Foods

Who wants to talk about boring stuff like INTROSPECTION when there's FOOD to talk about?  Thinking is gross!  Food is delicious.  So let's talk about it. 

But first I will tease that this, your favorite vaguely Harry Potter-titled blog, will feature a ~*~*~*giveaway*~*~*~ in the coming weeks!  Weird, right?  I feel a bit like one of those "professional" bloggers.  So stay tuned, I think it will be really fun.  Back to food!

I haven't had much of a sweet tooth lately (that is to say, I haven't really wanted to seek it out/make anything, but if it's there, I will gladly eat it--I may have eaten about ten handfuls of Belly Flops in one sitting), but this list somehow manages to still feature mostly sweet things.  So...there you have it. 

Flourless Coconut Chocolate Drops
These were the first items to break my baking/cooking-in-general drought, and they were well worth it.  They're perfect for those times when you happen to have no flour, granulated sugar or butter but you DO have plenty of powdered sugar and coconut.  I left out the nuts because nuts are terrible and did a full cup of chips and coconut to fill in the nuts gap.  You may doubt them when they go in the oven, but they bake up perfectly, with a delicate, crispy crust and gooey innards. 

Cocoa Brownies
Tasty tasty brownies.  I am more likely to have cocoa powder in the cupboard than chocolate bars so cocoa recipes suit me better.  I made these with dark cocoa and they came out the color of asphalt.  Warm, chocolatey asphalt. 

Creamless Tomato Soup
I've been on a tomato soup kick these last few months.  (I also made this one and this one)  They've all been good and I'd recommend any of them, but so far I haven't found the recipe that makes me say "YES, I will now eat the whole batch!"  I just want a tomato soup that's simple, without a lot of cook time and with more tomatos and less cream.  Bonus for basil.  Any recommendations, world?

Buffalo Grilled Cheese
I suppose it makes sense that with all the tomato soup going on, we've also made a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches.  I totally simplified these, but they were still awesome.  I used ranch instead of the white sauce, buffalo sauce right out of the bottle, chicken from a can, and axed the celery and onion.  Also I added the blue cheese.  Winner!

Pretzels!
(They're so good they deserve a !)  I was home being gross one day and then I saw these on Facebook and said YES, THOSE and made them immediately.  Side note: it is really handy to have such a big awesome counter now because I can sit on it while I make things.  They're SO GOOD and you just want to eat all of them in one sitting and I would not judge you for this.  The first batch I made with bread flour and man, they did not want to roll at ALL so they turned out super fat.  The second time I used regular flour and they were much more cooperative but, strangely, not quite as good.  Maybe chunky pretzels are the way to go.

Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake
This has been on my radar for a long time, and I finally bit the bullet and got myself a bundt pan.  So worth it!  This cake was SO good.  I mean it--really, really good.  Just enough orange, just enough chocolate and goodness everywhere.  It does involve a number of steps but if you have a buddy around to zest and juice your oranges, it's not that bad.  You won't regret the time it takes!

Cinnamon Rolls
This was one of the things I made in my baking frenzy during Christmas week.  I'd never made cinnamon rolls before because they seemed so intimidating, but the idea of eating them after opening presents was irresistible.  My Mama passed this recipe along to me and I gave it a dubious whirl.  I know I've said this several times already but these were SO good.  I made them the night before and baked them in the morn and they came out perfectly, with ooey, gooey middles.  And as usual, the actual making of them was not very intimidating after all.  (Of COURSE I left out the nuts and the raisins--eurgh!)

30-Minute Buffalo Chicken French Breads
I don't know why I am drawn to buffalo chicken things--I think buffalo wings are stupid--but it seems to pop up frequently at our house.  Maybe part of this is Drewbles periodically saying, "We still have half a bottle of buffalo sauce--what are we going to do with that, woman?"  ANYway, I have never been a big fan of French bread pizza because the bread gets all crispy and crunchy--two things I don't like in bread.  But!  These turned out so good we made our own creations the next night with the rest of the bread.  I didn't broil the bread beforehand, which helped it stay soft and we had no green onions or fontina, but otherwise I stuck to the (halved) recipe.  Maybe French bread pizzas and I will be friends after all.