Treats for appetites of every size
Good things happen when I finish all of my grading and lesson planning before 2 on a Sunday. Good things in the form of baking adventures that I can pursue leisurely for hours on end. Good things in the form of FINALLY breaking in my yellow stand mixer. Isn’t it beautiful?
Last Christmas recipe, I promise. And these also aren’t really a Christmas-exclusive recipe, so I don’t feel bad about it. Imagine them in shapes other than Christmas trees if it bothers you.
Christmas is a baker’s dream come true. There are so many parties to make desserts for. So many people to give cookies to. So many excuses to use lots of butter and sugar to make everyone happy. So it should be no surprise that I have a bit of a backlog of recipes to share with you. Back in December, I mentioned my Cookie Project – every year I make cookie tins as gifts with at least 4 different kinds of cookie included. One of those didn’t make it onto SMiLes before Christmas itself (I forgot to bring the recipe …
This is the latest I’ve posted in awhile. I always underestimate how long it will take me to decorate cookies. Oh well, I can’t help being a perfectionist. Anyways, after a brief hiatus last week, the Christmas Cookie Project is back with a vengeance. Tomorrow there’s a holiday at work, to which I committed cookies. And then there are all of the various people I need to give cookie tins to. And then of course there are my students, who have requested treats as well. In short, I will be baking every day this week. And maybe posting some of …
It is impossible to say exactly how awesome it was to go home to Massachusetts this weekend. I spent four whole days with my family for Thanksgiving break, and I am already looking forward to going back for Christmas. Unfortunately, I was so caught up in the awesomeness of being home that I forgot to photograph while I was baking things for Thanksgiving. I made Pull Aparts successfully for the first time ever (a yeast recipe very similar to monkey bread) but alas, I have no proof for you. I also made some pretty delicious brickle from a Serious Eats recipe, …
This week, I resorted to a tried-and-true method of teaching that for two months I had successfully avoided – bribery. Some teachers give candy as rewards for different things, but being a science teacher, that had been impossible since we obviously can’t have food in laboratory classrooms. I even had to take candy away from my students on Halloween (I know, I felt like a Halloween Scrooge) because they didn’t believe me about not eating in class.
This is probably the most satisfying thing you can make with only three ingredients. And there is no baking involved. They are crunchy, they are peanut buttery, and they are sweet. The first time I had them was when my aunt made them (shout out to Anne!) for a family party, and I probably ate between 5 and 25 before my mom had to cut me off. So when I wasn’t totally sure what to make this weekend, I was digging through recipes that people have emailed me and found it, as well as multiple variations that may make later …
I had a Martha Stewart day today. I was done with all of my work for the week (finally getting the hang of this lesson planning thing), so I went to a technique class at Williams-Sonoma this morning to learn how to make pie crust. Well, really because I know that Williams-Sonoma gives free samples at their technique classes, but the pie crust lesson was helpful, too. Then I put together a slow cooker black bean soup recipe that is currently sitting on my counter waiting for dinner time. Then I made cookies. Then I carved a pumpkin.
In college, my friends all decided that my spirit animal was a baby elephant. I’m not really sure what that says about me, but I do think that elephants are cute, so I decided to embrace it. As my inaugural post to SMiLes by Meg, and my first baking adventure in my new apartment, it only seemed fitting that I would make elephant cookies.