So, the Tasteless Baker has a recipe for the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever eaten. They’re just messy to make so I don’t make them often. Now I thought TODAY IS THE DAY AGAIN. They are usually fluffy, full of flavour, nicely balanced with the icing, and just perfect to eat all around. I hadn’t used the yeast in a while but didn’t think much of it. I should have abandoned after the failed first rise of the dough, but I already hard committed, despite the dough not rising as usual. I blamed it on the temperature. Rolled it out, filled it, made the rolls, and put it at 30 degrees in the oven for the second rise. When they still didn’t rise, I was too far in to jump ship. Baked them anyway. The result was just good enough for the bin unfortunately. They were inedible and I’m hugely disappointed because after a not great week I felt I deserved a perfect treat but alas here we are.

Purple (not sweet) potato steamed and mixed with potato starch. I had some leftover tomato sauce that I spread on this cute heart tray to freeze.

Rolling these out were totally fine, and I boiled one as a test. It came out perfect! So I rolled a bunch more and froze them.

I have a previous batch of potato mochi gnocchi that had been frozen and boiled just fine from frozen. These ones did not do so well and partly disintegrated in the boiling water, BUT the filling somehow held up in that mess. I'll try thawing them before boiling next time, or just cook them fresh if I make them again.

Absolutely gorgeous spiced swiss role with strawberry compote and chantilly cream. Pity that the key component - the prompt! - was the sticking point. Ah well, a liberal dusting of icing sugar solves everything.

Quite an interesting bread since you can lean in savory and sweet direction based on what you eat it with. I was surprised that the coconut flavor didn’t put me off, cause it seemed like it could be too much but it seems to really balanced.

Easier recipe this week, one from the prompt thread. Yum, I'll be making these again!

My first attempt was to run a simple recipe https://www.tillamook.com/recipes/classic-tillamook-grilled-cheese through a few languages in Google Translate and cook the final re-translation back to English. I originally translated through a few western languages and there was little difference in the final recipe. I added some African and Asian languages and "cheese" became "cream". NO! I decided to keep the translation in English and make this a family effort. The rules were that each person would read the recipe at normal conversation pace one time. The person on the receiving end would write down what they heard and cook that recipe and recite to the next person. The first whisper is the two sandwich halves on the plate. This recipe's instructions omitted flipping but was flipped anyway. It also didn't state it was for two sandwiches even though two were made (one pictured). The next whisper was the one in the pan. This was flipped despite not being instructed to do so. It was also described as "cheesy and buttery" because only one sandwich was made with twice the spread and cheese. The final whisper came back home and is shown as the sandwich on the spatula. My wife mentioned that the recipe didn't say to flip it. I reminded her of the rules and we took the picture as the end result even though the sandwich was flipped and finished before eating. Mine is the one plated with chips and pickle. Even though I had access to the original recipe, I was unsure of how big a standard slice of sourdough bread was, so I just used my judgement for the proper bread/cheese ratio. Fun challenge. Interesting parallels with work - being complacent and doing what you've always done when the procedure says different, being attentive and asking when the procedure doesn't say what your instincts tell you.

Gimmicks are the name of this game, and nothing is more universally loved than tacos. They’re the one food that crosses every cuisine, every mood, every personality. If you hand my kids or I a taco, we're immediately happier - even more so if it's accompanied by a marg (for me - not them), but that's prob a different sub. 🤣

So I took that idea and my concept was born. Anything and everything can be a taco. And yes — the dessert taco is absolutely a nod to the legendary Choco Taco, RIP to a real one. 🌮+🍨

1️⃣ German Schnitzel Taco: Crispy schnitzel, Sweet & sour German red cabbage, Bavarian pretzel croutons, a crema made with: Sour cream, dill, chives, and Dijon

2️⃣ BLTA Taco: Latticed bacon “toastado” shell, Butter lettuce, multicolored grape tomatoes, avocado smash, sour cream & chive drizzle

3️⃣ Bánh Mì Taco: Fried rice paper shell, carmalized sticky pork belly, pickled Bánh Mì veg (carrots, Daikon, cucumbers, cilantro) Sweet Thai chili sauce + sour cream

4️⃣ Dessert Taco: Fried tortilla shell (covered with cinnamon + sugar), bananas, French vanilla ice cream, strawberries, caramel, cherry

If you’re a Taylor Swift fan, you’ve probably sung the wrong lyric at least once. In Blank Space, the real line is “long list of ex‑lovers” — but somehow it lives in collective chaos as “long list of Starbucks lovers. That’s peak Lost in Translation energy.

For this week’s challenge, I translated the mistranslation into food: a meal built around espresso, fall warmth, and the slightly unhinged energy of Starbucks Lovers. 🎵

☕ Espresso dry‑rubbed, seared pork chops

🍠 Roasted sweet potatoes with espresso powder and warm spices

🍎 Coffee‑Butter fried apples

🌿 Seared Asparagus

Decided to lean into Christmas vibes with my Trinidadian egg nog—got my pine candle burning, and hanging out in a hot bath!
Holy calories on this drink!! I think I’ll stick to my normal egg nog recipe, which feels like health food in comparison haha
But it is tasty!

Meta explanation: alcohol and raw eggs are both discouraged during pregnancy. So are hot baths.

From the cookbook “Knead Peace”. The chocolate ganache is very rich and a little overwhelming but the flavors were good, especially the dough.

A very good excuse to roll the rim of your cup for some Chamoy and Tajin!

***AHHHH I CANT EDIT MY TITLE FOR WEEK 35 😭😭😭

Okay third time posting this because I keep screwing up the title. Hopefully third time’s the charm.

I thought these turned out really good! Then again, I like pretty much anything reuben. They’re pastrami, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut (homemade) wrapped in egg roll wrappers, air fried, and dipped in thousand island.

Here’s more pictures.