Bake Club: My First Baking Class with Christina Tosi of Milk Bar

Yesterday I made homemade Peanut Butter Cups live on Instagram with Christina Tosi of Milk Bar fame. I mean, when I realized this was possible, how could I not?

As a Midwesterner, I'd only heard of David Chang's restaurant Momofuku and read about the wild success of the the in-house desserts created by Christina Tosi at Milk Bar, where she creates very American, very cereal-sugar-snackfood inspired desserts. When I heard about her bottled Cereal Milk, I knew she was a genius. You'll have to read more about her and get inspired too. It's great fun.

Anyhoo, we're 11 months into the pandemic. This summer, I realized I could follow David Chang on Instagram (his baby son, Hugo is so sweet!) and that got me thinking about his business and it led me to "check out" the Milk Bar cookbook on my Libby app (to check out and read library books). I still need to read his book, Eat a Peach. I read the whole Milk Bar cookbook cover to cover, looked her up on Istagram and suddenly I saw that she was hosting a free WEEKLY cooking class called Bake Club to get us all through the Mondays of the pandemic. I am so late to the party! 

All are invited to subscribe to her Sunday night emails, which includes a list of the ingredients needed for Monday's recipe. She also posts an image of the ingredients on her Instagram on Sunday night to remind you to start planning/shopping. The week I found her it was MLK Day and she encouraged everyone to make paper snowflakes and relax into Inauguaration Week. When I subscribed to her email, I noticed that she has ALL of the prior recipes posted on her website and you can watch the Bake Club episodes you missed on her Instagram.

I decided my Peanut Butter Cups would deviate from the traditional with Guittard dark chocolate chips and chunky JIF peanut butter in the base. I made them in mini muffin tins. They are everything. I'm toying with making simple chocolate wafer cookies and piping the extra PB filling in between them like Oreos. For a review of these chocolates, Dan said that he "can't go back" to the store bought ones and has eaten 4 of the 8 I made since yesterday. 

I think this is incredibly generous of Christine Tosi to share her recipes. To teach online for free. To try and uplift us all with her skills. I am am thankful that she's as cool as I thought she was. Thanks for bringing delight, Christina! I'll be joining when I can.

#bakeclub #christinatosi #finddelight #beautyofeverydaylife #chocolate

Exploring Seattle Parks: Get Some Fresh Air

A sunny Saturday in Seattle is a gift, especially in January. We've all been indoors so much lately, it felt imperative that we get out and take a walk. I told Dan that I really wanted to be near the water, so he looked on a map and chose Lincoln Park, not far from Alki Beach in West Seattle, for our afternoon jaunt. 
 

The approach to the water level walking paths is a very long steep walkway. I stopped halfway down to take this photo because the steep slope, trees, and vista felt like we were in Europe. I bet it is gorgeous in the spring when eveerything is verdent green and these trees are blooming. We must come back in March.

This park is near the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal. As we approached, I told Dan that I'd been to this little area before...this was where I took the ferry home from Vashon Island when I went to Camp Thundercraft! That little tidbit reminded me of the glory days when I first arrived in Seattle and was bounding all over the city exploring.

After a nice walk, we made our way back to some benches and sat and watched the water. It was clear and cold and just what I needed to feel like I'd blown the fog out of my brain a little bit. I could actually feel the warm of the sun on my face. Please make sure you are getting some fresh air, even if it is just opening a window for a while. 

#walkandtalk #seattleblogger #seattleparks #beautyofeverydaylife #lincolnpark