other sweets

arthur avenue

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in fleeing the city and the crowd of marathon runners and their cheerleaders this weekend, i found myself in the bronx. specifically, on arthur avenue, experiencing a bit of italy for my carby-loving pleasures. i experienced my first mozzarella en carozza {most easily identified as a deep fried grilled cheese} and was introduced to a lovely savoiardi cookie. i tracked down some cavatelli and mini gnocchi, and entertained the idea of purchasing an espresso maker. and then before i knew it, i was at the other end of little italy and it wasn't even lunch number two time. it made me a little sad that it went by so quickly... so i went down to the village to sockerbit and cheered up with little sweets that have cute names like smultron ponny and sura blåbärsbitar. 
oh, and for the official record, i did not get butt boosting jeans.
-yeh!


peanut butter sugar cookies!

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{with halloween-y jimmies!}

failure

earned a new definition with my attempted dumpling costume. what i was going for was essentially an upside down bed sheet ghost, where my legs would go through the eye holes and everything would meet up at the top and be tied neatly around my neck. more of a shumai than a guotie, if you catch my drift. instead i got a big fat spit ball... and a frowny face.

so i made peanut butter cookies. they're really tasty and easy. here are the clues:

with a mixer, combine 4 tbs softened butter + 4 tbs peanut butter + 1 c sugar

add 1 large egg + 1 tspn vanilla

in another bowl, combine 2 c flour + 1/2 tspn baking powder + a pinch of salt

{if you're using unsalted peanut butter, up the salt}

combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. if the dough is too crumbly, add a bit more peanut butter.

divide into two rolls, 1.5 inches in diameter, roll in jimmies!

wrap in cling wrap and freeze while you watch one episode of revenge, or for like 45 minutes.

slice into 3/4 inch discs, and bake at 325, preferably on a pizza stone, for ten-ish minutes.

eat them all immediately!!!!

-yeh!!!!

sad popcorn ballz

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it was noted yesterday that i had been lacking in my unofficial position as office candy bowl filler upper. maybe if people would just pay me the suggested cost of one limerick per piece, this problem wouldn't be happening. but i am nary a hunter. 
and so i made the seasonal and informed decision to make:
popcorn balls!!!
only somewhere along the way, about 75% of my poppy corn got all burnt. and by the time i realized i'd have to discard it, the candy thermometer had reached 230 degrees and mr. needle wasn't stoppin. so quickly i scanned my kitchen to see what i could candy. candied ramen noodles? candied licorice? candied spatula? eureka {!!!}: candied peanuts!
they'd be like the nuts for nuts nuts!
so i dumped them in, along with the salvaged, unburnt popcorn, and voila!
a stick sweet peanut brittle dental hygienic nightmare.
glorious!
-yayyyyyyy

{thank you to paula deen's popcorn ball recipe}

the sweetest new year ever.

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in a massive effort to ensure an insanely sweet new year,
and to go beyond the old apples & honey...
mum and i spent hours in the kitchen this weekend cranking out:
crystallized ginger
pretzel caramels
apple donuts 
a million kinds of jelly
apple donuts stuffed with jelly {namely, jalapeno jelly}
honey cake
sweet corn ice cream
cotton candy
...and so much more.
omg. 
i think the guests at our rosh hashanah fest thought we'd lost our minds.
but having a pretty table full of homemade candies 
and other noshies is oh-so-very satisfying. 
see before i came home, i told mum that we wouldn't be eating anything during the weekend that we didn't make from scratch. and we almost stuck to it.
friday pizza night doesn't count. especially in chicago. 
below are recipes and links that we used...
of course we still had apples & honey. but they were freshly picked fuji and honey crisp apples. and freshly whipped creamed honey
caramels {+ crunched up pretzels on top}
pumpkin ice cream {half of the sweet corn base, minus the corn + 1/2 a can of pumpkin + cloves + cinnamon + ginger + nutmeg}
apple donuts {we substituted apple butter for the cider and topped them with creamed honey}
ricotta {+ rosemary, thyme, and basil from the garden}
jalapeno jelly* {vinegar + jalapenos + sugar + pectin}
ginger jelly* {juice from the crystallized ginger + sugar + lemon + pectin}
hotberry jam* {strawbees + bluebees + raspbees + jalapeno + lemon + sugar + rosemary + water}
apple butter* {apples + autumny spices + pectin + water}
maple mustard* {mustard powder + white wine vinegar + sugar + maple extract + turmeric}
*i winged it with these things. just play around with those ingredients in a saucepan until it tastes good.
mum was in charge of the honey apple cake, the pumpkin challah, and the pickles... and i think they came out of real live cookbooks... so we're all out of luck on those ones.
-yeh!!