I put quinoa in cookies.
Yep, I totally went there.
Quinoa is that super healthy grain that we all only eat to make ourselves feel better after one too many late-night cheeseburgers.
I was pretty skeptical about using such a healthy item in cookies but since it is January and it seems that everyone is inevitably on some sort of cleanse at the moment – it was only fitting to give it a try.
But…then I added drunken cherries because I couldn’t quite bring myself to go all out baking cleanse-mode. And there is butter. So yeah.
Drunken cherries are probably the best thing I’ve eaten all year. Dried fruit gets simmered in booze until all that liquid delicious-ness is soaked up by the cherries. I promise I won’t tell if a few don’t make it into the dough.
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I have been roasting everything I can get my hands on since this summer when I roasted strawberries for the first time.
This girl is obsessed.
Most things are better roasted and grapes are no exception.
Just a hint of brown sugar, some fresh rosemary, and 40 minutes of heat. Boom. Done.
Roasting them concentrates the sweet and savory flavors and boring ol’ grapes turn great!
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I’ve just finally lifted out of my month-long “holi-daze” right in time to head into the city of fog. I’m off to San Francisco to ring in the New Year which means that BMUB is coming to you live today from 30,000 feet!
The fact one can internet (note the verb!) on a plane still blows my mind. Not that it takes much, mind you, since I still can’t get over that you used to be able to make phone calls from your seat.
I remember the one and only time I was allowed to make a call. I was ten years old and I called my dad. Our 15 second conversation went something like this:
Dad: Hello?
Me: Hi! Dad! I’m ON. THE. PLANE!! I think we’re over St. Louis now. I’m looking at CLOUDS! Real clouds! AND TALKING TO YOU! Can you BELIEVE it?!
Dad: Wow!
Me: OK. Well, I have to go. Mom says this is costing $30 dollars a minute. BYE! Oh, did I tell you that I’m on a PLANE? AND WE ARE ON THE PHONE!!!!
Dad: Yes.
Me: BYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEE!
I had a fierce craving yesterday for a chewy molasses cookie and because I must always delay packing to the absolute last minute, I made cookies instead of dealing with the suitcase/clothes situation in my room. The cookie I envisioned would be chewy, thick, coated in sugar, full of spice and stuffed with extra bits of chocolate goodness. I went to cookie heaven the moment these little guys came out of the oven. Only then did I go get packing.
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I will attend my sixth straight holiday party tonight.
Not to sound like a grinch or anything – I love a good shindig – but what I want to do is park my legging-clad self on the couch with my unwashed hair and watch TV for 0.006 seconds until I fall asleep.
What I must do is put on lipstick and bring fancy party puffs out into the world.
What I want to do and what I must do rarely line up. Even with high payoffs, such as ice cream being a suitable dinner replacement, no one ever gives you a heads up that being an adult can be tough work.
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I am not usually one to make overly cheesy holiday cookies. I am a strong believer that anything with too much red and green dye just cannot be that tasty. I mean don’t get me wrong, I am all for
sprinkles and cheer and I love a good n’ festive cookie platter but try as I might, I always find myself on the understated yet elegant Christmas cookie route. Elegance is super boring and overrated. I know.
This brings me to my point which was to profess my love for the best taste combination ever created a.k.a. red velvet anything with cream cheese frosting. What could be better? The best thing ever in BITE SIZE COOKIE FORM.
With holiday cookie time in full effect this cookie is the answer to all most of your problems [those presents are wrapping themselves!] and they are just festive enough to find themselves at home on dessert buffets everywhere.
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If you’ve been around Butter Me Up Brooklyn for a while or maybe just accidentally clicked on the meet lillie tab, then you probably know that I’m without a stand mixer. I grew up making my bread dough by hand and whipping up cookies with a wooden spoon. It may have been rough but I’ve survived my entire life without a little buddy!
That said, if I so happen to possibly receive a certain something in white on a special day that is a week from today I would probably quickly change my views on the “by hand” way of kitchen life that I’ve been living. I can only imagine how I’d take every oppounity to use it and it would not surprise me one bit if I started mixing up gin and tonics on the lowest speed just to get a quick use in. The phrase “Oh here, just let me mix that for you…” would be on an endless loop.
For your sake and for cocktails everywhere, the good news is that I don’t expect any such gift [right?! fingers secretly crossed] any time soon. In the meantime I jump on every occasion to invade the homes of my friends and use theirs.
When my dear friend asked if I’d like to come over for a marshmallow making party, you better believe I was over there in a hot second.
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There is something about spending time in my childhood bedroom that immediately brings be back to being 17 years old. I wear only my high school volleyball sweatshirts, raid my parent’s liquor cabinet – just kidding! Hi mom! I never actually did that! – and my room instantly becomes a complete mess.
Boozy brownie balls are way too easy to make and even easier to eat. Make brownies. Crumble in bowl. Add a hearty pour from the secret stash of bourbon. Boom. Boozy bourbon brownie balls. How is that for some alliteration?!
Look at this awesome plate I found in the stash of dishes that just so happens to be right next to the bottles of cheer.
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When a girl from Seattle who lives in New York starts telling you about homemade bagels, it is totally acceptable to think that she is bonkerstown.
I never thought I’d be one of those people who made their own bagels. I always felt like bagels are one of those things that should be left to someone with more authority, and well, they practically fall out of the sky here in New York. But at some point this fall I got motivated to try my hand at homemade bagelry and I got my bagel making pants on big time.
The most of anything you need is the patience to wait overnight so I have proposed the following bagel making timeline. It works best on a Saturday afternoon, with warm bagels to be enjoyed on Sunday.
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You didn’t think that I would leave you hanging after that little pie crust tutorial, did you?
I LOVE making pie. For serious. Making the crust, and the rolling, and the whole idea of warm pie fresh out of the oven – it is one of my most favorite things to bake in my tiny kitchen.
I have a secret though. I feel a little indifferent to the whole eating it part. I would much rather have a crumble or a crisp. I would drive by slice after slice of pie to park in front of a plate of apple crisp. Life is strange, I know.
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