Chocolate | Pancakes and Postcards

Because I’m Awesome.

January 16, 2012 By Courtney 29 Comments

It’s amazing how easy it is to go through life without having enough FUN.

I have a lot of fun, usually, but also find myself occasionally wondering what happened to the carefree nature of life. Days when I’m tired, stressed, and “fun” activities become obligation.

Tonight was one of those nights. I’d paid to go to a GrubWithUs—hadn’t been to one in a long time and I love them—but it ended up being a little stressful. Work is crazy, I’m flying to San Diego tomorrow night, and I had to get to Pac Heights at a decent time. Once I found myself in Chinatown waiting for the 1 California bus, two passed me and didn’t stop because they were full. I was stressed, miserably cold, freaking out about being late, wondering how I’d get to the restaurant and then…

I realized that NO ONE WAS MAKING ME DO THIS.

Instead I walked up to Powell Street and hopped on the cable car back down to Market, enjoying the wind in my hair and one of my favorite SF traditions on a peaceful night. I walked into Forever 21 and bought a super cheap, sexy dress and $3 turquoise feather earrings because I could. I finally bought the Street Smart newspaper from a homeless person, hopped on the bus, bought a 7-pound bag of ice for $2.75 just so I could have one icy cocktail, mixed it up when I got home along with a bowl of pasta. For dessert, I ate an entire king-size chocolate bar without caring about how many miles I should run tomorrow morning to burn it off.

And I realized: I can do this. Whenever I want.

Not saying that eating a whole chocolate bar or being buzzed off of a gin and tonic on a Monday night is the key to life, but I realized that I’m constantly obeying rules for myself without even realizing it.

I have to be working all the time.
I always have to be checking my email.
I have to run all the time or be feeling guilty about not running.
I need to eat healthy and punish myself when I don’t.
I shouldn’t eat the chocolate. I shouldn’t have the cocktail.
I have to follow through on every. single. obligation. regardless of how important it actually is or how I am feeling in my mind, body, and spirit.
I should be doing something more productive right now.
I should lose 5 pounds to be sexier and skinnier. I should feel bad about my body until I do so.
I need to constantly project a certain image.
I have to obey one million ideas that no one’s forcing me to do.

Well I’m done with this. I’m ready to spend more time being selfish. I’m ready to spend more time doing things that make me feel good. Because I’m awesome. I’m done doing everything for everyone else and I’m going to focus on me and what makes me happy, whether that’s running 7 miles before 7 or not waking up til 11 or eating a fresh salad or the entire chocolate bar or going to bed at 9PM or 3AM or going out and not having a drink or going out and having several or taking an extended lunch break because we all know I get my work done or working through the whole day so I can turn my computer off at 5PM and not touch it til the next morning. I’m going to spend my time how I WANT to spend my time, whether that’s out with a bunch of friends or home drinking cocoa in my jammies or waking up early to exercise or deciding that in no way I’m going to exercise today or prioritizing happiness and pleasure. Because I’m awesome.

I’m done hanging out with friends when it feels like a chore.

I’m done sitting home alone when it feels like a prison.

I’m done thinking of what others expect before I think about what truly makes me happy.

Lord knows I keep healthy. Lord knows I’m good at my job. Lord knows I’m dedicated. That’s not the question. The question is how much joy I take out of the small moments.

I’m resolving to be more hedonistic in the small moments.

I’ll get off the bus a stop early to get hot chocolate for less than $2.
I’ll walk the long way back to the bus after work to think.
I’ll eat the chocolate or the ice cream or the fried chicken.
I’ll waste time doing something that feels like anything but a waste.
I’ll look at myself in the mirror and tell myself I’m gorgeous. I’ll have a dance party with myself and not care who is watching.
I’ll flirt with whoever I want, be it the guy on the bus or at the store or anywhere else, just because it’s fun.
I’ll stop trying to apologize for the fact that I am sexy yet strong, smart and sweet and a whole ball of sass rolled into one.
I’ll stop trying to live up to other’s expectations and set my own.

Because I’m awesome. And I deserve it. And so do you.

Why do we as women put so much pressure on ourselves, in work, in relationships, at home, in life? Why do we feel like taking time for ourselves is selfish or lazy or unproductive? It’s not. If we all were a little more selfish with our time, if we were all a bit better at saying NO, at expressing how we ACTUALLY feel instead of convincing ourselves that we’re overreacting, at eating the chocolate, at dumping the dude who makes you feel bad about yourself, at hiring that babysitter or house cleaner or pickup/delivery laundry service or whatever small thing to make our life easier, the entire world would be a better place.

There’s a place for selfless sacrifice in every day. But there’s also a time to stop caring about who thinks what and what you should be doing and concentrate on what you want to be doing so that YOU feel fulfilled, refreshed and more energetic and happy than ever and can apply that to every area of your life. I’m doing that… because I can.

Join me.

(PS, if you’re ever in need of a pick me up, listen to the Dollyrots’ song Because I’m Awesome while singing along in your jammies. It’s a guaranteed mood booster. It might even prompt an inane blog post about your self-appointed awesomeness.)

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Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: awesome, cable car, chocolate, drinking, girl power, life, pressure, San Francisco, self love, selfishness, unhealthy goodness, work

Rocky Mountain Fondue

July 7, 2011 By Courtney 11 Comments

I have been a bad blogger. It has been so hard trying to find a balance between exercise, sleep, and blogging (work is non-negotiable. As is eating). Blog usually gets put to the back burner because it affects my health much less than adequate sleep and regular exercise do, so it can’t come first, but it also causes me sadness when I see all these other busy people who are able to blog daily! Please teach me your ways. Anyways, that’s for a different post.

***

Last week, I went to a little place called Colorado on business. You probably don’t know this, but Colorado is my second favorite state. I spend a summer during college living and working in Estes Park, Colorado, right on the border of Rocky Mountain National Park. It was amazing and beautiful and I had a wonderful time.

I made it a goal at that point to someday live in this state, hopefully in Boulder. It’s such a great town and I really fit in perfectly there. Climb, hike, and swim all summer, ski all winter… just my style.

Anyway, I hadn’t been back to rocky mountain paradise for a few years… until this week. I went to Colorado Springs on business and was able to enjoy the fresh-smelling air and the beautiful landscape. Despite being less than 5 miles from Pikes Peak, our schedule didn’t exactly allow for me to hike it, but that’s okay—next time!

One of the highlights of my very short trip was my first trip to The Melting Pot. I had heard of it—a place where you go and dip stuff into cheese and chocolate fondue (not at the same time)—and it sounded right up my alley, but I had never gone.

Until now. (duh-duh duh….)

Every table had a hot plate (or two) on which fondue or cooking liquid (more on that later) would be placed. It reminded me of Benihana or one of those cook-your-own-meat Japanese places. But more awesome because chocolate would be involved.

Course one was cheese fondue made with lager beer, cheddar cheese, worschetershire sause, and garlic. We got veggies, apples, chips, and bread to dip in. Green apples for the win. Yum.

Next up was a California salad and a whole bucket of dressing on the side. Nom.

The “entrée” part was quite interesting. It is somewhat in the cook-it-yourself way of thinking, where you actually pick a cooking style and they bring out a pot for you and you cook your meat/veggies yourself. Some of the choices were traditional vegetable broth, a certain canola oil which was basically like frying, a Caribbean “mojo” sauce, and a coq au vin cooking sauce with red wine. We went with the Caribbean.

I went with the vegetarian entrée which was essentially a big plate of veggies—portobellos, artichoke hearts, asparagus, tofu…

And it also came with a bowl of veggies on the side. And we got approximately one dozen dipping sauces from which to choose. #toomanychoices

About halfway through my veggies I began to feel like I may be sick if I had just one more bite. But that was before the best course of all: the chocolate!

We decided to get the one with the best name, which was obviously the “cookies and cream marshmallow dream.” Which came with dark chocolate, marshmallow, and oreo pieces all mixed together.

Dippers were bananas, strawberries, rice krispies, pound cake, brownie, cheesecake, and graham-cracker- and oreo-coated marshmallows.

This was really too much. It was so delicious but at this point I started feeling like I had been very, very cruel to my body.

I hit a food coma right there at the table and almost fell asleep. So much for my lose-five-pounds goal; gaining five sounds MUCH more fun!

Anyways, it was really fun and definitely an entertaining dining experience. What I didn’t realize before is that it is EXPENSIVE! OMG! I could not believe the prices. This is the place I might come afterwards for dessert with a friend or two and just buy the chocolate ($15.50 for two people). Eating dinner there should only be for a VERY special occasion. Especially if you are going to pay $20 for a plate of vegetables that wouldn’t even make a salad by themselves. Regardless, I’m glad I went. It was fun and man did I sleep well that night.

Happy Thursday, everybody!

Have you ever been to The Melting Pot? What do you think of fondue?

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Filed Under: Pancakes (Food), Postcards (Travel) Tagged With: cheese, chocolate, Colorado, Colorado Springs, fondue, marshmallows, The Melting Pot, travel, unhealthy goodness, vegetables, vegetarian

Your New Go-To Chocolate Cake Recipe

May 24, 2011 By Courtney 8 Comments

I don’t really like chocolate cake.

So sue me. But I LOVE chocolate itself, chocolate brownies, chocolate chips, hot chocolate… but chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream, I could normally take or leave. But everything changed this weekend.

You remember Talia and Julia that I introduced in my last blog post about book club. (Still time to enter my giveaway for supplements–just leave a comment–or to join my bay area foodie book club, email me at pancakesandpostcards at gmail dot com!).

Well, Sunday Funday started out with a day at the races…

And ended with this.

The girls love to bake, so we set out to make a delicious layered chocolate cake, recipe hailing from somewhere out there via Julia’s baking class that she took recently. (Who else would die to take a real baking class? *points thumbs to chest* THIS girl!) We were at Julia’s house in Oakland, and the view from the kitchen wasn’t so bad.

We prepared snacks for baking.

We divyed up responsibilities. Talia got the cake.

I got the buttercream frosting. And I’ve never really made buttercream before, so this was exciting.

Julia prepared the caramel sauce. No pictures because making caramel is stressful.

My sister helped frost the masterpiece.

It wasn’t the most beautiful cake you’ve ever seen. But this recipe creates THE fudgiest, moistest cake EVER. I hate dry cakes so much, this was more like the love child of a devil’s food cake and a fudgy brownie. With the frosting and the caramel drizzle it was almost too good. The buttercream from scratch can take a while, but the cake recipe itself is SO easy. There’s coffee in the mix, which you do NOT taste, but which perhaps adds a distinct richness to the flavor. And the fleur de sel on top and in the caramel creates the best tiny hint of salt that balances the intense chocolate perfectly.

I most highly recommend this recipe for a very decadent, moist, fudgy chocolate cake that is sure to please pretty much any chocolate fanatic. And I think if you’re in a pinch, a can of Betty Crocker icing would do just fine. : )

***

Layered Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting & Caramel Sauce

Cake:

1 ¾ cups flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cup good quality cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, well shaken
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Frosting:

6 ounces good quality semi-sweet or bitter-
sweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 egg yolk, room temp
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso, dissolved in 2
teaspoons hot water

1 teaspoon fleur de sel (to sprinkle on top of the frosted cake)

Caramel Sauce:

1 ½ cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon fleur de sel

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-inch round cake pans, then line them each with a circle of buttered parchment paper.

For the cake, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Take the bowl off the mixer and stir in the coffee just to combine, using a rubber spatula to scrape any dry bits from the bottom of the bowl. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out without any wet crumbs. Cool the cakes, on a rack, for 30 minutes in their pans then turn then out onto the rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot w/ 1-inch of barely simmering water. Stir gently until the chocolate melts and remove it from the heat. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium high speed until it is light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add the egg yolk (if using) and vanilla and beat 3 minutes more. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. When all the sugar is in, increase the heat to medium, scraping down the bowl as needed, until the mixture is light and fluffy. At low speed add the chocolate and coffee and mix just until combined.

To make the caramel sauce, combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan. If any of the mixture is on the sides of the pan, brush it down with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Cook the sugar over medium-high heat until the sugar has dissolved, without stirring.. Continue cooking, without stirring, until the syrup is a dark golden color. Remove pan from heat and slowly add cream and butter. The mixture will bubble up quickly at this point so be sure your pan is big enough. Stir to combine and let sit for a few minutes to thicken.

Frost the top of one cake, spreading about 1/2-inch layer of frosting all over the top, leaving about 1/4-inch border around the edge. Top the cake with the second cake and use the remaining frosting to cover the sides and the top. Sprinkle the cake with the fleur de sel, cut, and serve with a drizzle of caramel sauce.

***

MAKE THIS CAKE! You will not regret it. And enter the giveaway if you want some free superfoods. : )

Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

What’s your go-to dessert?

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Filed Under: Pancakes (Food) Tagged With: baking, book club, caramel, chocolate, chocolate cake, food, recipe, unhealthy goodness

Best Breakfast Ever: SF International Chocolate Salon

April 19, 2011 By Courtney 19 Comments

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Sunday, I had chocolate and wine for breakfast. And lunch.

Okay, actually I met my sister and two friends for breakfast in the Marina first, but that’s besides the point.

The plan for Sunday morning was the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon. Basically there was a festival pavilion at Fort Mason (where the food truck party happens that I wrote about in my last post) that was full of chocolate vendors and wineries. 76 of them. Yes, 76 booths passing out chocolate and glasses of wine. UM, YES.

I can’t really explain the goodness, so I’ll let the (poorly taken iPhone) pictures speak for themselves.

This is one of the best wines I’ve ever tasted. It was called ‘sexual chocolate’, a cab/syrah blend made by a winery I think was called SLO Down, started by some dudes at Cal Poly SLO their senior year. Plus, the label was handwritten. Totally winning.

(My sister came!!!)

Bacon caramel and seaweed caramel popcorn. Apparently the bacon one didn’t taste like bacon, but the seaweed one DEFINITELY tasted like seaweed. With caramel. And popcorn. No thanks.