SMiLes by Meg

Chocolate Pistachio Cookies

Fact: baking with friends makes Saturday afternoons infinitely more fun. Shout out to the wonderful Laura Bakst for indulging me in my last minute plea for company while I was pretending not to have real responsibilities.

Black Currant Scones

Scones are an elusive breakfast baked good. I’ve tried to make them in the past, and, despite my extreme attention to detail in recipes, I could never get them to come out right. Either the dough was too crumbly and never held together, or too dense and didn’t have that lightness I associate with scones.

M&M Cookies

Happy almost Valentine’s Day! In an effort to be festive, I decided to do a themed post before the holiday this week in case you’re not ridiculously busy in the next two days. I realized that I have a bad habit of posting my holiday recipes after the point when they’re useful, so this year I’m pledging to be more proactive.

Beer Profiteroles

Super Bowl can be a tricky thing to bake for. It’s a day of gluttony, with more warm, cheesy appetizers, heavy sports food, and beer than you actually want to consume in one sitting, but you do anyways because it’s always placed directly in front of the TV you can’t walk away from.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

This was one of those weeks where it was getting to be most of the way through Saturday and I was quickly coming to the conclusion that I did not have time to bake. I began to panic. How terrible would it be if I posted a review of that awesome magic bar I had? (Go to Petsi Pies in Somerville.) Did I have anyone in mind that could guest post? (Marj, it felt too last minute to ask you.) In short, I was in a tight spot.

Dark Chocolate Truffles

Baking is amazingly therapeutic. If I’m stressed out, it calms me down. If I’m upset, it cheers me up. If I need some time with friends, it has a way of bringing them together. I can tailor the recipes I choose to the mood I’m in. Day already going pretty well? A short recipe with a quick result makes it even better. Day going pretty rough? I turn to something more involved that I can get lost in.

English Muffins

My original plan was to make croissants this weekend, but time, as it often does, got away from me. However, I was stuck on the idea of making a recipe with yeast. I wanted something a little complicated, but not two-day complicated.

Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don’t think anything wears you out like hiking up a mountain in the snow. Getting up early, layering up, climbing, and slide-walking back down really take it out of you. Though I do think I’m officially a winter hiking convert.

Black and White Russian Cookies

You know you’ve found some great friends when they show up at your apartment, start rooting around in your cabinets, and ask if there’s enough time for them to bake a batch of cookies before taking off on a 6 day vacation sure to be full of kitchen time. That’s what happened on Wednesday when a couple friends from college showed up (Happy Birthday, Marj!).