Mint Brownies

Is it Christmas yet? I’m pretty sure that it was July about a week ago and all of a sudden Halloween has gone by! And what did I do on Halloween? Perhaps I went to some crazy costume party. Or maybe I enjoyed an evening of pumpkin carving with friends. No, that’s all lies. I spent my Halloween on a train. A five hour train ride getting home from Washington, D.C. The only Halloween festivities that I saw Sunday night were the crazy people in Newark train station. I must mention that I was not out amongst the lunatics, I watched from my little train window as they reveled.

This time of year is rife with holidays, which means that the time seems to pass all that much quicker. No sooner is one holiday upon us that we are looking forward to the next. I like to go buy Halloween candy (for me to eat, not give out to cute kids), but I am confronted with chocolate Santa’s and peppermint nougats. We spend thanksgiving reading the ads for the next day’s black Friday sales. Christmas is spent deciding what you are taking back tomorrow (those pants are totally going back).

So in the spirit of enjoying every moment, I am going to spend the next several days celebrating me! Did you know that it’s my birthday next week? I will be entering into my final year as a twenty-something. So let’s spend the week celebrating with sweets! I’ll throw in something healthy every few days, but I want to celebrate with sugar! And today we start with mint and chocolate, mmm. Happy Birthday me.

BBAC - Anadama Bread

A pretty simple post today, to go along with a simple bread. A bread that I would have never baked if not for the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge. You’ve never heard of the BBAC? It’s lots of fun. You go out and get yourself a copy of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. You join the BBAC group on facebook. Then you bake your way through the book, from A to Z. Simple, fun, challenging! I have always wanted to be able to bake bread. To make my 350 square feet of living space smell like the inside of a bakery.

Bread is one of those food items that it seems silly to make, right? I mean bread is two dollars at the store, maybe three at the bakery. Why make your own? Because a sandwich tastes better when made on home baked bread. Toast is so much more crunchy and flavorful. French toast comes out richer. Everything just tastes better. So challenge yourself, get a biceps workout and enjoy bread, warm from the oven.

Cupcake 24-7 - French Toast

Welcome to Project Cupcake 24-7. Have you ever wondered why you have to wait until after dinner for a cupcake? Personally, I can’t wait that long. I know, cupcakes are a hot little culinary topic. There is a new cupcake parlor popping up every two minutes. I should know, I’m the one taste-testing each new flavor, with frosting on my face. And elbow. Don’t ask.

So fade to black on the traditional cupcake shop and open on Cupcake 24-7. It’s seven am and you’re in the mood for breakfast, or perhaps it’s noon and you need a quick lunch. Maybe you’ve got a hot date and decide cupcakes are the way to your new friends heart. What kind of a person would you be to eat chocolate frosted cake at such unusual hours of the day? Luckily the world of cupcakes is larger than you thought.

In our first installment of Cupcake 24-7, we have breakfast. Delicious delicious breakfast. These cupcakes are a perfect thing to serve at brunch. Perfect portion, single serving, oven-baked French toast. Enjoy, I know I did.