Aries Chocolate Constellation Sablés

This little food blog is 3 years old! I know that it's technically called a Blogoversary, but I think "birthday" sounds much more festive, and I rarely go with the technical terms of anything.

My blog is a confident Aries. I'm a detail oriented Virgo (as proof, I painstakingly picked out only the perfect, unbroken stars to make these cookies.) We have an excellent rapport, Aries and I.

In true Aries fashion, this blog has gently rammed me out of my warm, cozy, happy, comfort zone and opened up a whole new chapter in my life. But I make sure to keep things focused and down to Earth. (I'm not quite ready to tackle someone's wedding cake.) It's a perfect mix of determined, headstrong drive, tempered with my own disaster-fearing, worst case scenario-imagining, restraint. :-)

Oatmeal Whoopie Cream Pies

I know where the Whoopie comes from, it's the latter part that confuses me. Why are these glorified sandwich cookies called "pies?" And does it really matter?

No, no it doesn't.

I pondered the question for about 5 seconds, but after taking a bite, I really didn't care about the logistics. These could have been called something unbearably intriguing, such as Apollo's Answer, and I would not have questioned the meaning...at least not until curiosity made it's inevitable move (which, when put on hold, always happens around 2am).

Lemon Margarita Cookies

Don't you adore the poetic fact that a sliced lemon looks like the sun itself?

Don't you just hate it when you can't come up with anything to write about?

Sometimes my desire to be more open with my readers is at odds with my reticent nature. Other times, I simply can't think of anything clever to say. All I can come up with is; "This is good. You really need *insert food here* in your life." My brain likes to take occasional mini-vacations from the over-thinking, over analyzing, and over worrying I put it through. I can't say that I blame it her.

I take comfort in knowing that when all else fails, cookies can save the day, and the embarrassing moments spent staring into space. If people had a plateful of cookies on hand at all times, I think the world would be a much happier, less stressed out, place.

Chocolate Stout Cake with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

Since Thursday I've been house-sitting (yay!) for someone who happens to have a Mac. (double yay, with a hint of jealousy lapping at the edges.) Whenever I see my food photos on a Mac, I immediately understand why some of my snaps are rejected on foodie sites.

Macs show every. single. detail, including lack of decent lighting, and errant hard water-stains on cutlery. I kind of feel like an American Idol contestant who is convinced that they can sing like Sarah McLachlan, when in reality they sound more like my cat when I'm trying to get him to take his sickeningly sweet-smelling antibiotics. There were several "ah ha" moments these last few days. After almost two years, my latest point and shoot camera are still getting acquainted.

Pecan Joy Cookies

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions." Hamlet (act 4, scene 5)

So true. Although in this case, it's less sorrow, more stress. Last week I chipped a tooth on a rogue popcorn kernel (luckily the chip was located on one of the shy, out-of-sight back teeth). Once that was taken care of, my car started making odd noises which I can only describe as that hissing, angry sound coffee pots make when you cram 16 Tablespoons of grounds into an undersized "gold" filter. Adding salt to the chip and hissing, Niles, my cat, may need to have a tooth extracted. Who knew cats could have dental problems?

This month may be a little bit slim, as far as posting is concerned, but I promise to get back on top of baking and picture taking as soon as things return to my neurotically structured version of normal.

I do, however, have these spectacular cookies to share with everyone!

Guinness-Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

Guinness and chocolate. Who knew that these two star-crossed ingredients would make such a deliciously handsome couple?

(I had an inking...barely more than a hunch, really.)

Because I speak to the food that I bake and cook with, it's usually cordial enough to carry on a candid conversation. For a while now, I had the sense that chocolate was sad. Indeed, chocolate confessed that it sometimes feels wistful. Despite all the decorative pink bows and sweet fillings, chocolate often felt hollow, and wondered if there was life beyond coconut and marshmallow. Please don't tell chocolate I said this, but "she" has always had a secret crush on beer, stout beer in particular.

Salty Turtle Brownies

The other morning as I was running and singing quietly to myself (so as not to strike terror into the ears of nearby woodland creatures), it finally dawned on me that I do indeed Love running. I used to do an invisible eye roll whenever someone would tout how much they need their daily run. Turns out they were onto something.

Of course my eclectic "Fierce Running Mix," which includes Eminem, Katy Perry (yes, "Firework" is a great song...don't judge), Gorillaz, and Van Morrison, helps me to stay focused and uncharacteristically perky. Also quite motivating, the need to run far, very far, in order to keep these brownies away from destroying my on-it's-last-shaky leg plan to cut back on sugar this year. (It wasn't a resolution. It's more of a; I'm 34 now...this is all going to catch up with me sooner or later, fear.)

Glazed Doughnut Muffins

Welcome to March! Believe me, I'm extremely happy that Spring is on it's way, but because of the mild winter, it almost feels as though the warm weather hasn't been properly earned.

Usually winter and I spar with each other, and by March, it feels as though the monotonous grey, cold, snow-filled days are bleeding into one another and will never end. (Don't tell winter, but I secretly kind of enjoy the torment.) This year the warmer weather will arrive, but it'll feel more like I'm seeing someone that I have been speaking with every weekend, instead of someone who has been gone for several months.

The moody poet/artist in me likes to suffer before allowing herself to feel happy. Luckily this abnormality doesn't taint my world of baking (at least not very often). Case and point; These yeast-free, baked, doughnut muffins. Yes, instant gratification can sometimes be good, very, very good.