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So if you couldn’t tell by now, I love strawberries.  A whole lot.  They’re one of my favorite fruits and I try to eat them as often as possible during the summer when ripe.

Well a couple of weeks ago my roommates and I went to Costco and I picked up a giant crate of strawberries.  Since it was Costco, there were enough strawberries to feed a small army (or in my case a house full of people).  I did manage to stash a couple of them away in the freezer for future use luckily.  Unfreezing berries for cooking always yields mushy results, which are fantastic for baking.  When I initially froze the strawberries I had no future plans and thought I would hold on to them until I found something delicious to make.  Well luckily, that something found me.  While in Whole Foods last week I decided to buy a magazine but unfortunately they were out of Us Weekly, so I picked up Whole Living instead (I’m joking…Whole Foods doesn’t even sell Us Weekly).

Anyway, I found this recipe for Strawberry Muffins and

I just knew they had to be made.

I think they’ve gone over well with the aforementioned army known as my roommates.  More than have of them were gone in less than 24 hours and the remainder within 48.

I like this recipe for a couple of reasons.  The first being, I modified it a bunch and the muffins were still delicious.  Secondly, it does not produce an overly sweet muffin.  The cake part is wholesome and the strawberries are the sweet parts of the muffin.  As a result, these are good for breakfast on the run.

Strawberry Muffins

Adapted from Whole Living

• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup  vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar, lightly mash the berries and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt, oil, egg, and vanilla.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Fold just until combined and divide among 12 muffins.
4. Bake about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

is best served with

Donut Holes from Citizen Cake and

Blue Bottle Coffee

…Tartine Bakery?

Just so you know, it’s still good.

(Lemon Cream Tart)

It’s no surprise individuals tend to surround themselves with people who have similar interests.  I am no exception.  One of my best friends went to pastry school and now writes here, another good friend organizes food tours in NY.  I was also fortunate enough to have landed in a summer sublet with 4 med-students who enjoy giant dinners and red wine (thank you craigslist)!  [If you didn't know already, I'm living and working in California for the summer]

Anyway, back to people with similar interests.  My friend Leah lives out here and in January I had the opportunity to stay with her and her family.  Best. Decision. Ever.  Her mom is a fantastic cook and Leah is quite the baker (their kitchen makes me swoon whenever I think about it).  So of course when I got an invite to Sunday dinner, I jumped at the chance (speaking of which, Leah, please send me your mom’s potato salad recipe!).  There was potato salad (duh), flank steak (yum!), corn on the cob (a summer staple) PLUS berry pie (are you starting to see why I like going to their house?).

Well post-dinner, we were teaching another friend how to make Ina Garten’s Fleur De Sel Caramels.  We had made them six months prior, so it was definitely time to break out the recipe again AND our signature logo.   Yes, we individually wrapped the caramels and put our initials on them too (they do teach us branding in business school). These caramels are delicious and everyone who has encountered them usually can’t stop at just one.

Ina Garten’s Fleur De Sel Caramels

(with some minor modifications)

• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp Fleur De Sel + extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Line the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan (or loaf pan) with parchment paper, then brush the paper lightly with oil, allowing the paper to drape over 2 sides.

In a deep saucepan combine the sugar, corn syrup, and 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to boil until the caramel is a warm golden brown color. Swirl the pan to mix.

In the meantime, bring the cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon fleur de sel to a simmer in a small pan over medium heat. Remove from the heat, set aside and keep warm.

When the caramelized sugar is the right color, slowly add the cream mixture to the caramel (it boils “violently” and is fun to watch). Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 °F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer. Very carefully pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate until firm.

When the caramels are cool, use the parchment paper to pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board.  Another differentiation.  They are too big if you roll them like Ina, so just cut into 1-inch squares, individually wrap in parchment and they are perfect to share with good company, provided they last that long.

Ok…perhaps that title is a bit of an overstatment.  I don’t want to get everyone too excited, but a better name might be, “Mediocre Cookie Experiment” or even just “Cookie Experiment.”  The reason for the experiment?  I felt like baking.  The experimental part was the fact a good portion of my cooking equipment has been packed (I’m moving in two weeks).  It was interesting, but I did manage to find my cookie pan in a box before proceeding.

The other part of the experiment…I’m running low on some ingredients (please see above re: moving).  I had to move around some proportions of the recipe and I also (gasp!) didn’t measure a bunch of things either (which in hindsight might have not been the best idea).  The recipe was Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, from Martha Stewart.  Ok, they’re actually from Sisha Ortuzar, co-owner and executive chef of ‘wichcraft, a great sandwich (get it?) place that I used to visit in NY.  The only major edit I made to the recipe was for the filling.  I added some cocoa powder to the mix to try and add some chocolate flavor.

The end result?  They’re gorgeous.  They remind me of heartier version of French macaroons.  Taste wise, I actually thought they were a bit too rich initially.  However, they taste much better the next day, so I recommend making them ahead of time.   My classmates liked them a lot (but of course they could just be too nice to tell me the truth).

Although, taking another look at them makes me think they look like tiny hamburgers…