I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

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Bacon-Chocolate Chip Waffles

Yep, that’s right… Bacon Chocolate Chip Waffles! I read about this recipe at Coconut Lime. I knew that I had to make it for our 5 year anniversary (1/2). It’s not that it was going to be complicated or fancy, just new and indulgent. I wanted to step things up from the typical scrambled egg, toast, yogurt, or leftovers (yes, leftovers.. in fact I had left over chicken tika masala on new years day.) So waffles and some Bailey’s would make for a better Saturday morning.

 

Bacon is a big deal right now. In fact I gifted bacon jam at Christmas. I have not yet tried the jar I kept for us, but I think the whole thing is just hilarious. Bacon in a waffle was quiet ingenious. Plus the chocolate is a perfect complement to it- sweet and salty are always great together. I have had a bacon chocolate bar from Vosges in NYC.

 

The waffles were simple to make and came out really well. The combination of chocolate and bacon provided a great balance of salty and sweet in the waffle. The bacon added a nice smokeiness to the waffle. I would not expect to enjoy smokey in my waffles but it was great. Even though we clearly knew there was bacon and chocolate in them it was still so surprising when we were eating them. Def out of the ordinary, but def worth a try! My only suggestion to this is to use the mini chocolate chips, and I say that only because my waffle iron did not seem to enjoy closing with the regular chips.

Bacon Chocolate Waffles

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

  •  2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 cups of buttermilk* 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup crumbled bacon
  • 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Process

  1. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.
  2. Whisk together the egg, oil, vanilla and buttermilk in a small bowl.
  3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine.
  4. Fold in the chocolate chips and crumbled bacon.
  5. Follow the instructions included with your waffle iron to complete the waffles.
  6. *If you don’t have buttermilk on hand you can make your own with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar for every cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes

Recipe from Coconut Lime

Snow Bunnies!!

This past 4 day weekend has been great with New Year Eve Day off to relax, a mellow Wii filled New Years Eve, sleeping in, great TV, lots of cooking (including some new recipes), snow, and naps.

One of the most exciting things was getting to paint my nails. To most this sounds like nothing to be excited about but in architecture school nails get destroyed quickly. I still have burns on my fingers from run ins with the hot glue gun. That sticky, hot bastard!

Pricer waiting for the T on our way for dinner. It was snowing and windy and waiting any longer would have made us late so we cabbed it down there.

Most importantly Price and I celebrated our 5 year aniversary on Saturday by going out to dinner at Teatro in Boston. It’s hard to believe that its already been 5 years. Time flies when you’re having fun 🙂

On Saturday I took the rabbits out while Price shoveled the snow. It was the first time they had ever been in the snow!!!  They are just so damn cute!!!!

 

 

Jack did not really enjoy the snow as much as Bunny. He was curious but he is generally mellow (unless he knows he is getting raisins) so he just hung out, a bit unimpressed.

 

 

  

Bunny loved the snow. She was running around, well hopping around, and digging in the snow.

Neiman Marcus Cookies

I think everyone has heard of urban legend involving the Neiman Marcus Cookie recipe. The one where the woman loves the cookie soo much that she asks for the recipe and the waiter tells her it is “two-fifty” for it. Little did she know that snooty patooty waiter ment $250. Shocked and pissed customer tries to argue this charge but loose and as a result shares the recipe. Well, all of this is made up, what else is new? In fact, the cookie recipe is on Neiman Marcus’ website, along with several other recipes for dishes they serve in their cafes.

I figured it would be fitting to this famous cookie since I had to urge to bake and this is a classic cookie- except its one that I never tried before. Always a first time for everything. So I made a double batch of these gems to share with the people that Price work with (hell, people working on New Years Day need a treat!) and his poker cigar buddies.

 They were easy to make and produced a nice result. I like cookies that are gooey and chewy, which when I stopped backing were perfectly like that. I even accounted for carry over cooking so they were on the underdone side but when they finished setting up they became fairly crisp. They became cookies that would pair perfectly with a glass of milk. A quick dunk and enjoy. Or in the case of the poker guys… a cold beer and a cookie.

Neiman Marcus Cookies

2 dozen cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds)

Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

Using a 1 ounce scoop or a 2 tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay

This year was the first time the Price and I did Christmas cards together. You know the ones with photos, the ones where the whole family is dressed in white shirts and jeans sitting on the beach… Well since it’s just us I figured it would be best to have a little fun with the whole thing. I decided we needed a theme, and what theme best describes Christmas and freezing Boston weather…. LUMBERJACKS!

The folks at Gap also made it their mission to throw as much paid at the general public as possible this season. A few weeks ago when shopping around for Christmas presents Price found the most amazing (he thinks annoying) hat ever!  Since buying it I try to wear it whenever possible, even on the ‘warm’ days and it is not really needed. So with hat in hand I had to think of a way of incorporating it into the Christmas card… which is how a theme of lumberjack came about. Emily suggested props to make the photo more authentic (and hilarious) which is why there is an ax. Plus we would just be weirdos wearing plaid, and me with my hat.

So Price was a good sport setting up the camera and timer to take a bunch of photos with us. There were so many outtake photos since I was not sure if I wanted the picture to look American Gothic like. So at the last-minute we would crack up when trying to look serious. Enjoy…

 

  

Photos were adjusted using Maggie Holmes’ Photoshop Actions. Love them!

Merry Valentine’s Eve

I am a little, okay- A LOT, horrified that while out at the food store getting food for the buns that I saw a large display of Valentine’s Day crapola. Today is Christmas Eve!!!!!

What the hell is going on?????

Some Seriously Amazing Cinnamon Rolls

 

Two weekends ago I ventured into the territory of baking with yeast. I learned how working with yeast can be a pain in the ass but if it works you get great results. My first attempt was a miserable fail with a sticky, dense, dead ball of dough. I figured out my milk was at 112 and the was way too hot for my yeast so I tried again at 100 and SUCCESS!!!

I went through all this trouble because I saw these amazing Peppermint Bark Buns at Fake Ginger. I could have gone for the peppermint and chocolate filling but I am not a big fan of white chocolate so I decided to stick with a cinnamon roll and this would be a springboard into making the cinnamon rolls.

 

 

 

These cinnamon rolls were worth the trouble since they were an amazing treat for the weekend. Plus I felt like I conquered a big fear with using yeast. I made an orange frosting for them which was good- a nice complement to the cinnamon but standard milk based frosting is more my thing. I think eggnog would be fantastic!

Seriously Amazing Cinnamon Rolls

makes 12 rolls

Ingredients

Dough

  • 1 cup warm milk (skim works)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 4  cups bread flour, 1/2 cup reserved
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 packet dry active yeast

 Filling

  •  1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup of brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened

Glaze

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • milk or orange juice until you have reached your desired frosting thickness
 

Process

  1. To prepare the dough, start by heating the milk per yeast instructions (between 100-110F). Melt the butter, set aside. Beat eggs in a very large bowl, set aside. Once the milk has reached the right temperature add the yeast and let proof per instructions. Mix in the sugar and melted butter into the eggs. Gently mix in the milk/yeast to the wet ingredients. In half cup intervals mix in the bread flour until 4 cups has been incorporated. With the remaining 1/2 cup, dust a clean smooth surface and coat your hands. Kneed the dough into a ball incorporating the remaining flour. Place into a greased bowl, cover, with plastic wrap and let double in size (several hours).
  2. While your dough is rising prepare the cinnamon sugar mixture by combining the sugars, cinnamon, and the softened butter. Set aside.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 and grease baking pans.
  4. Roll out dough into a 16 by 21 inch rectangle. Spread butter mixture evenly over dough. Roll up dough jelly roll style and divide into 12 rolls. Arrange evenly in pan(s), cover and let rise until doubled.*
  5. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. While rolls are baking combine the cream cheese and sifted powered sugar. Add milk/oj to the cream cheese until it reached the desired consistency. Spread frosting over warm rolls before serving.

*I did not do this since I wanted them right then and they turned out fine. So this extra rise is up to you.

Getting Inspired Again

While architecture school requires you to be creative I always approached my projects pragmatically. I like grids, rhythm, and realism. While I could have gotten a bit more wild and free with these I liked to imagine them as real projects, with structure, budgets, and codes. The last class I really felt creative in was a C (third) level studio when I sewed a majority of my project. It was a horrible pain in the ass and it required the sewing machine (that my dad designed when he worked for singer in the 80’s) to be serviced. I had shades of red to pink to represent users and the feeling invoked related to those users. It’s not to say that I did not like my other classes but that was the most hands on creative one.

Now that I am getting out of school I am determined to try every crafty thing I can get my hands on. Even if I try and fail or hate it I am going to try it. Different mediums, different techniques, different classes, etc. Up next is learning to crochet.

Over the weekend I made a wreath using a  12″ foam form. I wrapped the whole thing in the majority of a skein of yarn. Then I wrapped it in ribbon, from Stampin’ Up! Broke it and then stuck it back together with toothpicks. You would never know I cracked it but dumb move on my part. Then I decorated it with holly leaves that I diecut using Stampin’ Up! papers and a sizzix template. The berries were buttons, also from Stampin’ Up! Lastly, I added some wire (SU!) to add some depth to the wreath.

Stick a fork in it

I’m DONE!!!!!!!!

 

My last class was last night. It was a rough push for this final review but it came out well and the review was great. Typical comments of ‘ you could have done this…’, ‘did you consider….?’ ‘ I appreciate that you did this….. because….’. There were positive and negative comments which is fine. I designed a school into an exisiting Big Box store which has its own design challenges there but I had never done any school work before. This project idea came to me because there is a collision of schools that were built in the 60’s that need expansions or major renovations and a lot of vacant Big Bix stores (in Oct commerical real estate reached a 12% vacancy rate in MA). Some people design schools as a specialty so it was pretty nice to get some positive feedback since was my first school design.

 

As soon usual things came down to the end. I was printing right until I had to pin-up. Luckily, it was only 5 big sheets for this final review instead of all the process reviews with sketch paper pinned up and several 8.5×11’s photos tacked up there.

The hardest part about presenting a project is the printing. In this case I had a 1/8th inch scale plans at the last review which were too big to visually process so i reduced them to 1/16th.  I also reduced the sections and elevations to 1/16th so they would directly line up with the plans. this was a fail in layout design… they would have read better larger. Oh well, hind sight is 20×20.

Plus color on your computer is really different than color printed. This is a continuly problem but I thought I solved it by picking a LIGHT blue in illustrator. My sky blue  in my elevations is screaming blue (see first image). Again, oh well.

 

My model was awesome though. It was 4 slices that came together to be 40″x60″. That’s right, my model was 5′ long- just slightly smaller than me! It came apart in 12 pieces 4 roof sections, 4 second floor sections, and the 4 first floor sections. Price was a MAJOR part of getting my model done- umm he was my slave labor on wed and thursday. He was amazing and so helpful. I really would have been screwed without him. I love him so much for killing his hands for me.

Once I get to relax a bit I will finish the couple of walls that we forgot about as we were moving from section to section so quickly, the 3 exterior walls that I ran out of time to print and cut, and the columns that decided they did not like the frantic car rides from home> work> school.

It seems really bizarre to be done. It really has not sunk in yet, granted it has not even been 24 hours. Things will really be done when I don’t have to register and take classes in January again.

So today I am celebrating my FREEDOM!! by going out to go shopping at lunch. Finally a lunch that is not devoted to homework!

 

Pecan Snowdrops

Pecan Snowdrops, more commonly known as Mexican Wedding Cookies, are my favorite Christmas time cookie. They are nutty, buttery, sugary, and bite size! They are as easy to make as they are to eat. I use a great Christmas cookie book, fittingly called The Christmas Cookie Book, by Lou Seibert Pappas. It breaks down different types of cookies into chapters from timeless traditional, family favorites, cookies for gift giving and mailing, and elegant party cookies. These cookies fall under the gift giving and mailing chapter since they can ben stored in an airtight container for 2 weeks, that is if they last that long!

Price and I made a BIG batch (4x the typical recipe) on Friday night for a Cookies Exchange we hosted through our Meetup group. It was a lot of fun, a good break from the madness of finals, and we met a bunch of great people who brought some really great cookies.

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Pecan Snowdrops

Makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients

  •  3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans or toasted, skinned hazelnuts (finely chop the nuts or run the through a food processor)
  • Powdered sugar for Dusting

Process

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Lightly grease baking sheets or use nonstick or parchment-lined baking sheets.
  2. Using a stand mixer or a large bowl and a handheld electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla, salt, flour and nuts and mix well.  Roll the dough into ¾ inch balls between your palms, and place on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 ½ inches apart.
  3. One sheet at a time, bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, or until light brown.  Transfer to rack to cool slightly.  Place the still-warm cookies on a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil and heavily dust with powdered sugar shaken through a sieve.  Let cool completely.
  4. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks