Happy Happy, Daddy!

This is my Dad. He reads my blog every day, and Tuesday was his birthday.

I love my dad for lots of reasons. Some of them are:

1. He's incredibly handy. A couple of years ago, he made a career switch- he had done all sorts of work with cities and small governments (my dad loves things like zoning laws, the most boring thing on earth), but then he decided he wanted to have a contracting business. Now he and his guys build gorgeous fireplaces and cabinets and rooms.

2. When we were growing up, Dewey and I lucked into one of the most hands-on dads around. He took us on camping trips and, best of all, coached all our sports teams. (He even taught himself how to play soccer so he could coach those teams!)

3. My dad is exactly the person you want to have around in an emergency. I have never seen anyone else react so calmly to the most stressful situations. We all depend on him for that, and we're all grateful for it.

4. My dad also makes really impressive birthday cakes. The one he made for Dewey's third birthday had three tiers and dalmatian spots, and it was delicious.

5. My dad is more generous with his time than anyone else I know. Need someone to pick you up at the airport at two in the morning? He's your guy. Same goes for someone to take you out to breakfast and help you study at 5:30 on the morning of a big test.

6. My dad taught me about music. When I was fifteen, he drove me to school every morning (which was unusual because everyone usually just took the T), and we listened to Simon and Garfunkel and Dylan and the Beatles, and my musical taste was born.

Happy Happy, Daddy!

I'm so glad you were born.

The weekend started with breakfast on the back porch, and just got better from there.

There were trips to the BPL, pedicures, and the beginnings of a blog redesign. Going into work today was really hard- I started so many projects over the weekend, and I just wanted to go home to work on them. Alas, sometimes even I must act like a real grownup.

Tomorrow is a double birthday day- my dad AND my friend Marissa, and have tons to do at work. I'm busy busy busy.

Okay, getting loopy. Time for sleep. Good night!

Happy Friday, friends!

Tonight, Emily and Ben and I are going to go eat dumplings in Chinatown, then at 11 o'clock, I'm picking Lisel up at South Station, and we'll have a weekend of adventures. I can't wait!

How about you? Anything fun in store?

p.s. Aren't these ranunculus gorgeous? I'm sort of in love with them. Not to mention, they were only a dollar a stem!

Biscuits

It occurs to me that I've told you about making biscuits on Saturday mornings, but I haven't directed you to the recipe I use.

"But Abbie," you say, "I already have a recipe for biscuits! Everybody has a recipe for biscuits. Why would you even think about posting a recipe?"

I would think about posting a recipe because this is, quite simply, the best biscuit recipe out there. You don't cut the butter into the flour, so they don't ever really have the opportunity to get tough like biscuits often do. They come together really quickly- if I start making them at 10, I am spreading butter and jam on them at 10:30.

Try them sometime. I find they go especially well with a cup of coffee and a good novel.

Best Drop Biscuits

Adapted from Serious Eats and Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar (the original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon, but my roommates and I prefer sweet biscuits. 2 1/2 tablespoons makes them sweet without being sickeningly so.)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cold buttermilk (I usually just add some lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk)

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly.

1. Heat oven to 475°F. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Combine buttermilk and melted butter in a 2-cup glass measuring cup, stirring until butter forms small clumps.

2. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with a fork until incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl.

3. Using two large tablespoons, scoop biscuits of your desired size onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. (Note: they will expand while cooking; space biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart). Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes for medium-sized biscuits.

4. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool for five minutes before serving.

Here is what I think:

1. All this ballet flat weather is a beautiful thing.



2. Green trees are good for the soul.

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday, friends!

Today is Patriots' Day, which means that here in Boston, some of us don't have to go to work. It's also the day of the Boston Marathon, which is possibly my favorite sporting event all year. My roommate Anna and I are going to go watch the elite runners race down Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay in a couple of hours. I can't wait- I haven't seen Boston live in years.

{Via Apartment Therapy}

I'll leave you with this breakfast nook. I can't stop staring at it- can't you imagine yourself sitting here on a lazy Saturday morning, drinking coffee and eating baguette and reading the newspaper? (An actual paper newspaper, not the New York Times online, which is all I ever read anymore). Heaven.

Glee is back, Glee is back! I found myself getting hopelessly addicted to Glee last season, like, oh, half of America. I was borderline distraught when it went on hiatus, and so, so happy when it came back.

My friend Emi came over on Tuesday to watch with the roommates and me, an occurrence which obviously necessitated the making of cake. She'd never been to our apartment, see, AND our favorite show was back. Two things to celebrate. Plus, it had been a year since I'd made busy-day cake.

You all read Orangette, right? If you don't, you should start. Molly's descriptions of food and the stories that go with them are so wonderful, so luscious, so nice, if you will, that I often find myself cooking the dishes she writes about within days of reading the posts. Such was the case with busy-day cake. I will never forget my roommate coming into our tiny kitchen, the one that housed the bunnies and looked out on the most charming tiny backyard in the world, to ask me what I was doing making cake at ten o'clock at night. But, you see, I had read what Molly had to say about Edna Lewis and the busy-day cake, and I had to have it. Once you read that post, you will, too, and you won't regret it: served with sliced strawberries and a glass of milk, it makes a delicious high-school-musical-melodrama-watching snack. The next morning with a cup of tea, it makes a delicious, if indulgent, breakfast. It's all gone already, but I'm already planning to make it again next week. I won't let it be a year in between times again.