Friends, I made orange flavored lollipops! Yes, I could get lollipops for free from the bank. Yes, I could buy a giant bag from CVS for $2. But where is the fun in that?! Part of the joy of getting into the kitchen is that there’s opportunity for curiosity, for trying new things, and for making stuff for myself. I love making things that I usually only buy. And, beyond that there’s there’s just the awesome magic of food science that transforms regular ingredients into treats for my sweet tooth. 

And, I’m not kidding. Sugar, water, and some flavoring can come together to make lollipops?! The science behind how heat can make sugar into something molten, and then rock hard, is truly amazing. The other cool food science thing I learned was about cream of tartar. I looked up lots of lollipop recipes before making my own, and some recipes called for cream of tartar and some didn’t. Why?! Isn’t cream of tartar just for snickerdoodles and egg whites?! Usually yes. In those cases cream of tartar stabilizes a light airy structure, but when added to sugar it does something totally different. The cream of tartar behaves as an interfering agent and keeps the sugar crystals from bonding, which prevents crystallization. No sugar crystals means our finish products are clear stained-glass looking lollipops. Amazing, right?! I just love cooking because it’s incredible what one ingredient can do!

Now, the ingredients for this recipe are cheap, easy, and familiar. But, I do highly recommend you indulge in one piece of cooking equipment and get a candy thermometer. You don’t need it, but it will make everything easier. A candy thermometer clips to your pan and measures the temperature as you go. I used my thermapen (which I love) but it does not clip on so I took the temperature at regular intervals. This made me a bit nervous because I didn’t want to accidentally over heat the sugar or touch the tip to the bottom of the pan and get a false reading. Save yourself the headache and buy a candy thermometer (about $8 from Amazon). Alternatively, you can use the water test (instructions here) if you’re already in the middle of making this and don’t have a thermometer.

Probably evident from these photos is that I didn’t use a lollipop mold to make these. You totally can use one, but I like the crazy wobbly shapes of each individual lollipop. I’ll admit, I did end up making some monster lollipops, some pops oozed together making tandem two-stick pops, and some were long and skinny, and some short and fat. But most looked like lovely orange clouds and were perfect sized. Most importantly though, who cares about look because the flavor was delicious! I chose to make orange flavored lollipops because it was the most appealing extract available at my grocery store (sorry for the false advertising, there’s no real orange in these). But you can use whatever extract you like best – chocolate, coffee, strawberry, coconut. And you can use whatever color you like too. Simple substitute your preferred extract and colors for the ones listed in the recipe below. Honestly, you can’t go wrong because in the end you’ll have yummy, sweet lollipops and you didn’t have to go out to get them.

Adapted from BBC Good Food.

Messy level: Preparing the lollipops is really easy and makes no mess. It’s actually making the lollipops where things get tricky. Without a mold it’s possible for spills and giant lollipops that run together. It’s not the worst, but not very pretty either. My main tip is that when you’re done preparing the lollipops, put some water back in the pan and heat it up. Everything that hardened to the pan will soften and it will be much easier to clean!

Orange Flavored Lollipops

 

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Serves: 2-3 dozen

Ingredients

• 2 cups/500 grams sugar
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 7 oz/ 200 ml/ 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons orange extract
• yellow and red food coloring
• lollipop sticks (about 2 dozen)

Instructions

1. Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.
2. Put the sugar, cream of tartar, and water into a saucepan. Stir to make sure everything is well mixed. Then heat on low until the sugar has completely dissolved.
3. Once the sugar has dissolved, clip on your candy thermometer. Turn up the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Let the sugar boil undisturbed (don't stir! It makes crystals!) until it reaches 305-310ºF/151-154ºC. This is called the hard crack stage. [Alternatively drop a bit of sugar into very cold water. If it sets hard it's ready]
4. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the orange extract. Drop in a few drops of yellow food coloring and then a few drops of red. Swirl it together until you have the color you like and it is mixed throughout.
5. Using a metal spoon, spoon out 1 tablespoon sized dollops of sugar mixture on to your prepared baking pan.
6. Press a lollipop stick into each dollop of sugar mixture. Spin the stick in the mixture if you need it to be better coated. Alternatively, spoon a little more mixture on top of the stick to secure it.
7. If the sugar mixture gets too hard, put the pan back over the heat and warm in gently until you can spoon it again. [However if it's too hot and runny then the sugar won't set so keep an eye on it]
8. Let the lollipops cool for about 15-20 minutes. Then eat!
9. For clean up, put everything metal back in the pan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Everything should then easily clean off!

3.5.3208

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This is not an April Fool’s joke. Vegan meringues are totally real. And also totally delicious. 

I’ve been making meringues a bunch recently because I’ve been missing my best friend Sarah and the rest of my London crew (hey girls!). Meringues remind me of Sarah because once at her place Ryan and I gorged ourselves on meringues made by her mother. You might remember Mrs. P from when I made her goose fat roasted potatoes. She’s a great cook! So a few weeks ago I emailed her for the recipe and have been making meringues ever since.

I had 100% intended to post the original egg-white using recipe from Sarah’s mom. I really did, I promise! But, the first time I over did it and they came out too dry. The second time they came out lovely, but I wanted to use a piping bag so they’d look prettier. Excuses, excuses, I know. However, earlier this week I bought a piping bag and tips and was all ready to go with making normal meringues to share with you.

And then I decided to make chana masala for dinner (which uses chickpeas) and I remembered something told to me by my coworker Ryan, who is vegan. He said chickpea juice can be used as an egg white substitute. I’m a curious cook so I thought, why not try it? And besides, I like baking largely so I can share what I make and I like that this recipe would be inclusive of all my colleagues’ dietary needs. Long story short, I reserved the liquid as I prepared my dinner.

Friends, this chickpea juice blew my mind. Also, so I can stop saying “chickpea juice,” I’ll tell you that those in the know call the liquid from a bean can “aquafaba.” And for real everybody, aquafaba is amazing. Look at the photo above! It whips up into glossy, white peaks just like egg whites! It really blew my mind. And when I dipped my finger in the bowl for a taste test, it tasted just the same.

I don’t entirely know how it works, besides that science and nature are awesome. If you want more specific information, food scientist Harold McGee posits that the combination of proteins, carbohydrates and saponins in aquafaba does something similar to egg whites. Basically, that combination allows for the liquid to thicken, stabilize, and hold that foam structure.

I will say, that these vegan meringues don’t hold their shape quite as well as traditional meringues. I felt they lost a little of their height and are overall a little flatter than what you’d get with egg whites. When they first went in the meringues were cute little swirls, but as they baked took on more of a Hershey kiss shape. I also found they browned a teensy bit more in the oven than regular meringues. Still, those are the smallest little differences.

The flavor and texture though was just the same. They were dry and crispy with just a hint of chewiness in the middle. I made small two-bite sized meringues and they just melt on your tongue. They are super sweet. I’ve heard from America’s Test Kitchen that you can cut the sugar a bit, but still get the same lift by adding in some corn starch. Haven’t tried it myself though, so feel free to risk it if you like. Overall though, these are lovely and decadent – and made with something I’d usually pour down the sink. I was totally blown away by this recipe, and I think you will be too. It’s easy, delicious, and amazingly egg-free.

Adapted from Slate.com.

Messy level: Practically mess free! And this is from someone who is terrible using a piping bag. All you have to do is mix everything in a stand mixer (or a bowl with a hand mixer), put it in a piping bag, pipe it on a tray, and bake. You don’t even have to use a piping bag you could just spoon artful little dollops. So easy and you need almost no equipment. What could be better?!

Vegan Meringue

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

90 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

 

Serves: 4 dozen

Ingredients

• Liquid from one 15 oz can of chickpeas (about ¾ cup/177 ml)
• 2-3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup/ 200 grams sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 250°F/120°C.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a non-stick mat.
3. Put the chickpea liquid and vanilla extract into the bowl of a stand mixer. (Or use a large bowl and a hand mixer).
4. Beat the liquid on medium speed until it starts to get pretty foamy, 2-3 minutes.
5. Keep the mixer running. Gradually start to add the sugar to the liquid, a spoonful or two at a time.
6. Keep beating until the mixture is white, glossy, and can hold a stiff peak. (about 15 minutes total time in the mixer)
7. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag. Pipe small (or large if you want) mounds onto your prepared baking sheet. These don't spread too much so the meringues can be close to each other. (You can also just spoon mounds on to your pan)
8. Bake in the oven for 90 minutes. Half way through baking time rotate the pans so that what was on the top shelf is on the bottom and what was on the bottom is on the top. Also rotate the pans so what was facing the back of the oven is now facing the front. Sound tedious, but it's going to help make sure everything is evenly baked and nothing is too dried out.
9. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
10. Serve or store in an air tight container.

3.5.3208

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Up until a few weeks ago I had been living under the impression that making your own pumpkin puree was hard. Like, so wildly hard that there was no reason to ever attempt it. Have you ever made pumpkin puree from scratch? I just didn’t see the reason to do it, and this coming from someone who has made her own butter. And then I was talking to one of my colleagues from work and everything changed.

We were talking about what we were going to make for the upcoming cake sale (where I made pumpkin butterscotch cookies), and we got to talking about cooking with pumpkin. She said she’d made a pumpkin pie once and that she had made her own puree. I was gobsmacked. And then we had a conversation that went something like this:

Me: What?! You made the pumpkin puree?!

Her: Yeah, how else do you do it?

Me: Get it from a can!

And then we both looked at each other slightly confused. At least, that’s how I remember it.

Needless to say, after this conversation I felt a little silly. Why was I so dependent on a can? Where had I learned that making my own pumpkin puree would be so hard? Now I was determined to try it out for myself.

What I learned is, the hardest part of making your own pumpkin puree is ensuring that you don’t get attached to your pumpkin. I went to Waitrose with my friend Sarah and picked out what I thought was fine pumpkin. She pointed out it was ugly looking on one side. I said, “It’s fine, we’re going to eat it.” And then I got home and told Ryan I bought a pumpkin. He got excited and asked if we were going to carve it. “No,” I said, “we’re going to eat it.” A word of advice to you my friend: don’t name it, don’t carve it, don’t get attached to your pumpkin!

Even though I wasn’t carving the pumpkin, preparing the pumpkin for cooking starts much the same way. You slice off the top and then scoop out the insides. I cut the pumpkin in half before scooping out the insides. Save the seeds if you’re into that. Then cut your pumpkin in quarters and put on a roasting pan to then cook the slices in the oven. Put the slices in the oven plain – no seasoning or oil. This is so you have the purest pumpkin puree, which I think is really the reason to make this yourself. Sure, opening a can is easier but by making this yourself you’re getting the freshest ingredients with no unknown or unnecessary additives.

When choosing a pumpkin buy one on the smaller side. Save that big impressive gigantic pumpkin for carving. My research said that big pumpkins result in less flavor and a less pleasant texture. This guy here weighed 1.2 kg (2.64 pounds) and resulted in 393 grams (about 1 3/4 cups) of puree. This is probably just slightly less than what you’d get in a can from the super market. The end result was really tasty (because yes, I ate some plain with a spoon). It’s smooth, but less perfectly smooth than a can. I credit that with magical additives used in the canning factory plus also my food processor is mediocre.

What I like best about making my own pumpkin puree is how excited I am to use it. I am itching to make a pumpkin pie and I think I’ll be especially proud when the finish product is extra homemade.

Adapted from the Pioneer Woman.

Messy level: I am giving this four spoons only because I hate, hate, hate cleaning the food processor. It’s so many pieces and such a pain! Also, it’s a little messy in peeling the pumpkin. Some pieces of skin just peeled off, and some fought back a little. It was annoying, but it was a good excuse to taste test what was stuck to my hands.

How to Make Pumpkin Puree

 

Print

Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

Serves: 1¾ cup

Ingredients

• 1 smallish pumpkin (or more depending on desired final amount)
• water, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Cut the top of the pumpkin off near the stem. About 1" of the top cut off is fine.
3. Cut the pumpkin in half.
4. Use a spoon to scoop out all the seeds and inner gunk. You can throw this away or set the seeds aside to roast if you like that.
5. Cut the cleaned pumpkin in half again so you have 4 pumpkin quarters.
6. Put the pumpkin quarters on to a roasting pan.
7. Roast the pumpkin for 45 minutes or until you can easily stick a fork into the flesh.
8. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and let cool until you can safely handle them.
9. Use a knife, a peeler, or your hands to remove the pumpkin skin. It will mostly come off easily, and where it's difficult just use a peeler.
10. Put the pumpkin flesh into a food processor and blend until smooth. If you notice your pumpkin is too dry then you can add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until you have your desired consistency. (I added 2 tablespoons of water) If you're finding your pumpkin is too wet you can strain off some of that liquid after you're done with the food processor.
11. Transfer your pumpkin puree to a bowl if you're going to use immediately or store in an air tight container in the refrigerator if you'll be using it later.

3.3.3077

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Fruit leather also makes me feel a little nostalgic for back to school and my colleagues at Live It Learn It who are back in the US. My coworker Erica and I were a little crazy for fruit leather at the end of last school year. It was our snack of choice during the many meetings we were having. She’d have a big stash in her backpack and I’d peak through and pull out my favorite flavors. Snacks are always a nice way to pep up the workday. 

But I almost never buy fruit leather because it’s usually expensive. It’s like $2 for four inches of dried fruit that I can eat in one second. With this recipe I made a 10.5×15.5″ baking sheet sized piece for less than £3 (about $5)! I’ll be honest it is way easier to buy it at the store. This is so easy to make and takes almost no hands-on time, but it takes forever – and I could still eat this whole tray in one second. However here are three reasons why I like this recipe:

1. I really like making things that I previously thought only came from the store. It makes me feel accomplished that I’m capable of DIY-ing something that seemed like a mystery.

2. It’s cheap! Seriously £3!!! The plums were £2, the lemon was 50p, and I don’t know what 3 tbsp of sugar costs, but you could swipe it from your local coffee shop if you wanted to.

3. Every ingredient in this recipe is normal and familiar and pretty healthy. It’s sort of nice to have a yummy and healthy snack where you can pronounce all the ingredients.

If you’re not into plums, you can do this recipe with any sort of stone fruit. But I do recommend the plums. They are so flavorful and the lemon makes it nice and tart. I also wholeheartedly believe you can do this with any kind of fruit if you just follow the pattern of the recipe.

Adapted from Sweets Made Simple.

Ingredients:

6-8 plums (I used 8 because mine were small)

200ml water (that’s .84 of a cup)

juice from 1/2 lemon

3 tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Remove the pit from the plums. (TV tip: cut the plum perpendicular to the ridge and twist to remove the stone).

2. Roughly chop the plum flesh.

3. Put the plums and water in a saucepan. Heat on medium, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. It will turn a beautiful color!

4. Add the sugar and lemon juice. Take a potato masher and squash everything in the pot.

5. Heat for 10 more minutes.

6. If you have an immersion blender, mix up the fruit in the pot. If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer the fruit to a blender and mix it until it is a smooth puree.

7. Cover a baking tray with plastic wrap. (Check that it is microwave safe). I know it seems weird to do this but I promise it will be ok.

8. Preheat the oven to it’s lowest setting. For me it was 50°. Maybe for you 130-140°.

9. Slowly pour the fruit puree onto the baking sheet. Use a silicon spatula and spread the mixture evenly on the tray. If you don’t have a rimmed sheet don’t worry, the mixture doesn’t ooze and spread too much. Make sure the plastic wrap doesn’t fall back on the fruit puree – if it does that part won’t get dry and harden.

10. Heat in the oven for 10 hours. I know, that’s forever. Do it before you go to bed and in the morning it will be ready. Or, do it on a weekend when you’re home all day.

11. When it cools peel it off the plastic wrap. It’s a pretty stained glass piece of fruit leather!

12. Put it on a cutting board. Cut it up how you like! You could do it in strips, roll it into bundles, cut it into shapes with a cutter, or roll it with parchment and store in an air tight container.

Messy level: I would say 1 spoon if you have an immersion blender, two spoons if you don’t. It’s easy, simple, and doesn’t make much of a mess.;

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My 29th  birthday was a little over a week ago! I went to New York to have a last hurrah. I actually hadn’t been to New York since my graduation, and I was excited to go back and see the city one more time. On Friday (the 20th) I went to Staten Island and stayed with my friend Inga (who also has the same birthday as me). It was so great to catch up with her. She and I were roommates years ago when we studied abroad in Rome. Visiting her, I got to see her new house, meet her  beautiful daughter, and celebrate our birthdays. We had sushi and cake and it was wonderful.

I then went into Manhattan and met up with my  friend Chris, from graduate school. We sat in Battery Park, talked, and looked at the Statue of Liberty. It reminded me of the times when we used to pretend to go for a run along the water, but really we’d just walk and gossip. Then, I met up with my parents and my brother and we had a blast! Seriously, we indulged in New York. We ate at a few of my favorite restaurants. Lunch at Ippudo, dinner at John’s of Bleecker, and dessert at Max Brenner’s. We also found a tiny place that only sold macaroons! We bought six and shared them all. There were amazing flavors like passion fruit and lavender-honey. We also went shopping on 5th Avenue and browsed books at the Strand. It was a great New York weekend with some touristy activity and some old favorites.

After New York I hopped on the train back to DC. I got dolled up in a fancy dress and went as my friend Anna’s date to the Ford’s Theatre Gala. I saw some great theater, had a tasty dinner in the beautiful courtyard at the Portrait Gallery, took pretty pictures with my friend, and said goodbye to some of old colleagues. Great night. I stayed out way too late, but loved it anyway.

Then Monday and Tuesday were my last two days at work. I don’t talk about my job very much on the blog but I have loved working with Live It Learn It. While at Live It Learn It, I’ve had a wonderful time. In this job I’ve been busy running all over DC, I’ve taught lessons, met great students, befriended some awesome coworkers, and led field trips throughout the city. I’ve eaten more Wendy’s than ever before, I’ve sent group texts of just emojis, and I’ve helped create hilarious and weird Mad Libs. And I’ve laughed so so much. Live it Learn It has been everything I was looking for in a job and even though I’m moving they can’t get rid of me yet. I’m hanging on even while abroad.

And today’s recipe is truly for them. In the last year, almost every dessert I’ve made has been shared with my Live It Learn It family – including this one. I decided to dabble in gluten-free baking because one of my coworkers keeps a gluten-free diet. Baking is fun for me because I like sharing the finished product with others – so it’s more fun if everyone is included. I have loved bringing in cookies and treats for them and it doesn’t hurt that they always say nice things and eat everything I bring. I will miss baking for them.

I then spent the rest of the week packing up my apartment. It was stressful and I had a hard time deciding what to ship, store, and pack. It might sound trivial but I had a hard time editing down and Ryan got more than one crazy phone call from me. My parents came down and helped me pack, trash things, and move out. Thank goodness for them because they helped me be decisive and keep from completely losing my marbles.  I could not have done everything so effectively without them! During this move weekend, we also went to my friend Lisa’s wedding. I have known Lisa for over 20 years and it was wonderful to see her get married. She looked amazing – and unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures of her! Her wedding was at the Center Club and it has the most beautiful view of Baltimore I have ever seen. The wedding was a blast. I danced with my friend’s 1 year-old son, I chatted with old friends, I danced some more, and then I sobbed when I said goodbye to my girls. We group hugged, and I felt loved and lucky. All in all, a great night and a wonderful farewell from Baltimore.

Now I’m sitting in my friend Charlotte’s guest room while her cat snuggles up on me. For those of you who know me, you know I’m anti-cat, but I’m actually liking this. What’s happening to me? My flight leaves later tonight – but until then my plan is to go to the pool and then out for dinner.

It’s been a busy ten days or so, but it’s been great. I said goodbye to many of my old homes – New York, Baltimore, and DC. I am deeply going to miss my wonderful network of people here, but being farther away doesn’t mean we’re really separated. To get a bit emotional, I want to say thank you for all the celebrations, activities, and fun I’ve had as I prepared for the move.  I’m so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life.

But now I’m ready. I’m ready to go to London. I’m ready for new adventures, new jobs, new restaurants, new friends. Mostly, I’m ready to be back with Ryan. Get ready London, here I come.

This recipe is adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook, How Can It Be Gluten Free? This book is awesome with lots of really clear and helpful advice and suggestions. I’ve changed it by adding a bit more xantham gum than ATK recommended. I thought it helped hold the shape of the cookie a bit better. These cookies are great and the only difference between these and regular cookies are the thin and delicate structure and shape. The other change was that I used chips and Reese’s pieces instead of normal chips. Gotta spice things up now and then, and get a little creative with the cookie add-ins, right?

Ingredients:

3/4 cup + 2/3 cup King Arthur All-purpose Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xantham gum

1/2 tsp salt

8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup packed, light brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 tbsp milk

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/8 cup mini chocolate chips

1/8 cup mini Reese’s pieces

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, xantham gum, and salt in a bowl.

2. Whisk melted butter and sugars in a large bowl.

3. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix until smooth.

4. Add in the flour mixture.

5. Add in the chips and Reese’s pieces.

6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

7. Preheat oven to 350°.

8. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Use two spoons to arrange 1.5 tbsp size rounds of dough onto the baking sheet. The two-spoons advice is important. The consistency of the batter is stickier and softer than a regular cookie. The spoons help make sure you can make normal looking cookies.

9. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, for 11 minutes. Rotate baking sheet halfway through. As they cook, cookies will spread and they can get dark quickly, so be sure to check on them!

10. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before serving. The cookies are more fragile than gluten-full cookies so let them rest!

Messy level: This recipe is easy – there are only two bowls for this recipe and you don’t even need an electric mixer.

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We can finally start decorating because on Saturday, our landlord came and furnished our apartment! Yes, to answer your unspoken question, we’d been living in our apartment for a week without furniture. Now, it’s starting to feel more like a real place to live because we can put things away and actually sit and relax other places besides the air mattress.

While our landlord was furnishing our apartment, Ryan and I got the heck out of there and went to Camden Market. This place blew us away! There were so many stalls and so many ways to explore. I lusted after a hand-made black leather purse. I ooo-ed over a knit baby hat with a double-decker bus pattern, for all the many friends I have back home who are expecting. We saw antique cameras, books, board games, jewelry, scarves. It was glorious. We bought a painting of a Big Ben cityscape to decorate the bare walls of our apartment.

Our new table, chairs, and painting

While the vendor was mounting the painting, we went to have lunch. We were overwhelmed! We stood on a walkway and looked down at the food vendors. There were so many choices and we decided to do a lap before committing. We found Polish, Peruvian, Turkish, Mexican, Spanish, Jamaican, and Argentinian foods just to name a few. Everything looked amazing, nothing looked mediocre. We decided to each get something different and share. I can’t wait to go back and eat some more.

Even though Ryan and I were out an about this weekend, these cookies didn’t make it until the end of the day Sunday. We devoured them! Also, these cookies are gluten-free and tasty! I know more and more people  who are gluten-free, but I have a hard time finding a good gluten-free cookie recipe. These should fit the bill. This might ruin the gluten-free factor, but these are also great when you put a little nutella on them and make a peanut butter nutella cookie sandwich.

Adapted from pbs.org

Ingredients:

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1 cup sugar (the cookies are pretty sweet this way, I think you can go down to 3/4 cup if you want)

1 large egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°

2. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg.

3. In a large bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.

4. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Take about 1-2 tbsp of dough and make it into a rough circle. Place it onto a cookie sheet. Arrange cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart from each other.

5. Use the tines of the fork to make a hash mark pattern on  your cookies. You don’t have to do this, but it seems to be part of every peanut butter cookie recipe.

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

7. Let cool.

8. If desired, spread nutella onto a flat side of a cookie and top with another cookie. Peanut butter nutella sandwich cookie!

Messy level: One spoon. Four ingredients and all you have to do is stir, shape cookies, and bake! What could be easier?

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Rice crispy treats seemed like the perfect treat to make. They are ooey-gooey, pure sugar, and remind me of being in elementary school. But, I wanted to step them up a notch and include candy corn. I’m not a huge fan of candy corn; I want to eat about twelve pieces and then I’m done with it. Other people must feel the same because I had to go to two different CVS locations to find candy corn. When I finally did find it, I was directed to a tiny bag in the regular candy section, not with the Halloween section.

Candy corn might be waning in popularity, but it’s still a Halloween staple for me. I knew they’d add a nice color and different crunch to my rice crispy treats. With marshmallow, butter, and candy corn, there’s no better quick and yummy Halloween treat. So now I’m sugared up and ready! Happy Halloween!!

Adapted from the Rice Krispies website

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter

1 10oz bag of regular or mini marshmallows

6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup of candy corns

2 tsp Halloween sprinkles

Recommended: A silicone spoon or spatula. It will get coated with butter and so nothing sticks to it. 

Directions

1. Using a large pot, met the butter on low heat.

2. Add the marshmallows. Stir occasionally until melted. This takes less than 10 minutes (though I didn’t time exactly).

3. Remove from heat. Add the cereal and candy corn and stir. Do this on a flat surface because the cereal will try to shoot out! Stir until everything is coated in a web of marshmallow.

4. Press the mixture into a 9×13 pan. Press it in using your silicone spoon.

5. Sprinkle the sprinkles on top of the mixture. Press them down using your spoon.

6. Let sit until cool, then cut and serve.

Messy: Seriously a one pot dish. Ordinarily, melted marshmallow gets all over everything – but it doesn’t! It’s so coated with butter and cereal that the pot was almost spotless. I had NOTHING on my spoon, shirt, hands, or hair. It was awesome. I think this is one of the easiest and cleanest desserts  you could make.

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Over the weekend Ryan and I had dinner with some friends who were visiting from out of town, and they were telling us all the DC things they were going to do before they left. The next day they were going to Farmers, Fishers, Bakers on the Georgetown waterfront, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I was jealous. I know some people who had just ok experiences there, but I really loved their brunch. I think it’s a pretty sizable buffet with a diverse array of choices. For example, there’s chocolate chip waffles, carved meats, Bloody Mary’s, chips and guacamole, and brûléed grapefruit.

The grapefruit is so simple, yet really delicious and I realized I could make it at home! My brother bought me a kitchen torch for my birthday, so I can have grapefruit brûlée whenever I want. I’ve been excited and scared to use the kitchen torch, but this seemed like the perfect first use since I wasn’t make something too complicated.

So Sunday morning, I walked to the grocery store,  I bought two grapefruits, I made Ryan “supervise” the torch set up, and then we were good to go. It was pretty easy to make and really yummy. I think Ryan and I were startled by how much a little caramelized sugar can enhance a grapefruit.  If you don’t have a torch, you can still do this with your oven broiler. Anyway, here’s how we did it – and there’s even the first ever Cooking is Messy video.

Ingredients:

1 grapefruit

2 tbsp raw sugar (I’m sure you can use granulated, but all the recipes I found recommended raw)

Directions:

1. Cut grape fruit in half along the equator.

2. Cut a little bit of skin off of the bottom of each half. This is so it will sit flat when you’re torching it.

3. Place the grapefruit fruit side down on a paper towel. Let it sit for 5 minutes. This is to absorb excess juice.

4. Flip the grapefruit halves over. Using a paring knife, make a cut all the way around between the fruit and skin. Also cut between the fruit sections. Don’t get crazy with this, you’re doing this just to loosen the fruit so it will be easier to eat in the end.

5. Sprinkle the tops with 1 tbsp sugar.

6. Using the kitchen torch, heat the sugar until it turns caramel brown. It will smell awesome and look awesome and that’s how you’ll know it’s done. Here’s a video of me using the torch.  If you are using a broiler, put the grapefruit in the broiler until it reaches desired color. Check it regularly, but it should take about 6-8 minutes.

7. Eat it! We probably could have browned it more, but it was so wonderful smelling that we couldn’t wait any longer!

Messy level: Low! This requires almost no utensils and there’s nothing to spill. It’s so easy to make as long as you’re not afraid of fire.

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