Ricotta Calzones

Dear God,

First of all, thank you for being such a loving God. Thank you for putting up with my not-so-holy rantings for the past 21 years. I know it was hard, so I really appreciate the love.

And thank you, God, for carrots. 

I grated about three cups' worth and made a 9 x 13 carrot cake. It was delicious, as your omniscient presence knows. 

Thank you that I totally messed up the decorations on the said carrot cake above. Trying to arrange, frost, and decorate the entire thing in 30 minutes flat didn't work so well. I remain humbled before you and in front of thin-consistency red-orange frosting. FYI, that color is evil.

And lastly, God, thank you for calzones. With your grace I have redeemed myself through these cheesy suckers.

I ask for your everlasting culinary mercy for the future happenings to happen in my kitchen.

Amen.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes can make you feel better about anything and everything.

Even if you attend a radio show in the afternoon for two hours...earnestly wishing that your Korean was a teensy bit better to your own liking. Even if that show airs LIVE -as in, the host asks you something you did not expect and you can't edit the stupid rambling that rolls off your Judas tongue while your brain, in a very timely manner, just. goes. blank.

Which, of course, is precisely what happened to me.

Pasta with Pesto

 

A long long time ago, little Rae thought pasta meant mac and cheese.  And only mac and cheese. The kind that comes in a box.

Obviously I've come a long way since then.

So...let's talk pesto.

Pesto is delightful. Pesto is earthy. Pesto is the green goodness you should've had instead of those overcooked/overseasoned/overmashed broccoli and spinach you thought were how green veggies should look and taste. I mean, eew.

I get that some of you will absolutely hate pesto. I do. Pesto will be an acquired taste for those of you who grew up hating garlic and herbs and anything that's not drenched in cream sauce. And still, that's A-okay. One day you will know and appreciate the aperitive, robust fragrance that will grace your kitchen many times over.

Because I just know you're classy like that.

Pan-Seared Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

I was having one of those weeks recently.

You know, one of those weeks when you're sick for no reason. You can't get in touch with the one person who can make your day no matter what. You can't come up with a new recipe for your blog. You find out that your troublesome student does, in fact, has a history of behavioral problems.

But hey, such is life. You just gotta accept it and move on to the good stuff.

Like figuring out how to put tilapia and pineapple together.

Sweet Yogurt Scones

I'm a real, bona-fide weirdo.

I don't eat meat. I think to pair buckwheat noodles with pomegranates (see here). I've never had a boyfriend. I'm a Korean who's an English major. I don't like skinny jeans, leggings, logo T-shirts, and animal prints. I once did a rhetorical analysis on "Fireflies" by Owl City. I run a cooking blog.

And then there's where I baked scones for the first time. 

I made them in the late afternoon and ate one as dessert. Then I had dinner... that consisted of rice, kimchi, egg, and seaweed. 

I don't deny my strangeness. You shouldn't, either. 

Cappuccino Cookies (Baking Marathon Pt. 2)

Coffee + White Chocolate. In cookie form. Need I say more?

I know I'm not supposed to do this...but I always taste my cookie dough before baking. Come on- I know you do it, too. Certain things in life you're supposed to do even when told otherwise. This is one of them. (But do make sure a hospital is nearby- salmonella is scary stuff!)

I never thought I would meet a recipe where the cookie dough tastes better than the finished cookies. But it was. I was amazed. I was floored. I was in love there for a second.

Biscotti Toscani (Baking Marathon Pt. 1)

Food equals love. That's my cooking philosophy.

I go into crazy mode when I'm baking for people I love. I get picky about baking every dessert from scratch. I become obsessive about giving something that I consider perfected and mastered. I eat the burnt cookies and give the golden ones away. I brush off excess crumbs before packaging. I cut the ends of the ribbon. I send them off with kisses.

Today I visited some of my sweetest and dearest at Oxford College. So understandably, I was up by 7:30 AM... and baking nonstop from 8:30 AM to noon.

I made banana bread (get the recipe here), biscotti toscani, and cappuccino cookies. It was a busy morning. I loved it.

Soba Noodles with Pomegranate

After a long day, I found myself standing by the kitchen counter and staring at a little packet of Korean crackers for dinner.

A split second later, the crackers were in the trash, and I scoured the fridge for inspiration. And that's how I came around to making buckwheat noodles with pomegranate vinaigrette.

Buckwheat noodles, or soba noodles, may equal unusual "health food" to Americans, but really, it's just Japanese vermicelli. I grew up eating these noodles with seasoned kimchi, and it's really tasty. However, I was eager to invent something new, and what got my attention was the bottle of pomegranate vinegar and the pomegranate seeds I prepared the day before.