LENA'S LUNCHBOX

  • sweet potato black bean burritos with guacamole

    Am I the only one who eats whole cans of black beans in one sitting? BEANS. Beans are life. My friends call me Lena Bena. I have also been known to respond to Beanuts, Beanie Baby, Beanpod, and Beanling. This recipe takes sweet potato and gives it a crisp outside, a creamy inside, and a…

  • ox and rabbit

    ox and rabbit

    In school, they always give us the writing prompt that says, “Write about a special place in your house. It should be somewhere you can go where you feel safe and at home, somewhere that makes you happy. For example, your bedroom, closet, kitchen, etc.” Here’s the problem. My special place isn’t in my house.…

  • on porridge

    Breakfasts in Scotland were incredible and fattening.   There was usually an option of eggs with tomatoes (say toe-MAH-toe) and mushrooms, bacon (very ham-like bacon) and sausage, cereal, yoghurt, and fruit, kippers, PORRIDGE, the list goes on and on. Oh and don’t forget the marmite. What is marmite? A thick, black spread to put on…

  • i made a lego cake

    I was commissioned to make a lego cake for a seven year old’s birthday party.   This is a big step. I knew that if I simply frosted it with bright colors, the effect wouldn’t be as great. So I faced my fear: modeling chocolate / fondant / gumpaste etc. Fondant tastes gross. It tastes…

  • scotland

    So my brother is leaving. In 12 days. I’m kinda freaking out. But he’s only gonna be 20 minutes away, so I can totally take a cab up to UNC after school or something. We took our last “family trip” to Scotland, and it was amazing. Aside from the incredible food (haggis! black pudding!), there…

  • finally home!

    After a week away from home, is it weird that all I really want to do is cook? Crostini: cucumber with cream cheese and parsley, roast beef with pepper jelly and gruyere, and tomato with pesto and smoked mozzarella. My first day back began by thawing and setting up brownies for 200 people. I made…

  • an assortment of food pics

  • c’est si bon

    Cooking Camp! Nom. Yum.     Oink. Frands. I learned so much at C’est si Bon; both new cooking techniques and life lesssons. Shout out to Dorette Snover, Alice Hall, Juliet Flam-Ross, and Karlie Olmstead for making this week so special.  

  • mascarpone-filled cake with macerated berries

    makes one cake I made this as a welcome home from Minnesota present for my mom. I wanted it to be small, so I quartered the recipe using my mini cake pans. It turned out great; probably the lightest cake I’ve ever made. very slightly adapted from www.epicurious.com Ingredients   For cake: 2 cups sifted cake…

  • chicken and roasted brussels sprouts panini with shaved parmesan and caramelized onions

    makes 4 panini  What do you think of when you hear “brussels sprouts?” If limp, grayish-green, over boiled mini cabbages come to mind, then your world is about to change. Roasting this universally hated vegetable gives them a kick that will make you buy them by the barrel. This panini was discovered by taking everything…

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