there are few cakes that cross my mind as often as the pink champagne cake i made two years ago does. i think this is due to a combination of three things: 1) it's one of the prettiest cakes i've ever made, 2) my life was in complete turmoil when i made it, and 3) the [...]
last weekend, i baked a bunch of brownies, cookies, and cupcakes and sold them at the farmer's market with my fellow members of riverside democrats (our school's democrat club) to raise money for planned parenthood. we didn't expect to make much money, but we ended up raising over $250! after spending most of my time in high [...]
is there a type of cake your mom always made for your birthday when you were growing up? i have a theory that the u.s. is roughly divided between funfetti birthday cake kids and german chocolate birthday cake kids. those always seemed to be the two flavors present at my classmates' elementary school birthday parties. personally, [...]
if i'm making something like cookie dough stuffed brownies or chocolate layer cake — desserts i've made once a week for the past few years — i can bake for hours without actually thinking about the baking itself. it's nice, because i can watch netflix, listen to music, or just let my mind wander while my muscle [...]
today's my senior prom! i'm actually feeling pretty sentimental; it will be my fourth and final year of attending. freshman and sophomore years were great (i felt very cool being surrounded by upperclassmen), but i think this year will be the best. there's something special about attending as part of the graduating class. but it's also crazy and sad that it'll be [...]
the world turned upside down last week at starbucks' introduction of the limited edition unicorn frappuccino. the drink is described as "a sweet dusting of pink powder blended into a crème frappuccino with mango syrup, and layered with a pleasantly sour blue powder topping." so basically blue kool-aid and mango juice blended into a vanilla [...]
SPRING BREAK = free time = nonstop cooking! i made these sliders in the midst of a cooking frenzy, somewhere in between baking a five-layer apple cake and a kosher-for-passover chocolate roll. the desserts are a bit seasonally inappropriate — the apple cake has a thanksgiving vibe, and the chocolate roll looks like it belongs in a christmas dinner [...]
one of my favorite breakfasts is warm banana bread smothered in cream cheese. it's simple, but the flavors pair unbelievably well together. this dessert elevates that breakfast to a new level: it combines cream cheese, bananas, and spices into a rich filling that gets baked inside a buttery nilla wafer crust. the cheesecake is then topped with bananas foster — [...]
since i was born on the last day of january, i won't get to experience my golden birthday until i turn 31. that'll be in more than a decade! because i have to wait so long, i've been living vicariously through other people's golden birthdays for as long as i remember. people usually either forget [...]
i've lost track of the number of times the media has named durham the new "it" town of the south, specifically when it comes to food. southern living says we're the south's tastiest town. the new york post deems durham the foodie capital of the south. even buzzfeed ran an article called 34 amazing things that will make [...]
LENA'S LUNCHBOX 