buffalo chicken dip.

I gave in to making this. It goes against every bone and fiber of my being that says to not eat processed food and unnecessary cheese and salt, but but .... I've been having this everywhere! At a potluck. At a work party. At a graduation party.

A person can only stand enjoying something at so many places before making it herself. So I made it, and it was delicious. I even used real chicken (instead of canned, which apparently is common). No regrets!

snickerdoodle cheesecake bars.

Big things are coming! In life, that is. Graduation in a few months is not even in my mind - there are other important things to do first.

Have (survive) a successful Dance Marathon.
Finish my thesis. (LOL. SOS.)
Run the half marathon 8K I signed up for.

And THEN, a mere few days after the end of finals period, I can don my cap and gown, stumble down the aisle to pose for a quick candid shot for my parents, and head back. A 2-minute walk and 2-hour ceremony to mark the end of my four years of higher level education.

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.

carrot cake whoopie pies.

I've been having the weirdest dreams. Usually, they're random, but lately they've been reflecting what goes on during my days ... and I have to say, it kind of worries me.

Two days ago, I was volunteering at a hospice. I chatted for a while with this 100 year old lady who was so so sweet and kept giving me life advice that was pretty applicable (except for the part where I have to marry my [nonexistent] boyfriend, have kids, and stay at home to raise them). I also chatted with and kept company to some people who unfortunately had dementia. That night, I dreamed I was losing my memory and had to be placed in a nursing home .. at age 21. 

Another night, I was reading a novel (House of God) that has to do with the psychological breakdown of a medical intern. I'm pre-med, mind you, and am not looking forward to the lifestyle detailed in the novel. You can imagine the depressing dreams I had that night. 

As a result, I decided I need to start focusing on more positive things, things I know make me happy. I would say carrot cake whoopie pies make me happy.

hummingbird cake: birthday edition.

(Pictures coming soon ... actually that's a lie, we finished the cake off yesterday. Oops, sorry!)

My birthday was in January. My roommates made me a cake ... it's tradition, we've talked about this.

First we went out to Jose Tejas for a belated birthday dinner. The wait was pretty long, as they don't take reservations (why), but it was soo worth it. Their food? Very good. I recommend the swordfish tacos veracruz, with fresh mango salsa and grilled avocado. I also recommend at least one margarita, preferably strawberry. Delicious and dangerous if taken on an empty stomach. 

The very fun night ended with us chilling till late, talking and joking around while picking out of this cake, in traditional fashion. 

cranberry walnut stuffed french toast.

Sometimes you want to forego the oatmeal and cereal for a hearty, sweet, satisfying breakfast. This definitely fills all those requirements.

caramelized banana bread + browned butter glaze.

Have you heard of bananas foster? Butter and sugar are roasted in a pan, then sliced bananas are added until they start to soften. At the very end, some rum is sploshed in, before the whole mixture is spooned over ice cream while still warm.

The same concept is applied to this (relatively healthy) banana bread. The bananas are roasted with butter and sugar until they caramelize a little, and then the mixture is mashed together until everything is homogenous.

That sweet sticky mixture is incorporated into the rest of the ingredients, and baked in a loaf pan till golden. Afterwards, a thick glaze is spooned over the entire loaf, so that it dribbles into every crevice.

oreo truffles.

These are quite unphotogenic - just know they taste amazing.

It's good to take breaks sometimes. Enjoy life, ya know.

Wake up at 9 am instead of 6 am.

Take time to eat a relaxing breakfast of steamy oats + pumpkin + banana + cinnamon + chia seeds + walnuts.

Flip your phone over so you stop seeing that maddening green blinking light, indicating a notification, out of the corner of your eye.

Get off Facebook. (Unless there's a huge message thread with some old friends you lost touch with.)

baked cinnamon mini doughnuts + cream cheese glaze.

I'm really excited about these. They're mini doughnuts. Everything is better mini .. well, most things.

They're adorable, healthy (baked, not fried), and virtually fat-free. I usually don't like cinnamony things, but I love these.

The texture is perfectly fluffy. I could pretty much drink the glaze on top, and the way in which it settles and slightly soaks into the top of the doughnut ... you are going to need to try these.

pineapple cream cheese blondies.

I realized why I have so much more to blog about when I come home. Because when I'm at college & have something (anything) to say, someone is usually around to hear it.

I guess that someone is you, now! I think my parents have become proficient in tuning out the random stuff I think about.

I hope you're excited. You can hear about how I recently found out that one ostrich egg is the equivalent of about 22 chicken eggs. And how Rutgers is working extra hard to recruit more students directly from China. This greatly baffles me. Also, how the Affordable Care Act is going to affect our lives. I was not aware that it extended coverage for young adults! I can stay underneath my parents' plan till 26 now! WOOP WOOP.

Oh, and I guess you can hear about these blondies. I mean, if you really want to.

birthday cake for two.

Oh Monday. Every week, I wake up to you, so determined that the day will be good, a strong start to the rest of the week. And every week, without fail, I end the day exhausted. tired. not in the mood to yoga & workout, but I usually do anyway.

Well I give in this week, okay? My day started at 6:40. I put on winged eyeliner despite the way it made my sleepy eyes burn. I went to all my classes despite my intentions of skipping every single one. See this bear cake? (Third one down. Below the creepy as hell Cookie Puss.) A friend of mine and I ate it all. Including the nose, which consisted purely of crunchy bits ... so good. I went to Rutgers Club with Andrea. I ate massive amounts of German Chocolate Cake. I ate buttery pecan bars. I ate two rainbow cookies. After all that, I skipped yoga & the usual hourly gym session I have. I walked back to my dorm from Sonny Werbs instead, to digest ... hair curly & down. plus incredibly windy. equals bad. I later went to Shoprite to find that they did not have challah. #upsetting. I bought birthday Oreos and ate one instead to continue with the theme of fatass for the day. It was so sweet.

How was my Monday? Long. So long.

That's what she said. But I wouldn't end on a bad note. Complaining sucks (hopefully the above narrative was at least slightly amusing. funny how one's pain is another's amusement, right? whatever works.), so I am here to tell you how my Monday turned up.

nutella cheesecake layer cake + truffles.

Remember Andrea? We've made awesome french toast (I actually made her a heart french toast on Valentine's Day morn teehee) & gone secret santa shopping together, and she also decided what my last surprise birthday cake would be. Well, today's her birthday, and that means one thing: make a more awesome birthday cake than the last one.

Which is kind of extremely difficult, considering this was the cake from Andray dray's birthday last year ..

challah french toast. (+ optional steps)

Hey there! It's a fyne Sunday noon, a perfect day for french toast.

But not just any french toast, no no. What I'm talking about is a thick slice of challah bread, doused in a slightly sweet cinnamon egg milk mixture, placed on a hot pan sizzling with butter. As soon as it's cooked through, it's transferred from stove to tray. Brown sugar is crumbled indulgently atop the golden brown toast. Served on a satisfyingly heavy ceramic plate with a sturdy fork and knife. Authentic maple syrup sits in a cute little jug on the side, waiting to be drizzled (and inevitably get everywhere, making every singly surface sticky).

I live for Sunday mornings. 

crispy stuffed french toast.

This is a fabulous guest post on behalf of my suitemate, Andrea Poppiti. Enjoy!

Hello blogging world!!

I'm proud to call myself a borderline creepy admirer of this wonderful blog about food and life. Andrea's the name, and baking's the game. Well not so much the baking part. But my name is Andrea, and I'm one of Yat's roommates (that's right, I get to eat a lot of the food you read about in her posts). Anyway, in all honesty, cooking is not really my forte; I consider myself to be more of an eater. But one afternoon when Yat suggested we make some breakfast before class (an 8:55 physics lecture), I just couldn't say no to the opportunity, which leads me to this guest blogpost.

basic cream cheese frosting.

Yum. I love frosting. For some people, that's the worst part of the cake, especially on those store-bought cakes. The ones that are yellow, chocolate, or white cake, and have that massively thick layer of buttercream on top and skimming the sides.

You know what I'm talking about! That buttercream is heavy stuff. And despite turning off every single person I know, I like it. I like that sickly sweetness .. is that weird?

Don't get me wrong, I totally appreciate mellow frostings (like the one I am about to share with you) and glazes, icings ... but I don't mind that super sweet buttercream. I kind of anticipate it.

"orange velvet" whoopie pies.

Hello lovelies. How was this past weekend for you? Good, hopefully?

I traveled a lot this past weekend, but the weekend before, I stayed closer to home. It was a pretty busy three days. Friday was more relaxing than Saturday and Sunday, though. I went over a friend's house to meet my three other friends. We all brought food & scrolled through the On Demand movies on IO for like ten minutes because the cursor was moving soooo slow. And eventually decided on watching No Strings Attached.

Progression of the night? Read on.