Whole-Grain Bun in the Oven

I've always thought pregnant women who were too tired to meet up after work/go to a movie/do anything productive were very, very lame.  I stand by that, but I'm the lamest of them all.  JG and I created a little hybrid or ourselves and I've been coming home from work, eating whatever JG feeds me, and going straight to bed ever since. [Lucky for me, JG makes tasty grub.]  I haven't been doing much cooking and the idea of getting up early enough before work or staying awake after dinner long enough to write a little blog post was just too daunting...  What can I say?  I was lame...

... and I started perking up, but then it was christmas, then there were a couple deaths in the family and now, finally, I am back.  If you've given up on me, I totally understand, but I also have two different types of wholly original wild rice cookie recipes ready to bake off in honor of my grandmother. [She was a big fan.  She also taught me the joys of foraging for jam.]  I'm also making a pecan version of the bankets to share with relatives at the memorial this weekend.  They should be tasty, too.

and I've gotten much, much better at making my own corn tortillas from scratch... using a couple common kitchen items to press them out.  So, if you're checking in, stick around.  I'm just getting started -- again.

[that text-less post with the pie?  It's a silken tofu & sweet potato concoction, that I threw into the autopost so I'd remember to find my vaguely written recipe before turkey day... and then forgot all about. -- so, so lame.]

Silken Sweet Potato Pie

1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes
8 oz silken tofu
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T molasses
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cardamom
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg

bake crust
puree filling add to baked crust, return to off oven.

Calaveras Cookies

 

I meant to get these posted before Dia de los Muertos [All Souls Day], but that didn't happen.  Instead, you can marvel at them this year and plan to make your own next time... They would, of course, work as Halloween cookies, but since I was using my Mexican Chocolate Cookie dough it seemed only appropriate to wait for November 2nd.  Sometimes decorated cookies don't taste as good as the look, but that cookie is a workhorse and has enough flavor to power through my as-tasty-as-it-gets royal icing. [Royal icing looks great but tastes flatly sweet, even with a goodly amount of almond extract. That's why the flavor of the cookie underneath is so important.]

These were pretty fun to make.  As you fill them, different features appear and I'd intentionally leave "highlights" here and there and I found the emerging characters very entertaining... which is good, because I made a double batch (~80) and it did take a while.  On further consideration, I could have made the cookies twice as thick (1/4") and it probably would have made them even tastier.

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You also don't need the fancy cookie cutter.  I have one (that I think I got after Halloween one year at Williams-Sonoma) so I use it, but you could do the same technique with a simple oval and get almost the same effect (minus the little teeth).  I have no artistic talent*, so I like guidelines.

Recipe: Royal Icing