Treats for appetites of every size
Christmas with the Muncey’s was a marathon this year. I got home from skiing in Utah on Tuesday, and then had a party every day through yesterday. That’s four separate Christmas parties. A night-before-the-night-before party, a Christmas eve party, Christmas, and Pickett Christmas. Like I said, a marathon.
This post starts with a new Saturday morning tradition. Last week was the first time we tried this, but since its been two weeks in a row, I’m calling it a tradition. I start a run from my parents’ new house and my mom starts to walk. I go out around to the beach and back, and it times out perfectly (like, arriving-at-the-door-at-the-exact-same-time perfectly) that we meet at the bakery we always used to go to from their old house.
It’s sunny! And warm! And not snowy! All of these things are beyond exciting after the winter we had, and even hold true up in Massachusetts, where I just spent a wonderful week at home. I made the most of my time with my bake center, and squeezed in another little project last night while watching the Bruins thoroughly confirm that they had no place in the playoffs this year.
After being sick at the end of last week (which is actually the worst thing as a teacher – it makes you realize just how much energy you need on a daily basis), I made it up to Massachusetts for the weekend just in time to experience one of those blizzards I’d been hearing so much about. Down in New Jersey, this winter has been very much a story of “There’s a huge blizzard coming our way, everybody panic! Oh wait, it missed us, but it did hit Boston.” Up here, it’s a very different story.
Baking ingredients all have their own personality. Some of them are over-sensitive, hardening and becoming unusable at slightest hint of oxygen (I’m looking at you, brown sugar). Some of them have a way of hiding in your cabinet and only appearing after you’ve bought a replacement (that would be molasses, as discussed here, and, oddly, Karo syrup). And others fall into the general category of “You Will Only Ever Have To Buy This Once Because It Is A Magical Never Ending Container” (obviously, this is baking powder and baking soda).
It’s officially Christmas cookie season. That means, for the next couple of weeks (probably through New Year’s) it will be all Christmas cookies all the time. This year, I’m going the slightly nontraditional route with my tins, including some new recipes and experiments, but if you’re looking for some classics, here’s last year’s selection: Gingerbread Men Dream Cookies Butter Cookies Anyways, this week’s recipe was definitely an experiment. I had seen it on Pinterest and thought they looked amazing. Also, I needed to make something that would keep for a week since I’ll be making the rest of my cookies in …
For the eighth year in a row, Yale lost The Game. That is sad. But want to know what’s not sad? Thanksgiving being in 4 days! I was actually in Massachusetts this weekend for the game, drove back down to New Jersey today, and will be driving back up again for Thanksgiving on Wednesday. That’s a lot of time driving through the worst state ever (95 in Connecticut is its own special form of torture – you can be cruising along, no problem, only to have to slam on your brakes, take 2 hours to drive 10 miles, and then …
This was the first weekend that really felt like the holiday season. It was cold, curl-up-inside-with-a-book weather, and it took a significant amount of self control not to turn on Christmas music while I was baking (I have a rule with myself – no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving). So, when my aunt Anne texted me a picture of what she was baking, I immediately asked for the recipe.
As I think I mentioned last week, Hurricane Arthur managed to cancel all of the 4th of July events last weekend. That meant that yesterday, the 12th of July, became the night for fireworks and festivities at the waterfront. The condo I’m in for the summer happens to have a perfect panoramic view of the fireworks show, making it the natural location for friends to come and watch. Which, of course, meant I needed to bake.
Happy Easter! I know I usually post on Sundays, but with Easter being tomorrow, I figured I’d give you a last minute (and quick!) recipe to make in case you’re scrambling for something. This is also the last post I get to do from the house I grew up in – my parents are moving out within the week, but I did get to come home for one last holiday with everyone. So I’m feeling a little sentimental.