Farewell Yester Year, Welcome New Year

Last night, Terry, Cookie and I were at  the Kemah boardwalk to play audience for the arrival and welcome of the 12th hour. We had 10 mintues before the countdown and as I looked out into the the horizon where the night sky and Galveston Bay met, two friends were bidding each other well - Yester Year and New Year. Yester year was resplendent in her gold garment and her cloak had snippets of all the events that had occurred that year. I saw a picture of myself at the terminal waiting to catch a plane to Florida. I looked hopeful and excited. There were several pictures of people I did not recognize - some welcoming newborns, some mourning the loss of a loved one, an orchard tree beaming with pink lady apples, some mountaineers trekking in East India and a plane leaving the tarmac.


New Year looked rather fetching in his silver and blue tuxedo. His suit had pictures too but they were faint, fuzzy shapes almost like pictures in a dark room that hadn't completely developed. I suspected the pictures would become clearer with the passage of time. Yester Year revealed that she was happy that she had reached the end of her journey with the people on earth and hoped that she had a presented a good year to most of them. New Year appeared excited with a hint of nervousness. "I hope I can present a great year too", he said. "You'll do just fine" Yester Year nodded assuringly.


The countdown began and at the stroke of the 5th second to 12, Yester Year embraced her friend and waved goodbye as she slowly slipped into the horizon. New Year did a last minute adjustment to his bow tie to look his very best when the people of earth would welcome his arrival in 3..2..1 seconds.

Once upon a Friday some cookies and peaches went to play

When Annie met....

It’s finally here! The day I’ve been waiting for. Some may say that I’d been secretly preparing for it for most of my adult life. After all it’s every girl’s dream come true (well for me atleast). I’ve spent hours imagining what it would be like, what I would say, what I would wear and now the day is finally here. As surely as the realization hits me I’m gripped with panic - What if I say something stupid, what if I choke on the wine.. so many what ifs. And the panic slowly begins to wear off and I’m giddy with excitement again. I cannot wait for the hours to go by. Could 6:30 come sooner?
Time finally gave in and decided to keep this lass off her misery. I secretly vowed to never forget today and store up all the tiny shards of memories to ponder upon when I’m old and gray. Ok I can’t contain myself anymore. I have to tell you.

Salut mon ami

Hello my lovelies! Oh how I've missed you...I can't believe its been eight months since we've  had a tête-à-tête. After our last rendezvous the bitter cold winter lilted past my soft winter boots, wild spring flowers came to bid me well and miniature crates of strawberries accompanied me to wonderful dinners during the hot summers nights with our Parisian guest, Ms. Romanoff Sauce.
The mango chicken salad bowl and I had a fitting reunion during Cookie's visit, Gigi and I trolled the stores for summer dresses and  tiramisu and my nights with Bon Appetit was the only summer reading I'd engaged in before the drift to sweet slumber. Ah..how time flies but you were always on my mind.

Gigi and I...shortly before the boardwalk beast

And now the fall beckons me again and I realize that I have been sidetracked from my quest for all things flour and butter. I am happy to say that I am returning but I couldn't come to you empty-handed so here it is - my first baking challenge from my new kitchen.....a Swiss swirl Ice cream cake for you. I can see the corners of your lips twitching with a smile. See you same time next month?

Swiss Swirl Ice cream cake - Daring Baker's June challenge

A cookie for Cookie

There is never a dull moment in the the company of mischevious girlfriends. And when the girlfriends happen to be the gals you share a bedroom with and paint each others nails with the adventures just get better. I consider myself the luckiest gal to be related to two of the most fabulous women in the world - Gigi and Cookie. Gigi, my sweet as a sugarplum sister whom I can go to when I want to hear a harmless lie about how little weight I've gained even though I spent an entire weekend binging through several boxes of girl scout cookies. Cookie, my comrade in the single woman's cause who will jump head first with all abandon at the hint of an adventure and mischief.
When we were young, Gigi would eat my portion of Ma's Friday morning scrambled eggs( which I loathed) and in return I would eat all the vegetables off her plate during lunch. Cookie and I would sneak out of bed to catch the late night re-runs of Ally McBeal and later raid the kitchen for midnight munchies. I confess that there have been times when we've turned on each other and plotted our revenge because someone pulled the "I'm older than you so you better make my bed'' card and forced the younger ones into additional morning chores. And to avenge this misfortune, someone else let it slip that mommy's innocent little girl was no saint and has a giant-sized crush on a boy who is not so little.
In the end though..........we would split a chocolate bar and all would be well in our world again.

Besides purses, shoes and accessories, Gigi, Cookie and I share a love for food. Here's where we are different though: Gigi would rather eat than cook while Cookie shares a thrill for both.

In the middle of a fierce card game with A.F last Saturday night, the munchies hit us so hard that Cookie and I decided that the only way to to tackle this problem would be with butter(ofcourse!) and dark chocolate chips. We settled on a cookie. Not any kind of cookie though: a chocolatey chocolate walnut cookie dressed with...wait for it...you ready? sure? ok here goes.... a layer of buttercream frosting (Hallelujah!). Oh what joy awaits me when cookie and frosting will unite to create unspeakable pleasure as I ascend to the throne of "sugar" heaven. 45 minutes later the frosting was whipped, the cookies were baked and a chorus of angels were singing as we finished the first batch with glee and gluttony. Before we devoured the second batch, Cookie and I decided to capture the moment and our shared love for cookies using A.F's magic lense of course.

 And here it is....a delectable cookie for my sister, Cookie.
(Wish you were here Gigi. We missed you a lot babe.)

 Chocolate Walnut Clusters
(By Marion Cunningham from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book)

For the love of an apple

Happy Thanksgiving, friend! Indeed it was. I enjoyed today's perfectly sunny thanksgiving weather doing absolutely nothing. No wrestling and name-calling the turkey who is unwielding to my authority while I try to stuff her with tasty aromatics, no smoking up the kitchen till my eyes become teary, no blender malfunction causing liquified sage and rosemary to leave mossy patterns on my kitchen ceiling, no dousing the gravy with brandy till it causes a mini-fire inside the roasting pan, no mistakenly leaving dinner rolls to bake in the fridge and then popping them into the oven 3 hours later only to forget them again. Did I mention this was a snippet of my adventures in the kitchen on Thanksgiving day.

And what I am most thankful for on Thanksgiving day is patient friends and family who have starved the whole day in anticipation of sitting down to eat by 4'o'clock, only to find themselves waiting for another 4 hours before this singleton has set the table. Honestly, I never intend to starve them to death but no matter how early I begin preparing the meal they still find themselves devouring a turkey leg at dusk.  

 Since most of my family and friends will be in town for Christmas, I have decided to do my big holiday dinner for when we're all together.  However, I still felt compelled to use my oven to commemorate this day and since apple is my favorite fall fruit the nostalgia and some quick browsing led me to Tartelette's mom's apple cake. And it is every bit as comforting and lovely as she describes it to be. There coudln't have been a better way to finish the day......I feel so prepared to fight the crowds at the mall tomorrow where I hope to meet a suitor to accompany me to all those dinner invitations in December - the perfect knee-length boots. I should turn in now. Goodnight, friend.