September 2020
Hello!
After months of being stuck at home and only limiting our outside interactions to essential trips, Erlend and I finally took some very cautious first steps into expanding our world. We celebrated our would-be wedding date of August 28th with a lovely, outdoor-seated dinner at a new restaurant. It was a welcome break from the perfunctory lunches and dinners we’d been surviving on at home.
Because prior to this month, the last time we dined in a restaurant together was in early March of this year. And until this recent meal out, I didn’t realize what a big part of my life I’d lost. I’ve always loved, well, eating. Not only the desserts I make for Hummingbird High, but also eating out in restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, bakeries, and so on. As a result, I made doing so a priority in our lives. I chose to buy a smaller, modest house in a central part of the city to be close to my favorite places. And before the pandemic, we ate out at least once or twice a week.
It’s hard for me to imagine doing that now, or anytime soon.
This month, I read a bittersweet article in The New York Times in which New Yorkers described their final meals at their favorite restaurants. Many of these restaurants were closing or were about to do so because the pandemic had made their businesses unsustainable. My heart broke thinking about the business owners, chefs, and staff who’d poured their everything into these places. Furthermore, I’ve seen some grim statistics on the decimated restaurant industry. Some sources say that up to 60% of small restaurants will close in the next few years as a direct result of COVID-19. Others project numbers as high as 80% or 90%.
But what does it mean if we’ve chosen to live somewhere based on a rapidly changing community? Especially since the last few months of being stuck at home made the shortcomings of our house painfully obvious. So do we move elsewhere to a new house with everything we need and want? Or do we stay, in the hopes that the community we love will eventually bounce back?
I don’t know what any of the answers are, but I suspect that many of you are grappling with the same questions. The housing market in Portland—and elsewhere—is hysterical right now. A quick call with my architect and contractor also confirmed that they’re both busier than ever. Many are remodeling their homes to fit their changing needs. All I know is that, even with all the uncertainty, Erlend and I are still very lucky and privileged that these are our worries.
How are you guys doing?
In Case You Missed It: New Recipes
And in case you missed it, I published and updated the following recipes in the past month. Here’s a round-up of everything new:
- The Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, Elevated
- Small Batch No Bake Cheesecake Bars
- S’mores Chocolate Chip Cookies (This is an update to one of my favorite recipes I published last year! I’m so excited to see so many of you bake the recipe in these past few weeks. Be sure to check it out, along with its Instagram Story tutorial.)
- Easy Canned Cherry Pie Recipe
- Blueberry Cornflake Muffins
- Liège Waffles (This is an update to an old recipe that I published in my cookbook… with a mistake. This is the only mistake in any of the recipes in my book, and I am legit devastated. So if you own Weeknight Baking, please check out this post to see the correction to the recipe!)
- Neapolitan Cookies
Below are pictures of the two most popular recipes from the month—Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies and Small Batch No Bake Cheesecake Bars—to inspire you:
Food For Thought
This past month, I also spent a LOT of time thinking and reading about food beyond the baking recipes you see on this blog. Here are the ideas and issues that resonated with me:
- A few months ago, I had some salty thoughts on the flaming hot mess that is Bon Appetit. Although some of you were optimistic about their public commitment to paying their BIPOC staff comparable wages, it appears to have been nothing more than lip service. Earlier this month, several of their staff announced their departure from their videos, citing failed negotiations. Sigh. That being said, it also looks like they just hired a promising new editor in chief? So we’ll see.
- This New York Times article about Black authors’ disheartening experiences in the cookbook publishing world was neither surprising or revelatory to me. I myself faced many disappointments when I was working on Weeknight Baking. Publishers need to do better.
- Similarly, this Eater article articulates food media’s problematic tendency to limit BIPOC food writers and creators to only cooking food that is from their culture. Specifically: “it is almost always only white food writers, chefs, and recipe developers who get to adopt personas that go beyond their ethnicity.” Brutal.
- As a Portland local and baker, I frequently rely on products from Bob’s Red Mill. They offer a shocking variety of products, and are my go-to company when I need an obscure ingredient like garbanzo fava flour or toasted carob powder. I loved learning about Bob’s Red Mill’s recipe history and recipe development process in Taste.
- Twilight of the Imperial Chef: for many years, chefs were treated as “the new rockstars”. So many tolerated whispers of abusive behavior in the kitchen and excused away toxic behavior for the perfect meal. But it looks like many are now questioning this mindset, and professional kitchens and restaurants are being re-invented as more collaborative spaces. Finally, some good news!
New Cookbooks
So many of my friends, acquaintances, and peers wrote amazing cookbooks this month. Here are a handful of my faves:
- 100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen, with Classic Cookies, Novel Treats, Brownies, Bars, and More by my friend Sarah Kieffer of The Vanilla Bean Blog. These Neapolitan Cookies are from this book. I’m not going to lie—those cookies are definitely on the shortlist for the best recipes I’ve tried this year so far!
- One Tin Bakes: Sweet and Simple Traybakes, Pies, Bars, and Buns by my friend Edd Kimber of The Boy Who Bakes. The raspberry cheesecake buns you see up top are from Edd’s book! The buns are filled with raspberry jam and cream cheese, then topped with a rose-flavored glaze along with pistachios and rose petals. Beautiful, right?!
- Petite Pâtisserie: Bon Bons, Petits Fours, Macarons and Other Whimsical Bite-Size Treats by pastry chef Cheryl Wakerhauser. Cheryl owns a famous patisserie in my city of Portland. Her treats are SO beautiful, stunning and tasty—and now you can make tiny versions of them at home with her new book!
- The Well Plated Cookbook: Fast, Healthy Recipes You’ll Want to Eat by Erin Clarke of Well Plated. Erin and I met on a brand trip to LA a few years ago. I’ve been following her blog since then. It’s my go-to for unfussy, healthyish weeknight dinners—the girl works MAGIC with her one pan recipes. Can’t wait to try the recipes in her new book!
Recipes and Resources To Save
And here are the recipes and cooking-related resources I saved these last few weeks:
- Occasionally, I get questions about how I learned food photography for this blog. Truthfully, the story is very unglamorous. Back in 2012 and 2013, I taught myself through a lot of books, YouTube tutorials, and practice, practice, practice. But it’s now 2020 and there are SO many more resources and communities dedicated to food photography! It’s a whole wide world out there. And you should definitely check out Ana’s guide on how she learned food photography. It’s the most detailed and objective post I’ve seen on food photography yet! {Ana’s Baking Chronicles}
- Heather’s sandcastle cake made my jaws drop. I can’t even. {Sprinkle Bakes}
- A Guide to Common Wheat Flours by Serious Eats.
- If you want to learn how to develop your own baking recipes, I highly suggest checking out Janice’s post on baking ratios to remember. It covers some baking fundamentals on how recipes like pound cake, bundt cake, shortbread, and biscuits come together. {Kitchen Heals Soul}
- Are you guys following my girl Amy from Constellation Inspiration yet? She’s been crushing it on both her blog and Instagram. First, there was her tutorial for shaker cookies. Then, there was this IGTV tutorial for this iconic jello ocean cake. I love it when my friends thrive.
Let’s Get Political
Yes, yes, this is a recipe website. But in the last few months, it’s become painfully obvious that, well, everything is political. Heck, the very act of actively CHOOSING not to speak about the issues I care about is political in itself! So I might as well sing loudly and proudly for my causes, right? Right.
- “Tuesday’s DNC Roll Call Was A Quirky, Unexpected Delight” by Vox. Raise your hand if you watched the DNC’s roll call this month! I personally found it really fun and inspirational. It was heartwarming to see the different states and the diversity of this country represented in so many unique ways. In a way, it almost reminded me of a Parks and Rec episode? I also appreciated that, instead of just politicians, many states featured ordinary citizens talking about their specific experiences. As Vox writes, “Ordinary Americans stole the show at this year’s Democratic convention.”
- Okay, we need to talk about QAnon. When I posted this cake about the protests in my city, I was frightened to see that some of the people who disagreed with me were actively using hateful QAnon language. A further deep-dive into these folks revealed that they were actively promoting baseless QAnon conspiracy theories too. Yikes. The problem is that, thanks to social media, it’s becoming more acceptable to do so. This Atlantic article on how Instagram lifestyle influencers repackage harmful QAnon theories is worth a read.
- On the flip side, I’m sure that many of you have had your Instagram feeds flooded with social justice slideshows in the last few months. Vox details how these slideshows recently came into prominence, and discusses their various pros and cons. Personally, I don’t agree with their general negativity towards them. I think that these slideshows are doing a lot of good by educating people and make complex issues more digestable. However, I do think that these regramming and resharing these slideshows can make it feel like I’m doing enough… when in reality, I need to take it further and take actions IRL, too. What do you guys think?
Finally, On A Lighthearted Note
- “19 Cakes That Have No Business Being This Funny.” I legit laughed out loud at many of these cakes.
- “Peanut Butter and Ranch Dressing: What Americans Abroad Miss From Home.” I moved around a lot as a kid; as a result, there are many foods I have childhood associations and nostalgia for. I miss Magnolia Melon Milk from the Philippines, Walkers Cheese & Onion Crisps from England, and Albert Heijn Puur & Wit Hagelslag Mix from the Netherlands.
- “Help! I Can’t Believe My Son’s Friend Fed Him Indian Food Without Calling Me First.” The first two questions in this advice column. What on earth.
Now, I hope you all are staying safe and healthy! Please let me know how you’re doing in the comments below, and feel free to share the ideas and issues that are floating around in your heads, too.
Good reading. Love your recipes, can I use Splenda instead of regular sugar. My husband and I love sweets but we gave diabetes. Thank you
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I’m sorry, but I’m not sure! I rarely bake with sugar alternatives. My gut tells me you’d need to reduce the amount of splenda because in general, splenda is sweeter than sugar (e.g. 1 teaspoon splenda tastes sweeter than 1 teaspoon granulated sugar). But it would really depend on the recipe. There’s no general rule to follow.
Thank you for addressing the QAnon subject! It so disheartens me to see so many people repeating this rhetoric in otherwise normal posts and comment sections, so I’m glad you brought it up and made it clear you don’t like it.
Thank you for the recipe updates! I want to take another crack at the smore cookies now that the weather is cooling down…