If you read a foodie’s blog and they claimed at one time that they couldn’t go a week without a cookie what would you do? You would make one of their cookie recipes of course! At least that is what I did when I got assigned the oh so cute Chelsy’s blog Mangia!
But it’s not what I thought I’d make. I was positive as soon as I got my email from our Secret Recipe Club super leader Debbi of Debbi does dinner healthy that I would be making Italian. My heart sang at the thought, just like it did when I was first assigned Manu of Manu’s Menu (love that gal).
As I cruised through her blog and started pinning recipes on my “secret board” (thanks Veronica for that idea) I ran across her little comment about being a cookie fiend. And that particular cookie caught my eye. It called for a bunch of ingredients that I really, really, no kidding really needed to use. Let’s just say my pretzels were labeled: best if used by May 2012. Yeah, I probably have had these for the last 2 years. Continue reading “Mangia! Double Chocolate Almond Joy Pretzel Cookies” »
Would you believe that I’m sitting outside, drinking coffee and typing this post? To me this feels so luxurious. This is how, in my little mind, I imagine a writer’s life. The perfect writer’s life, where you could put pen to paper (or type) anywhere when inspiration hits.
I have always thought writers to have a glamorous job where they dictate their hours and only panic near deadlines. Sipping coffee while the words flow or enjoying wine and thinking that you do your best writing then. Staying up late, sleeping in or vice versa.
I think that probably Hollywood had some influence on this image that I have. The outsider looking in only sees what they see. The garbage men just drove down my alley, they looked over at me sitting al fresco, hacking away on my laptop and I know their thoughts “it must be nice…wish I could do that…but someone has to actually get up and go to work”.
I know that’s their thoughts; before I started freelancing if I saw someone doing something I wanted to do or perceived as “the life” I was a bit envious, I had those very same thoughts. Usually our image, or if I may say, the cover of the book, isn’t necessarily what’s going on inside. Continue reading “Pavlova with Strawberries and Mint” »
When I retired from the Air Force I thought I was going to be a teacher. I love to teach, mentor, and share knowledge and skills. Naturally I thought I’d be teaching dental assisting, after 22 years of it, I probably had enough experience. I was so sure of it that I got a BA in Education, specifically workforce education and development.
That didn’t happen. Apparently someone has to die before you can get a teaching position at the technical school. But sometimes things work out for the better anyways.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like teaching anymore. I’ve been teaching cooking classes and a little photography, and sharing my new gardening knowledge. I still love teaching, it’s almost a compulsion (some people get taught something whether they want to know or not). When my neighbor asked me if I’d like to teach her photo club of 6th graders some food photography, I was delighted! Continue reading “Roosevelt Cookies (Lemon Glazed Craisin, Granola and White Chocolate Cookies)” »
I cannot count how many times my mom would make no-bake cookies while I was growing up. I remember that she thought they were the most amazing ‘cookie’ ever. Quick, easy, sweet, chocolately and of course no oven required. Last minute bake sale no problem, last minute party no problem, last minute guests no problem. These cookies could be whipped up in no time and made very little mess so an easy clean-up followed. I guess that is pretty amazing.
I recently discovered that what we unimaginatively called no-bake cookies are in fact called Preacher’s cookies in the Appalachian. The story goes that if you spotted the preacher at the bottom of the hill you could throw these cookies together and they would be ready by the time the preacher made it up the hill (source).
These cookies also go by “Cow Patty” (for obvious reasons) and “Poodgies” for, well, I have no explanation for the name Poodgie. Since my mom always called them no-bake, no-bake they will always be to me. I made these cookies for my ‘adopted’ grandkids one day when I realized that I didn’t have any snacks for them at the house. I only had a short time before I needed to pick them up from school and these cookies were just the ticket. Continue reading “No-Bake Nutella and Pretzel Cookies” »
Wow, just wow. The minute I hit Hugs and Cookies XOXO’s website I felt like I was at the fun-est and tastiest house on the block. Danielle is obviously an energetic mum, 1st grade teacher and she loooooves sweets and baking. And she’s my Secret Recipe Club assignment for this month.
If any of you know me, you know I don’t do sweets and I begrudgingly do baking. If I bake something sweet I really have to have a wild hair. I’m more savory and sassy unlike Danielle who is sweet, and well, sweet.
At first I thought about making a savory dish from her site, she does have some savory food. But I thought I wouldn’t be doing her justice if I didn’t choose one of the many, many, many, sweet options. I started browsing her categories, thinking I ‘d try a favorite of hers. Did you know that she has 166, yes I said 166 posts on decorated cookies! Since I have the patience of an ADHD kid on energy drinks I certainly wasn’t going to get myself into a decorating cooking situation.
Scrolling, scrolling and then the heavens opened up and the angels sang. I saw the category “Lemon”. It is no secret that I have an affinity for all things lemony, and citrusy in general. After that, it became a no brainer. I had to make lemon bars! Continue reading “Lemon Bars with Candied Lemons XOXO’s” »
I’m teaching a cooking class this month, the theme is “Breakfast in Bed”, obviously geared towards Valentine’s Day. The menu plan is; Stuffed French Toast, Glazed Grapefruit, Sunrise Champagne Cocktail, and Chocolate covered cherries and/or strawberries (naturally I’ll be sharing the recipes).
I was sitting on the fence about chocolate covered cherries or strawberries, when I hit upon a recipe on Pinterest for Cherry Cordials. I thought I’d check it out, as Pinterest tends to makes you do. To my absolute delight, it was one of Veronica’s recipes from Veronica’s Cornucopia. I’ve been an avid follower of hers every since I started reading her hilarious comments that she would leave on Eliot’s Eats. Continue reading “Cherry Cordials” »
Here I go again, non-main line posting. This time of year food blogs and sites, newspapers and magazines are filling their pages with healthier recipes. Who doesn’t want to lose weight? And the New Year is the perfect opportunity to reset, especially with all the holiday treats consumed, given away or ditched.
And I’m posting non other than a dessert. And me not much of a dessert maker to boot. In my last post I mentioned our neighborhood does a progressive type dinner called ‘Strollin the Ave’, my house was the last which meant sweetie time.
So I found myself with a couple of sweets to share. Did you know that out of the hundred’s of recipes I’ve posted that less than 10% are dessert/sweets related? And 10% of those I’ve posted in the last month. If you were any kind of math freak you’d be able to guest how many recipes I’ve posted….but ick, who wants to do math.
This will be my last sweetie post for awhile I can assure you, me being not much of a sweets person. Even though this one may be untimely, I wanted to share it because it’s a great do ahead dessert recipe, no baking required.
I mentioned in my last post that I chose an Italian theme for my desserts because Italian sweets aren’t overly sweet. Nice and light, just up my alley. Tiramisu is my all time favorite dessert, probably due to the coffee, dark cocoa and copious amounts of booze I put in mine.
I’m pretty sure I just discovered my second favorite dessert. Semifreddo, pistachio semifreddo.
Semifreddo (semi: fred’o) is a…..wait for it….semi-frozen dessert. It is similar to gelato or ice cream but has a mousse like texture. It gets it’s lightness from whipping egg whites into a meringue then folding them into a cream mixture. It is then placed in a lined mold or scooped like ice cream after freezing.
Today is the close of 2012 and with the New Year all the hopes and wishes of doing things a wee bit better than the previous year.
Today, no reflective post, no top 10 of 2012 anything. Just wishing you all the bestest and sharing a crazy sweet lil’ post for you.
Crazy good, crazy, I tell ya!
I’m not much of a sweet eater person, actually no one in the family really is. Give us appetizers/nibbles all day long, or sit us down and stuff us with the main course, that’s what we like. We could totally skip the sweets. We would even rather have vegetables over fruit. But if we are doing the fruit thing, we like the citrus, especially the Baby boy and I.
Which led to the delightful wonderfully orangy but not too sweet cake. Every year our neighborhood has what we call Strollin’ the Ave. A kind of progressive dinner…but not strictly so. Three houses host, and we spend 40-45 minutes at each house.
This year was my turn to be a host house and I chose *gasp* to be the last house. Hmmm, that means mostly sweets. Entertaining can be intimidating enough, then take on the challenge of cooking something a wee bit out of your comfort zone? A gluten for punishment, but I find choosing a theme helps narrow things down. So I looked to my Italian friends across the water for inspiration, those Italians and I have something in common. They typically don’t go for over the top sweets, especially after a meal.
Not a one, not a single Christmas treat have I posted. This year my men are on these high protein low carb diets. McGyver for health reasons and the Baby boy because of Rugby (strict orders from his coach). I decided not to bake cookies or anything too tempting, gotta show my support (and I enjoyed not adding something else to my long holiday to do list).
I have a self imposed rule in my house, no Christmas anything until after Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time please. There is good and bad in my rule, less stress before Thanksgiving and probable more stress afterwards since I don’t do anything early…normally.
When I got my Secret Recipe Club assignment “Mom’s Crazy Cooking”, somehow Tina managed to lure me into the holidays early. I even broke my own rule of picking a heritage or family recipe from my assigned blog. What a rule breaker I am… Now there are plenty of other recipes to choose from at Mom’s Crazy Cooking. Tina’s site is chock full of amazing recipes to choose from. Honestly I don’t know how she does it all, she must be crazy! Hehe, hardee har har, I couldn’t resist.
