Are you ready for some football?

Football Cocoa Rice Krispie treats
Recipe adapted from www.ricekrispies.com

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 6 cups Cocoa Rice Krispies®
• 2 Tbs white chocolate for frosting*

DIRECTIONS

1. In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until melted.

2. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Cool slightly. Using buttered hands shape mixture into sixteen 3-inch footballs.

4. Melt white chocolate and transfer to small sandwich bag.* Decorate footballs. Best if served the same day.

I'm thankful for...

... THE BEST cupcakes I've ever made/eaten. Fluffy cake batter, strong coffee, a dash of liquor and a lot of cream. What more can one ask for? I made a slight modification to the existing recipe, so ask me what it is, if you're interested.

Tiramisu Cupcakes
recipe from marthastewart.com

Ingredients

Makes 18

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
• 3 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• Coffee-Marsala Syrup
• Mascarpone Frosting
• Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Heat milk and vanilla-bean pod and seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until melted, and let stand 15 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard vanilla-bean pod.
2. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar. Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted.
3. Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir 1/2 cup batter into the strained milk mixture to thicken, then fold milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined.
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.
5. To finish, brush tops of cupcakes evenly with coffee-marsala syrup; repeat until all syrup has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid 30 minutes. Dollop frosting onto cupcakes; refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Dust generously with cocoa powder just before serving.

I heart fruit tart

Iolo's Halloween birthday cupcakes

Bourbon Steak-a real San Francisco treat

Fries

18oz Bone-in Rib Eye

chocolate cake- chocolate brittle- chocolate malt

chocolate bourbon balls

Paris, for me

Roasted Chicken with salad and pommes frites

Ile Flottante: "Floating Island"- a meringue floating on creme anglaise

beignet au chocolat

macarons

hotel breakfast

weird pig thing (filled with some sort of chocolate-like stuff)

munching on some pain in front of the Arc de Triomphe ready to take on Champs Elysees

cafe au lait

fried marinated sardines

puff pastry with escargot and mushrooms

steak with cream sauce

chocolate torte with vanilla cream sauce and chocolate crunch balls

steak and pommes frites

plums (prunes)

pain au chocolat (x 10)

croissant, pain, brie, jambon et cafe au lait

Making do with what I got

I had a family dinner scheduled, just a little over 1 cup of flour, and no desire to go grocery shopping. Here's what I was able to make with what I had in my baking cabinet.

Pecan Squares

INGREDIENTS

Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
4 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

Pecan Filling
2 large eggs
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup (I used light instead)
2 Tbs all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the center of the oven. Butter or grease a 9x9 in square baking pan. Set aside.

Crust
In a small bowl, whisk or sift the flour and baking powder, set aside.

With a mixer of food processor, beat the butter and brown sugar until soft and fluffy (~2-3 min). Beat in the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal (do not over beat). Stir in the finely chopped pecans. Mixture will be crumbly, not a cohesive dough. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 10 min or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while making the filling.

Pecan Filling
In a large bowl, whisk or beat the eggs until foamy. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, flour, salt, and vanilla extract. Whisk until combined. Pour over the baked crust and then sprinkle with the chopped pecans. Bake for about 25-30 min or until firm and nicely browned. Let cool in the pan and then cut into squares. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Makes about 36 1 1/2 inch squares.