'Red' is in the Air

Since I moved to San Francisco I have met some wonderful ladies who have become great friends. Not only are they great women, smart, funny, gorgeous, and down to earth, they are also single (as am I). So for Valentine's Day we decided to celebrate our love for one another by having an all red dinner party. Everyone had to bring something red for us to eat or drink. The ladies executed the task with perfection. We had red wine to drink, tomato tarts and pigs in a blanket for appetizers; stuffed red peppers, mashed red skin potatoes and beet salad for dinner; strawberry pie and red velvet brownies for dessert. My contribution - the stuffed red peppers and the red velvet brownies. I didn't get to photograph the peppers, but I did get to photograph the brownies. Needless to say there was lots of love, and red, in the air

Keeping it Short and Sweet

For this post I am going to keep things short and sweet. The goal of my latest baking experience was simple, make a kick ass carrot cake cupcake. With this objective in mind I searched the web to find a great carrot cake recipe. I succeeded. Smitten Kitchen's blog was the recipe of choice http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/12/carrot-cake-with-maple-cream-cheese-frosting/

Here are the images of my baking process:

I think the photos speak for themselves.