Party Favors
Over the weekend, my guy planned to attend a pre-Thanksgiving potluck hosted by an old college buddy. While many of the men brought premade deli sandwiches or store-bought pumpkin pie, I promised to bake him a treat to take instead. Continue reading for recipe.
Cinnamon Sugar and Cinco de Mayo
In high school, I studied French to fulfill my foreign language requirement. A bit scatterbrained, my teacher forgot about Mardi Gras for two years in a row, and she apologized by promising our class a Cinco de Mayo part. We combined the holidays and brought in chips and salsa, baguettes and Brie, a colorful King Cake, and even a donkey-shaped piñata.
This year, I remembered to celebrate Mardi Gras, and today, I plan on eating enchiladas and tacos, or at least some freshly prepared salsa. But only after I indulge in my new favorite food: churros! Continue reading for recipe.
Fruity Feelings
Every year, my grandma must buy out the entire candied fruit section of her local grocery store. She spends day after day in the kitchen, baking her famous fruitcakes. By the time Christmas rolls around, she has made enough to build an entire two-story house! Well, not really, but all of her family, friends, neighbors, and exercise ladies receive a loaf or two. Continue reading for recipe.
Merry Christmas!
This year, my parents waited until everyone drove into town to decorate the house for Christmas. Two days before, we tangled the tree in three strands of colored lights and haphazardly scattered a small shoebox of ornaments around its branches. We hung the handmade stockings a few hours before Santa’s arrival and dug around the kitchen cabinets to pull out the dusty holiday Spode dishware. But we neglected to carry the Christmas wreath down from the attic to decorate the front door. Continue reading for recipe.
Christmas Cookies for Santa: The Final Cookie
After reviewing the 12 different desserts I prepared to find Santa’s favorite, I realized how much doubting and overthinking influenced my decisions. Worried about texture, fillings, chocolate, and sugar, I jumped from cookie to cookie until I wasn’t even baking cookies anymore!
Does that happen to you too? During the holidays, do you run around trying to buy the perfect gift for every grandparent, sibling, niece, nephew, and dog? Do you re-hang the ornaments until each one reflects the sparkling lights? Do you plan a five-course Christmas dinner to meet everyone’s low-fat, low-carb, and allergy needs? Do you spend so much time behind the camera recording every excited child’s face that you forget to smile yourself? Continue reading for recipe.
Christmas Cookies for Santa: A White Christmas
Staring at the white coconut flakes and chocolate fudge, another thought popped into my head. What if Santa loved white chocolate, but I kept baking with milk, semisweet, or dark? Not willing to take that risk, I bought a bag of white chocolate chips to play with. Continue reading for recipe.
Christmas Cookies for Santa: Candy Instead
As I hungrily eyed the leftover Hershey’s kisses, I imagined Santa doing the same, unwrapping the little candies and popping them into his mouth, one by one. In that case, he might prefer a pure chocolate treat, undiluted by a doughy cookie base, so I left the flour on the shelf when I stirred up another dessert. Continue reading for recipe.
Christmas Cookies for Santa: Back to Chocolate
Even though I gave in and ate five of the thumbprint cookies, maybe Santa disliked the stick, sugary jam. Maybe he preferred a thicker filling, one that didn’t shake like his belly when he laughed. Maybe he wanted a decadent dessert after all. Continue reading for recipe.
Christmas Cookies for Santa: Avoiding Sticky Situations
My fruity moment of brilliance really shone in the striped bars, but with the jam exposed on the sides of the cookies, Santa might stain his clean white gloves a deep raspberry red. Since Mrs. Claus already washes chimney soot out of his suit every Christmas, I thought she’d thank me if I tried to minimize the amount of stain stick and detergent she used. Which mean another “round” of cookies… Continue reading for recipe.
Christmas Cookies for Santa: More Modifications
While the rice krispie bars looked cute and festive, what if Santa developed diabetes from all of the marshmallows, powdered sugar, and sugar sprinkles I added to the treats? Before anyone accused and found me guilty of sending Santa to the Emergency Room for a sugar overload, I mixed up a batch of healthier bar cookies. Continue reading for recipe.
Foods for the Soul 