tuesday things…

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This late-show version of ‘tuesday things’ brought to you by overtiredness and a hot cup of tea (that I certainly needed).

…As well as a desire to share a little of my crazy weekend.  No links to food blog finds today – mostly because I was too busy recovering from eating my way through World Showcase at Epcot in the Walt Disney World Resort yesterday.  There was pain au chocolat in France, Veggie Couscous in Morocco, Hot Cider in the U.K. and caramel popcorn in Germany…

Not to mention an amazing Avocado Margarita in Mexico. ;)

Also, no one should put drawing paper on dinner tables and expect only kids to draw…

As a compulsive doodler – I just couldn’t help myself.

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Ta-dah!   It’s just so…magical.

But not as magical as Disney during the holiday season in general.  I have made gingerbread houses before but what I saw there was impressive.

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Almost all of the above landscape (and I’m only showing a small portion in this photo) was made out of either cookie or another type of confection.  Mmmmm….

Although I didn’t get to take a bite out of the Disney cruise ship shown above, I did have a gingerbread cookie after watching the Candlelight Processional – that certainly put me into a December-ish mood.  Which I happen to love.

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vanilla-kissed snickerdoodles

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Snickerdoodles – a classic cookie with a classically silly name.

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I love baking in the morning – particularly the early morning.  There’s a comfortable quietness hovering like mist over meadows in the dawnlight.  It’s very peaceful.

And if you’re gearing up for holiday baking just as I am, then you could probably use all the peace you can find.  Heeheehee.

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This sort of peace is particularly cinnamon-sugary… and you know, I’m okay with that.

If you’re going to a cookie exchange, looking for a cookie to wash down that piece of pumpkin pie with, or just looking for a bite of delicious simplicity, then you should give snickerdoodles a try. (They’ve certainly never let me down.)

This recipe varies slightly from your typical snickerdoodle in that I added vanilla extract and used vanilla sugar.  Pure cookie perfection.

Vanilla-Kissed Snickerdoodles

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

  • 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 ¾ cups vanilla sugar, plus more for coating
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if necessary (ha, necessary)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift or whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Set this bowl aside.  In another large bowl, beat butter and 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat to fully combine.  Add dry ingredients and stir until fully incorporated.  Chill dough for about an hour.

Combine remaining vanilla sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl for rolling the balls of dough.  After dough has chilled, use a small ice cream/cookie dough scoop or a rounded teaspoon to form balls of dough – roll these in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Place them two-inches apart on the baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes – until the cookies begin to set and crack.  Let cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely (or as long as you can wait without inhaling one…)

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Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!!  Let the joys of holiday baking commence!

tuesday things

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This episode of Tuesday Things finds me — so far — unsubstantially caffienated, re-watching the first episode of The Chronicles of Alexander Hawthorne, and daydreaming about the remainder of my week (which will happily consist of Disney plans, Christmas baubles, and tasty food).

Speaking of tasty foods, there are a few blog posts I’ve come across recently that have me hard-core foodie-crushing.  Always a pleasant thing. :)

1)  I’ve been curry crazy lately…bah, actually curry crazy for the last few years but over the last two weeks – a little moreso than usual.  Anyway, this cauliflower and chickpea coconut curry from Oh My Veggies justifiably caught my eye and I just had to share it with you.  I think it might be necessary to make this soon…

2)  As per usual, I’m in love with edible perspective’s incredible photography.  These cranberry lemon oat waffles have me seriously craving a brunch day.

3)  On a final note, only because I have to rush out of here quickly, I’m eager to try this maple bacon brussels, pear, and blue cheese salad from How Sweet It Is.   Might be pretty tasty with toasted almonds too….mmm. Yum.

Happy Tuesday!

woah…

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Holy Long Hiatus, Batman.

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I know I’ve been away from the blog for what may seem like a small millenium, but please bear with me while I try to explain.  First and foremost, my life has involved a few crazy (oh so crazy…) work-weeks….

and that whole amazing road trip to D.C. thing.  Yeah, that happened.

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Our shenanigans included red hair, coffee shop quips, vegan cupcakes, autumn colors, and delicious ethnic food.

Oh and Lincoln.  Can’t forget Lincoln.

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1)  Below are two photos of our lovely cupcakes from the vegan bakery, Sticky Fingers (big-time, two-time winner of Cupcake Wars – and with good reason).  We (Jen and I) decided again, unanimously, that these are the best purchased cupcakes we’ve ever had.  They are never cloyingly sweet, the frosting is exactly the right texture, and the cake is never dry.  They are basically little bites of nirvana.

Below we have a sunset snapshot of the Sweet Potato & Maple cupcake and the Chocolate Stout Cupcake that Jen and I shared.

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I kinda want the Sticky Fingers Cookbook to end up on my shelf sometime in the near future….

2)  The fall foliage in Virginia….

Oh my gah…words can hardly describe how enamored I was with the outragous smatterings of flaming red and lemony yellow fluttering in the breeze, striving to brush the face of the crisp blue sky!  Heaven!

We went to Mt. Vernon on a Saturday.  The natural wonders there were truly a feast for the senses.

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I can only imagine what it must have been like to walk the grounds of that estate in General Washington’s time, but I’d like to believe that the coming of autumn occured then in similar radiance — it feels a little like time travel that way.

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3)  For those of you who have never eaten Moroccan food or Ethiopian food – I suggest, for your sakes, that you rectify this matter a.s.a.p.

One thing I love about D.C. is the variety of cuisines you can find.  You could literally try something new every night for a year…. maybe two years.

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4)  Above is the sandwhich I can’t resist from Busboys & Poets — Vegan “Tuna” Salad = smashed chickpea heaven.  If I could eat this every other day I probably would.

Anyway kids – more stories later and Happy Wednesday!  I’ll be back with recipes and more as per usual, dearies.  Hope your days are lovely (as well as merry & bright – ’tis the season)!