Bake 52: New York Crumb Cake

This week's recipe was fun to make and very delicious! The only thing I would do differently is cook it for 30 minutes instead of 35. It got just a tad dry. The texture was soft and dense with the sweet, cinnamon crumb topping. Yum! This is going on our favorites list, and you should put it on yours too! I can't wait to make it again. Check out the recipe on Jenn's blog.

 

Bake 52: Classic Pancakes

I need a re-do with this recipe. It seems like it's the most simple of recipes that I mess up on. I didn't have buttermilk, so I used the cheater method with lemon juice. However, it was not room temperature, so when I added the melted, cooled butter, it got all clumpy. I had to fish out the clumps and re-melt them. Not pretty. 

My assessment of the recipe is that it had a good flavor, but they did not fluff as much as I thought they would. Perhaps next time they will be better. And there will be a next time.

Nick was very proud of capturing a picture with the steam. Oooooh...  Ahhhhhh...

 I also tried the berry maple syrup recipe. Yum!

Next time for that I think I'll increase the amount of berries and decrease the amount of syrup. It was a tad too subtle for my berry-loving taste.

Check out Jesse's blog for the recipes.

Bake 52: Baklava

This week's recipe was one of the funnest to make, because I got to make it with my sister. She put together a much more detailed blog post, so I'll refer you to her post for all of the details of our baklava-making adventure.

Me stirring up the syrup.

The finished product.

I thought this was a fun recipe to make. It took some time, and the recipe could have done a better job of telling you how long things would take and what would be the best order to do things in. Next time I'll know better how to go about it. Like my sister, I am not a big fan of nuts in baked goods, but I'm not completely opposed if they're chopped fine enough. I loved the flavor of the honey syrup on the phyllo dough. Nick loved it, my friend loved it. I might actually make it again sometime.

Head over to Talesha's blog for the recipe.

Georgetown Cupcakes & Shopping

That's what we did today. We spent the morning at The Container Store. That place is amazing. We stopped at Georgetown Cupcakes and enjoyed a treat, then it was off to the mall for a day full of shopping! It was nice to have a more relaxed girls day.

What we ordered:

Kristen - Boston Creme and Cherry Blossom

Emily - Cherry Blossom, Chocolate Coconut, Cinnamon

Brenda - Chocolate Ganache

Jenn - Vanilla Birthday Cake

The National Mall & Shear Madness

 Today is a rainy day out here so we're just hanging out and relaxing . . . and making Baklava. 

Here's a summary of our adventures from yesterday.

Jenn & Kristen in front of the White House.

Mom & me in front of the White House - you can see the flag at least.

Mom admiring the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It's one of my favorite buildings in the city.

The South lawn view of the White House.

Visiting the Mall means walking.

A LOT of walking!

The scenery is worth it.

Kristen & Jenn's reflections on the Vietnam Memorial wall.

The Korean War Memorial.

That's me.

The recently opened Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

The World War II Memorial.

After our day-long walk on the Mall, we headed over to the Kennedy Center. On the way we passed some really cute houses. One of them had some very strange yard art. Stuffed people playing in the yard and tangled in the trees and bushes. It was odd. 

We went to see the show Shear Madness, which is an interactive murder mystery. They mix a lot of news, current events and pop culture into the show. Jenn didn't like it much, but the rest of us thought it was a fun show.

This stuffed person had a pink head.

The Watergate Hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kennedy Center. The view from the terrace is beautiful.

This picture helps you see the scale of the building. Look at those stage doors!

Jenn in the Grand Foyer.

Nick met us there for the show. Here's one view from the terrace.