But Sasha found a way of making it sound special--by reminding me that she is now two dozen years old! And in two more years, she'll be two baker's dozen years old!

Anyway, she spent her birthday at my place since she now as an internship in the city two days in a row (hooray!) and Jackie and I tried our best to make it a little bit special. Since, however, we are all broke and silly, "special" consisted of a box cake (and...er...Yellow Tail):

And sumo-thumb wrestling:



Still, there are worse ways to spend an evening, right?

Amadea and Ann Arbor

Last weekend, I decided it was high time to pay Amadea a visit. Conveniently, she lives in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, to which I have applied. Ann Arbor is an adorable college town--cold, but adorable--filled with shops, bars, and restaurants. As you might imagine, we spent most of the weekend eating and wandering. And eating. And eating. It was a little intense by the end, but well worth it. We hit the famous Zingerman's Deli, among other things, after which I felt like this squirrel:

Guys, this picture does not really do it justice. Ann Arbor has some of the fattest fatty fat squirrels I have ever seen in my life. And for those of you who grew up where I did, you know I've seen some fat squirrels. But these little roly polies take the cake. In fact, if you had a cake, they would probably steal it. They are so tame that if you walk by them they will saunter up to you and pop up on their hind legs, looking at you as if to say "please, sir, can I have some more?"
YES, little fatty, you can have as much of my sandwich as you want, as long as you promise to maintain that pudge.

"But," I hear you saying, "Cat," you say, "you couldn't have spent an entire weekend eating and looking as squirrels!" Oh, yes I could have! But I didn't. In between food comas, Amadea and I found time to watch not one, but two '80s rock musicals. First: Streets of Fire. Please click this link to watch the trailer--it's well worth it, I promise you. Yes, that's baby Willem Dafoe, baby Diane Lane, AND baby Rick Moranis. The trailer is really all you need to see, as it pretty much captures the whole movie. But if you love poorly scripted, unplotted tripfests, you might want to check it out.

In a similar, more famous vein, we also watched Purple Rain. All I have to say is: Prince, you are one strange little man. Firstly, he has some kind of doll fetish. Secondly, boy can't act. He may be a talented musician, but an actor he is not. As in Streets of Fire, plot is not a strong point. What happens to Apollonia at the end? How do they actually defeat Morris (who is, by the way, the best part of the film)? I can't say I 'recommend' watching it, but it would make a really good drinking game. Every time Prince does something awkward, take a shot. Actually, don't do that, because you might die.

Despite the less-than-transformative cinema, it was a lovely weekend. I hope Michigan lets me in, because I think it would be a great place to live. I could commune with fat squirrels and eat tons of sandwiches. Nice life, right? And if, just sometimes, late on some cold winter evening, I sign into Netflix to instantly watch bad '80s movies, who will be the wiser?

Cookie Party!

Here is the rundown from my Sometimes Annual Cookie Decorating Party. Now, I know what you're thinking. "Cat" you're thinking, "I thought your New Year's resolution was to be less of a grandma." Well, firstly, I said LESS of a grandma. Some of those old lady instincts are working in my favor. Secondly, this happened on December 26th, 2009. So HA.

Behold!



We gathered and reveled in the variety of sprinkles



After many hours, we had three trays of...erm..."lovely" cookies. Some lovlier than others.



This was my proudest moment. The Angry Cyclops Bear.

Lastly, we have Avatar Adam & Eve, courtesy of Seth. Those are fig leaves, people. FIG LEAVES.

New Year's Resolutions

Because even if you say you don't have them, you do:

1) Avoid eye-contact with crazy people
2) Get into grad school
3) Stop believing that soy sauce is the supreme condiment
4) Read some of my pile of books
5) Stop being such a grandma

Yay!