Monday, December 20, 2010

Welcome to Wonka World!

Saturday was our annual Christmas cookie day! Here are the highlights....

We actually started Friday night by getting some of the candy items done.

First, pretzels with kisses or Rolos and an M&M.



Next up, pretzel rods dipped in mint chocolate or white chocolate.



















Then we made our cute (and slightly evil looking) Holiday mice.








We finished Friday by making spiced pecans and a tray of "Christmas Crap" (all the left over goodies we put on a tray and made into a delicious bark!)

Saturday we were up and at it early and started with a fan favorite, the Almond Roca...toffee bits, almonds, and chocolate!


Next up were the dreaded Christmas Wreaths! I complain about making these every year. I think they're gross and not really that cute but one of my cousins LOVES them so we make them for him each year. Also, it's become a tradition that the rookie baker that year gets the honor of making these marshmallow messes. Good job Melissa!



Then we started making some of my favorites, the Mexican Wedding Cakes and the Molasses Cookies!



We also have a decorating contest every year. We use big Christmas Tree sugar cookies as our canvas. Here were the contestants:









And the winner is....ME!


We also decorate Grandma's Vanilla Sugar cookies.










Then we bring out the old cookie gun, plus a "new" one my parents bought at an antique store this year, and make Spritz cookies.









We finished the day with our new cookie for the year, a Red Velvet Shortbread.



For a grand total of 1,323 cookies

and an unmentionable number of pounds of butter!



I'll post recipes soon! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Another class done!

As most of you know, I added a Food Studies minor to my PhD program this year. I took my first course in that department this semester: Food and Culture. Our project for the semester was to create a food journal and write articles to publish in the journal. We created the Indiana Food Review. We are still in the process of publishing it but we have created a website to highlight our work for the semester. Below is the link to the website with my article. I did an interview with some students about the new farm on Butler University's campus. Enjoy!

http://www.indianafoodreview.com/issue-1/table-of-contents-2/the-butler-campus-farm