The Last Cookie.
When you bake cookies it's like some kind of earth-shattering domestic phenomenon. The house fills with the intoxicating scent of fresh baked love all gooey with melted chocolate chips, chewy with oats and sweetly studded with dried cranberries.
Suddenly people from all corners of the home come out of hiding and follow their noses to the source of their mutual adoration. Like hounds who've caught the trail of prey, noses to the ground, tails wagging.
In the course of the next few days, hours, or in some cases minutes, the cookies are greedily devoured. No crumb is safe, no chocolate chip left behind. Gradually the batch is thinned out, the plumpest cookies picked off one by one like lambs to the slaughter. What was once twelve becomes eight, then six, then four and finally one. One lonely cookie sits in what now seems like an immense jar. Once stuffed with its brothers and sisters, the jar is now empty save one survivor.
Days pass and there it remains. The relief of being spared the all too recent massacre wears off and he's left wondering why he wasn't chosen. Was he too small? Was he over-baked? Was he lacking in chocolate or cranberries? No, this isn't fourth grade kickball.
No one wants the last cookie because no one can bear to put an end to the deliciousness. No one wants to be the one responsible for depriving the others of all that sugar and love. Once the last cookie is reduced to crumbs you know it will never fill that void inside when you crave another and realize that's it.
Tea Time.
Recently I tried to take up tea drinking. Ever since the great teatastophe of '97 I made the informed decision to henceforth swear off tea in all its guises. Iced tea. Green tea ice cream. Long Island iced tea. Matcha cake. It was just awful. I sipped a bit of my mom's green tea and made a funny face. I was traumatized.
Despite my tainted past with tea, over the years I have acquired a handsome collection of tea related things. Tea towels, tea cups, saucers, tea spoons, cream and sugar sets, cute napkins. It got me thinking, maybe I like tea after all.
I was going to give tea another chance. Maybe we could get reacquainted and become fast friends. I'm sure we just got off on the wrong foot. Perhaps it was high time for some high tea.
I had it in my head I was going to throw tea parties with all my civilized tiny hat wearing buddies. We were going to sit in my dining room all prim and proper with our ankles delicately crossed. We were going to sip fancy earl grey and chamomile out of dainty pink cups with our pinkies out. We were going to gossip and giggle and nibble on petit fours.
I mean what better place to show off my Royal Wedding worthy feather fascinator right?
Alas it was not meant to be. Tea and I just don't get along. I made the face again. It wasn't pretty.
There is one part of tea time I think we can all agree is the very best part. The treats. The tiny individual cakes, the gooey squares, the cute cookies, the powdery truffles, the glazed tarts. Because if you take away the tea isn't a tea party just a swanky buffet?
And none of that roast beef and shrimp crap. The good stuff. The end of the buffet we all save ourselves for. Let's all just admit it. You might have stuffed yourself with more than your money's worth, but you just can't refuse that spread of sugary bliss on top of everything. Even if it means that you don't feel physically capable of eating another bite for at least another week.
Here's my contribution to tea time. The best part. The star. The crowd pleaser. The treat. Cardamom Clementine Cookies. They're light and airy with the floral scent of cardamom and the subtle brightness of citrus. I'm guessing they'd go well with a steaming cup of chai tea, but I'm certainly no expert. You'll have to let me know!
These Aren’t The Droids You’re Looking For.
Mind over matter. Power of suggestion. The force.
Whatever you want to call it, that's what I've been wrestling with for the past week. Everyone around me is aching and couching and sneezing. The odds are kind of stacked against me here. I'd have to be some sort of guru of meditation with a fistful of mental placebos to resist all that.
I'm not. I'm not made of midi-chlorians. I'm made of squishy flesh and achy bones.
However. If I were a Jedi I wouldn't bother with curbing the common cold or not looking silly when I sneeze. I'd have way more fun. I would wave my hand casually yet deliberately and tell you how much you need this Maple Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Bread. Struck by a sudden delicious idea, you would calmly rise from your seat, gather the ingredients and make yourself one awesome snack. You'd slice off piece by piece savouring the full flavour of pumpkin, the punch of spices and the sweet, buttery crunch of the streusel topping until it was all gone. At which point you would feel the need to bake yourself another and another and another... Do or do not. There is no try.
Hey... Maybe I am a Jedi!
Cute On A Stick.
There are those among us that dare to claim they don't like candy corn. I won't name names here, but just know the list is a long one. Candy corn is just one of those things you either love or hate. For instance: I love the bright caramel flavour, but I kind of hate the pain I get in the back of my eyeballs when I eat more than my fair share. I tolerate a lot of eyeball pain this time of year.
When I saw some photos of cookies like these floating around on Pinterest I knew I had to try them out with my amazing whipped shortbread recipe. For those of you that have never had whipped shortbread, first of all you must know that I pity you, and second of all you should know that it's like the cookie equivalent of cotton candy. Have you ever honestly had a melt-in-your-mouth cookie? Well you're about to, my friends. No more doorstop shortbread for you! Or chewing come to think of it.
So, getting back to my love of candy corn... These adorable cookies are not only shaped like my favourite candy, but actually have the audacity to perch themselves on sticks thus increasing their cuteness threefold. Everyone knows food is cuter on sticks right?
Ok, let's review.
Candy corn = yum.
Whipped shortbread = life changing.
Sticks = cute.
Now that we know there's a method to my madness, why not bake up some yummy-life-changing-cute-on-a-stick? You know you want to.
Fingers Crossed.
Have you ever had one of those thoughts that seemed like a good idea at the time then suddenly you find yourself wrist-deep in cookie dough and the cat is trying to eat the styrofoam gravestones and somehow you spent a small fortune on things like faux cobwebs and glow-in-the-dark skeletons?
This weekend our house will be invaded by a handful of twelve year old girls hopped on on handfuls of sugar. Sugar that I will be providing in abundance. Sugar that I will be encouraging the consumption of. Sugar laid out in pretty packaging on pretty platters and in pretty bowls.
Let's not forget this was all my idea. I claim full responsibility for any resulting cavities, scraped knees, overturned soda bottles, pumpkin carving injuries and popped eardrums.
I'm the sort of person that has the tendency to get a little carried away. Being creatively inclined I am all too familiar with the frustrating feeling that comes from imagination not matching up with reality. I have to remember I have a big imagination. This time I wanted to get it right. This time I wanted to throw an awesome party for Sable. This time I wanted her friends to talk about it for years to come.
So yeah, we pulled out all the stops. Fog machine, strobe light, spooky sounds CD, bubbling cauldron, dessert table, pumpkin carving, talking crows, ghost stories... The works!
And, of course, I couldn't forget the classic Witch Finger Cookies. I'm sure you've seen them before. It's nothing new, but I make them every year and I thought it was time to share them with you. Mine are a bit different. A little less blood and gore and more delicious almond flavour.
Just a little something to make the perfect Halloween party even better!
Cloudy With A Chance of Delicious.
You ever had one of those days?
Maybe you put your underwear on inside out. Maybe you just couldn't wait for the dryer to be done and you had to rush out of the house wearing a half damp sweater. Maybe it rained all day and the humidity made your hair interminably frizzy. Maybe you stepped in a puddle and ruined your new suede shoes. Maybe you thought your favourite show was on at 9 but really it was on at 8 and you missed it. Then maybe at the end of it all, when you just want to curl up in bed and sleep away the bad, you realize you left the sheets in the washer.
There there. Tomorrow will be different.
Maybe tomorrow you'll make these deliciously easy, fantastically tasty Sugar and Spice Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. Maybe the world will suddenly be a different place. Maybe the house will smell like pie. Maybe the rain will clear and your shoes will dry. Maybe you'll catch a repeat of that episode you missed. Maybe you'll have something to idly munch on between your clean sheets and your favourite book. Life is good again.
I say maybe because I'm not going to presume to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. It's your life. It's up to you of course. If you want frizzy hair, damp clothes and puddle shoes then far be it from me to tell you otherwise. On the other hand, if you like rainbows, pie smells and snacks in bed, then yes, yes you should make these. And quickly. Before it's too late!
Fall Into Fall.
It's finally Fall.
I know this because my footsteps are stalked by the soft tinkling of tiny colourful leaves. I know this because all the crab apples fell off the tree before I had the chance to turn them into jam or pie. I know this because it's still warm enough to get away with wearing peep toe heels but cool enough that I need to pair them with a light faux leather coat. I know this because the simple act of turning on the oven is welcomed instead of avoided. I know this because I'm drawn to warm and homey flavours like rich demerara sugar, thick molasses and spicy cinnamon.
To continue my pumpkin theme and demonstrate a creative use of my Pumpkin Pie Spice I've made these Pumpkin Spice Ginger Snaps. They're not your average Ginger Snaps. I've spiced them up a smidgen. Less ginger and more cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Less snappy and more chewy. They're coated with big bold crystals of turbinado sugar and a flavour to match.
Just the push I needed to fall into Fall.
Post Vacation Vacation Post.
I'm back! Finally right? Have you ever had one of those vacations where you need another vacation just to recover from it? Yeah, that was me.
I had all these lofty ideas to post updates for you about how the visit was going salt and peppered with cute shots of chocolate daisy toppers, polka dot baking cups and an army of cupcakes. That didn't happen. That was a stupid idea. I'm stupid.
I barely had time to sleep let alone have the energy to post devilishly clever blog posts or keep my eyes open for Photoshop. The week was a whirlwind of events from a little firearm education with dad to lions and tigers and bears at the zoo. Manicures and pedicures with the ladies to Sandbanks with mom. A little Indonesian cuisine with the family to girly movies and giggling with my best friend. Curling, speeches, tours, appointments, photos, new friends, old friends... Cupcakes and lots of 'em!
I thought it would be too soon if I never saw another cupcake in my life. After a full day of baking twelve dozen cupcakes, filling twelve dozen cupcakes, frosting twelve dozen cupcakes, topping twelve dozen cupcakes and packing twelve dozen cupcakes I wasn't interested in eating even one. The three flavours were a hit at the wedding and they were nearly devoured before the photographer could snap the traditional cutting the cake photo. It was a beautiful wedding and Lisa and Jamie were the sweetest couple!
I was really excited about this particular cupcake because I personally considered it the signature flavour being that it was a fall wedding. Since I never tried it, or posted anything about the wedding like a good blogger would do, I decided just one batch wouldn't kill me. This time I took my time and planned ahead. Unlike last time when I forgot the jam entirely and accidentally bought a kilogram of whole wheat flour. This time there was no hair pulling, no exploding piping bags, no mountains of tupperware, no assembly line, no late night trips to my brother's new refrigerator. Just a little Ani DiFranco and a lot of love.
Magic Beans.
As promised, here is the most amazing thing you could possibly do with your homemade Dulce de Leche. Ok, maybe not the most amazing thing, but certainly the most amazing thing that I'm currently aware of. If you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them!
I recently bought a bulk pack of fifty bourbon vanilla beans. I haven't used extract in months and I'll never look back. Vanilla beans are far sweeter with a brighter, potent flavour without the alcohol aftertaste and they have those adorable little specs to decorate your food. Like built in sprinkles! These truly are the magic beans Jack was talking about.
We bought an entire case of peaches so the pie was absolutely essential. I can't have all that peachy goodness going to waste now can I? It was fate. A match made in heaven. Sweet peaches with velvety Dulce de Leche, flaky vanilla bean crust and top it all off with fresh vanilla bean whipped cream. It's a triple vanilla experience! My mind is blown!
Sweet Of The Milk.
I'm going to have to make this quick because I literally have a bajillion things too too today. Have you ever had one of those weeks where you're so busy you can't even find the time to go to the bathroom? Yeah that's me right now and the week just started!
I have so much to do before our trip to Ontario it's not even funny. Not to mention a certain birthday party for a certain 12 year old.
Maybe you've tried Dulce de Leche. Maybe you haven't. Maybe you eat it by the spoonful like me. Did you know it was so easy to make? All you need is some milk, sugar, vanilla and a little free time. If I found the time to make it so can you!
PS: Watch out for a delicious way to use this Dulce de Leche in the next couple of days...
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