December 2022 » Hummingbird Excessive

Hiya!

How was everyone’s Thanksgiving vacation? Did everyone survive the cooking marathon?

Erlend and I historically have a good time with an “Asian-style” Thanksgiving. We often swap out the standard Thanksgiving turkey dinner for an Asian-y important and sides. In years previous, we’ve celebrated with Peking duck (we tried making it at dwelling with out nice outcomes, and finally simply resorted to ordering takeout from the numerous superb Chinese language locations once we lived in San Francisco and New York). If you happen to’re actually interested by what that appears like, you’ll be able to see the Asian-style Thanksgivings I blogged about in 2014 and 2015.

Prior to now few years, nonetheless, we’ve swapped the duck for Korean bo ssam. Erlend likes to make use of the recipe from the momofuku cookbook (which can be available on the New York Times Cooking website), whereas I put together the edges and dessert. This 12 months, I made scallion buttermilk biscuits (I added scallions to my favorite biscuit recipe from Bon Appetit, although I’m undecided I might suggest doing so—the biscuits didn’t rise as effectively) with gochujang scorching honey butter, a meat-less model of this steak salad with fish sauce and mint (I swapped out the steak for roasted butternut squash), and Korean corn cheese (with a recipe I adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon).

For dessert, I deviated from our Asian theme. I used to be initially going to make one among my favourite Thanksgiving pies—both my model of Libby’s basic pumpkin pie, this chocolate chess pie, or this black backside chocolate pecan pie—however I had this intense longing for banana pudding. Particularly, the famous banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery. I hunted down the recipe, and whipped up a large enough batch to feed greater than a dozen folks. It was scrumptious, however I used to be severely making a gift of pints of the stuff for days. I’m pondering of creating a small batch model of the recipe to publish on Hummingbird Excessive subsequent 12 months. What do you guys assume? I’m personally stoked!

What To Count on on Hummingbird Excessive in 2023

Now that it’s December and we’re about to wrap up 2022, I need to let you know about some modifications I’m making subsequent 12 months:

However when you guys like these types of recaps and hyperlink sharing, please let me know! I’ve lengthy thought-about beginning a extra informal and private e-mail publication with related content material. So please let me know if that’s one thing you’re thinking about and would need to subscribe to!

In Case You Missed It: New Recipes and Posts

Right here’s an inventory of every part I revealed on Hummingbird Excessive in November. I truly didn’t spend quite a lot of time creating new recipes—as an alternative, I targeted on making fast tutorials for in style Thanksgiving recipes:

• Swedish Princess Layer Cake. This was one of many new recipes I revealed final month in celebration of Hummingbird Excessive‘s eleventh birthday!!! I nonetheless can’t imagine I’ve been baking for this weblog since 2011. Wild. Watch a sneak peek of the recipe on Instagram and TikTok, too.
• Libby’s Pumpkin Pie Recipe (Made Higher!). An previous(ish) however gold recipe on Hummingbird Excessive that’a well-liked each Thanksgiving! It’s mainly the basic Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe on the again of a can, however with some very minor updates (like pre baking the crust and waterproofing it! and including an additional egg to the filling!) to make it higher. Watch a sneak peek of my updates to the recipe on Instagram and TikTok.
• Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls. Watch a sneak peek of the recipe on Instagram and TikTok, too.
• Pumpkin Pie, Your Way. AllRecipes interviewed their favourite bakers (together with yours really!) about our favourite methods to customise a simple pumpkin pie recipe. I made mine with a toasted meringue marshmallow topping! Extremely suggest.
• Chocolate Chess Pie. One other Thanksgiving favourite on Hummingbird Excessive. Even regardless of my loyalty to my model of the Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe, I’m not the most important pumpkin pie girlie. I’d a lot relatively have this chocolate chess pie (which I might’ve made for Thanksgiving, had my longing for banana pudding not destroyed my urge for food for every part else). Watch a sneak peek of the recipe on Instagram and TikTok.
• Black Backside Chocolate Pecan Pie. After the chocolate chess pie, this is perhaps my favourite Thanksgiving pie. The recipe instructs you so as to add a layer of chocolate ganache to the underside of a standard pecan pie. Why? The chocolate “waterproofs” the pie crust in opposition to the pecan filling, retaining it crispy. Plus, you get chocolate in your pecan pie filling! Be taught extra on Instagram and TikTok.
• How To Get Rid Of Bubbles In Your Pumpkin Pie Filling. My buddy Erin from Cloudy Kitchen taught me this neat trick! Normally, after you’ve poured your pumpkin pie filling into the pie shell, you get a ton of bubbles within the filling. Though the bubbles don’t have an effect on the pumpkin pie’s style, they do make it ugly. So when you’re OCD like me and wish every part to look picture-perfect, watch the video on Instagram and TikTok for a really cool trick on easy methods to do away with them!

An Replace About Hummingbird Excessive‘s Patreon Account

I first began my Patreon account in March 2020, as a direct response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a scary time for lots of people (on quite a lot of completely different ranges!). 

Talking particularly from the attitude of Hummingbird Excessive, it was a tough time financially. Lots of the firms I labored with determined to pause or halt their upcoming initiatives, amounting to a 3rd of my projected earnings for the 12 months disappearing in a single day. Advert income on the web site declined considerably, with many firms withdrawing their promoting campaigns. And so as to add much more stress and uncertainty to my monetary state of affairs, my husband obtained furloughed from his healthcare job as a bodily therapist (which was deemed a non-essential medical service on the time).

So to assist mitigate these monetary blows, I made a decision to begin up my Patreon account. I watched as a lot of you rallied to assist my work in so many alternative methods. Lots of you enthusiastically signed up for the completely different tiers, even opting out of the free books and sprinkles. And most significantly, all of you offered such useful suggestions—not solely on my recipes, but additionally on methods to raised run the Hummingbird Excessive group and make it higher for all.

And whereas I’ve completely loved the final two years collectively, I imagine that it’s time for this chapter of Hummingbird Excessive to shut. The worst of the pandemic seems to be over, and also you helped Hummingbird Excessive—and me!—survive via all of it. I can not stress how superb you all have been, and the way grateful I used to be (and nonetheless am and will probably be, endlessly and ever) for every part.

Meals For Thought

This previous month, I additionally spent a LOT of time pondering and studying about meals past the baking recipes you see on this weblog. Listed below are the concepts and points that resonated with me:

• “Food Prices Soar, and So Do Companies’ Profits” in The New York Occasions. A number of months in the past, after I obtained again from my journey to England, I posted a relatively controversial Instagram Story sequence on @hummingbirdhigh. Particularly, I used to be complaining that the identical carton of Oatly milk value twice as a lot in america (the place it value $4.99 USD) because it did in an upmarket grocery store in a hip a part of London (the place it value $2.24 USD).

  A number of followers who labored within the agricultural and grocery store industries DMed me considerate messages that helped clarify the value disparities, in addition to quickly rising prices in america. They pointed to produce chain points, rising costs of uncooked substances and supplies, and elevated/unpredictable demand led to by the pandemic.

  Whereas I agree that these are actual points which are aggravating issues, it’s additionally eye-opening to learn the New York Occasions article I linked to above. The article reviews that many meals firms are experiencing file earnings, with earnings coming from the elevated costs of their items and companies. Particularly, they’ve elevated their costs a lot that it’s greater than made up for the any value will increase led to by the will increase in substances, supplies, labor, and every part else.

  I don’t have a lot to say aside from this: so when precisely are we beginning the revolution?

• “The Great British Bake Off Backlash Has Reached a Boiling Point. Can the Show Be Saved?” in Time Journal. I’m the sort of one that waits for all of the episodes of The Nice British Bake Off to air, after which binges them all of sudden. However sadly doing so implies that I get to listen to about all of the controversies—like Mexican Week!—with out actually seeing or understanding the total context.

  And after watching so many TikToks and studying many think-pieces (like this one! or this one!) about how offensive Mexican Week was, I braced myself for the worst. However then I watched all the season over Thanksgiving and realized it wasn’t so unhealthy? Like, sure, Paul Hollywood undoubtedly did the contestants a disservice by making them COOK tacos versus bake one thing… however all in all, the contestants have been respectful and educated on the challenges that gave them the chance to analysis the delicacies and nation beforehand.

  So whereas I do assume that The Nice British Bake Off is previous its prime (they actually ought to’ve give up when Mary Berry, Mel, and Sue departed the present), I believe a lot of the points and criticisms will be attributed to the judges. We want some recent, younger judges on the present—the sort who don’t assume that peanut butter and jelly or maple and bacon is a weird mixture, and are well-traveled sufficient to have tried Japanese cheesecake and know that bao is Chinese language (not Japanese). Idk. Simply my two cents.

Lastly, On A Lighthearted Notice

However that’s all, of us!

As I mentioned earlier than—that is the final of this sort of weblog put up (for now, not less than). I’d be remiss with out some sort of sentimental ship off, so right here we go: I’ve loved writing these posts immensely, and I sincerely hope that you simply’ve loved studying them as effectively.

Have a great vacation season, and let’s preserve baking in 2023!

XO
Michelle

NO TIME TO BAKE?!

Over the previous a number of years of operating Hummingbird Excessive, I saved an important facet of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extraordinarily demanding job within the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I lastly reveal the secrets and techniques to baking scrumptious desserts on a decent schedule.

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