Posts Tagged ‘holiday’
happy halloween! (pumpkin cheese ball, bacon-wrapped squash bites, dark and stormy punch)
**sings** It’s the most… wonderful time… of the yeaaar!
Okaaay I know that’s actually a Christmas song but it’s far more appropriate for me to sing it during Halloween. This weekend/day fills me with more joy than almost anything else and I decided to celebrate this year with a nice little shindig in my apt. Not as much of a production as my Oscar party, but still just as fun. I wanted to keep the food simple, seasonal, and a little on the playful side, so I whipped up a delicious cheese ball and some finger foods (not literally), and a deliciously spicy and sinful punch. Everything was pretty easy and left plenty of time to focus on my costume… which was one of the most ambitious things I’ve ever done.
I’m a Lichtenstein painting!
Happy Halloween, everyone!
cinnamon rolls (happy easter!)
Oh, Easter. In a way you’re my favorite holiday in the culinary world more than any other because your day is devoted to breakfast and brunch, in which all my favorite foods reside. I was going nuts trying to choose what exactly to make for my Easter entry since there is no breakfast/brunch food I don’t love (no – really), and in the end, I had to go with one sweet and one savory dish (to be posted later).
Although we did a lot of the traditional Polish/Catholic customs for Easter growing up (dyeing eggs, strict lent, attending all Easter masses), our usual Easter fare wasn’t Polish at all. We’d have a big breakfast of sweet and savory things like scrambled eggs, potatoes o’brian, and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls before heading to church where I would secretly eat the Eggums I had snuck in my pockets and get disapproving looks from my mother. Then for dinner it would be bone-in ham, au gratin potatoes, and cornbread. There just wasn’t much Polish influence in our meals, so as much as I love my heritage and the food it offers, I decided to go with something we always enjoyed at our modern American Easter brunches.
The Doughboy certainly produces a delicious and fast cinnamon roll, but these just put him to shame. Although mine don’t make that glorious thoomp! sound when you make them, they are still ooey-gooey and rich cinnamon rolls with that cream cheese icing I could just eat by the bowlful. They require very little work (just time to rise) and once you’ve tried a homemade cinnamon roll, you’ll never touched the canned ones again.
Eggs, butter, buttermilk.
Dough + melted butter.
irish coffee sheet cake
“If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough.”
With St. Patrick’s Day here, I knew I wanted to bake something to celebrate one of my favorite cultures. I was kicking myself a bit since I previously made cupcakes which are, well, practically the most perfect Irish stereotypical culture themed dessert, but thankfully, this fit the bill quite well.
Drinking whiskey straight isn’t something I do often, but cooking with it is phenomenal. It makes everything aromatic, malty, and just richer. Combined with coffee and chocolate, this cake is out-of-this-world in the flavor levels. Topped with more coffee-whiskey glaze, these are borderline Paula Deen level indulgent, but hey, it’s a holiday which automatically means indulging. Which makes it okay…. right?
A holy triumvirate.
MY WALNUTS!
