Treats for appetites of every size
Sometimes, when you’ve got an 8 hour final coming up, you just need to spend the day before doing fun things. Like baking. And climbing. And Christmas shopping. And just trust that you really weren’t going to learn any more copyright law today anyways.
Putting aside final exams and cramming, I love the period from Thanksgiving through New Years. So many fun holidays. So much time with family and friends. A general feeling of magic happiness with good food, buying presents for people, and snow. Also, unending opportunities to bake.
I made some really really really good cookies this week. Like, I’m staring at the last one in a Tupperware next to me at the table right now seriously struggling with whether to eat it. I’ve already had 2 today. And maybe 3 yesterday. And every day before that since Monday. It didn’t help that the batch made about 60 cookies. So even though my students did some good work on the huge container I brought to their conferences this week, I still had too many left over.
Two breakfast posts in a row! Obviously, I’ve been a little selfish lately, making things that I actually end up eating instead of pawning off on my friends. Don’t worry – next week’s Halloween treat is 100% for other people. But until then: Spiced Waffles.
The last of my back up recipes: Pumpkin Cheesecake. I probably had time to bake this weekend, but it was kind of nice to just be lazy instead. We’ve got a long weekend from school, but the rain and general yuckiness stopped us from heading into the mountains as planned. Oh well. Watching High School Musical and exploring the Massachusetts area isn’t a terrible alternative.
I’ve been baking up a storm this week! I’ve already made two recipes, and have another one lined up for Wednesday night. This seems particularly amazing given I’ve also been having a crazy busy week otherwise. I guess its true that the more you do the more you can do.
Ever look over at your fruit bowl and realize your bananas have turned almost completely brown before you even had a chance to eat one? Looking for a quick recipe when you don’t necessarily have all of the ingredients on hand for the best banana bread ever? Good news: if you bake (from scratch) ever, you definitely have everything to make these muffins and feel like you didn’t waste food after all.
I’m officially on summer vacation! With a month before I start my last year of school ever, I’m definitely trying to pack a lot in. In a couple of hours, my mom and I will leave for our annual Nantucket trip. Then, two days after we get back, I’ll head out to Montana and Wyoming for a couple weeks of hiking and generally not being in an office. With all of this traveling, baking will be a bit more challenging, but don’t worry – I’m committed.
I learned so many things yesterday. First, baking bread when your kitchen is over 80° is destined to be a disaster. Rather than rise up, the bread spreads out, and then you have flat sourdough, which is really only good to be cut up into crostini. Second, my apron has pockets, which means that when I discovered this and started storing my phone in one, I spent far too much time searching the counter for said phone whenever I needed to take a picture. Finally, there are some recipes that you just know how good the finished product will be …
I have a new theory in the kitchen: cinnamon belongs in everything. Perhaps controversial, but I’m pretty sold on the stuff. It’s amazing what the addition of some cinnamon does to what would otherwise just be a cakey sugar cookie in this recipe. Literally game changing.