Merry Manic Monday!

It’s Christmas Week and things are… a little crazy to say the least.

Happy Solstice & Yule… Despite my FB post, technically, per the actual Earth’s Orbit.. it is on the 21^st, though we just enjoyed the gorgeous full moon tonight on the way back from our friends’ holiday shopping evening – which was excellent.

I haz me a pretty present!

“Graffiti Dragon” – I squeed all over the store because I fell in love with this one the moment I saw it!  This actually came from Studio 206, which is next door to Stained Glass Creations, from my other friend Stef – the amazing paint artist. 

I’m also still in baking mode… and those of you to whom I mail stuff, well, it’s getting put in the mail on Tuesday, so you will likely enjoy it during the 12 days of Christmas rather than before Christmas.  Extend the love!

I promised more on the surprise New York City trip with my Mom, but it’s late, I’m cold, and there’s not a whole lot of details.  It was a lot of fun, though.  Here are some pictures!

In fact, that’s our job for tonight: Finally clean off our Camera!

So, my blogging presents to you:

Two cuties cuddling by the fire.  (At least one of them is cuddling by choice.  Guess who!)

And me and my pretty horsey!

Other news, before bed:

Christy and I have a fun guest post on the Bad-Ass Faeries Blog!  Please go over and see it and leave us a comment?  Pretty please?  :) 

Now, I’m off to bed with a thousand jobs to do tomorrow – including FINALLY seeing my baby – well, the big half-ton baby who lives in Leicester.

Yeah, that one.  :)  I threw my back out last Friday moving wood, visited my chiro like three times this week (thus my missing Wednesday post), and can now go visit her… preferably before I throw my back out again moving the two cords of wood that got delivered yesterday morning.  (Also on tomorrow’s list: Get Back Brace at Home Depot to hopefully prevent this).

Wish me luck, and happy holidays!!

10 Baking Mistakes I made so You Don't Have To - Part 2

I've been baking cookies for some time, and learned some important lessons that I'm happy to pass onto you.  Welcome to the 2nd part of Mistakes I've Made so You Don't Have To.

5 - Mistakes can be Good Things

Even if you've done your research and homework, things will go awry.  And that's ok.  Taste them - try them.  Several of my mistakes have landed me some excellent discoveries. 

One of my favorites is this peppermint cookie brittle, aka “Peppermint Mistakes,” that looked horrific on the pan (and gave me nightmares before I discovered the joys of silicon pads).  It's crunchy, sugary, and unlike anything else I eat around the holidays.  (The mistake was before I discovered I'm Just Here for More Food and did not realize that my chocolate would melt like butter, and the sugar from candy-canes would liquefy). 

And even if it's not gift-able - or even edible, what did you learn?  :)

4 - Don't do the work that technology can do for you  (aka Protect your writing assets: your hands & wrists!)

As a writer, I have enough issues in my wrists, hands and fingers from typing too long.  The last thing I need is further injuries from baking.

Get a good mixer - both a bowl mixer and a hand mixer.  The extra money for quality is worth every cent and more.

Use a food processor for mixing, too.  (See prior note about Alton Brown for more info on this.)

Wooden spoons have more strength and stability than plastic ones, so that will also save your wrists, and pastry cutters make short work of what you don't feel comfortable mixing in the food processor or with a mixer.  Well, shorter work than just a spoon.  (Go with the food processor or mixer whenever possible.)

I've mentioned silicon pads several times.  They are wonderful - especially if you are prone to gooey mistakes in the oven.  Beyond awesome.

And lastly - spring for good oven mitts! LOTS of them.  If you haven't experienced the agony of typing with burned fingers, knuckles, hands, etc., may you be blessed with never having to experience it.  Especially when you are on deadline.

3 - Tip the Staff

I mail a lot of stuff.  A LOT.  Not just during holiday seasons, but all year.  (Well, duh, I'm a writer - these manuscripts haven't grown legs yet!)  The Post Office knows me by name… Only packages from Utah get lost (though, going to Utah seems ok.). 

They realllllly like my cookies.  So does the mailman.  And the UPS driver.

2 - Helpers… don't really help.

This is one of those really hard lessons to learn.  Cooking with kids - be they your own children or someone else's - is a great time to bond and have fun.

It's NOT very productive.

If you're going to invite others into the sanctity of the kitchen, do it for the right reasons.  Kids/Youth need supervision with the tools, want to know why with everything, and most of all, want to experiment!  This is all wonderful, and I highly recommend baking with kids - but do it for the experience.  Not because you think it will get your baking done any faster.

It won't.  And if you feel it will, you'll end up getting impatient and losing the magic that comes with baking with kids.

The same goes for friends - even foodie friends.  You will likely end up in a food fight (possibly a higher likelihood than with children), you will get in each others' way, you will be postponed by giggle-fits, and you will continually swap aggravating and unsolicited advice on technique, ingredients, and recipes.

Bake with others for fun - not productivity.

1 -  Remember, they're just cookies!  And it's s'posed to be fun!

Yes, more and more people are cooking and baking - so it's not as unique a gift as it once was.  It's still special.  No one will make exactly what you make - and if you have included family recipes, it's even more from the heart.  Points for creativity and love - even if presentation and flavor aren't Iron Chef levels.  It's a gift - not your entrance exam into Johnson and Wales.

And chances are, they'll be eaten and enjoyed within a few days, anyway - without close inspection.

Happy Baking!

10 Baking Mistakes I Made so You Don't Have To - Part 1

It's that wonderful cookie time of the year again! [Ok, today, not so wonderful… mishaps everywhere not even COVERED in this post… I digress…]  I shared a few baking adventures with you last year, and now I'm ready to gift you with a few more lessons learned in my baking endeavors over the years.  This is a pretty extensive list, so I'm breaking it into two "Foodie Friday" parts. 

Happy Baking!

10 - Plan, Plan, Plan - Real Estate is Limited

For most of us, we don't run a commercial baking facility.  In fact, we probably only break out 3/4 of this crap once a year.  So, if you want to maximize your oven space, countertops, bowls, mixer, cookie sheets, cooling racks, and other stuff, you really do need to plan.

• Maximize oven space and save energy by planning cookies that cook at the same temperature.  You don't want to keep fluctuating your oven temperature or you 1) waste electricity and 2) don't bake evenly.

• What mixing/rolling can be done while baking?  Can you get all of the recipes that need the mixer out of the way first?  Do your best not to be stuck waiting for one thing, unable to do anything else.

• Make a list!  As supportive as family and spouses are, there are only so many times they will go to the 24-hour supermarket - if you even have that luxury.  Do a kitchen inventory and make lists of what you need from the grocery store, the club store, and the kitchen warehouse.  Bonus Points:  If you do this early enough, you can order some ingredients/hardware cheaper online!

• If you are baking on the go, at a friends house or otherwise, know where the heaters and hot air vents are.  And where all their kitchen equipment is.  And what you need to pack.  This advice comes from having to make several last-minute adjustments, letting batter sit too long, being unable to salvage cookies without a Silpat, and losing almost 5 lbs of chocolate because I didn't realize I put my supplies on the furnace.  Just like driving a car - do a full cockpit check before you start driving.

9 -  Salt is not Sugar; Baking Powder is neither Flour nor Baking Soda…

This is part planning and part the science comment below - but I cannot tell you how many batches of cookies I've ruined by feeling so rushed that I didn't check my ingredient. 

Furthermore, if you are baking on the go and don't want to haul your club-size ingredients wherever, you might put things in baggies.  And forget to label them.  Or, you may have dishes of ingredients in handy reach so you don't contaminate your five pounds of flour/sugar/baking soda/salt. 

Yeah.  Label stuff.  Know where it is.  Don't accidentally flour your rolling pad with baking soda or sugar your cookies with salt. 

8 - Importance of Packaging

Related to making a list, realize that these cookies/baked goods have to get to their recipients, so you need to plan to package.  If you require fanciness, plan after Christmas/New Year's to stock up on tins that are on sale (and don't forget that "somewhere safe" where you put them.)  I collect baskets through the year, but I needed a little extra protection. 

Plastic baggies keep cookies fresh for mailing and gifting - and still show them off in a tin, basket… or a blouse box from a 25-cent package of 5 (my choice for mailing & gifting in 2009).  Like with your ingredients and hardware, you don't want to be running (or begging a spouse/family member to run) out and find them the day before you plan on gifting/mailing these things.

7 - Portion Control

Yeah, it's the holidays and making cookies is relatively cheap, but a little goes a long way.  Especially if you are giving a variety.  I started doing over 12 different kinds of cookies and wanted to make sure everyone in the family receiving them got plenty. 

Then I got cookies back… and I realized, "Y'know, I will just keep eating these and my waistline will haunt me for the next year." 

A lot of work goes into baking; most people realize this, so you don't need to lavish them with a ton of food. 

6 - Baking = Science (Why I <3 Alton Brown)

If you don't own, I'm Just Here for More Food, go out and buy it.  Right now.  It will be the best baking investment EVER!  For example, powdered chocolate behaves like a fat in baking.  And sugar a liquid.  And did you know the way you mix something - and the way you roll it - will affect the end product? 

Learn why your food behaves the way it does, and you will avoid a exponential amounts of baking frustration.

Check back next Friday for the next 5 Mistakes I've Made so You Don't Have To!  And, in the meantime, what are some of your memorable mistakes in baking?

Eek! The Holidays are Upon Us!

Thank goodness Thanksgiving is over… oh, wait, now I've got Yule and Christmas to plan for???

And _______ has a grand plan to do Really Awesome thing for _____ that I need to help with…

Deep breath.

And _______ is having a party.

So is ________.

Another.  Deep breath.

And I've got an editing deadline?

And… COOKIES?!?!!!

And when I REALLY DID intend to put my tax info together before now.  Well, it's all sorted into envelopes?  Yeah, I've sorted it into envelopes year round for the past three years… but my envelopes are better categorized this year?

I mean it this time:  DEEEEEEEP BREATH!

I have a horse!  :)  She puts me in the Now and lowers my blood pressure. That's great - but I have to cover the year end expenses and follow up with the vet!

-Gives self a stern look-

Deeeeeeeeeeeeeep Breaaaath.

Did I even mention my writing and the fact I did NOT finish my novel in November and I did NOT make 25 submissions? 

Yes, but I DID make 11, with one two more days left.  And, so far, *knocks wood,* only one novel rejection and two short story rejections so far.

And I DID get writing DONE on the novel.

Seriously, it's the holidays.  You're supposed to be sharing good will and charity.  And that includes yourself, Me.  (And anyone else who's listening.)

Yes, there are priorities and obligations with friends and family.  And y'know what? Right now those people I'm close with and care about among friends and family don't expect me to be perfect.  They expect me to be me, well, an eccentric, somewhat scatterbrained, but caring individual.  A writer - hell, most of them identify as writers, and I don't hold them to levels of perfection.  That's why we're close.  Those that hold me to unrealistic expectations (or, rather, unrealistic if you know me), well they'll be disappointed… and why should I care?

I've got priorities for stuff I'm paid to do.  Y'know what?  The abovementioned people placed above this priority get that.  And I know they've got mortgages, bills… basic necessities of food and family, too. 

I've got priorities for the causes I'm passionate about.  The people who pay me may "get" that, but I still need to get work done.  The people I care about also get that, and usually are willing to work with me around these things.  I do the same for them.

I've got to write my stories.  In my heart, this priority is two steps up, but in my mind I know I need to pay for things and that other people depend on my contribution to websites and fundraisers and that writing.

My heart is actually in a lot of places.  Most of my paid gigs I do not just for money but because I care about the stories, individuals, and missions associated with the gig.  Of course, it's also with my friends and family - with whom I've spent the past few days happily offline.

It's exhausting to be passionate. 

It's also fulfilling, amazing, and mind-blowingly awesome. 

I spent almost 3 hours tonight trying to figure out how to make a fan page on Facebook for the Bay State Equine Rescue.  I wanted to do it right so people could see what we did in their newsfeeds.  There was a lot of deleting and re-doing, and a lot of Google-ing and research, and I threw my whole self into this project.  I'm happy to have figured it out (so it appears), and do hope everyone goes to the page and Likes it. 

But I didn't get much else done besides answering email.

Those of us who are passionate throw every atom of our being into whatever project we're working on: making a fan page, writing an article, editing a website, baking cookies. 

For things we can rein in our passion on (like most emails and spaces between full-throttle-passion-engaged projects), we can multitask.  Once we're in the throes of a project, or even a part of a project with a beginning, middle, and end, it's often to the temporary exclusion of most else.  (A ringing phone, for example, will break my concentration and garner a glance at caller-id to see if it's a potentially life-or-death situation… I would assume fire alarms would too, but I'm happy to say I haven't had to test that.)

With the holidays, there are so many projects and so many priorities that I throw my whole self into, that I'm passionate about, that I so easily make myself sick when I ought to be enjoying and celebrating the passion I can share. 

I'm not alone in this, either.  In fact, most of the people I know & care about make themselves sick over the holidays.

Why?  How can we get around it?  What are ways we can remind ourselves that we should be celebrating our passions and loves?  What do we do to minimize feeling forced to perform for people and things we aren't passionate about or that we don't love?

I'll keep reminding myself of what I said before.  The people who I care about and who care about me understand… and I need to remind them of that, too. 

Celebrate the people and things you're passionate about during whatever holiday you celebrate (or don't celebrate) this December.  And let the people with whom you share true love and friendship with celebrate however they need.  And we should remind each other that we're doing this.  Because we care.  Because we all have things we're passionate about.

Happy December!

Shh! Don't -nom- tell anyone...

(I intended this before Christmas, but it's still a good post now… ;) )

A few years ago, I remember reading a story in Newsweek, I believe – not one of my cooking/food magazines – about sharing holiday recipes. A young woman wanted her boyfriend's family's holiday toffee recipe, but even after the two were engaged, no one would share the recipe with her. It was a special gift the family would give every Christmas.

The story ended with the woman having broken up with the fellow and regretting the fact she hadn't stolen the recipe the one time she had the chance.

Contrasting with this lost recipe regret is this woman's regret of including the recipe for biscotti she'd made one year. When everyone saw how easy it was to make, they were less appreciative of receiving it.

Of course, these few years ago were only beginning the current popularity of the "foodie" culture. Currently, the number of people interested in food and food preparation is still growing; it's quite the marketing trend. When you give food, it's almost expected you give the recipe. If you don't, you get asked – and not sharing is quite the faux pas.

My group of friends has always been foodie-rich. The best thing college cable had was the Food Network, so sharing recipes was a given – and many of us Alton Brown fans – so was sharing preparation tricks. (For example, the puffy pie-like consistency in my kiffle cookie crust is entirely dependent on rolling technique.) Even if we don't share recipes, most of us can get a rough idea of a recipe just from eating the food with awareness. (Eating with awareness is paying close attention to taste, texture, smell… and how each of those changes as you eat. Basically. ;) ).

On the other hand, most of my friends have families rich in food traditions, so we respect, "It's a family recipe; I can't share it." Also, none of us have a ton of money for presents, so we respect what each makes as gifts. For example, when Caroline & Jesse gave me their macaroon recipe, I changed it to something different so our gifts wouldn't overlap.

What to do then? We share some recipes, and we work on our own signature treats. And we respect each other's food. No one's made my kiffle recipe, for example, though many of my friends have the DragonLance source book that has it. (Granted, I've made a few minor changes in ingredient and preparation.) No one else makes the different thumbprint cookies that Caroline & Jesse perfected, nor their rocky road fudge. Big Scott's fudge was different from the rocky road fudge.

So, we all do have our own "secret" recipes that we break out around the holiday season, but they are collectively agreed upon secrets. No one regrets missing out on cooking opportunities – but also, no one takes these specialties for granted.

Delicious holidays - er - new year to you!

Friggen Candy Canes: A Cookie Rant

Food-trepreneurs, baking supply companies, even major brand names… (cuz, y'know y'all read my little blog)… Listen up! This one is for you!

We've got single serving cake and brownie mixes, bitty packages of crushed nuts, caramel chips, peanut butter chips, mint-chocolate chips, coconut chips… fruit pieces in multiple quantities. Single-cake size frosting measurements. Single-use baking pans. All sorts of neat stuff for convenience.

Why, oh why, oh why do we not have pre-crushed candy canes? UNWRAPPED, pre-broken peppermint candy. Seriously - I would pay extra for this convenience.

I make this peppermint-cookie brittle of which one of the ingredients is a box of crushed candy-canes. Sounds innocuous - but they are dangerous, aggravating little bastards! First, you've got open the box to get to them. Now, since I'm breaking them up, I don't care that getting into the box requires a certain degree of force that breaks or cracks at least half them, but as a kid, who wants a broken candy cane? (More on children's issues later!)

Now, once I've gotten through the box, I've got to bugger my way into the shrink-wrapped canes, themselves. I had issues doing this as a kid - and I haven't gotten any more dexterous, so making sure I get every sliver of that stupid, shiny, sticky, clingy, crap off the candy is a royal bitch.

The cat was highly entertained at my antics of hand-wagging, cussing, cleaning, and inspecting… and cussing more when I found more plastic on the pieces. I'm not gifting someone with asphyxiation cookies!

Parents! How has this gone unchecked? How do kids not choke on this plastic? It's hazardous stuff, people! You proactive parenting types - think of the danger to your children, for God's sake! Candy-cane wrapping is serious shit. We need an activist group or something!

Now, yes, I could use Starlight mints, which have the twisty plastic ends and aren't bloody shrink-wrapped, but they become powder in the food processor - none of those great chunks of peppermint candy from a couple of swirls on "chop" or a few good smacks against the counter when I'm particularly aggravated that I've underestimated my baking time again.

Chopped peppermint candy, folks - it's the next big thing! I want it in my supermarket. Now!

(And if you start marketing it based on this blog post, I better damn well get a cut - or at least a free lifetime supply!)

Cookies!! Manic Macaroons

It's that time of year again. J My gift to friends and family are my baked goods.

I've gotten very good at developing cookie recipes; very few are true to the original recipe format. If you're getting cookies from me, you're getting cookies you can't get anywhere else. (And usually not any other time of the year as I don't have time for these 2-3 day baking binges otherwise.)

To give you an idea of what my cookie making entails, I will share the morphing of 2 of my most recent acquisitions to my cookie collection.

Macaroon Mania!

My friends Caroline & Jesse put macaroons in their Christmas Cookie collection starting a few years ago. I loved them; they were a candy-like consistency. She gave me their ridiculously easy recipe:

1 14-oz can condensed milk

14 ounces shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix the whopping 2 ingredients (probably close to a direct quote from Caroline as she relayed the recipe for me).

Put them on a Parchment Papered cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden on top and edges.

The Parchment Paper was the key, though, because these cookies were, as I said, a sticky-candy consistency. Silpat or the equivalent sheets work - but not your regular ole greased or aluminum-foiled or wax-papered cookie sheet!

They were easy, but I wanted more of a cookie texture.

So, I put the condensed milk on Whip for about a minute to get some air into it.

Then I added the coconut AND 1/4 cup flour (or 2 ounces).

After three scrapes of the bowl after slowly bringing it up to a whip again, I got the batter to a texture more like Fluff®.

I scooped those onto my Silpat/silicon layered cookie sheets. (And, after 2 sheets, was gifted with a proper cookie scoop per Husband-of-Awesome who was sick of me cursing at the 2 spoons I was using for this sticky manipulation.)

I baked the slightly altered recipe and - voila! - just what I wanted. Lighter, fluffier macaroons.

Then, another idea hit.

CHO-CO-LATE!!!

(I mean, what isn't better with chocolate, really?)

I melted half a package of Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips with 2 tbsp of butter in a home-made double boiler (pyrex bowl over sauce pot of boiling water) and dunked half of each macaroon into the chocolate goodness.

TOTAL WIN!

The dark chocolate brought out a whole new dimension to the very sweet macaroons. They were 10x better, maybe 50x better - since I had to send H-of-A out for a slew more condensed milk, coconut & dark chocolate because we ran out of cookies before I could even assemble gifts people.

After the slight alteration and addition of chocolate, another idea struck.

PIÑA COLADA!!

(Ok, my muscles were hurting from baking all day… so rum… mmmm!)

It took a few tries with this to get the consistency right… I went through dried pinapple, how much rum, cubed, crushed, etc.

This is what I got:

1 14-oz can cubed pineapple run through food processor and strained until you've got about half a cup of pineapple smush.

1 pony shot (if you don't know what this is, you are a sorry barkeep! j/k about 1 oz. I eyeball it) coconut rum.

4-5 add'l ounces shredded coconut

2 ounces (1/4 cup) add'l flour (making total flour 1/2 cup or 4 ounces).

Prepare the same way. (your cookie output is 1.5x the previous recipe.)

Before baking, top each cookie with half a maraschino cherry.

&, if you've got leftover melted dark chocolate, use a wire whisk to drizzle it - so it doesn't go to waste, of course.

There you go, 2 new and ridiculously easy cookie recipes to try. But I won't share my version of kiffles!!! No way, no how!! ;) (But you can get the original from the DragonLance book Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home.)