5 Christmas Gifts for Bakers

It's officially Christmastime! Encourage your favorite cook (aka, mom/girlfriend/sister) to be in the kitchen this holiday season with these fantastic gifts:

1. An Adorable Apron

There are a ton of gorgeous aprons on Etsy, but I have personal experience with Boojiboo and recommend her highly. She has a variety of styles and each comes in a ton of color combos. Keep your eyes peeled for her seasonal designs too!


2. Almost Edible Earrings

I have at least three pairs of earrings from Sweet and Savory's delectable collection and I love them all! These cookies and cream cake earrings are definitely on my wish list.


3. Not Edible Earrings

My first true love on Etsy were these miniature utensil earrings from Alliteration. The forks and spoons are competing for most worn earrings in my personal arsenal of earwear. I also have my eye on her meat cleavers, if you know what I mean.


4. A Kitchen Timer

 

If you color coordinate this vintage-style kitchen timer with her KitchenAid mixer, you will be regarded as a god of giftgiving. You will publicly give all credit to me and the loveable monkeys from Think Geek.

5. Measuring Spoons

Everybody needs penguin measuring spoons. Everybody. That's why you're going to take your butt down to Pier 1 this weekend to buy a set for everyone you love. Including me.


What do you want for Christmas? Tell me in the comments!

Vegetarian Thanksgiving Fake Turkey Sandwich

Happy Turkey Day!

Gobble Gobble Gobble!

(Is that supposed to be turkey-speak or just what everybody's doing all day?)

As a vegetarian with no place to be on Thanksgiving, I decided to embrace the spirit of the season and make myself a Thanksgiving Fake Turkey Sandwich.

This sandwich is comprised of three slices of fake turkey...

...two slices of non-smoked provolone cheese, lots of lettuce, and a layer of cranberry jelly, all sandwiched between two pieces of multigrain bread.

In all honesty, my intent was for this sandwich to be turkey, cheese, green beans, stuffing, and cranberry jelly (which is much more Thanksgiving-y), but alas, the stuffing was repulsive and I don't like green beans, so I worked with what I had available.

If, like me, you are spending this holiday alone, and, unlike me, you don't want to eat a turkey sandwich and pretend you're having fun, I highly recommend watching Hannah Hart's Thanksgiving for Juan.

You can also draw handprint turkeys:

But, you know, only if you're cool like that.

Thanksgiving Punch

Dear Internet,

Do you know how much I love you?

I love you a lot.

I quite possibly love you the most.

I would like to prove this to you by giving you my super-secret Thanksgiving punch recipe.

Are you ready?

Here it goes:

Ingredients
64oz cranberry grape juice
2 liters ginger ale

Instructions
Pour juice and ginger ale into vessel of choice (recommended: punch bowl or pitcher). Stir or shake to combine. Serve cold. Consider spiking.

That's it, dear internet. I'm sure my secret is safe with you.

Love always,
Katie 

Limited Edition Holiday Candy Cane Oreos

Speaking of limited edition holiday munchies, there are these totally awesome new Oreos you should try:

They taste like Girl Scout Thin Mints. They are delicious.

That's all.

Limited Edition Holiday Pringles Review

Potato chips are now dessert.

Not kidding.

Take a look:

Yes, you saw that right. These are limited edition holiday Pringles. They come in three flavors: Cinnamon sugar, white chocolate, and pecan pie. Apparently this is top-secret, information, however, because even Pringles themselves deny the existence of the white chocolate Pringle. This confidential information is to be kept between you, me, and the guy with the really big mustache on the can.

Alcoholic Gummy Bears

Are you ready to become a creative drunk? It's easy. All you need are gummy bears and vodka.

First, you put your gummy bears in a bowl.

Then you drown them in vodka.

(This only takes a couple of ounces. I didn't bother measuring to be sure--that would have required my whole ass, and that's just not the way we do things around here--so use as much vodka as it takes to cover your bears.)

Put the lid (aka: plastic wrap) on your bowl and hide it from yourself in the back of the fridge for as long as you can hold out. I honestly forgot about mine and ended up leaving them in there for about two weeks.

When you pull them out they will be swollen and extra gummy (think Jello jigglers) and super delicious. I detected no vodka taste in mine, just little sting, which made the pineapple bears extra pineapple-y.

What have you spiked lately?

Pumpkin Spice Muffin Recipe

Remember that baking fail from last week? I've turned it around, baby!

The first batch of pumpkin muffins I made were dense and chewy. The flavor was okay, but I just couldn't get past the texture. These new, improved muffins are light and soft with just the right amount of spice. I'm telling you, they taste like fall.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten lightly
1/3 cup melted butter

Instructions:

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.

2. In a separate bowl mix together pumpkin, egg, butter, and sugars.

3. Combine the flour mixture with the pumpkin mixture. Stir until just combined.

4. Spoon into a muffin tin, well greased or lined with cupcake papers.

5. Bake at 350 for approximately 18 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

(Full disclosure: I set my oven to 375, then decided against it and turned it down to 350 when I stuck the muffins in. You can do that on purpose if you want. I don't know if it makes a difference.)

What are your favorite fall recipes? Post them in the comments!

Macaroni and Cheese for Grown-Ups

I had every intention to post about pumpkin muffins today. I got off my lazy ass last night and made muffins for just such a purpose.



Then I ate said muffins and discovered they were disgusting and now you're getting a picture of my lunch instead:



You should take your pumpkin-muffin-less butt to Target right now and snag some of this stuff. It's not healthy by any stretch, but it is absolutely delicious and you need to experience it for yourself. Also, you need to meet the adorable funny-shaped noodles I didn't take a good picture of before gobbling them up. Sorry about that.

Happy Monday anyway!

Mike's Hard Smashed Apple Cider Review

This is the late TGIF post I promised.

I love the Mike's Hard brand. Their limeade is supremely delicious. Their cider? Not so much. Let me show you what I mean:



First Sip: Hey, this tastes like beer.

Second Sip: I don't like beer.