Behold: New Orleans’ French Quarter, made entirely of gingerbread and candy!

For the past several years I’ve gotten together with a group of friends to make a crazy gingerbread project. (See bottom of the post for links to all of the previous projects!) This is actually last year’s project, which I thought I’d share now in hopes I can get it together in time this year to share our upcoming project. The project is always related to the theme of our Christmas party, which was “Christmas in the French Quarter.”

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Did you know you can make super easy and tasty cookies out of cake mix? Well, now you do! And you can dye them green and decorate them with red sprinkles to make them holiday-ready.

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Every Christmas, my brother-in-law Steve requests a batch of bourbon balls like his grandma used to make. The original recipe for this old-fashioned holiday treat calls for crushing up nuts, Nilla wafers, powdered sugar and cocoa and moistening them with bourbon and corn syrup. They are no-bake and super easy to make, but the problem is, nobody in our family likes them but him! So this year I decided to shake up tradition a little bit and incorporate some of his other favorite things into the recipe, like tequila, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and chipotle powder, in hopes of getting a few more takers.

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It probably won’t surprise you to hear that a lot of people ask me for advice about cooking Thanksgiving dinner. But why keep it to my inner circle? Here, in pretty much random order, are the resources, advice, and tips I have to make your Thanksgiving cooking successful!

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This has never been a political blog, but today we woke up to a whole new world. So I don’t know if this will become a regular thing, or just a one-time piece, but this is what I have to share today. -KM 

10 Things For Today, 11/9/2016

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Are you happy? Would you like to be happier? I have been reading a lot of articles on the internet about the habits of happy people, and boy are they stupid. So I would like to add a few of my own. Of course I have no medical or psychology training and just made these up, but I think you will find that if you just do these simple things, you will be happier every day!

10 Simple Ways To Be Happier Every Day

1. DRINK LOTS OF WATER. Or, something else that will refresh and hydrate you. Like 5 or 6 vodka tonics. Yeah, that will do it.

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Pumpkin spice season – amirite? Now I have never been a big fan of pumpkins in my lattes, oreos, tampons, and so forth… but a delicious fall cookie? That is what pumpkin was made for.

These soft pumpkin cookies are super cake-y and tender, with a decadent brown sugar glaze, and I basically can’t stop eating them and now I’ve negated all the working out I did today but that’s beside the point. Because PUMPKIN SPICE!

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My husband has been flirting with the idea of going vegetarian, and while I don’t think us meat-lovers will ever get all the way there, it is fun to try and incorporate more vegetarian and almost-vegetarian dishes into our regular dinner repertoire. This one is a new favorite, with slow-braised white beans, kale, arugula, and spinach. It’s a definite winner!

The stew is flavored by a bit of bacon, a tiny amount of anchovies, and a parmesan rind. This is like an umami trifecta! If you’re worried about the anchovies being fishy, don’t: they just add a nuttiness and a complexity to the finished dish. To make it vegetarian, just omit the bacon and anchovies.

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Can we talk about chocolate frosting for a minute? When it’s good, it’s the best – but so often, it’s not that good. Too fudgy, too dark, too sweet, too thick, too sloppy, too chocolatey, not chocolatey enough… you get the idea. But this one, to me, is simply perfect. It’s what I hope for when I bite into a cupcake. And it is really easy to achieve at home.

The recipe is roughly the chocolate buttercream they use at Magnolia Bakery. The texture, taste, and sweetness are absolutely perfect. It is chocolatey, buttery, and sweet in all the right amounts. And it is super smooth and silky to boot. I have given amounts for different-sized cakes below, so you can make enough for what you need. [Read more →]

I got a donut pan for my birthday and have been experimenting with baked donut recipes like crazy. When I’ve tried standard flavors like chocolate and vanilla, I’ve been disappointed, frankly, because they aren’t fried like “real” donuts. But stacking the batter up with fresh berries changes the game completely. This is a cakey, muffin-y kind of donut that you can’t stop eating. Dipping them in a simple blackberry glaze just before serving makes them a near-perfect weekend breakfast treat.

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