A Note on Maple Blondie

To begin, Ben and Jerry's, I worship you so please do not take this the wrong way. This is merely a critique that all artists endure to improve and further master their medium, especially since there is no such thing as a finished work.
In my humble opinion, one of the latest flavors, Maple Blondie, lacks the essential complexity of the more successful flavors. Take Peanut Brittle, which has the subtle peanut brittle flavored ice cream, the gooey swirl of sweet caramel, and the crunchy and slightly salty contrast of the peanut brittle pieces. In each bite the sweet gooey caramel is balanced with the crunchy peanut brittle pieces. Not only does Maple Blondie lack the textural contrast in the maple flavored ice cream with maple blondie pieces and a maple swirl, but there is too much Maple, even for a stack of pancakes! Since my grandfather used to pour maple syrup over my vanilla bean ice cream, I am all about the maple, but in this case enough is enough! I was disappointed that Maple Blondie desperately needed sliced banana or a few scoops of Peanut Brittle so it didn't taste like I was sucking on a Maple tree in the forest, wearing a plaid shirt and carrying an axe, unless you are into that, of course!
Over all, Ben and Jerry's is a wonderful contribution to society whose pints have guided women, like myself through all sorts of stressful situations,and yet even Ben and Jerry's has room to grow. Don't give up boys because dessert/life would not be the same without you two ;)

Why Even My Mom Makes Angel Food From a Box

Apparently there is a reason why Angel Food Cake from the box is universally accepted where a boxed Funfetti cake is considered the "lazy" way. I should have run away when Ina warns not to bake the cake on a rainy day because it will be "dense and sticky" and not "light and airy," because God forbid my Angel Food Cake is dense!
I do not know what was more exhausting - reading the recipe five hundred times and still not understanding what happens to the reserved one and a half cups of sugar that is mysteriously separate from the CAKE flour and other half a cup of sugar (Yah, try finding cake flour at the grocery store with the Spanish speaking, yet enthusiastic employee who has no idea what cake flour even means), my mother coming home and informing me that I should be using confection sugar and not the refined sugar that I blended in the food processor, or sifting the flour and sugar FOUR TIMES, only to sift it each time you add a fourth of the flour mixture to the gallon of egg whites that have whisked for a minute on high, then two minutes on medium, then sung a lullaby, then mixed on super-duper high speed until it purrs in satisfaction.
Anyway, by the time I had appropriately danced, sung and prayed to my cake and placed it in the oven I had forgotten how to tie my shoes, and in fact, I think I lost them in the process. I busied myself and pretended to forget about the moody cake determining if it was rainy outside and if it felt like rising in the 35 minutes. I about fell over when I opened the oven door to a confection that resembled Ina's Chocolate Angel Food Cake and even better, it was surprisingly delicious, if I may say so myself!
I must say, Ina, you flawlessly guided me through what should have been a culinary disaster! I do not know how it happened, but I successfully baked the dreaded Angel Food Cake from scratch, and a chocolate one, no less! I do not know if I would encourage a friend to put away the boxed cake for the cake flour, at least not until they have had enough baking successes to buoy their confidence, however it feels pretty good to be able to say, "Yes, I have indeed made an Angel Food Cake from scratch and it was even humid outside!"
I don't need you, boxed Angel Food Cake!

Ina and Bobby, you are delicious and Hayley, you can't boil an egg!

Oh my, Oh my, Oh my! I have been in culinary bliss upon my return and it reached its epic peak last night for our Mother's Day feast! well, perhaps not the peak...my edible exploits are far from a downward slope, excluding my pathetic failure to boil eggs this morning. Oppsie Daisies. Apparently there is a reason why people are so persnickety about the "technique" for a perfect hard-boiled egg. However, I am going to pretend that never happened, since I technically just went for it thinking, "well, how hard can it be to boil an egg?"
Then again, its not like I cracked it open and found steamed asparagus, but the yolk was slightly undercooked. Some people actually prefer it that way, and well, I just might be one of them! But its not over eggs! Watch out for those of you hiding in my fridge hoping to be scrambled because I will find you and (after a bit of a struggle) boil you to hard boiled perfection!

Not to toot my own horn, but I did prepare a spectacular spread last night thanks to Ina and Bobby, and my Su-chief's, of course! For the salad it was a scrumdiddly-umptious spinach and pea salad sprinkled with pine nuts and Parmesan,and tossed in a pesto dressing. Then, Bobby's grill-tastic chicken breasts wrapped around an herbed goat cheese mixture with roasted red peppers and a sweet pesto sauce. Then, some wonderfully plump tomatoes sauteed in garlic, thyme, and basil, and my family's favorite penne with sweet potato and fennel dish served with Parmesan cheese! Then, for dessert I made a rich, dark chocolate truffle cheesecake that made you wish you were a cow with multiple stomachs! ( Which is ridiculous since cows aren't even intelligent enough to eat anything other than FREAKING grass!!!!) oh, well. C'est la vie!

Kitchen, how can I describe how much I love you?
Stomach, do not EVER stop needing food!
Bobby and Ina, never leave me!
Eggs, watch out because Ima coming!!!!!!!!