Katie Does Coffee

I hate coffee. It's icky and gross and it tastes terrible.

That's what I proclaimed to the world for...oh, gee...twenty two years.

Okay. Probably not twenty two years, because I wasn't so great at verbalizing my opinions on beverages as a wee tot, but still. I hated coffee for a really long time.

Until last week.

I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, but I want coffee. Like, I really, really want coffee. Like, all the time. I have no idea what to do with myself now.

Maybe it's because I'm in college now and, like all college students, my brain requires caffeinated fuel to produce coherent sentences.

No, that's not it. I'm still not producing coherent sentences egg.

Maybe I'm maturing and developing good taste in my newly discovered adulthood.

Nope, that's not it either. Butts. Boogers. Burps. Giggle.

Whatever the reason, I'm in the beginning stages of a coffee addiction and I would love to hear your recommendations. Are there coffee brands I should be trying? Flavors? Mochas? Lattes? And by the way, how do you pronounce cafe au lait?

Snickerdoodles and Snowstorms

On Tuesday I celebrated the first snow of the year by baking a batch of snickerdoodles.

Before Tuesday, I'd never made snickerdoodles. In fact, I'd probably only eaten snickerdoodles once or twice, so I didn't have very high expectations for these cookies. All I knew was that snickerdoodles remind me of Snickelfritz, and that makes me happy.

(If anybody out there knows who this is, we can be best friends and I'll give you cookies.)

I completely stole this recipe from the internet, so it's nothing 4,000 people haven't already declared awesome, but holy crap, these things are incredible.

First of all, snickerdoodles are insanely easy to make. You mix the stuff, then you mix the other stuff, then you mix the stuffs together, then you roll it around a little bit and then you bake it. Easy peasy.

Coming out of the oven, the snickerdoodles are all crack-topped and oozy, but after a few minutes, they develop perfectly crisped edges with chewy centers and a gentle spiciness that makes you want to curl up in a blanket and watch the snow. And yes, that is exactly what I did.

Call me crazy, but I think these might be my new favorite cookies. The dough is smooth and squishy and fun to roll. The cinnamon and sugar coating makes them slide right off the cookie sheet and into your mouth.* They are practically perfect, just like Mary Poppins.

Without further ado, here is Beth Sigworth's Snickerdoodle recipe:

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

2 tbs sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Sift together flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, and salt. I added a little bit of caradmom, but that is completely unnecessary unless you happen to have an otherwise useless bottle of cardamom in your cupboard.

2. Cream together butter and shortening and sugar.

3. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

4. Mix the flour and stuff into the butter and stuff.

5. In a tiny bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into balls and roll it around in the cinnamon sugar until evenly coated. Keep in mind that bigger balls mean bigger cracks. (Insert bad plumber joke here.)

6. Put the balls on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes (ONLY 8 MINUTES!). Cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

7. Eat with a steamy mug of white hot chocolate.

*Not recommended for safety reasons. Cool until touchable before consuming.