Cherry pie for the Fourth of July

the Fourth of July-

Independence, fireworks, cold beer, burgers, hot dogs,  PIE.

For our nation's 234th birthday, I decided to wax patriotic and bake something as American as apple pie. Cherry pie. I was a few blueberries short of a full red, white & blue dessert, but maybe I'll try that next time.

The week before the holiday, I passed a farmer's market and saw the bushels of fresh cherries... I knew what I had to do for my country.

"No Pudge" Brownie Sundae

Forgive me, followers, it's been too long since my last post.

To repent, I've got a whole lotta pretty pictures I took of these low-fat brownies I attempted a while back. Unfortunately, they weren't a complete success--texture was a bit off, but more experimentation is planned--so I won't be sharing the recipe just yet. Instead, let's eat with our eyes (that's diet-friendly, no?...) and look at this brownie sundae as it gets constructed...

Summer's here, cue "SkinnyBoy" Banana Bread

Inspired by a recent binge on Bravo shows (how can you not love Real Housewives or Top Chef?), I have been trying new ways to make my cooking and baking a little lighter.

One of the "Real Housewives" of NYC, actually, I should say, a former 'real housewife', Bethenny Frankel, who now has her own hilarious show, "Bethenny getting married?", is the successful natural foods cook and author behind the SkinnyGirl Margarita and a line of books on dieting and healthy eating.

Jason is a lucky man. Lucky and brave.

A Very Special Birthday

Back at the end of April (oh boy, I'm behind) my good friend Katherine (Kay) turned 21, quite a step up from 20, so I felt that I would really have to try and top the cake I made for her last year, a citrus-flavored yellow butter cake filled with lemon curd, raspberries and whipped cream and covered with a white chocolate ganache. Yes, it was delicious.

This year, as you can see, I went a slightly darker route.  I went with Ina Garten's chocolate cake and a delicious frosting from "Hey, that tastes good!", a cocoa and espresso mascarpone whipped cream.

I took my inspiration from Kay's recent world travels- she was studying in Bologna, Italy last semester when I was in Barcelona...

The ruse is over! I actually made pie.

Yes! I finally did it.

My inspiration? The Ratty. What on God's green Earth is that, you ask? It's our affectionate name for our main dining hall here on campus. While having lunch there one day I saw that one of the oversized wicker fruit baskets was overflowing with lovely, plump red  d'Anjou pears.

So I was hit with a brilliant idea, like in one of those Windows 7 commercials: I must make a pie! Then without hesitation, I broke Ratty protocol and took quite a handful (and bagful...) of pears. But I had to, look at them!

Pear pie, c'était mon idée!

The Prize! Simply Divine Brownies "Opposites Attract" (the ObamaBrownie)

I'm back! Apologies for going MIA. That school thing happened again. But I have good news: the semester is over (omg I'm a senior), and  I survived finals and the move back home!

So I won't waste any more time, even though now I have plenty to spare. (woot!)

Back to the goods...

Over a month ago, I wrote about a brownie contest held by Simply Divine Brownies...

It seems like it was just yesterday that I found out that they chose my brownie flavor suggestion (smoke salt caramel) to join their collection of delectable gourmet brownies. After a few short weeks, I received my prize for winning their contest- a full batch of these brownies! 

Rainbow Cookies (Seven-Layer Cookies)

I can't believe I made these a month ago. I miss them. Deeply. But It's well past time I shared my favorite cookie with you.

Rainbow cookies, or as the Smitten Kitchen's recipe calls them, Seven-Layer Cookies (chocolate-spongecake-jam-spongecake-jam-spongecake-chocolate... 7.. mmm), are a rich (as the SK says, they're kinda more like petit fours) combination of three delectable components:  almond-based spongecake, apricot (and/or raspberry) jam, and chocolate.