A little helper

Adelaide loves to help. Ask her to do something? No, no, no way, no. But ask her to help by doing something? Yes! And if you're engaged in a task, be prepared, because what grown-up task couldn't be made even better with some toddler help?

helping mama make cheesecake bars one morning

Of course her desire to help is a wonderful thing, so we try to encourage it as much as possible, even when her help is, um, a little bit less than helpful. Letting her splash away on one side of the sink while I do dishes on the other side? Well worth the water mess. Taking five times as long to load laundry into the dryer because she wants to put it in herself piece by piece? Not a bad price to pay for a buddy who wants to help do laundry. The same goes for her "folding" of the laundry.

helping dada stir the hot cocoa

And maybe the biggest upside to her love of helping? Distraction. One afternoon this weekend, while Adam was away, I felt a meltdown coming on. Well, make that two meltdowns...one for the toddler and one for the mama. The obvious solution? Cookies. Yes, there was lots of "have? help? more?" (Adelaide) and "wait! stop! not in there!" (me). Yes, there was flour everywhere (but, hey, Adelaide helped clean it up after and did a pretty darn good job too!). Yes, it took a bit longer than usual. But boy was it fun! And she was very proud of herself. And I got cookies.

The cookies were these brown sugar cookies from Joy the Baker. Yummy and soft and chewy. They were a hit with the whole family. The only thing I'd do differently next time is to use less ginger. They were good, but the first couple of days they seemed a bit more ginger-spicey than I think is ideal.

 

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Oatmeal Creme Pies

I used to LOVE the Little Debbie oatmeal creme pies as a kid. I haven't had one for ages. But the other day on Pinterest I came across this recipe for a homemade version and absolutely had to try it out.

I could tell they were going to be good because the dough was amazingly delicious. Like the I wanted to eat the whole bowl raw kind of delicious. But I did not eat the whole bowl raw, which was for the best I suppose, and certainly worked out well for Adam because I am a nice wife and shared my cookies instead of eating them all myself. Aren't I great?



So, the cookies, they were good. And even though I had my doubts about a food item containing marshmallow creme*, the filling was good too, though maybe just a touch too sweet for me.  I thought about making my own marshmallow creme (using this recipe), but in the end I went the easy route and bought some. Probably for the best since my candy thermometer and I don't get along very well. Oh, and I used old fashioned rolled oats instead of the quick oats called for, which worked out fine.




Adam and I agreed that the cookies were even better after a couple of days, which is always a bonus.


*I do not like marshmallows. Not at all, never have. But it is mostly a texture thing, so I decided maybe I could handle marshmallow creme. I was not a fan of the little taste I had of the marshmallow creme plain, but all mixed up with the shortening and sugar and whatnot, it was fine.

French macaroons

Oh, did you think I was going to start that whole "posting more regularly" thing ever right away? No, no...I totally meant to go a few weeks without posting and then start up with renewed vigor in mid January. I know you believe me because I would never ever lead you astray.

So, French macaroons.

The subtitle here should be "Now with 75% less failure."

I tried French macaroons a few years ago, and the failure at that time was complete. Those babies hit the trash before anyone, even Adam, caught sight of them. And you know that's bad, because I will eat anything with sugar in it. I even ate the fail fudge.

The degree of failure involved in that experience explains why I have been too afraid to try them again until the promise of backup in the form of my sister-in-law. So together we made a fresh attack. And it was not a total failure! Marginal success is mine!



These were some ugly cookies (the one in the photo was, by far, the best of the bunch), which is sad because I feel like half the point of macaroons is all the dainty, pretty fanciness. These were huge, due in part to the fact that they spread after piping and in part to some complete malfunction of spacial estimation on my part. (The book said to pipe two-inch rounds, but we ended up with at least one cookie sandwich that was bigger than my fist.) But, hey! They tasted fine. And I was quite proud of my first foray into real buttercream for the filling. All the cookies were eaten! None of them were thrown away! (Feeling good about the end result is easier when the bar is low. Very, very low.)

Buoyed by this lack of complete failure, I have already committed to a "next time" even! Let's just hope I do a little better with that commitment than I have with the "post more regularly" commitment thus far.

A few crumbs

Snickerdoodle blondies! All the yum of snickerdoodles, even less effort! I made these this weekend and they were a hit. A note about the recipe, though: "Pour dough – it will be thick – into prepared baking dish and smooth it into an even layer" really threw me. My dough was thick like regular snickerdoodle dough. So there was no pouring or smoothing to be had. I was worried that I'd mismeasured something, but I went ahead and just pressed the dough into the pan. It turned out great, so don't worry if you run into the same thing.

Also made/eaten this weekend: The buckwheat tabbouleh I've posted about before. It is really good. You should try it.

A guy at work brought in cupcakes today, which was soooo nice and really took the edge off this morning after the below-zero-windchill walk to work. They were from Crumbs, and they were good. And huge. I have seriously never eaten a bigger cupcake. (Good as the Crumbs cupcake was, though, Sugar Bliss is still my fave.) And speaking of cupcakes in the Loop, I often pass The Cupcake Counter on my walk to work but have yet to give in to temptation. So, anyone been there? Reviews? (Does anyone from the area even read this thing? Perhaps not.) Three cupcake places in such close proximity to the office is a dangerous thing. It is probably for the best that I'm usually too lazy to go all the way down on the elevator and outside to get something during my lunch hour.

Hello again!

And Happy New Year!

Oh, how I love the holidays. It always seems too early to take down the tree, put the received gifts away in proper places rather than keeping them piled around the living room, and eat the last of the cookies and candy.



Speaking of cookies...I made some. This year I went with the M&M cookies I posted about here, my standard sugar cookies, Oreo truffles, pecan balls (Mexican wedding cookies or whatever you want to call them), and gingerbread people. It's a bummer (for you and the blogging, not for me and the baking/eating--it's awesome for me and the baking/eating) that so many of the cookie recipes I use these days are from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book because I can rarely find them online and the ATK website is paid-subscription. The book is great, though. Highly recommended.

The pecan balls and the gingerbread people are both from the book. I love the pecan balls and make them almost every year. I could only find the pay version online, though. The gingerbread people are another story. I managed to find the recipe here. They're ok. I mean, they're good for gingerbread people. Softer and tastier than the usual. But gingerbread people are just not my faves. Fun to make and decorate, yes, but always the last cookies left hanging around after the holidays. I have some leftover icing in the fridge, though, so I think I'll just pile the remaining gingerbread villagers high with icing, which will make them 100% more enticing (to me anyway). So I've got that going for me!

Crime and punishment...no, wait, not punishment, just cookies.

On Saturday, Adam had a nice day planned that took us all over the city, including a trip to the Glessner House Museum down on Prairie Avenue. The house was very cool, and I am madly in love with the kitchen/pantries (yes, pantries, plural...gosh, I love a pantry). But one of the best things about our visit was that I bought this book!

The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death combines some of my very favorite things: miniatures, mysteries, odd historical artifacts. Frances Glessner Lee grew up in the Glessner House. Later in her life, she created these dollhouse-sized crime scenes, complete with clues and murder victims, to help train investigators. They are kind of creepy, I guess, but entirely fascinating, and I would love to take a look at them in person.

In completely unrelated news, I made these snickerdoodles. They were pretty good. They stayed nice and soft for as long as they lasted. I think melting the butter helps with that.  But I have decided that I really prefer a snickerdoodle that includes cream of tarter. So the search for the perfect recipe remains ongoing.

Disjointed and mostly outdated ramblings

Did anyone else feel a bit smacked in the face by the clock change this weekend? We had to catch a train out to the suburbs early on Sunday morning, meaning I had to wake up at 6:45. On a weekend. The torture. But it was made worse by the fact that it wasn't until I had already been in bed for a bit that I jumped to my feet with a panicky "Oh my god! Daylight Savings Time!" as I realized that we would be getting even less sleep than originally anticipated. Bummer.

I was clearing out some folders on the laptop and found a couple of photos I meant to post but had forgotten (or decided not to use, maybe? I don't remember). But I've got nothing better for today, so here they are.



This is a birthday card I made for my brother a couple of weeks ago. I like the silver paper I used for the cupcake wrapper, but the rest of it is kind of eh. I was reminded how much I really don't like using glue sticks because I cannot help but smudge and smear glue on stuff (my fingers, the tray I was working at, the wrong sides of the paper I'm trying to use...pretty much everything within reach, really). While looking for paper and a glue stick to use for this, I found some origami paper and instructions from ages ago (I think I was in middle school). I tried to make some stuff. It did not work out, so I did not take pictures. How do people get origami to work? Magic? Better instructions? Significantly more vast amounts of patience than I possess?



And this is how I used up half a block of cream cheese that was hanging out in my fridge. I suppose it could have been used for a variety of necessary cooking activities--making something for us to eat for dinner, for one. But I was hell-bent on cream cheese icing. So I made some chocolate shortbread (from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book, if I am remembering correctly, and I may not be), which was merely okay on its own, and the easiest cream cheese icing ever (half a block of cream cheese, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a bunch of confectioner's sugar to get it to the proper consistency). Lazy and delicious. That was a while ago, though, because lately my sugar fix has been coming from the Girl Scout Cookies.

Wow. Are you totally impressed with this post or what? I know. The organization and edification astound you. You are welcome.

Not so healthy, but entirely necessary.

Yesterday was one of those days. Boring errand running. Loads and loads of laundry. And a sewing project that just was not working for me at all.

So I gave up--but not without throwing a bit of a fit about it first, of course--and decided that I needed to bake some cookies. Because cookies are always good.

I ate them for dinner. Well, them and some noodles covered in butter and salt, but that's hardly better, is it?



These are the snickerdoodles from Martha Stewart's Cookies (I didn't take any after-baking photos, just these dough-ball photos, so use your imagination). Two things about this recipe: It doesn't use cream of tarter, which takes away the crinkly top and a bit of the characteristic tang (thank you America's Test Kitchen). It also calls for coarse salt, which resulted in some bites being saltier than others. Next time I will use regular-sized salt. Otherwise these were good. They were yummy and soft and easy to make, as a snickerdoodle should be. Furthermore, the dough is delicious, and I am a sucker for delicious dough.

Also: Silicone baking mats are awesome. Really and truly. My sister-in-law and her family gave me these for Christmas and I am smitten. No parchment paper! Things don't stick! Magic! With some of my other silicone bakeware, I've been disappointed by the heat transfer, leaving crusts and bottoms and such not brown enough. No such problems with these so far though. Maybe it's the fiberglass layer? I don't know.

Cookies.

Before we left to visit the families, I made up some cookies to take with us. Of course, there wasn't any shortage of goodies--sugary and otherwise--at our folks' houses, but if I don't bake cookies it just doesn't feel like Christmas.

I tried out a few new-to-me recipes this year, all of which (amazingly enough) turned out pretty well.

M&M Cookies (using the recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies in the The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book, but substituting M&Ms). Adam particularly liked these, which is good because they were made to fulfill his special request.



Swiss Cinnamon Crisps (via Not Martha). These are pretty easy, though I let my dough sit in the fridge too long, so it was a little hard to work with. I think they taste like Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the best way (though it has been likely more than a decade since I actually ate Cinnamon Toast Crunch, so my memory could be a little off here). They are really easy to eat. Too easy, maybe. And the recipe makes a ton.



Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps (via Angry Chicken). The dough got really messy as I shaped it, but I had to do it with my hands, so one of those cookie scoop things might have fixed that problem. They are soft and tasty, though. I used instant coffee for the instant espresso, but they were still yummy.



I'll be back soon to show-and-tell some of the homemade gifts I gave this year. I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat.

Very accomplished

I hemmed the shirt! I have buttons for it! Progress!

But I also took a break from shirt sewing to work on the Recycled Sweater Slippers in Betz White's Sewing Green. I used denim for the sole grippers, which won't really help with slipping but will help with wear and tear on the soles.



Very comfy.



Also, some chocolate chip cookies (this time it's some that I did make). These are my go-to chocolate chip cookies, the Big Chocolate Chip Cookies from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. I don't make them big, though. I make them regular-cookie-sized.



We can eat a batch of these embarrassingly quickly.

Slacker

I have been feeling exhausted all week. I think it's the weather. But I did manage to bake some cookies.



There was a baby shower at work yesterday, and I made my favorite chocolate cookies and some sugar cookies for the occasion. And that is the only making I really did this week. I hope to do some sewing this weekend. So maybe I'll have something to show for myself soon!

As a side note: One of my co-workers, who is an awesome baker, brought in some really good cupcakes (chocolate) topped with the best frosting of all time (also chocolate). They were so good I ate two. If it had not been a work gathering, I might have eaten five or six. (And that is not hyperbole. I am serious when it comes to dessert eating.) And now I want to make chocolate cupcakes with that dreamy chocolate frosting. But I won't. Because a whole batch of cupcakes can be dangerous in a household of two. So I'll have to wait for a get-together.

Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwiches

These are the Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwiches from Martha Stewart's Cookies. I made them in celebration of my sisters' visit this past weekend. I felt as though they needed to be welcomed with baked goods. Unfortunately they were also welcomed by a sister with an ongoing and rather severe allergic reaction to some eye cream, a condition that somewhat hampered our weekend's activities. But that is kind of gross, so let's get back to the cookies.



These are, if I recall correctly, in the "Chewy" section of the book, but I think I cooked them too long or something, because they are quite crunchy. And I made them too thick. And being as thick and crunchy as they are makes them a bit tricky to eat. There are a whole lot of chocolate crumbs in my couch's cracks-between-the-cushions right now. And on my shirt.

They taste pretty good, though. Especially the filling. So I will probably give them another go sometime in the future.

Strawberry-Shortcake Cookies

This weekend really flew by--but not without some cookies! These are the Strawberry-Shortcake Cookies from the most recent issue of Martha Stewart Living (June 2009).



I knew immediately that I had to make these because Adam loves strawberries, and I love...well, I love baked goods and sugar and excuses to make and/or eat said items.



They were very easy to make and require relatively few ingredients, so right off the bat I was pretty happy with the recipe! Actually, the most tedious part was dicing the strawberries. I am not that great with a knife. They also smell completely mouthwatering while baking.



Straight out of the oven, they are quite yummy. Soft, sweet, strawberry-ish. Mmmm. But they really mean it when they say at the end of the recipe that these are best served fresh. Monday night (slightly less than 24 hours after baking) they still tasted good, but they were a bit sticky and spongy to the touch. They're actually more muffin-like than cookie-like, I think, except for the shape. They'd be really, really good served warm with (or after) a nice brunch.

Grammy's Chocolate Cookies

I love these things. And they are serious junk food. A whole lot of butter, a whole lot of sugar, and a whole lot of cocoa--they are not kidding around.



But mmmm...such chocolatey deliciousness. And they are really easy. These are Grammy's Chocolate Cookies from Martha Stewart's Cookies. The in-laws gave me this book for Christmas, much to my delight. So far I've only made two of the recipes (these chocolate ones and the Buttery Pecan Rounds), but there are a ton that look amazing. The Buttery Pecan Rounds, by the way, are really quite yummy but are also pretty much a thin crumbly mess. But the best part of both of these cookies? Amazingly mouthwatering dough. So good. Mmmmm.