When I’m working in the kitchen and I’ve made something particularly good I do this thing….this thing that I wasn’t aware I did until Casey started working from home. When something blows me away, I do fist pumps and shout out “MMMM. IT’S SO GOOD. MMM. OH MY GOD MMM.” Then I proceed to walk through the house while eating…shouting how good it is. I didn’t realize I do it until I saw the peculiar look on my husband’s face.
Yeah dude, your wife does this weird thing.
So… that happened with these Caramel Brioche Croutons. Fist pumps, moans, angels sang, and Oprah shouted in my head.
THE WORKS.
People! This is so good. I want you to make something that will produce FIST PUMPS and weird noises.
Then and only then will my work done. It’s caramel. It’s bread. It’s crunchy sweet Caramel Brioche Crouton time.
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I’m kind of in a rut; I have no desire to cook or bake. Wait. I take that back. I have no desire to clean my kitchen. I DO want to work in the kitchen. I just want someone to always clean up after me. That would be the life. That’s how chefs live, right? Does that mean I need tattoos and clogs? I don’t know what I would want on my body for the rest of my life, ink-wise. I’m working my way out of cherry blossom phase so I’m soooooooo glad I didn’t get those… Also! Clogs. Totally comfy…still totally not sexy. I love sensible shoes but I want them to look less like clogs.
Let’s be real. I’m not a professional chef, but you already know this. I’m just a girl who loves to get my kitchen dirty and make things with my hands. I’m love pineapple and Greek yogurt and simple desserts that I can accomplish in no time, yet take a tremendous amount of credit for. Who doesn’t want that?
I made this quick little roasted pineapple yesterday because I had 30 minutes to kill. If I had people over for dinner, it would have been a fantastic ending to a meal of shrimp tacos. I would have gotten the “what’s your secret?” question with this dessert.
The secret is that I will be eating this for breakfast for the next few days and loving EVERY LAST BITE. And when I’m soo over eating it with yogurt & granola, I’m going to turn it into a smoothie. That’s a fact.
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When I was a kid I always wanted to help my mom make cakes in the kitchen. She’d give me what I thought were useless jobs like measuring out the flour (I actually like doing that now) and cleaning up the dirty bowls in the sink. Although these are important tasks to complete, I always thought I got the short end of the stick. I wanted MORE. I wanted to crack the eggs, measure out the vanilla, use the beaters and eat off ALL the frosting that smothered them. I desperately wanted to take the cake out of the oven and frost it myself without any adult supervision. I know now that my mom was teaching me valuable lessons of baking all while secretly preventing a major mess in the kitchen (she was tapped into my klutzy nature from an early age).
I still make a mess in the kitchen…
We spent this Easter weekend at my parent’s house and while it was nice to get out of our routine and enjoy a slower pace of life, what I enjoyed most was making this cake by myself in my mom’s kitchen. That’s right. My mom gave me the responsibility of making this Black & White Angel Food Cake she picked out for dessert on Easter Sunday.
Melting the chocolate, sifting the flour and beating the egg whites in the same bowl I remember using as a kid was almost as good as eating the cake itself. That’s right! No supervision needed. I’m a grownup (ahhhhh!).
A fluffy puffy light chocolate cake smothered with a decadent ganache? Uh huh! I’m so glad my mom picked this cake out and had me make it because I most likely wouldn’t have tried it on my own. And man, would I have missed out.
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I’m no stranger to the whole bacon in cookies sitch. I love that sweet salty combination like it’s nobody’s business. But why limit ourselves to just peanut butter bacon cookies? Let’s go ahead and add it to my favorite cookie of ALL time (besides ginger molasses cookies). I present to you BACON Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?
Let me tell you, these cookies are magical. The promise of one cookie makes my three year old eat ALL of his fruits & vegetables at dinner time. And after eating three cookies for dessert, my husband gives me the “I love you soooooo much” look that I always hope to see when I make special treats. Good deal.
Did I mention that these beauties are considered breakfast cookies? Think hearty oatmeal & raisins mixed with a crispy cookie/scone. Bacon is added cuz it’s always so hard to figure out if you want a sweet or savory breakfast! It’s an all encompassing cookie and it’s gonna get me into SOOOOOOO much trouble.
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Food blogs are funny. If you look at this picture, you might assume that I had a neighbor/ friend over for tea. In reality I was standing on a chair, trying not to make a lot of noise while my 3 year old napped away in his room upstairs. I was also trying really hard not to fall off said chair; I don’t have a good history with standing on chairs…
I was sorting my way through a pile of papers during Cooper’s nap when I found a little recipe card for this Earl Grey Chocolate Cake. It’s been waiting to be made since I clipped the recipe out in college. I was craving something chocolatey, I had all of the ingredients and wanted a cup of tea. It was a sign. I feel it’s important to always pay attention to signs like these. This cake came together in less than 15 minutes and it took about the same amount of time to clean it all up. I love that in a cake.
After the cake was done and sprinkled with powdered sugar, I had a pretend tea party in my kitchen where I drank one cup of tea and ate two slices of cake. You can’t let cake go to waste like that. When it’s exposed to air like that it’s got a short shelf life…or something.
Tea parties for one are where it’s at. Especially when a beautiful Earl Grey perfumed chocolate cake is your star dessert.
A fancy hat & gloves are totally optional.
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My Kitchen Aid Mixer is named Sir Charles Mixalot III. I just call him Sir Mixalot for short. We had a conversation the other day. It went something like this:
Sir Mixalot: Hey Trace! Would you please use me? I’m sick of collecting dust on your pantry shelf.
Tracy: Hey. You talk! Fiiiiine. I’ll use you. What should I make?
Sir Mixalot: I’m a little outta shape. Something easy. Baby steps. Take it easy on me.
Tracy: I totally get it Sir Mixalot, I haven’t worked out in awhile too. How about cornmeal cookie dough?
Sir Mixalot: I can totally handle that. You’re a dear. Many thanks. Don’t forget to clean my crevices afterward.
Tracy: Ummm. OK…
So I busted out Sir Mixalot and put him to work. The dough came together in a snap. We high-fived and I gave him a deep cleaning (head out of the gutter!). Then I got to work cutting, baking & glazing these cookies. The dough was the easiest part thanks to Sir Mixalot. The glazing part was a little tough and I only say that because I had a 3 year old running around the kitchen island begging me for some cookies and showing me a new toy every 5 seconds. Labor of love, my friends. LABOR OF LOVE.
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Random thoughts going through my head:
Do you think that someone actually counted out a thousand seeds in this recipe? At what point did they get interrupted by a 3 year old and lose count? My guess is 33. Do you think it’s a thousand seeds per muffin or per batch? If I walked over to the mirror right now, how many seeds would be stuck in my front teeth? Who would be the first person to tell me about that poppy seed stuck near my canine? Why is the term muffin top so good yet so frightening? Why can I not resist a bread product covered in seeds?
Do you think there’s a thousand specks of glitter in my nail polish? I put on three coats…
Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds and sesame seeds make up that seeded muffin top. I told you they were seedy! They’re super healthy (almost NO oil!) and packed with a fun ingredients including yogurt, bananas, whole wheat flour, ground flaxseed, whipped eggs whites and pureed dates! If you’re planning on eating one before you leave the house, check your grill in the mirror! It’s totally seed central.
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Everyday between 2-3pm, my body craves chocolate cake. The cake I crave is not a cake that’s saturated in chocolate frosting. I’m talking about a dense/moist/slightly chewy chocolate cake with a few drizzles of chocolate frosting. When I’m not able to fulfill this craving (which is like all the time), my mind goes into daydreaming mode and I start to fantasize about a chocolate cake delivery service at my work and how wonderful it would be if there were ice cream sundae vendors at every street corner. Imagine that. That would be the life!
I also had this thought the other day: Has anyone ever put EAT MORE CHOCOLATE on their New Year’s Resolution list? Doubtful.
With a chocolaty dense bundt cake like this, I can’t see why that wouldn’t be a good idea.
Maybe I should give in to my chocolate cravings more often. Maybe then I could consider myself a chocolate lover.
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Ready for my David Letterman impression? I’ll do it if you stop staring at my gap teeth!
TOP 10 REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE THESE SPICED ORANGE POPOVERS:
- They taste like donuts, yet they’re not fried!
- They’re ridiculously easy.
- Your house will smell like a high-end Christmas candle.
- It’s the holidays & you’re looking for something festive for breakfast.
- Clove, cinnamon & orange are your best friends this time of year.
- You need an excuse to dust off your popover pan.
- They’re light and fluffy. Means no calories, right?
- They’re a perfect breakfast, snack or dessert. You could make dinner out of them. (I totally did)
- Your coffee is lonely. It needs company.
- Because I said so!
I should also note that I ate 5 popovers within an hour after I made them….I blame the delicious clove cinnamon orange sugar. Well…that and they were WARM.
It’s not like I have to wear a bathing suit anytime soon…
OH WAIT. I do. CRAP!
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I dropped Cooper off at preschool yesterday and immediately headed to the post office to mail packages & pick up stamps for the holiday cards I have yet to send out. The line at the post office went smoothly and the lady who helped me was an absolute dream. Hooray for excellent customer service! Then I went to pick up a few groceries and just when I was ready to tackle another item on my TO-DO list, my car wouldn’t start! For the first time in my life, I ran out of gas. I KNEW I should have stopped at the gas station before I got groceries but I felt like I’ve been pushing EVERYTHING in my life to the limit lately, I assumed my car would push too. Thank God for husbands who come to the rescue!
Emails piled up in my inbox, clean laundry overflowed in baskets on my living room floor and then one of my cats puked on my stairs (which I stepped in!). To combat the stress, I took a break and went out to lunch with Casey. We went to get fancy sandwiches and fresh air but after THREE attempts at making my sandwich without mayo and over an hour of my limited time wasted, I felt like throwing in the towel. It just wasn’t my day!
Instead of tackling my TO-DO lists when I got back from the sandwich fail, I made these white chocolate peppermint pretzels instead. Getting lost in dipping pretzels into creamy melted white chocolate, studding them with cracked candy canes and lining the rods (haha, rods!) up into organized rows, made me happy. And then… I got a call from preschool telling me that Cooper needed to be picked up ASAP because he contracted pinkeye. It’s a good thing I got at least one solid thing done that day…
What’s my point? There’s no doubt that the holidays can be stressful. These little obstacles in life are only as big as we make them.The pressure we put on ourselves this time of year has the power to erase the holiday spirit we’re supposed to give & receive. Relax!
If you’re stressing out because the clock is ticking and you haven’t figured out what to make for the holidays, just make these easy white chocolate peppermint dipped pretzels. They’re therapeutic and they pose as little reminders of how sweet, savory & crunchy life can be.
Remember: Make things simple and give yourself permission to slow down!
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