These easy-to-make pretzel buns use baking soda to “pretzel-fy” the dough. They’re my favorite burger buns!
This whole food blogging thing came about accidentally for me. When people ask me how I became a recipe developer, food writer and photographer I usually tell them that I stumbled into it. I was former a graphic designer at a dead end job that I didn’t really care for. I started my food blog years ago, as a way to distract myself from the unhappiness of my day job. And if you look at my early blog posts, like the one for my , they’re a little embarrassing, like looking at an old high school yearbook where you had bad hair and poor fashion choices. And trust me when I tell you had I REALLY bad hair and made some poor fashion choices.()
But these pretzel buns! I made them years ago and blogged about them while I still had a day job. Years and years ago. And I though I stand by the recipe, as it’s solid, it’s a little embarrassing for me to give the link out to folks. So, after making them one day (and also sharing the recipe on ) I finally decided it was time to post about them again.
An easy infusion of tea in scalded milk, makes this Earl Grey Blueberry Coffee Cake incredibly delicious and a snap to make.
I have a new obsession and its name is . Part of me wants to curl up in a ball and hide under a rock when I admit that. I want to call it “a guilty pleasure” but the reality is, I feel no guilt in using it. In fact, it’s reinvigorated my love of social media because it’s so refreshing to not have to deal with the insanity of the highly curated life and social media “pressure” of trying to get comments and likes on pretty much every other social media channel everywhere. Snapchat doesn’t allow for public “likes” or comments so anytime I share things on Snapchat, no one else knows if I get 10 views or 10,000 views! I love that. No societal pressure to perform, instead I get to just share whatever I want. And yes it’s infuriating to use because it’s basically designed for 13 year-olds. And I am 40-something-year-old that is feeling very geriatric lately (I’m totally doing that thing with the phone where I pull it back and forth from my eyes to try to get it into focus). But it’s exactly because of Snapchat that I ended up making this Earl Grey Blueberry Coffee Cake. And I have absolutely no guilt or regrets about this coffee cake.()
It started out when I admitted to my Snapchat pals that my partner AJ was out of town and all my bad habits that I usually repress to keep from annoying him come flaring back up. This includes things like letting the dishes pile up in the sink, leaving the apartment a hot mess without picking anything up, and eating like a college student. Yes, as a food blogger, this is probably the worse admission. I order ton of cheap Chinese carryout and then gorge on it. It’s not pretty but I can’t help myself.
In times of crisis and grief, the only thing I could do was go into the kitchen and bake. This Plum and Rhubarb Cobbler is the result.
This past week has been pretty devastating. I picked up my partner AJ in L.A. on Saturday, after the
only to wake up the next morning to a text from my friend Liz who lives in D.C. She wanted to let me know I was in her thoughts because of Orlando. I didn’t have a clue what she was talking until I clumsily typed “Orlando news” in the iPhone Safari search engine. I wasn’t expecting to read news of a gunman massacring 49 people and injuring 53 more in a gay bar. I couldn’t comprehend the horror of it all and I just laid in bed for another hour just trying to figure out how to deal with this tragedy.
We all deal with grief differently. Some people take to social media and rant and rave about the horrors of guns and violence. Others express their grief by #praying and sending #TheirThoughts and virtual #hugs into the ether we call the internet. Many of my friends took this as the time to discuss homophobia and how society was blame for creating someone who hated himself so much that he took a semi-automatic weapon to a club to kill as many people as he could. And all of those reactions are perfectly valid. I, of course, did the exact opposite and retreated away from the computer, crawling into a personal protective shell. AJ and I were in LA, on a brief break from normal life (whatever that is), and after a week of intense personal stuff and a week of AJ cycling from San Francisco to L.A. to raise money for HIV/AIDS, we were hoping for a little relaxation. It obviously wasn’t meant to be.
AJ’s Cycling group “The Gutterbunnies” on the last day of the AIDS Lifecycle.
All this, of course, didn’t mean that exactly I stayed away from social media. I just checked in less. I turned on my computer exactly once while I was down in L.A. but after browsing Facebook for 10 minutes, had to shut it down. I ended up . The stories I shared there weren’t necessarily mine to share and I can only hope that the people who I talked about forgive me for writing about them. But otherwise, I was in denial, trying to process how this could have happened. How one human being could do this. I am still struggling with it.
Once I got back to San Francisco, life seem to go on, even though at random turns I was still being reminded of what happened. I couldn’t go online at all without seeing an article or a friend arguing or ranting. Close friends of mine choose to take a stance on gun control, either for or against, which just drove me into a pit of depression. And finally
before Orlando happened. I hadn’t thought much of that specific incident (which, in retrospect, probably says something in and of itself that I have become so numb to being verbally attacked for being gay), but I felt like it was a story that needed to be shared. The response and love I received from my friends were overwhelming but it’s a small bandage to cover up what has become such a terribly huge wound that is still healing.
This post was sponsored by . I’m teaming up with Frito-Lay this summer to bring you recipes using LAY’S potato chips. I was compensated for this post and for developing the recipe. However all opinions below are completely my own and not endorsed by Frito-Lay.
These easy & tasty Potato Chip Zucchini Sticks are perfect for entertaining. The trick is using LAY’S Kettle Cooked Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper Potato Chips!
It seems like all my friends are having a love affair with zucchini at the moment. I occasionally flirt with the green squash. But all of a sudden this vegetable, one that I never really gave much thought to, is all over the place. Zucchini pasta. Zucchini tots. Zucchini noodles. Zucchini casseroles, fries, and bread. This little summer vegetable really gets around and I for one decided it was time for me to give it another look at it. So when LAY’S potato chips asked me to come up with one more perfect for summer recipe, I figured I’d take another look at zucchini. Turns out zucchini sticks with marinara sauce was an easy appetizer that made me re-exam that summer squash everyone loves so much. And low and behold, I found that I too was smitten. ()
I have fond memories of the first time I had a zucchini stick. I was in high school and the appetizer was breaded, deep fried and served with red marinara sauce on a cheap red and white checkerboard vinyl tablecloth at one of those chain Italian-American restaurants that we all know and love. My tablemates were surprised that I had never had this ubiquitous starter but my parent’s rarely frequented this sort of place. In fact, whenever we ate out, it was mostly at Chinese-American restaurants (my parents were never the adventurous type). So my friends were highly amused when I went to town on the deep fried vegetable, finishing the basket of them and ordering a second basket.
A Cook N Scribble Evening with Molly O’Neill in Los Angeles
In a different life, years ago, I was a bookseller. From mall bookstores to independent shops I was a dedicated bookseller for years before I started doing graphic design, which later morphed into photography and writing. There’s a lot of romanticism in selling books, but don’t believe the hype. It’s mostly retail, shelving books and trying to keep up with whatever book was recently featured on whatever popular TV talk show is out there (during my bookselling days it was Oprah, now it’s probably Ellen). It was back in St. Louis, at the independent bookstore
where I discovered storyteller Molly O’Neill and her cookbook the . It was a revelation to me, as one of the first cookbooks that I bought where I learned the stories and backgrounds of where the recipes came from. Previous to that discovery, cookbooks just seemed like a random collection of recipes, that came seemingly from nowhere, with no reference point to ground them. But the New York Cookbook, with the sidebars and interviews from chefs and home cooks, as well as history each recipe, gave weight to the making of food and to each person contributed a recipe. Suddenly, to me, food has history and that history was found in the kitchen.
I was lucky to meet Molly years later, first through the wonders of social media, then in person. She’s a lovely person with a warmth that makes you want to spill your secrets to her. It’s no wonder she was able to finagle close guarded recipes and stories from New Yorkers (and later from people across US in her book ) that most wouldn’t be willing to give up. So when she asked me to help lead the mobile photography part of the
workshop scheduled before the big
a couple of months ago, I immediately said yes. The evening was a bright mix of writers and bloggers all gathered to watching Kian Lam Kho first do a cooking demo from his award-winning cookbook , then to explore various storytelling techniques, from writing to still photography to video. I ran around and took pictures and helped other bloggers and writers style food all in a gorgeous house generously donated to us for the evening. As the sun set in the California sky and the night wrapped up, I realized there’s nothing better than being surrounded by storytellers all trying to tell their own version of what happened. That’s what life is, a series of stories, some told in public and some only told in private. No one gets that more than Molly.
All photos taken with my iPhone 6S.
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The Baker, Writer, Recipe Maker
Hey there! Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm Irvin Lin, an IACP-Award winning photographer, award winning baker, , storyteller, recipe developer, writer and average joe bon vivant. Hilarity often ensues when I'm involved. I currently reside in San Francisco in the neighborhood people have recently taken to calling "The Gastro" - a block from Dolores Park and right near Tartine Bakery, Bi Rite Market & Creamery, and Delfina.
I can also be found at various food events around the city. Feel free to contact me by clicking on that picture of me up above or emailing me eatthelove {at} gmail {dot} com.
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“We love Eat the Love because Irvin's beautiful sweets look as good as they taste — his art director's eye appreciates the ruby sparkle of a pile of pomegranate seeds against the matte canvas of chocolate ganache.”
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and search for the book or item of your choice.114网址导航Jose Mourinho was about to become England manager in 2007 - until his wife told him to turn it down because he'd be boredMourinho left Chelsea in 2007 and had a contract on the tableHis wife told him he needed to be involved in regular footballFabio Capello succeeded Steve McClaren in England job insteadChelsea manager has also backed Rooney to star in Brazil
21:43 GMT, 9 June 2014
08:29 GMT, 10 June 2014
Jose Mourinho has revealed how close he came to becoming England manager in 2007, only to turn down the FA after listening to advice from his wife.The Chelsea boss said he had the contract on the table, a pen in his hand and was about to sign on the dotted line until he decided Matilde was right to warn he would miss the day-to-day buzz of club football.The terms of Mourinho’s first departure from Chelsea in September 2007 meant he was not allowed to manage another Premier League side, but ‘The Special One’ insisted he had no regrets about passing up the opportunity to succeed Steve McClaren.
Good advice: Jose Mourinho turned down the England job after his wife (right) told him he wouldn't enjoy it
Influence: Chelsea skipper John Terry and midfielder Frank Lampard tried to convince Jose to take the job
The job eventually went to Fabio Capello. Mourinho, however, did not rule out becoming England manager in ‘15 years’ time’.‘How close was I to taking it?’ he said, picking up a pen, pulling a pad of paper towards him and hovering over an imaginary line. ‘This close. I was almost — almost, almost, almost — England manager at that time. But it was the right decision. My wife was right. She told me not to take it. We are not speaking about the job today, we are talking about seven years ago.‘I cannot wait two years for a big
competition. I cannot be spending two years playing against Kazakhstan
and San Marino. It’s not for me. In the end, my wife was saying, “No
football, no matches is not for you”.
Minnows: The Chelsea boss said he couldn't have coped with fixtures against the likes of San Marino
Star quality: Wayne Rooney is at the perfect age to succeed in the World Cup according to Mourniho
‘At that time I had no job and I had been at home for two or three months after leaving Chelsea. Because of the job, because of the prestige, because at that time I could not get an English club because of my contract when I left Chelsea — I could manage the national team but not a club — I had reasons to accept and the main reasons were people pushing me to take it.‘Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole, everybody was saying: “Come, come, come, everybody from other clubs wants you to do it.
Alternatives: Capello got the England job in 2007 while Mourinho went on to win the Champions League at Inter
Cheeky tackle: Mourinho was in the spotlight this week when he tackled Olly Muirs during Soccer Aid
The guys from Manchester United and Liverpool say to us: “Tell your boss to come, they want you to take it”. I had lots of positive things to push me and that’s why I was so close.’ The Portuguese has backed Wayne Rooney finally to shine at a global tournament.Mourinho, who tried to lure Rooney to Chelsea last summer, believes this can be the
28-year-old’s World Cup. ‘He is at the best age,’ said Mourinho. ‘He’s not a kid any more and he’s not an old player at the end of his career. And the fact he won nothing this season can play a positive role because of his ambition and his hunger to succeed. I have faith he can do it.’
Jose Mourinho is an exclusive analyst for Yahoo’s worldwide football coverage.
is the only place to read all his expert opinions during the World Cup.JOSE MOURINHO ON......who is going to win the World Cup...'I would be very surprised if there is a big surprise. I will be very surprised if somebody is going to win the World Cup for the first time. I don’t see a national team with conditions to do that, to break the stability.'In South America the South Americans are going to be strong and they have two or three strong teams. I don’t think the Africans, in spite of fantastic players and much more experience as teams, I don’t think they can break the quarter-final wall and achieve more than that.'In Europe you have always the traditional two, three. Maybe in Europe there can be an outsider but I don’t think there will be a big surprise.' ...England's chances...'England is the kind of team I am always expecting something good but I am never surprised when things go wrong. When people speak sometimes about there not being enough quality in the team I always disagree.'The 2004 European Championships in Portugal was when I came to England for the first time. Even then people were saying the England team was not good enough to win the competition, but even then the team was full of top players from the top teams in the country.'Now, obviously you have some boys not playing in the top teams in the country but you have players from Chelsea, Manchester United, City, Arsenal, Liverpool. So the top five are all represented in high numbers in the national team.'So you have quality and you have international experience - you have everything - so why not be a candidate? If England win the World Cup for me it's only a surprise because you won only once and you won when I was three years old. At the same time if they don’t go through the group phase it is not a surprise either to me.' ...whether England are mentally weak...'You have fantastic players and never do it. Why? Maybe everybody is guilty. Maybe I'm guilty too. Maybe me and the other managers in this country are guilty too. Maybe we have to give even more solutions to the national coach. Maybe we have to give more to the English players.'But after that comes more questions. Why don't we have more English players than what we have? And now we have to answer these questions. We go to academies, to youth football and to the price of the market involving the English clubs and English players.'We can go in many, many directions but if England is world champion, it's not a surprise for me. If England is knocked out in the group phase, it's not a surprise for me, either.' ...Wayne Rooney...'Wayne is right when he says this is his World Cup. It’s the World Cup in the right moment. He’s not a kid any more and he’s not an old player at the end of his career. He is in the best age. It’s his World Cup.'He also has a role as leader in the team, a little bit similar to the role he had at Manchester United this season. He is always a guy with responsibilities in the national team. I think he is ready to cope with this pressure.'Maybe the fact that the season was not good in the club can also
a role of someone that is a natural winner who normally every season wins something. The fact that he won nothing this season can play a positive role because of his ambition and his hunger to succeed. I have faith in him that he can do it.' ...whether the best English central defensive partnership, John Terry and Gary Cahill, has been left at home...'Now it is not so easy to get these partnerships in the club and get them to the national teams. Not many national teams can do it. The fact that John and Gary played together all season for Chelsea and they are both English means there would be a good possibility of using in the national team the work that people do in the club.'Spain does this with some players from Barcelona and Real, Germany does it with Bayern and England can do this with Gerrard and Henderson at Liverpool and Rooney and Welbeck at United.'But it was a decision between John and the national team, so there was nothing we could interfere. Not because you put pressure for Roy not to select him, or I put pressure on John and say "if you sign for Chelsea you leave the national team". No. It was him, Roy and the national team. So we can’t interfere.'I think it’s the right moment to say Phil Jagielka is very good, Jagielka and Gary played very well in the group phase and we believe that they are going to make it very well for us. So it’s time to forget John and support Jagielka. That is my opinion. But I am not English.' ...England's group (Costa Rica, Uruguay and Italy)...'If Italy or England or Uruguay are knocked out, you have to say "we were very unlucky to be in this group". One big team is going to be out. This is pragmatic and simple. Only two can go through, and you have three teams with legs to go until until the end of the competition. But after three matches, one is out.'So I think it will be very very very hard to say: "England, Italy or Uruguay have had a big failure, sack the manager, the players are not good." Because somebody had to be out.'It's a bit like in the Champions League. When you go to a quarter-final and you don't succeed, is it because your team is bad? No. It's because there are eight great teams in the quarter-finals and in this group, the group is hard. The group is difficult.'But I think Italy is in a nice period. They are trying to play good football. They have a good mixture of young players and players with more experience. They didn't lose the tendency and the culture of defending well, especially individually. The players have the culture and know- they have the know-how of the defensive game.'But at the same time they have creative players and, without having a team full of amazing talent like you had in other generations, you have talent enough. With talented enough players who know how, Italy can go really (far), really.' ...penalties...'Don’t speak about penalties with me because I always lose on penalties! The only time I won was the Italian Super Cup with Inter Milan, when we beat Roma on penalties. Imagine how lucky I was – Totti missed a penalty! 'I lost so many times. I did everything. I trained, I didn’t train. I analysed opponents’ penalties going back years, the percentage of where they take the penalty, the percentage of where the goalkeeper goes or doesn’t go. Also I don’ t look at this and do it by instinct. We did everything we could do. My final conclusion? It’s what he (God) wants.'At Madrid I didn’t win the Champions League because Ronaldo, Kaka and Sergio Ramos missed penalties. They all came to me and said, "I want to be the first, I want to be the second, I want to be the third!" Okay then, go! That’s why I didn’t win the Champions League with Real Madrid.'With Chelsea in the semi final against Liverpool it was exactly the same. We had everything organised, the first, second, third and fifth. The best penalty taker all season in training – never missed a penalty, amazing strikes – was Geremi. Ten minutes before the end of the game I brought him on for penalties – and he missed! 'One player who was out of the list, was Robben. He came to me and said: "Put me number one, 100 per cent it’s a goal." Okay, I let him go number one – and he missed! 'There’s nothing you can do. I keep saying I’m going to win a competition on penalties, a big one.' ...who is going to be the star of the World Cup...'I think Messi, for sure. He has big motivation after a season where he was not happy. He plays in South America, so I think it will be a special feeling for sure for an A it's a special feeling to play in a Brazil World Cup.'Ronaldo had a good season. It looks like now he's having some injury problems, but I believe that he will be ready. Let's see if Portugal, even with him, is strong enough to do something special in the World Cup.' ...whether the World Cup has been overtaken by the Champions League...'I think the World Cup is always by the social point of view something different that any other competition. For me, Olympic Games and World Cup are a different dimension in terms of countries and society. It's a global phenomenon.'But the best football, I believe, is in the Champions League with the most powerful clubs, having all the best players. Every big player is in the Champions League and sometimes not every big player is in the World Cup. The best football is in the club competition, I think.'
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