When I was a kid I used to day dream about what it would be like finally break free from my parents and be a completely independent and free (and obviously fabulously wealthy) woman. In my head it was sort of like "I'll eat cake all of the time, drink right from the carton, buy all the clothes I want, and no one will tell me to clean my room"   James has been out of town for some training and since I'm new to San Diego (aka, no friends/job) my life has turned into the worst version of what, as a teen, I daydreamed adulthood would be like. Late night Netflix binges. Messy house. Daily Whole Foods Hot Bar excursions. Really embarrassing hip hop dancing.  

This morning I woke up with a little bit of a cloudy head. I spent about 20 minutes lying in bed trying to find a basic banana bread recipe. I had to wade through pages and pages of "spruced up" banana bread recipes. And I mean, sweet Moses, doesn't anyone make regular old banana bread anymore?

I finally came across this recipe, shuffled out to the kitchen and whipped up a batch. When it cooked through it was incredibly dark. So much so, that I almost threw the bread out the window and climbed back in my bed. However, my stomach would never allow me to throw away potentially good food. After a slice or two (or five), I was in love. I mean, that sucker ain't pretty, but it is delicious. The bread is soft and sweet and the crust is just what you want out of banana bread, sugary and crunchy. I even threw pecans in it, because, you know, that's what adults do.

James and I moved in with my new kitchen last week. Despite the fact that we are supposedly on a diet, he bought me a Kitchenaid which is basically my #1 life's dream coming true. Unfortunately, giving me access to a Kitchenaid is like giving a toddler who's been on Whole 30 an entire chocolate cake. That's literally what it is like. When all is said and done, our diapers don't fit anymore and there is chocolate frosting all over everything.

Links and Stuff:

On Thursday the internet gods blessed us with a wifi connection and within an hour I found myself in a Michael Flatley Internet Wormhole proving once again that the internet is a weird place/I need a job.

My friend got married this week and mentioned that she hadn't planned any sort of cake, and since I believe that forcing cake on people is the best way to strengthen the bonds of friendship, I practically begged her to let me make cupcakes. I used this recipe for the strawberry cupcakes and this recipe for the chocolate frosting. I've never had a stronger urge to faceplant into anything than I did that frosting. 10/10 would faceplant.

James requested that our first meal in our new apartment be pizza in our skillet, because pizza is in our diet plan. If you have never had pizza baked in a skillet then you have never had pizza. Which is an overdramatic way of saying: make pizza in your skillet and be a forever changed person. If you don't have a skillet then drop everything you are doing and go get one. We used our favorite pizza crust recipe which is so easy. You just throw the 5 ingredients in a giant bowl, give it a few whirls with a stirring spoon and let it sit overnight. This dough is best when you give it a good 24 hours so the yeast can get nice and comfy cozy before you dress those babies up with sauce and cheese and toss them into a super hot oven. 24 hours people. Do it.

On the Menu:

If James didn't marry me, I'm pretty sure he would have married this thai peanut chicken, and I can't say I blame him. 

At some point I'm going to put this no-churn vanilla ice cream in a nice soft sugary broiled peach bed and somehow convince myself that it's healthy. Still working out the details.