De Baking Psychopath

Another year has come and gone, and we've once again convened to eat and chat our way through a weekend! We were pretty lazy as a group to take pictures this time (we were probably eating too fast), so the best one I have is the group picture shown above. We were exploring the Cathedral of Learning and found these cool fold down desks that were inlaid in the seat backs of these benches. I believe it was the Syrian room.  So there was a quick rundown of our weekend: Saturday morning--meet up at my apartment. Dara arrived earlier so we took a trip to La Gourmandine bakery in Lawrenceville to get a bunch of tasty French pastries Saturday afternoon--we met up with some Pittsburgh friends and had a BBQ, including burgers, roasted veggies, salads, and brownies.  Saturday evening--took a breather after returning from the BBQ, and then late evening we got takeout from Spice Island, a Burmese restaurant in Oakland. Pad Thai, mohinga (fish stew with noodles), mango pork stew,...

Another year has passed, and another roommate weekend was warranted, this time in Philadelphia! We had a whirlwind of a weekend, filled with food, random shopping, and catching up! Not pictured-- Friday night we went to Monk's Cafe , where we had yummy beers, buffalo-style fried frogs legs, steamed mussels, hamburger with truffled cheese and mushrooms, and duck confit. It was a hearty and delicious start to our weekend (although very dark and hence not photo-friendly). On the way back, we picked up frozen yogurt from Yogorino , which we brought back to the apartment to sprinkle on some crazy-awesome granola I had brought with me (recipe soon!). Bright and early Saturday morning, we took a stroll to the nearby Metropolitan Bakery and raided their day-old bin as well as bought several fresh treats. Eaten for breakfast: coffee/tea, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, chocolate croissant, nut and seed roll, lemon vs raspberry bar taste test. Not eaten but saved for late...

I am FINALLY back after a full month of traveling all over the world for both professional and personal reasons. Not that I will be home the entire summer--there are three weekend trips I already know I am making--but at least life will return back to its normal routines again. The last trip I made was to meet up with my good college friends in NY, where one of them is stationed as she finishes her PhD. We had a fun weekend filled with good food, running, poop jokes, lots and lots of cupcakes, a trip to the Tulip Festival for some pretty flowers and awesome BBQ sandwiches, and a trip up to Saratoga Springs for pastries and used book store shopping! Here are some highlights in photos: Gorgeous loaves from Mrs. London's in Saratoga BBQ sandwiches! Gigantic tub of strawberry lemonade Lavash at a Turkish restaurant Various appetizers at the Turkish restaurant, including one unfortunately named "cemen" My kofta dinner. Delicious. ...