Smith Family Weblog

I am probably one of the few who is embarking upon, and actually looking forward to, several hours of baking on Wednesday and Thursday night. (These nights will follow what will likely be two unusually busy 13-hour work days, though in all fairness, the days would be shorter if I’d quit blogging and start working…)

But, Valentine’s Day comes but once a year, and while it’s never hard for me to find an excuse to bake, this day is too good to be cast aside due to a schedule that’s more hectic than normal.

So, while I prepare for a board meeting, an event and a presentation to the entire staff–all of which will happen within 24 on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning–my mom sent me this article.

I love my job–honestly, I do. But there’s a small part of me that wonders if there isn’t something else out there, too. The idea of renting a commercial kitchen a few nights a week–maybe one with a small play area just for the kids–is incredibly tempting. Could it be the best of both worlds? Could I manage?

The next two days might help me determine that.

I made a batch of Ina Garten’s peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies for Bryan’s friend Dave this weekend. As I’ve come to expect with any Ina recipe, they were delicious–even better when just a tad under baked.

I made a few batches of cookies to take to a Superbowl party yesterday. The cookies on the left are an adaptation of the Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe from the Quaker Oats box top. I omit the cinnamon and raisins and add orange zest, white chocolate chips and dried cranberries instead. The cookies in the middle are Snickerdoodle Sandwiches, and the ones on the right are my absolute favorite–Chocolate Toffee Cookies from Bon Appétit.

While looking for dessert ideas, I came across a recipe for build-your-own cupcake sandwiches. Basically, you slice the top off chocolate cupakes and serve both halves with whipped cream, chocolate ganache, chopped nuts, candies and other toppings. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Bryan vetoed it as not being football friendly. Someday…

I found this recipe for a breakfast tart in the latest Williams-Sonoma catalog and finally made it last weekend. The crust is docked puff pastry topped with crème fraîche and Gruyère cheese, and the tart is topped with bacon and eggs. Very easy and very pretty!

I recently made red velvet balls, and I have to say, I was completely underwhelmed. I did use a cake mix, so perhaps that was part of the problem.

The batter–which is just crumbled cake and a jar of cream cheese frosting–was incredibly sticky.

The recipe suggested using chocolate-flavored almond bark–which I find to be great for a lot of things–but in this recipe it was cloyingly sweet. I think a dark chocolate coating might be a better balance.

They looked pretty, but I actually only ended up dipping about a half dozen. They just didn’t live up to my expectations–especially given the work involved. Has anyone else attempted these? What did I do wrong?

Last year, I baked 10 batches of Christmas coookies in advance of the holiday. I shared them with coworkers, friends, neighbors and family.

This year, the number on that list has grown to 24, and I seem to have found I have less time on my hands than while on maternity leave last year.

So, I decided to pare down a bit, switching over to candy instead of cookies. I made six recipes–all very easy and surprisingly fast. It probably took more time to construct the two dozen boxes then it did to finish the contents.

These are all recipes from the Martha Stewart Homemade Holiday Candy collection. Clockwise, from top left: Walnut fudge, peppermint bark, fleur de sel toffee, sour cream and bourbon praline, peanut butter cup and a Chambord truffle.

The toffee was my favorite–I love anything that’s both salty and sweet–though I did overcook it a bit. The peanut butter cups were very easy and very good, too. My pralines looked nothing like Martha’s, though I guess by now that shouldn’t surprise me!