At least my cat's keeping me company...

Here we are again... the wee hours of the morning. Me, my computer, and my thoughts. Seriously - I'd like some Doogie Howser, MD sh*t playing in the background - it will help me feel profound! Go on, sing it with me...

Yeah, you're totally humming right now. I am the all mighty and powerful Social Work Jew! I can control your mind!!!!

Alrighty, I need to figure out some better sleep strategies.

I spent the better part of this evening baking Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I'm not so sure I like them - I added cinnamon and nutmeg where they really weren't needed. Ech, live and learn.

What a nifty segway! I think tonight/this morning is a perfect time to discuss well intentioned recipes gone awry! Starting with my first attempt at Lemon Parfait with Fresh Berries! Before I get all sorts of awesome and start to display photos, I'd just like to say I don't think I really screwed up the recipe - more just added too much of a good thing. Proving once again, it's not the size, but the intent that matters most! (hehehehehe.... that's what she said!)

Yeah, you giggled at that - I've totally made you my b*tch!

Let's get back to that Parfait!

Although you may think being a social worker is all about money, fame, and glory - I'm actually pretty broke most of the time. So, for holiday gifts this year, I made everyone a little coupon redeemable for one dessert of his/her choice. My first friend to make use of this handy instrument was Cristobel! (That's not his actual name, but it's nearly 2am and I'm punchy - so you're just going to have to deal!) Cristobel turned to me and asked for something light and fruity. And wouldn't you know, my older brother just gave me Crate & Barrels cookbook for newlyweds with a lovely light and fruity recipe all up in its grill!

In order to best tell the rest of the story - allow me to insert some photos to best capture what this was all about....

This, ladies and gentleman, is basically what lemon parfait is all about! Lemon juice, sugar, and eggs. Where did I go wrong? I doubled the recipe all in one batch! What should I have done? Made two separate batches! What can I say - I like my servings large and powerful! (hehehehe... that's what she said.... see? Did it again! Total mind control! You're trying not to laugh, but failing miserably. That's okay, I won't judge you!) By going WAY overboard on how much I was attempting to whisk around in my bowl, the parfait never really fluffed up the way it's meant to - only the top layer worked out correctly.

Okay, see how it's kinda curdled and moveable via Spatula of Awesomeness? Well, after being refrigerated overnight - the whole bowl should have looked like that. I could only get the top layer to curdle. Once I'd removed that layer to top off some berries, the next layer curdled pretty quickly. Unfortunately - I wanted a whole frakkin' bowl of lemony parfait delicousness and I had to work it in stages (okay... that COULD warrant a "that's what she said"... I'll let you judge that one for yourself).

And here we have the finished product - Lemon Parfait with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and a peppermint patty on top. The recipe actually called for a mint leaf - but I thought that would come off as pretentious... and I couldn't find any. So, bite me. Cristobel got a fresh and fruity dessert and I got 10 gallons of lemon, egg, sugary liquid. I may or may not have let it sit in my fridge for a few weeks to see what sort of science experiment I could create. Interestingly - nothing grew. Just that top curdled layer. Sort of a let down.

Okay, now I'm starting to get tired - time to try sleeping again. This means forcing the fiance back onto his side of the bed and potentially threatening him if the snore factor doesn't come down about 20 notches. We shall see!

Nipple cOOkies!

Hiya!
Okay, I've been on Sabbatical while trying to lose weight. It's a funny thing - I try to eat healthy and suddenly I'm not baking my dream foods.
Well, that shit stops right now!

My newest declaration....
I promise myself I will do my best to make healthy eating choices and to get my jiggly ass and squishy tummy to workout a bit more. In exchange, I will bake as much as I damn well want to and enjoy the goods!

I'm currently in Connecticut, enjoying a post Thanksgiving weekend with my future in-laws and my soon-to-be hubbilicous. It's been a great weekend - lots of laughter, celebrating my mankins birthday, and lots of just laying around and relaxing. Exactly what the weekend of Thanksgiving should be. As I write this, he-who-will-soon-be-legally-bound-to-me and his dad are checking digital camera reviews on the computer and I lost interest in the conversation about 30 seconds after it started.
What better way to use this space of time than to catch up with some blogginess?

As I'd mentioned, I don't have much to write. I haven't been baking as much, but I've still got big dreams about Strong Cupcake and what a fan-freakin-tastic shop it's going to be someday.

I did try making some cookies with only a mini-recipe to follow. I'm testing myself to see if I can go recipe free at some point. The attached photos will show you my FAIL in this regard.

I call these cookies "Nipple Cookies". Here's where my major FAIL occured. I had found some intriguiging sounding hershey kisses at Hannafords. They were candy corn flavored and candy corn colored kisses. I saw them, and immediately had to have them... what can I say? I like shiny things - and these little suckers were all shiny and glorious looking. I brought the little buggers home and decided to make chocolate chip cookies with these little suckers in the middle. At no point did I reference a recipe explaining how one would do this succesfully. And so, at the end of my adventure - I was left with cookies only a porn star could love.

As I review the above photo (and the several photos of my betrothed using the cookies as mock eyes and mock nipples), I feel I've learned a valuable lesson. USE A FLIPPIN' RECIPE! Or, at least reference a cook book or website that provides SOME sort of insight into how to successfully create a cookie you wouldn't be embarrassed to give your grandmother.

So, add one more "To Do" to the Strong Cupcake list. Any and all customers are encouraged to bring in copies of their favorite recipes to share with the world. Actually, I think I want all the walls painted with chalkboard paint and folks can just write their recipes directly on the wall!

Man, sometimes my brilliance amazes me.