the last time i made ice cream was in my seventh grade science class. we put milk and sugar in a ziploc bag, stuffed that bag into another bag filled with ice and salt, and shook it until our hands felt like they were gonna freeze off. the experiment illustrated how sodium chloride lowers water's freezing point, [...]
i wish we had tea in the u.s. i'm not talking about a cup of chamomile, i'm talking about afternoon tea. with crumpets and scones and cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. our fast-paced culture lends itself to an on-the-go espresso much better than it does to a sit-down afternoon meal, but i think it's something we should start doing. a [...]
i've talked about having trypophobia before (the fear of clusters of holes), so this cake was the ultimate test. it was totally worth the struggle, though — i love how it turned out. the cake layers are my (award winning!) honey spice cake. instead of using boring old costco honey, i used wedderspoon's amazing manuka [...]
i've had a taste aversion to cinnamon ever since i tried the cinnamon challenge at a middle school sleepover. would NOT recommend. i'm okay if there's a pinch of it in my coffee, but any more than that makes me want to gag. every single component of this cake has cinnamon, so i haven't tried it, [...]
i officially have The Best spice cake in north carolina! and the best sweet potato biscuits, too! i entered a bunch of different cakes and baked goods into the competition at the fair, and i won first place ribbons for both of those items. i also won second place for my white chocolate chip cookies and two [...]
british english is so much better than american english.* especially the insults. i'd much rather call someone a tosser or a prat than an idiot or a dumbass. i'd also like to start saying "cheers" in place of "thank you." apparently brits call sprinkles "hundreds and thousands"?? that's cool. it's sort of a mouthful but it [...]
a few years ago, everyone became obsessed with red velvet cake. ben & jerry's came out with a red velvet ice cream, oreos released red velvet cookies, and pop tarts invented a red velvet toaster pastry. in recent months, the red velvet craze has died down and been replaced by a new flavor: birthday cake. birthday [...]
i like some artificial fruit flavorings - banana laffy taffys, sour apple lollipops, and blue raspberry slushies are all delicious - but i have a strong aversion to anything made to taste like strawberry. that goes for strawberry milk, strawberry jelly beans, and store-bought strawberry ice cream. the quarts of neopolitan ice cream with chocolate, vanilla, [...]
i'm so excited for the olympics. do you remember the insane opening ceremony in london four years ago? it involved the queen of england jumping out of a helicopter with daniel craig (non-believers say it was a stunt double. it was definitely her). these spiced, iced gingerbread cookies would be just lovely with a steaming hot cup of tea. [...]
while stuck in the sweltering reality of durham's 98 degree heat, i've found myself entertaining reveries of winter days spent in minnesota - what i would give to be taking a long walk through freshly fallen snow, or climbing up the first few icy rungs of a grain silo's ladder! i've built a little fantasy farm with gingerbread [...]
LENA'S LUNCHBOX 