It can’t be? No? Really? Shut the front door.
That’s right — this Sunday Climbing Grier Mountain will turn two years old. Holy bonkers!
Have I really been blogging for 104 weeks and 730 days? Have I published 584 posts? As I read through old entries, especially my first post, it was hard to imagine that CGM would be here today. I started this little blog as a way to stay connected with family and friends while living out of state. When most of the people you love are back in the sunflower state, staying in touch gets a little difficult, so I began writing about day-to-day life and the small adventures that Mr. B and I had in the Mile High City.
That first year was nonstop exploring. Looking back, I’m pretty sure we couldn’t even squeeze a fart into our schedule — we covered a lot of ground. I learned quickly that blogging would become a place for both storytelling and preserving memories.
At the start of 2011 I introduced Foodie Fridays. You embraced my less-than-perfect photos of food and encouraged me to keep sharing recipes and stories about food. Your kindness gave me the confidence to continue. Over that year I kept writing about our misadventures, took some ridiculous fashion pictures in bathroom mirrors, and slowly honed my photography and writing. 2011 was a major growth period for both the blog and me.
2012 started off with a bang. After submitting recipes for a while, my celery root soup was featured on a popular recipe site in February. I was beyond excited — the recognition felt incredible and it confirmed that the hard work mattered. After that I submitted recipes to other food communities and participated in themed weeks like Salad Week and Cocktail Week. My love of blogging about food was blossoming into something I wanted to spend more time on.
Which brings us to today. I have a secret I’ve been working on behind the scenes: Climbing Grier Mountain is packing up and moving. Where? CGM is going .com, baby! My kind husband bought the domain as a birthday gift this year and surprised me with it while we were having lunch in a yurt. I had been considering moving away from the Blogger platform for some time, and this pushed me to make the change. I’ve been collaborating with a designer on a new layout that will launch in a few weeks. I’m thrilled and a little freaked out, but mostly excited — change is good.
Along with the move to a new site, I plan to share more about food and entertaining, a passion that has grown into a central part of this project. Don’t worry — I’m still planning to write about Mr. B’s and my shenanigans. You’ll still get travel and life stories mixed with recipes and party ideas.
You can’t celebrate a birthday without something sweet. Last year I made a chocolate-y cake to ring in year one. This year I wanted to play on a childhood favorite: doughnuts and cereal. I’m not entirely sure how I came up with the idea, but I knew I wanted Cinnamon Toast Crunch on a doughnut. The light bulb went off and meringue seemed like the perfect, playful way to combine cereal and doughnuts in a deconstructed way — it looks a little like cereal and milk.
As I celebrate two years of blogging, I want to thank each of you who read CGM. I cannot express enough how much I appreciate knowing you are part of this journey with me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Cheers to the adventures ahead!
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Doughnuts
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Ingredients
For the doughnuts:
2 cups cake flour, sifted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
For the meringue:
3 egg whites, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
For the Cinnamon Toast Crunch topping:
3 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
Directions
For the doughnuts:
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Spray a doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Add the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter and beat until just combined. Fill each doughnut cup about two-thirds full. Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in the pan for 4 to 5 minutes before removing.
For the meringue:
In a clean mixing bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat until soft peaks begin to form, then gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Use the meringue right away for dipping or lightly torch to set if desired.
For the Cinnamon Toast Crunch topping:
Place the cereal in a sealed bag and crush with your hands or a rolling pin, leaving some larger chunks for texture. Sprinkle the crushed cereal over the meringue-dipped doughnuts so it adheres to the surface.
To serve:
Dip each doughnut into the meringue, then immediately sprinkle or press the crushed cereal on top. Serve fresh and enjoy.