S'mores from Mars

During the time between undergraduate and graduate school, I spent my days in Austin, TX. Austin is a rad city (yup, rad). With a slogan like "Keep Austin Weird," and events such as SXSW, and ACL, how could anyone not have a good time? My Nona purchased a condo downtown on 6th street and I resided there. The condo was my first place out on my own and it came complete with a rooftop deck, the original Z Tejas next door, and a short walk to Whole Foods and Anthropologie. Heaven really.   

On the first day I was in Austin, I locked myself out of the condo while I was doing laundry. My washer and dryer were right outside my door and, unbeknownst to me, the door was set to lock automatically behind me. I walked out, let the door close, and found myself denied entry at 10pm. I had no phone, no money, and had even failed to put on shoes before walking outside. "This is going to okay," I assured myself as I rolled up my jeans, suppressed the tears, and walked down to the neighborhood video store called Waterloo.

"I locked myself out of my condo," I explained to the clerk after I entered the front door and walked sheepishly to the counter. "I left my phone and purse inside. I don't even have shoes." He stared at me, then over the counter at my bare feet and back at me while I finished. "I just moved here from Nebraska and I don't know a locksmith to call. Not only that but I don't know anyone here. I don't even have a friend I can call." 

"Well," He paused searching for a response, "That has got to be the saddest story I have ever heard." 

Without another word, the clerk picked up the store phone and called a locksmith. He referred to me as simply "Nebraska" each time I rented a movie after that night. 

It wasn't long before I made a few friends in Austin. One of the most useful habits I developed was going to out to eat dessert. Just dessert (likely with a fancy cocktail). A restaurant located in SoCo called Mars was a mainstay. Frankly, their food wasn't anything to brag about. Neither was their decor (other than their outdoor seating area centered around a curiously large tree). They did, however, have a fantastic pastry chef. I wish I knew who (s)he was so I could credit him/her (Mars closed the year I moved). 

Perhaps the most interesting dessert Mars served was a take on a s'more. The s'more was comprised of three layers: 1) Lavender devil food's cake, 2) Graham cracker ice cream, and 3) A freshly torched marshmallow. I wanted to recreate it and share it with you all. You all, y'all - it has a nice ring to it does it?

Side Note: Some things never change. Nearly the same thing occurred tonight in Seattle that happened in Austin. I was working on my computer in the shed, retouching photos for this very post. It was late, Chris is out of town, and I was feeling a little jumpy here in a new neighborhood and city where I know very few people. So, I felt the need to lock the door from the inside while I worked. When I went into the house to get my keys to deadbolt the door for the night, I shut it behind me with all of the lights left on. Long story short, I don't have a key to open the doorknob part of the door and I'm locked out of the shed with no one to call. At least I had shoes on and could still get into the house! The lights will have to stay on til morning.

UPDATE: I got into the shed. All is well here. Now I actually have to do some work today!

S'mores from Mars:

Prologue: The gata presides over my baking. Although you won't find a cat on any list of ingredients here, I strongly suggest that you find one to help boost baking morale.

Part 1: Graham Cracker Ice Cream
adapted from Cooks Illustrated, my changes in italics 

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 inch piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds removed, pod reserved 

4 large egg yolks

1 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers

Method:

1. Position a strainer over a medium bowl set in a larger bowl containing ice water. Heat the milk, cream, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the vanilla seeds and pod in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally to break up the vanilla seeds, until steam appears and the milk is warm (about 175 degrees), about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl until combined and pale yellow. Whisk half the warm milk mixture into the beaten yolks, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined. Whisk the milk-yolk mixture into the warm milk in the saucepan; set the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until steam appears, foam subsides, and the mixture is slightly thickened or an instant-read thermometer registers 180 to 185 degrees. (Do not boil the mixture, or the eggs will curdle.) Immediately strain the custard into the bowl set in the ice bath; cool the custard to room temperature, stirring it occasionally to help it cool. Cover and refrigerate until an instant-read thermometer -registers 40 degrees or lower, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

3. Pour the custard into the ice cream machine canister and churn until the mixture resembles soft-serve ice cream. Slowly add the crushed graham crackers to the soft-serve and mix until combined. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container, press plastic wrap flush against the surface, cover the container, and freeze the ice cream until firm, at least 2 hours.

KitchenAid ice cream makers are easy to use (once you crack the brain-buster of assembling the thing).

Graham Cracker Ice Cream

Part 2: Vanilla Bean Marshmallows
adapted from Kitchen Table Cooking School

2 tablespoon powdered gelatin

1/2 cup cold water, divided

6 ounces sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

pinch salt

1 vanilla bean, scraped (or sub 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

Method:

1. Generously spray a 9x13 inch pan.

2. Mix together the powdered sugar and cornstarch.

3. Dust the pan with the sugar mixture and tap out excess onto a sheet of parchment paper. Repeat.

4. Put the powdered gelatin in a mixing bow and cover with 1/4 cup water to dissolve.

5. Put the bowl on the mixing stand with whip attachment so it is ready to go.

6. Combine the 1/4 cup water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a sauce pot and bring to a boil.

7. Cook to 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.

8. Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl into the gelatin.

9. Increase the speed to high.

10. Whip until very thick and the marshmallow is lukewarm to the touch.

11. Add the vanilla.

12. Pour the marshmallow into the prepared pan.

13. Use a lightly oiled spatula to spread evenly.

14. Dust the top of the marshmallow with remaining powder.

15. Rest uncovered 4 hours and up to overnight.

16. Turn marshmallow out on a surface dusted with powered sugar and cut into 1 inch squares(mine are cut in 2 or 3 inch squares)

17. Coat each marshmallow in powdered sugar and store in an airtight container.

[Missing image, entitled "Mallow Mountain," being held hostage in shed goes here]
Mallow mountain image in its rightful place.

Part 3: Lavender Devil's Food Cake


adapted from The Lavender Cookbook, by Sharon Shipley
note: this recipe yields two 8 inch cakes for a layer cake, I used two square 8 inch pans and just didn't layer it. 

2 cups (8 7/8 ounces) all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened natural-process cocoa powder, sifted

2 teaspoons dried culinary lavender buds, finely ground in spice grinder (the author recommends 'Provence' lavender)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda1 cup water

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups (14 1/8 ounce) sugar

2 large eggs1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8 inch cake pans and line with parchment paper.

2. Sift the flour, cocoa, lavender, and baking soda into a medium bowl. In a small bowl, mix the water and buttermilk.

3. Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Beginning with the dry ingredients, alternately beat in the flour and milk in three additions each.

4. Bake on the center rack for 2 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. 5. Run a thin knife around the sides of the pans and invert the cakes onto wire racks. Peel off the paper. Cool completely. 

Psst. This is the lavender cookbook Nona bought for me at the Lavender Festival.

Mise en place

Batter split evenly between two 8 inch square cake pans.
 

The cakes bake and I take photos.

Finale: S'more Construction

Assemble cake, ice cream, and mallow. Then, torch the mallow.

S'more from Mars

Time saving ideas: Buy regular vanilla ice cream, allow it to soften, and then fold in graham crackers. If making mallows frightens you, torch a grocery store brand or perhaps try melting a bunch of the small ones with a bit of butter in a sauce pot (like you're going to make rice crispy treats sans cereal). After you melt them, lay the marshmallow out in a 9x13 inch pan like the recipe calls for. I don't know if that would work, but if you try it let me know. Also, you could use a box cake mix and then toss in (or eliminate) the lavender. 

Humpday Highlight

In a few weeks, I'll have the pleasure of attending the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs right here in Seattle! To prepare, I've been working on some business cards and promotion materials. This image is of me knitting (casting on to be exact) and it didn't turn out half bad. I'm finding the ghostly movement of the hands against the texture of the table intriguing (Chris and I recently purchased the table as our first "real" piece of furniture and we love it). 

Thought I would throw it out there for some feedback! 

How to peel an orange (and make an orange almond cake)

Some people have amazing hidden talents; They can flip their eyelids inside out, contort their back in half, or I've even seen someone hold their hands while they swing their arms from behind their back up over their head to the front of their body without letting go. I can't even cross my eyes. If I were put on the spot, however, I guess would have to fall back on the following "hidden talents": parallel parking and peeling an orange. 

I didn't acquire these "talents" on my own. My mother drives a GMC dually truck that more often than not is hauling a six horse trailer behind it. She's an amazing driver and she taught me to parallel park. My dad, Randy, is the Marlboro man; Aside from smoking reds, he wears a black cowboy hat, wranglers, and boots 365 days a year. There is nothing about my dad that would indicate he possesses a skill for peeling fruit, yet, he's the person that taught me how to peel an orange in one piece. 

Think of an orange like a globe. Rather than attempt to peel it from one pole to the other, longitudinally, maybe next time you enjoy this tasty fruit, circle around one of the poles and then peel latitudinally until you reach the other. 

Is Latitude : Longitude :: Green Jacket : Gold Jacket for you? Its hard to keep the two straight sometimes, I have to stop and think about it too. That is what visuals are for :) 

And we begin:

A. 

Clockwise starting from top left: 1.Begin at the top of the orange. 2. With fingernail, pierce the rind and create a circle. 3. Be careful, however, not to join the ends of the circle. Instead, leave about an inch between the beginning and the end (that way, the circle stays attached to the rest of the peel). 4. Pull back the peel. 

B.  

Clockwise starting from top left: 1.Finish pulling back the peel into the rest of the orange. 2. Using your thumb to pull the peel back, follow the orange around in a spiral. 3. Keep going... 4. Stop when you get to the other end of the orange. 

C.   

Clockwise starting from top left: 1., 2., and 3. Remove the end. 4. And done!

I eat a lot of oranges, was that obvious? 

I know that oranges aren't in season, but I still crave them and am always looking for interesting dishes and desserts that showcase them. This week, I experimented with oranges in cakes.

Orange Almond Cake(s) 

The first cake I tested was Martha Stewart's Orange Almond layer cake. It's a yellow cake (meaning that it contains egg yokes) and uses the zest and juice of two oranges. The recipe also calls for ground almonds as well as almond extract. What was unique about the process (for me) was that the method used egg whites whipped until soft peaks formed. The whites were then folded into the batter in order to give the cake volume. 

I liked Martha's cake. It was good, what can I say. The only issue I had with it was that the texture was off; the ground almonds contributed to what I thought was a tougher, denser crumb (or cake). Not satisfied with my results, I kept searching for more recipes.

I recalled a white layer cake from America's Test Kitchen's (ATK), Family Baking Book, that Chris and I think is amazing. The cake recipe calls for 1 teaspoon each vanilla and almond extract. Why couldn't I substitute orange extract for the vanilla?!? 

Orange Almond White Layer Cake
adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book (my modifications and/or additions in italics) 

1 cup whole milk, room temperature 
6 large egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) cake flour
1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch cake pans and line with parchment paper (I used 4-inch cake pans for these mini cakes). Whisk milk, egg whites, and both extracts together in small bowl.

2. In large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. With whisk attachment and electric mixture set to medium-low, beat the butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time. Continue to beat until the mixture resembles moist crumbs. Replace the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment. 

3. Beat in all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture, increase mixer speed to medium and beat until smooth, light, and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium-low and mix in remaining 1/2 cup milk mixture. 

4. Scrape bowl with rubber spatula to ensure that the batter is thoroughly combined. Pour batter into prepared cake pans; smooth the top of the batter with spatula. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center and removed has only a few crumbs attached. Rotate the pans half way through baking.

5. Let cake cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and peel away the parchment. Let cool completely before frosting.  

 

Even if Martha's cake wasn't to my liking, her Swiss Meringue Buttercream (used to frost all the cakes pictured here) was incredibly smooth, easy to frost with, and just damn tasty! If you head back to Martha's Orange Almond Cake recipe page and press the play button located on the cake picture, you can watch a video on how to frost a layer cake (yeah!). To frost my cakes, I use a plastic, Oxo lazy susan ($10.95) instead of a fancy cake stand turntable ($65+).  

The Results
Above left: Matha's cake on the left and ATK's on the right. I weighed the batter in each cake pan to ensure that they were all equal from the beginning. Center: ATK's cake on the left and Martha's on the right. Right: ATK's cake has much more volume, doesn't it? I am sure there are a plethora of factor's that would need to be considered to test the validity of this little experiment, but my taste buds went for ATK's hands down.  

Pizza, pizza

My boyfriend fiancé husband Chris and I are pizza junkies. We go through the two day, pizza making process at least once a week. Chris would probably make pizza for dinner every night if he could. We met on Christmas Eve at a bar called The Prop in Watertown, South Dakota. I was studying in Lincoln, Nebraska and he was living in Boston, Massachusetts but geography didn't phase us. The second time I went to Boston to visit him, he suggested that we make homemade pizza. I bought him a pizza stone for Valentine's Day a few weeks later. It was true love.  

Before Chris, my pizza making days were spent with my grandfather, Will Snittjer or Papa as his grandchildren called him. Regardless of the weather Papa always wore shorts with knee-high socks. He usually paired this stylish shorts-and-knee-high-sock combo with a polo shirt. I'll forever picture him in one of two shirts, one is a dark, burgundy red color or the other is a yellow shirt with one large white stripe across the chest with "Willy Maze Sports Cafe" written on it. That was the name of his sports bar at the Drake Motor Inn. Willy for Will and Maze for my Nona Maze instead of the Willie Mays. Get it? What a guy. 

During his younger years, Papa was a commander in the Navy and after retiring, he owned Pizza Huts in Manitoba, South Dakota, and Nebraska. To add to my family pizza history, my mother met my father, Ken, when he was managing one of Papa's restaurants in Omaha. Eventually, Papa settled down to two Pizza Huts, one in Redfield and the other in Mobridge, South Dakota along with a few other restaurants in Watertown. 

Aside from pizza, Papa loved basketball. When he coached our elementary school basketball teams, he required his players to wear yellow knee pads because he said that they would allow us to be "scrappier" on the court. We would run these drills where we'd sprint across the court and then slide on our knees. I imagine he thought the knee pads served a psychological purpose more than anything and it worked because I sure thought I was scrappy. 

We frequently practiced basketball together at home too and during our breaks from shooting and passing drills in my parent's driveway, we made pizza. 

Papa's "semi-homemade," kid proof pizza would put a smile on Sandra Lee's face. All you need is a pre-made Boboli pizza crust, Boboli pizza sauce, canadian bacon, shredded mozzarella and olive oil. I am confident that Papa simplified this recipe as much as he could for a 10 year old. Above all, however, he was adamant about the pizza making process. I must brush the said Boboli crust with olive oil first, then place a thin(!) layer of pizza sauce over the dough. Next, it was on to the light coating of cheese, followed by the toppings, and then finally the topcoat of cheese. "Lefty, don't put too much cheese in the very middle," Papa would explain. He gave me the nickname "lefty" because it was a struggle to get me to dribble a basketball with my left hand. The only time I aggravated him as his sous-chef was when I ate the toppings as I went. I would dip the thin, coin-sized canadian bacon slices into the bowl of pizza sauce and then toss them in my mouth. One for the pizza, one for me. One for the pizza, one for..."ERIN!!" He scolded.

Papa passed away when I was 12. I kept his yellow coaching whistle and white, dry-erase basketball court clipboard on the top shelf of my closet and nearly quit making pizza until Chris and I met.

Chris is obsessed with pizza. I mean, I love pizza, but Chris thinks its gold. He's a computer scientist so I guess he would think that pizza, rather than being gold, was more like [inset hacker term here]. When we lived 1499 miles apart, Chris and I would have "pizza date nights" on Sunday. Over Skype, Chris made his incredible, Bianco-approved pizza while I made my Boboli pizza. Then we'd watch a movie and chow down. Now that we live in Seattle, I get spoiled with pizza nights and the one you see pictured below is our latest. 

Papa and Chris's pizzas couldn't differ more but that's not the point. I'm still the sous-chef (or sous-pizzaiolo now), but I enjoy it that way. I still eat the toppings as I make a pizza and I still get scolded for it, nowadays by Chris. Papa would be proud.

Chris's Dough Recipe:

1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons warm water 
2/3 cake (0.4 oz) Fleischmann's fresh active yeast (cake yeast)
22.5 ounces (5 cups) all purpose (AP) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
 

Method:

Break cake yeast apart into the warm water to dissolve. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in mixing bowl.

Using the dough hook attachment, place the mixer on a low speed. Add olive oil to dry ingredients and continue mixing until incorporated.

Slowly add yeast-water mixture and continue mixing on low for 2-3 minutes, until the dough comes together (no flour crumbs are left).

Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to rest in the bowl for 5 minutes.

Then, returning to the mixer, work the dough on a medium speed for 2 minutes, or until dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. Note that this is a wetter dough, so it will likely stick to the bottom.

To ensure the dough is ready, conduct what is called "the windowpane test":

Break off a small piece of dough, roll it in your palms. Then, twisting with two hands, stretch lightly and untwist. What you are looking for are translucent areas in the dough, these are the "windowpanes." Holding the dough up to the light may help. See photo set D. below for an illustration.

Once the dough is ready, pour from the mixing bowl onto a floured surface. Knead the dough lightly to shape it. Cut it into three equal pieces. Place each dough into a container, lightly dust with flour, and allow them to rest for 15 minutes. After the resting period, refrigerate the dough overnight (at least 18 hours, longer than that is fine). This is called proofing the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge the following day, at least 2.5 hours before use.

Preparing your pizza:

We use a pizza stone in a convection oven preheated to 550 degrees to bake our pizzas. The method for preparing your pizza is not meant to be prescriptive; making pizza at home is all about doing what you like and trying new ingredients and/or fresh combinations of ingredients. We have, however, developed a "general order of things" that, for the most part, stays the same regardless of what we're putting on the pizza. If you'd like, start with ours and use it to develop your own. On this particular night we made a white pizza, meaning a pizza minus red sauce.

General order of things:
1. After shaping your pizza dough on a floured surface, place it on a pizza peel (see photo sets H. and I. below).
2. Brush the dough lightly with olive oil.
3. Add a light layer of aged, shredded mozzarella.
4. Place the fresh mozzarella medallions on the pizza, along with additional toppings and parmesan cheese.
5. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on the very top to finish.

If you want sauce on your pizza, insert that step between steps 2 and 3. Like Papa, I'm going to tell you to restrain yourself with the sauce. Not too much now!

Bake in preheated oven for 4-7 minutes, or until desired doneness.

Eat. Enjoy! It's good, isn't it?

Day One
(click on images to enlarge in pop-up window)

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

Day Two

 G 

H 

I 

J 
   
  

A. CDR Essentials
 

Left: American Pie, by Peter Reinhart, is Chris's favorite pizza book. Center: Chris adores his monogrammed chef's apron. I'm always trying to find him good pizza gifts. This one was a hit. Right: We purchased this bag of Wheat Montana Natural White AP flour while driving through Montana during our cross-country move to Seattle. It is a high protein, unbleached flour.

B. Dough Preparation
Note the picture on the right. I'm going to go ahead and warn you that using your hand to scrap down the sides of the mixing bowl, while it is running, like Chris is doing here is simply a bad idea! Please use a spatula and turn off the mixer people. :)

C. Dough Preparation Continued

D. The "Windowpane" Test

E. Knead and Shape

F. Cut, Shape, and Contain
We like to use individual Glad containers (Right) to proof the dough.

G. Fresh Ingredients 
Left: Ah, roasted garlic! I usually roast garlic by cutting off the top quarter of a head of garlic, placing it in a small ramekin like the one pictured, and drenching it in olive oil. After I sprinkle it with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, I cover it with foil and roast it at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. It works great because when its finished, you simply squeeze it to pop the cloves out onto your pizza! As a bonus, because of the ramekin catches the excess oil, we can drizzle the now garlic infused olive oil onto the pizza. Center: Chris and I always buy our aged mozzarella in blocks and then shred it as we need to. Right: We grow our herbs in containers in the backyard. I enjoy heading out there,  cutting some sprigs off of the plants and storing them in mini vases like this one as though they were flowers.

H. Shape the Pizza
Chris shaping the pizza dough.

I. Building the Toppings
This pizza is one of my favorites. It has four cheeses: aged mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, parmesan, and fresh ricotta cheese. We added caramelized scallions to our fresh ricotta (the recipe for five minute ricotta is here) and topped the pizza with fresh oregano and basil.

 J. YUM! 
Left and Right: Our second pizza was a roasted garlic and olive pizza (with the same cheese combination). I like to grab pizza ingredients, like these kalamata olives, from my grocery store's salad bar. I can buy just the amount we need, which saves us some cash and time. Center: Scallion ricotta pizza ready to eat!

What's in a name?

My Nona's name is Maze. Well, to be truthful her name is actually Margie, although I rarely hear anyone call her that. In fact, she doesn't even call herself Margie. She was named after a popular 1920s song entitled, "My Little Margie." Nona sang it to me once after I had asked her if Margie was short for Margaret. Just the question made her burst into song. "Oh Margie, Margie, its you!" This is common for Nona. She's a pianist and, well, she likes to carry a tune. 

I spent a summer with Nona after graduating from college. Unsure what to do following commencement, I packed up my apartment, quit my college bartending job, and drove myself to Nona's house in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Those days may have been tainted with uncertainty, but I cherish the summer I spent with her. 

Nona encouraged me to plant flowers in her courtyard, laughed at me when I grumbled about her dogs, and ate all the meals I cooked for her with a smile. We enjoyed meals together and were known to spend afternoons at restaurants munching on cheese platers and sipping wine. We're quite dangerous at restaurants given our shared love of red wine and fresh lobster tails (notably, the 15 ounce lobster tail she spontaneously ordered for me that summer). Nona would tell me stories over dinner, and sometimes jokes. One of her favorites is asking someone what the German word for brassiere is. As they shrug she'll say, "stopendafloppen!" 

In addition to the food, one of my greatest memories was the day we spent at a lavender festival. I know, the idea sounds strange. It did to me too. It's not that I didn't believe people grew lavender. I suppose I simply hadn't considered the possibility that there were entire farms and festivals devoted to lavender. Nonetheless, when I saw an advertisement for the event, I had to check it out and knew Nona would gladly come along.  

On the day of the festival, Nona and I drove the 20 or so miles outside of Tulsa to a lavender farm teeming with vendors, wine, and lavender goods. As we made our way through the festival, we tasted wine (okay, a lot of wine!), ate lunch and roamed around people watching and window shopping. The lengthy rows of lavender were, well, they were bushy, no, more like fluffy, and they were covered with bees. I understand that this may unnerve some people, but I wasn't at all put off by the bees humming around the lavender fields. In fact, I like bees. I like them perhaps because I enjoyed helping my mother with her flowers as a kid. Not to mention that it may be easier to like bees if, like me, you have never been stung by one. Besides, how could anyone be afraid of a bumblebee? The chubby bees that buzz around like an old car with a problematic muffler, they make me smile. 

I may have evaded a sting that day, but I left the farm with one hell of a sunburn. Peeling skin can't hold this girl down, especially when Nona made sure I brought home a few lavender plants, a lavender cookbook, and a jar of lavender honey made by the bees at the farm. 

So, what's in a name? A story.

Oh, and I should probably tell you that my name is Erin. 

Today is Nona's birthday! This year I made her some cute little coasters... 

  

Note: The coaster pattern is a free pattern from purlbee.com. The lavender festival is hosted annually at the Lavender Hill Farm and Winery.