Empirical Foodism

Lately I’ve been craving pesto. I don’t even really like pesto, but I’ve been craving it. Normally pesto is just too much basil for me, so I tend to steer clear. In this time of craving however, I dug up the recipe I created for feta pesto. For me, it’s a really good balance of basil, and feta. I LOVE feta… it also has a slight nuttiness from the toasted walnuts. I imagine that I was simply out of pine nuts, and that’s why I used walnuts (plus, it’s also cheaper). Feta Pesto: 1 cup fresh basil ½ cup walnuts (toasted) 1 garlic clove 6 oz reduced fat feta cheese 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1/3-1/2 cup water Place walnuts, basil, and garlic clove into a food processor and pulse, until combined. Add the feta and olive oil and process the mixture until it resembles paste (yum, right?). To the paste, add 1/3 cup of water, and process until creamy. If you want a thick pesto, you can stop here. If you want a more sauce like pesto, continue to add small amounts of water and process until

I've decided to stop promising future blog posts, because apparently I can't keep up with my promises! :) I'm once again back to 1 1/2 jobs, so it'll be even harder for me to keep up with the promises.  Therefore, I intend to keep everybody on their toes and surprise everybody when I DO blog!! Below you will find pictures of cakes from the last two weddings I attended (and made cakes for). This is from Emily and Terry's wedding.  I used the vanilla cake recipe from this blog http://sweetapolita.com/2011/07/fluffy-vanilla-cake-with-whipped-vanilla-bean-frosting/ The only thing I changed was adding a tad bit of orange zest, and orange extract in place of vanilla.  It made a nice citrusy cake.  (I also made an almond buttercream to ice with). This is Steven and Allie's wedding cake.  My first attempt at a stacked cake (I won't lie, I freaked out quite a bit).  Steven originally wanted all 'stucco' finish, but when Allie saw a picture of a cake

So, back in April, I made cupcakes for John and Heather’s wedding.   I promised a post about these cupcakes, I also promised recipes as I recall.   I’ve decided that I’m only posting the recipes for the cupcakes that I would make again without altering the recipe.   When John and Heather first approached me about helping out for their wedding, I was overly ambitious.   I thought that it would be fun to have 5 flavors of cupcakes.   I don’t know what I was thinking! After talking it through with the bride and groom, we came up with the following:   Citrus cupcakes with chocolate buttercream; Pistachio cupcakes with lime buttercream; Chocolate Coconut cupcakes with a coconut buttercream; Strawberry cupcakes with a vanilla bean cream cheese icing; and a cookies and cream cupcake with a basic buttercream icing.   I also made a carrot cake for the two of them to cut, I used the vanilla bean cream cheese icing for this (covered in some bought fondant). It took many days of baking to f

Did I mention that this blog was not going to be incredibly consistent?  I know, I know, it's been since February since I last posted.  There's been a lot of activity going on that has prevented the execution of all the blog ideas that have been floating around in my brain, but that's about to change. Here's what to expect in the next few weeks... cupcakes!!!  John and Heather got married on April 30th (one of the very best weddings I've ever been to).  With most wedding comes cake ... with John and Heather's wedding there were mini cupcakes!  30 dozen if you're counting (believe me, I was).  As soon as I get some great pictures I'm going to share everything, so be prepared, I'm certain it will be lengthy (possibly even entertaining!) In the meantime, I'm asking for help.  One of my plans over the summer, when it's too hot to mow my lawn, is to go out to restaurants and try to deconstruct and reconstruct menu items.  Here's where I ne

Somehow around the office I’ve become known for my baked goods. Pre-culinary school, I was hard pressed to even get a boxed cake right. I hated measuring, which is why I always liked to cook, it’s very forgiving when measurements are off. Baking, not so much. So being known as a baking guru, I was asked by a coworker/friend if I could make cupcakes for his band’s CD release party. Talking it through with him, we came up with the plan of doing cookies instead. This posed two challenges for me. 1) I had the genius idea that the cookies I made should be very specific to his band, i.e. I wanted to custom make a cookie cutter. 2) I had to make sugar cookies. I’m not a fan of making sugar cookies, or any rolled cookies for that matter, I blame this on the one square foot of usable counter space I have in my kitchen. Challenge 1: The design of the cutter wasn’t the challenge. Easy, an N and an E connecting (Band name: North Elementary) with half a person popping out of the top

First blog post!!  I guess this is where I introduce myself, and explain what to expect from the blog. What you need to know about me: I have a full time job.  I also have a part time job.  Between the two there is a small amount of time that I'm able to commit to blogging, so if you start reading don't be suprised when there are lulls in the posts.  You have my permission to harass me about it, but it's possible that nothing will change.  I have a degree in culinary technology (I also have degrees in Biology and Psychology, but the Culinary is what I'll focus most on here). That's pretty much what you need to know about me for blog purposes.  Now the good stuff, what can you expect from this blog: Food.  Food I make.  Food I attempt to make.  Food that I eat. I plan on having a lot of fun with the blog.  I want to share my triumphs and my failures in the kitchen.  I feel that it's important to show both (although, I'm hoping to show a lot more suc