12 Food Resolutions for 2015 (lots of photos!)

Um, what, it's 2015 already?

I hope you all had a grand time celebrating the new year!
On New Years eve, I happily bid 2014 goodbye by freezing my appendages off marching for a mile, sans winter coat, for the First Night Boston parade. If you saw a somber girl waving a blue fan around, that was me! (I swear I was trying to smile but my cheeks were frozen). My family and I finished the night at the fanciest schmanciest seafood restaurant I would never be able to afford if it weren't for a generous gift card. Also, I'd like to apologize to the chic-looking man sitting at the adjacent table for witnessing my pitiful attempt at eating a carrot, which fell off my fork, bounced off the table and rolled on the ground. This is why I don't belong in places like this. Sigh.

In terms of baking, I'm happy to say that 2014 was filled with more "yums" and "mehs" than "bleughs", at a ratio greater than ever before. I have grown a lot (in waist size? or in knowledge? I hope it's the latter) since I started baking (and eating) my stress away as an angsty junior in high school. If there's anyone I owe my progress to, it's my wonderful family members for being my willing guinea pigs (some more willing than others) and for offering unconditional support and feedback. I'm also thankful for my newest crop of guinea pigs - yeah, I'm talking about you, college-mates! <3

Now, as I'm about to begin another year and another semester at college, I look forward to building on what I've learned and making use of new tools. I have compiled 12 food resolutions - mostly of recipes of I want to try and things I want to accomplish. So, in no particular order:

A picture's worth a thousand words.

MAKE: Lady and Pups' Imploding Honey Custard Cake
Everything about this makes me want to cry tears of happiness. It's a cake that IMPLODES with gooey custardiness! Therefore, it automatically earns a spot on my must-make list.

PB&J sandwich...cake?

So this is how I imagine it goes:
You: But we already know how to make PB&J sandwiches!
Me: Well, ohohoho...this isn't a sandwich, silly. It's a cake! Ohohoho...

My sister got me this awesome sandwich-shaped cake pan for Christmas, and I am obsessed. There's something so captivating and amusing about food looking and tasting like other food. Like this incredibly realistic Asparagus Cake by one of my favorite bloggers, Rosie of Sweetapolita. It might not sound like an appealing combination, but that's where the fun lies. I love that element of surprise and unpredictability. It's the sweetest kind of deception.

"School lunch"...but better...because it's cake.

I originally wanted to make a fluff cake-wich, but I settled on a classic PB & J, using some homemade apple jam I made a couple months ago. (Fun fact: Fluff was invented in Somerville, MA, and every year the city holds a Fluff Fest. I feel obligated to go now.)

I used a vegan vanilla cake recipe, and the cake barely rose during baking. However, the color and texture made for a convincing "bread" look, which was fun. Next time, I'll try another recipe, though.

You can't really see the filling, but it's there.

Look out for more cake-wiches! :) And definitely comment below if you have any ideas or cake-wich requests!

bread wreath! happy holidays!

It's hard to believe that Christmas in Boston this year is as snow-less as Christmas in Los Angeles. There is truly, honestly not even a single, pathetic patch of snow on the ground. Instead, it's been downcast and rainy out for quite a while. Wump. So I decided I should bake something to inject some much-needed holiday spirit into the gray atmosphere. =)

For Christmas eve dinner, I made this Holiday Breakfast Wreath from Sara Kate Gillingham of the Kitchn. It's a soft bread with sweet and tart filling. I tried my best to emulate Sara's gorgeously braided wreath, but -ahem- it looks like I still have a long ways to go! I highly recommend checking out her recipe because the bread is delicate, fragrant and melts in your mouth. It feels and tastes phenomenal fresh out of the oven.

The original recipe includes a cranberry-almond filling and a citrus glaze. I didn't have the necessary ingredients, so I improvised a filling using flour, orange juice and chopped dates. If I make this again, I would add more filling, but I still think a glaze on top of a sweet filling would make it a tad too sweet.

potluck: french onion soup (no beef stock)

We hosted a potluck at our suite to celebrate the end of the semester and to send off a friend who will be studying abroad in Amsterdam. My friend Anna and I teamed up to make some hearty french onion soup. It was definitely in the stars for us because 1) we had a bag of onions leftover, and we needed to clear our fridge before winter break and 2) Anna received a slow cooker, and we were eager to try it out. So, on a cold winter day, what better way to put a slow cooker and a bag of onions to use than to make some hearty french onion soup!
While beef stock is usually an integral part of french onion soup, neither Anna nor I eat beef, so we substituted it with chicken and vegetable stock. We left out the cheese because we didn't have heat-safe bowls to broil the cheese with. Regardless - topped with a thick slice of toasted french bread, this soup is d-i-v-i-n-e.

Doranna's slow cooker french onion soup (no beef stock; cheese optional)
4 medium yellow onions, sliced French-style
3 cups chicken stock
3 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
3 Tbs butter/oil (we used 1 Tbs olive oil + 2 Tbs butter)
Ground pepper, thyme, to taste

Optional: gruyere cheese, grated
French bread, to serve with soup

1. Slice the onions into strips.
2. In a pan, heat the oil and the butter until it melts together.
3. Add the onions to the pan and cook on Med-High until golden brown and caramelized (~45 minutes). If there are brown caramelized bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, pour in a few splashes of chicken or vegetable stock to deglaze it.
4. In a slow cooker, pour in the chicken and veggie stock. Add flour, ground pepper and thyme to the stock, and mix until the flour has dissolved. Add in the caramelized onions, making sure to scrape all the caramelized bits off the pan and into the slow cooker.
5. Turn the slow cooker on HIGH, and let the soup cook for 2-3 hours, until the soup is bubbling, the onions have broken down, and everything has melded together.
6. Optional: Divide the soup into individual heat-safe bowls. Add a slice of french bread and a handful of grated gruyere cheese on top of the soup. Broil in the oven for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese and bread are golden brown.
7. Alternatively, you can do it like we did, and simply serve it with a slice of french bread.