joy the baker

i love me a good foodie blog, i really, really do.

in my breaks between studying, i tend to hit up all the wedding blogs...

until, that is, i found joy the baker. phenomenal looking food + pics + incredibly

witty writing= the perfect blog. i'm definitely going to try this

toasted marshmallow milkshake very, very soon.

{oh, and did you know you can make your own vanilla extract?}

cookie monster

man oh man...there is nothing better than a really, really good chocolate chip cookie.

i found the following recipe over on i am baker and cannot wait to try it out.

did i mention it is the new york times favorite choc chip cookie recipe?

i had my mind set to make these tonight, but found we were out of brown sugar.

(yes, i am too lazy to drive to the market. don't judge)

have a happy monday!

The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
*I only used all purpose flour for my recipe.
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds chocolate chips

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add eggs. Stir in vanilla. Reduce to low speed and add dry ingredients slowly, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 24-36 hours. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

waffleizer

it's kinda late and i am nowhere near being ready for my

test tomorrow, but i really, really want a waffle right now.
*meet the genius WAFFLEIZER,
who has successfully waffled things even your mama
didn't realize could waffle.

Here's how to make s'moreffles.

Graham cracker dough

This recipe makes about a dozen 4-inch square waffled graham crackers.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour (or, 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup all purpose flour)
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces, chilled
• 1/3 cup honey
• 5 tablespoons whole milk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• Pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, honey and vanilla.

2. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and rub together (or pulse in food processor) until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.

3. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture until a dough forms. You may need to add a bit more flour, up to a half cup.

4. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least two hours, or overnight.

Bringing it all together: S'moreffles

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough so that it's just over a quarter of an inch thick. Punch out or cut out the dough into squares, about 4 inches on each side. (You may experiment with the thickness of the dough to suit your waffle iron. Similarly, the size and shape of the dough may be adjusted according to your waffle iron.)

2. Waffle the dough. Waffle iron heat varies; check the dough after about three minutes.

3. Set aside the waffled graham crackers.

4. When you are ready to assemble the s'moreffles, place one waffled graham cracker on the waffle iron and top with chocolate and marshmallows. Place another waffled graham cracker on top, close the waffle iron (you may not wish to close it all the way), and allow the heat to melt the chocolate and the marshmallows — about one minute.

Enjoy.

recipe and picture via waffleizer

spring break v.2

if you're in the central coast area and want to spend
an afternoon in an amazing space eating and drinking delicious
treats, then you should probably check out the
saarloos & sons tasting room in los olivos.
oh my goodness, what a treat to cupcake + wine taste
at the same time!
saarloos + enjoy cupcakes & a+ j, together at last.

with my dear, dear one in front of the enjoy trailer



sooo beautiful



oh hello, kevin! we had to shoot this twice because he
didn't like the 1st one. :)

vanilla honey lavender was my favorite.
mmm...i can taste it now...

yum yum goodness.

all gone!

LA wknd

a great weekend was had!
there is nothing better than a much needed
girls day out. and we went all out.
some moments from a weekend in the city...

[most of the photos stolen from the roommate....i forgot my camera
battery--DOH!]

LA Flower Mart

this place was absolutely incredible!! we woke up @ 6 so we
could make it here by 8 (snoozers are losers!).
so much beauty packed into one place.

Tavern
hands down, one of the best brunches i've ever (ever, ever) had.
period. we could have stayed here for hours and hours,
it was sooo gorgeous, airy, inviting, stylin', and friendly (in LA?! gasp!)
and to top it off, the food was unreal.

such a great new york lounge feel.

the most delicious pancakes i've ever had.

the food literally knocked our socks off. mmmm mmmm good.

classic bathroom shot with my beautiful roomie!

sample sale in bev hills! taking a peek at some beautiful dresses
with my bride-to-be!

major eye candy found at compartes chocolatier in brentwood.
taste test: rich, pure, and delicious. two thumbs up!
(they feature new "screenprinted" designs on the chocolates
every day. so cool.)

dry bar salon
who gets blow-outs on rainy saturday afternoons??!
(not us, because they were booked. dang.)
gotta use our free coupon next time, i suppose!

hope you all had a relaxing and inspiring weekend too!

looking forward to...

sometimes finishing a week is hard.
here's whats making this bite a little easier to swallow:

1. my impending trip to the LA flower mart [a little wedding research
needs to be done...not for muah, of course]
can't wait to bask in its beauty!
2. the delicious brunch i'm going to have in celebration of
"girl's day" HERE.
i'm going to try the pumpkin pancakes with toasted pecans and spiced syrup
(my belly is already singing!)
thanks to my fab roommate, melissa, for finding it... can't wait 4 our date!

[ooooh....looks so 'sex and the city'-esque]

3. the udderly perfect sat. afternoon i will have...oooooooh, milk. just. so. delicious. you make my heart cry tears
of chocolate.
Dear Thursday night spent in the dental lab,
please lack mishaps and go quickly.

moments of a central coast weekend

hello! the weekend has come and gone (so quickly, too!)

i enjoyed a quick trip home to the central coast--
what a nice break from
smoggy so-cal!
a few moments from my wknd:

my sweet BFF, amy

a + k

i dare you to resist that face! [our sweet bernese mtn. dog, raleigh]
**other good tidbits of the wknd:

+ fantastic mr. fox!! MUST see if you haven't already.
loooved all the visuals (and so clever!)
+ eating at SLO's 1st ever all vegan restaurant, Vraja's Kitchen
a little quirky, but delicious food! and a killer vegan cupcake.
+a stop-off in los olivos @ enjoy cupcakes (located in the beeeeautiful
sarloos & sons tasting room). too bad they were completely sold out!

via sarloos & sons

one more week until the weekend!
happy monday.

the sweet kitch

so one day (yesterday), my roommate and i were
sitting on the couch discussing the most important
things in life (ahem, blogs).
one thing led to another and before we both knew it,
the sweet kitch was born!
we've made a great team so far (i'll shoot the pics
if she'll make the food)!
stay tuned for more delicious foodie goodness.

moments of a LOVE-ly weekend

i hope everyone had a happy weekend.
i spent it with dear friends and had
a very happy valentine's day (our 8th together!!)
with kenny.
what did you do?

waiting in line for the LA street food fest
(even though i was VERY hungry and a little disappointed the
event sold out, it was still a fun time!)

PAULETTE!!! j and i have been talking about this moment
for a long time! :)

bev hills, j + j

always good styling in anthro

anthro models

beautiful patterns in the window!

yum yum goodness. early grey tea, caramel + violet macarons

delicious valentine's gift from jenn

the BF knows how to work the eggs [valentine's breakfast]

lovin' the purple

more sweet potato prints + a handmade cast silver ring

linen tie with squash print
[my first handmade tie!]

valentine's day walk

silverlake