B.o.B. + Rivers Cuomo = Magic

Not my usual style, but I love Rivers Cuomo, and I'm loving this.

Guess which I like better, Top Chef or Top Chef: Just Desserts

For the most part, cookbooks don't hold any attraction for me. I am not a very good cook. I learned the joyous ease and versatility of a microwave at my mother's knee, and have happily nuked my way into adult life. Because of this, cookbooks serve merely to remind me of my chefly shortcomings. 

However, a bakebook is an entirely different story. Butter is something I can get excited about. I just read about this new collection of reinvented American dessert recipes entitled Baked Explorations on Design*Sponge, and now I have cookbook envy.

Check out Design*Sponge's description of the Monkey Bread, Whoopie Pies, Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins, Mississippi Mud Cake, and the unusual Tomato Soup Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting. *Sigh*

How can you go wrong with cupcakes??

One of the things I miss about Chicago are the "cupcakeries." (My favorite is Molly's Cupcakes in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Although Sugar Bliss downtown has mini cupcakes, so you can try a few!)

One of my dreams in life is to open a bakery/ice cream sandwich shop, and I think the recent cupcake fad is a fun one. I haven't had time to bake any in awhile, but I'm starting to get the itch. Here are a few fun recipes I've made before and a few more I'd like to try.

1. Orange Chocolate Cupcakes 

Alyson Baker's Day to Day Wonderments (allysonbakerdesign.blogspot.com) 

(Click on the above title to get the recipe)

These cupcakes are easy because they start with a chocolate cake mix. I made them mini-cupcakes, and they came out moist and delicious. The orange and chocolate combination is tasty, pretty, and fun for a classy party.

2. Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow

Martha Stewart (marthastewart.com)

These cupcakes are a bit more time intensive, but worth the dedication. The graham cracker and chocolate crust at the bottom is a crunchy surprise, and the chocolate cake itself is good as well. The only thing I struggled with was the frosting. Mine turned out more liquid than any marshmallow I've ever eaten. I'm sure this is secondary to my skills (or lack thereof), but next time I'll get a jar of marshmallow fluff. I also toasted the (runny) marshmallow using the broil setting on the oven, which worked pretty well.

3. Lemon Zest with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

My Baking Addiction (mybakingaddiction.com)

I haven't tried these, but they are next on my list. I am a chocolate fan, of course, but there's something about the sweet/sour combination of lemony baked goods that I absolutely love.

4. Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

Woman's Day Magazine (womansday.com)

I think peanut butter and chocolate is the most sinfully delicious combination. Filled cupcakes are also on my "things to bake" list, and these look simple enough for a first attempt.

5. And finally, check out this treasure trove of cupcake recipes! Top 20 Unique Cupcake Recipes from 2010 by myfindsonline.com. I especially want to try the Guiness cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Creme frosting, the Margarita cupcakes (with tequila in the frosting), and the Cinnamon roll cupcakes. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

My life really is that lame

Wow. . . I really have done nothing this week worth sharing.


So, instead, I will share the awesome things my friends have been sharing.
Here are excellently written blogs by a few people I'm lucky to know:

turtle soup
- design, crafts, gardening, food, and creativity

Livenlovecestlavie
- Chicago life, food, fitness, and medicine

The adventure of the edge of uncertainty
- sarcasm, music, and probably more food
(Authored by my sister; she hogged all the comedic sass genes)

Hope others enjoy their posts as much as I do!

Do you love me? Yes, Guster, I'll love you forever.

I think it's a bit much to post more than once a day, but on my music video perusal today, I found more I'd like to share!

I keep thinking that I've liked Guster for too many years, and one of these days, I'm going to grow out of their music. But I never do. I love "Demons" just as much as I did 10 years ago. (And I've added the song to the hopefully more consistently functional playlist at left!) 

Guster's new album, Easy Wonderful (to be released Oct 5th), is their first in awhile, and I am enjoying their new videos. The one for "Do You Love Me" is good, but I absolutely adore this video for "Stay With Me Jesus."

Stay With Me Jesus from Guster on Vimeo.


Do You Love Me from Guster on Vimeo.

Harpist for hire?

This is a fun video of Florence + the Machine at Oxegen Festival 2010. Not only is this great indie music, but it prominently features her harpist. I love hearing harp in unexpected places. (Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" is a classic.) I'm a bit rusty, but I'd be willing to polish up my skills if Florence offered me the job!

No fairweather fans here!

Once a year, in late summer, occurs this state's most emotional football match-up of the season. 

Now, my alma mater is the perpetual underdog in this annual event. As we rejoice in small victories, celebrating positive yardage, first downs, and successful open-field tackles, nothing softens the blow of inevitable defeat like a certain quantity of beer. However, before the game begins, while we still have hope that a day of upset after upset in other match-ups may somehow mean the same outcome for us, nothing tastes better than a great tailgate burger.

I'm not usually the one to host the tailgate, but this year, living minutes walk from the stadium made my place pretty ideal. In honor of my beloved team, I thought I'd class it up a little and attempt making my own burger patties.

I found an easy recipe with a relatively short list of ingredients, something I could make quickly and easily that morning.

Tailgate Burgers

Ingredients:

I used 3 pounds of 85/15 (15% fat) ground beef for about 12 patties.

1/2 onion, finely chopped

3 tsp soy sauce

3 tsp Worcester sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper (or, my personal method, a few good shakes from the shaker)

1. Place ground beef in a large mixing bowl and add the above ingredients.

2. Knead until the ingredients are spread evenly throughout.

3. Form into burger patties. I made 12, about 1/4 pound burgers, but bigger would be tasty too.

4. Grill! And add toppings of your choice. (I found some amazing Wisconsin cheddar-bacon cheese, does it get better than that?)

5. And pair with a great beer. I love local beers and have found a good one brewed in Knoxille, IA. I have to admit, I bought Cornucopia by Peace-Tree Brewing Company for the great-looking bottle, and I'm going to keep buying it for the great taste!

"He's an XBOX, and I'm more Atari"

So, I've been introduced to this great site, Dropbox.com. You can upload files online and invite people to share them! Which means you can upload music to share! Brilliant! (Thanks to Jon for showing me the light. . . and sharing tons of awesome music.)

Listen to one of my new favorites at right, "Fuck You" by Cee Lo Green (courtesy of the aforementioned Jon)! In case you couldn't figure it out by the song title, might be PG13 for adult language. (Although, so is Little Lion Man, and I never gave that a disclaimer. Oh well.)




Also, because I develop strangely intense loyalties to things, and one of those things is the state of Wisconsin. . . Here is the link to a recent Muzzle of Bees post where you can download (for free!) the album Wisco: A tribute to Wilco's Summerteeth. Wilco's album covered by Wisconsin artists. I don't necessarily love Wilco, but I do love Wisconsin. So, support the land of cheese and beer and local music by buying downloading this awesome album concept.

New video: The Wombats, "Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)"

Great song. As I've written before, I can't wait for The Wombats' new album (November?).


Here's their first pre-release from the album, Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves):