I’m not one for making a log of candy really…. sure fudge and truffles around Christmas and the like, but rarely candy, so this “Nuts About You” Sea Salt Peanut Brittle is a bit unique for me. It’s a very American thing. But it turned out well and makes a great Valentine’s Day present. Just watch your teeth — this stuff is hard!
Happy Superbowl Sunday! As I think I write every year, I am more a fan of the game-time snacks than the game itself, and usually I try to make everything the day before the big game, but somehow my week got a bit discombobulated and today I am scrambling. I also forgot an few key ingredients and am not much in the mood to go to the shops, so I’ve decided to re-evaluate my day and just share this one thing with you instead. It’s the annual chicken wings! So far, there are 6 recipes for wings on the site, so this makes 7. Tart and spicy, crispy and delicious. Feeds a crowd and if you double the recipe, you could feed the entire neighborhood!
I did a (not-baking-related) training event yesterday and it was pretty intense which means I had a hard time sleeping last night. Insomni-baking at it’s finest came up with this bundt cake recipe. That I (maybe surprisingly, maybe not) had the ingredients at hand was amazing and its a very nice breakfast this morning.
Today is a very important holiday. I mean, critically important. Yes, it’s Lunar / Chinese New Year, but no, that isn’t it. It’s National Croissant Day! See, told you it was important. 🙂
I decided to mark the occasion not by making croissants — I have made them before and they are a lot of effort — so I decided to make something with croissants instead: this Croissant and Custard Casserole. Essentially it is an overnight French toast casserole or a fancy bread pudding made with croissants. Great for breakfast as you can assemble the evening before, and have it all ready to bake up in the morning. With the buttery croissants, this is a totally decadent breakfast dish.
So I know that it might seem that I toil in the kitchen for hours, and sometimes I do, though “toiling” isn’t exactly the word that I would use as I enjoy spending time in the kitchen, as it is my refuge, but I am all about convenience food as well. And batch cooking. So here is something that I often make in batches: Hand pies. These are Spinach Mushroom + Cheddar Hand Pies. They are fantastic right out of the oven, but also freeze phenomenally well and with just 30 seconds in the microwave and 5 minutes in the oven to crisp up again, one (or sometimes two, shhhhh, don’t tell anyone) they make a great lunch or snack for dinner in front of the game if I am really too lazy to cook. If you search on hand pies, you’ll find more recipes too.