What have I been up to? Well, people have been really kind in sharing their lives with me, so I've been surprisingly social. Plus, I've taken the dogs out on a couple of nice walks (hoping to get them out again this afternoon), I've been cooking up a not-quite-storm (my first attempt at bread with my KitchenAid, which resulted in an incredibly dense 100% whole wheat bread, and also a crockpot curry that was only rescued from being inedible by pulling the sauce out and sauteeing it with tons more curry and plain yogurt), I've been working at home a few evenings, and I've been feeling under the weather for a few days. Oh, and catching HH online once or twice a day, although not as frequently this week (of course!) as I would have liked.
I'm particularly looking forward to a little dessert night at my house tonight in honor of some women at work. I'm trying to create sort of a decadent, indulgent feel, so here's the menu I'm aiming for:
- Chocolate Vanilla Wafer Cookies (the vanilla part of this dough was so ridiculously good I almost ate it all raw)
- Red Velvet cake truffles (but dipped in white chocolate bark)
- Strawberry cupcakes cut in half and filled with cream cheese frosting, topped with a strawberry slice and more frosting (these are a little iffy; the cake came from a mix I've had around my house for a while and I'm not sure I like the flavor. I'm going to get a second opinion before assembling them)
- Cheese-cake cups, topped with strawberry (okay, I'm cheating here with a jello cheesecake mix! I'm going to make the mix, then pour it into shot glasses with perhaps a layer of strawberry jam in the middle. People can then eat it out with a spoon. I love using shot glasses to make mini-desserts! I got the idea from a hotel in Thailand and promptly went out to buy about a dozen shot glasses -- several have broken since then. World Market is the place to buy them! You just have to expect strange looks from a few people!)
- (probably) Chocolate-dipped Kettle Chips (these are in the newest Rachel Ray magazine and I can't find them online, but you basically dip kettle chips in chocolate and then sprinkle them with oen of three toppings -- cayenne pepper, coarse salt and chopped pistachios)
- Mixed nuts
- Cheese
- Wine
- Apple slices
- Cranberry punch
- Plus, the wonderful, gourmet cook CZ is going to bring a dessert, and it's always a treat to eat ANYTHING that she makes!
UPDATE: Typing this post was interruped by getting to chat online with HH (yay!) and then Miss M came over to help me with some baking. We determined that the cupcakes were just barely edible, which isn't the standard I'm shooting for this evening. So I think the cupcakes are out and the chocolate kettle chips are in. But the cheesecake cups are done, the black/white cookies are done, the velvet balls are chilling before I can dip them in chocolate, and I'm watching the latest update video from my wonderful man.
I was going to try to do some errands this afternoon, but instead I think I'll take the dogs out for some exercise and then just focus on cleaning up myself and the house and prepping the food for tonight.
mmm... and maybe a nap. I've just been hit with a sudden wave of tiredness ... maybe just for 20 minutes :)
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