Cake! It's berry good.

Pardon the pun and make these. They are made of win. The recipe makes gobs of frosting though, so you might want to have another cake in mind or freezer space for the extra.

If only it didn't mention Boston...

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Happy Easter!

Man can not live on cupcakes alone.

As sad as it is, sugar and butter will only get you so far. Thus I've been attempting to expand my culinary skills beyond the mixing bowl. I started off with the simple guac, have assisted with a crazy delish (and cheap!) bean soup (recipe below), and am planning on making this garden lasagna. Details of that when it actually gets made. But I have not abandoned my roots entirely. For Easter I'm making Banana Pudding Pie and Blueberry and Meyer Lemon cupcakes. Hey, a girl's gotta have her vice!

(Image via Cakespy)

Bean Soup

Dry bean mixture (make and store in jars; use as needed): Mix 1 lb. each - black beans, red beans, navy beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, split peas, lentils, and black-eyes peas, 10 pints.

Soup

1 pt. bean mixture
1 chopped large onion
1 can Ro-Tel (tomatoes and green chilies) or 14.5 oz. can tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 pod hot pepper
1.5 t. chili powder
2 minced garlic cloves
ham or smoked link sausage, cut up

Wash beans mixture, making sure to cull rocks and bad beans from mix. Cover with water and soak overnight. Add remaining ingredients and water to cover. Simmer for 3-3.5 hours. Stir occasionally, adding more water if necessary.

That's it! Works fabulously for leftovers. Maybe pair with some corn bread?

"An Irishman is never drunk as long as he can hold onto one blade of grass to keep from falling off the earth."

Blimey! Luck o' the Irish to you. (Insert cliched Irish expression here.)

Now that I've got that out of the way...

Since I've officially discovered my lack of love for Guinness (straight from the Brewery itself), I have to celebrate St. Patrick's Day some other way. I made a fantastically easy guacamole yesterday (see recipe below), but my desire for green foods was not satisfied. So today I baked a lime pie. To my disappointment, it was not green. Apparently you have to use food coloring or actual key limes (definitely not in season or local!) What a drag. Still, the intent was good. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have some sausage and potato coddle. Then again, maybe not. My festive green socks will have to suffice.

Ridiculously Easy Guacamole

3 ripe Hass avocados, peeled and pitted
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 tsp kosher salt (sea salt works too)
1 tbsp lime juice
1 serrano chili or jalepeno pepper, chopped finely (I just did a quick shake of chili powder, since I'm not overly fond of spiciness)
1 Roma tomato, seeded and diced (I used 6 cherry tomatoes, but I would have liked a few more I think)

In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients except tomato. Pulse several times until you reach the desired consistency. It can be as smooth as you like. Spoon in tomato. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.

Serves 16

Per serving (about 2 tbls I think): 48 cal, 4g fat, 3g carbs, 2g fiber, 1g protein

We served this with raw veggies and it was great. The carrots and cauliflower were my favorite, but I bet celery would be good too. Of course, toasted pita or tortilla chips would be good also.

(Key) Lime Pie

7 egg yolks, beaten until frothy (make omelets or egg scrambles with the egg whites...)
1 and 1/2 cans sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup key lime juice (all I had was regular lime juice; we'll see if it makes that big a difference)
Graham cracker crust shell (either pre-made or make by hand)

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl, stir until blended.

Bake at 325 F for 15 minutes. (You'll know it's done when a knife stuck in the center leaves an indention when removed. It will not be clean.)

Allow to set in fridge. Serve with whipped cream.

Serves 8

"This here's Miss Bonnie Parker. I'm Clyde Barrow. We rob banks."

Bonnie and Clyde is a weird movie. There some awesome quotes -

Bonnie: Hey, that ain't ours!
Clyde: Sure it is.
Bonnie: But we come in this one.
Clyde: That don't mean we have to go home in it!

- but the actual movie is just strange. The clothes, however, are completely fabulous:

The scene where Bonnie's eating the hamburger and deciding whether she wants to go with Clyde or not actually makes me want to find a seedy small town diner and chow down. I don't even care for beef! It's the power of the beret.

This outfit at Forever 21 inspired me to look for retro, Bonnie-ish looks for the Spring. I'm loving the golden yellow, the 70-ish print shirt, and the sunglasses.

Here are some other examples:

Urban Outfitters Deux Pointelle Beret and Kimchi and & Blue Dolly shirt dress:

Old Navy Women's Tie-Front Tunic with Roxy Kalani Wide-Leg Trouser Jeans at Macy's and some killer gray platforms from Alloy to add a dose of 2008:


Anthropologie Twill Tulip Skirt, Old Navy Eyelet Cable-Knit Sweater, Keds Classic Canvas Champion:










I think I'll remain on the right side of the law for the time being, though. Remember, CCTV is watching you!

"He went out the window... why would someone do that?"

They're making a fourth Bourne! Woohoo! I love these movies, though the first is the best in my opinion. Matt Damon can do no wrong. How can one not appreciate a movie in which the main character seriously wounds someone with a rolled up magazine? Macgyver wishes he was that cool.

"We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation."

I began my trip to Scotland early in the morning with a 5 hour train from King's Cross to Edinburgh. Basically I pretended I was in Harry Potter. That's not weird right?

We were met by our guide Mike upon arrival:

Yes, he really did wear a kilt the whole time. No, most people in Scotland don't. He was strange. He certainly would have agreed with Voltaire that Scotland is the center of the world. Everything comes from Scotland, including but not limited to, modern medicine, most great literary figures, the telephone, and the English word for the toilet, "loo" - which apparently is bastardized French. This theme of "Scotland rocks" was funny at first, but it got a bit old.

No matter; we wandered Edinburgh, which I loved even though it poured most of the time we were there. After spending the night in the city, it was on to the Highlands! Speaking of Harry Potter, we passed the bridge they used in the films on the way up to Inverness. I didn't see any flying cars above though. Bummer.


One of the stops we made on the way was to see Hamish the Highland Cow. He was very cute, but appeared a bit bored with his visitors. I'm surprised he's not fatter than he is, given that half our tour fed him with vegetables from the shop nearby.


It wouldn't be a complete Highland trip without a visit to Loch Ness. No monster sightings. Probably because she was scared off by these fools below. Yes a few of the kids on our tour decided to swim in the Loch. It was barely 40 degrees. They changed on the bus. They are idiots.


The next day we saw a monument to William Wallace. This is a statue that stands at the base of the monument. Highlanders hate it because basically it's a repro of Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Not the most accurate of films apparently. Police in the area actually had to guard it for over a year after it was first unveiled. Kinda embarrassing I think.


We also saw the Hermitage and the Burnam Woods. Very pretty, but by far the best part was seeing the writer's gazebo some of the famous literary figures built in the forest. Apparently it was popular place to smoke opium. Given the trippy interior (which unfortunately didn't show up well in photos: lots of stained glass looking art), is understandable. Frankly, I spent the whole time thinking about The West Wing episode "The Birnam Woods" wherein Leo has his heart attack and no one discovers him for a day. A day! Ridiculous. I think I missed the point of this stop.


We also saw Scotland's smallest distillery. The whiskey was good, but the best part was the guide. She was a spunky old lady whose personality I can best sum up with her comment, "Our whiskey can last upon opening up to 10 months. Mine usually lasts 3 days." What a character.

All in all, a good time, though the weather stunk. Edinburgh was much prettier than Dublin, and I'd definitely love to spend more time there. I slowly make progress on my comprehensive coverage of the U.K. and its vicinity...

Next stop Paris!