Do Good, Bake Goods

I had a great time this morning at the DC Food Blogger Bake Sale for Haiti. About 22 bloggers raised almost $1000 for Doctor’s Without Borders!! Also, I finally had the chance to meet some more of the crowd that I’m slowly getting to know. It was a fun group and I think we all enjoyed meeting each other, setting up and seeing what everyone brought.

I didn’t take pictures of everything, because I know some other people did (with their much nicer cameras). But I’ll link to everyone’s posts about their recipe. Check out:

Florida Girl in DC: Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes and her funny adventures with caramel.

One Bite At a Time: Alejandra was a pro and made 4 things! Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies (a big hit! lots of ooh’s and ahh’s), Granola Bars, Simple Lemon Cookies (so good! will be making these soon) and caramel apple cider cookies.

Macheesemo: Nick wrapped his blondies (filled with all sorts of yummyness) in beautiful parchment paper and string.

French Twist DC: Though she was eying the macarons made by One Vanilla Bean, she brought adorable little pineapple upside down cakes.

Shaw Girl: One of our fearless organizers made lavender cookies, some dipped in dark chocolate. Awesome.

The Passion Fruits: Everyone loved their mint brownies and icebox cookies!

Not Derby Pie: Brought chewy toffee blondies and many friends to eat them up too.

Modern Domestic: Couldn’t be there to sell, but brought perfectly packaged lemon cupcakes and salted chocolate thumbprint cookies.

Don’t Forget the Flour: Thank goodness she brought muffins because everyone was looking for something savory that early in the morning!

That’s my round up for now, but if I missed you, please comment and I’ll update! And of course, my recipe is below…

One Bowl Banana Cupcakes

  • 4 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2-1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 1-1/2 cups milk (I only had about a 3/4 cup of milk, so I used heavy cream for the rest…shh!)
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line enough muffin tins with paper liners for 36 cupcakes.
  2. Mix the ingredients in the order listed in a large bowl, starting with the wet ingredients and moving to the dry ones.
  3. Bake for twenty minutes, rotating the pan mid-way.

My Favorite Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 eight-ounce package of cream cheese, softened
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4-5 cups confectioners’ sugar
  1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth
  2. Add the vanilla extract
  3. Gradually add the sugar and beat until incorporated
  4. Stick your finger into the bowl and lick away
  5. Just kidding… maybe… spread on cooled cupcakes and enjoy!
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April DC Food Blogger Happy Hour

I’ve been doing this food blog this for a while now, but I have yet to go to one of the DC Food Blogger Happy Hours. When I first heard about them last fall, I was intimidated to go, but like Florida Girl in DC I wanted to give it a shot and try it out. Unfortunately, I’ve had to work EVERY night during each of the events. But now that GW basketball season is over, I’m really looking forward to finally going on April 7th. At other events I’ve met a couple of other blogger friends including Never Turn Down a Cupcake, Mango Tomato, Thrifty DC Cook, and French Twist DC, but I’m looking forward to meeting this larger group of people who’s blogs I read regularly and have so much respect for.

I hear it’s a very fun time and even if you’re not so big into blogging, you should come for the company and conversation…oh and food too! I’m very excited that this month happy hour is at Art and Soul because I’ve never been and have been meaning to try it. (What’s good there?) You can sign up for the event on the Facebook page.

Are you going too? Let me know so I can look for you there. Can’t wait to meet everyone and see what it’s all about.

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Pastry Day!

Yes, tomorrow is FREE Pastry Day at Starbucks. You can get yours by showing this coupon (even just on your phone) before 10:30am tomorrow when you purchase any drink.

But this post isn’t about Starbucks pastries…it’s about making your own. And they can be just as fast and simple and delicious. You can grab some to go with your home-brewed morning coffee and skip the $6 breakfast out. And I promise, this tastes even better.

I started out calling this “pie” but really, it isn’t like pie at all. It’s kind of like a scone or coffee cake; perfect for breakfast or dessert.

Ok, so go get your free pastry tomorrow. I will too. But then, on Wednesday or this weekend, make this instead!

Better than Free Cranberry Pastry

  • 2 cups cranberries/blueberries or combination
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 2 eggs
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Evenly spread out cranberries, blueberries and walnuts on the bottom of an 9″ round pan.
  3. In a mixing bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients.
  4. Pour batter over the fruit/nut mix.
  5. Bake for 45 minutes.
  6. Let cool before digging in.

FYI, this pastry is very crumbly and probably won’t cut into perfect slices – just embrace it.

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