#16: Sweet and Sticky Brown Buttercrunch Cookies

For the annual Christmas Cookie Exchange this year, I decided to try out a brand spanking new recipe. I seem to have this habit recently of precariously trying out new recipes for outside consumption. I found this recipe from an old Mrs. Fields cookie cookbook. After a couple fairly disastrous batches (the cookies wouldn't come off of the wax paper, and one batch got burnt), I had barely enough cookies to bring to the exchange - 2 per person. Out of the oven, these cookies came out super thin and flat. To effectively make these cookies, you have to work quickly and be willing to burn your finger tips a bit because you roll them around a wooden spoon to get the cylindrical shape. After the cookies completely cool and harden, you can dip them in a chocolate ganache and let the chocolate harden. Although it was nearly a nightmare to make, I was pretty happy with the result. I'm going to make these cookies again for Christmas - but this time i will be armed and ready.

Stay tuned...more holiday baking to come...

#15: Tis the Season to be Yule-y

(photo credit to s. lock)

Christmas time is here, and what does that mean? Baking! My family had a Christmas party and I was asked to make a dessert. I've been wanting to make a Buche de Noel (a.k.a. Yule Log) for a few years now - and I finally had the confidence to try it out. There were some skeptics about my ambitions (trying out a brand new recipe on guests), but I think i proved them wrong. I have to admit, this dessert was semi-homemade. My full intentions were to make the entire cake from scratch, but i hit a road block when I discovered my local Safeway did not carry pasteurized shelled eggs.

The spongey cake is rolled up with raspberry flavored chocolate mousse (from a powder). I was nervous to use un-pasteurized eggs to make the mousse so i resorted to a store-bought powder blended with milk. I used a ganache icing on the outside and added sprinkles to the outside of the log as embellishment. I also tried making meringue for the first time ever. The mushrooms are made out of a candied sugar/water mixture, egg white, and cocoa powder. I didn't have a candy thermometer (supposed to get up to 248 degrees), but I experimented with a meat thermometer and it actually worked! I attached the mushroom tops and stems with melted semi-sweet chocolate. They turned out quite well - i thought they were very tasty and looked really good. If I make another Buche de Noel (which to venture a guess, i will), i might try out another recipe. I used a combination of recipes, including an Allrecipes flourless cake and Martha Stuart's buche de noel recipe. Although I enjoyed eating the cake, I think the textures were different from a standard Buche de Noel. i'll probably keep experimenting with some other recipes to find the perfect Buche de Noel.

#14: Fries, Sweet!

Potato fries, heavy on the sweet. with garlic lemon mayo on the side. I made this for a Sunday-after-Thanksgiving potluck. I figured I would do a little twist on the traditional Thanksgiving sweet potato, plus I was pretty tired of Thanksgiving food. I peeled 5 sweet potatoes and cut them into thin strips. I then tossed the fries in olive oil and put them in the oven for almost an hour. The dip was non-fat mayo with finely cut garlic and some fresh lemon juice (from a lemon from my backyard tree!). The mayo recipe came from Giada De Laurentis and the sweet potato recipe was a combo of recipes I found on AllRecipes.com . A nice tasty non-fried snack and not too hard on the waste line.

#13: Sweet (Sweet Potato) Cupcakes

(photo credit to fred chang)

if the sweet potato intimidates you, or turns you off...think of these as pumpkin cupcakes! i made these for a thanksgiving potluck at work and they were an absolute hit! i found this recipe in my Martha Stewart cupcake book. Really, the only modification I made to the recipe was adding a dollop of cream cheese frosting. These mini cupcakes contain freshly roasted, caramelized sweet potatoes, with nutmeg and all your other standard cupcake ingredients. They were topped with cream cheese frosting, mini marshmallows, and candied pecans (also home made). My helper (Fred) also had some fun with a butane torch, lightly toasting the tops of the cupcakes (Karen, Madi, and Sarah - I finally used the torch from the creme brulee set!). I think the cream cheese was a good call to act as more of a binder - without it, I think there would have been something missing from the cupcake. What a tasty treat for Thanksgiving!

#12: Breakfast Crostini

i was getting hungry in the AM and started to cook an egg. my creative juices started flowing and i went a little crazy. i cut a few slices of a french roll, brushed some olive oil on it, and put them in the toaster oven. i then finished my egg omelet seasoned with salt and pepper, cooked some white button mushrooms, and crisped up some green onion strips. one little crostini for each person in my family. what a way to start out a day, with a tiny bite of breakfast!

#11: Mac 'n Cheese Made Over with Brussel Sprouts

the weather has been a little more dreary, so it seemed fitting to break out the cold weather, comfort food recipes. i had some brussel sprouts to cook and needed to come up with something to eat with them. i knew i wanted to make some type of pasta, so when i looked in the fridge and the pantry, i decided on macaroni and cheese. i remembered a recipe i saw in the October edition of the Food Network Magazine for a "lightened up" version of Mac 'n Cheese. The unique part of this recipe was the pureed cauliflower used to thicken up the creamy cheesy sauce. I also added small pieces of Hickoy Farms turkey lil' smokies. Instead of broiling the mac 'n cheese in the oven, I decided to pan fry it on the stove. The noodles came out crispy, browned, and delicious!

As for the brussel sprouts: I browned them in a pan and cooked them down in chicken broth...a great accompaniment to the mac 'n cheese!

#10: Cupcake Mania

This week was filled with cupcakes upon cupcakes. For my birthday, my sister gave me a Martha Stewart cupcake book. i tested out the red velvet and cream cheese recipes a couple weeks ago as a practice round - and then made the cupcakes for real this week.


after sharing my baked goods and cupcake camp news with my manager at work, he asked me to make cupcakes for our colleague's baby shower. he requested they be pink and blue (because she is having twins - a boy and girl). i decided to take the colors to the extreme. i made pink and blue - mini red velvet cupcakes with pink and blue cream cheese frosting. i then topped the cupcakes with some white sprinkles and a plastic toy pacifier (probably should've written out a warning that the pacifiers were not edible). i made 40 cupcakes for the shower and they were a hit! i also got to practice with my new pastry bags/tips.


The friday before halloween, my office had a Halloween dessert contest. I figured I would try out my Pumpkin Spice cupcakes that I entered at Cupcake Camp. However, this time I used a mini bundt cake tin rather than a regular cupcake tin. The cakes turned out a little different. i think the cupcakes were better than these bundt cakes (the cupcakes had a higher frosting/sprinkles to cake ratio). As it turns out - my bundt cakes did not win the competition this time around....so maybe next time i should stick with the cupcake tin.



i made these monster cupcakes for a halloween/birthday party for a friend. these were also red velvet cupcakes with green cream cheese frosting. i used my martha stewart cupcake book again as inspiration for the decorations: marshmallows (with milk chocolate pupils), twizzlers, gum drops, and airheads.