sesame ginger noodles.

Why are people so wary of self-reflecting? I enjoy it .. it's not like I do it every second I get and look forward to it with longing, but if I find myself, say, on a 5.5 hour bus ride, with nothing but my iPod to accompany me, I let my mind wander.

And eventually, after thinking about how excited I am to bake again, speculating on my relationships with people, and still trying to get over the $14,000 on-campus apartments at BU, my mind turns to me. I don't know about everyone else, but I like seeing how much I have changed and the amount of experiences I've gone through for the past couple years. It makes me more appreciative.

cream cheese fruit tart.

I always feel a little bad about incorporating fruit into batters and baking them. I would so much rather find ways to include seasonal summer fruit into desserts raw, in their natural form.

This tart was actually eaten on the fourth of July ... aren't I a little late. But it can be delicious even during less patriotic times; it's definitely an everyday, perfect make-ahead tart.

one-bowl toaster oven chocolate chip cookies.

Despite the heat, I still keep using the oven. One day when I had a hankering for something sweet, but didn't want to flood the house with waves of heat rolling out from the kitchen, I decided to use the toaster oven.

And lo and behold, one of the blogs I regularly follow had a recipe for toaster oven chocolate chip cookies! It was fate. I also hadn't made chocolate chip cookies in forever, and my brothers always appreciate a break from the random, creative, awesome sometimes unusual things I prefer to bake.