On Getting a New Cookbook and Meeting Joy the Baker

Joy, me, and Angela

After my trip into L.A. two weeks ago to attend Gallifrey One, my husband wasn’t too thrilled about me, as he called it, “driving to Pasadena to buy a book”.  It didn’t matter, I was going anyway. What mattered was how I could make his four hour evening with the little ones less stressful so he wouldn’t be irritated with me.  I filled up their milk cups, made each a snack bowl, put away the Legos (they had been playing with them for days) and brought out the Potato Heads (they hadn’t played with for months).  Well, I needn’t have worried, the little ones took a nap!  They never take a nap for me!  Whatever…

In Joy's Instagram picture of the crowd you can see me but not in this one I took.

We made it out there in a little over an hour which made us about 45 minutes early.  Angela was hungry (O man did I hear about it the whole night, especially when she started flipping through the cookbook) but I just wanted to buy my book and get a spot.  Angela staved off her hunger and passed the time a bit by flipping through the young adult section of the bookstore (which was adjacent to the book signing area).  I do wish she had felt comfortable enough to explore more of the bookstore on her own, though.  It was huge and she LOVES to read.

About five to seven, it was clear that they had run out of books.  Vroman’s was awesome with dealing with this.  Everyone would still get their books signed but those who couldn’t get them that night would get them shipped to their house for free.  The room was packed.  It started about ten minutes late so everyone could get their book paid for and then Joy came out.  They gave her a small introduction and then she got up to speak. When she looked out at the crowd she almost started to cry.  It was clear how proud, overwhelmed, and humbled she was.  As a fan, it was a real gift to be there and see that moment.  She spoke about how it was a strange that we all knew almost an awkward amount about her and she didn’t know as much about us.  She made us bookmarks with her cat on them. She took questions.  Yes, I did ask one.  I wasn’t planning on it but it did pop in there and was genuine so I asked.  I asked her how she decided on the few recipes that made it into her book from her blog.  She stressed that there are only eight or so out of one hundred (that means 92 NEW recipies) and that it was a difficult choice.  Of the few she named off the top of her head, unfortunately none were my two favorites, Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins and the The Best Chocolate Buttercream.  O well, at least they made it in!

We were only in the second row so when the time came for us to have our book signed, it didn’t take too long.  Although, seeing as once I got up to stand in line my heart started doing the Electric Slide and simultaneously rose up into my throat, it seemed like forever.  I had made her a card and wrote in it how much she inspired me and such, but I did want her to know who I was (I mean online, in terms of the blog and Twitter and such) so I put my NerdyBaker logo on the back where the card says “This card was made and designed for you by”.  I thought that was teeny bit more subtle than, “Hi, I’m NerdyBaker!”  I just think that would have been kind of lame.  So we get up there, I give her the card and I say something to the effect of “I just wanted to give you this” and then I flip it over and not so subtly point to the logo as to say that is me (not as less lame as I was hoping).  Then she says, ‎”I thought that was you, NerdyBaker” which was just supremely awesome.  I explained how Angela was impressed that she sometimes eats popcorn for dinner and Joy explained that it wasn’t that glamourous and that she was sure it was way better to eat dinner with your mom and dad every night.  I don’t think Angela bought it.  We took a picture and hugged.  Angela even got a cat bookmark of her own.  I didn’t even look to see what she wrote in my book, I was in such a daze.  We were halfway home once I realized this but I had to wait till we got all the way there because it was too dark in the car (not to mention I was driving).

All in all an exhilarating and fun evening.  I know what kind of cake I am making for my next birthday.  I know what I am making when my neighbor brings me some zucchini in the summer.  I have some recipes set aside especially for my husband.  I do think the Flaxseed and Cracked Pepper Crackers are first, though.  The entire breakfast section next….

Just buy this awesome book!

Two Downton Abbey GeekyLinks this week 10 Facts about Downton Abbey  and if you haven’t seen these Downton Abbey Paper Dolls already well then seriously, you should be ashamed of yourself.

I do have two recipes done that I need to blog about.  I am sorry it has taken so long to post one.  One is even my first savory recipe (that isn’t a bread).

My Six Hours at Gallifrey One

No food today.

Actually that is a lie.

I made these cupcakes for my cousin’s 7th birthday (robot themed, right on).  The cupcakes were the cake I used for my Chocolate Cake with Strawberries and Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting and the frosting is a basic buttercream but made using the method I used for my Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.  They are decorated with Sixlets, silver sprinkles, and robot cupcake piks.  Also, I made these yesterday, I swear they are my favorite cookie ever if I do say so myself.

Now let’s get to the nerding out…

If some of you are less enthusiastic for the “nerdy” part of my blog and more interested in the “baker” part, feel free to skip this (if you don’t want to be AWESOME!) and wait till next week when I go to Pasadena for Joy the Baker’s first book signing!  Also, I do have a food post coming soon, I just had to tweak a recipe a bit before I posted it.  Then hopefully some good stuff from my Oscar party (I say party, it will be 3 of us plus my kids)!

For those of you that don’t know, Gallifrey One is a Doctor Who convention held in Los Angeles every year.  I had no intention of going.  It started on Friday but my daughter has school and dance.  That Saturday was a birthday party for a friend of my 4 year old and my husband was going to take the day off so we could hang out because our kids were going to spend the night at my uncle’s house.  Then Sunday was my cousin’s birthday party that I made the cupcakes for (and I had to make the cupcakes at some point during the weekend).  I just figured I would miss it again and besides, driving to L.A. can be a pain in the butt.

Then, early in the month, my daughter gave me a bunch of papers from school and one had the best reminder ever, NO SCHOOL on Friday, February 17!  I asked her if she was cool to skip dance that day even though it was their Valentine’s party but she didn’t hesitate, it was Doctor Who all the way!  I let the hubby know what was going on and he rolled his eyes but he didn’t say anything negative so that meant he was on board.  I asked my dad to watch the babies that day and it was all settled.  I was going to Gallifrey One!  I outlined a plan of attack for the whole thing by looking at times and events and such on the website.  I noticed lots of fun stuff that was happening in the evening that I couldn’t go to, cause I had to pick up my babies, but I wasn’t gonna get down because this was the coolest thing I have done in a long time AND I got to take my daughter.  Also, this was the perfect week for it because we had a bit of extra money and it wasn’t that expensive, only $40 for me and my daughter was free!  I saw that John de Lancie (Torchwood: Miracle Day, and yes totally Q from Star Trek: TNG) wouldn’t be there on Friday and found out from the Nerdist Podcast that Chris Hardwick and Matt Mira would be going but not till Sunday.  I just had to focus on who would be there and what panels I wanted to listen to and think about what stuff I wanted to buy.

Well, once we got there all that pretty much went out the window, in a good way.  First off, driving out there wasn’t too bad.  Plus, I bought the gas to drive out there the day before it started to spike, bonus!  We made it most of the way out there in perfect time but the last fifteen minutes stretched into about forty but at least I didn’t get lost.  We got a great parking spot, we walked in and saw the spectacle.  It was so exciting and we were both giddy!  We had to get in line for our tickets and badges.  I didn’t know going in that the point of these things was to get ribbons to the floor to put on your badges but I do now.  We only got two but I talked to the guy at the information booth and it seemed like the bulk of them for that day would be handed out for the events going down in the evening.  O well, we were happy with the two we had, one for filling out a survey and another for finishing a scavenger hunt, which I don’t think I could have finished without my daughter.

One downside, my daughter was a pill at the panels.  She just kept squirming and saying she was bored.  Luckily the next room over was playing episodes from Doctors 9 and 10 so she went and watched those.  I went to the Miracle or Mistake: Torchwood Miracle Day Review panel, which was hilarious in pointing out it’s flaws (of which there were quite a few) but still remembering why we love it so much and also pointing out what we would have liked to have seen but didn’t get a chance to.  After that we had lunch and did the bulk of our shopping and the scavenger hunt.  At 2:30 we had an appointment with Caitlin Blackwood (little Amelia Pond) for a picture.  I chose her because I was going with my daughter but if I was by myself I probably would have gone with Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler).  She was more expensive, though, if I recall correctly, so maybe not.  What was cool though, is that we were first in line for Caitlyn and saw Camille as she was finishing and I got to take stalker pictures of her.  I felt bad but it was SO COOL, I couldn’t help myself!

I meant to go see the interview with Caitlin but I got engrossed in the Intro to the new fans into Classic Doctor Who panel.  It was really good, informative, and how much the panel loved Classic Who was palpable.  I always figured I would get around to classic episodes (streaming on Netflix) but this made me very excited for them and gave me a starting point!  We walked around a bit more after that and I even started to listen in on the More Magic of Doctor Who Music panel as Angela watched Rise of the Cybermen but much of the rest of what I wanted to see wouldn’t be for another hour or so and then the really fun stuff was after 8pm.  The only thing I missed but didn’t realize it at the time (there is A LOT going on all at once!) is that Paul Mcgann (the 8th doctor) was there and was giving autographs (the free but limited kind, it was a LONG line) and I wish I was aware of that because I might have gone.  Meeting a Doctor would have been pretty awesome!  I could’ve stayed later and the time in traffic would have been less but we would’ve been home much later and I wanted to see if I could pick up the kids and get them home in time to see Daddy before he went to work, so we left.  Ultimately, the trip home was almost three times as long as the trip there (rush hour, Friday night, holiday weekend) but I did manage to get off the freeway for a Krispy Kreme donut, dinner, and to show Angela where Back to the Future (on HBO nonstop this month so the kid was interested) was filmed (traffic side trips can be fun!).  Plus, I did make it home with all the kids in time to say goodbye to Daddy before he left for work.

Hopefully, next year I can go again and stay longer.  We shall see….

Andes Mint Brownies and Cookies (and Fringe and Star Trek and Doctor Who)

O man, sometimes my husband’s job takes its toll.  Not just on him but on all of us as well.  He mostly works at night but one day of the week he works in the early evening and on his days off he tries to keep to his sleep schedule as much as possible while being awake with us in the afternoon, so basically his sleep patterns are all mixed up.

I would be fine with that.  I am a mom.  I get up with babies that need to be sleep trained or are sick, kids that need to get up for school, up early with three kids dressed and prepped for a random day at Disneyland or family function, and also on occasion try to stay up late and spend time with my husband.  When I am tired, I sleep.  He is not one of those people.  If he NEEDS to sleep, he feels the pressure of having to sleep and then he CAN’T sleep.  The weird hours he works just make it worse.  Some days it is not a problem, or mostly just a problem for me trying to keep the 3 and 4 year old as quiet as possible while he is sleeping.

Some days, the days that he can’t sleep, o geez, we are all in for it.  It will be quiet, for an hour or so and then he will come out of the bedroom to use the restroom.  Quiet for another hour and he will come down and get something to eat, saying that food will help.  Quiet for another hour, then just rail about how he is in for it and he will NEVER get to sleep.  At this point I know I am going to have to take my son with me to my daughters’ dance class (which I HATE because what is a 3 year old boy supposed to do in a confined space for 2 hours with limited distractions?), I know I am going to have to make his lunch, and feed him dinner after everyone else is finished.  It ends up being such a mess.  It has to be done, though.  I do feel bad for him but sometimes I feel like he makes it worse.  He claims this current schedule (his schedule also changes every 6 months!) is worse but actually I think he hasn’t had as many of these kind of days lately as he has in the past.  However, today is one of those days, ugh.

Overall this week has also been kind of weird (let’s not even talk about Valentine’s Day).  I usually have my kids chomping at the bit for the things I am baking.  This week was WAY different.  My nephew was the one that had asked for mint buttercream on his Despicable Me cupcakes, the cupcakes that my daughters wanted nothing to do with because of said (completely yummy!) buttercream.  No fun.  So I knew when I decided to use my Andes Baking Bits that I bought at Target about a month ago, that the bulk of these treats would be going to my sister’s house.  My baby boy had a couple of cookies and my husband sampled some brownies but my girls wanted nothing to do with them, I don’t know what their problem is.  As a mother and a baker, it is really disappointing.  Really? I can’t get you to eat a chocolate brownie or cookie, geesh!

Anyways, I was thrilled and happy with both.  If I had to pick a favorite though, it would have to be the cookie.  I adapted the recipe from one that called for peanut butter in it and replaced it with Nutella.  I just love the flavors of that cookie and it is a nice chewy cookie.

The plate that went to my sister's house.

I have a backup of GeekyLinks right now so you will get a few and also wanted to tell you about all the nerdy and exciting things that I have been doing lately.  First off, my Friday nights and Sunday lunches have just gotten FABULOUS!  I have been watching Fringe live on Fridays (as much as I can because Justin is trying to get out the door during the first 20 minutes and it is all “bye daddy” and “can you help me with my lunch”) and have been following along with The Fringe Podcast at the same time (Tweeting as well, whatever it takes to keep the show on the air!)  At the end of the show, you send in your Bunsen Burners (your ratings for the episode) and during the show you can try to figure out what the glyphs spell out.  Sundays, Clint and Darrell do the podcast live and you can chat and comment during it and sometimes they will ask the chat room questions and such.  If you sent them feedback about the show either Friday or Saturday, they may play it and comment on it during the feedback show immediately following the recap show.  It is a fun few hours if you are a fan of Fringe.

My other GeekyLinks just go to show how GREAT science fiction just goes together 10 actors with roles in both Doctor Who and Star Trek and Doctor Who/Star Trek – The Official Crossover.

Also, hopefully I will be able to go to this on Friday with my daughter who has the day off from school.

Chocolate Love: Chocolate Cake with Strawberries and Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting

My family, for all the years and all the parties, is usually big buttercream fans.  However, every once in a while my grandma or my aunt would switch it up and have a whipped cream cake with strawberries.  I don’t know if it was the season or they just wanted to change it up, but us kids were never really happy about it.  Whether the cake itself was white or chocolate was about a 50/50 chance.  Now that I am older, though, and bake more I have certainly come to appreciate a good whipped cream (really, it isn’t that hard to appreciate).

All the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Someone came running when she smelled the cocoa powder.

One day last week, I just really wanted cake.  Strawberries were on sale, I knew I needed them to try something but I couldn’t remember what it was (getting old, ugh), so I figured I would make a cake with a whipped cream frosting and add the strawberries in the filling.  I wanted to eat it at home alone with my husband and my kids and basically just hoard the thing.  Then my aunt called.  She said my cousin, who is a Marine Reservist, was shipping out next week and we were going to get together the next day to wish him well and send him off.  I baked the cake (I ended up choosing chocolate), put it in the fridge, and decided to save it for the family.

Chocolate Whipped Cream

I slept, not knowing what exactly I was going to do for the frosting.  I did want to still do whipped cream but sometimes whipped cream can be so temperamental.  I mean, you have to do it just right and I don’t think I have ever frosted a whole cake with it before.  Did I want to add anything to it to try and help it hold up (I did not), vanilla or chocolate (chocolate obviously), granulated sugar or powdered sugar (granulated had been working for me so I used that but then ended up adding some powdered sugar to taste)?  In the end, it turned out pretty fantastic if I do say so myself, I just wish I had added a few more strawberries in the filling.  Even my sister, a lifelong hater of whipped cream frosting, really liked it.  I also wish however, that I was able to take a better picture of the sliced cake.  I did take some cake home but my son and I got into the leftovers before it even occurred to me to take another picture. It was good, sue me!

The Filling! There should have been no spaces in between the strawberries. I should have even overlapped them. I know for next time!

So with all that family talk my GeekyLink this week is something for my sister and brother.  We were big Growing Pains fans back in the day and I bought the first two of many compilation books of the Walking Dead for my sister for Christmas (OK, kinda for me too but that’s how we roll).  This speaks to both of those things The Walking Dead Season 2 Alternate Title Sequence.

Even with the crappy picture, it still looks pretty tasty.

Nutella Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Banana Bread for World Nutella Day

I am here today to celebrate with you, no not the Superbowl, something much, much better.  It is February 5 and that means it is World Nutella Day!

Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso have hosted this event since 2007 to celebrate the chocolate hazelnutty goodness that is Nutella.  And O, it is SO GOOD.  I am relatively new to the pleasures of it.  I have probably only been eating it for about two years.  Last year, I followed World Nutella Day on Facebook and I was overwhelmed when World Nutella Day came along and I saw the myriad of things that you could make with it.  I was super bummed that I didn’t have anything to share or even if I did, that I couldn’t because I didn’t have a format to share it.  Also, this is the first time I have ever written a blog for an event like this.  I missed out on the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap because I was a great big chicken.  I had only about two months of blogging under my belt and I was way intimidated.  I wasn’t going to let that happen again.  I knew this was coming up and I wasn’t going to miss it.

To be honest, this is actually my first time baking with it.  I am not sure if it is because I do just love the simple joy of Nutella spread on some wheat toast (sometimes with sliced bananas) and I kind of feel like baking with it might spoil that for me or because if I decide to bake with it that I will end up having to buy the double jumbo size jars at Costco and then end up not baking with it but just eating it!  Either way, I think I am just going to have to do it more.  I think next time I want to whip it into a frosting for something.  There really is SOOO much you could do and it all sounds fabulous so like them on Facebook or check out World Nutella Day in the next few days to get all the recipes and really, just get your Nutella on!

This is right before I realized that I forgot the eggs. Thank goodness I realized!

I decided to start simple and adapted a Peanut Butter Banana Bread from Joy the Baker (who else?).  I replaced the peanut butter for Nutella, added a little cocoa powder, added a bit of vanilla,  almost left out the eggs and then almost added too many, then of course, topped it off by adding chopped hazelnuts and mini chocolate chips.  Awesome!

The GeekyLinks for today are just a couple of nerdy posters.  I decided to keep it simple today.  First, some Batman and the history of the Batsuit (click on it to make it bigger) and then some Star Wars Movie Posters For Other Movies which speaks to the movie nerd in me.