Sour and Sweet.

This will absolutely be my most controversial, divisive, provocative post to date.  I anticipate a mad rush of comments, far outstripping all my previous posts.  You know, like five. 

It’s not about food.  It’s about . . .

2011 in Words. Scary, Scary Words.

You’d think that after dishing out only 21 new posts this year, there would be little to put in a year end round up.  Ohhhh, but you would be wrong.  I find that you, my friends, can be far more interesting than me.  The 38,139 of you who have stopped by this place in the last two and a half years.  The 50 or so of you who still stop by every day, even without a new post to lure you in.  What brings you here?

Very. Interesting. Things.

Keywords, people.  Those words you punch into a search engine when you want to find something.  Words like . . .

Chocolate Compost Cookies

I have never been an “it” girl. If you asked anyone to describe me, the word “fashionable” would never occur to them. Hip? Trendy? Edgey? No, no, and golly no. I blame it on my Idaho upbringing-you know, back in the days before the internets and cell phones and such, when po-dunk places like my hometown

Carmelized Banana Cake with Bourbon and Pecans

Woot!  I managed to make a tiny dent in my freezer banana stash!  And by tiny, I mean *tiny*.  As in, three bananas down, out of twent- two total.  Twenty-two bananas, that’s just ridiculous.  And the only way to keep that pile from growing is to do all the grocery shopping myself.  If the hubster does it, he buys another 8 bananas.  Every single week.

The State of My Freezer

This is my freezer.  With 22 bananas in it.  The place where bananas go to decay.  And to dream of a better life . . . as a baked good.

I’ve already made a double batch of Sugar Plum’s uber excellent Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread – which I baked in mini loaves, perfectly handy and snack sized (and now back in my freezer!).  I also made a delicious Carmelized Banana Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting – recipe to be posted someday soonish, I hope.

Now what??  I’m in serious need of overripe frozen banana recipes.  The kind that can be knocked out in the space of a 30 minute baby nap, preferably!  Anyone . . . ?  Bueller . . . ?

Lemon Lime Icebox Pie

I should not be allowed to go into Walgreens.  Fact.  Particularly when I have a baby sleeping (finally!) peacefully in the stroller, and absolutely nowhere I have to be any time soon.  Recipe for disaster.  It’s like strolling right back into my early teenage years . . . right up to and including the bad soft rock music playing on the store’s sound system.  I can sing along with “Rocket Man”, oh yes oh yes I can.  And “Dream Weaver”, and ”Wildfire” and “Killing Me Softly.”  All that nostalgia almost makes me want to shop for fake nails and a hair highlighting kit.  Almost.

I should probably not admit these things.

Chloe

Chloe Elizabeth

Phew, what a ride.  Two months and counting!

I’ve been posting pictures and a few stories on my baby blog (link in sidebar, below) – but I should be back to posting a few recipes here before too long.  How about Carmelized Banana Cake with Bourbon and Pecans? Lemon Lime Icebox Pie?  Uh huh.  Send Chloe some good “long nap” vibes, and we’ll get something posted soon!

One year ago on C&T: Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes and Sour Cream Blueberry Scones

Other good stuff from the archives:

PBJ&O Bars

Brown Sugar Cookie Crumble Ice Cream

Wonton Fruit Cups

Easy Berry Crisp

Hand Pies

 

The Ultimate Makeover. No Cosmetics Needed.

Chloe Elizabeth, June 6, 2011

When I was in high school – specifically, the summer between my sophomore and junior years – I decided I needed a makeover. I have no idea what inspired this thought . . . maybe I was bored, maybe I was feeling a little down on myself, maybe just looking for a change. But I got the idea in my brain, and decided it must be done. At the time, I was spending the summer with my dad and stepmom in Seattle, away from my hometown and friends back in Boise, Idaho. Since I was in The Big City, I figured my makeover would be all the more dramatic. Since I had my driver’s license (and, gasp, my parents allowed me to drive one of their cars! in the city!), I decided my makeover had to be done at the nicest place I could imagine – the big, beautiful mall in Bellevue, all the way across Lake Washington (by freeway!) from where we lived.

So I booked an appointment at an upscale salon, and off I went. And a couple hours later

In case you were wondering . . .

Toast + PB + Marshmallows + Chocolate = Heaven.

You say brilliant.  I say breakfast!

One year ago on C&T: Pineapple Upside Down Carrot Cupcakes and Polenta with Sausage and Mozzarella

Two years ago on C&T:  Granola and Southwestern Corn and Black Bean Salad

PB Cookie Peep S’more

S'more Before; S'more After

What to do with leftover marshmallow peeps?  S’more them!  The peep above is a homemade marshmallow version, but the store bought ones work just fine, too.  I used a jumbo peanut butter cookie for my base – since I had a batch just out of the oven – but you can use anything you have on hand, cookie, graham cracker, etc.  Top with chocolate (mine was ganache from a batch of truffles, but a piece of chocolate bar works better).  Then top with your choice of marshmallow peep creature.  Place under your broiler AND DO NOT WALK AWAY.  It should only take a couple of minutes to melt the chocolate, goo-ify the marshmallow, and caramelize everything nicely.  I’m a burnt marshmallow smore type of girl, which is good because I did take one small step away from my oven and sure enough, my peep went from golden brown to smoky black in that instant.  But still, so very tasty!