Photobomb

Been baking quite a bit these days.  The goal is to bake something new/newish once every week.  I might have actually gotten a tiny side gig baking for a tea shop in town, too-  so I don't want to be rusty.  (For those of you who don't know me, I actually moved to Atlanta to be a vegan baker.  I got my first job at The Atlanta Cupcake Factory and went on to bake at Dough Bakery as well.) Up top are Vegan gluten-free Chocolate Chip cookies, and below are Vegan Macarons using Chickpea Brine instead of eggs! You can find the recipes at Floral Frosting. 

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One of my besties, Nicole, had a Backyard Margarita Birthday Party this weekend.  She is literally one of the best people and has the happiest eyes.  Below is a quick pic she snapped of René and I, because she knows how few pics we have together. (He hates taking pictures, but loves Nicole and she knows he won't say no. Haha.) I love it. I ALSO love that she is literally texting me right now.  RIGHT. NOW.   (Skirt and shoes by Modcloth, leotard by American Apparel )

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I have a serious obsession with the rooftop of my building. Ever since we moved in, most of my friends can vouch that I don't want to go out anymore. I just want to sit on my roof and drink. Because of this, I've taken to learning how to make all of my favorite drinks in Atlanta. (And using my own loft grown herbs!)  Up top is my fave drink from H Harper Station - The Bufala Negra.  You can find the recipe here.  Below is Bua Sushi's take on a Mojito.  They use coconut rum instead of regular. (I use both bc, why not?) I also have an obsession with fancy straws.  I'm not ashamed. 

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I conclude with my cat Padmé.  She wins. That is all.  

Oh! Oh and I'm about to have a new logo/page look and feel. I got the drafts this weekend and they look AWESOME.  So stinking excited.  

xo. jj

EqualiTEA Cookies (insert pun dog)

 

Friday was such a wonderfully monumental day.  Equality rang throughout the country and all I wanted to do was celebrate (in between crying out of happiness.) I celebrated kinda the only way I know how- it's either a dance party or baking with glitter.  I chose the latter for this occasion, but lets me honest, it was a little bit of both.  

I knew I wanted to make rainbow colored SOMETHING.  At first I picked cupcakes, bc they are kinda my go to, but we just moved and the space of our kitchen is kinda tight, so I thought I should stick with something a little more compact.  I chose Tea Cookies… equaliTEA cookies, that is.  Heheh.   

I grabbed "Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar" for my roll-out dough.

I looooved how fluffy this dough got-  though it ended up not being such a great thing. Haha.

I will be the first to tell you that I am terrible at rolling things out.  I avoid making pies for this very reason. After being left in the fridge overnight (per recipe) this dough melted almost immediately.  I added about a cup more flour to it to stiffen it up when all was said and done.

Not perfect, but again, I'm not great with dough. (Also- there's nothing some really colorful icing and glitter can't cover)  I learned a lot this time that I will take into consideration for the next go around. 

I'm DEFINITELY a "throw it together" royal icing-er.   Just start out with a cup of powdered sugar, and add 1/4 vanilla (or any other flavor), and just add a teaspoon of milk (I use almond milk) until it gets to where you can stir it.  You want it to be thick so that it dries well on the cookie.

Lets be honest, the decorating is always my favorite part.  I just dip the cookie in and hang it upside down and scrape off any extra dripping icing. You want the tops covered, but anything extra is going to go rolling over the sides before it dries.

I painted tiny glitter hearts on the bottom of each cookie, which I TOTALLY forgot to take a picture of bc I was running late and wanted to get the kitchen clean before I left. (...bc I'm a SUPER considerate girlfriend… *insert Rene rolling his eyes here*)  I made the glitter "paint" out of 6 tablespoons of white sugar into 2 tablespoon boiling water.  I added a bunch of Disco Shaker edible glitter and viola!

I ended up taking these cookies to said party, and other than forgetting the host was gluten intolerant, I'd say they were a success.

Yay for love winning! and Glitter!

Jess