Joy the Baker

Has the Baker had too many days off recently?  

Forgive me, but with such beautiful mild summer weather, I can’t bear to keep myself in the kitchen.  

With the spirit of summer under my wings, I took an overnight trip up to San Francisco to visit my darling sister.  She’s a bartender at Citizen Cake in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley.  

Citizen Cake is a great place to get a unique dish without staring at your plate, wondering what the the hell happened.  It’s a creative and still approachable culinary experience.

Powdered Sugar Dusted Donut Balls are served warm with a fresh raspberry and sugar glaze dipping sauce.

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In my life, the topic of food is completely inseparable from the topic of family.  I know this connection isn’t unique to me.  I’m sure you can all relate in one way or another.  My family comes together in the kitchen.  It’s like we’re a gang of rebel pirates (yes, pirates) and my dad is the captain.  He’s the sauce man, the dip man, the master biscuit makes and the pie guy.  He’s got it all covered and my sister, mom and I just follow directions.  We all have our jobs and our strengths, and together we take no prisoners in the kitchen.  We are pirates, after all.

The end product is always such a joy.  We laugh over huge pans of cheesy enchiladas, we celebrate with bowls of pasta and homemade marinara sauce, and we sometimes mourn over dense, sweet cakes.  We run the gamut of emotions always together, always in the kitchen.  

This Memorial Day weekend we came together in San Francisco.  Yes, I stepped out of my kitchen for a day… and into another, much more rowdy and crowded kitchen.

It was also my birthday and my sister and mom made me the beautiful Hummingbird Cake that you see above.

After the jump, my birthday Sunday, in seven pictures.  Sorry kids, no recipe in this installment, just pretty pictures.

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It’s hard to remember why my family went to Disneyland this past weekend.  It could have been because my sister was in Los Angeles from San Francisco.  It could have been because my aunt and uncle were generous enough to share their free tickets.  But in all honesty, I think the real reason for our Disneyland excursion was the hot apple fritters, churros, and hot fudge sundaes.  

I don’t know anyone else who goes to Disneyland for the food.  Just admitting that feels kinda gross and perverse.  Gross or not, it’s the truth of my family.  Forget pictures with Mickey, we want a picture at the churro stand.  So silly, and strangely true.

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