I've made a list and I'm checking it twice!
I've applied and been accepted to BU's Master's in Gastronomy program, I've been to visit the school, I've filled out financial aid forms, and now the time has come to find a home for myself.
How to find the right match in cyber world? It's like online dating (which I raise my eyebrows at), do I want an American roommate, an Asian family to live with, grad students, or young professionals? Am I into kiddos who want to lease their living room (True Story), or peeps who advertise 100 electrical outlets in their home (True Story #2)? Are 12 phone lines really, I mean, really necessary? How 'bout that size 72 font that is quite a shocker as I open the Craigslist ad?
How to trust flats that advertise $160 for a sober women's household when everything else is over $800? Should I be sketched out by folks who post pictures of their beloved cat or dog in the image section? Or ones who only put up a photo of clothing hanging in a closet? (I mean, seeing the apartment would be nice).
There are red lines, green lines, orange lines, blue lines, and silver lines. I need something on the green line. But not too far from it, 'cause I don't want to walk too far alone at night. And it needs to be close to a Trader Joe's, a small local bank, restaurants, and a cool farmer's market. There need to be milk and cookies waiting for me everyday when I arrive home, and if there is no dishwasher I'll be pissed. OK, just kidding about that last one. Kind of.
P.S. I'm not sharing a bathroom with 4 male lawyers. True Story #3.
Sweet potato biscuits
Makes about twenty 2 ½-inch biscuits
Adapted from a recipe my sister gave me from Martha Stewart Living magazine
1 lb (weight) sweet potatoes
2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled
¼ cup milk
Preheat oven to 400F with rack in the center. Prick the sweet potatoes and bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once cool, scoop the flesh out from the skin/ peel the sweet potato. Puree the flesh in the food processor (alternatively you could pass it through a food mill, ricer, sieve, or use an immersion blender).
Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and put them in the freezer. In the bowl of your stand mixer, or by hand, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cayenne. Add butter chunks and continue mixing on low speed, or cut in with pastry blender or two knives, until the butter resembles coarse sand/ meal and has a few small pieces of butter the size of fingernails left.
Mix the sweet potato puree with the milk. Add it to the butter-flour mixture and mix just to incorporate. If the dough is sticky, you can add a little more flour. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead gently to form into a ball. Pat out into ½-inch thickness. Cut the biscuits using biscuit cutters, a can, or a glass (the sharper, the better).
Place biscuits on a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes. Bake in hot oven (still 400F) until risen and golden, about 12 minutes.
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