Holiday Baking Music

I'm gearing up for a full on baking extravaganza, and I like to listen to certain music while I'm rocking around the kitchen.  I thought I'd share.  The music, I mean.  Because I don't know how to upload baked goods.

How're you doing?

Fa La La La La, La La La Blah

I'm struggling with myself right now.  I'm feeling tired and worn, not entirely physically and in ways that mere sleep cannot mend.

Because he's on probation, there are things that Someone is not permitted to do, a curfew he must adhere to, and things that he must do to satisfy the terms of his plea agreement and his probation.

There are varying consequences for failing to do what he must or for doing what he mustn't.  They call these consequences "sanctions".

He was doing well enough, but in the last month he's had four sanctions.  He used substances bot unlawful and prohibited by probation.  The first sanction was extra community service and extra AA meetings.  The second sanction was 24 hours in jail.  The third was 6 days in jail.  Now he's on his fourth, a probation violation, and I'm told he'll be in jail until at least January 3.

He's barely been home and he's gone again.

Once again he will not be with us for Yule.  It is possible that he will miss both children's birthdays as well.  I am once again a single mother.

This has an impact on me, on my children, on our collective lives.  Not only do we not have what income he may have earned because he cannot work while in jail, I have the added expense of paying for phone calls and commissary if I choose to do so, and I can't just leave him in there without the means to communicate, at least.  I won't make the kids do without anything, but it does add to my struggle.  This on top of it being a time for spending on gifts and whatnot.

I hate feeling like I can't give my children very much when it comes to prezzies.  Luckily there are others in their lives who make up for my slack, people like Mom and T and K2 and Mizz A, and many more, all of whom love my children and spoil them silly.  At their ages, keeping the power and water on (not a given on a good day) and food available aren't awfully interesting or important, and honestly I don't even do that on my own, so I can't take credit.  Anyway, it's difficult to wrap the power, but sometimes I'm tempted to put a bow on the faucet.

I suppose I am just feeling the usual ebb that comes with this time of year.  I'm so frustrated by my inability to earn income, to manage finances like a wizard, to keep up with myself...everything seems so bleak to me.

I know it's crass to talk about money, but it'd be easier to avoid talking about if so much of one's value didn't hinge upon one's financial worth and if so much of our life in this country wasn't centered on income, on cash flow.
To help combat these feelings, I'm spending as much time as I can manage in the kitchen for the next few days.  It's cookie season, and while I don't have the demand for them that I used to, I still like to make up plates of cookies and give them to people.  I can still manage a little holiday cheer, even when I'm feeling rather in the dumps...and if making (and saying the name of) Snickerdoodles doesn't bring at least a small smile to my face, then I know things are dire, indeed.

Seriously.  Say "Snickerdoodle" without cracking even the tiniest grim.  Betcha can't.

Keylime Bars

This weekend, K2 is having her annual pre-holiday shopping extravaganza home show, and today I'm making some keylime bars to take and share with shoppers tomorrow.  A friend on Facebook asked for the recipe and I figured I could share it here and help spread the keylimey love.

The players:

For the crust you will need:
2 Cups flour
1 Cup (2 sticks) butter
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt (optional)
Dash of cinnamon (optional)

For the filling you will need:
4 eggs
5 Tablespoons keylime juice
4 Tablespoons flour
2 Cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Aaaaand...action!

Heat your oven to 325 F.  I don't know what that is in C.  You can find a conversion calculator on the Internetz if you need it.  You can find darned near anything on the Internetz whether you need it or not.

Mix the dry ingredients for the crust well.  

Melt the butter over low heat.  Wow, that's a lot of butter.  This has to be good!

Carefully pour the butter over the dry ingredients and not all over the counter while you're trying to photograph the action for your blog.  Ahem.

Mixa, mixa, mixa with a fork.  Don't get too crazy here or you'll wind up with a tough crusty part, and tough crusty parts are a bummer, man.

Once it's mixed and still nice and crumbly, dump it into a 9 x 13 pan.  Or a 13 x 9 pan.  Your choice.  Sometimes I'm a rebel and use an 8 x 11 pan so I have a thicker crust and deeper bars.  I'm crazy that way.

You do NOT need to grease the pan.  Did you notice how much butter went into this crust?  Pat it down gently until it feels pretty even.  Or you could make it all bumpy and wavy and have kind of uneven bars if you want.  Who am I to judge?

Bake at 325 F for 20 minutes.  

Remove from the oven but leave that thing cranked to 325.  Look at that crust.  Mmm...

While the crust cools a wee, let's move on to the filling.  You can wait for the crust to cool entirely if you like.  Heck, you can just make the filling while the crust bakes and pour it right on as soon as the crust has cooked.  I'm just telling you how I do it.  Anyway, the filling...

Beat the eggs fluffy.

Next, add the sugar, still beating.  Pretend the mixer is all shiny and new and not distressingly worn and weird looking.  Thanks.

Once the sugar is well beaten in, add the salt.  I used Celtic sea salt because I like it, but regular table salt is fine.

Next comes the flour, one Tablespoon at a time.

Finally, the lime juice, one Tablespoon at a time.  Let it whisk around for a bit to get nice and creamy and smooth and tantalizing.

Pour over the crust, triumphant when you didn't spill it on the stove top while you simultaneously dumped and photographed.  Hurrah!

Oooh, purty...

Bake at 325 F for 25 minutes.  It should be well set, so if it still jiggles, leave it in for a few more minutes.

Oh, bubbly wonder!

Let the whole thing cool completely.  Once cooled, you can dust it with powdered sugar or just grab a fork and dive in.  Like I said, I won't judge!

This Must Be the Dark Side

"Come to the Dark Side...we have cookies..."

Hmm.

Guess where Casa de Crazy is, then?

Cookie swap on Saturday means there's a whole lot o' bakin' goin' on!

Yesterday was a grocery run, then a second trip to the store after I discovered I'd forgotten to pick up my medication. I would have waited, but I was entirely out and have to take it in the evening. Sigh.

In between town runs, I made White Trash Cookies. The funny thing is, I'm not actually taking any of those to the swap, but they keep well so it makes sense to do them first. Today is Leftover Cookies, and tomorrow it'll be Snickerdoodles. Both of those go to the swap. Then on Sunday I'm baking...never mind, I ain't sayin'..don't want to spoil the surprise. Sometime before the year's out, I might even remember to post a couple of recipes...

Thirteen days until Yule. Whew.

The baking improves my mood some, which I'm sure is a relief to Someone and the Evil genius - depressed me is just no fun. I'm still stressing about bills and my distinct lack of lottery winnings, but what can I do? Got nothin' worth selling (sent the last of the jewelry with Mum to see if her local auction house thought it would fetch anything) and got no one to borrow from (couldn't pay 'em back, anyway). Oh well.

So...what's your favorite holiday cookie? If you're not into sweets, what's your favorite savory?

Half Baked

Well...not really half baked...more like completely baked and a bit over the edge...but the house smells marvelous and I'm sending baked goodies home with friends and their kids so my arse doesn't grow pregnant along with the rest of me.

Banana bread had been eaten by the ton:
And the white and whole wheat breads didn't stand a chance:

I consider this Lammas a success.

I Found My Thrill...

...on Blueberry Muffin Hill...

La, la, la...

Two batches of blueberry muffins down, and I'm baking banana bread as I type (because I have mad skillz like that, yo). Next up? White bread, wheat bread, and maybe soda bread. It's Lammas, y'all, and baking is how I roll (hah!) on Lammas, yo.

Lucky for my arse, I never seem to have trouble finding homes for all these baked goods...

Coo-cookie-chew...

It's cookie time again.

Every year, I take part in a holiday cookie swap. A whole mess of us (that's more than a handful but fewer than a bunch) bake our favorite or best cookies, bring them to a central location, and divvy 'em up. It's a nifty way to get a slew of holiday type cookies without having to bake them all yourself.

In years past, I'd be baking by now, filling the house with the scent of Orange Blossom cookies, Snickerdoodles, Leftover Cookies, White Trash Cookies...I may not have told you this before, dear reader, but I may like to bake just a wee.

Actually, before Bird was born, I made hard candy for these events, suckers in a variety of shapes. No one minded too much - they liked all the colors, the flavors...and my house smelled insanely good. I have thirty-something cast iron molds waiting to be useful again, and make upwards of a dozen flavors, using a recipe handed down from my Mum's mum (family tradition - the recipe is never written down. Anyone wanting to learn it has to come into the kitchen and watch it being made, learn by doing). I don't make candy now because pouring off boiling sugar syrup just didn't seem like a good idea with a small child around. I hope to start again next year.

Meanwhile, there's a cookie swap this coming Sunday, and I have baking to do (with help from the Evil Genius, of course). I haven't decorated the house or anything either - I am thinking I'll do that between batches of cookies. This year it's Snickerdoodles (recipe later this week), and Leftover Cookies. I'll be making White Trash Cookies, too, but not for the swap - those'll go on plates and in boxes to give away.

Mum is making peppermint meringues, and cinnamon ones too. Addictive little buggers...

Do you have a favorite holiday cookie? Something traditional, maybe something you only make around this time of year? Tell...

Banana Bread

And here's the banana bread.
It's a little...erm...done...because someone flaked and forgot to lower the oven temperature before she put it in, but I can vouch for the tasty factor - the Evil Genius and I have eaten half a loaf. I think I'm done for now, but will finish what I planned to bake tomorrow when I get home from the gallery.

For now, I think I'll make a cup of tea and squeeze some writing into the last of the evening.

Happy Lammas, y'all.

Six Ingredient Bread

Here's a loaf of the white (well, unbleached) bread. It has six ingredients...
...and about a gazillion flavor molecules. I like to eat this warm from the oven, slathered with butter, honey, and cinnamon. Whew. No wonder I have a fifty...er...forty acre ass!

I have another batch of this rising...and a third planned. I forgot to get the butter out to soften for the banana bread, so it'll have to wait, but I am going to do another Molasses-wheat loaf anyway.

I wish I could pipe the scent to you...good grief, it's fantastic!

Swap This!

Below is a photo of the table at the cookie swap - and it doesn't even show everything, because a few folks came late. We had a merry old time loading up our plates and then making care packages for the local fire house.

This week will mark the second round of baking for me - the round that gets divided between neighbors, postal worker, and trash guys, as well as making a nice pile for T to raid at will or take to work. I'm also considering cranberry-orange bread and banana bread. Yes, I am insane.

I may wait and make the bread next week, during round three of the month-o-cookies when I bake things to bring to T's family on Christmas Eve and to some friends with whom I spend Christmas day (it's a long story I'll tell another time).

Along with my usual recipes, I want to try Noble Pig's recipe for ginger cookies. They made my mouth tingle with anticipation when I read the recipe!

I'll post something besides manic baking news soon, I promise!

Edited to protect the innocent.

Simple Sugar Cookies

In honor of the impending cookie swap/holiday baking madness, I thought I would share some of the fun with you.

These sugar cookies are simple, and the cook time determines whether they are soft or crunchy. I like 'em both ways.

The cast:
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Colored sugar (optional)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder - or just dump them in the sifter (I do). Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla (you can also go half vanilla, half peppermint flavor if you like - mmm, peppermint).

Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.

Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls.

Dip or roll in colored sugar if you're so inclined, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.



Bake 8 (soft) to 10 (crunchy) minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden.

Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.


Try one warm...ooooh, yummy (what miffinnk cookief??).

Cookie Swap

Cookie Swap, the newest holiday reality show on FOX.

Well...maybe not so much, although I'd probably watch because I'm weird that way.

Ahem.

"What is a cookie swap??" I hear you clamor. Or was that the cats knocking something over? Eh, whatever. A cookie swap is a fine way to have elleventy-million kinds of cookies without baking them all yourself.

You pick some friends - the swap I'm taking part in on Saturday may have several dozen people present - and set a date and time. You bake a batch or three of your favorite cookie - or, if you're me, you bake huge batches of your four or five favorite cookies - and plate 'em up. Bring the cookies and an empty platter, tin, or portable hole with you to the swap. When the time is right (shortly after you've all been caught snitching cookies from the table when you thought no one was looking), you each take turns telling the others about your cookie - why it's special, why you like it, or which store you bought it at. The you go around and around the table, taking one or two or twenty of each cookie, loading your empty receptacle up.

I bring ten pounds of cookies and leave with twenty. It's magic.

It's fun, too - there are some neat stories about the various cookies. This year I will make Oatmeal Everything (aka Leftovers) Cookies, Snickerdoodles (try saying that without smiling, I dare you) and possibly Simple Sugar Cookies and Peppermint Filled Cookies (little butter cookies with a peppermint/cream cheese filling that is all gooey and delightful) if I have time.

Have I mentioned that I adore baking? I do - it's very therapeutic, and since I can't afford a shrink, I bake. A lot. The best part is, I will take all the cookies with me and be rid of them...although...hmm...I end up bringing home a ton of other cookies to take their place, so there's a flaw in my logic. Oh, well. I put them in boxes and tins, or on plates, and send them to work with T, give them to my Mum to keep or hand out, give them to our postal Goddess and the Trash Dudes, and leave stealth cookies for the neighbors. It's a tradition that makes me smile.

Try it and see if you don't have fun.

Mmmm, cupcakes.

I baked cupcakes last night. Devil's Food from a box, vanilla buttercream from scratch. Guess who helped?

First, there was the taste test: And then there was the "How much of this evil can I cram in my mouth at once?" test:
Apparently not all of it; note the crumbs on the floor.

Then someone had to clean the spoon that mixed the frosting.

Have to be thorough.
Tell me a mere dishwasher can pay this much attention to detail! Oops, missed a spot!

Whew, what a job! I'm exhausted. Wait, what's this? A frosting molecule still on the spoon? I think not!
After giving the spoon a good going-over, the Evil Genius known as Bird went into a cupcake fueled frenzy, moving with a Tazmanian Devil-like speed and grace that had the cats scattering for the hills hiding places under our beds and our roommate wondering when we invited a herd of angry water buffalo over for a mosh pit.

Eventually, the little guy did get to bed, with a little help from our good friend Mr. Duct Tape.

I swept the crumbs off the floor and called it a night.

Mmm...bleh.

I just baked triple-chocolate-chunk and cherry brownies, with cinnamon in.

I don't want them.

I wanted my house to smell of baking, and I had a box mix for the brownies. I added the cherries and cinnamon, in case I wanted one. No one else is around to eat them, as T is out of town until Monday and our roommate J is staying with his mum for a few days to keep her company.

But I don't want one. Not really. I bake when I'm not happy, and all of a sudden I got hit with a wave of the blahs. They smell nice, but I am tired of being fat...and brownies equal fat. I think I'll go to bed early, maybe have the tree dream again.

Anyone want a brownie?