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November 11, 2023

Caramel Apple Cake

This cake began with me flipping through my well-loved copy of Tartine’s first cookbook and finding myself suddenly intrigued by their recipe for caramel apples. Up until then, I had never had a caramel apple. I had never wanted a caramel apple. I had never understood why anyone would want an apple dunked in sweet, sticky goo. But for whatever reason, because my brain is the way it is, I suddenly very much wanted a caramel apple. And not just any caramel apple, but Tartine’s caramel apples.

So… why not make an entire cake to go with it? Let’s break it down:

  • Cake: Lightly spiced cake studded with fresh apple chunks
  • Filling: Italian buttercream whipped with tangy sour cream and honey
  • Outer: Italian buttercream
  • Topping: Tart and buttery apple cider caramel

All together, you get a cake that just bursts with proper apple goodness.

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June 13, 2023

Chinese Hot Water Crust Pie with Fried Rice and Short Ribs

Another throwback recipe that I am only… *checks watch, then calendar* … three years overdue in posting. I have made this pie two more times since I photographed this specific one because I loved it that much! Since watching the Great British Bake Off episode where all the contestants had to make a wild game pie with hot water crust, I became obsessed with the idea of doing the same: but with a Chinese twist.

Why not fill a savory pie with my favorite Chinese mains and sides? Why not?

 

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June 2, 2023

Getaway House: Portland (& Seattle)

UPDATE, JUNE 2023: I have now been to the Portland (Mount Adams outpost) Getaway House at least three times, and the Seattle (Skagit Valley outpost) Getaway House once. I thought I would give this review a big ol’ update now as a frequent Getaway-er. I’ve also added in some updated notes in the original post below. If you’re looking for a referral code, follow this link to book with my referral code if you’d like! You’ll get $25 off and I’ll get some credit: https://fbuy.io/getaway/mrhfrcys

 

Mount Adams vs. Skagit Valley Outposts for Seattle Residents

This article will cover the Mount Adams outpost, which is the one closest to Portland. But, I live in Seattle and it’s my preferred location! Here’s why:

  • More interesting woodland layout that allows for more wildlife spotting: I see many more deer, birds, and chipmunks here than at the Mount Vernon location.
  • Forest is less dense so you get more light: There are two cabins (Ruth and Christine) that barely have any tree cover and instead look out over a field, so those get the longest daylight hours.
  • More remote: This could be a downside or upside depending on how much you like being out of cell and internet range. I still had some cell service at the Mount Vernon location, but here at the Mount Adams outpost, I had none. This made truly disconnecting mandatory instead of having to convince myself to not check my email, texts, etc.

That said, I did still enjoy my time at the Skagit Valley outpost and will be there again later this year, so look for an update on that!

But let’s get into it.

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April 13, 2023

Extra Devil’s Food Cake For the Winter

If this seems weirdly out of season, it’s because it is. If you look at the time stamps on this site, it’ll become very clear that I am erratic at best on when I post — and a lot of that has to do with my own personal incompetence, but also because I never knew why I had this site to begin with. Who is it for? What do I hope to achieve? All good questions for life and frivolous “recipe blogs”, though applying that label to hellokelinda.com is rather generous.

The long identity crisis may be finally over, though, as I find myself wishing more and more that I had some sort of archive by which to track my own favorite past creations, be it a towering cake or cozy stew. So who is this for? Me. Or more specifically, Future Me.

 

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April 11, 2023

Yellow Cake with Nutella Meringue Buttercream

I had two jars of Nutella in the pantry for some now long-forgotten project, and I came across them over the weekend while digging around looking for a sleeve of Saltine crackers. Saltine crackers were obtained and duly dispatched, but the Nutella whispered its sweet siren song from the depths of my canned and jarred goods: Ammmmmmmmmy…. Ammmmmmmmmmy……..

No good. They had to be gotten rid of.

And by what method did I decide to do this? Making an entire cake just to slather it in some deliciously fluffy Nutella meringue buttercream. And sharing it with my coworkers, of course.

 

 

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April 10, 2023

My Favorite Birthday Cake: Yellow Cake with Pastry Cream Filling

I saw this goose candle holder (from Camp Hollow) earlier this year, and how could I resist? He’s even wearing a tiny party hat! I knew the little guy had to take a starring role on my birthday cake this year, and it also gave me an excuse to get a little over-the-top with the decoration.

If you’re interested in doing something similar, you’ll need candy melts for the dramatic swishes (swipe it onto a piece of parchment like you’re a chef plating a fancy sauce), star sprinkles, two piping nozzles (I use a round and a star), and to try your hand at color-matching your frosting with food coloring.

 

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February 17, 2022

Black Forest Cake-ish

My friend Katie is celebrating her 30-mumbles birthday and her absolute favorite cake is a black forest cake.

Personal confession: I am indifferent towards black forest cake. I am, at best, lukewarm towards black forest cake, which I suppose is better than my violently-in-opposition-of feelings towards German chocolate cake and hummingbird cake. If I am being paid to create a cake for someone, I will readily put such opinions aside and do exactly what they’ve requested. But since I was baking this cake out of the goodness of my admittedly cold, unfeeling heart, I decided that it was perfectly fine to be just a little selfish. So here is black forest cake-ish: all the basic elements of black forest cake, but done how I would like it.

 

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April 23, 2020

fictional home tour: Wilhern Manor (Penelope)

Last time I talked about Bag End, but this time our my fictional home tour is inching a little closer to real life with the Wilhern Manor from Penelope. Granted, this movie takes place in a city that doesn’t exist — like a cross between America and England — and in a world where curses are A Real Thing. But a little closer to reality, I said. Just a little.

This is one of my favorite romantic comedies! So much so that I named my dearly departed kitty after the title character. It follows Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci), a girl born with a pig nose because of a family curse. Her mother (the indomitable Catherine O’Hara) tries to set her up with rich guy after rich guy because the curse can only be broken if Penelope finds love from “one of her own kind.” I won’t spoil the ending for you even though this movie is 13 years old.

The set I like in this movie though isn’t the manor itself — which is very grand in a Generic Rich Person sort of way — but the little world of Penelope’s room inside the house. Because she’s hidden away, her room is her sanctuary, complete with deep bathtub, a little library, a swing???, and the coziest bedroom nook that I would replicate in my own house if it weren’t voiding my lease to do demolition work. But, let’s take a look, shall we? We’ll tour the grounds first.

Exterior:

This is a real place — the Foxwarren Park mansion in Surrey, a gothic-style Victorian home built in the 1860s, which was designed by its owner. Fun history fact is that Alfred Ezra, a British bird enthusiast, once lived here and turned it into a small zoo of rare birds, including the last known living pair of pink-headed ducks.

The house is imposing with its jagged lines and I think a bell tower???, though I do enjoy the rounded arched doors. What’s hiding behind that gate, folks?

 

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April 7, 2020

fictional home tour: Bag End

All this staying at home (and watching episode after episode of Grand Designs) got me thinking about the amazing houses from movies that I’ve always loved and wished I could move into. Does anyone else get fictional house envy?

The home I think the most is Bag End from Lord of the Rings. Even Tolkien’s description of it sounds lovely:

 

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: A very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with paneled walls and floor tiled and carpeted, provide with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats — the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight in to the side of the hill — The Hill, as many people for miles around called it — and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.”

 

Comfort? Lots of pantries?? Whole rooms devoted to clothes??? Kitchens with an s???? Yes, please! He doesn’t outright say it, but I choose to believe that Bag End also has a room dedicated to a dry sauna, and another that’s just like a traditional Japanese onsen. Surely this is accurate.

The chief inhabitant is of course Bilbo Baggins, and Bag End isn’t necessarily the norm for hobbit homes. It’s perched on top of a hill to command some impressive views, and is described as being particularly large and luxurious. It helps that Bilbo was already “well-to-do” even before the incident with the dragon that left him immeasurably rich.

Aside from not having modern conveniences like electricity or evidence of indoor plumbing, and it being made for little folk whose heights rarely exceeded four-foot-four, this house is the stuff of Max Comfort Dreams. Let’s take a tour, shall we?

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March 30, 2020

chocolate chip cookies

If I go to a bakery and there is a chocolate chip cookie available, I must try it. It is my duty, and I will not fail. As such, I have eaten many chocolate chip cookies, and friends, they come in so many textures, densities, flavor profiles, shapes, and sizes that it’s strange they are all supposedly the same kind of cookie. I have tasted cakey versions, crispy versions, versions that are more chocolate than cookie, kinds with huge flecks of salt on top and ones made with half white and half whole wheat flour.

Through this very meticulous, science-based cookie eating research, I have come to a conclusion as to what is the best kind of chocolate chip cookie. According to me, a professional, a chewy chocolate chip cookie is best. The edges should be crispy, but give way easily to a center that is just set. The cookie itself should taste of toffee and golden butter, with generous pockets of melty bittersweet chocolate.

 

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