SWEETS

SWEETS

It’s Beginning To Feel A Lot Like…

I always have a little trouble accessing my Christmas Spirit. It was easier when I lived in New York City, I think, because I was always out in the world, wandering through subway stations filled with shoppers and down streets past Santa after Santa. I actually left the house at night, and saw Christmas lights everywhere I turned.

Leaving the house after dark isn’t a thing I do very often these days; once we get back from our afternoon activity and start dinner, that’s usually it for me. And it’s for a good reason: there is literally nowhere in the world I’d rather be than in my own living room (which is usually the case, but especially at this time of year). We’ve been decorating, and cooking, and lighting a fire every single night, and watching Christmas movies and making forts and baking cookies. And with each night that passes, I get just a little bit more into that lovely-but-elusive holiday state of mind.

Did I mention that my efforts to make our home feel all Christmassy are also resulting in considerable cookie consumption? Oh my goodness so many cookies. The problem, of course, is that one type of cookie just won’t do: we have to make sugar cookies so that they can be decorated, and we have to make chocolate chip cookies because obviously, and we have to make Santa’s Favorite Cookies because even though Santa may not technically be on his way yet, practice makes perfect, right?

SWEETS

Morning Muffin

easy recipe for breakfast pumpkin muffins

 Noritake Sandefjord China 

First, on the topic of baking, my friend Alisa - you know, the one who taught me how to make a fondant cake - and I are having a major problem at the moment. The problem is that she saw my video about Jell-O Worms, and decided to try making them herself, and instead of ending up with a single sad, limp (and blue) half-maggot, she ended up with this:

Eat

Under The Sea

how to make a fondant octopus

Hey there buddy.

OK sooooo this weekend was a bit of an emotional hailstorm, between my daughter's second birthday and my son's first day of school today. Not a "bad" hailstorm, per se...just, you know: feelings. Like, all of them. (Evidence is presently over on my Snapchat @ramshackleglam.)

So while I have bazillions of photos to show you and tons of things I want to write about, let's keep it light today. It's Monday. Nobody needs any more feelings on a Monday; they need OCTOPUS CAKE. (I'm going to officially call this the Under The Sea Cake, because that sounds prettier, but excuse me did you see that octopus? He's adorable, and I think he should probably make an appearance on every cake I make forever and always.)

Recipes

Two-Ingredient Nutella Brownies For Your Valentine

Look at this gloriousness.

Confession: I totally went into this experiment expecting to end up writing a post about (another) epic baking fail. Because when I saw this recipe in People Magazine and noted that it contained exactly two ingredients - neither of which were butter or flour - I did not see how, exactly, the result would be brownies. I mean, maybe there are bakers out there who are more talented than me (all of them) who can work this kind of magic, but what I was picturing ending up with was basically Nutella Soup. Or maybe Blackened Husk Of Nutella. Something along those lines.

But not only did this 20-minute project result in brownies...it resulted in the best brownies that I have ever had in my life. They are better than my beloved Duncan Hines Family-Size Fudge Brownie Mix, and that is not a thing that I ever thought that I would say about any edible item on the planet. The best part is the taste, obviously - just sweet enough, with a hint of hazelnut - but what sets them apart from other brownies is the texture: so light it's almost spongy, almost like a mousse.