Mile High Chocolate Cake

Last week I decided to host a dinner party last week for two reasons: 1. I wanted to be reunited with my Korean bffl's after my trip to texas/michigan, and 2. I needed some motivation to get my apartment shiny clean. And the best part was~~ Sue offered to cook dinner as long as I made dessert! She made two delicious Korean dishes which I of course don't know the names of... but one was beef (yum) and the other was sweet potato (my new favorite korean dish). Sue and Yaegi love chocolate so I decided on this Mile-High Chocolate Cake. It was indeed very tall, and super delicious. My kitchen was really hot though, and I was a little bit too impatient to let the icing cool completely... hence a cake that looks a litttttle sloppy. Also, because it was so tall and still a little warm, I took the precaution of adding the chopstick support system. Sue added chocolate covered espresso beans and chunks of milk chocolate to disguise the chopsticks(but mostly I think just to add more chocolate...)

I didn't get a good group shot of everyone, but I am in love with this pic of Sue, Hye and I in matching denim!

cake recipe

Cooking With Melly

vintage pic courtesy of our photog on call: MJP

So this week marked a really depressing milestone in my life. My best (and first nyc) boo not only moved out of my apt, but OUT OF THE STATE. I've been wallowing in self-pity all week. Now, not only do I have no one to snuggle with every night, but I have no one around to whip up delicious meals for me when I reach those work-induced points where I haven't consumed anything other than bagels and coffee in days (these times are real, and very scary).

Here are just a couple of the meals she's made for me in the past couple of months:

Melly's a vegetarian, and one night she was craving one of those bean patties they call veggie "burgers". Out of consideration for me, she also picked up some BEEF, plus loads of delicious veggies and toppings.

prepping

which one looks better guys? I whipped up some mini redskins with dijon mustard, olive oil and red wine vinegar (we were missing the chives though...) These babies had avocado, cheddar, pickles, field greens, and the best heirloom tomatoes ever from the Union Square farmers market- all on a fresh baguette (!!!!)

A couple of weeks later, I had spent all day waiting for the Time Warner repair man/ trying to finish a huge art project and incidentally hadn't eaten all day. Even though she'd just finished a marathon shift of serving customers with a smile at the 'Bux, she surprised me with this feast:

Taco with scrambled eggs, cheddar, fresh salsa and avocado in whole wheat tortilla.

And a pumpkin ice cream sundae for dessert.

That's true love guys.