Yli Factory

Longest short week EVER. I was craving the burger but who is saying no to Meyer lemon butter? Not I.

This was what I needed after my buttercream breakdown on Wednesday. Soothing ganache, methodical layering, and blowtorches 🔥🤘🏾😜🤘🏾🔥 Génoise is always a tricky one for me, but Chef dropped some gems about warming the eggs and the 5 count for the ribbon stage that kind of changed my entire outlook on sponge cakes. Learning to not overthink and over handle is clearly the thing im meant to learn in this mod, so I'm either doomed or blessed 😂. I also split a 1 1/2 inch cake into THREE layers. THREE even, lovely layers. Dude. I feel like Beatrix Kiddo.

More 4th magic. Fun with sparklers and slow exposure! Narcissism by me, 📷 😜 #!

Part II. LOOK. LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENNNEDDDDD. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I SPENT TRYING TO GET MY SIDES AND TOP COMPLETELY, OBNOXIOUSLY, UNREALISTICALLY PERFECT??? ONE DAMN JOSTLE IN THE DAMN BOX AND LOOK. THE RED VELVET? THAT IS MY NERVES. THIS HAPPENED LAST NIGHT AND I'M LOOKING AT IT RIGHT NOW FEELING TRIGGED AND ATTACKED OMG...

Part I of my spiral into OCD madness. I'm still not okay and I don't want to talk about it. It gets worse...

My fave pic of the night. 💥✨💥

Obviously.

Moar 4th belly shenanigans! Blueberry, blackberry, and basil hand pies 💥💥💥 I added a little lemon zest to the crust which I'll never not do again. After my second mimosa, I these needed to be toaster strudel-y and whipped up a basil lemon glaze. I asked my self-appointed sous chef for a verrrrry thin chiffonnade and, well... the idea came together in taste if not presentation lol.

More from the 4th: roasted corn salad with toasted pine nuts, mint, basil, tomatoes, cracked pepper, pink salt... some other stuff idk lol will hashtag later. Got class.

July 4th nosh: tamari, sesame, and junmai marinated steak salad with watercress, and roasted red pepper. 🌶

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody 😊! A weird set of emotions on this day this year. I backspaced the word "Thanksgiving" several times for solidarity reasons as my friends and some family are currently fighting to protect their ancestral land from big oil. The holiday has always sat in a strange place with me, even prior to this, just due to the history (revisionist and otherwise) associated with this day. That's said, I've always loved what the holiday has meant to ME. Coming from an immense and close knit family, we have always cherished holidays that represent togetherness and gratitude. We are grateful for each other and flourish on the days we can gather around an amazing meal. Thanksgiving also happens to be me and the bf's anniversary lol. The year we started dating, we both happened to be stuck in NY away from our families. I had NEVER cooked a meal that intricate before, but he was up for the experiment and I was up for the challenge lol. Tough to balance all of Thanksgiving's personal importance with all of the current and historic conflicts, but here we are... This year, I came full circle. I couldn't go home or to MD this year, so it was just the two of us once again (and 💕) Anyone who has followed me for a bit knows the bf is a wing fiend, so the main event was turkey wings 3 ways - Confit, Jerk, and grilled with a homemade BBQ rub, mac & cheese, sausage, sage, and mushroom dressing with homemade brioche and croissants, Southern greens, sage and brown butter cornbread using 'a recipe, sweet potato pie with nutmeg and Mexican vanilla whipped cream and a buttermilk pie with cranberry pomegranate compote (also thekitchenista's recipe). It was such a cozy, chill, and satisfying day, and an ABSOLUTE pleasure cooking with Angela's guides. I mostly pride myself on adapting recipes to my own tastes, but she is spot on and also gives an amazing schedule to help manage time. Buy her ebook! Strong hugs to all ❤️️