how we got here

this recipe for waffles,

prepared from a batter that has sat

at room temperature overnight,

has been all over the internet

for quite a while -

and before that, an intimate

member of many people's kitchens

for years.

so, when i made a batch,

um, six weeks ago, i didn't

plan to tell you about the waffles.

i really thought that instead,

i'd tell you about my experience

making them. about how, i really

wanted to make these. so

much so, that i ignored common

sense, like the fact that even though every

single time i read about the recipe

it said not to make them in a belgian

waffle maker, i realized that's all i had

and shrugged my shoulders, sure

that it wouldn't matter.

or, like the fact that we were

going to a party the night before

and i though it might be pretty late

when we got home. or this fact:

when larry and jenn and i returned

home from a party at lauren's house

it was clearly well past midnight,

both larry and jenn

were bordering on cranky (jenn,

certainly playing the part of the trooper;

larry, not so much) and neither one

of them were very interested in waiting

the five minutes it took

to melt the butter,

measure the ingredients and

whisk them all together.

or these facts:

i'm not sure that i'm

so in love with waffles,

i never make breakfast and

had to buy maple syrup just

for this meal, i bought completely

politically incorrect out of season,

crazy expensive (and super sweet)

blueberries to go on top and,

i insisted that we wait an extra hour

so that larry could go get orange juice

and large eggs when

we realized that we only had

x-large in the house.

but, the thing is - it's been

six weeks. they were good.

really good. but, i almost forgot

about the whole waffle

experience until i finally got around

to downloading all the pictures from

my camera very recently (oh, hello,

super bowl) and at this point, i just

wanted to tell you i made them and

show you the pictures.

so, after all of that,

here's what i learned and what

i remember about these

yeasty, not so sweet, waffles.

-all those internet folks are correct:

they are thin squares, much more

interested in crisping delicately

than rising. this lead me to my next

finding.

-even though it turns out you can

flip waffles, it's still kind of weird

to do so.

-they'll make your house smell

faintly of soft pretzels, in the best

possibly way.

-they taste delicious on their own,

but even better with said

fresh blueberries and maple syrup.

-they're good enough to uncrank

those who may have woken up still

a little bit cranky. if i do say so myself.

marion cunningham's raised waffles

adapted from about a million places

i can't prove this to you, but clearly i think it's better to make these waffles in a standard waffle maker. as i said, they're not very sweet, but if that's upsetting to you, it's nothing a little syrup, fruit or whipped cream couldn't fix. and, while some people i know may think otherwise, i feel it's important enough to highlight a great piece to this recipe - almost all of it is prepared the night before so that the morning of, all you have to do is add eggs and baking soda, whisk and pour into the hot machine.

also, if you can handle it, i recommend melting the butter, then sprinkling the yeast over the water and then warming the milk.

1/2 cup warm water

1 package (2.25 teaspoons) dry yeast

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 cups whole milk, warmed

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

fresh blueberries, if desired

maple syrup, if desired

place water in large mixing bowl; sprinkle yeast over water. let stand 5 minutes.

add flour, salt, sugar, warm milk and melted butter; whisk until smooth (you could also use electric beaters). cover tightly with plastic wrap; place on counter and let stand overnight.

the next morning, heat oven to 250˚f.

heat waffle maker according to the machine's instructions (my waffle iron doesn't seem to have a temperature setting, but i read around and most who made these waffles recommend a medium-high setting).

whisk the eggs and baking soda into batter. in batches, pour batter into hot waffle maker (note: i absolutely did not use enough the first time and adjusted upward from that point on. however, i think i became a little too comfortable by the fourth batch and there was a bit of overflow. oops.). cook according to the waffle maker's instructions.

as the waffles finish cooking, transfer to foil-lined baking sheet; place pan in oven. add waffles to the baking sheet as they come off the iron.

brownie cupcakes with pink cream cheese frosting

i can't say that we've slowed down

at all in the new year.

in fact, i think we've been even

busier. but, it's all good stuff

and that makes it easier to

get up and go (and go, and go and go).

we brought in the new year

with my family, first at an italian

restaurant that was so unbelievably slow,

we thought we were going to greet midnight

with the waitresses, in spite of an 8:30 reservation.

but, we - us, my sisters and their boyfriends -

got back around 11:35 (i wasn't kidding) and

watched the ball drop together. everyone stayed

and for the first time, all bedrooms were

occupied. that was a such a nice feeling.

since then, i've made a variation of

my black sesame marshmallows

for a party on new year's day, visited

my college roommate who had an

adorable baby girl in october,

met old friends for a meal at one

of my favorite restaurants, hosted

a college friend overnight, rang in

erin's 24th birthday at a mexican

restaurant, attended several birthday

and family parties,

discovered a really great method

for cooking rice, found at least one

way to make larry enjoy chicken livers,

enjoyed an all you can eat mussel night

next to the ocean on an absolutely

frigid work night

and made a bit of headway

with a personal project.

but, really, the biggest news

for the herman family since

i've last posted, was this:

my sister and her boyfriend are

engaged to be married.

we've already had a multi-family

brunch, an impromptu family trip to see

a potential wedding venue, pulled

pages out of magazines of

wedding and bridesmaid dresses,

discussed flowers and shoe colors

and held a mini family engagement

party the night after the proposal

went down.

we played it low-key with prosecco,

two lovely salads,

one with beets, gorgonzola and asparagus

and another with apples, feta and pine nuts,

and sandwiches. and, the one up side

of being completely snowed in and having

to miss work for two full days, was that

i had time to make cupcakes.

several days before the snow,

i searched through recipes

trying to find a cupcake that would work

for both blair (who is a fan of cream cheese

frosting, but would probably

prefer celebratory

hot artichoke dip to dessert)

and jeff (who loves apple pie and brownies,

but otherwise has little interest in sweets).

(i also toyed with the idea of crafting

engagement rings out of fondant to garnish

the top, but i quickly came to my senses.

three days of researching candy engagement

rings, chocolate molds, gum paste and edible

shimmer dust before realizing your own personal

limitations is quickly coming to your senses, right?)

and then, i searched something involving

the words festive and cupcakes, ending up

on a slide show of martha stewart's fancy cupcakes.

i thought i was out of my league and started

quickly clicking through.

but, then i saw the brownie heart cupcakes.

they're made from a ridiculously

indulgent brownie batter - some of which

is poured into muffin tins, while the rest

goes into a baking pan.

when the pan is cool,

you use a cookie cutter to shape

brownie hearts, the cutest edible

garnish for the rich cupcakes.

as for the frosting,

it was a pink-tinged buttercream,

but i already knew that i would replace it

with one made from cream cheese.

(something for blair,

something for jeff.)

i thought i would divide the baking,

frosting making, heart cutting and

decorating between the two nights

after work leading up to the surprise

dinner. (surprise, because she didn't

know she was getting engaged; surprise,

because she certainly didn't know that

we were all in on a next-night celebration.)

but, the snowstorm was way more

difficult to navigate than we could

have anticipated.

on the first day home,

while larry shoveled and shoveled,

i baked the brownies and made the

frosting, shrieking only a little (ok,

a lot) when one little drop of pink

food coloring gel turned the entire

bowl hot pink instead of the pale

shade i was envisioning.

on the second day in,

after realizing that the roads

in monmouth county were only

barely teetering on open,

i cut out the hearts, frosted

the cupcakes, carefully garnished each

and said a quick prayer that they

wouldn't dry out overnight.

they didn't.

the next night at my mom's - after i made it to

work and back in spite of two slightly

scary drives on the parkway -

they were still pretty and charming.

the frosting kept its swoop

in spite of the brownie hearts doing

their best to weigh the swirls down.

the cupcakes were rich and moist,

the frosting not too sweet.

one person actually called them

the best cupcakes, ever.

(he was already there, but

i think he earned himself a

permanent spot on my favorites list.)

so yes, they were good.

maybe even great.

but, more importantly,

they were celebratory

and exactly what i was hoping for

when i set out to find a recipe

that was worthy of toasting the future.

brownie cupcakes with pink cream cheese frosting

adapted from martha stewart living

i followed the cupcake recipe exactly, but as i already mentioned, opted to use my cream cheese frosting. wanting to make sure there was enough to dress up every cake, i doubled the latter recipe. and, it's true, i am pretty anti-food coloring. but, i'm the only one who cares, i think, and i just didn't think it was worth it or necessary to roast a beet and use it's juices - so this time, i used gel food coloring. i survived, and i was right: no one else cared. the original recipe called for an 8-inch square pan and 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter - mine was about that, i think, cut from a 9-inch square pan, and it was fine.

and the last thing - i committed to making the recipe without truly reading the recipe. it wasn't until i was in the grocery store that i realized how indulgent these truly are. but, i was not looking for something else and rationalized: it makes 24 cupcakes, plus an additional pan of brownies and a ton of frosting - totally worth it for a once in a lifetime celebration.

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon coarse salt

3 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 bars (4 ounces each) unsweetened chocolate, like Ghirardelli, coarsely chopped

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

heat oven to 350˚f. line standard muffin tin with paper liners.

coat 8 or 9-inch square metal pan with cooking spray; line with parchment paper and spray parchment paper.

in large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

bring small saucepot with 1-inch water to a simmer. in heatproof electric mixer bowl, combine butter and chocolate. place bowl over simmering water; stir until chocolate and butter melt together.

transfer bowl to electric mixer; add sugar. beat on medium-high 3 minutes, or until smooth. beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating briefly after each addition. add vanilla. turn off mixer. in 2 parts, add flour mixture, folding in with a spatula and then beating on low until just combined after each addition.

fill muffin cups 2/3 full. spread remaining batter in square pan. bake 20 minutes, or until set, but still soft. (my cupcakes took 17 minutes; the pan took 20.) cool in pans on wire racks.

fill piping bag fitted with wide plain tip with frosting. pipe frosting over cupcakes. alternatively, spread frosting over cupcakes. using 1 1/2-inch heart cookie cutter, cut hearts from brownie pan.* top each cupcake with one heart.

*(i stored the remaining brownies from the pan in the freezer for cake crumbs, brownie sundaes or a personal emergency.)

pink cream cheese frosting

2 sticks (1 cup butter), at room temperature

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature

3 1/2 - 5 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

in bowl of electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and butter 3 minutes, or until fluffy and completely combined (make sure to scrape bottom of bowl with spatula to ensure that all the butter and cream cheese have been incorporated with each other). add confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, folding to combine, then beating after each addition to make a good spreading consistency. add 1-2 drops pink gel food coloring and beat to combine. chill at least 30 minutes before frosting cupcakes.

there and back again

i have been gone for a long time.

i have been working late or

weird hours and

occupied on the weekends. i have

been committed to a time consuming,

one hundred percent

self-imposed project.

i have been

falling asleep really early

and for at least two weeks, i didn't

even take my camera out of its bag

once. and, i'll be honest with you:

for a little bit there, it was nice.

i didn't make fancy or interesting

things and i didn't feel guilt. i got

our simple dinners on the table

in less than an hour most nights

and when we ate, our food was hot

or cold because, well a lot of times,

it was just a salad.

but, as someone has

taken to reminding me, i have a blog

and i have been ignoring it. so, while

now, i kind of wish i had taken

the time to talk about my mom's birthday,

the delicious roasted grapes i made one evening

or the red bank farmer's market we've made

an effort to frequent on some weekends,

i'm skipping them. instead, opting to

get back on track with our vacation to

san diego and temecula last week.

the san diego part of the trip had been

planned for over a year.

one of larry's oldest friends,

joe was marrying his girlfriend, jen.

larry is one of those lucky people whose

high school (or maybe i should say

elementary school) friends have sustained

the test of time. six of them attended different

colleges, followed varied careers and some

have moved to different parts of the country.

but still, their friendship has stayed a top

priority to all of them. everyone came together

two years ago for our wedding and we finished

off august by meeting in san diego for joe's,

a couple years after he had moved to the west coast.

the weekend turned out to be just as much

about time together as it was the wedding

and from thursday, at the margaritas and taco

party at joe and jen's apartment building

to sunday morning at brunch, that's what

we did. but, saturday.

saturday was all about the wedding.

after, the wedding, we took a few days to ourselves,

traveling to temecula, southern california's answer

to wine country. originally, we had been torn

between hawaii and sonoma, but becoming

homeowners had made our decision significantly

easier: three days and driving distance.

i treated these three days with little respect.

as the trip neared, it became apparent

that this was an awful time to travel, work-wise.

i was hesitant to spend the money to go

somewhere for even three days

and truth be told,

i just wasn't so interested in any of it.

suddenly, it was the 18th of august

and i realized that even

though we had owned our plane tickets

for months, we were leaving on the 26th

without a second hotel reservation.

this is not me.

i research. like crazy.

i read reviews. like crazy.

i find the perfect-fit funky restaurants

that we absolutely must visit and even

if i won't quite admit it, i have the days

mostly decided in my head.

like, maybe, i'm a little crazy.

but this time?

no reservation.

no research.

no restaurants.

a friend of the family had recommended

temecula a few weeks before. i looked at

a couple hotels, skimmed a couple opinions,

shrugged and booked.

kind of disrespectful.

and, now, we were in the car,

driving to this temecula place,

with only a little extra information:

there was a winery famous for

almond champagne, the vineyard

we were staying in allowed

eating grapes off the vine and

the town housed a casino.

it was beautiful and we were

blessed with gorgeous weather,

a welcome change from the sweltering

east coast heat we had been

battling all summer. the area wineries

and streets proved charming enough

that i rarely let go of my camera the

entire time we were there.

but, it turns out that

temecula, proud of its old town,

westernish charm, is not known for

its food.

luckily, it doesn't matter how behind

i get: i'll never stop loving my research.

if you can imagine me, sitting on a bed,

facing a vineyard reading

yelp on my cell phone, you'll understand

how i spent a good part of the trip,

determined to not regret the fact that

we weren't in hawaii. we didn't.

just before leaving san diego, larry and i stopped at urban solace, a restaurant that i had read about on chowhound, for bloody marys, a quinoa-flecked veggie burger and beef cheek hash.

south coast winery was a bit of a larger operation than we usually go for, but luckily they're quiet during the week and our small villa in the back made it very easy to never see anyone. this was our view.

we really tried to take advantage of our surroundings, joining a vineyard tour and tasting that turned out to be a tour for four: us, a very friendly german couple from arizona and a very, very perky guide. we ate grapes from the vine, sampled different wines with different cheeses and afterward, we stayed put, eating lunch only a few feet away.

we visited public house, the only place i could determine was worth the effort of finding, and the restaurant did not disappoint. it was, however, quite dark and the only redeemable picture was of this "appetizer" that would have served a better purpose as a meal. regardless. call it dinner, lunch, a starter or just delicious, this was one of the tastiest things i have eaten in a very long time: goat cheese toasts drizzled with a reduced balsamic and brown sugar tomatoes, all surrounded by arugula.

and we used the last day to eat a very cheap, unexpectedly good breakfast (larry's, below) and to see a few of the other wineries, finally sipping the almond champagne at one and stopping by another that had been deemed, quirky and unpretentious.

we tasted (and bought!) olive oil and smoked salt, drove past a place for honey that, in retrospect, i would have like to have visited and on the last night, we enjoyed a cheese plate and a bottle of riesling on our little deck, falling in love with the quiet, the peace and the oozy piece of honeycomb that sat just beside the humboldt fog.

and, we relaxed. just a little bit.