Chicago Trip!

Tags

bakery, Chicago, chocolate, christmas, cupcake, dress, fancy, Foodlife, gingerbread, holiday, salad, sprinkles, staycation, vacation, water tower

My family and I took a mini vacation to Chicago!  We left around noon on friday, checked into our hotel, then headed to Foodlife in Water Tower Place where I got a ginormous veggie-filled salad and a wheat roll.  Foodlife is a big food court-style restaurant, but instead of fast food everything is better quality and so delicious.  If you’re ever in Chicago, stop by for lunch!

After lunch, I took it upon myself to try on crazy expensive dresses and not buy them…

We stopped to indulge in cupcakes from Sprinkles, aka the best cupcakes ever!  Mine was a dark chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting…

The hotel put little boxes of fancy chocolates on our pillows!

And this little gem.  Donald Trump would put his face on water bottles…

We woke up to a beautiful view of the Chicago River…

And fell asleep to it, too…

My mom and I in the hotel room… it was so luxurious and relaxing, I didn’t want to leave!

Seeing gingerbread houses like these makes me want to be a pastry chef…

Then I remember that I’m already in college.  Though baking all day would be fun.

Look!  Fondant snow people!

On Friday, my mom and I went to see The Nutcracker!  We go every year, and it is always amazing.  I absolutely love the venue: the  Auditorium Theater.  Being there makes me feel like I’ve traveled back in time, with all the gold and the ornate décor…

It was a great trip with the family, and Chicago is an awesome place to do some last-minute Christmas shopping!  I can’t believe Christmas is tomorrow; this year has flown by!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Finals Week–Oh No!

Tags

bakery, brownie, calculus, caramel, cheese, clementine, college, cookie, cookies and cream, crumb cake, egg, finals, healthy, holidays, luna bar, math, orange, panera bread, snowflake, test, whole grain, winter

Finals Week has been… well… agonizing.  But if it were any other way, then I would severely question my work ethic.  Thankfully, it is over now!  I have officially survived my first quarter of college.  Let’s hope I didn’t fail. 

 

Because baking and exercising are my two favorite ways to de-stress, I did lots of both this past week.  With a poorly-stocked dorm kitchen, there isn’t much I can bake, but I was resourceful and made this crumb cake.

My friend described it as, “one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.”  It’s less crumb cake than a cross between underbaked cookies and crumb cake, but I’m not complaining!  Here is the recipe… note that I didn’t use measuring cups while making this, and the entire thing was baked in a saucepan.  I told you it was a poorly-stocked dorm kitchen.

Finals Week Crumb Cake

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened and divided
• 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and spray a small saucepan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and egg.  Stir, then add the half and half and flour and stir until well-blended.  If the batter looks more like cookie dough, add more half-and-half in 1/4 cup increments until the batter resembles thick muffin batter.
3. Spread the batter into the saucepan, then in the same bowl (don’t wash it yet!), make the crumb topping by combining the remaining 1/2 stick of butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and cinnamon to form a crumbly mixture.
4. Sprinkle topping atop the batter, then bake for 15 minutes or until the top is bubbly and golden brown.
5. Eat straight out of the pan using plastic forks with your best friends.  This step is optional, but it’s how I did it.

 

I swear Ive been eating healthier foods this week, too!

 

Best flavor…

Clementines are finally in season!

Egg and cheese sandwich on whole grain bread from Panera.  I almost died and went to heaven- this was delicious!

Venti chai tea + splash of skim milk.  I bought a banana, too, but I think they forgot to charge me for it.  I still feel guilty about it… remind me to put some $$ in the tip jar next time I go to Starbucks!

Tomato basil soup from Whole Paycheck Foods.  I had a gift card, and if I didn’t then I would never fathom paying $6 for soup.  But it was really, really, good.

My dad dropped off a box of brownies and cookie bars from my favorite bakery.  I said healthy foods, and this was healthy for the soul.   

I may or may not have eaten one for breakfast the past 2 days. 

 

Math!  Oh no! 

I’m going home today for Winter break.  As much as I’ll miss all my friends (a lot! a lot!), it will be nice to be home and cook food using real ingredients and drive my car and shower without shoes on.

I’m off to my last dining hall lunch for 3 weeks!  YES.