Treats for appetites of every size
In school on Friday, a student asked me what I do over the weekends. I realized that when I was a student, I, too, had a hard time imagining my teachers existing outside of the classroom. Did they just do biology experiments all weekend? Did they sleep at their desk? Did they have a life?
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 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 …
November really is an awesome month to be a teacher. I’m currently enjoying a long weekend due to the Teacher’s Convention, which I am spending in Philadelphia with my boyfriend. However, I did bake before I left for Philly, mostly so that I could use lots of butter that said boyfriend wouldn’t want in treats baked for him. I’ve also been on a huge blondie kick recently, which is strange because I love chocolate and they are basically brownies without chocolate, but I decided to go with it. And thus I bring you: Chocolate Swirl Blondies.
Happy Diwali! Sorry for the Monday morning rather than Sunday afternoon post – but I don’t have school today so for me its like a Sunday. And I don’t have school Thursday. And I don’t have school Friday. And I don’t have school next Monday. Life of a school teacher in November.
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.
I love the Fall. I say that about every season, but Fall has the best smells. And after baking this pumpkin bread, I’ve been leaving my apartment just so I can walk back in and smell the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
My boyfriend was visiting for the weekend again this weekend, and earlier this week he sent me a link for a whole wheat biscuit recipe he wanted to try, asking if it would work for my blog. I love biscuits, but I also love sweets, so we compromised and made them into chocolate biscuits. Unlike my other recipes, these are actually pretty good for you (no butter!), but probably not in the quantity we decided to eat them.
This weekend, I was beyond excited to have my parents visiting my new apartment. Living in a new state, a little bit of home was long overdue. They indulged me in walking (farther than I may have told them) to my farmer’s market and then took me out apple picking in the unseasonably warm 85° weather. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Love you guys!
When I told some friends, also first year teachers, that I would bake for them if they came over to my apartment to lesson plan, their request was obvious: chocolate. So naturally I immediately thought of brownies. Now, I personally am a huge fan of boxed brownie mix. I think Ghirardelli does a perfectly good job, and, honestly, duncan hines are delicious too. But a blog post about how to add water to chocolate powder wouldn’t be all that exciting, and there was the additional request of chunks, which boxed mix doesn’t do all that well.