Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
Feb
11
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
Ah Valentine’s Day.
When I was in the second or maybe third grade I happened to have the chicken pox on Valentine’s Day. In order to sooth her feverish and itchy child, my mother painted a calamine lotion heart over each pock. Knowing my mother’s sense of humor, this gesture was probably one part love to one part ‘hey, wouldn’t it be hilarious if I painted hearts all over my kid.’ A little sweet and a …
Jan
21
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
I had no idea. Really, I didn’t.
What began as a (self-deemed) creative attempt at gift giving has turned into a burgeoning obsession. The French macaron. How I hate thee. And love thee. And hate thee. To make matters worse, the little buggers have begun to show up everywhere. Haunting me. Whereas months ago I’d never even seen one outside of the recipe books, they’re now stalking me from magazine covers, bake shops and Starbucks. …
Jan
11
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
I have learned that there are two types of people in the world: ones who like cakey brownies and ones who like fudgy brownies. Note: I have not provided an option for people who do not like brownies. This is because those people do not exist. While I do have a great cakey brownie recipe that I’ll share this summer (it calls for fresh zucchini and so in my head is a summer recipe), it’s …
Jan
2
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
I lost a bet. It had to do with a football game between the college I went to and the college where I work. And, unlike a certain coach who not only allowed—but celebrated a very un-sportsman-like play in the last 44 seconds of said game, I am always a good sport.
Of course, the wager was for baked goods. With the veritable deluge of work-related holiday parties, potlucks and general food-related merriment, it was decided that I would not pay …
Dec
23
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
If I could afford it, I’d ask Morgan Freeman to narrate this post. But, I can’t. So watch this first to get you in the mood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB_GisVFboU
I have a very cute penguin cookie cutter and when Deb from Smitten Kitchen posted her mother’s recipe for Brownie Roll Out cookies, I knew I had a match made in heaven. I’m linking to the recipe instead of listing it below because, well, I have a baking crush on …
Dec
14
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
I love baklava. Though really, it’s much more fun it you pronounce it ‘baaaaklaaavaaaa.’ Go ahead, try it. Feels good doesn’t it? For me it is one of those foods that while available all year, speaks inexorably of the holiday season.
This year I finally got up the courage to make it from scratch. And, now that I’ve done it, I have to tell you, making baklava some scratch needs no courage at all. If you buy the …
Dec
9
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
I’ll admit, as much as I love baking, I’ve always had a bias against the cut-out sugar cookie. As a child I would carefully study the pictures of beautifully decorated sugar cookies in my mom’s illustrated Betty Crocker Cookbook. However, my batches of never looked anything close to the pictures. They’d puff. They’d bake unevenly. They’d stick to the rolling pin. Cats looked like panda bears, flowers like clouds. So, I dropped them off …
Dec
4
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
AKA: White Trash Bon Bons
AKA (if you are my husband): Pete’s Schweedy Balls
When I was a kid, my mom only made these babies during the holidays. Once made, she would horde them in a very miserly and un-holiday-like fashion, dispensing them one at a time and only to those she deemed deserving. This may sound strange at first because a quick look at the ingredient list doesn’t hint at anything special. If anything, it suggests (at least to …
Nov
30
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
This is my absolute favorite holiday cookie. It’s a rich shortbread bite with pecans, butterscotch bits and a light rum-laced icing. Come December, radio stations can ring out holiday music and stores can deck the halls all they want, but for me, it isn’t Christmas until my first flaky bite of a rum butter nut cookie. Those who know me will probably chalk it up to the rum. Those who know me even better will know that …
Nov
25
Posted by the Misanthropic Hostess.
I threatened to provide follow-up on our Thanksgiving turducken breast—and who am I to not follow through on my threats (or as my mom would say to us kids when she was mad, ‘this is not a threat, it is a fact.’)?
Let’s start out by saying it was my husband’s idea. Around July he began opining on how tasty it would be if we had turducken for Thanksgiving. Now, if you haven’t been previously informed—or don’t pay any …