As Yet Untitled

Quick on the heels of my Triumphant Toffee , came a rather more sobering event. I caught the first real glimpse of my parents' age. The worst part is that I had no idea it was coming. My sister, Norris , Mason, and I went to bed around midnight, because like good grown up children, we still play Santa with my parents. We wear matching pajama sets that we get on Christmas Eve, and we go to bed early so that "Santa" can stuff our stockings and prepare the gifts. So this night we tucked ourselves all snug in our beds, and I had been asleep for maybe an hour and a half when my dad burst into the room I was sharing with Brett, yelling, "Katie, Brett, wake up now. The ambulance is coming for your mom." Out of all the reasons for being awakened only 1/8 of the way into my sleep cycle I could have imagined, this was probably the very last on my list. I leaped out of bed, and on the way downstairs Dad told me that Mom had been having chest pains, and that she had collaps...

As a final installment to my Christmas baking series, I have decided to share the great secret of making English Toffee: pure brute strength. This is a recipe that requires great force. You will stir for what seems like eternity. You will stand at the stove until it seems like you have been there all your life. And you will spend all your time staring into the depths of a swirling, light brown mixture that seems like it is never going to change form. But persevere, because at the end of all this toil the fruits of your labor will be nothing short of miraculous. Ambrosia of the gods. An exercise in sensory ecstasy. English Toffee. You will begin with a pound of butter. One whole pound. This is the equivalent of four sticks. I like using sticks instead of a one pound block (which, yes, you can actually buy) because it doesn't look like as much butter. You will match this with one pound (or two cups) of brown sugar. These are the only two ingredients you will use. Because there is en...

Despite the shaming brownie bite incident , I decided to persevere with my Christmas baking endeavors, and I am happy to report that the rest of my sweet treats were undoubtedly a success! I began my second day of baking by making these delicious Molasses Cookies . I made the dough the night before, so it was good and refrigerated. This is something that can really make all the difference when it comes to cut-out cookies. On the blog where I found them, they are in the shape of maple leaves, but I made mine in the shape of Christmas trees. Below, find a chronicling of my adventure in baking molasses cookies. I began by flouring my workspace. I use a large square of glass for all my cooking and baking prep. It stays nice and cool, and bits of food and germs don't get stuck in it like in wood or plastic. So there is a ball of dough. It was very, very cold. But it also looked totally delicious. Here is a picture of the rolled out dough. This took some effort because the dough was so c...

It is holiday baking season! While I am definitely proficient at both cooking and baking, I am not a master chef and so usually abstain from posting food prep/recipe posts, I felt that this particular experience deserved to be shared. Last night, in my kitchen, was the Brownie Apocalypse. It started out innocently enough. I had been browsing around, finding fun new things to try this Christmas, and stumbled upon (saw in my Google reader feed) this little gem from The Pioneer Woman. I thought, "This will be the perfect little addition to our usual goodies." Foolish, foolish girl . After purchasing the proper ingredients and bringing them home I began my work. Melting the chocolate went surprisingly well, which was a fortunate surprise, since usually I have the darndest time trying to get chocolate to melt properly. Nevertheless, this time it went (ahem) smoothly, and by the time I had finished I had a respectable looking brownie batter. I scooped it into a well-greased mini-mu...

Finals week is almost finished, and I will finally have time for fun things, like blogging and sleeping, again. I have several ideas for new blog posts, and possibly new themes and things to come! So stay tuned...just a few more days....