Oh that's right, I have a food blog

A poor, neglected little food blog. I can't believe that I haven't been here since March, that's almost shameful. Here's the Christmas newsletter gist of what I've been up to, and why I've been away.

Some time around the beginning of last year I came to the conclusion that living in Greeley and studying journalism just wasn't for me. I had my mind set on writing for film, but didn't feel that a simple English degree would get me where I wanted to be, so I chose journalism as a major. Little did I know that I was only pre-journalism, and couldn't declare my film minor until I took a written test to be accepted into the department. This simply would not do; I transferred to the University of Colorado Denver into a video production major, rather than film studies.

I moved out of my lovely apartment and back home with my family. I still miss that private bathroom... I got my old job back at Starbucks and spent the summer slinging espresso. Then school started up, and I was consumed with trying to jump into a field that I desired, but knew hardly anything about. I took acting this semester. Acting. I haven't taken acting since 8th grade, and the dialogue I chose was from The Parent Trap. More fun, and a lot less terrifying than I expected.

I just haven't felt like cooking ever since I've been at home. Hardly at all. In fact, lately, doing desserts for people other that family and close friends has brought me a tremendous amount of anxiety. I was recently commissioned to be the "Birthday Cake Baker" at work, and it fills me with dread. I haven't even done any solo grocery shopping, as much as I love too. I'm not quite sure why I've felt this way, but it is ebbing away now that the holidays are here.

So, as a New Years' resolution, I want to make this the best little food blog that I can! I would also love to  join it with my other internet obsessions and link it up with the YouTube channel that I've created. I would love to start posting video about basic skills, techniques, decorating, and step-by-step recipes. The channel is currently empty of videos, but I aim to remedy that soon enough. Once there's a video, you'll be able to find it at the YouTube channel 3amBreakfast.

Hope everyone has a happy holiday!

hanna

Vegetarian Chili

So it's Lent, and that means trying to come up with some meat-free options for Fridays. My go to dinners are usually pancakes or spaghetti... dull, I know. The whole idea for veggie chili came about because I had a yellow squash that needed to be eaten. That's all it took-- one little, insignificant squash. So I wandered over to Sprouts and picked up ridiculously inexpensive canned goods. I think I got three cans of beans, a can of fire roasted tomatoes, and a vegetarian chili seasoning packet for around $5. I had all the veggies just laying around at home, so I put this dish together pretty quickly and relatively cheap. I was a little worried, in fact, that it made so much. Luckily, I had a hungry college boy on hand to come and eat most of it!

Japan's Nuclear Disaster Explained

If you're interested in understanding what's happening and the concern in Japan.

Microwave Yellow Cake

So I saw this recipe for microwaved chocolate cake floating around the internet, and didn't think much of it. Until last night, when I wanted cake. Had a passionate craving for something chocolaty and delicious. Everything thing I found was just too much work for 11 o'clock at night. Cake flour, self rising flour, 3 tablespoons of egg whites.... Way too complicated. I eventually stumbled upon one that seemed fairly simple and tried it out.

Not the best cake I've ever had, but not horrendous. I mean if you really needed a single serving cake in a pinch, it was better then running out to the store for one of those prepackaged micro cakes that are advertised on TV as being a secretive, guilty moment dessert.

The texture wasn't anything to brag about-- dense, dry, slightly chewy. But cakey. And that's what counts. Lots of Google searching proved hard to find anything besides chocolate, until I found a yellow cake version that seemed like it might be even better.

Roast Beef Toasts

So I had the aspiration to make French onion soup. I went to Smitten Kitchen, wrote down my grocery list, and even went to the store. Well, needless to say, I forgot my list and came home without beef stock. Dang... So it went to the back of my mind and my poor little baguette got rock hard

Being a resourceful person, I decided to slice and toast it up; that way, whenever I got around to the soup I wouldn't have to go back to the store for bread. With nothing in mind for dinner that night, I improvised with my little toasts.

I cut my baguette on a bias, rubbed each piece with garlic and sprayed with a bit of olive oil and baked them on a sheet tray for about 18 minutes at 350F, turning half way through.

I mixed together 3 Tablespoons of mayo and maybe 1 teaspoon of prepared horseradish and spread a bit on each of my toasts (I had 8), and topped each with sliced red onion, deli roast beef and some shredded swiss cheese. I put them under the broiler just until the cheese melted.



Yum! They were a terrific little treat for my mom and me while we kicked back and watched the Vampire Diaries.

Candied Grapefruit Peel

So the other morning I ate a lovely pink grapefruit for breakfast. This was prompted after seeing Black Swan, a beautiful yet suspenseful film starring Natalie Portman. Portman's character Nina is a ballet dancer and very concerned as such with her physique. For breakfast, she eats a poached egg and half a grapefruit commenting on how pink and pretty it is. Luckily my grapefruit was just as pink and also wonderfully sweet.

I couldn't help but feel sad as I finished up my fruit, sadly wishing that there was more lovely grapefruit essence that I could enjoy when it dawned on my that i knew how to candy citrus peel.

Angel Cookies

This year, being the first holiday season after I graduated from culinary school with a degree in baking and pastry, what does everyone in my family want for Christmas? Cookies. Well, can't argue with a classic. I decided to go with good old fashioned sugar cookies and even though I did various holiday shapes (Christmas trees, stars, ornaments) the angels seem to be the most popular and disappeared quickly. So when my grandparents asked for a special secret box of cookies just for themselves, I set about baking fleets of angels.

New Year, New Outlook on Life

Oh blog, you are always here. Even when I pay you no attention at all. I'm sorry little blog. I started you under the premise of some grand ideas and didn't hold up my end of the bargain. So, here it is: in this new year, I will be a blogger. I will define my mission and goals of this little blog and bring everything to the table. I want this blog to be about food-- learning about it, making it, growing it, finding it, and enjoying every mouthful. Maybe not always a recipe, but food and all its relations. This, my little blog, is what '11 has in store for us.

Project for Awesome 2010

It's December 17th! That means is time for the Project for Awesome! Set up by Hank and John Green of the Vlogbrothers, it is a project to basically have everyone make a video about a charity that they love and and want to support; and raise awareness to others about their said charity. All of the videos with the same thumbnail for Project for Awesome are promoted by the Vlogbrothers and other Nerdfighters, prompting watchers to hit that Like button, add the video to their Favorites playlist, and spam the comments section. The goal is to trick the YouTube algorithms into thinking that these videos have gone viral, and have them featured on the front page of YouTube. Then, whoever happens to go to YouTube will see all of these videos with the same thumbnail and click on them and watch them, not even knowing that it is for charity!


I chose to talk about an organization called Embrace. Embrace creates portable infant warmer for babies in rural areas that are born prematurely and do not have access to an expensive incubator that could save their little lives. These miniature sleeping bags are made of special phase change material that can be heated without electricity and maintain a constant temperature over four hours, keeping tiny babies warm. For the full scoop, go watch my video Project for Awesome 2010: Embrace.

Farmers Market Find

Sundays in Belmar means Farmers Market (which I usually forget about!) and tons of local vendors with incredibly fresh, delicious produce. I dropped my sister off at work and decided to wander around for a while. I discovered these gorgeous hats made in Madagascar from raffia and a company called Cake Bubbles where I sampled an amazing dark chocolate and organic raspberry cake bubble.

My score of the trip were these beautifully ripe and juicy Rainier cherries. The summer sun had them warmed just a bit so I popped them in the fridge when I got home and they were chilled and refreshing later on that evening. I plan on hitting up the Market every Sunday until the end of summer. Hope to see you there!