Categories
Cakes Holiday desserts Muffins

It’s Thanksgiving, So We’re Talking About Stuffing [One Dessert Into Another]

Guess what I did on Monday! I went to see Chris Cornell perform at Carnegie Hall! Guess how terrible my seats were! THIS terrible (my arms are stretched WAY out)!

The little human-shaped blob standing on the classy-looking rug is Chris Cornell. Just believe me.

And yet, the show was pretty perfect. I’m happy I decided to go instead of scamming someone else into buying my nosebleed, second-to-last row seats. That man has got a VOICE, and that voice has got some power. He’s also got some serious Soundgarden fans: on the long elevator ride up to our seats, my show companion observed several long-haired devotees packed into our car and stage-whispered “take me to 1994!” Yes, I did lose it. And no, I obviously did not make friends at this show. Still, in the spirit of a holiday that’s supposed to be about being happy and grateful, I thought I’d start with a night that actually made me feel those things. Especially since I’ve been such a lame downer lately. Let me make that up to you with more sweets, dear people.

As you guys probably know by now, I like stuffing awesome things into other awesome things to create super desserts. I mean, why have one tasty, amazing and butter-filled concoction when you can have two? And why have them separately when you can just smush them together? Aren’t you always so bummed when you only have room on your plate for a few desserts, so you have to start piling cookies on top of pie slices on top of puddings? I know you all do that too, so don’t even play.

Enter the Pumpkin Pie Coffee Cake. Yes, kids, it’s for real and it’s fabulous. It’s also not healthy at all, so if you’re looking for something pumpkin-y that’s low-sugar and low-fat (Mom and Dad), feast your eyes on my previous post on doughnuts. For the rest of us champions, there exists this glorious, fat-laden monstrosity that deserves a spot on your Thanksgiving treat table. It also just deserves a spot in any other void in your life. What I’m saying is that this cake will solve all your problems. Trust me, I’m a Reverend.*

I turned these into muffins because I’m an evil human being intent on giving these away to unsuspecting friends and family, and muffins make this so much easier. If you would rather make this as a cake, you can use a 10″ spring form pan for easy removal.

This is to show you what a hot mess I am in the kitchen, and what a beast I am during Thanksgiving. It got worse, I just thought I'd spare you.

Pumpkin Pie Coffee Cake Muffins (makes 18 muffins)

For the coffee cake

2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3/4 cup of butter, cold and cut into cubes

1 egg

3/4 cup of sour cream

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the filling

8 ounces of cream cheese or neufchatel cheese

2 cups of canned pumpkin (again, NOT pumpkin pie filling, that ain’t right)

1/4 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves

Pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Let’s start with the coffee cake portion of this death trap. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Throw in your cubed butter and start mixing with clean fingers until it’s formed into little lumpy balls. This might take you a while, and it might feel a little like that pottery scene from Ghost. Don’t go there, though. Instead, set aside 3/4 cup of this mixture for the topping.

In a separate bowl, mix together the sour cream, egg and vanilla, then stir into your flour mixture to create a loose dough (don’t overmix). For muffins, mold these into the bottoms and 1 inch up the sides of your tins. It might take a while because the dough gets sticky, so pace yourself.

Then, in a medium-sized bowl using a hand mixer, mix together your cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar, spices and salt until smooth. Pour the mixture evenly into your muffin cups, over the coffee cake dough.

Sprinkle the crumb topping you’d reserved over each cup, making sure to evenly cover them as best you can. Then send the pans into the oven for 55 to 60 minutes, rotating pans halfway through for even baking, until the sides are lightly browned.

Mine came out a little more than lightly browned, because I didn’t check on them at 55 minutes. Don’t be like me. These were still pretty amazing, though, based on all of the “taste-testing” I did. I also gifted one to my coworker and friend, Afshan, and stood behind her going “bite into it! Bite into it” while she picked it up (I realize how creepy that is now, but did not at the time. My bad, friend). She gave it a thumbs-up too, even though I am a creeper.

Anyway, since it’s Thanksgiving and one of the only times of the year I grow a soul, I’d like to just take a minute to let you people know how grateful I am that you actually read this thing. It’s funny and touching to hear someone say “I read about it on your blog,” because I’m still sometimes convinced that I’m the only person who sees it. So thanks for making this even more fun than I thought it would be when I started causing trouble in the blogosphere earlier this year. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. We’ll be back to our regular soulless, untouchy, unfeely programming shortly.

*Obviously I am joking yet again. Just because I’m a minister doesn’t make anything I say gospel (har har). Except that this dessert is amazing. That’s for real.

Categories
Doughnuts Holiday desserts Sort of Healthy Stuff Your Parents Would Like

Thanksgiving Is Upon Us. You Should Definitely Hide From Me.

Confession time! Last year, I turned into a Thanksgiving psychopath. Maybe that’s a little strong. Last year, I turned into a Thanksgiving lunatic. Ok, so there’s no real way to make that sound pretty. It was bad. What do I mean? Well, I promise I did not become a horrible person. How could I when Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday?  But I did kind of go overboard with the cooking and baking and cleaning and crying. I don’t remember why I cried, but I bet it had something to do with almost driving a Ginsu knife straight through my hand while attempting to whip up sweet potato wedges, turkey samosas, pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin bread pudding simultaneously. I was making all of these things for a post-Thanksgiving party I was hosting for my dearest friends. And it was a potluck dinner. See? Overboard.

Miraculously, all of those dishes turned out pretty well. I’m still damn proud of that cheesecake, and the bread pudding will be seen on this blog very soon, because it ruled. And exhausted as I was, I was also ridiculously happy to be so busy creating new things. One of the reasons I love Thanksgiving so much is the fact that I get to bake like a crazy person and no one can judge me. Someone‘s going to eat it. I also love Thanksgiving because it’s not Christmas. (I’ll explain that some other time. Maybe at Christmas.)

This time around, I kind of feel like the holiday sneaked up on me. I’m pretty sure I was prepping in early October last year, so now I’m feeling a little bit like a slacker. Admittedly, I’ve been distracted and busy. My trip to San Diego was a much-needed vacation where I got to spend some quality time with my bestie and eat my way through a beautiful city (I had an antelope burger! I’ll never eat it again!). I’ve also been…you know…dealing with some stuff or whatever, so I guess I kind of forgot that the best day ever was approaching. Basically, that now means one thing: it’s crunch time. Welcome to my Heaven, and possibly your Hell. My Heaven/your Hell is covered in pumpkin, and involves a stellar soundtrack and me pouncing on anyone who dares disturb my process. Now, I’m being really serious: if you hate pumpkin, you and I might need to be on a break. That’s because a. there are going to be, like, three consecutive posts that feature pumpkin on this blog and b. you buggin’ if you hatin’ on pumpkin. Ready? Ok!

Me, becoming one with the city of San Diego. Actually I'm just a fool.

First up: pumpkin doughnuts! Melinda was kind enough to buy me a doughnut pan while I was visiting, so I vowed to make these babies as soon as I returned. I know the idea of healthy doughnuts freaks you out a tad. It kind of throws me off, too. But ever since I got crazy and threw olive oil into my chocolate chip cookies, I’ve been a believer. It’s fancy and it’s not that bad for you. Promise. I also played around with the recipe a bit and made my own glaze:

Pumpkin Doughnuts with Maple Glaze (makes 10 doughnuts)

For the doughnuts

1 3/4 cups of whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour (I used regular whole wheat)

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup of turbinado sugar (If you don’t have this on hand, you can just replace with brown sugar)

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3/4 cup of canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix or this will become nasty sweet)

1/2 cup of skim milk

For the glaze

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of maple syrup

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon of confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons of milk

More confectioners’ sugar for dusting, if you’re feelin’ it

Preheat your oven to 350ºF. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and your spices. In a separate larger bowl, whisk together the oil, egg, pumpkin, milk and vanilla. Slowly fold dry mixture into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. It will still be a little lumpy.Yes, I used Hipster App for iPhone again because I am lame and forgot to charge my pretty camera.

Grease a doughnut pan and pour the batter evenly into each pan and bake for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a doughnut comes out clean.

Can someone lend me a clue as to how to properly mold the TOP of the doughnut? These came out looking a little like sliced bagels 😦

In the meantime, make your maple glaze. Whisk together all three ingredients in a medium-sized bowl until glaze-y and syrup-y. Yep, you’re done. When the doughnuts are cool enough to touch, drench each one in the glaze until completely soaked and covered.

So…I liked these. The thing that troubles me is that my parents would love these. What do I mean? I mean that these are low-sugar whole wheat doughnuts, and they taste that way. I also mean that I am kind of programmed to hate most of the things my parents absolutely love, because they love things like Raisin Bran and Michael Bolton. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to have made them and will probably make them again…for my parents.

Keep a look out for at least one more pumpkin post this week. Yup, it’s like that. I did warn you.

Categories
Classic Favorites Cupcakes

Sad Shibow Needs a Peanut Buttery Hug. Google Provides Said Hug. Kind Of.

I’ve had a rough few weeks. As I’d mentioned, the devil passed through me or something a little while back and left me bedridden for a solid couple of days. What I didn’t mention was that I had to say farewell to someone special to me around that time too. That might have been rougher than being laid up for 48 hours. Well, it was definitely rougher. It’s always pretty terrible to have to let go of a good friend, not knowing if it’ll be a forever thing or a temporary thing. Hopefully it’s a temporary thing. That’s all I’m going to say about that. Oh, I also messed up my back again shoveling a sludge-y mess of snow off of my front steps. I feel like I’m going to have to have some sort of epiphany wherein I conclude that in order to permanently cure me of my lower-back ailments, I’ll have to train to become a kickboxing champion, and finally face my fear of another total beat-down. There will be a movie montage. Mark Ruffalo will play my trainer because I love him. And I will win and I will be cured. The end. Cue random empowering Kanye track (yes, those do exist).

One of the things that’s helped me from turning into a total bawling mess of a baby (maybe not baby, because babies are cute and this hasn’t been cute) has been the pretty amazing search terms that have led unsuspecting individuals to this blog. A perk of running this blog is being able to see how people actually land here, and that is quite an entertaining perk when you’re feeling low.

Oh Google, you have provided me with endless opportunities to turn my brown frown upside brown down.


Now, I did not make any of the following up. I’m not that creative. Of note is the fact that very few of these terms actually have anything to do with baking:

“Classy wolf” This brings to mind the Coo–ooookie Crisp Wolf, which is awesome, because although I’ve never mentioned it, that has always been my favorite cereal. Does God read my blog?

“Sumo Cookies” Two cookies encased in a doughnut. First cookie to slip outside of the doughnut ring gets eaten. That was lame. I have no idea what sumo cookies are.

“How to get a girl to forgive you” There is no way there is anything on this site that will help you with that, dude. Well, until now.  You’re welcome.

“Johnny Walker cake” Not something I’ve made before, but certainly something I’ll keep in mind. Thanks, lushes.

“You’re welcome monster” It’s either a Google image search that led to a recent picture I posted, or a brand new nickname for me. Polite ogre? I guess I’ll take it.

“Shibow” Creepers

“Sybil Bakes” Creepers

“Shibow syndrome” Whatever it is, you know you want it.

“Twinkie Pants” Only in America do these probably really exist. I bet they never go bad, either.

“Hug forever” I would not advise doing this. You’ll need your arms free to fight off robbers and provide me with more hilarious search terms.

“Whave canned” What’s that? Did you mean canned whale? How did canned whale get you here? There’s such thing as canned whale? Wait…

As you can tell, I’ve been needing and trying to distract myself with silliness. I also figured that baking something that would involve a lot of time and effort would probably take my mind off the madness, too. It doesn’t hurt that this particular something includes a classic combination that I cannot live without: it’s peanut butter jelly time, people.

Two of my childhood BFFs.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes. With Jelly IN the Cupcakes. This Excites Me To No End. (makes 12 cupcakes)

For the Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat or all-purpose flour (I prefer whole wheat, and so does the woman who invented this recipe, which makes us best friends)

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (I would increase this to 1 teaspoon if the peanut butter you use contains any sweeteners)

3/4 cup of creamy peanut butter (Do not use all-natural PB. It pains me to say that, but that stuff does not bake well. As a compromise, you can use Skippy Natural No-Stir, which contains some sugar, but no hydrogenated oils)

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened

1 cup of brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup of milk, room temperature

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of grape jelly

For the Frosting

8 ounces of cream cheese or neufchatel

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar

1 cup of creamy peanut butter (Same deal as above, fight the urge to go all-natural. I’m looking at you, hippies.)

Yes, that really is what I have decided to title this recipe. Don’t hate. Anyway, line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners and preheat your oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Meanwhile, in a larger bowl, use a hand mixer at medium speed to beat together peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time until fully incorporated, then stir in vanilla.

With mixer on low, alternate between pouring in the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined (Meaning don’t go nuts or fall asleep with the mixer going. That’s just dangerous anyway.), then distribute the batter evenly into cups of muffin tin. I’ve found that an ice cream scoop comes in really handy for this. It only took me, like, nine years to figure that one out.

Bake these for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through to ensure even baking, and remove when a toothpick inserted into one comes out clean. Cool these in their tins for a good ten minutes, then take them out and let them cool completely either on a rack or in the refrigerator, which should take around an hour.

Use this time to make some frosting. In a small bowl, with mixer on medium speed whip together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add in salt and vanilla and mix until combined. With the mixer on low, add in the confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time, scraping the sugary sides down every now and then to make sure everything’s incorporated. Finally, add in the peanut butter just until combined with cream cheese.

This looks the way a mouthful of peanut butter feels. Use a rubber spatula to separate frosting from beaters.

Before frosting, let’s fill these babies. Fill either an icing decorator or an empty squeeze bottle with your jelly or preserves. Gently push into each cupcake and move the squeezer (I really don’t know what other term to use. Kids, look away, I guess.) around a bit to make room for the jelly. Squeeze while slowly pulling the bottle out so that there’s a tiny bit of jelly popping out of the tops of each cupcake.

Do you think you're ready for this jelly?

Then frost using either a rubber spatula or your fancy icing decorator if you’ve got the patience to rinse the jelly out of it (I do not.) You can add a dollop of jelly on top like I did, if you’re into being super obvious, like I am.

You really can’t go wrong with such a classic combo. What I’m trying to say is that these were killer. I spent about half of a Saturday on them, so I think I succeeded in my mission of creating something time-consuming and distracting. In order to further busy myself, I’ll be packing for a midweek trip to San Diego, to visit/harass my best friend. I miss her like crazy and am really looking forward to kicking back in beautiful snow-free weather. So, basically, the plan is to bake, eat, hide and repeat. I’m nothing if not well-adjusted.

Categories
Chocolate Cheer Easy Baking Grown Up People Desserts No-Bake Recipes Sort of Healthy Strange and Yummy

Bloody Delicious Red Velvet Hot Chocolate. I Like To Call It Angrysauce.

ROAR! I AM MAD SHIBOW!

That was pretty threatening, no? No? Oh. Ok, well, maybe I should just talk about my feelings. That’s supposed to be helpful. So late last Monday I was feeling achy and then randomly starting shivering really badly. Like, teeth-chattering, can’t-type-real-words badly. I left work, went to bed, woke up 13 hours later, and could barely move. I didn’t have a cold, I thankfully don’t have the flu, but I was pretty much crippled by some crazy demon disease that still perplexes me. I was in a world of pain that left me at home alone for two full, horribly boring and mostly TV-less (The light burned my eyes. Maybe I’m a vampire now?) days…and then it was gone. Seriously. Whatever hit disappeared as quickly as it had attacked, which left me a little freaked. On a possibly related note, any recent Stamos sightings in the area?

Being alone makes you sad. Don’t get me wrong, though, I fortunately had some lovely friends and family checking up on me periodically, but still. I spent a good deal of time laying in bed, getting to know the cracks in my ceiling better, and that really sucked. Being alone makes you sad. It also makes you want to paint your ceiling a different color.

I was more than happy to return to work on Thursday, and then MORE than more than happy when my cousin George surprised me Friday morning at the office with a peanut butter and jelly doughnut from Doughnut Plant. Oh. My. Promised. Land.

This isn't even the top of the doughnut. My brain was too focused on which corner to rip into first to turn this thing over.

So nice, right? George didn’t even know about my mystery illness when he brought me this square-shaped (Btw, the shape makes the distribution of jelly throughout the doughnut more even. Genius.) gift of amazing. It would have made my day anyway, but this was exactly what I needed to turn a bad week right around. Cousin, you RULE.

Things started to pick up soon after that. I succeeded in spending exactly five bucks on my Halloween costume yet again, and partied it up with the Sylvapotamus Saturday night, despite the fact that there was snow on the ground AND IT’S OCTOBER. Ridic. My camera punked out, but I was able to get a few snaps of our respective costumes in anyway:

Sylv was a pink slip!
Yes, I did go for the flapper outfit.

I’m still pretty winded from whatever it was that attacked me last week, and I’m also seeing red from all of the frustration that illness provoked. In honor of that, and this especially spooky holiday, I give you Red Velvet Hot Chocolate with a Cream Cheese Icing Swirl.

Ok, so this is something that I pulled out of the sky. I mean, I am sure it exists out there, and a quick Google search would confirm as much, but I’ll leave that up to you. This, I am going to base on my favorite hot chocolate recipe, with tweaks by yours truly.

Before we begin, I should tell you that this is not your typical hot chocolate, and not just because it’s red. This is a thicker hot chocolate with an almost pudding-like consistency. It’s also quite dark and rich, so if you like your hot cocoa Nestle-style, maybe this is a no for you. It should really be a yes, though. Just sayin’.

Red Velvet Hot Chocolate (makes 1 serving)

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons of skim milk

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder

1/3 tablespoon of cornstarch

1 tablespoon of red food coloring

Combine all ingredients except the food coloring in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the mixture starts to bubble and boil, add the food coloring and stir until blood red. Muahahahaha.

Bloody delicious...

In the meantime, let’s work on our single-serving icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

2 tablespoons of cream cheese

2 tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar

Mix in a small bowl with a hand mixer until fully whipped. Spoon into an icing decorator if you’re a dork and own one (I’m a dork and own one) or just scoop it into your cup with a regular ol’ spoon.

Pour the contents of your bloody saucepan into an appropriate mug–I’d go for an espresso cup if you’ve got one since these are small but potent servings– and top off with your icing.

So even I was a little shocked at how well this turned out. I was really impressed with how much a simple cup of hot chocolate could be enhanced by a little dollop of icing, but, damn, it could. And it was. I know you can’t really see much, but that’s because I own monstrously large cups for some reason, which makes no sense since I am so small I can barely reach the top shelves on any of my cabinets. Maybe I’m compensating. In any case, have a Happy Halloween, and stay out of trouble, kids.

Categories
Chocolate Cheer Classic Favorites Cookies

Love That’s Stuffed With Friendship (Ok, My Bad…This One’s About Cookies)

Yes, I do have leftover Oreos from the last post. And yes, I know I can just eat them. But did you really just come here to watch me demo how to properly eat a sandwich cookie? (Twist off, bite into the cream, re-attach, dip into milk, devour, repeat)

I decided to put this under the “Classic Favorites” category because I do consider Oreo cookies and chocolate chip cookies to be both classic and favorites. If you disagree, you know how and where to find me. I’ll win, by the way. I ALWAYS WIN. But can you imagine these two together? Can you imagine them Sumo wrestling and then deciding they didn’t feel like fighting anymore and just wanted to hug forever? If you can, you should probably keep reading, because I like your style.

This is what happened when I Googled "sumo wrestling cookies." You're welcome, readers.

A few months before I started this blog, my friend Anthony posted a link on Facebook that caught my eye. It caught my eye because it was basically a link to a world of greatness, of wonder, of amazing ideas. About an hour after viewing the recipe for Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies, I was whipping butter with sugar and laughing maniacally at what would become the treat that would cause my boss to proclaim, with a massive grin, “that thing was lethal. In a good way. But lethal.” Let’s do this thing.

Now, as I’ve mentioned before, I have my own chocolate chip cookie recipe that I’ve spent years developing, so I only really used the link above as a  go-ahead to do very bad things to Oreos. You’re free to use whichever recipe you please, and to be honest, the finished products in this link do look am-ahzing. Below is my personal recipe, which also kinda rules ;).

Chocolate Chip Cookies That Will Eventually Harbor Fugitive Oreos* (makes 9 cookies)

1 cup of all-purpose or whole-wheat flour (I usually use whole wheat)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 big pinch of salt

3/4 cup of butter, softened

1 cup of brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of dark or semisweet chocolate chips

9 Oreo cookies

*So the crime-scene title is inspired by some CBS procedural drama that decided to start filming on my block. This I find uncool, mostly because I assume they’re going to film the scene of the “incident” at the heart of the episode on my street, making it seem like I live in a sketch ‘hood. I mean, I kind of do, but why’s the rest of the world need to know that?

Preheat your oven to 350ºF. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate larger bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, then the vanilla until smooth. Then stir in the flour mixture and combine until a batter is created. Fold in your chocolate chips and get ready to get hands-y with this.

Before we get to pictures, I should apologize, since this isn’t my best effort photography-wise. In all fairness, I had a guest over for dinner while I was making these, and didn’t want to be rude, hence the hasty snapshots. I’m also just kind of lame.

Let these blobs be a lesson to you: refrigerate your dough, folks.

So, if you’re not into getting at least a little bit messy, this isn’t the recipe for you. Then again, if you’re not into getting a little bit messy, you picked the wrong site to bum around on, because I am all about the hot mess cookie process. Ohhh…the hot mess cookie. Future post, perhaps? Anyway, with clean hands, grab a handful of cookie dough and start covering an Oreo with it. Try to get the entire Oreo hidden so that it appears you’ve got plain ol’ jumbo cookies on your baking sheet.

While working on these cookies this time around, I discovered something that might make the rest of you decide to rename me Captain Obvious: you should really refrigerate the cookie dough for about 20 minutes before working with it. Otherwise you’ll end up with about 40% of the dough stuck to your fingers, and your dinner companion will laugh at you, not be impressed by you. This absolutely did happen to me. When you’ve got yours covered, send them into the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the tops are golden-brown.

Cookie supercontinent

Right, so, as you can see, these cookies spread a little bit. More like a lot. Basically, don’t be like Shibow, sloppily plopping jumbo monster cookies haphazardly onto a baking sheet. Leave a bit of space so that you don’t end up needing to use your awesome skull spatula, given to you by a lovely and deeply-missed former coworker named Julie (thankyouthankyouthankyou!), to wedge these apart.

Cross section (plus rad spatula!). Apologies for blurriness.

Bottom line: these are just as crazy delicious as you think they are. They’re also as big as my head. Need I say more?

Oh, one last thing: with Halloween coming up and my patience waning, I thought I’d ask for suggestions on what to masquerade as. Last year, I was Emo Lady Waldo, which is basically just Lady Waldo with a name tag that reads “Maybe I just don’t want to be found. Ever think of that?” That costume set me back five bucks, which is exactly how much red duct tape costs. I am creative. This year, I was thinking of either being a flapper, something random that I find at Target, or Waldo again. For the flapper outfit, I have a suitable dress, I just need a cheap boa or something, in keeping with my new tradition of using items I already own as costumes. By the way, should I be worried that I’m able to use so many of my everyday clothes as Halloween attire? And is there an awesome costume I’m not considering but should be?