blueberry cornmeal pancakes

BLTA sandwicb

Egg white omelette

I took Saeyoung to the airport yesterday.  Another summer has passed and I’m a little angry.  Last summer Saeyoung and I had all these amazing ideas about how we were going to have an unparalleled summer, but circumstance got in the way and we actually didn’t get that much time together.  So we put the weight of that disappointment on this summer and imagined  something idyllic, the kind of summer that becomes an isolated memory that becomes more and more idyllic as time goes by.  The kind of summer we’d be nostalgic for when we’re 50.  But we didn’t do half the things we wanted to do and kept adding things on our to-do lists.  Saeyoung worked insane hours at an internship and even more insane hours at my mother’s office.  I sweated oceans in a hot kitchen until my legs were all swollen and came home grumpy on a regular basis.  And here’s the rub: I realized that this isn’t an unfortunate circumstance.  This is just the way things work.  There is nothing unusual in this sort of disappointment or hope cut at the knees.  The rest of our lives will be negotiating how the drudge of having to be a person in the world interrupts everything else that matters.

I miss my sister.

That’s as sunshiney as I’m going to get.

chewy ginger

vanilla bean sugar (for Shel, Marcus’ nephew!)

lime poppy seed

chocolate chip

dark chocolate, currant, and walnut

Marcus is in Baltimore visiting his family.  This is exciting.

I get to see my family at least once a week and I’m pretty sure that it’s a recuperative time for me.  After not seeing my family for more than a week I start to feel a little frazzled and maybe even a bit melancholic.  But i realize that not everyone has the luxury of family nearby and I am thrilled that Marcus gets to spend some time with his family.

I sent Marcus with some cookie samplers for his parents, his brother and sister-in-law, and his nephew.  I didn’t know what kind of cookies they preferred so I just made a general schizophrenic variety pack.  As usual, I overdid it.  You know those blue IKEA bags that can fit a 12-year old child?  Yeah, the cookies could barely fit in there.  Marcus and I broke out laughing at the hilarity of an IKEA bag of cookies.  The night before Marcus left ,my itty bitty kitchen was absolutely drowning in cookies. Marcus kept groaning that they would never let him on the plane with that many cookies and that they’d confiscate them at security check.  I told him just to bribe his way through with cookies.  No one can say no to a cookie.  It’s a fundamental part of human nature.

I spend so much time at grocery stores it’s embarrassing.  I think the Whole Foods employees might be sick of my face.  Based on the money I am spending on groceries, it’s starting to qualify as a vice.  I am trying a new thing.  When I cook I am going to try and work with the ingredients that I already have on hand rather than re-supplying myself with an entirely new pantry every time I have to impulse to cook a meal with 12,000 ingredients.  This will probably lead to some experimental cooking.  Last week’s concoction was ginger fried rice with diced meat balls and garlic yakisoba.

Yes, a basic chocolate chip cookie is sort of perfect in every way but sometimes I need a fancy cookie.  I bought some rosewater a while back and completely forgot about it until I came across it the other day while looking for something to eat for breakfast.  Paired with almond meal and basil, these ingredients made for a pretty excellent tea cookie.  I also sandwiched them with lemon curd.  I know that using these many flavors is a big no-no but i think all of them were subtle enough that it all worked out.  I love tea cookies.  They make me feel elegant.

oh, i also made a chocolate version with strawberry jam.

carrot cupcakes, lime curd tartlets, and truffles

a pretty excellent crust.  the secret?  vodka!

These are my cousins Ethan and Madison and they’re visiting for two weeks from Korea.  On my days off I’ve been babysitting them and we’ve been doing fantastic things together.  Watching movies.  Going to the beach.  Eating terribly unhealthy fast food.  Watching an overacting Miley Cyrus on the Disney channel.  And of course, baking up a storm.

We baked chocolate chip reese’s pieces cookies and by special request, black and white cookies.

As it turns out both my cousins are quite impressive bakers.

I don’t want them to go back!!

crab omelet

raspberry pancakes

french dip sandwich

For father’s day we went to Plum’s Cafe in Costa Mesa.  My dad is so cute.  He wore the shirt that we bought him last year for Father’s Day.  I wish I could see my dad more often.  I feel like I’ve been a negligent daughter lately.

How does one make red velvet cupcakes without food coloring?  The answer is beets, my friend, beets.

Basil in desserts is exciting