Week Of Baking

Apple Crumble!! I've been in love with a recipe from How to Eat where you simmer the apples in some rum before you bake them, but because we've been enjoying that recipe so much we were out of rum!! So I had to do some improvisation and created this apple crumble with muscavado sugar which was super delicious!

Looking back on the week I just realized that it was a super baking/cooking week. The school I work at was on break this week so I was able to be home for dinner every night which was a treat. Rick and I went to town with pesto pasta, pizza, calzones, mahi mahi with twice baked potatoes and kale, and quesadillas! And that was only the cooking we did this week...

Pizza night! It was a late dinner because I didn't start the dough until 6:30 pm but it was worth the wait. Feta and garlic pizza and a pesto with spicy Italian chicken sausage and mozzarella (only my side had peppers). Yum! I through the left over dough into the fridge in plastic baggies and the next night I made calzones (which can be made ahead and cooked later, or once cooked travel pretty well so they make a great treat for a lunch).

We also got to celebrate Rick's birthday which we did with a cake and banana nut bread. Later in the week we also enjoyed the crumble shown above. Also, for St. Patrick's day I helped my roommate make green rice crispie treats and then green sugar cookies shaped like stars (I wanted to do shamrocks but without a cookie cutter Jen decided that would be too time consuming).

The birthday boy with his cake. When asked what kind he wanted I believe the answer was "vanilla with a lot of frosting" so that's what he got and we were both happy with the final result!

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza! (Part II)

Now we have the fun part... THE DECORATING!!! Along with a number of sprinkles and small gel frosting, I made two glazes, one in green and one in white. Some of the women in my program at school were kind enough to join me for the holiday festivities and it was a wonderful afternoon of cookie eating (and decorating, but also a lot of eating).

Marta and I model some of our cookies. Not to brag, but I'm kind of like an elf when it comes to Christmas (must come with the ears) so I take to cookie decorating like a penguin in the snow. Marta however struggled with her creativity at first, creating what has lovingly been called "the green monster." After a few cookies though everyone was pumping out Martha Stewart worthy masterpieces in cookie form and we were able to pay more attention to the important task of analyzing the subtext of the Christmas movies (this is what grad school is all about people). More baking to come as the season progresses!!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza! (Part I)

I threw my Second Annual Christmas Cookie Decorating Party last weekend. As with the first year, I supply the cookies, decorations, cocoa, and claymation Christmas movies, and my guests bring the creativity!

Lucy was the first casualty of the night with a face-full of flour, I think she'll recover though she may never forgive me.

I meant to prep the dough in advance but the night before the party I fell asleep and then woke up in a panic at midnight saying "I MUST MAKE COOKIES!!" Rick as a dutiful boyfriend helped me whip out a couple batches worth of my signature cookies.

Once I had a great assortment cooled and put away it was time for dishes and then back to sleep. More on the decorating party to come...

Season's Greetings!

So in the spirit of the holiday season, and in keeping with my goal to work more on documenting my many adventures in the kitchen at home, I bring you Gingerbread Houses! A seasonal favorite, we take the making of gingerbread houses very seriously in my family. For a good hour there was very little discussion as everyone bowed their head over their given task. Working

with pre-made kits we all set about creating our part of the gingerbread village. Above is my mom's, let's just say it's a house of ill repute where the women of negotiable affection work. Next we see my sister's grocery store... a very cheeky grocery store. Also note that she is the only one who thought outside the box and did a house that did not follow the prescribed formula. Hooray Ali for being an individual while the rest of us were sheep.

The inside of the grocery store. I feel like using the candy to represent fruit and vegetables is somehow related to the fact that the Cookie Monster is now the produce monster and sings "cookie is a sometimes food." What is our nation coming to?

Of course, as a Library Science student, I made sure that our confectionery village was supplied with books. No one likes an illiterate gingerbread man.

The whole little village. Now we'll just have to sprinkle powdered sugar for snow and create some paths and ice rinks, also make some trees.

Happy Holidays!