Vanilla Bean Meringue Cupcakes with Strawberry Rhubarb

  Rhubarb is definitely a Grandma ingredient.  Unfortunately, I've never felt too friendly with it.  I'd eat it, somewhat begrudgingly, as a kid.  When I grew up a little more and could pick and choose, I deliberately avoided it.  It was red, weird, crunchy, and sort of bitter.

  Why are people attracted to this?  That question ran through my head every time the family flocked around grandma's rhubarb meringue pie, or whatever else she had concocted with her garden's abundance.  I'd shrug my shoulders and go for the cookie jar and juice, cringing slightly at the purple reddish vegetables on everyone's plates. 

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Nutella Buttercream

  Sooo, this cupcake is totally vegan.  The buttercream is...kinda sorta vegan.  Peanut butter, no big deal.  Nutella?  Apparently it contains milk product.  But wait wait wait!  If you're a vegan and you're wringing your hands, stop.  You can make your own!  Vegan-ize it!  There's lots of stuff out there, but this recipe looks pretty good.  Everybody wins!

Brown Butter Dutch Baby Pancake with Lemon and Sugar

  Well.  I've kinda been having one of those flop-like baking weeks.  If you ask me, anyway.  Ask anyone else that lives here and they'll tell you that's ridiculous, one broken bundt definitely doesn't define my week.  But to them, they only care about what stuff tastes like.  That is super important, but I'm a sucker for pretty presentation.  When things break or fruit gets mushy, I'm not happy.  I can't take pretty pictures and, subsequently, can't blog about the recipe.

Strawberry Brown Butter Upside-Down Cake

  Woah!  Hey there summer, didn't see you sneaking up there.

  Except I totally did.  And I'm totally ready, with a totally awesome cake, that was made for summer mornings and coffee.

  If you're like me, and you don't like coffee...Earl Grey is always the answer.

Avocado Fries with Spicy Dipping Sauce and BBQ Sour Cream Chive Dip

  My titles have been on the long side lately.  And that's cool!  Means lots of flavors are happening.

  This week's Sundays with Joy post was a challenge for me in a few ways:

  1. Deep frying...and avocados.  I was skeptical, I'll admit it.  And maybe wouldn't have tried it out if it weren't for this group.  Gettin' outside my box!

  2. I cook and stuff, a girl can't live on cupcakes and cookies alone, but my blog is definitely heavier on the baked goods.  I don't have a lot of practice taking pictures of fried things.

  3. The smell of hot oil makes my mother nauseous.  Making these entails dragging our mechanical deep fryer out to the mudroom and guessing at the oil temp, which is maintained with a blinking light and my gut instinct.

Grandma's Egg Pancakes

  I'm pleased to announce that my first ever guest post is up!  My friend Jeremy and I have been planning this for awhile, and I finally got it written and sent off this past week.

  Head on over to Jeremy's to get the recipe and story that I shared!  Trust me, this recipe is a keeper.  A sort of sponge-y and light crepe, super easy!  I've done my best to adapt my Grandma's sparse directions so that anyone can do it.

  I hope you try them out soon, and share them with your family :) Happy weekend!

  Click here to get to the recipe and original post.

Rocky Road Brownies

  On Monday, I left you with a cheesecake.  I wished mother's a belated Happy Mother's Day.  And all of a sudden, it's been three days since I've posted.  Huh.  Well here I be!  I haven't neglected you.  I've been tweeting, facebook-ing, taking pictures, and of course, baking like a madwoman.  There's a whole lot more that goes into blogging than meets the eye.

Lime Cheesecake with Blackberry Sauce

  My mother is lovely.

  She does numerous loads of dishes to keep up with my kitchen craziness, gently tolerates me when I'm in a funky not-speaking mood, nudges and kicks me when necessary, and smiles quietly when I go off on a baking rant about something-or-other.

  Obviously this lady deserves a cheesecake for breakfast on Mother's Day.

Bacon, Leek, and Asparagus Quiche

  Well, I've done mini ones, so it's inevitable that I had to try a ferreal quiche.  And what better recipe to try than Joy's?

  I am lovin' this group.  The ladies of Sundays with Joy freely offer up pro tips, encouragement, and awesome advice.  Why are leeks sometimes gritty?  Soak the slices in water, and you get rid of the gritty sand that sometimes makes it way into the layers, duh!  How do you prepare asparagus?  Rinse, pat dry, and bend gently.  The woody parts will snap off, and the rest is all use-able.

A Cupcake for Avery (Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting)

  I have a bittersweet post for you today.  A few days ago, a little baby girl named Avery Canahauti "lost" her battle with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy).  This is, as of right now, an incurable disease, and is the number one genetic killer of infants under age two.

  I say "lost" up there, but even though Avery has passed away, her name and memory continue to live on and fight for the cure to SMA.  What is SMA?  It is an inherited disease that attacks the muscles, which causes inefficiency of the major bodily organs (especially those of the respiratory system) and eventually leads to death.  Avery had under 18 months, and passed away just under 6.

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

  I just want to take a moment to say that Jenny of Picky Palate is a genius.

  La la laa, making sugar cookies.  Wait, what if I smeared this dough with butter, cinnamon, and sugar, and called them sugar cookie cinnamon rolls?

  Results as pictured above.  Genius, lady.  Why didn't I think of this??  Ugh.

Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins with Brown Sugar Streusel

  Don't give me that knowing look.  Yes, this is the fifth muffin recipe I've posted.

  Yes, this is the second one with streusel topping.

  Yeah...this is the second one with blueberries.

  And...okay, fine.  Yes, this is my second brown butter muffin recipe.

  Brown butter brown butter brown butter.  It's so good, you can't just type it once.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Oat Caramel Bars

  Ever made a house of cards?  I have.  It's not easy.  You need a good, smooth foundation, precision, balance, an alert eye, time, patience, and the ability to accept failure and try again.  Sometimes you have a plan, a picture of what you want in your head.  Sometimes you just build, and see where it takes you.

  Is it just me, or does that sound a lot like friendships?  Maybe not super literally, but you know.

  There's nothing more frustrating than a card house just falling apart.  You're building, you're being careful, and sometimes for no apparent reason, you're left with a mess.  Granted, sometimes there are obvious factors such as drafts, sudden movement, annoying siblings, etc.  But those times you don't really know, that's tough.

  How do you fix it when you don't know what broke it?