more new traditions

OK, so I thought that I was OFFICIALLY through with making cookies (after two batches of walnut-chocolate chips, one batch of snickerdoodles, and a MASSIVE batch of frosted sugar cookies - which for me, is A LOT of baking), but I just saw this post, and I am captivated. I want to make those cookies today!

besides inspiring cookie awe, the article also suggested the perfect movie for circleness day movie watching, The Fantastic Mr. Fox! duh. I'd been wondering if there would be a dvd mainstay, and I've just found it. and yet one more bonus from the very same article? how about the circleness apple painting tradition? where do I get that gold paint? is it edible?


OK, I just checked, and there is an edible gold paint available for purchase.hm, we may be looking forward to a new tradition next year. The good thing is that Henry actually eats fruit, so he may be interested in its embellishment. Just think about gold and orange clementines!


I sadly did not have the presence of mind to take photos of the New Year's Eve cookie decorating party, I did take one of the tray of finished products. The McGregor Corsons brought a slew of gingerbread cut-outs (which, by the way, included bears, horses, hippos, and cats) and colored royal icings and colored sugars. it was great to see man and child alike decorating the cookies with abandon. Nick did the bikini bear.

circle time 2010

happy holidays to all! I've posted some circleness stuff at the circleness blog. check it out. love you all!

rice krispies bars

I've been trying to perfect a rice krispy bar that doesn't use marshmallows, or corn syrup, and includes lots of unsweetened shredded coconut and toasted almond slivers. I'm using honey as a substitute for marshmallows, but it's requiring a bit of experimentation to get the consistency right. my favorite thing about the real rice krispy treats recipe is that it's chewy and buttery tasting. what I don't like about them is that they're made with kraft marshmallows (which contain artificial flavors). my last batch used a vegan caramel recipe as the binder. I'll post a photo of it tomorrow. last night when I tasted them, I was floored by how sweet they were (I'm a bit slow on the uptake because most of the recipe was honey and sugar - duh, what was I expecting?), and I didn't get the ratio of goo to stuff just right, so the bars were too gooey. I salted the bars to help with the sweetness, but then re-read the recipe for the dessert I cribbed the caramel from and saw that it featured sesame seeds, so I ended up cutting the bars, and coating them with toasted sesame seeds. I was convinced that they would still be horribly sweet, but I brought one to work, and just finished DEVOURING it. I still have a lot of tweaking to do, but this has been my favorite iteration so far.

which brings me to my next topic - holiday gift baskets. I swear that I am NOT A SCROOGE, but I do dislike buying stuff for people just to have something to give. I've decided that this year I'll do a homemade treats gift basket for anyone I get stumped on. btw, I'm not Christian, and the holiday I celebrate during the "Christmas Season" is Circleness (I know, I know, I know, but still, it feels wrong to me to celebrate Christmas when I'm not Christian. I do celebrate it with my in-laws, and don't shun Christmas parties, or anything, but just want to do what feels right in my own home, with my nuclear family. Circleness incorporates a lot of the pagan portion of the Christmas traditions - stuff like the tree, eating food, getting together, giving presents & etc. It's just that I don't have to pretend about caring about the birth of baby Jesus - I hope that I'm not offending anyone! I wholly believe in everyone's right to believe in and celebrate anything they deem worthy!).
but I digress.

what I meant to discuss here is my next test recipe, which is the first thing I decided to put into the basket: salted caramels. so there was a whole 'fad' that I missed, but anything that blends salty and sweet appeals to me, so I haven't made these yet, but can't wait. I'm not going to go as far as bacon caramels, but I'm really excited to make them...