Mini Lemon Layer Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

April 27, 2012


Dear Friday,

First of all, just let me tell you how beautiful you look in lilac and soft daffodil-yellow. (You should wear them longer, and more often.)

Since we have always been close, I thought I could come to you with a tiny request.

I managed to make a perfectly, symmetrical, layer cake. This is very rare, very rare, and I'm concerned about a hidden price.

Also, aside from the shifty-looking "freckle" on my arm, and a shady "unknown" number that keeps ringing my cell phone at 2am, it's been kind of smooth sailing lately. *knock on wood*

Because I tend to get a bit antsy when I don't have something huge to pick apart anxiously, I'm really hoping that this isn't a "calm before the storm" scenario.(If that were the case, I'd like to believe that we're tight, and you would give me some sort of a heads-up, yes?)

So I'm just going to ask that you please allow today to be amazing. No pre-weekend bombshells, please.

Thanks, Friday. ♥

~Valerie

P.S. If it's not too much to ask, could you please pass this along to your bff, Saturday? xo

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

April 24, 2012


Chocolate chip cookies are going through some sort of an identity crisis. I am not complaining.

The classic cookies have an ongoing affair with several different ingredients. They're often caught in the company of various eye candies, ranging from snarky, salty, bacon, to simple sweet butterscotch...or both! (Oh, butterscotch, what's become of you?)

Lucky for us though, it doesn't really matter who the cookies mingle with, as long as we're allowed to indulge in the results of their delicious, free-loving lifestyle.

Alice Medrich's Lemon Bars

April 19, 2012


Aside from making a killer Key lime pie, speaking with just about any accent, and completing the NY Times crossword puzzles with a pen, I have another random talent; Baaing like a sheep. Not a lazy, childish, meh-baa, I'm talking a spot-on, where-the-heck-did-that-come-from?, Baaaa. Please, try not to be too jealous.

I'm not sure how (or why) I ever made my first "baa," but when you're a natural at something, even bleating like a sheep, it's only a matter of time before it finds you. (Sadly, my understanding of proper comma usage remains aloof, and out of reach.)

Much to the amusement of friends, and the embarrassment of family members, I can turn heads and procure confused, uncertain glances from complete strangers in grocery stores, malls and restaurants. Most of the time, they can't quite locate the source of the noise and look around in vain for the elusive, petting zoo escapee. Good times...good times. ;-)

Dark Chocolate Brownies

April 5, 2012


If humans could purr, we'd surely do so after eating chocolate.

When Niles was a kitten, he used to sleep on my chest at night. (Unlike me, he didn't seem to mind the lack of substantial cushioning.) I always loved the way it felt when he began to purr. The repetitive humming buzz was comforting. Niles is still my aloof shadow when I'm rocking things out in kitchen, but now that he's all grown up, he doesn't sleep in my bed anymore. However, as soon as I pull out The brush, he turns back into a playful, needy, purring kitten. I love that loud, intrusive, purr.
 

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