If You Can't Stand the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen

At this very moment, it is 100 degrees here in Wichita (that's 37.8 for my Canadian and overseas readers). It's hot. It's I'm-not-willingly-standing-over-the-stove hot.

I recently tried out this lovely all-in-one-Le Creuset Roast Salmon recipe from BBC Good Food. No slaving over a stove is required. I was able to make each addition, set the oven timer and go back to my reading. You should definitely give it a try while there's still asparagus. The only change I made was to add the basil when I added the cherry tomatoes and I seasoned everything really well with salt and pepper. Oh, and I totally forgot to add the balsamic vinegar, but it still turned out really well. Have yourself a glass of a cool and crisp white wine while you're at it.

Feasts and Festivals: Diamond Jubilee

Portrait of Queen Elizabeth taken for her coronation

Not that I need an excuse to get out my commemorative china and bake a cake and drink champagne, but the Diamond Jubilee was just the perfect opportunity to do all three. There were also a lot of photographs of the queen over the years on The Guardian's website, so I thought I would share a couple of my favorites:

 Left: 1968, Right: 1975

Now, on to the cake. I had originally wanted to make a Battenberg, but it makes two cakes (because of the two colors of cake) and let's face it, I'm pretty bad at the whole trimming and reassembling thing. So, I thought I would make a Battenberg-inspired marzipan-wrapped Jubilee Almond Cake. It turned out really well and it was a lot less work! Plus, it's covered in pearl dragées, because (a) they're terribly festive and (b) Queen Elizabeth is rarely photographed without her pearls.*