♫ I'm sorry... so sorry ♫

Sorry for not posting something for so long.. I have no excuse... well, I kind of do, but still, I should have posted something waaay before today.

The last greenpoint food market was great! A lot of people came out, sold out my empanadas and I made a lot of guys look really good by giving  heart shaped cake pops to their Valentines. Hehe!

The day after Valentine's day, I went to Buenos Aires. I hung out with my family and ate a lot. Yes, that's basically all I did. I did see some friends that I hadn't seen in forever, but even when I met up with them, food was always present... and delicious. I had a serious case of beef overload and even when I was eating potato chips (clearly, I was not very conscious of being healthy there) they were flavored "Lomo al horno con cebollas al gratin" Whaaaaat?! That means "oven roasted sirloin with onions au gratin".

AND they have a facebook fan group for them. Insane- I know. Before you become a fan of this group, be nice and become a fan of La Tia Faby first, thou. :)

Anyhow, Buenos Aires was great. Once I got back, I got an internship at a high end restaurant under the pastry chef. It's been really exciting, and learning a lot already. I'm really enjoying every aspect of it and definitely motivates me to create some new stuff at home... which brings me to introduce you.. the new sausage and kimchi empanada! (coming next at your greenpoint food market on April 10th). I will post some pictures next week as well as some Easter themed cake pops.

-No me dejen solo-

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Hearts for sale!

Come out, come out!!

Come out this Saturday to the Greenpoint Food Market and get some heart shaped cake pops to celebrate the love/hate and Valentine's day. I'm also making extra empanadas, since I've sold out the last couple of market days - there will be plenty to share the love.

The market is from noon to 5 pm at the Church of Messiah at 129 Russell street, between Nassau and Driggs aves in Greenpoint (duh!). Hope to see you there!! 

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Nuts for Nuts- Home edition

Every time I walk by a "Nuts for Nuts" stand, the smell is so sweet and nutty that I have to remind myself that they usually smell better than their actual taste. So I decided to make it myself at home, and make my healthy snack a little less healthy and a lot more delicious.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound of raw almonds
- 4 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Place the almonds on a non stick pan over a medium to low heat.
2. Turn the almonds around with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes until the almonds start browning and you can hear the skins of the almonds cracking.

3. In a little bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon.
4. Move the almonds to the edge of the pan and place the brown sugar mixture in the middle of the pan.
5. The sugar will start melting fast; now start mixing the melting sugar with the almonds.
6. The almonds will turn shinny and sticky. Make sure all the almonds are coated with the sugar mixture.
7. Because of the sugar, the almonds will wanna stick to each other - try to separate them with a wooden spoon.

8. Remove the almonds and place them in a heatproof container. The almonds will stick to each other now so don't pack them in; once cooled, they will separate.
9. Enjoy alone or with yogurt!

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♥ ♥ ♥

The "All you need is love" Blackberry commercial is finally (finally!!) not playing at every single commercial brake, but now that all the decorations for Valentine's day are starting to pop out and I have freshly painted bathrooms and kitchen, I worked on some Valentine's day cake pops. You can hate Valentine's day, but you'll love these Red Velvet cake pops.

 

 

But before Valentine's day, it's Superbowl time! Woohoo! Not because I like the game (football to me is and always will be what you understand by "soccer". It doesn't make any sense to call a game "football" when you only kick the ball a few times per game); but it's just a show. It seems there is a lot of focus on the commercials, and the half time show- not so much about the game itself, or maybe that's just me because I don't get the game...
It's very different from baseball (the other great American sport). I do enjoy baseball a lot, and even though last year's world series was between two teams I'm not very fond of (Yankees Vs Phillies), it was a competition - and a very good one. I found myself rooting for the Yankees. Only because I ♥ NY - and I don't like the Phillies; they won the previous year and the last thing we (Mets) need is them winning two years in a row.
I never thought I would enjoy baseball the way I do. I just associate it with a great summer day, unlike "football" that is played in some serious cold weather. I see the fans and all I can think is that I would be extremely miserable out there. But anyhow- it's Superbowl time!

I made some football shaped cake (balls?) for some hard core New Orleans Saints fans I know.

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New Year's resolution = slow business

Yea, yea, yea... we all wanna be skinny and hot, so I totally understand why baked goods sales drop after the holidays and why new gym memberships peak in January. I'm not mad about it, hey- I started working out as well.

Before I moved to the States, I never heard the concept of a "New Year's resolution"; but after being here for eight years, I find myself promising I'll start changing old habits and hoping I have the will power to stick to them... unfortunately, a few weeks later, I convince myself it was a silly resolution to begin with, just to feel a little better about the fact that I can't follow though. Boohoo.

So - When does baked goods business pick up again? I say when all the chain stores decide to decorate everything red and put hearts all over the place. And why not heart shaped cake pops? Because my kitchen and bathrooms have been invaded by workers with toxic chemical smells and bad music. I'm really excited to have re- finished bathrooms and a freshly painted kitchen... but today I had to go to the bagel place downstairs to use the bathroom - and that's never fun (specially since I live in a fifth floor walk-up). Boohoo #2

See? I just gave up on my new year's resolution to be more positive. Boohoo #3

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Happy 2010!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season; I took a nice break from baking until early this week. This Saturday, it's the Wedding Crashers event. This is a wedding fair that promotes caterers, photographers, bands, DJ's, florists and everything you need for your wedding day, all based in NYC. This is a great way to promote small businesses (specially because I'm one of them!) and staying local. I was contacted by Brooklyn Based (the organizer of the event) to make cake pops as wedding favors. How awesome! I was originally thinking of making cupcake cake pops, but then thought, why not make a mini wedding cake pops? It goes better with the wedding theme... So i did.

These are Red Velvet covered in white chocolate.

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I've been meaning to post some pictures I gathered during my visit to Boston during the holidays and also just by walking around in NYC. Boston was freezing cold but had a great time anyways; it was my first time there. Visited the Aquarium, got a craving for sushi, ate amazing seafood, went to the Quincy market, and saw the biggest macaroons ever...

The following cupcake pictures are from the Chelsea market. The excess of icing didn't really make me wanna eat them, but definitely admire them.

Sesame Street characters have a special place in my heart. I have never seen an episode of it, but instead I grew up learning English with them. I learned songs that were made up with kids songs melodies but the words were changed for educational purposes and I only came to realize that when I moved here and realized all the lyrics I knew were totally wrong, but awesome. 

♫ Sesame street is the place to be... they're lots of fun for you and me! ♫

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Done with Baking... for now.

On Tuesday, I delivered my last orders before Christmas, and it felt so good! I had a really busy and good holiday season in terms of business. It definitely exceeded my baking expectations.
After making and baking:

• Over 220 empanadas

• 650 (give or take) cookies 

• And over 350 cake pops

I packaged, shipped, delivered and sold all my baked goods...

So it was finally time for me to bake (again) for pleasure! It's not that I stopped enjoying it... but it's nice to bake different things here and there. So I figured i could make some good stuff for Christmas morning. I made these mini pistachio poppy seed muffins and some good old banana bread. The pistachio poppy recipe, I got from my friend Victoria (baker and founder of Sweetie Pies Brooklyn). It's really simple and delicious...

 There are three ways of making things taste delicious (choose wisely):

1. Put hot sauce 
2. Or - Add poppy seeds
3. Enjoy it with people you love (yes, cheesy but true)

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I also want to thank everyone who reads this... last Saturday at the Greenpoint Food market, a bunch of people came to say hi, and told me they read my blog. I have to admit that it felt a little weird that they knew  me, but it was awesome! It made me really happy to know there are readers out there. Thank you (really, thank you)!
Happy Holidays everyone everywhere!!

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