Lovin' From the Oven

Williams Sonoma Quick Gingerbread Spice Bread & Appendicitis

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So if you’ve been following my twitter, you might know that I spent last night in the hospital for the first time of my life. On Saturday night around 9PM, I started getting really bad abdominal pains. It started out around my navel so I thought a little Advil would cure the problem. I took some and then slept for about 2 hours before I was awakened by even more stomach pains. I stayed up til about 5AM tossing and turning, even vomiting three times before I was able to sleep for another 3 hours.

I was up by 8AM and the pain was still there. Weird, right? A simple stomach cramp does NOT last nearly 12 hours. Now, it had moved down to the lower right side of my abdominal; My left side didn’t hurt at all. After a little googling, I diagnosed myself with possible appendicitis. I told my mom and she took me to Urgent Care at about 10AM.

I saw the doctor and he poked around my abs for a bit and asked a couple questions. He said it could have possibly been appendicitis, and if so, I was in for a long day. My mom and I weren’t going anywhere, so we told him to do what he had to do. Little did I know what I was really in for.

I was sent to get my blood drawn, take urine tests, and then finally for a cat scan. For the cat scan, they made me finish three bottles (nearly one liter) of this nasty thick drink. I had one hour to drink all three of them because that’s how long it takes to go through your intestines. The purpose of the drink was to coat the insides of your intestines so it shows up better in a cat scan. Let me tell you, it is seriously one of the nastiest drinks ever. Sure, it kinda tastes like cake batter, but it was so thick that you would want to gag after one sip. Here’s the nasty chalk drink:
They also pumped iodine through me so that my body would show my veins and arteries clearer. After the cat scan, it was confirmed.. I had appendicitis. My appendix was 9mm when it was supposed to be 6mm. So then, the doctor got the surgeon to come discuss my options with me. She asked me a couple of questions and came to the conclusion that I could have appendicitis, but it’s still too early to tell for sure. It could be something else, like a cyst on my ovary because they have the same symptoms. I could either A: have the surgery and just take the appendix out, while having her check out my ovary at the same time in case the appendix wasn’t the problem, B: have them monitor me at the hospital to see if my conditions get worse and then have the surgery, or C: go home and then come back if I feel worse for a surgery. The way I saw it was that I was getting a surgery either way, so I’d rather have it done ASAP. That was it– she scheduled my appointment for 6PM that same night (yesterday). Here’s me and my momma just prior to going under the knife. My pops and boyfriend also came to support me (poor boy, it was the same day as our two year anniversary!).


I chose to have a microscopic surgery, where they do three little incisions rather than one huge one. They put me to sleep and the next thing I knew, everything was done. I was rather droopy and had to stay overnight at the hospital so that they could monitor me. They pumped me with an IV throughout the entire night and I was already walking at midnight. My doctor told me that it was definitely appendicitis, and she could tell during the surgery because the base of it was all inflamed. My surgery went very well and luckily, I was able to be released the next morning.

The doctor won’t let me work or go to school since I have to have time to recover. Apparently recovery time is two weeks. Ughhhh. So I’ll be stuck home blogging whenever I can (I’ll also be updating all my NY eats at my other blog, The Darling Foodie). This is where the quick gingerbread comes in. I was actually craving dessert and knew that I didn’t have the strength to completely make something from scratch, so I used a mix. My brother, being the nice brother that he is (he’s 16), saw me about to bake and offered to make it for me so I wouldn’t stress my stomach so much from all the stitches (it’s so hard to sit up and down!). He was so worried for me during my surgery and was waiting at the door for my parents to come home to fill him in on how it went. How sweet is that? I also came home to balloons and a card from a my little sister. I have an amazing family, it’s true. 🙂

My brother doesn’t bake much, so when he started pouring the mix into a bowl, I asked him why he didn’t use the mixer. His answer? “The directions say to mix it with a wooden spoon.” Hahah, how cute is that? Anyways, the bread was made and I made the glaze to top it all off. It was very gingery and cinnamon-ish. Perfect for this rainy day! Here’s the recipe for the glaze from the back of the bag:

1 cup of sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tablespoons milk

Whisk all the ingredients together and drizzle over cooled bread. Let it harden for an hour before serving.

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Tres Leches Cake

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Tres Leches Cake. My boyfriend speaks fluent Spanish and I’m not gonna lie, I always say phrases to him in Spanish because I’d like to think that I’m fluent in another language besides English and Vietnamese.

No me gusta.
Te amo.
¿Qué Hora Es?
¡Ayúdame, por favor!


Nothing too special, really. Just the basic phrases you learn in Spanish I. And besides, practice makes perfect, right? How am I going to learn if I never try? I’m actually not that bad at Spanish– I used to write letters in Spanish when I was writing to my bestie on his mission in Guatemala. It’s the whole speaking part that I struggle with.

When I made this cake, I must have gone around the house saying “Tres Leches Cake!” a million times because it’s fun to say. I also took one of my formspring reader’s advice and baked something out of the ordinary– something more cultural. This cake is most popular in Latin America and I actually tried it for the first time at one of my boyfriend’s family gatherings since his grandma made it. It’s kind of strange, at first, if you’re not expecting it to be so…. wet. It’s basically a sponge cake soaked with three different kinds of milk. It may initially be very sweet, but the cake tends to mellow out if you refrigerate it overnight. I added freshly cut strawberries to top it all of, but any fruit will do. You can even leave it plain if you’d like. Recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup All-purpose Flour
  • 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • 5 whole Eggs
  • 1 cup Sugar, Divided
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • ⅓ cups Milk
  • 1 can Evaporated Milk
  • 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
  • ¼ cups Heavy Cream

FOR THE ICING:

  • 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
  • 3 Tablespoons Sugar

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.
  2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.
  3. Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
  4. Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
  5. Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
  6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
  7. Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.
  8. Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
    Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whatever fruit your heart desires. Cut into squares and serve.


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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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So this… is the best carrot cake in the world. I stand by it like no other. I’ve posted it twice on my blog before as my first paid cake and with an amateur picture, but that was way back when I had a crappy camera and didn’t know much about lighting/food photography/blogging… anything, really. What a difference time and knowledge makes!

I’ve baked this many times before, yet always fail to post the recipe because it came from my aunt and it always seemed so secretive. It was actually the recipe of her wedding cake, and she loved it so much that she had to get the recipe from the baker. Ever since then, it’s been baked multiple times in the family. I finally decided to post it because it’s just too good not to share. I’ve been selfish enough over the past couple years keeping this to myself and am finally letting it out. ::whew:: That was difficult. Seriously.

So please, cherish this recipe as much as I do. If not the cake, definitely the frosting. I’ve tried plenty of cream cheese frosting recipes and this one still remains my favorite. You can use it on anything else you want– red velvet cupcakes, chocolate cake, banana bread.. Heck, just make it and eat it straight out of the bowl!

  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups AP flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 cups shredded carrot
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar

Mix all ingredients well with a wooden spoon. Pour into desired pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes (more or less depending on pan size) until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the cream cheese frosting:

  • 8 oz cream cheese (only use Philadelphia brand!)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • few drops of water

Beat all ingredients well and spread on top of cooled cake.

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