English Muffins
I have a confession to make. I am not a morning person. Definitely. Not. Me. Weird, right? I know. I used to think all bakers were morning people, too. Sorry. I was wrong. I’m one of those girls that has to set an alarm at 6 AM to wake up sometime between 7:30 and 8. [...]
Second Thoughts, and Third Thoughts
My spring trip to California worried me. I flew out there for my little brother’s graduation in late May. Desperately in need of a vacation, I was sleep deprived, hungry for personal relaxation, and looking forward to seeing familiar faces.
Change Is a Comin’
And so it begins: I have ventured into the fantastical scientific world that surrounds sourdough bread.
From Last Night
Sometimes, we make sacrifices. Give and take, push and pull, exchange or return. We all do it. After all, what would life be without change? Boring. Duh.
Summer in the City
There’s something special about spending Independence Day in Washington, DC. Granted, this is only my second time spending the holiday in the nation’s capital, but I feel there is a certain breed of patriotism that meanders its way into the hearts and minds of my fellow Washingtonians. Perhaps it’s the effect that living and breathing [...]
Croissants aux Amandes
You guys. I’ve been wanting to make these croissants for months. Years. Lifetimes.
Coffeemaking 101
These days, I avoid Starbucks. It wasn’t always like that, of course. I mean, there was a time before I learned how to make a cup of coffee.
Cute Girl Discount, and a Chocolate Tart
I could probably still drive the route from my parent’s home in Los Angeles to my Santa Barbara beach houses of choice with my eyes closed. No, I wasn’t allowed to have a car while I was in college in Santa Barbara – that was a strategic move on my parents’ part in bribing [...]
On New Year’s Resolutions
Looking back — 2010 was good to me. I’ve never been one to set new year’s resolutions, but I’ve always believed that self-improvement was a never-ending goal. And if I make a “resolution,” per se, it’s one of those “always put in one hundred percent” resolutions. Like one year, I decided to look my best [...]
Bacon… jam?
Types of jams in my life: Traffic jams. Street or shopping-related. Copier jams. Bane of my professional existence. Jammin’. A cookie rager without Ke$ha or Cee Lo? Blasphemous. Jammed. As in my schedule. I don’t have time for anything these days… And now, bacon jam. To tell the truth, I actually don’t even like bacon. Well, I [...]
Salted Caramels
I ate chicken feet today. Well, chicken foot. I only had one — but I would eat them (it) again. I was at dim sum; the food kept coming, and I really just couldn’t eat that much. I hate to admit that I was one of those little kids that hated vegetables. My parents still [...]
Bogotá, Colombia
I’m back! And because I know you were all desperately wondering, my trip to Bogotá was adventurous and beautiful (as expected). I wrote my omelette blog from the airport, and did not sleep a wink on either flight — I was just too excited. And as beautiful and exciting as Bogotá was (is), I am [...]
Flippin’ Omelettes
Breakfast — how I love thee. But my bed fools me into loving slumber more. I hit the snooze button about ten times every morning. Getting to an office less than a mile from my house by 9 AM shouldn’t be that much of a challenge, but it truly is. I know I say this [...]
What I Can’t Live Without: Za’atar and Haloumi Cheese
It has taken me ten months, but I’ve finally stumbled upon a market that carries Haloumi cheese. Yes. Ten. Months. I’ve written about my slight integration into Arab culture before. It started with the language classes, deepened with friendships, and snowballed into a giant cultural chasm when I was sucked into a Lebanese dance performance [...]
Sweet Potato Fries and a Spicy Tomato-Garlic Aioli
Summer is upon us, Washington. The day is clocking in at 90 degrees, and I may or may not have sweat my face off on my ten-minute walk to the metro stop this morning. And then, I checked into the Department, to find out that we would be having a fire drill, and needed to [...]
Almond Flavored Ice Cream
After much fluctuation, it seems that the warm weather is here to stay — I’m writing this on my balcony, after wasting my beautiful Saturday in bed, sadly, under the weather. Nothing beats having a south-facing balcony in a Dupont row house. This balcony serves as the background for most of my food photography, has [...]
Taco Night
It’s sad to say this, but until today, I haven’t eaten tacos since I left Los Angeles. I know. It’s tragic. But I ended my Mexican food drought today, at the request of my Norwegian friend and neighbor. Naturally, being skeptical of Mexican food on the East coast, I called my cooking mentor in Los [...]
Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Yesterday, the temperature broke 35 degrees. I’ve never been so excited about weather below 70 degrees in my life. Laugh all you want, but the past two weeks have been unbearably cold — I didn’t leave my house without two pairs of stockings, pants, layers of shirts and sweaters, and my unbelievably heavy coat. It’s a [...]
Mana’eesh bi Zaa’tar
In college, I was in Lebanese Club. No, I’m not Lebanese–or any form of Arab, for that matter. My undergrad concentration involved Arabic, and some mutual friends sucked me into Lebanese Club, where I was adopted as the honorary half-Filipino member amidst my new Arab friends (don’t worry, I contributed my own personal ethnic confusions [...]