We are all busy folks. So let’s have a fast chat. This is all I need you to know: I made tote bags!!!
And…THREE of you will win big!
To enter all you have to do is leave a comment on this post.
Say what up. Tell me what you want me to bake next. Tell me the name of your cat. Just keep things classy.
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I wish I could say that I enjoyed magic shell as a child.
I was in college when I first found the chocolate sauce that “magically” hardens when poured over ice cream. The thrill of being able to crack through the thin shell of chocolate into the ice cream below was something I did enjoy for a good year in my dorm room with my new-found freshman freedom (I promise that image is not as sad and pathetic as it may seem).
The other day I began thinking about magic shell again for the first time in years. I can’t exactly pinpoint the reason why but I was having one of those aimless thought bubble conversations with myself on the train and it was taking me to all points of random. I started thinking about what to make for dinner (surprise!) but then I got distracted and began reading over the shoulder of a lady who was engrossed in a magazine article with tips on how to throw a successful birthday party for a child. Then boom – it hit me – magic shell.
As it turns out, people don’t like it when you read over their shoulders on the train and I never got to see the last tip. I guess I will never know all the secrets of how to properly calculate the child to piñata candy ratio.
I am however certain that magic shell would be a big hit at your next party! No piñata required.
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Here is the deal.
There is a reason that cupcakes mean a party. They are an easy way to serve a crowd. When you turn your typical cake recipe into cupcakes you end up with pan after pan of them. Cupcakes tend to multiply as quickly as the space on your countertop disappears.
Sure you say, I’d be happy to bring some cupcakes! You think: that will make everyone – your co-workers, the whole sports team, a birthday party full of children, or any other appropriate group of hungry humans that your daydream may be forgetting – so happy!
Fast forward to when you are frosting your 49th cupcake and the questions start. Why, you ask yourself. Why did I sign up to bring in treats for everyone? How am I going to bring these on the train? Why did I think I could start this at 8pm after going to happy hour?
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I am not in charge of the cocktailery that takes place in our house. I leave that to the man candy.
Even though I am a licensed mixologist (truth!) he can create a cocktail worth making again. I am instead tasked with the prep. I cut the lemons, refill the ice cube trays, and make the simple syrup.
We always have a bottle in our fridge, which I usually make with white sugar, but today I tried it with brown sugar. I immediately fell in love. Probably because brown sugar cocktail syrup is perfect with bourbon.
Try it and you’ll be ready for cocktail hour in no time!
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Baking gets called things like “precise” and “exact” and has to fall by the wayside while cooking gets to have all fun. For every cup of flour you have to spoon and level there is a sauté pan sizzling away in the kitchen.
When you are hanging with your ol’ pal cooking, it doesn’t really matter if you are out of green beans since you could probably substitute asparagus or depending on what you were going for in the first place, heck, maybe even olives would be tasty! Whatever. You are probably going to eat it in the end and it will also probably taste good.
It gets a bit trickier with baking. Personally – and I am extremely biased here – baking is worth your work. There is a reason you don’t make friends with salads.
(Have you ever wondered about BAKINGMAKESFRIENDS? What I keep yammering on about here from my tiny slice of the web? Well that little sentence right there pretty much sums it up!)
It is slightly more challenging when you are crafting out of butter, flour and sugar. You can’t really go and tag out butter, and expect to win in the game of baking. So for all the times that I’ve been told by someone that they can’t bake, I say, then you haven’t tried the world’s easiest recipe for the world’s best treat.
This is a recipe for all.
For old vets – think of this as your little black dress. Just jazzed up with accessories! It is only a bonus that those happen to be things like: bourbon, spiced pecans, brown butter, chocolate, and sea salt.
For newbies or those who have been burned (oh yeah) by baking – this recipe will have you wondering what you questioned in the first place. It is one bowl, people! Keep the butterscotch base and add in whatever your heart desires!
P.S. If you live in Brooklyn, stop the lovely shop Thistle & Clover tonight from 5:30 – 8:30 for a Valentine’s Day shopping party! BMUB treats will be served! Hope to see y’all tonight!
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Was it fate that the creation of these little beauties coincided with a day that calls for snack food overload? Perhaps.
But in truth my only real interest in sports is having an excuse to drink beer and eat snacks. I made these mostly because I wanted to put beer in pretzels and call them pretz-ales.
Homemade soft pretzels may seem like too daunting of a task to attempt at home but remember these guys? The hardest part is finding the time in your busy schedule to make them.
With pretz-ales all you need is an hour or two so they are the perfect little snack to whip up when you have more important things to do. Like beer to drink. Or perhaps have a game to watch.
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There are some days that just require carrot cake.
I’ll admit that carrot cake is a pretty random craving but sometimes you have to just go with it.
Give in. Do it.
Listen to that little voice coming from your heart.
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You see, blood oranges are finally here, and I was searching for all the lemon bar recipes I could find to make blood orange bars to fulfill winter goal #36 [make blood orange bars].
You would not believe how much lemon bar recipes vary. Where one recipe would call for 2 eggs, another would call for 11. ELEVEN?! I can handle butter but I draw the line at nearly a dozen eggs in a single batch of anything.
So what is girl to do?
Well, I’ll tell you what I did. Painted my nails and read just about every recipe I could find.
After two test batches, I am happy to say that I found a winner.
With buttery shortbread and a touch of honey – one bite will send you straight to citrus heaven.
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I was not the kind of kid who had pudding cups at snack-time.
My younger years were filled with carrot sticks and apple slices but that is really beside the point as we all felt deprived as children, right?
But when I realized a few days ago I had grown up to be the lady who had never actually made pudding from scratch, I set about changing that right quick.
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Very few people will talk about the fact that if you live in Oregon for any amount of time then The Secret of Chai will be reveled to you. Playing The Oregon Trail in elementary school for six years straight doesn’t count.
Great lengths are taken to keep this secret totally classified information.
Using the phrase “classified information” in a sentence makes me feel like a spy.
Except how many spies do you know that say “totally”?
Now is as good of a time as any to say that if you read that five page article on the creation of the game that taught history to the youth of the 90s then you are awesome.
I feel guilty calling this a recipe. I also feel guilty for living so many years of my life without thinking of this outrageously simple idea but I guess I’m justified in sharing this recipe having lived in Oregon for one of those years. Knowing the power of Oregon Chai or not, you need this nectar of the gods to get through the cold months ahead.
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