Tiramisu

Just in case you want to join me in getting a little twisty and then eating tiramisu for breakfast some time, here is the very best tiramisu recipe of all time.  VERY. BEST.  I know because it's my mums.  Also: she scans recipes in and sends me the exact recipe she uses, so you should add the 2T of Kalua and know that 16 oz of cream is FINE apparently.  And get a big trifle bowl.

For Bread, For Jam

Have you ever made butter?  I did the whole shaking the mason jar violently in elementary school but I'd never done it as an adult.  I followed the Food In Jars recipe and it's amazing.  Light and whipped and tangier than regular butter.  I was eating it on crackers on Sunday like a git.  So amazing.  Go and make it now.  It tastes like magic.

Lemon Curd

Canning*

After the Christmas canning extravaganza I was well and truly over canning for a while. The desire to put food in jars has just returned and in earnest. I’ve made lemon curd and tomato jam and strawberry syrup (friends should visit – I will provide breakfast foods to accompany the syrup) and am getting ready for a marathon weekend of canning favours for a friend’s bridal shower. I’m thinking of doing more lemon curd and wandering the markets and see what I can find for a more traditional jam (maybe strawberry again? Or apricot? Yum!). The lemon curd recipe is magical. I’ve heard varying things about whether or not you can can it. Ashley English says pressure can it. Food In Jars says water bath is fine. Hannah says put it in jars and put those jars in the freezer until you need them and then pop them in the fridge. That’s what I did just to be safe. Spread them on scones or crumpets or toast or eat it by the spoonful (most of ours has gone the way of Hannah standing in front of the kitchen door eating curd by the spoon). And the curd is AMAZING spread on these Pepper-Cumin Cookies.

Lemon Curd
6 lemons
4 eggs
2 cups superfine sugar (or regular sugar in a food processor until it looks super fine whatever that means)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter

Makes about three half pint jars.

Wash and dry your lemons, then zest them (try to avoid the pith).  Juice lemons and strain to remove lemony bits and seeds.  Set aside.

Crack eggs into medium heat-safe bowl and beat lightly so the yolks are all mixed in.   Fill a medium saucepan with 3 inches of water and bring to a simmer.  Set the metal bowl over the simmering water to form a double boiler.  Add sugar, butter, lemon zest and juice and whisk until the sugar is all dissolved and the butter has melted.

Stir the mixture until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon - mine took about 11 minutes.  I poured mine directly into clean jars and let them cool a bit before popping the lids on and fridging the one I planned to consume immediately and freezing the other two. I'm hoping someone on the Food in Jars facebook page will get back to me and let me know if you really can can this because it would be amazing to be able to really preserve it.  Enjoy!

*I realize that all my photos recently have been instagramed.  I promise I'll take real pictures soon.

Let Them Eat

The cake came from our friendly neighborhood farmer's market cupcake lady. She made the cake, dropped it off with Meghan-the-day-of-coordinator and then at the last minute we decided that my little tiny peg people should go on the regular cake. Because I'm crafty darn it. Crafty. She also arranged some extra flowers around it. My youngest sister at it for breakfast every day for a week after the wedding. It was so unbelievably delicious. I remember reading somewhere on APW about a couple who served cake to everyone and we hadn't really thought about who was going to serve the cake so I ended up doing it. Which gave me a chance to speak to everyone who wanted cake and made me feel like a real hostess, I loved it. I also managed to resist feeding David cake. Which. I. Did. Not. Want. To. Do.

Feeding cake to my sister-in-law, which I did want to do. Please ignore my double chin.

If anyone in Western or Central Maryland or South Central PA wants a fantastic farmers market cake tasting like magic, shoot me an email and I will hook you up. I have all the hook-ups.

All photos by Shaun Yasaki

Yum

This bridal shower has cupcakes in jars. Seriously. I wanna be Ruby sometimes.

Getting Stuff DONE

This weekend was a wedding weekend to be reckoned with. We registered together once, I registered again by myself, we got not one but two suits and we sorted out our wedding cake. We also cried a couple of times because the caterer will not get back to me, and the printer messed up the save the dates twice.

First off, Macy's. Is. Awesome. We had a fantastic Registry Lady called Brenda who faffed around with us and was there if we wanted her and not if we didn't and when I couldn't find enough Botanical Garden Serveware (Dave doesn't like it so we can't get a whole set, boooo) she went online after we left and found a bunch and emailed me links. Because she's lovely. And there were not boxes piled to the ceiling and the scanners worked really well and there wasn't too much stuff but there is just enough stuff. If you are in the DC area you should go to Macy's in the Tysons Corner Center. Ask for Brenda. She's a treat. The next day I registered alone at Target because we wanted a carafe and shocking as it sounds, we couldn't find one we liked at Macy's. Plus I was there anyway trying on this. It was okay. No complaints. It just wasn't as AWESOME as Macy's.

Apres Macy's while wandering around in Tysons we wandered into the Crewzels. Of course we did. Like moths to a flame. We couldn't help ourselves. We bought not one but two suits (although with the twenty percent off for starting a card which we have already paid off and canceled it wasn't as bad as it could have been). So now Davey's gonna look super stellar. Seersucker for the rehearsal (if you find me a super cool rehearsal dinner dress I'll buy you beer) and a real suit for the wedding (and also for job interviews and maybe work, I am justifying).

We also sorted out the cake this weekend. The Cupcake Lady of farmers market fame (she's out of her mind and has 16 cats and makes crazy delicious, beautiful cupcakes that she sells out of her garage) is making our cake. For very little money. It's going to be chocolate with creamy non-fondant frosting (because seriously, fondant isn't yummery and yummery is important). I am very excited about this cake. Cupcake Lady rocks.

Wine

We like cheap wine. We buy it by the case. We like it better than wines that taste twice as much. We are, as I have said before, very young. Since we are doing the reception in my parents old barn we can buy our own wine by the case (and beer by the keg and scotch and vodka and gin etc by the handle, we know and love our alcohol) and I think these fantastic labels stuck on our cheap out bottles would be LOVELY.

Now the question is: to pick one for the red and one for the white or to just randomly throw a bunch on a bunch of different bottles. And what to write on them? "Hannah and David 7/17/10" is just not that cool. Any thoughts?

found via I-DiY