"Here is the scarf
we left years ago like a bookmark,
meaning to return the next day,
having just turned our heads
toward a noise in the bushes,
toward the dinnerbell in the distance,
toward what we knew and did not know
we knew, in the spreading twilight
that returns changed to a changed place." ~ Wyatt Townley, from "Finding the Scarf"
peanut butter + cinnamon chocolate chunk cookies
December 27, 2012
Labels:
Cookies.
Peanut Butter
Peace, Love, & Happiness
December 24, 2012
Sous-Chef Niles and I would like to wish everyone, near and far, a deliciously happy and safe holiday season! XO
p.s. Niles is aware that his head is too big for his Chef's hat. Also, I don't have Photoshop. ;-)
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiced Wine Cream Cheese Frosting
December 21, 2012
"This is the solstice, the still point
of the sun, its cusp and midnight,
the year’s threshold
and unlocking, where the past
lets go of and becomes the future;
the place of caught breath…"
~ Margaret Atwood, from "Shapechangers in Winter"
Brown Sugar Rum Blondies
December 16, 2012
Things I Want Decided
Which shouldn’t exist
in this world,
the one who forgets
or the one
who is forgotten?
Which is better,
to love
one who has died
or not to see
each other when you are alive?
Which is better,
the distant lover
you long for
or the one you see daily
without desire?
Which is the least unreliable
among fickle things—
the swift rapids,
a flowing river,
or this human world?
~ Izumi Shikibu The Ink Dark Moon (trans. by Jane Hirshfield)
Chocolate Rum Snowballs {#25recipestoXmas}
December 8, 2012
Today I'm guest posting on a decadent food blog called Roxana's Home Baking! Because I live under a cosy rock (from which I seldom stray), I only just discovered Roxana's wildly popular blog a few months ago. If you have a sweet tooth, especially for candy, you're going to love Roxana. Her baking creations are mad genius (who knew candy canes could be melted down and used as frosting?). I was absolutely flattered when she asked me to contribute some cookies to her 25 recipes to Christmas countdown!
You can find the recipe for these rummy little snowball cookies by heading over to Roxana's Home Baking!
Labels:
Cookies.
Guest Post
Goat Cheese Brownies {revisited}
December 4, 2012
If I had my own goat(s) I'd be ridiculously content with life. So much, in fact, that any placid contentment would quickly morph into an unfounded fear that a storm was brewing on the horizon. Too much happiness scares me. So for now I'll hold off on snatching up one of the adorable pygmy goats that I pass by once a week- grazing adorably in a field- next to an equally adorbs rustic cabin. *Super-jealous*
I'm not sure if my obsession with goats has anything to do with my equally absurd obsession with their cheese (does it matter?), I love both. I smear the crumbly, creamy, earthy cheese on just about everything, from crackers to bagels, to dark chocolate bars. So making this recipe again didn't take very much arm pulling.
It was more like: "Valerie, will you make those goat ch..." Me: "ok."