Ryan Foster 5/15/15 Ryan Foster 5/15/15

Plum Upside Down Cake

Some months back, the Food Network did the Kid’s Baking Championship, which was adorable and hilarious. Watching ten year olds in long aprons whipping meringue and crème bruleeing is my idea of entertainment, and inspiration to get Conner in the kitchen sooner rather than later. I’d love a little pint sized sous chef. Adorable. Around Christmastime they did the Holiday Baking Championship, which was also fantastic, gingerbread and festive cookies galore. Then a few weeks ago, they launched the Spring Baking Championship. I’ve been watching regularly, even forgoing my religious Sunday night Bravo watch parties for it, which is a big deal.

One of these past weeks, there was an “upside down cake” challenge, where the eight or so competitors had to do their best spins on the fruit on the bottom classic. Before this episode, I had literally never even heard of anything other than a pineapple upside down cake. Black grandmas all over the country make it with canned pineapple and maraschino cherries, with a typically light and kind of spongy cake, with just the right amount of density to hold up to the fruit without becoming soggy. But on this episode, I witnessed not only the classic pineapple version, but also peach, blueberry, strawberry, and a whole variety of other upside down cakes. I was immediately inspired to make my own. I hit the supermarket in search of perfectly ripe peaches, but spotted plums instead. Boom.

Ryan Foster 5/7/15 Ryan Foster 5/7/15

Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls

In college, I worked retail for a few months at one of those stores that sold overpriced ripped jeans, tank tops, and hoodies, with murals of half naked hotties plastered on the walls, and an overpowering scent of Axe body spray-esque cologne in the air. And I hated it. I hated the aggressive techno music, I hated the rude customers, and I hated the smell of that cologne. The only good thing about the short-lived job was my almost daily meal of a big, warm, gooey Cinnabon. I was a woman obsessed. I’d leave classes early to make sure I got to the mall in time to have one before my shift, or rush over on my fifteen-minute break. The Cinnabon employees and I knew each other by name. Now that I think back on it, it’s kind of disgusting how many of those cinnamon buns I ate in that three-month period. Disgusting, but awesome. I absolutely love cinnamon buns!

Now that I’ve accurately given you a look into my cinnamon bun fueled sickness, you can understand why mastering this recipe was so important to me. I don’t frequent malls anymore- I’m more into home goods and specialty groceries at this point in my life. But even though I rarely pass a Cinnabon store and get enveloped in that heavenly smell of dough, cinnamon, and sugar, I still think I deserve (yes, deserve) to have cinnamon rolls.

Ryan Foster 4/29/15 Ryan Foster 4/29/15

Best Baked Meatballs

Growing up, we often had spaghetti, but never spaghetti and meatballs. Meat sauce was the go to option. Of course a meat sauce is classically delicious and simple, but as a very food focused kid, I always yearned for meatballs. Our play kitchen’s plastic spaghetti came with three plastic meatballs. The families on Friday night sitcoms had spaghetti and meatballs. I was slightly annoyed by my childhood lack of meatballs, but not enough so to risk demanding them of my hardworking mother. I accepted our meat sauces and moved on.

As a college student in Washington, D.C., I had the chance to have tons of awesome professional experiences, and with them, work events. Drinks were always served, and of course, in the spirit of young professionalism, I would politely decline- but of course, always indulged in the food. The first real spaghetti and meatballs I ever had were served at one of these events. When I spotted the servers coming around with plates piled high with pasta and meatballs, I fought my best to hide my excitement, continuing to idly chat with coworkers and clients, while underneath the table, my feet were tapping in anticipation.

Ryan Foster 4/24/15 Ryan Foster 4/24/15

Timeless Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don’t really work out, because I detest it. Who wants to sweat, struggle to breathe, be sore the next day? Not this girl. But spring has finally hit in Michigan, and with it, that weird, innate desire to exercise. After hiding in jeans and bulky sweaters all winter, you realize that the stores are selling dresses and cutoffs again, and shoot. Maybe I should start jogging in the morning?

I’m about three days into my likely short-lived workout phase, and I don’t think I’m doing too great a job. My outfits definitely fit the bill, but my kitchen behavior this week doesn’t. As you can tell from the post title, and the tantalizing photos- I made a lovely batch of chocolate chip cookies this week. A couple weeks ago, boyfriend and I reminisced about my last batch of cookies, and he asked me to whip him up some chocolate chip. And naturally, I put it off until I the week I started working out, in an effort to improve my “summer body”. Makes total sense.

Ryan Foster 4/21/15 Ryan Foster 4/21/15

Quick Beef Stir Fry

My love of stir -fry began really early on. I knew that I loved the way the vegetables were cut, how colorful they were all sautéing together in a large frying pan. I knew that I couldn’t get enough of the slightly sweet sauce soaked into fluffy white rice. But what I didn’t know was that it was my mother’s busy weeknight secret weapon. After a long day of work, school, and dance classes, I’d stand in the kitchen and marvel at how quickly my mom made this miraculous meal come together. No doubt she was dead tired, but she made it look effortless. I literally remember thinking to myself, “I’ll definitely make this all the time once I’m a grown up.” Fast forward twenty or so years and I’ve kept my childhood promise to myself.