tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54824852296270293872011-07-08T05:31:06.085-04:00Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-59698971843741561982009-10-12T22:30:00.001-04:002009-10-12T22:30:04.321-04:00

DSC_0008, originally uploaded by Tracy La Dolce Vita.I made these cupcakes for my boyfriend's dad, who has the biggest sweet tooth ever (which I love!) They were something I put together quickly, the base is just chocolate cake mix, doctored up with coffee instead of water in the mix, and the frosting is a delicious and simple recipe from Epicurious. I chopped peanuts and toasted them in a pan

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-73986049924982998882009-08-19T12:26:00.003-04:002009-08-19T12:46:10.302-04:00

Okay, it's been a very long time since I've posted, I've been busy (relaxing at the beach, that is). I'm working on a post detailing a very exciting and beer-filled Saturday I recently spent in Brooklyn, but I wanted to get back to the blog and post about two new wines I've recently enjoyed.Both are extremely light, crisp white wines, the perfect thing to enjoy with an outdoor lunch or dinner

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-82197531971229567062009-08-18T13:33:00.008-04:002009-09-02T19:49:28.776-04:00

So as promised, here's part 1 of a recap of a great day devoted to beer. My friends and I sampled a variety of beers at two different locations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.We started out with a tour and tasting at the Brooklyn Brewery. If you live in one of the boroughs and are looking for something different to do, this is it. Plan to drink all day and hang out with your friends. Bring a deck of

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-54840087324690435242009-06-01T16:21:00.015-04:002009-06-21T22:07:27.212-04:00

After about two straight months of rain, it finally feels like summer here in Jersey. It's hot out, the boardwalk is packed with New Yorkers, and I can't stop making tropical drinks. My go to is a classic margarita (a real one, no bottled mixes for me!), but during a recent backyard barbeque I decided to try this spicy twist on the classic. The Jalapeno Cucumber margarita involves sugar muddled

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-84715608169862389052009-05-29T20:37:00.015-04:002009-06-19T23:31:33.554-04:00

Eggs are my specialty and one of my favorite things to make. I love coming up with ideas for new brunches, and I have perfected my eggs in all forms. My best friend Jenn always says I make the best scrambled eggs. This breakfast here is one of my favorites. It was inspired by the skillet, my favorite breakfast at a local breakfast restaurant. A skillet is hash browns, topped with eggs, and

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-37504960310363783692009-05-10T19:54:00.012-04:002009-05-29T12:13:57.929-04:00

This was the dessert I made for a recent family event. I'd been dying to have a reason to try Dorie's Lemon Cream tart, and I thought it made a perfect springy dessert.And I was right. Let me tell you, this is without a doubt the most delicious thing I've ever made. I suppose my love of lemon makes me slightly biased, but honestly, it was wonderful. My mom and I ate it two pieces at a time. (

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-73345574729898848112009-05-10T19:53:00.006-04:002009-05-11T11:31:10.154-04:00

The older I get, the more I realize how much my mom has done for me throughout my life. Sometimes I recognize the oddest things, like how she silently let me go through my “thug life” phase back in high school, even though she must have been totally cringing inside. Or sometimes it’s more obvious things, like how annoying it must be to be the one to organize and plan every holiday, event, do all

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-75376358771471276752009-04-05T20:38:00.004-04:002009-04-05T21:04:44.435-04:00

Just a quick post here- I got together with some friends and fellow alumni of Villanova to watch the Final 4 game (read about it here, was a disaster) and I thought I'd make some cupcakes. I used a simple box white cake mix, and made cream cheese frosting. It was light and very good, but kind of a soft frosting and not great for any intense decorating. The V on top was made out of royal

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-26032513258375545702009-03-24T08:16:00.000-04:002009-03-24T20:15:34.631-04:00

Recently, Brad and I went to DC for a weekend. It was a really fun and sort of insidery trip, so I thought I'd write about it. La Dolce Vita's the sweet life, right? Doesn't have to be just food! Anyway, we did some of the typical tourist stuff, and also visited my cousin for his 24th bday.The trip started with a Friday night birthday party at my cousin Eric's house. A little background on Eric:

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-322152563997077442009-03-02T19:21:00.008-05:002009-03-03T14:54:45.073-05:00

Soon I will be adding a post about the exciting weekend I just spent in DC, but until I have a chance to get it out, I'll post this recipe for rugelach. I've tried other rugelach recipes, but found this had the best results and was less tedious than others, which often involve multiple rounds of chilling, bringing to room temp, re-chilling, and on. It's a bit much. This recipe, while it does have

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-56708059033865390922009-02-19T09:56:00.014-05:002009-02-20T12:52:42.123-05:00

In this post-graduate part of my life, there are many things I miss about school. While I wouldn't go back if given the opportunity, I never anticipated a lot of the stress and confusion that goes along with everything. My biggest worries are no longer "What will I wear to happy hour?" but instead, "What's my career plans? Where is my life going? Where's everything else going?" Some people might

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-72596434180636108072009-02-04T12:59:00.011-05:002009-02-07T15:49:30.572-05:00

So here's another recipe for what's turning into a collection of breakfast breads. For a year or two now, I've been on the hunt for the best scone recipe. I've tried many from cookbooks, Food Network, and Allrecipes, some of which have been just terrible, some of which have been declared delicious by my roommates (well, not all my roommates but that's another story), but somehow I found that

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-87737902398436034642009-02-02T21:52:00.007-05:002009-02-02T22:20:28.078-05:00

Let me start by saying this is the worst picture ever. I made the cake for my mom's friend's birthday, so it disappeared from my house shortly before I really had an opportunity to look at the pictures I'd taken and realize the lighting was all wrong!But seriously, don't let the terrible picture put you off the cake. It was incredible. It got rave reviews via text message from all my mom's

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-38505169185188887662009-01-29T08:36:00.004-05:002009-01-29T08:48:31.841-05:00

I'm officially a Daring Baker!! I've been meaning to join for awhile, and I thought January (new year, etc etc) was the perfect time. This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux. I was excited when I saw that

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-57753195747899964932009-01-26T23:01:00.006-05:002009-01-27T13:43:58.507-05:00

WOW. These are SO good. In my last post I said the lemon poppy muffins were the best breakfast ever, but I have to take that back. This is better.This is a lesson to me on not to make snap judgments. This recipe is one I passed over many times when flipping through my Dorie book. I tend to skip recipes without pictures, as I have a weird theory that if the publisher didn't take a picture, it's

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-85425079191950009182009-01-17T17:11:00.007-05:002009-01-18T15:30:30.085-05:00

I have to be at work at 8 am every morning. I live close to the Army base where I work, but every morning I'm still cutting it short. I don't think I've actually ever been on time to work. Anyway, I clearly have little time for breakfast. I usually throw an English muffin in the toaster while I speed-apply my makeup, leaving said muffin burned or undertoasted, or just generally unappealing.

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-78615856995654520722009-01-09T19:19:00.008-05:002009-01-14T23:03:48.119-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a sucker for a theme or a name. I love holidays, all things seasonal, and theme parties. My last birthday party was poker themed and my cube at work is decorated with different nautical accessories. So when I came across Dorie's Swedish Visiting Cake, a cake apparently traditionally made for Swedish women when their friends were visiting, I really wanted to make

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-22760605675546965562009-01-04T22:00:00.007-05:002009-01-13T16:21:49.210-05:00

This a no-fail cookie recipe. Like you literally can' t go wrong with these (provided you follow the recipe!). They're sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, forming a slight crust that gives way to a soft interior. They are my friends' favorite, hands down- normally they find some way to complain about anything I make (ohh, boys), but these they just eat. I remember I took them to Brad at school

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-39851434585714538142009-01-04T21:20:00.007-05:002009-01-13T16:22:07.586-05:00

Happy New Year!! While this may be, for many, a time to reflect on the past year or to make resolutions for the new year, it's not really looking that way for me. Usually I'm big on resolutions; one year I did the Ross on Friends try something new every day (until it got to be really stupid things like "wear gold lip gloss" by January 5). This year I'm not making any particular resolutions, but I

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-64497849626289157532009-01-02T16:53:00.005-05:002009-02-05T21:04:43.668-05:00

Honestly, I can't think of many foods that are more fun to bake than this cookie! It reminds me of being a little kid and playing with clay- I had this book that taught u how to layer colored clay, roll it into a log, and slice it into little pieces with a design inside- just like you do with these cookies.The dough itself is pretty straightforward, as it's a simple icebox cookie dough. It's also

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-71020625845272969922008-12-22T00:27:00.009-05:002008-12-22T14:40:28.039-05:00

Cupcakes are one of the easiest things to whip up for an impromptu get-together, which is exactly why I made these Friday night. I invited my friends over and needed something quick, so I threw a box of cake mix in the oven and just used store bought cream cheese frosting. To decorate these cupcakes, simple fill a piping bag (or Ziploc) with your frosting of choice. Cut a hole at the bottom (you

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-35758881754970357162008-12-18T10:34:00.003-05:002008-12-18T10:53:14.408-05:00

Here's a link to a helpful recent NYT article all about some important basics of butter!Butter Holds the Secret to Cookies that Sing

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-56929100915453302882008-12-17T20:52:00.011-05:002009-01-02T16:00:28.438-05:00

Baking cookbooks frequently extol the importance of proper temperature ingredients- very cold butter, room temperature shortening, etc. As any baker knows, those are critical. Butter that's too soft creates thin, greasy cookies, butter that's too cold doesn't whip enough air in, warm egg whites whip more volume, and so on. Knowing these types of things is what helps a recipe succeed, when it may

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-6872029965274708332008-12-17T10:11:00.008-05:002008-12-18T12:38:34.643-05:00

One of the best parts of baking is the people who appreciate what you make. I think for a lot of us, that's why we do it- it's nice to make other people happy. My mom's office knows that I love to bake, and they constantly bug her about when I'll send in something for all of them. So I decided to bake something for my mom to bring in right before she took her Christmas vacation.I went with an old

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-6653833889536297832008-12-15T16:16:00.014-05:002009-03-25T10:47:45.075-04:00

Carole Walter's Great Cookies stands out as a perfect example of what a cookbook should be: highly well researched and tested, clear directions, and extremely successful recipes. Anyone looking for a great volume on cookies needs to look no further.The book is broken out into chapters based on cookie type, beginning with your simplest drop cookies, and ending with a chapter on more complicated

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-73419142765281192942008-12-15T08:50:00.018-05:002008-12-16T11:12:47.905-05:00

I dragged my boyfriend (from now on we'll just call him by his name, which is Brad) to Michael's with me the other day to pick up some last minute needs for my sugar cookie decorating. He was absentmindedly killing time in the aisles when he spied a bottle of white glitter sprinkles. Like a little kid, his eyes lit up and he said "Those would be really awesome on your cookies! You should get

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-61498221505867291872008-12-07T17:16:00.005-05:002008-12-12T14:17:45.115-05:00

This is just one of those recipes that people love. And I mean love. No matter where I have taken them, whether it's work, friends' parties, etc, people always give me the same response: "Wow, these are really good." They always say in a surprised tone, as if they didn't know something as basic as an oatmeal raisin cookie could be so good.Anyway, this mega-hit comes from Allrecipes.com, and it's

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-62123864283818948372008-11-30T16:24:00.008-05:002008-12-12T14:11:46.480-05:00

My family has quiet holidays that are usually just the four of us, so every Thanksgiving I have the opportunity to go to my boyfriend's for dessert. He has lots of family over, and to me it's exactly what holidays should be- loud, with tons of food, family, and friends. Plus, I look forward to it because it's an excuse to bake a cake!This year, the dessert had to meet a few qualifications:1. Able

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-62431919840137545402008-11-27T14:42:00.002-05:002008-12-12T14:07:22.554-05:00

A few days before Halloween, a package arrived in the mail for me. I tore into it and realized my boyfriend had surprised me with Karen Tack's Hello Cupcake!, a book I'd been talking about for awhile and really wanted! I was so excited.The ideas in the book are so cute and creative, allowing you to use every day pantry items to make really professional looking cupcakes. There's designs for

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-5000157395007901432008-11-11T21:53:00.005-05:002008-12-12T13:56:52.064-05:00

What epitomizes cookies more than one shaped with a cutter and decorated with icing? I try to make these for every holiday, as they are my boyfriend's favorites (and he is a VERY picky eater, so once I find a recipe he likes I stick to it!)In my quest to find the best rolled sugar cookie, I've experimented with many different recipes. I have found the absolute best is Neil's Scalloped Sugar

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-81769795558285170352008-11-10T19:46:00.002-05:002008-12-12T13:01:14.439-05:00

My favorite farmer's market closed for the winter last week, so I decided to stock up on the last inexpensive apples I'd get this season. I bought a variety of different kinds, Granny Smiths, Golden Delicious, and Jonagolds, to experiment and see what I liked best for baking (it should come as no surprise that Golden Delicious won).Apple desserts are my favorite kind- my tastebuds don't go for

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5482485229627029387.post-12458114793441649392008-11-07T21:34:00.004-05:002008-12-12T13:01:31.120-05:00

After making sugar cookies last week, I found myself with two leftover egg whites and no craving for an omelet. I'd never made meringues before, and knew this was a perfect time to try them out.I chose a Peppermint Meringue recipe from Allrecipes.com, though I left out the peppermint as I'm not a huge fan of it. The recipe, with my adaptations, is as follows:1/8 tsp salt1/8 tsp cream of tartar1/2

Tracyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13423398437754661286noreply@blogger.com0