SPRUNG

Happy Spring! I love this time of the year because everything is blossoming, the weather is getting warmer, and its the last uni quarter standing between me and summer. As much as I enjoyed the chill factor of last quarter I am very happy to be in spring and to have had a chance to recharge my batteries over spring break a few weeks ago.

In honor of the break I took some time to visit a friend and road trip up to San Francisco to spend a few days of pigging out, shopping, and good ol' bonding time. Here are some highlights:

 can never resist a sweeping mural (remember this wall)

 Some of the best soul food in the heart of the Tenderloin District at Brenda's. Not to mention hands-down the most delicious crawfish beignet I've ever had.

 beautiful weather & a beautiful friend at the Union Square hearts

 seeking food coma rest and refuge at SFMOMA

"oh you blend in with the wall!"

Ending off the trip with pear ginger agave sorbet & mexican chocolate ice cream in a black sesame waffle cone from Tara's and gorgeous creation on the drive home

Despite grim weather reports we were blessed with clear skies and ample sunshine, which almost tricked us into forgoing coats...until we remembered: this is NorCal. Thankfully I have been practicing the art of "layering" which helped to keep the chill at bay only to have gusting winds blow right through me. Thank goodness I gained a solid 10 pounds in those few short days...not. More pictures of my adventures in SF on my Instagram.

The trip was a success and one that I would gladly do again but the perfect end to my spring break was Good Friday and Easter celebrations. Renewing my spirit always satisfies more than anything no matter how much I eat. With that in mind I am sprung for this season and pumped for what lies ahead.

Have a blessed week!
lots of lovee

cinnamon dreams

I love cinnamon. I love cinnamon sugar. I really love the smell of yeast and fresh baking bread. I really love late night baking. .....I digress.

If you follow me on Instagram then you might have seen that I made breakfast for my Sunday School class this past sunday. This is always a daunting task for two reasons: 1. everyone brings bagels & cream cheese or char siu bao's (chinese pork buns) 2. I like trying new recipes at times like these but I hardly ever get a chance to taste it before serving...scary. Recently I have been seeing a lot of recipes for pull apart and monkey breads, and one of my favorite bloggers, Joy the Baker, inspired me with her Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. Tell me if you don't drool.

After studying for midterms on Saturday night I stayed up a little longer to make the dough to give it time to rise before baking it the next morning...not the best idea. When I started rolling it out the next morning it didn't seem to yield as much as I would have liked, so what was a girl to do? I was desperate to have enough breakfast for all those hungry collegians! At that moment I looked at my cinnamon sugar mix & lightening struck: cinnamon raisin pancakes!

Genius. I whipped up a batch while the bread finished baking and they were a hit! Consider it a pre-celebration for yesterday's National Pancake Day.

I adjusted the recipe just a little bit to what I had at the time..

Ingredients
{dough}
- 3 c. all purpose flour
- 1/4 c. granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp. (1 envelope) active yeast
- pinch salt
- 3 ounces butter *added extra ounce to make up for lack of buttermilk*
- 1/3 c. milk *used non-fat*
- 1/4 c. water
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla

{filling}
- 1/4 c. sugar *reduced*
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 2 ounces browned butter

Directions
I followed Joy's directions including mixing the yeast with warm water and sugar before adding it in with the dry ingredients. The only difference was the cut in sugar content in the filling, and I also drizzled honey over the top of the bread right before serving to adding a slight "glazing" to moisten the dry crust.

Let me know if you try this recipe and link a picture of your bread so that we can all drool with you :) Midterms are over for me so time to celebrate! Have a blessed rest of the week!

lots of lovee

YUM Jar {DIY gifting}

I am not creative. I am not proud to admit it but this is a truth that I am willing to share with you all. At the very least I am an excellent copy-cat with the smallest capability to tweak something to make it "my own". My view is take what you have and make a gift without having to buy more, but really it adds more love/luv/ruv when it is handmade with care.

 Everyone can make these albeit quick&easy gifts without too much stress on the brain. Also, like everyone else, I keep mason jars on hand under my bed at all times. Most likely I am alone in the world in this practice then step 1 for you would be go get some mason jars! Honestly, you can put anything in a mason jar & give it as a gift. I happen to love cooking, baking, and snacking so I made my YUM jars, as I like to call them. But I have also seen cocoa mixes, pie, and small trinkets packed sweetly as gifts as well. If you follow my Instagram then you would have seen the image above of homemade chili roasted almonds that I gave as gifts. Another one that I did recently for some neighbors were mini cranberry chocolate chip scones YUM jar.

Make little tags out of brown paper bags to give it a more rustic feel or use luggage tags to write a small note. Tie a ribbon or some rafia around the top. Put a bird bow on it. Voila! Simple, easy, thoughtful DIY gifts for those creative individuals. Let me know how yours turn out!

lots of lovee

pear mascarpone muffin talk

Let's talk about muffins. If you follow me on Instagram you previewed my obsession one early morning. I love them. I honestly am not sure how anyone can not love muffins because essentially they are heartier healthier cupcakes, and if you can't appreciate and fall in complete love with the subtle art of baking bread in cup shapes then perhaps you are missing out. i digress. My point is that muffins have the potential to take such a variety of flavors, components, and sizes that my adoration has been solidified. Needless to say, when I came into mascarpone and beautiful pears my heart knew the direction that this combination would take: MUFFINS.

After much scouring I found a recipe for ricotta and pear muffins which sounded amazing, but ricotta is no mascarpone. For those who aren't aware mascarpone is like Italian style cream cheese with a slight sweetness and saltiness flavor. Whereas ricotta is a different variant of cheese that also has a slight sweetness but is used more for lasagna or mixed with other creamier cheeses like mozzarella. After slight tweaking of the recipe, I present :

Pear and Mascarpone Muffins
Ingredients
- 3/4 c. Mascarpone
- 2 large pears
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c. butter (melted)
- 2/3 c. sugar
- 2 c. all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- brown sugar for sprinkling atop

Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cream together mascarpone and eggs.
3. Peel and cut pears into small cubes. Then add to mascarpone-egg mixture.
4. Add melted butter to pears-mascarpone and combine well. Then add white sugar and mix well.
5. In a separate bowl sift together dry ingredients (flour+baking powder+baking soda+salt)
6. Combine dry ingredients and pear-mascarpone until all dry pockets are gone
 **be sure not to over mix or muffins will turn out hard and not as fluffy**
7. Dole out batter into muffin pan & sprinkle brown sugar atop to create crust.
8. Bake for 15-20 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.
9. Then take out of oven and rest for a few minutes before devouring them with jam :) enjoy!

I am going to try to do a short DIY gift post for those of you that have not had time to go shopping..like myself. Have a beautiful Saturday!

lots of lovee