Sauce. (Tomato paste)

Toppings. (Chicken meatballs)

Cheese. (Shredded mozzarella)

Baked! (Yum)

Pizza baked on the sheet of stainless steel (preheated to 445F) was the closest I’ve gotten to a really crisp crust. I bet it would be even crisper if I had given the steel more time to come to temperature. Shamiq and I were hungry and threw the pizza in the moment the oven hit 445F… So we’ll have to be more patient next time!

Blueberries in the powered ingredients

Finished blueberry muffins!

I followed the Smitten Kitchen cookbook’s Blueberry Cornbread Butter Cake recipe… But I didn’t have an 8×8 pan as it called for, so I made muffins instead. They turned out lovely, though the flavors seem more fitting for a coffee cake. WILL MAKE AGAIN.

Original recipe from here: Blueberry Galette

I’ve never made a galette before — but I think I should make more! It was super easy (especially because I cheated with a pie crust from a box) and tasty. And looked pretty nice.

I made two batches of cookies last week — Brown Butter Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Ancho Cookies.

Both turned out pretty well, though I made a few modifications.

For the snickerdoodles:
– I skipped the caramel, they were more than sweet enough
– I added an extra tbsp of butter and an egg, since the batter seemed too much like a shortbread

For the ancho chili cookies:
– I sliced them thinner
– Baked for much less time, though that depends on how thick the slices are. I found more around 12 minutes worked, even for thicker slices

Unfortunately, I took no pictures.

I thought I’d try to pickle things. So I did. Specifically, yellow wax beans, onions, carrots, okra and blueberries.

I followed the following recipes:
Wax beans
Okra
Carrots
Pickled Blueberries

I guess I should let them all sit for at least a few days before trying them… So thoughts to follow.

Pies aren’t photogenic.

I made three pies tonight, two raspberry crack pies and one buttermilk pie.

The buttermilk pie just got out of the oven is and is still cooling, so I can’t pass judgement on it yet, or on how it compares to a crack pie. But we shall see~

EDIT: A verdict has been reached! Possibly tastier than crack pie. (WHAT?!?!?1 yep.)
Next time, bake it longer, at least 50 minutes, if in a ceramic pie dish. Also, perhaps adding a little bit of citrus zest? Also, half brown sugar?

Things to try! Sciences to be had!

Inside the kitchennnnn.

I spent Saturday at Lazy Bear, volunteering/working for free. AND IT WAS AWESOME.

One of the first snacks — this was our “kitchen” plate. Thus the tape. Also, dim lighting is dim.

Another snack – uni & shrimp on a fried chip. I portioned out the uni… and the extras went into my stomach.

Another snack – avocado and I’m not sure what and toasted rice. I like avocado. (And whatever it was with, but I’m not sure what it was. Hah.)

Chilled lettuce soup over fried squash

After pouring.

Delicious delicious sweetfish. My favorite thing of the night. One piece was rolled up and steamed, one was fried. Both were delicious, and my picture doesn’t do it justice. Sadface for dim light.

Lobster mushrooms, wax beans and duck. Lobster mushrooms are delicious. So are beans. Duck didn’t add anything, but was still tasty.

Chicken Yakitori. Gizzards, radishes, watermelon rind pickles. The pickles were delicious. Watermelon rind pickles are now on my “things to learn to make list.”

Tomato, black garlic sausage. I’m used to “black sausages” being blood sausages — but these weren’t. Delicious and wayyy less fatty than I expected.

Super soft elk loin, beans, peppercorns, elderberries and elderflowers. I ate it with a spoon. Well, some kind of violent spooning.

Berries! Malt custard, juniper. I ate way too much of that custard…

A picture of the pantry. Just cus.

I’d really like to dine at Lazy Bear one day — but a lot of me suspects volunteering is more fun (and just as tasty).

Some pictures were taken in the kitchen lighting — which was on the dim side. Some were taken in the little area that had been set up for photographing the dishes. Thus some are bright, some are grainier and darker. D:

I keep having to find my favorite waffle recipe, so I should post it —

Waffles of Insane Greatness
originally adapted from Aretha Frankensteins, then from here

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
* 1/2 cup cornstarch**
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups buttermilk
* 2/3 cup vegetable oil
* 2 eggs
* 3 teaspoons sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* Butter and syrup, for serving

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes, if you have the time.

With my waffle maker, I cook them for 4 minutes at heat setting ’3.’

* Can be substituted for glutinous rice flour for a gluten-free version
** Can be substituted for rice flour/glutinous rice flour

No pictures because I’m lazy. But, thermapens are magic for frying chicken.

Followed a recipe off Serious Eats… and magic!

This follows a previous attempt at the same recipe without a thermapen that resulted in delicious chicken… but with throughly blackened (as in inedibly blackened) skin. One day I will buy a deep fryer and make my life easier. And waistline larger.

Also, in an attempt not to lose all the recipes…

Buttermilk Pound Cake of Buttery Goodness — original version & source
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter – try with slightly less next time. maybe 14tbsp?
3 cups white sugar – did 2.5 because that’s how i roll
6 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract omitted because lazy and did not have
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Would make again. Fantastic with olallieberry ice cream.