Chewy Molasses Ginger Chews

It's been a very quiet month on the blog. I hate that it's been this way, especially since I was so excited to announce my big comeback and get back into blogging regularly. Everything just seemed to happen at once though--coming back to blogging, searching for an apartment, actually moving in, Thanksgiving, the holidays, getting a new stove, getting sick, lots of freelance work...things have been pretty hectic around here, to say the least. Fortunately though, personal life seem to be getting back on track and quieting down, so hopefully I'll actually get to keep my promise and get back to blogging consistently (and enjoying some downtime in my new place!). One can only hope, right?




As busy as things have been lately, I did make sure to sign up for this year's Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. It's my third year participating, and I look forward to baking and receiving cookies more and more each year. What I don't look forward to is choosing what to bake. It's silly, because that should be the part that I get most excited for, but it never works out that way. I can never ever make up my mind, so then I end up stressing more than I should over what to make.  That's the only part that's no fun at all, but once I figure it out, I love the rest!  I love figuring out how to package the cookies, getting sweet surprises in the mail, and of course, knowing that this enormous blogger event is benefitting Cookies for Kid's Cancer, a really fantastic organization that works to provide research grants to leading pediatric centers across the country who are looking to find more effective treatments for children battling cancer. It's a beautiful cause, and it's incredible to see how much the Cookie Swap grows each year!

Last-Minute Halloween Treats

Halloween is tomorrow! This has always been one of my absolute, most favorite holidays ever (right after Christmas and Thanksgiving). I've loved everything about Halloween since I was little, whether it was figuring out what my costume was going to be, to packing trick or treat bags for the neighbors, and of course, the actual trick or treating. I'll never forget the year when I managed to get over ten pounds of candy (all by myself, for myself) in just under two hours. If that's not marathon trick or treating, I don't know what is.  It was the result of having an epic costume, trick or treating at the most opportune moment, and having my mom follow just a few feet behind me (I would dump out my candy into a bag she was carrying whenever my pumpkin started to overflow). So really, it was careful planning that made Halloween so perfect each and every year. 

While I love the idea of planning something elaborate and creepy (or cute!) to celebrate this spooky holiday, I'm fully aware that life gets in the way and it just doesn't always happen. Take this year, for instance. I wanted to make an amazing Halloween-themed layer cake, but when I went to make it, nothing seemed to work out. I had an off day, and nothing seemed to be going right. So, since that idea has been archived to share next year, here are a few easy, last-minute Halloween-themed treats that you can make in advance tonight or before your party tomorrow. Whether it's because life got in the way or you procrastinated, these quick ideas are just what you need. 

Creepy Cobweb Chocolate Cake

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, right behind Christmas and Thanksgiving, which are both tied for first right now.  I love spooky and creepy things, and getting dressed up as a little kid was always just about the coolest thing ever.  I was always a fan of dressing up, and that's something that hasn't changed.  My mom would always make me an elaborate homemade costume, and I always thought my costume was the best there was. Combined with my epic costumes, the fact that I also lived in a neighborhood where people were super generous when it came to giving out trick or treat goodie bags meant that Halloween was always a really special time of year.  I'm not dressing up this year, mostly because I just didn't have time to pull together a costume that met my standards, but I'm not without Halloween plans.  I'll be watching scary movies in the dark and eating my weight in mini chocolate bars, which is just as good a plan as any.  

I got into one of my layer-cake-making moods a couple of weeks ago, and rather than just bake a layer cake and get it out of my system, I decided to save it for Halloween. In theory, this meant that I would have had a long time to plan out my cake and decide how I wanted to decorate it, "in theory" being the key words there.  I did spend a lot of time looking for inspiration, but I just couldn't settle on anything.  I knew that I wanted to make a chocolate cake, because I don't think there's anything better than a perfectly moist chocolate cake, and also because the last two layer cakes I had made were of the buttermilk vanilla type (see here and here). Super dark, intense, almost black chocolate layer cakes were going to make it into my final halloween cake in one way or another. The decoration required a bit more thinking, and in the end, I ended up over-thinking it (because that always happens).

Pots of Gold and Rainbows Cake Pops

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be an excellent idea to bring back this really fun and totally appropriately themed post that's perfect for kids and for those who aren't kids anymore but wish they were (aka me).  Aren't these Pots of Gold and Rainbows cake pops super adorable?  I love them!  It's been a while since I've looked at them closely, but I really think that these are one of my favorite treats that I've made to date.  They're so cute!

Normally, I don't do too many "decorated" desserts or treats, simply because I don't have the patience for it.  I'll typically start out a project feeling really enthusiastic about the sugar cookies I'm going to decorate or that gingerbread house I'm going to construct, but then after about an hour's work  when I realize that I'm nowhere close to being finished, I get restless and just have to stop.  I'm surprised I was able to make these cake pops from start to finish without any major moments of desperation!  I think I was able to stick to them because they're really not that involved, and they're just too cute.  One pot of gold with a rainbow coming out of it was not enough...I needed lots of them!  

Since these pops are definitely geared for kids and their St. Patrick's Day celebrations, make sure to stay tuned for tomorrow when I share a brand new St. Patrick's Day recipe that is definitely not for the kids, but is perfect for adults!  It's a pretty awesome recipe, so don't miss out!

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Woah!  Red Velvet, white chocolate, and pink M&M candies?!  Now if this doesn't scream Valentine's Day to you, I don't know what will.  It's definitely not as subtle as my last two chocolate heavy posts, but I actually think this one might be my favorite.  I'm a huge chocaholic, but I'm also really infatuated with cookies.  I can't ever get enough, and I just find them to be the most comforting dessert of all.  I love cookies for their simplicity and their versatility.  I can get as much enjoyment out of eating a cookie straight up as it is as I can if I choose to crumble it up into a milkshake or use them to sandwich a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I'm also an enormous fan of M&M candies to the point where I refuse to ever buy them, simply because I know that once I start eating them, I'll have a really hard time stopping myself from eating an entire bag.  However, since it's Valentine's Day and pink M&M's are lining the shelves in supermarkets, I had to incorporate them into some kind of dessert!b

When I was planning my Valentine's Day desserts I knew that I definitely wanted to include something that kids would love for the holiday too, because Valentine's Day isn't just for adults!  I remember when I was little that I loved writing Valentine's Day cards for everyone in my elementary school classes, and Valentine's Day arts and crafts were always a lot of fun.  Even better though were all the Valentine's candy and chocolates that came along with the Valentine's Day cards!  I'm such a sucker for fun-size and holiday theme candy that I sometimes feel like I'm still five years old.  There's just something about a pink M&M or a fun size Kit Kat bar that makes it infinitely better than its regular version.  That might just be me, but it's something I've always felt.  I'm the type of person that still gets excited about chocolate chip cookies with M&M's mixed into them, so in the end, my kid-approved Valentine's Day dessert option was a no-brainer.  Red velvet cookies with white chocolate chips and pink M&M's.  Super Valentine's Day themed, super sweet, super pink and red, but also super good!

Making Cookies for Santa

Christmas is on Wednesday.  That's THREE DAYS from now!  Can you believe it?  I'm excited.  I really am.  My shopping is done, and I only have a few presents that need to be wrapped.  I'm in the working stages of planning out my Christmas Day menu with my sister, and of course, the dessert end has pretty much been figured out already, while the actual dinner end still needs some tinkering with.  I'm sure we'll figure it out though!  My family that is spending the holidays with us has arrived, and I'm looking forward for all the Christmas activities we have planned out.  

One of the things I'd been wanting to do for a really long time is make kid-friendly Christmas cookies.  Since my 4-year old cousin, Emilia, is going to be at my house for the holidays, my mom said I just had to create a huge, photo-filled post and title it "Making Cookie for Santa," and she was right.  The only thing better than making cookies with one 4-year old is making cookies with two 4-year olds, so I invited Madison, my cousin Gina's daughter, to come spend the afternoon at my house making cookies with Emilia.   I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have two kids to make cookies with!  My mom made the girls some simple aprons to wear while they rolled out their cookies, and I was in charge of the rest. 

The idea of making cookies with little kids can be a bit  daunting, but it doesn't need to be.  Just use simple recipes that are tried and true and roll out easily.  Below, I'm giving recipes for my favorite gingerbread and butter cookies.  These are simple to work with and roll out beautifully, so you shouldn't have any trouble using these with kids.  Planning things out in advance is key, so here's a few tricks I used to prepare things for my cookie afternoon (and a few that I learned along the way!).  The most important thing you can do is to have EVERYTHING ready.  The night before my cookie extravaganza was going to take place, I made all of the cookie dough and divided it up into manageable portions for the girls to work with (remember, they're only 4!), wrapped them in plastic wrap, and had them chilled and ready to go.  I made a batch of royal icing and divided into two squeeze bottles to easily decorate the gingerbread cookies, and I had an assortment of sprinkles and colored sugars in paper cupcake liners so the girls would have easy access to them.  Have baking sheets already lined with parchment paper and all your cookie cutters laid out.  One thing I should have done was cut out a few cookies and baked them in advance, so that they had a few additional cookies to decorate with icing, because I think that was actually their favorite part of the cookie process!  Most importantly though, be patient and know that there will be a mess.  Just have fun with it and be willing to jump in when things get tough, or when you realize that they decided that one sugar cookie needs an entire can of sprinkles all for itself...

Gingerbread Sheet Cake for Hodgson Mills's "Have a Grain Holiday!" Contest and a GIVEAWAY!

With only two weeks left before Christmas, I'm sure many of you have already started attending and hosting holiday parties and gatherings, whether it's at the office, or at home with family and friends.  If you haven't been to a party just yet, then you probably have one coming up in the next few days.  If the idea of what to bring to your next holiday gathering is making you a bit nervous, don't be!  Dessert is one of the easiest things to bring to any kind of party.  People always save room for dessert, so you can be sure that any dessert you bring to your holiday party will be enjoyed by everyone.  Now, if you still have no clue what to bake, don't worry, I've got you covered, and so do the folks at Hodgson Mills.  This year, I was invited to take part in their annual "Have a Grain Holiday!" contest.  The rules were simple.  All I had to do was bake up something delicious that would be perfect for holiday gift giving or parties, full of seasonal flavors, and made with whole wheat flour.  I was really excited to have been given the opportunity to participate, but there's something even more exciting.  A GIVEAWAY!  Yes!  A giveaway that's perfect for all you holiday bakers out there.  Just read to the bottom of this post, right before I share the recipe, for all the details.   

I love whole wheat flour in breads and pancakes and muffins, but I'll admit that I'm not too experienced in actually baking with whole grains.  Eating whole grains is another story, because I'm all about that, but my whole wheat baking expertise could use some more refining.  My initial thought for this contest was to create a delicious and seasonal whole grain muffin that could work as part of a holiday gift basket, but I changed my mind and decided I wanted to challenge myself a bit more.  I had never ever ever attempted to make a cake with whole wheat flour, and I thought that a cake would be a great way to meet all the requirements of the contest. Creating something seasonal seemed simple enough (or hard I guess, given all the combinations and flavors I was trying to decide between), and what says party more than cake, right?  It was the cake's texture that I was worried about.  I was afraid that the cake would turn out dense and heavy if I used whole wheat flour, but I decided to give it a shot anyway.  Once I narrowed my flavor choices down to gingerbread, I decided to make a large sheet cake using half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour to balance it out.  This sheet cake ended up changing my opinions on baking cakes with whole wheat flour.  I literally could not believe how fluffy and moist this gingerbread cake ended up being.  It was as though it had been made with only all purpose flour! It sounds crazy, but it's true.  This gingerbread sheet cake has the goodness of whole grains but the fluffiness that is normally associated with all purpose flour.  Needless to say, I was pretty ecstatic with the results. 

Pear, Brandy, & Vanilla Bean Brown Butter Slab Pie

I saved the best pie for last, of course.  It doesn't need much explanation.  Butter gets browned with a vanilla bean.  This vanilla scented brown butter gets tossed with pears, brown sugar, and some brandy.  This boozey and sweet pear mixture gets enveloped in between layers of rich, buttery, flaky pie crust.  There's no way a pie with this kind of filling and this crust could be anything short of delicious!

I'm keeping this a short, picture filled post because as always, I'm running late on all the things I have to do in preparation for tomorrow.  I'm in charge of bringing dessert, and I don't even have my dessert options finalized yet!  I do know that I'm definitely bringing a Pumpkin and Maple Bundt Cake, and an apple version of this slab pie, but aside from that, I'm not exactly sure what I'm making.  Cookie tray perhaps?  Cream Puffs?  I'll have to get back to doing some more thinking.  On top of all that, today is my dad's birthday, so I've also been busy baking up a couple of his favorite loaves of bread.  Busy busy day I've been having!

Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue...and a Guest Post!

And we're only a few short days from Thanksgiving!  Time has flown by, and by now, I'm sure many of you have your Thanksgiving spreads all planned out. Maybe you're sticking to traditional recipes that you've been using for years, or maybe you're digging up an old family favorite that you haven't made in quite some time. Or maybe, you're like me and have been obsessively searching through every food magazine, online and in print, in search of a new recipe that can grow and become a new tradition (Thanksgiving dinner isn't even being held at my house, yet I feel a compulsion to do this).  While all these things are good and dandy (did I really just say that...?), I really hope you haven't done too much figuring out in the dessert department, because I have some great ideas for you that I'll be sharing in these last few days before the big holiday.  Hopefully you're still in the dessert planning stages or are willing to squeeze in an extra dish to your already planned dessert menu, because I've got some pretty awesome things planned!

First up, as you may have guessed, is a sweet potato pie with marshmallow meringue.  I'd never actually had sweet potato pie before making this one, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I figured I'd like it, because I loveeee anything with sweet potatoes, but I wasn't entirely sure.  You see, sweet potato pie happens to look a LOT like pumpkin pie, and I really, really, really just DO NOT care for the stuff at all, so I was a bit apprehensive, thinking that it might also taste like pumpkin pie.  Really.  People like me actually exist, as hard as it may be to believe for some.  I've shared a pumpkin pie recipe before on the site, but I'll be honest with you, I didn't even like that pie.  The only reason that pie made it onto the blog was because my sister, who is obsessed with pumpkin pie, was around to try it and said it was pretty darn delicious.  I personally couldn't see (or taste, rather) the deliciousness that she was talking about, but trusted her judgement enough to post the recipe anyway.  This sweet potato pie, though, was a completely different story.  

This is a sweet potato pie with a graham cracker crust and an enormous mound of creamy marshmallowy meringue piled on top, and lightly toasted in the oven.  It's basically the dessert version of your favorite marshmallow topped sweet potato casserole, but kicked up like ten notches, at least.  It's rich and certainly indulgent, and while it borders on the verge of dessert overkill, trust me, it's damn good, and Thanksgiving is one of the few times a year where I say it's perfectly ok to just eat what makes you happy.  However, if this mountain of sweet and sticky marshmallow meringue is still leaving you feeling a bit overwhelmed, I definitely suggest you head over to Skinnytaste and take a look at the mini sweet potato meringue pies that are being featured today!  I've mentioned before that my cousin Gina runs the ever popular Skinnytaste blog, and has been serving as a mentor in helping me figure out this crazy and constantly changing world of food blogging, a favor for which I owe her many thanks.  Last week she asked me to help her create a light and delicious dessert that would be appropriate for Thanksgiving, and I was certainly up to the challenge.  I ended up getting some really great results, and while I won't reveal the secret to creating a light sweet potato pie here (you'll have to head over to Gina's blog to find out my secret!), just know that pie crust AND a marshmallow topping all made it on to the skinny version of my pie.  Sounds crazy, but it's true, so check it out if you're in search of something light and simple.  If you have more time to get your hands dirty and are ready to be indulgent, then by all means, please keep reading here!

Red, White, and Blue Velvet Whoopie Pies

It's that time of year again!  Can you believe we're already only a few days from the Fourth of July?  It's pretty crazy, but what's even crazier is that we're also officially less than 6 months away from Christmas.  Yes, I am perfectly aware that that's a very random thought, but I figured I would share it anyway, only because I mentioned it to my mom a day or two ago, and she definitely could not believe that time had flown by as fast as it had.  I still have trouble believing it at times!  In any case though, even though winter and Christmas and cold weather dishes like spiced gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate are some of my favorite things, I'm not going to think about them right now or let them get to me.  It's summertime, and we need to embrace it!  What better way to embrace summer than by celebrating the defining summer holiday that is the Fourth of July.  I personally love the holiday, as barbecues and fireworks are totally my thing, because any holiday that gives me the an opportunity to eat an absurd amount of hot dogs and hamburgers is my kind of celebration.  As much as I miss living in New York City (and believe me, I really, really, really do), being on Long Island for Independence Day is the definitely best.  I can't imagine not being able to have a barbecue in my own backyard, and being only a ten minute drive from the beach and the boardwalk, and only having to walk around the block (literally) to see a really awesome fireworks show just makes the holiday on Long Island even more perfect.  I guess living in suburbia isn't always that bad!

I'm usually not a fan of dying foods into crazy colors, because bright, unnatural coloring is usually a big turnoff for me, but when the Fourth of July rolls around, turning white things into red and blue things is always inevitable.  I mean, I love using blueberries and raspberries just as much as any other foodie out there, but sometimes I just want something really sweet and cakey and well...fruitless.  Enter these red, white, and blue velvet whoopie pies. There's definitely no fruit in these little cookies (cakes? pies? who knows...)!

Easter Egg Meringue Nests

Time for a super quick post (again).  I feel like I say this a lot, and every single time that I say I'm going to write a super quick and short post, I end up writing wayyy more than I meant to, and the post ends up being as long as any of my other posts.  But this time, I actually really, really, REALLY mean it.  I'm super busy, and super behind on work, but I couldn't let Easter pass me by without one more cute dessert idea. 

In the meantime though, let me tell you about why I'm super busy.  My senior architecture portfolio is due a week from Monday, and I still feel like I'm not even close to finishing.  There's just too many drawings to edit, too many new drawings to be made, and too many options for layouts, and this, in conjunction with my horrible indecisiveness, is giving me a lot to stress over.  I've been working in studio nonstop, every chance I can get, working late nights, and drinking tons of coffee, yet I always feel like there's still so much left for me to do.  Part of it is my own fault, for not being organized with my past work (I literally just can't find a lot of the work that I've done, so I've had to redo some of it), but regardless, portfolios just take so much time to put together!  It'll be worth it though, and I can't wait until it's finally printed.  That will be such a happy day. However, there's still a week left until that happens, and there's only a couple of hours left before Easter, so let's get back on subject!

Hot Cross Buns

It's officially spring, Easter is less than a week away, and the current weather forecast for New York states that today, Monday, we will be experiencing more wintery mix.  What. Is. Going. On. Seriously.  I had to wear my puffy winter jacket and scarf all weekend, and like most other New Yorkers', I'm so over this cold weather! There are signs of the promise of "real" spring though.  I was in midtown this weekend, and the planters that lined the sidewalk outside of Macy's actually had green things growing in them.  Yes.  GREEN THINGS WERE GROWING. I have no idea what was actually growing in the planters, but there were little green plants sprouting out of the soil all around the little evergreen trees (or bushes maybe?  I have no idea what they were). 

Easter is one of my favorite holidays.  Easter egg hunts were probably one of my favorite things about the holiday when I was little, and Easter candy is just the best thing ever, and I know that in the coming days I'm going to be getting at least three bags of Easter candy (hopefully, I won't consume all the candy by myself...). Aside from Easter candy, I can't really say that I love "Easter food."  I mean, sure it's delicious and all, and I love getting to have lighter, more "spring-like" dishes, but I just don't think any of the things I tend to eat for Easter dinner really stand out.  I always associated only Easter candy as the best Easter food, but that was only because I had never actually had a hot cross bun.  But, now that I have, and because I'm now older and wiser, I am switching things up, and hot cross buns are officially my new favorite thing about Easter.  Why did it take me nearly 22 years to try a hot cross bun?  I seriously wonder what's wrong with me at times.  

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Wishing you a holiday filled with love, laughter, good memories, lots of delicious food, food coma-induced naps, and a good time all around.  

Be sure to eat lots of Christmas cookies with hot chocolate, take it easy, and spend 

time with those you love.  Happy holidays!

-Nina

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

This is actually gonna be one of the tiniest posts ever.  I know I've written that before, but this time it's true.  Finas week is usually super stressful and I rarely have time to do anything, but now that finals are over (yessss) and I'm at home (also, yessss), you'd think I'd have more time to do things and relax.  

Of course that's not the case. 

Hot Chocolate Cookies

Oh my goodness, I'm almost done with finals.  I'll be taking my last final exam in a matter of hours, and I feel that there's approximately two hours of time left before I just throw my head down on my desk, and change my approach to tomorrow's exam from "I-must-learn-all-the-subtle-nuances-of-city-development-across-three-continents-in-the-nineteenth-century" to "YOLOOOO" (for clarification purposes, I never, ever, EVER say YOLO, and this is a very isolated incident, I promise).   This class, while interesting at times, was unfortunately taught by one of those professors who seems to forget that students are taking multiple classes at once, so dedicating hours and hours and hours twice a week to complete the mountain of reading that gets assigned is just not possible, neither during the semester itself, nor during reading week, in a desperate attempt to play catch-up.  Sigh.  It just can't be done!  I'm tired of reading about housing reform and nasty epidemic diseases like cholera (never thought I'd mention that in a blog post, but my brain is a bit scarred from finally getting around to doing that particular reading).  

As a form of protest against this upcoming exam, I went out and bought myself a giant tub of cookie dough ice cream.  I finally caved, and just did it.  My diet collapsed at my feet today (or yesterday, I guess...let's just say Monday), and I've had too many cases of the sleepies in the last couple of days to really work out.  I accepted what happened, bought my giant tub of ice cream, served myself a decent portion, and suddenly, I felt slightly better.  Cookie dough ice cream really does solve all problems...sort of.  To add a slight twist of irony to the ice cream story, out of the 1.6 million people that inhabit this tiny little island of Manhattan, which I have very affectionately grown to love and call home, who do I happen to cross paths with on my way to the supermarket, at 10 PM?  No one other than the professor whose exam I have been feverishly studying for during the past four days.  Sigh.  It's all his fault I was driven to get this ice cream!

Hot Chocolate Affogato with Peppermint Ice Cream

Christmas is without a doubt my favorite time of year.  Thanksgiving is a close second, but no amount of stuffing or cranberry sauce can compare to the amount of enjoyment I get out of spending hours baking cookies, wrapping presents, putting up lights on my Christmas tree, and stressing over finding the perfect gift for every person on my list (I actually enjoy this kind of stress, somehow).  There's another kind of stress around this time of year though, one that I enjoy much, much less.  Sigh.  Yup, it's finals time.  

I got pretty lucky with finals this year though.  I only have one exam, and two final projects to work on.  My exam isn't until next Tuesday, and one of my projects is due later on tonight, so it's not too bad.  I definitely need to put in a lot of time to study for the exam, and my other project (not the one that's due tonight), is actually something that I'm really looking forward to working on.  I'm in a small seminar called, "Curating Architecture," and as part of the class, we get to work together to write articles organized around a central theme (this year, the theme is "public"), and then create a publication and an exhibition that stem off of our articles.  I'm one of the three people in charge of creating the publication layout and developing its graphic identity, and I'm secretly very excited to work on it.  Creating the mock layouts was really surprisingly fun, and I'm excited to see how the publication will look once it's finished!  But ANYWAY...

Regardless of how many things I need to do during these last 6 days or so at school, I will find the time to enjoy lots of holiday treats and traditions.  I went to Rockefeller Center last weekend (one of my favorite things to do), and am planning on baking up some holiday cookies to share with my friends and co-workers.  Holiday drinks are of course to be included in the next couple of days.  I've already had lots of hot apple cider, tried eggnog for the first time ever (and probably last time, it was just wayyy more sweet than I could handle), and had a few mugs of hot chocolate.  There's one more seasonal beverage that I'm sure I will make again to enjoy very soon though...hot chocolate affogato with peppermint ice cream.  

Woah.

Chocolate-Raspberry Rugelach

My mom and I have had this running joke for the past couple of years.  A couple of years ago, she decided to try out this new recipe for rugelach that she had found, so she did, and they were amazing.  I had never been too much of a fan of rugelach, but that was probably because I was too stuck in my "the-more-chocolate-contained-in-the-recipe-the-better" phase, so I would usually skip over rugelach found in holiday cookie platters, and instead go for rainbow cookies, chocolate chip cookies, or anything chocolate dipped.  It was not until I was a little older and my cookie taste palate had refined a bit that I learned to appreciate rugelach for the delicious little cookies that they are.  Now, they're one of my favorites!  In any case, I'm not exactly how the joke between my mom and I started, but it involves a little old lady who lives on the corner of my block.  For some reason, my mom started saying that the rugelach she made were actually made by the little old lady on the corner, even though I knew this was obviously untrue, because I had helped to make them myself.  It's been a very long while since my mom has made another batch of rugelach cookies, so I always end up asking her, "what's going on with the old lady, and why hasn't she ever made us any more rugelach!?"

My mom simply rolls her eyes at me, laughs a bit, and says she's probably just busy.  Sigh.

It was up to me to make the next batch of rugelach.  Rugelach, in case you're curious, aren't technically cookies, but rather, are traditional Jewish pastries.  Traditional rugelach come in a crescent shape, with a filling in between the rolls.  Rugelach can be made with either sour cream or cream cheese, and fillings generally include raisins, walnuts, fruit preserves, and chocolate, and they are very popular during Hanukkah...or in my case, any time of year!  I can't get enough of these cookies and their delicious, cream-cheesey pastry.  

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Alright.  It's time to be totally honest with you guys.  I really dislike pumpkin pie.  I'm being serious.  I have never ever liked it, and I don't think I ever will, although that could maybe change, eventually.  My dislike of pumpkin things in general has changed a lot in the past year, and ever singe I baked up a batch of pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and a batch of miniature pumpkin doughnut muffins, my dislike of pumpkin-things started to fade away.  Pumpkin things could actually be tasty!  In fact, just writing about those miniature pumpkin doughnut muffins makes me wish I had a batch right now...they were really THAT good!  A couple of weeks ago I posted a recipe for pumpkin cheesecake muffins, which were also really delicious, and very, very, very shortly, I'll actually be posting another delicious pumpkin recipe!  I think I like pumpkin when it's baked into muffins or yeast breads, and pumpkin pancakes are actually pretty good too.  But pumpkin pie...that's a whole other story.  

I really just don't like it. 

I guess it's strange, then, that I'm posting a recipe for classic pumpkin pie.  But, given that Thanksgiving is only a couple of short days away, and that pumpkin pie is a popular favorite around this time of year, I figured I HAD to post a pumpkin pie recipe this time.  Also because my sister wouldn't stop nagging me about making a pumpkin pie.  My sister is the only person in my family who actually likes, no, LOVES, pumpkin pie, and she's always asking for pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving and the fall season.  Her pumpkin pie requests usually get denied, because no one else in my house is willing to eat the pie with her, but I figured that this time, I would give in, and make her a pumpkin pie.  

Angelic Angel Food Cupcakes

Halloween is officially NINE days away, and I'm getting more and more pumped for it as the days go by (I'm in my senior year of college, I promise.  Don't judge).  Now that we're getting closer and closer to the big day, I figured it was time for my second Halloween cupcake.  Like I said in my last post, I wanted to create more subtle treats this year, and drew my inspiration from two classic Halloween costumes.  What kind of cupcake could be a better match (or maybe contrast is the right word) for a Devil's food cupcake than a light and fluffy angel food cupcake?  Dressed up with fluffy Swiss meringue frosting and white chocolate angel wings, these cupcakes are perfectly angelic (and delicious!)

Angel food cake is one of those types of cakes that I only recently started eating (and enjoying).  I didn't grow up eating angel food cake, and I only remember eating it maybe twice when I was little, during those typical elementary school lunchbox swaps.  I remember having traded one of my snacks for someone's angel food cake, and I don't remember being that impressed with it.  For some reason, the texture just seemed a bit off to me...I know, it sounds crazy, but it was just too fluffy for me!  In any case though, angel food cake is definitely something I enjoy now, yet I never make it because I just don't own a tube pan (sad, I know).  Angel food cake is a perfect cake for summer, because it's so light, but when paired up with swiss meringue frosting and a pair of white chocolate angel wings, it's a perfect cupcake for Halloween too!

Devilish Devil's Food Cupcakes

It's that time of year again.  It's time to start thinking of costumes (I obviously already did this weeks ago, because I have crazy obsessions, and apparently, nothing better to do with my time), start making some sort of plans for the weekend before (I'm still working on this- Alie, Lydia, and Isabel, if you're reading this, let's get a move on!), and start buying bags and bags and bags of mini fun-sized chocolate candies (I haven't done this yet, but I plan on indulging in this sort of activity very soon).  We're about two weeks away from one of my favorite holidays ever.  Halloween is coming, and it's coming fast!

Last year, I went crazy with Halloween preparation, and made a ton of cupcakes in order to celebrate.  I went with more obvious Halloween themes, like pumpkins, candy corn, mummies, spiderwebs, and of course, these adorable little ghost cupcakes.  As much as I loved all the cupcakes I made last year, I knew that for this year, I wanted to go with a route that was perhaps a little more subtle.  I took a cue from two very popular Halloween costumes, and decided to use them as my jumping off points, both for the cupcake decorations, as well as the cupcake themselves!  For the first, a Devil's food cupcake, decorated with a devilish combination of red vanilla frosting and black fondant horns seemed like a perfectly fitting, yet subtle, tribute to Halloween.