Whew! It's been a while. Life gets busy sometimes you know? I hope everyone had an awesome holiday season... I'm trying to be inclusive here peoples. I have been baking on a regular basis since my last post FYI. I just failed to document a lot of the action in my kitchen. My wallet and I were dreaming of a DIY only gift giving season. I made some lovely token of friendship holiday baskets for some local friends... The theme? Chocolate. Here's a quick list of what was in the baskets:

• chocolate shortbread
• chocolate balsamic vinegar
• malted hot cocoa mix (I swapped the powdered milk for malted milk powder)
  

I got positive responses on all three items so I trust they were enjoyed by all. I realized at the end of my academic term how long it had been since my last post and was determined to write one more before the new year. Obviously that did NOT happen. But I did do some cooking with the family. We hosted a Sweets, Treats, and Apps part-hey! at my grandpa's condo. I got a lot of help from my older sister, my niece, and my brother in-law. We made lots of things to nosh on including:

• triple pepper cookies
• spinach and artichoke dip
• sweet potato rounds
• latkes
• Mexican chocolate cake
• bittersweet chocolate cake w/ cherries
• pecan treat
• holiday marshmallow wreaths
• curried deviled eggs
• basil deviled eggs
• chilled ginger cinnamon tea
• yellow jacket punch

I tried so hard to be organized-REALLY. I had a list of all the different foods. I made a grocery list that organized all ingredients according to where they're found in the store (no running back and forth to produce!). Broke down the to-do list into a 2 day schedule. Bought stuff to label everything. I thought I'd thought of everything... but alas I hadn't. I forgot to charge my camera. So there is no evidence besides the links that I included and memories of those there. Trust me though... t'was delicious.

Thankfully, I do have foto evidence of my latest kitchen adventures. I made quick truffles using Alton Brown's recipe because he's a food scientist genius!






But wait! There's more! I also made a curry spiced popcorn for an Indian food dinner party a friend had.






So that's what I did this weekend. What did you get up to?