Frosted Carrot Ancho Snack Cake

September 11, 2012 | 29 Comments

Something of interest came up in our household the other day, something that you may already be aware of. This family learned, for the first time, about the Thundershirt. Maybe you’ve heard of these?

Thundershirts are tight little tees for your pup, the idea being that gentle pressure on the canine bod will sooth any jangled nerves he/she may be experiencing due to, say, a passing thunderstorm.

And being a canine household, as well as a person who is always fascinated by infomercials and their associated products, Thundershirts got me thinking.

I started thinking that maybe it would be nice to have Thundershirts for more than just dogs.

Like, wouldn’t it be nice to have Thundershirts for husbands?

I don’t have any children yet, but I think that, when I do, I would like to have a kid-sized Thundershirt handy in the case of any emergency tantrums.

I would like to have our presidential candidates wear Thundershirts during their debates. And I would request that Thundershirts be made available to Real Housewives across the land.

Seriously, Thundershirts are looking more and more like the solution to so many problems!

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Sweet Polverones

April 2, 2012 | 30 Comments

Some foods are simply underrated, don’t you think? Never get the credit they deserve.

Can’t you think of a few?

Take the lowly walnut, for example. Everyone’s always blathering on about peanuts, cashews and almonds like they’re coated in gold. If this was Nutty High, those golden nuts would be the Cool Kids, sitting at their own table at lunchtime and hating on all the other poor nuts at the Friday night football game.

That’s just sad.

Walnuts are that quiet girl at the back of the classroom wearing only black and listening to New Order or Morrissey when she’s not in the art studio. She’ll grow up to be a Mensa-joining super model. Where will Ms. Cashew be then?

One thing’s for sure:  that ten years reunion will be NUTS! (ew) (gross) (I’m SO sorry.)

I’ve been making these simple cookies for a few years now and, just like walnuts, they’re sleepers.

It’s the butter, and powdered sugar and, of course, the walnuts:  everyone is always surprised by how much they enjoy each and every bite.

And just like any other icebox cookie, the hardest part of preparing them is waiting for them to chill solid so that you can slice and bake.

You can do it! You can do it! You can do it!

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Torta De Cielo

March 21, 2012 | 48 Comments

I will confess to you that I am not a huge fan of almonds. I went through a huge tamari almond phase in college and I simply ate myself out of them. Do you ever eat yourself out of a food? Unfortunately I have yet to eat myself out of peanut butter, bacon, or raw cookie dough, but I digress.

This is the story of The Little Torta That Could. Could talk me back into the fold of Almond Appreciation. I’ll tell you the story of this torta through pictures, since it is such an easy cake to prepare.

And not hard to love! See if you fall in love with almonds, and possibly this classic torta, too…

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Sweet Glazed Avocado Pop Tarts

August 31, 2011 | 70 Comments

So the neighborhood of my youth was dominated by two epic debates:

1. Who had the best sticker collection; and

2. Pop Tarts vs. Toaster Strudels.

After Luna down the street got her mom to invest in a heavy set of puffys that were also scratch and sniffs, I was straight up locked out of the sticker race. I took my glow in the darks, glitters and googly eyes home and packed it in.

But I held my head high because I always knew that I was on the side of all that is good and right in the universe when it came to breakfast pastries.

Let me break it down for you. First of all, Toaster Strudels are not portable. Take this exchange that actually occurred at a bus stop somewhere in Virginia sometime in the 1980s:

M.:  Hey there. I love your New Kids On The Block lunchbox.

Girl With A Toaster Strudel:  Thanks! I would totally open it up and show you the coordinating thermos that’s inside, but I’ve got this Toaster Strudel in one hand and a tube of glaze in the other. I need to apply my glaze as I eat my breakfast pastry. This just isn’t working.

M.:  Bet you wished you had a Pop-Tart right now instead of that stoopit Toaster Strudel.

Girl With A Toaster Strudel:  Sing it sister.

Here’s the next issue with Toaster Strudels:  they take way too much effort to prepare.

Seriously, your jamming for the bus stop, you’ve GOT to get the seat next to that boy that you’re seriously crushing on, you can’t forget your lunchbox, homework or leg warmers, and you’re expected to preheat an oven, stand in front of it while your Toaster Strudel bakes, let your Toaster Strudel cool enough to be edible, and then chow down?

I think not.

You can’t even accidentally leave a box of Toaster Strudels out on the counter overnight when you need a snack after you sneak downstairs to call Kiss 109.2 FM and request Aerosmith’s Angel for Boy That You’re Seriously Crushing On.

They’ll be ruined.

Just like your hopes and dreams of Boy That You’re Seriously Crushing On hearing your request, knowing it was sent from you and falling immediately in love.

Broken dreams, broken breakfast. That’s a bad day.

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