Fresh Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Why not bombard you with cakes and cream cheese icing!? This way, you'll at least get to perfect your icing-making techniques. You can put cream cheese icing on shoe leather and it will taste great, so go ahead and learn this recipe. It pairs well with everything...banana, pumpkin, chocolate, strawberry, red velvet, cardboard, the list goes on...

Tis the season for strawberries; well, tis nearly the season. Once they have come in full force, you'll hopefully have found the time to make this cake. There is a place where you can pick your own strawberries just up the road in Gretna, and I've got to get there! I am not sure if the berries are ready, but I sure am. As a kid I would dip my berries in sugar, take a bite, double, triple, and quadruple drip until the strawberry was consumed. Each bite had as much sugar as there was berry. I have since graduated to eating strawberries without sugar, but as a kid, there was nothing like a big bowl of strawberries accompanied by a tiny sugar bowl.

I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I am not a cake fan. I prefer something dense, fudge-y, molten, and/or gooey. Something that is all of the above, served warm, topped with ice cream takes the cake (so to speak). This cake was commissioned for my mother's co-worker's birthday, so while it wasn't the thing I would choose to celebrate my birth, I was happy to make it! I started with store-bought strawberries...I know, I know, but I haven't had time to do my laundry or buy groceries much less go strawberry picking! I keep telling myself that things will calm down, but it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case. Once work clams down, life picks up, and when life calms down...you know the drill. Anyway, I had Easter Monday off and Mom had done the grocery shopping, so all I had to do was bake the cake. Easy enough. I, surprisingly, accomplished that and a lot more on my day off.

This cake was really fun to make, and it's beautiful. It comes out a light pink color--it's all natural, no dyes or jello like other recipes for strawberry cake I saw that are electric pink--and screams spring. If you have the time to go strawberry picking, you have to make this cake! It will be ten times better with fresh-picked berries, and it was pretty darn good with ones from the store (I was able to taste it, because the birthday lady was kind enough to save me a piece). It's a lot for me to say a cake was good. It was so very moist.

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

I haven't eaten in many college dining halls, but UVa's dining halls weren't half bad. They had the best veggie chili and cornbread, tuna salad, Parmesan-peppercorn salad dressing, ice milk and soy milk, grilled chicken caesar salads among many, many other things. With the first-year dining plan, you had $250 "plus dollars" that could be spent on food in any of the on-campus convenience stores, cafes, and coffee shops. They roll over from fall to spring semester, but not from year to year. After first semester, I had only spent $50, because A) I didn't quite understand how they worked and B) I was such a tightwad I didn't want to spend them (it wasn't like I could get them back).

Anyway, at the beginning of second semester, I realized I had $450 to spend on food in addition to the weekly 12 meals I had. I guess this is how people get that "freshman fifteen." Fortunately I went to boarding school, so that was taken are of four years earlier. I spent the majority of my money during "Hell Week." It's the week at the end of guys' pledging, where they make them do outrageous things...their whole pledging is full of those sorts of bonding activities, but this particular week, they live at their respective fraternity houses and are at the mercy of the brothers with the exception of class time + ten minutes travel time to and from. I have several stories, but I'll spare you. I will say there is little sleep and food involved.

Every day before class, I would go to The Castle--the first-year fast food joint in the basement of the dorm Bonnycastle, crafty naming, huh? I'd spend boo coo bucks on my friend who was pledging...French fries, cheeseburgers, Starbursts, soft drinks--the works--and come to class with a feast. He would scarf it down in the first ten minutes, and proceed to nap for the next hour until he had to rush back to the house.

This is a very (VERY) roundabout way of telling you about the best things made by the dining services at UVA...the rice krispie treats and the banana bread. The rice krispie treats had more butter and marshmallow than your average treat, and they were killer. They banana bread so, so good and moist. They would sometimes make a banana-bread-cream-cheese sandwich. It is UNREAL. These cupcakes are sort of like that. They are very moist and flavorful, and you can't go wrong putting cream cheese icing on anything. Don't feel guilty having one of these for breakfast with a cup of joe (or after dinner with a glass of good red wine)...it's not a cupcake; it's bread and cream cheese!

Steak Marinade and Red Wine Reduction

Unacceptable. I have been horrible about writing, and I would promise you that I will post X number of times a week...but let's be honest, that's a promise I know I can't keep forever. BUT have no fear, I am still alive and well and fully intend to post recipes...no matter how frequently...or infrequently. By infrequently, I mean weekly (hopefully).

I went to my parents' house last weekend, and per usual, my family decides we need to have a feast. My presence alone is enough to call everyone from the block to a gathering for which I will cook everything. I have no qualms with that, because I'm just as happy in the kitchen as I am mingling with everyone. Fortunately, everyone always seems to mingle in my kitchen, so I have the best f both worlds. I was happy to have a crowd to cook for, because when cooking for one, I rarely make time- and labor- intensive things without a reason or a crowd.

The men in attendance requested steak. I figured this was the perfect time to try the red wine reduction I've had on my "To Cook" list along with about 35 other dishes--I need more time! Dad went to the local meat place (mmm) for ribeye and New York Strip, and I grabbed the other fixings. We had baked potatoes (with all of the fixings, including herb butter), rolls (enter more herb butter), roasted asparagus, and an extensive salad bar to accompany the steaks.

DISCLAIMER: I will advise against cooking this unless you have time. It was a gloomy afternoon without much to do, so spending it in the kitchen was no problem. Had it been 80 and beautiful, I probably wouldn't have been as thrilled by standing over a gas stove watching wine evaporate for the sheer fact that I could hear spring calling my name. There was nothing springy about this afternoon other than the April shower. It was well worth the time and effort, so if you have time or a special occasion, don't write this recipe off!

We had twelve steaks to marinate, so I had to 2.5 this recipe! We went through a lot of red wine this night, both in the recipes and in our glasses.

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake with Raspberry Whipped Cream

My co-worker's birthday was this week. Normally, I'm off the hook for office birthdays, because my supervisor took a year off and went to pastry school. SO she makes any and everything for us on our special days--no matter how random the request. We are actually graced with baked goods from her at least twice a week. It's so dangerous, but at least, they don't sit in my office for the taking.

The birthday girl loves chocolate and raspberry together. I am not the biggest fan of mixing chocolate and fruit--nope, not even chocolate-covered strawberries. I also don't like peanut butter and fruit together. Now put peanut butter and chocolate together, and I won't turn it down! I also needed to find a gluten-free recipe.

What has chocolate, raspberry, and no flour? A chocolate raspberry mousse cake, of course!

The most difficult part of this recipe was the raspberry puree. I started with frozen raspberries that I thawed. After blending them, I placed them in a strainer to drain...to no avail. I think I had a tablespoon of juice/puree. I wasn't feeling too patient that night, so I whipped out the cheese cloth and dumped the puree into that. I was able to squeeze over a cup of liquid out of the puree. The process resulted in me having raspberry juice drooling down my arms and splattered all over the place. It was worth it though, because I added some of the reserved puree to the whipped cream--so light, summery, and fruity! It was the perfect pairing to bring out the notes of raspberry in the cake.

Orange Scented Roasted Green Beans with Pecans

I created this recipe, because I wanted to make green beans a new and exciting way. I sort of threw together a bunch of ingredients I like to make this dish, and it is (like so many of my dishes) easily customizable. You may use lemon instead of orange, use different nuts, use shallots or leeks--really, I just want people to experiment with my dishes. They are starting points for you and catalysts for you to experiment...or if you are afraid of the kitchen, just follow the recipe. One day you may have enough confidence in what you've learned by following recipes to create your own.

This morning, I saw that Katie Couric (a fellow 'Hoo, I might add) has a book out filled with advice she has received along the way. There was an excerpt online, and I decided to see what piece of advice I could glean before moving on and answering work emails. One of the excerpts is from Mario Batali and talks about his path to where he is now. He is Italian and worked in some of the best chefs' restaurants! And moved to England and went to Le Cordon Blue! And then moved to Italy and cooked for three years! AND opened his own restaurant in New York with the techniques he learned in that tiny Italian town! Really? May I have just one of these experiences? Preferably one that would enable me to live abroad, but really, beggars can't be choosers.

Toward the end of the excerpt, Mario says, "Life is not a recipe. Recipes are just descriptions of one person’s take on one moment in time. They’re not rules. People think they are. They look as if they are. They say, 'Do this, not this. Add this, not that.' But, really, recipes are just suggestions that got written down."

I couldn't have said it better myself! Make these dishes your own; don't be afraid to try something new or random. I do it all of the time...I only share the successes with you! You will have triumphs and failures, but eventually, the successes will outnumber the failures because you will learn what goes with what...and what doesn't go with what. You will try new thing you never thought you'd try before and may never want to try again. But that's what it's all about. Take a chance. Learn from your mistakes.

Chocolate Pecan Pie with Agave

Hi team-

I don't like to broadcast that I gave up something for Lent, because I think it is a private thing and shouldn't be done for public gratification, but I figured y'all might be worried about me, since I haven't posted too many sweet recipes since the thank-you cookie extravaganza.

It's nearing the one-month mark of Lent, and things are getting tough. It is not nearly as bad as the time I gave up fried food AND desserts--now I eat a ton of vegetables and "fresh $#!@" according to my father. I always give up sweets, because it's so hard...it's like taking away a shopaholic's credit cards. I have been pretty good about it thus far, but sometimes you want to have a cupcake your boss brought from Georgetown Cupcake, or some sticky toffee pudding from an awesome WV bakery you get in the mail as a thank-you, or the rhubarb strawberry crumble...oh wait, I cheated that night. For YOU. For the sake of that post.

Fortunately, I had an excuse to make dessert this week. I am going to a friend's house for dinner tonight, and she asked me to bring dessert. Since this pie is a gift, I'm still in the clear. That works perfectly, because 1) I've been wanting to try a pecan pie, and 2) I would feel badly turning down a dessert she had made.

I never thought I liked pecan pie, but the first time I had it (just this year), I realized what I had been missing.  I was at Molasses Grill with friends, and one ordered the bourbon pecan pie with Jack Daniel's ice cream. It was a whopping 1/6 of a deep-dish pie, and she couldn't finish it alone (wus), so I took one for the team and offered to help. The bourbon ice cream brought out the hint of bourbon in the pie, and there were also chocolate chips in the pie, yum!  It was so good, and the salty, flaky crust was perfect.

I love nuts, especially pecans, but I think I have been avoiding this pie because it's normally laden with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). I don't care what the propaganda commercials from the corn industry say, I try to avoid corn syrup. This particular night, the pie was too good to worry about HFCS. I found a recipe utilizing agave nectar (I played with the recipe ingredients and proportions a bit to get what I wanted). I will definitely be making this again...once Lent is over, so I will actually be able to enjoy it.

Fun fact, agave nectar is made from the same plant from which we get tequila. It is thinner than honey, has much the same consistency of maple syrup, and has an earthy sweetness.

Roasted Garlic and Herb White Bean Hummus

I love hummus. I have not always loved hummus. I had never heard of hummus until my senior year of high school, and for opening my eyes to such a food, I thank my roommate from Alabama. Until she and I became friends, I thought Alabama was the place where no one wore shoes, went to school, or lived in a house without wheels--a bit like West Virginia, just more humid and less mountain music. Boy was I wrong. Thank goodness for boarding school, because it killed nearly every stereotype I previously held about place or type of person and made me a much more open-minded and compassionate person (alright, I know I'm not the most compassionate person, but I'm much more so than before!).

Focus, Lelan. Hummus. Yes, hummus. Julia and I would go on Deli Runs and pick up the one and only brand of hummus sold in the entire county (not a hot-ticket item in my neck of the woods, and since it makes no economical sense to take up a lot of shelf space with several brands, we had very little choice). We would grab a bag of whole wheat pitas. Those were also the days when I ate peaches in a cup, Trix yogurt, freez-e pops, Pop Tarts, cotton candy ice cream, and Ritz crackers and cheddar cheese like it was my job, so don't go thinking we were being really healthy with the pita and hummus. I was skeptical to say the least, and it did get some taking used to. But once I was on the hummus train, there was no going back.

I tried to make hummus several summers ago when living with my aunt while I had an internship--the work environment was very similar to The Office, and the hummus was a complete disaster. The tahini. Oh the tahini (you know the sesame paste that makes hummus hummus). It was awful. That was all you could taste, and it smelled like body odor. We ditched that, and I thought I'd never make hummus again.

And then, I decided, who needs tahini? I'll make it without that mess. And I did. This time, it was a huge success. I also realized I liked hummus better with white beans; I think they are creamier. I could never get the chickpeas smooth enough no matter how long I pulverized them. I also start with dried beans, which infinitely increases the time from start to finish, but I like being able to control the amount of salt that is added. I also wanted to tackle my fear of dried beans, and this was a great way to do so. It doesn't really matter if you overcook them a little, because you're just going to puree them into smithereens.

Easiest Bread Ever: Rosemary

Piece of advice #1, do NOT make this on a rainy day! I had to make bread for an office luncheon and didn't have much choice in when I made it, but the weather definitely made a difference. It has been rainy and gloomy for the past several days--spring, where are you?? I did not really think about this while making the bread (I didn't think about it until my roommate brought it to my attention), but the humidity in the air caused the bread not to rise as much. I should have added a bit more flour or less water. I am blaming the weather for my bread flop, because a) this recipe was perfect the last time I made it and I didn't do anything differently, and b) the weather can't defend itself and place the blame back on me. Despite its leaden nature, the bread wasn't bad. It had great flavor; it just didn't rise as much as it was supposed to. It was chewy like ciabatta.


This is an effortless bread recipe and is perfect for entertaining, because it requires very little hands-on time and will keep for a few days. As long as you know you are having people over in advance, you can make this and pop it in the oven to reheat when they arrive.


I love homemade bread, but it (read: yeast) is as moody and finicky as your typical awkward middle schooler. I have had good experiences with making my own bread and not-so-good experiences, and I blame the yeast (or the way it reacts with the weather), because I swear, I don't do anything differently from one time to another. I have not gotten disheartened and continue to try to make bread with about a 50% success rate.


The first time I made this bread, I left it plain, but since my herb garden is alive, well, and multiplying before my eyes, I decided to add some rosemary this time. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs to use. Love. It. You will probably get sick of seeing it in my future recipes. As the summer nears (if it ever does) and local produce starts filling my refrigerator, I will begin to use all of my herbs, most notably rosemary.