Photo Re-Do: Lime Coconut Cake

Find the recipe here. 

This week I'm doing a tiny little sugar fast until Friday. I usually disapprove of such craziness. In fact, generally I'm sort of a moderation snob if I'm any kind of a snob at all. But ever since Christmas, the sugar in this house has been out of control. Usually I consider that a problem my kids have, but lately I've gone from my bit of dark chocolate after dinner to two large pieces of chocolate after dinner, oh and maybe a brownie after lunch, and a few bites throughout the day, and let's not forget that lick of Nutella off the spoon. It kind of adds up and I was starting to crave sugar, which seems like a bad sign. So I thought to myself, "I'm just going to take a breather until I go to my friend's baby shower on Friday."

Taking a breather has been embarrassingly hard. I've got to say if you can't do a tiny little sugar fast, you've probably got a tiny little sugar problem. Hopefully, a few days of abstinence will nip it in the bud and I can go back to my slice of dark chocolate at night. But let me tell you this post didn't help.

Oh, sure, it needed doing. Last week when I made these Coconut Lime Cupcakes for my friend's birthday, I looked up the recipe and saw my sad little pictures for this fantastic bit of cake. That just didn't seem right. So I took new, prettier pictures in an effort to do them justice. And now I'm blerging and drooling all over the keyboard. Oh dear.

You can leave them plain like this. They're perfectly delicious.

But to doll them up for my friend, I mixed up a bit of lime zest and a bit of coconut. It was pretty and delicious.

Photo Update--Pumpkin Spice Scones

I have so many half-written posts for you guys--things I can't complete because some picture or idea or whatever is still missing. So this week I decided to catch up on an old project and add some extra pictures to our favorite pumpkin scones. I hope this makes it easier to get your pumpkin on one of these crazy snow days. So have a look at the original recipe HERE.

See, doesn't that make you want to bake something warm and spicy and simple and quick.

Basic (5-Minute) Thai Coconut Broth

Maybe this seems like a weird sort of post. I mean, who wants just a Thai broth. Um, you do. Because it's amazing. Honestly, it's loaded with plenty of healthy stuff (coconut, tumeric, ginger) and could be delicious on its own. But it's the perfect canvas for whatever you want to throw in it. We had it with some shredded chicken thrown in, but it'd also be the perfect background for any leftover veggies you've got hanging around or some rice (or regular) noodles. Heck, my kids ate it with corn bread dipped in (fusion, people, fusion).

What I like about this recipe the most is that it's quite simple. There are plenty of delicious Thai soups/broths out there. On this site I've got one that I adore, but this simple little broth is nice because it takes 5 minutes to throw together. There are no lime leaves or coriander root or lemongrass stalks (though those things are amazing). There are just basic ingredients that can (each and every one) be found in the Asian aisle at Walmart. It's Thai broth for the common man. Or the time-pressed woman. Or the person with a bunch of random veggies and noodles sitting in her fridge who wants to make them awesome. Here you go.

Basic 5-Minute Thai Coconut Broth
serves 4
adapted from What a Girl Eats
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Cost: $4.00
coconut milk: 3.00, ginger: .15, fish sauce: .20, lime juice: .50, seasonings: .15

2 cans coconut milk
2 C water (or chicken broth)
2 T minced ginger (or 2 t ground ginger)
4 T fish sauce (I usually do more like 3-3 1/2T)
4 Tbsp lime juice (fresh is best, but any will do)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp tumeric
salt if desired

Combine everything together and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Yup, that's it. I should say that sometimes I want more salt or another tablespoon of lime juice. Sometimes I like to use part chicken broth instead of all water. It's all delicious.

Sip it on a cold day or add veggies and/or chicken and/or rice noodles for a comforting Asian soup.

PRINTABLE RECIPE