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Chocolate truffles are an awesome gift to receive. I mean, who hates getting a package of chocolate truffles ?
No one. That’s who.
The only thing better than getting truffles is giving them to someone else. Didn’t your mother tell you it’s better to give than receive? Yeah, it’s true.
Raise your hand if you have a coffee addiction!
Whoa! A heck load of you raised your hand. You know what, I used to be ashamed of my coffee habit, vowing every few months to go on some cleanse to nix it, but I’ve read the reviews and coffee is healthy for me (antioxidants, people).
There are actually nights where I go to bed looking forward to the next morning’s cup of coffee. I’ve finally come to terms with my addiction and am no longer ashamed. In fact, I recently told myself that I was going to find new ways to implement it in food I love. First way? Mocha Popsicles! Shut up…yes, they’re so amazing. So amazing that on my way into work, I dripped one all over that oxford blue shirt you see in the picture. (By the way, this is a very common occurence with me.) Thank heavens I use my trunk as a 2nd closet. I’m proud to say that I actually had ample choices to change into! Woo hoo!
Let’s talk popsicles…
They have super strong coffee in them. They have chocolate. And sweetened condensed milk. Basically, these Mocha Popsicles have every awesome thing ever created. Except cheese. But that’d just be weird.
Dear Recession,
I hate you I dislike you. I think it’s time for you to go away now, don’t you think? Look! I made you oatmeal cookies…think of it as a parting gift of sorts. So leave…now. You’ve caused nothing but trouble ever since you arrived and everyone is sorta tired of your face.
And to all you people that caused this, you sort of make me sick. My friends can’t seem to fund their movies, or get money for their art projects. A bunch of my favorite restaurants and boutiques have closed their doors, which in turn has lead to a whole bunch of people now working jobs they don’t like just to pay the rent (and that’s if they can even find a job) all ’cause of you. People have shed a lot of tears, families have broken up, and overall, you’ve just made life a whole lot harder for a whole lot of people. Sooo…I’m thinking you owe us something, dontcha think? I think you owe us some cookies…I mean, it’s really the least you could do. It certainly won’t make us forget, but you know, we’ll call it an olive branch. And since I’m pretty confident you can afford it, I’m demanding you put some bacon in those cookies, and I think Valhorna chocolate chips are also in order (see below for example).
So dig into your bonus-filled pockets, put on a cute, little apron and get baking. You suuure do have a lot of cookies to bake.
xoxo,
Adrianna
Continue reading 'Depression (or Recession) Era Oatmeal Cookies'»
I have a distinct memory from my childhood of my mother and I buying a coconut with the intention of eating the flesh and coconut milk inside. However, we got it home and sort of looked at each other to see who would make the first move to open it. I assumed that since she was my mother she of course knew all the secrets of the universe and was utterly shocked to discover that neither she nor my step-dad knew what to do. My stepfather, who flew jet planes in Vietnam and assembled my bike on Christmas day, was stumped by this little brown ball in our shopping bag.
I firmly believe that the human population is broken up into two types: people who adore mayonnaise, or those that vehemently despise the stuff. I, on the other hand, am a bit of a hybrid of those two people, like, if they had a kid, you would have me. I love mayonnaise, but only if I don’t have to make it. The minute I throw egg yolks and some oil in a blender and see the emulsification process, my stomach tightens and I’m coughing on my knees, and am physically unable to spread the stuff on a slice of bread. But if it comes pre-made, in a jar, with the label Hellman’s or Duke’s, I’m all about it.
For mayonnaise fans, it has the ability to make things taste exponentially better. It adds awesome flavor and moisture to all sorts of things. Got a Chick-fil-A sandwich that’s a little dry? Add mayo! Need a sweet dipping sauce for French fries? Take a cue from the French, and use some mayo! Wanna make the lightest, most moist chocolate cake ever? Yes, that’s right, add mayo!
The mayonnaise in this cake actually replaces the vegetable oil that’s typically called for. And it sorta makes sense if you think about it, since all mayo really is is egg, a little vinegar and oil. And since this chocolate cake is so unusually light, I didn’t think twice about pairing it with chocolate frosting, which I typically would never do.
So to all you mayo haters, give mayo one more chance and make this cake. I think it deserves it.
I’ve been a really bad girlfriend. I mean, one of the bonuses to dating someone that likes to cook should be that you get to eat all your favorite foods all the time, right? Well…Chase likes BBQ and hotdogs and I don’t eat most meat, so… sorry babe. You sorta picked the wrong girl in that department.
But hey, I can bake, right? So Chase should always be able to enjoy his favorite cake, right? Want to know how many times I have baked Chase’s all-time favorite cake?
Zero.
Not one time.
In fact, when Chase’s mom asked if he wanted his favorite cake as his groom’s cake, he said it had been so long since he’d eaten one that he wasn’t even sure he still liked it.
See, I told you. I’m a bad girlfriend.
Why haven’t I ever made him a cake, you ask? Is it because I’m just not a nice person? I really hope not. I think I’m a nice person. Do you think I’m nice? I hope so.
As of late, when I see pregnant women walking down the street—you know the ones that look like they could give birth any day now—I get scared for them. All the pain! All the agonizing pain! The other day I was at the salon and telling this woman about my new observation and she told me giving birth feels like your hips are breaking. Whaaaaa? Hips breaking? No thank you! Suuuure, you get a pint-size pile of cuteness that I’m sure makes it all seem worth it, but man, can we talk about the pain again?
The idea of one day having a child growing inside me kinda blows my mind. Seriously. Like having this thing just growing and growing inside me. It’s a bit alien-esque, if you ask me. And it’s like so reliant on you. It’s kinda selfless…yep, women are selflesss, especially when it comes to this. I know we don’t’ have much of a choice, but seriously, we’re selfless.
Another thing I’m not ready to deal with? Giving things up: coffee, sushi, wine (the thought of it now just made my lip quiver), and chocolate mousse. I plan on kindly reminding my future child, when they’re throwing a fit that I won’t give them a cell phone at the ripe age of 4 (I imagine that by the time I have a child, kids will be asking for cell phones upon entering the world), of all the things I gave up; specifically this Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse.
This isn’t your 1992-Sizzler, ubiquitous chocolate mousse. Nope. This stuff is different—it’s sophisticated. It has an air about it. I mean, if I were salted caramel, I’d have an air about me too. Wouldn’t you? The stuff is sexy, in like a Jackie-O type of way. The hint of saltiness with the gooeyness of the caramel, and bitterness from the dark chocolate all play against each other so well. And since it’s mousse, that means it’s light, fluffy and airy with a surprise thickness due to the caramel. It’s quite lovely. And much easier than your typical chocolate mousse. Meaning, it doesn’t require seven bowls and moments of utter panic. It’s simply perfect.
And say, you’re reading this and you happen to be pregnant, I say skip folding in the egg whites. You’ll have an awesome pudding-esque caramel, chocolate concoction on your hands. I think you should do it, you know, to celebrate your selflessness and stuff.
Can I tell you something? I’ve cheated before. It happened when I was in 5th grade and taking a social studies test. I didn’t know the capitol of South Dakota, or what its major exports were, and so… I cheated. And then after school I broke down crying in front of my mom; I’m really not that good at keeping these kinds of secrets. So yeah, based on past experience I didn’t really think cheating was going to be a good thing. However, this time there were no tears and I wasn’t grounded from watching TV for two weeks. Instead, there was fudge. Lots and lots of awesome fudge.
Well, this recipe comes with some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I learned how to make easy homemade pudding, something that is probably going to be common fixture in my home from now on. The bad news is that as excited as I was to incorporate pomegranate, it didn’t really live up to the hype I had in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, this was incredibly delicious, and anyone that turns their nose up at it is probably not someone I want to be friends with for much longer. But I feel that whenever something has “pomegranate” in the title, it should transcend any normal expectations you might have.
Uhohhh! It’s a few days before Christmas and I haven’t done a lick of Christmas shopping. I guess you could say I’ve been distracted doing other random things, like sleeping for 14 hrs straight…and watching past seasons of Top Chef…and, uh, watching episode after episode of Avec Eric (which by the way, if you haven’t watched you’re totally missing out). I essentially have had better things to do then gear up and go to the wretched mall. And since I’ve waited so long, I can’t order anything online without being penalized by high shipping costs, but still I’m not too worried. I have a feeling I’ll just make myself some pancakes and this hot chocolate and my problems will go away.
And plus, here at A Cozy Kitchen we’ve been busy doing other “life” stuff…like getting proposed to. Yep, you’ve heard right. Just nights ago Chase got on one knee and asked his lady, Caroline, to marry him. It’s pretty exciting stuff and I’m totally psyched to plan a wedding cake, if not make it myself, which I’m secretly scared to do. One thing Caroline and I have talked about, of course, is the cake…and we’re both leaning toward a red velvet cake with a butter cream frosting. So in lieu of my Caroline becoming an honest woman, I bring you the liquid, winter version of her future cake: Red Velvet Hot Chocolate with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream!
Continue reading 'Red Velvet Hot Chocolate with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream'»
It’s December. Are you panicking yet? A lot of people I know are. December, for many people, means a long list of parties to juggle, decorating, wearing uncomfortable, sparkly holiday dresses, gifts to buy for family, trips to plan, all while still tending to normal life stuff. And despite all of these things, we still LOVE the holidays. In leiu of your stress, I present you with a gift; think of it as a stress-free Holiday gift from me to you: Chocolate Popcorn with Sea Salt.
It’s my dear friend Johnna‘s snack of choice to make at dinner parties, and she, by far, is the best dinner party thrower I’ve met. Why is she so good ? Well for starters she makes this and puts it out as people pour in. It’s the perfect distractor while last minute scrambling is done in the kitchen.
Aren’t you glad that bathing suit season is over? It can’t be a mere coincidence that the holidays are not only filled with decadent desserts that you only eat once a year, but also big, baggy sweaters that hide away any extra inches those foods bring with them. Just another reason to have not just one, but two pieces of this insanely good pie. Actually, if want to go ahead and eat the whole thing, I really couldn’t blame you. And I promise not to tell a soul.
I have never been a big fan of meringues. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with them, they’re just not normally my thing. I always thought they were like the marshmallows from Lucky Charms that had been blown up to about 100 times their normal size and then called cookies. Some of you might be drooling over this, but to me, it’s always seemed like just too much sugar and fluff.
However, about a week ago, for no apparent reason that anyone can detect, I got a CRAVING for meringues. This kind of thing happens to me a lot, just ask Chase. Out of the clear blue sky I will all of sudden develop a craving that blinds me from anything else going on in the world except for my one desire to eat this food. For days I languished over the fact that I couldn’t keep a thought in my head due to my distraction with meringues. Part of me was tempted to go down the street and buy some store bought ones, but now I’m a food blogger for goodness’ sake, if I’m going to crave something foolish I should at least go all the way to get it out of my system and learn how to cook it.
A few weeks ago a friend of mine had a bad case of poison oak. I mean, he was COVERED. He was in fact so covered that he had to go to the hospital. Now, if anyone you know has to go the hospital because of poison oak, the least you can do is bake cookies for him. At least, that’s how I feel. I asked my friend what kind of cookies he preferred and without hesitation he said “double chocolate chip.”
Coincidentally, my mother had recently sent me a recipe for Ooey Gooey Double Chocolate cookies from Milk in Los Angeles, so I decided to give them a try. To be clear: I have never been to Milk; I couldn’t find it on a map if my life depended on it. However, I LOVE this place. I would go there every day for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even a mid-day snack, all because of these chocolate pieces of heaven.
This is my new picnic basket
Isn’t it cute? Don’t you just want to pick it up and take it places?
People told me not to buy this, because they said I will never use it. I am absolutely convinced that I will use it, but just to be sure, we made a deal, this picnic basket and I.
Here are the promises I made:
- I promise not to put you in my garage, forget that you’re there and never think of you again until we move, at which point I take you to Goodwill. This will NOT happen to you.
- I promise not to let something spill inside of you, and if I do, I will clean it up. I will NOT let it sit until it becomes gross and moldy and I’m so disgusted I never want to touch you again.
- I promise not to let my dog chew on you, and I won’t let other dogs at the park pee on you either. That’s just gross really…
- I promise to take you to many fabulous places, but only when it’s sunny and warm. Picnics just aren’t fun in the cold.
- I promise to fill you only with yummy things, like these black & white Rice Krispie Treats.
