Wake up in the morning feelin' like...

...a marketing coordinator. I love my job, I really do. I get to work with some solid people doing things I'm good at. But no matter the joys of employment, there is always that moment right after my alarm goes off and I consider giving the whole day a good ole college try...and not getting out of bed. During that 30 seconds of indecision I'll think many thoughts, the first of which being, "What day is it?" I've created this handy chart to help you determine the follow-up thought process:

• MONDAY
• This weekend was fun/exhausting/productive/lazy...no one would blame me for staying in bed.
• General mood: depends on the weather.
• TUESDAY
• It's only Tuesday? How/why?
• General mood: pep talk necessary to move at an above-glacial pace.
• WEDNESDAY
• HUMP DAY, but not till the day is over.
• General mood: optimistic...already thinking about the weekend.
• THURSDAY
• Today's like Friday's pregame. I can do this.
• General mood: sassy. Let's do this.
• FRIDAY
• Wow, the week really flew by.
• General mood: content.

After that initial calendartastic internal monologue, my feet hit the floor and there's no turning back.

Like I said, I like my job...it's waking up that's hard to do.

_________________________

As promised, it's time for another recipe share time! This weekend I made Buffalo Chicken Rolls, and whenever I make these, I make them in bulk because they are delish when you first make them, but are even better reheated or eaten cold the next day.

So here ya go...BUFFALO CHICKEN ROLLS!

The recipe makes 12. This is a good number, just keep in mind that there are only about 100 calories per roll, so eating 3-4 isn't gluttony, it's living.

Here's what you need from the store:

• 12 egg roll wrappers (Every single time I go to buy these, I forget where they are in the store. Check in the produce section. If they're not there, just ask someone...trust me.)
• 1 cup cooked and shredded chicken (6 ounces)
• 1/2-2/3 cups hot sauce (flavor to your desired level of hotitude)
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese (I usually use more...and I snack on it while making them, so I always just plan ahead.)
• 1 cup broccoli slaw or cole slaw (dry)

Here's what you do!

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay egg roll wrappers on a clean work surface. (This takes up a lot of room, so clear off a few counters and prepare to take over your kitchen.)
2. In a small bowl, stir chicken and hot sauce until well coated, using more or less sauce depending on your spice preference. The meat should be moist with sauce. (The word 'moist' doesn't usually bother me, but for some reason it does in this scenario.)
3. Begin by placing one tablespoon of the broccoli slaw on the diagonal of the bottom right corner of the wrappers. Next, place 2 tablespoons of shredded spicy chicken evenly on top of the slaw. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the blue cheese crumbles over the chicken. (All of these measurements are subjective...just eyeball it and spread out your ingredients until they're all gone, just DO NOT OVERFILL THE WRAPS, because then they'll tear and you'll have made a whole mess of things.)
4. To fold: (OK, this is where the recipe turns a simple thing like folding an egg roll into freaking origami. Have you ever been to Chipotle? You know how they fold their burritos? Do that and to seal the deal, wet your finger in a small bowl of water and use that to seal the final corner to the rest of the roll. For you folding wizards out there, I'll include their lengthy instructions...) Fold the bottom right corner over the stuffing miter so that it covers it completely, with the tip of the corner now pointing to the center of the egg roll wrapper. Fold in the bottom left corner, followed by the right, so that you have now formed an envelope. Roll the wrap upward one time, leaving the top left corner open. Wet your index finger in a small bowl of water and press to moisten the top left corner. Now fold that down on top of the filled roll, sealing it like you would an envelope.
5. Repeat with remaining rolls.
6. Place the rolls on a greased cookie sheet. Spritz each roll evenly with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the rolls crisp and turn a light golden brown.

Here's their final product. Mine looked like this too, sans plate because I eat them standing up in the kitchen.

ENJOY!

A KC Girl in St. Louis.

So...this is Missouri, huh?

After living in Leawood, Kansas for 22 years and 10 months, I made the big move across the state line and have settled in a little city called "St. Louis". My great move eastward was initially prompted by a lacking social scene in Kansas City (somehow, a daily nannying gig and a 9pm bedtime didn't prove to be the glamorous life one strives for), but after an extremely lucky series of events, I was able to secure a big girl job in my new home city.

(I won't bore you with the details, but I am now the Marketing Coordinator for Sandler Training Stark & Associates...Google them. They're legit.)

One week in, and I'm already sold on St. Louis, but there are some adjustments that need to be made...by me, not the city. I mean, I'm not above taking some of these to a city council meeting, but whatever.

• First of all, I don't know how to handle this whole "traffic" thing. Back in KS, traffic existed, but was limited to roads under construction and Metcalf. Here, especially on my routes to and from work, traffic is a four letter word. Everyone takes the highway, and everyone works 8-5, meaning that everyone and I have a daily rendezvous betwixt our bumpers.
• It's "St. Louis Bread Company", not "Panera". Not a big deal, just different...but their Creamy Tomato Soup still gives me happy tummy, so we're cool.

OK, that wasn't a long list. I mostly just wanted to bitch about the traffic. To counterbalance those grievances, here are some reasons St. Louis is perfection.

• My home is a short bike ride away from both Grant's Farm and Grant's Trail. Grant's Farm is not unlike Deanna Rose Farmstead in Kansas...kinda like petting zoo meets real zoo. What separates it, however, is the tram ride...oh, and the free beer. Did I mention that it's owned and operated by Anheuser-Busch? Well it is, which means that after you take a lovely tram ride through the estate and walk around the farm attractions, you end up in what can only be described as a beer garden. Here, you get two complimentary samples of beer. Oh, and the whole thing is free, with the exception of parking. Rough life, right? Grant's Trail runs right alongside Grant's Farm, and is an eight mile bike trail. It's a nice stretch of path that offers a different view of St. Louis. I rode it today...and came back with jelly legs and lack of breath. Note to self: get back in biking shape.
• This isn't St. Louis specific, but my home is perfection. (I'm living with my good friend, Kathleen, who recently gained legit 'big girl' status with her real estate purchase.) While there is a ridiculous amount of room, there are some issues with it being an older house...case in point: my closet. It's not a small closet, quite spacious actually, but the doorway is about 1/3 of size of the closet, requiring me to crawl into it to get anything towards the back. Not ideal. Enter: Bob the Builder. No, not the animated fix-it guy...my dad! He helped me move in and in a day and a half, took my comically small doorway from this:

Closet is the door on the left.

To this:

Impressive...huh?

• My job is also phenomenal, but I mustn't dwell.
• Oh, and two words: happy hour.

All in all, this move has been great...and I love telling people who want to visit that they get to meet me in St. Louis!

(P.S. I have some killer recipes to post on here, but I didn't want this post to be Tolstoy long. Things to look forward to: Mozzarella Bites, Buffalo Chicken Rolls and Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken. Yum!)

I Think I'll Go To Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

There are three things I know to be true about Boston:

1. Augustana thinks they'll go there.
2. They make a mean pie.
3. I'm lucky enough to be headed there tomorrow!

Yes, the time has come for a Ponath family vacay, New England style. My whole wardrobe is nautical themed and I've accepted the fact that every meal will include clam chowder and/or some kind of historical significance. I've been brushing up on my Bostonian accent by watching every movie Ben Affleck/Matt Damon have ever been in (with the exception of 'Daredevil' and 'Stuck on You'...because I'm not sadistic)....oh, and this: (Please excuse the language. It seems Bostonians have a favorite word, and it's not 'wicked'.)

I think I'm all set.

But, wait...today is my dad's birthday! There must be some way to incorporate our eastward voyage with the aging of my father. Answer = Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes. BAM...did I just blow your mind?

(It also works nicely that Boston Cream Pie is my dad's cake of choice. DOUBLE BAM...I'm on a roll.)

I'm gonna go rogue and post a picture of the final product BEFORE I go into all the gory baking details, but only because I'm going on vacation and you're not.

Woo! And a single candle for the birthday boy. (After he saw the cupcakes and got a sad puppy dog face, I gave him a second one...it is his birthday, after all.)

OK, now here we go. The original recipe makes 18 cupcakes and, as I've previously mentioned (in Snickerdoodle Cupcakes and Magical Chupcakes), I refuse to make the full amount. I mean, what am I going to do with 18 Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes? Do you really think airport security is gonna let me on a plane with these wicked pastries? Nope. They'd "confiscate" them, and there is NO WAY some glorified security guard is gonna get in on this cupcake action.

Long story short: I've cut the recipe in half.

Here's what you need to get from the store:

Cupcakes

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sifted before measured cake and pastry flour (Sifting is my new favorite thing.)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/8 cup milk (If that fraction looks weird, it's because it is. The recipe calls for 3/4 cup milk...just half that, mmk?)

Pastry Cream

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup whole or 2% milk (Honestly, I used the 1% milk I had in the fridge...worked fine.)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache Icing (The fact that I made 'ganache' just tickles me. Doesn't that just sound fancy?)

• 1/4 cup chopped-into-bits semi-sweet chocolate or chips
• 1/8 cup whipping cream
• 1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line 9 muffin cups with paper liners. Place eggs in small bowl and cover with hot tap water to temper. (Didn't know what 'temper' meant, so I Googled it....it's just warming eggs up without scrambling them. Knowledge.)
3. TO MAKE CUPCAKE: Beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. (Not fluffy, cloudlike, more fluffy, fresh snow.)
4. Beat in egg, then vanilla.
5. Thoroughly mix sifted flour with baking powder and salt, then sift or rub through a sieve again. (Seriously, I love sifting. It's like making fresh snow out of flour.)
6. Alternatively, in 2 batches, stir first flour and then milk into butter mixture.
7. Divide batter among cups. (See Snickerdoodle Cupcakes or Magical Chupcakes on the best way to do this.)
8. Bake in oven for 15-16 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool on a rack in pan.
9. TO MAKE CREAM: Stir sugar with flour and salt.
10. Lightly whisk eggs in a large saucepan; stir in sugar mixture until thoroughly combined. Slowly stir in milk, making sure to incorporate mixture at edges of bottom. 
11. Place over medium heat. Stirring constantly, bring just to a boil. (Mine didn't visibly boil, so I sorta guessed...pretty much when it gets gooey.)
12. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
13. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on surface of cream. Cool to lukewarm.
14. TO MAKE GANACHE: First of all, accept that you will be making ganache. Give yourself a pat on the back for even attempting this fancy sounding icing...funfetti is below you.
15. Melt chocolate in whipping cream over very low heat in a small saucepan. Stir and when almost smooth, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature.
16. YOU'RE ALMOST DONE! TIME TO ASSEMBLE: Remove paper liners from cooled cupcakes and line muffin cups again with new papers.
17. Cut tops off each cupcake about halfway down and place bottoms in the re-lined cups.
18. Top with cream, dividing equally; evenly smooth cream right to edges.
19. Replace tops, then ice.
20. Refrigerate until icing is set, about one hour.
21. To serve, first point out the made-from-scratch cream and ganache topping to your samplers. Pause for oohs and aahs...then remove paper from cupcakes.

There you go! You enjoy your cupcake version of Boston's finest baked good, and I'll enjoy Boston.