Life Update

Well I went a whole month without posting. At first I felt sort of guilty for not putting up my usual weekly baking or book update, but then I remembered hey, this is a hobby! Hobbies are fun. Hobbies don't bring feelings of guilt, so I'm over that. Instead of apologizing I will update you on life things that have kept me from the blogosphere. 

I had my last day of work this weekend! But Joanna you say, don't you still need a job? Yes, yes I do, and though I will not be earning an income this summer, I think it's safe to say that the next few months are going to be pretty awesome. I'm moving to Los Angeles for the summer! I'll be interning with LiNK and couldn't be happier. 

Also, school. This month has been mayhem and I am so glad it's over. Having class for approximately 24 hours a week, with mountains of homework, and work on top of that was a less than ideal situation. But now it is over! Now I have a week off and it's fantastic. Insanity was totally worth it.

I went on vacation! I spent the last week of April in San Francisco, mostly stuffing my face with delicious food (bread and Mexican food mostly). I also realized that I am probably going to sweat to death this summer seeing as Northern California was too hot for me, so we'll see how I do in the Southern part. 

I've been reading books yes, but nothing so fantastic that I felt okay giving it the Good Books badge of honour. I read Wonder by R.J. Palacio. It's a book meant for 9-12 year olds but I heard so many good things about it that I gave it a read. If you have no shame reading kids' books, or have a kid in the family, this book. This book is it. I also read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn after hearing so much hype about it. This book is messed up. It is all sorts of crazy. If you're into that then cool, but it was a bit too far for me.

That has been my month. Bring on the summer.

Oh, I also turned 26. 

Out & About: Bouchon Bakery

If you follow me on Instagram you may be aware that over the holiday season, I took a mini vacation with my family to New York City. I had only been there once before, in high school with the school band, so this time around I was excited to cross a few things off my list of must-do's in the Big Apple. New York City is an awesome place, everybody knows that, and there is so much to do, see, and eat that it's easy to cram your day full of things and yet miss so much at the same time. Most of what we did day-to-day revolved around bakeries, cafes and restaurants I wanted to eat in, which I'm sure by now is no surprise to you. One of the first on my list was Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery.

This bakery is a beautiful place. With open windows to the baking process in the back and an open display of the freshly baked goods - ranging from croissants to macarons to cookies and more - it's difficult to walk out empty handed. Having just had lunch at Hale & Hearty near the Rockefeller, we decided to finish with something sweet and caffeinated from the bakery I had heard so much about. Mom and I split the cranberry-orange and the egg nog macarons, while my dad and brother each had a TLC cookie - nobody was disappointed. The macarons were perfection, perfectly smooth and crisp on top, chewy inside, and not too sweet - oh how I hope to one day make macarons just like 'em. 

Happy to have crossed the bakery off my NYC list, a few days later on Christmas I was pleasantly surprised to open up the beautiful Bouchon Bakery cookbook. It is filled with gorgeous pictures and stories on how the bakery came to be, various baking techniques and suggestions, and of course drool-worthy recipes of items from the bakery itself! I tried out the carrot muffins (post to come) and they were delicious. This book is a great one to add to your cookbook collection, and the bakery is an even better place to stop off for a quick cup of coffee and sweet tooth satisfier. 

Note: None of these pictures are my own - mine were lost to an unfortunate phone+water incident. 

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Out & About: Good Morning Baltimore!

This time last year I said goodbye to a wonderful country and some beautiful people in South Korea. The friends I made there are some of the greatest people I've ever known and even though we're scattered all over the globe I think we do a pretty good job keeping in touch. In need of a summer trip (and a reunion) I booked a trip to visit my friend Jess in Baltimore, Maryland. We spent four days stuffing our faces and being tourists in both Baltimore and Washington D.C. Straight from the airport we headed to Trader Joe's! I picked up a fair amount of chocolate covered goodies and a jar of the famous Speculoos Cookie Butter (which unfortunately was taken from me at the airport). After a short rest, we headed to Matthew's Pizzeria for one of the best pizza's I've ever had - my mouth is watering just thinking of it. We spent the afternoon at the American Visionary Art Museum, which was awesome and then headed to meet Jess's parents for dinner at L.P. Steamers. Now, since March I've been following a vegetarian diet though sometimes eating seafood - which I guess technically makes me a pescetarian but who needs labels right!? Anyways, it didn't seem right to be in Baltimore without trying some of their infamous steamed crabs (with what else but Old Bay on top). At first I was kind of nervous cracking open their shells but I eventually got the hang of it and feasted 'till my heart's content! Our first day was made complete with italian ice and frozen custard from the Cow for dessert- I got frozen hot chocolate and coconut almond ice with chocolate custard on top. 

We spent the morning of the second day wandering around Hampden, and then heading to lunch at Papermoon Diner. They have any amazing menu but it's really the atmosphere that knocks this place out of the park. It is painted in bright, fun, colours and covered top to bottom with a large (and crazy) collection of toys, dolls and mannequins - seriously one of the coolest diner's I've ever been to. From here we headed to Fell's Point for a wander, a ghost tour, snow balls and Mexican food at Arco's. Mexican food is one of my all time favourites and this place did not disappoint - margaritas, guacamole and fish tacos left me beyond satisfied. 

Our third day was spent in the capital. Lunch was had at SundeVich - a seriously delicious sandwich shop that has sandwiches made with the flavours of different cities from all over the globe. I got the Zurich - a breakfast sandwich with egg, gruyere, apple compote and arugula on a baguette - again, my mouth is watering from the thought. After visiting the White House (and hoping to meet Bo) and Lincoln Memorial we went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History and I got to see Julia Child's kitchen! I took way too many pictures of this enclosed space but hey, excitement took over. We then walked to the capital building, and rested until it was time for dinner. Jess's friend made a reservation for the three of us at Cava Mezze - a Mediterranean inspired tapas-style resturant. The food was fantastic, the best being the flaming cheese. 

Day four was more relaxed as we lazed around in the morning before meeting our friend Hannah for Korean food at Mandu. It may not have been the best Korean food of our lives (but honestly, how can you top the real deal) but it hit the spot and was a great ending to a food filled reunion.