What the fluff

Apparently I live in the town where Fluff was invented. There's even a yearly festival to celebrate in which people enter various creations using fluff as an ingredient. Some of the combinations are a little bizarre:

I tried one of these. The flavors just sit side by side. It's fine. Not terrible; not great. Not much point to it, really, since there are much better partners for fluff.

There are also performances and kind of ridiculous games for kids.

And of course a competition.

Cooking with the roomies

The roomies and I bravely attempted to (and did, in fact) make tiramisu. We learned a bit about cooking during this experience, the most important lesson being that equipment is key! At one point, we had to whip cream and yolks to create the filling. 

We didn't have an electric mixer and thought, "no problem. We'll just stir really really fast."

Let me tell you this now, no human can stir fast enough to do this. After having zero success procuring stiff peaks from the cream and worrying that the entire dessert would be a failure, we fortunately were able to borrow a mixer from the boys who live downstairs. (Yup, the boys have more kitchen appliances than the girls).

Me, flopping over after trying my hardest to be a human mixer.

The cream filling was made and we were able to finish the desert which turned out to be fantastic.

**FYI: Tiramisu needs to sit in the refrigerator for a minimum of four hours but preferably overnight. I didn't know this beforehand so if you're planning to make it, just be aware that you need plenty of time.

Pizza: Because It's Easy

This is an incredibly easy recipe and takes no more than 15 minutes. It's one of the first ones that my mother tried to get me to learn.

You need:

A baking sheet

Pesto (I buy it but my mother is fancy and makes it out of homegrown basil)

Sundried tomatoes (canned or dried - doesn't matter)

Feta cheese

Olives (if you want)

Pizza crust (I use the quick and easy Boboli crusts, but my brother is way ahead of me in terms of living-on-your-own skills, and he makes his own crusts from dough)

Preheat your oven according to the directions on the package for the crust. Spread a layer of pesto on the crust, then layer tomatoes, olives, and whatever other toppings you'd like to use. It's easier to chop the tomatoes and olives beforehand so that they will lie flat, but I'm usually lazy and just toss them on as is. Sprinkle a layer of cheese on top. (I told you - EASY!)

Bake according to the package's instructions. For Boboli, it's only about 8-10 minutes. I take the pizza out when the feta on top starts turning a light brown.

Gardening

Note to self: get gardening inspiration from Grandma's garden and file that away for your future house.

(Also, take packing tips from her).