There are two things I simply love: hosting parties and baking excessively. You would think these two things would go together more often than they do. Sadly, I have a small home and a vaguely reclusive husband. As such, I only host once in a great while. And when I do, I can’t just make one thing. I must make all the things.
I had a four-day weekend this weekend, and I didn’t make nearly as many things as you might think I would.
But oh my have I made up for it today. And how awkward things have gone today! Today has been one of those days where I literally throw stuff together and go, “Well, okay!”
It started out simply enough. I still had some leftover citrus fruit, so I decided to make some jellied fruit peel candy. I should come up with a fancy word for it because on Smitten Kitchen’s website she calls them Orangettes which is so cute, but I made them out of every citrus fruit OTHER than oranges…so…
Citrusettes? Chocolate covered citrus fruit peel? Zingies? Ugh, help. I have no cute little names for my candies.
2016 has been odd so far. It’s been full of really crazy happenings — high moments, low moments, incredible stress and anxiety — and it’s only mid-February. Yikes. Fortunately, I have a four-day weekend coming up, so at least there’s that. You can plan right now on finding me on Friday, sitting on my couch all day, literally doing nothing but reading and drinking coffee.
But in the meantime, it’s time to get cracking! I have all kinds of things to do today! I don’t care about the Superbowl, but I do care about Superb Owls.
Owls are basically amazing. LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE. JUST LOOK.
As I may have mentioned before, I am an ice cream fiend.
You may remember this from a very long series of blog entries where I verbally drooled over its inexplicable but unparalleled deliciousness. Well, don’t fret, reader, I haven’t given up my love of ice cream! But in a world where ice cream sometimes beckons a little too fervently (I seem to recall at least one afternoon where I ate two portions instead of one under the pretense of “it’s not really enough for two bowls” even though it definitely was), I have been seeking out lighter yet equally palatable options.
I have turned to the grand world of frozen yogurt.
One of my favorite flavors is cranberry. The first thing I was entrusted with making for a family get-together was the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Yeah, regular cranberry sauce is like super easy to throw together (cranberries, sugar, yay!) but the kindly rave reviews I got from my relatives solidified my love affair with the cranberry.
I love sour and tart flavors, so to me, the cranberry is the best berry. It’s hardly sweet, it can go with savory or sweet foods (there is nothing like a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce) and is much more versatile than people give it credit for. This year, with my baking ability and cooking knowledge having skyrocketed even from what it was last year, I found myself buying quite a few bags of cranberries at the store, saying coyly, “I’ll use one bag for my cranberry pie and freeze the rest!”
Eat ・Knit ・Sew ・Lather ・Repeat
Cakes. Desserts. Sweets. And Books.
dessertgirlinthedesert 