christmas cookie memories...

it seems like a million years ago. i was just a kid. barely 13 i think. my mom used to order christmas cookies by the dozens from someone that she worked with so that we would have them for the season. my brother fred and i would get so excited because we knew there would be a ton of cookies in the house.

mom thought she was outsmarting us by hiding them in this huge tupperware container under the bed in our parents room. as the holiday draws ever closer this year i find that i am more in the spirit this year than in many years past. i find myself wanting to make a ton of cookies, even though i can't find a container to keep them in. i so wanted to find a big flat container of some sort that is airtight like that one my mother used.

i have my annual ornament exchange coming up this sunday. this year i am doing a brunch. but i think i will try to make a pile of cookies too so that everyone can take some home. there is nothing like homemade christmas cookies!

thanksgiving beans...

happy thanksgiving! i spent the afternoon with my best friend notsoccer mom, her son, and her sister. my contribution to the meal were these delicious country green beans and a chocolate pecan pie with real whipped cream!



my whole life i have said i hated pecans and pecan pie. i don't think i have ever actually tasted it. and then last year i realized that i DO like pecans. so, i made this chocolate pecan pie and notsoccer mom said it was orgasmic! :)

how would you like this cake?

10 items or less - Blogging by mail...

I received a package from Heather at Diary of a fanatic foodie! It was filled to brimming with wonderful things!

A bar of pumpkin and clove body soap, some mulling spices, peach syrup, sun dried tomato mustard, apple and black walnut candy, spanish smoked paprika, cocoa chile spices and veggie glace, some gelatin sheets, oh and a jar of pumpkin butter that smelled absolutley fantastic (sadly, it was broken. :( ).

Heather, I can't thank you enough for all of the fun goodies! I have been wanting to try smoked spanish paprika for ages. I had some of the peach syrup on my pancakes yesterday and it was delicious! I can't wait to try the sun dried tomato mustard as I come from a mustard loving family! I might have to grill up some brats if the darn rain will let up long enough for me to get the grill going.

Thanks again to Stephanie over at Dispensing Happiness for organizing yet another wonderful Blogging By Mail exchange!

love. without the handles...

have you heard of pop chips?

i picked up a sample bag of the original flavor and one of the bbq at the nike expotique last week. opened the originals tonight. wow! these things are pretty tasty! they are "all natural, no preservatives, no artificial flavors or colors, no cholesterol, no saturated fat and 0 trans fat".

they come in original, bbq, salt and pepper, sea salt and vinegar, and parmesean garlic.

The Sweet 100

i saw "The Sweet 100" at kenzie’s kitchen, and i thought it would go well with the omnivoire’s 100 list I did not too long ago.

so here goes:

items i have tried are in bold
items i would not try are not bold.

1. Red Velvet Cake
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet
6. Baklava
7. Black and white cookie
8. Seven Layer Bar (aka Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit pie
10. Kringle
11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macarons
16. Banana pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble tea (with tapioca "pearls") - the very thought of these pearls make me want to gag.
18. Dixie Cup
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout cookies
24. Moon cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar
29. Baba au rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavlova
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon
40. Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolaches
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey butter cake
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku
54. Green tea cake or cookies
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
56. Crème brûlée
57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An "upside down" dessert
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a mold
65. Black forest cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat pie - my mother used to make mincemeat cakes at christmas and just the thought grosses me out.
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S'mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire's Shortbread
99. Animal crackers
100. Basbousa

Want your own Sweet 100? All you have to do is:
1) Copy this list into your site, including the instructions!
2) Bold all of the sweets you've eaten!
3) Cross out any of them that you'd never ever eat.
4) Consider anything that is not bold or crossed out your "To Do" List.

it's bbm time again!

Stephanie of dispensing happiness is taking sign-ups for a new round of blogging by mail! sign-ups are open until september 21. so pop over to stephanie's blog and get all the info!