best drop biscuits

I have this 'thing" about making bread items. I can't do it. NO knack for it apparently. In fact it has become a running joke among'st all my friends that someone is ALWAYS required to bring rolls or bread to parties at my house because I'm known for burning the rolls, or they don't rise properly, or they are just flat out inedible!(that last one has happened a few times)
So Thanksgiving Day arrives and I realize I've forgotten to have someone bring dinner rolls and I obviously do NOT have time to wait for a loaf of dough to rise then knead then rise again then hope and pray it's pretty and tastes good!
In a slight panic I start tearing through all my magazines and cookbooks and decide I'm going to try to make these drop biscuits from Cook's Illustrated. No yeast, no two day wait, hopefully no complications in execution (hopefully)


They were delicious! And SO easy! And edible! My new favorite biscuit recipe. Try these soon.

These came out of the Cook's Illustrated 'Holiday Entertaining' issue


YOU WILL NEED:


2 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold buttermilk
1 stick of butter - melted and cooled slightly
4 additional tablespoons butter - melted for drizzling after baking


TO DO:


oven to middle rack
temperature at 475


whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
combine buttermilk and melted butter in a small bowl - stir until clumpy
(it's going to look a bit odd - don't worry - it's fine)


add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture

mix with rubber spatula until combined and batter pulls away from sides.

scoop about a 1/4 cup of batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
repeat until all batter is used.


bake until tops are golden and crisp.
about 13 minutes.


after out of oven - leave the biscuits on the parchment paper and pour the 4 tablespoons melted butter over the top - letting whatever runs down the sides soak into the bottoms of the biscuits.


serve immediately.

white chocolate and peppermint meringues

I have to bring a sweet treat to my daughter's little OnStage production tonight and of course I can't just do some simple sugar cookies or basic cupcakes (of course!)
So I started plowing through my stack of magazines here in the kitchen and decided something with peppermint would be very fun and festive as well as delicious. 
These are wonderful!
The original recipe is in the latest issue of Sunset. And while mine are not quite as pretty as the ones in the magazine I am very happy with the result (I was too lazy to pipe the meringues - I can admit that - and I wasn't sure I had a pastry tip big enough for the chocolate chips to fit through, so two spoons were gonna have to do.) 


Try these. They're really fun and really tasty.

YOU WILL NEED:


2 large egg whites - at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of salt
3/4 cup bakers sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup coarsely crushed peppermint candies - plus more for sprinkling on top


TO DO:


oven to 250
line 2 baking trays with parchment paper
set aside
crush all the peppermint candies.
i used my cuisinart.
set aside.

measure out 3/4 cup of sugar in a separate bowl.
set aside.


beat egg whites and cream of tartar using your whisk attachment until soft peaks form.
add vanilla and a dash of salt.
turn your mixer up to high.
add 1 tablespoon of the sugar and beat another 15 seconds.
slowly drizzle in the rest of the sugar.
beat until stiff peaks.


it's going to have kind of a marshmallow consistency.

gently fold in the white chocolate and 1/3 cup of the crushed candy.

then using two spoons, make little piles about a tablespoon in size

one spoon to scoop,
one spoon to scrape,
you get the idea.
you should have enough to fill two baking sheets.
sprinkle a little more of the crushed peppermint candies on top.


bake 30 - 35 minutes


remove from the oven.
let cool about 5 minutes.
turn the oven off.
put meringues back into the oven with the door propped open.


enjoy!
(try not to eat them all)

what i've been doing instead of cooking

Where have I been? 
At home...completely crazed...preparing for the 44th Annual Christmas Arts and Crafts Show in Folsom, CA.  Yes, I realize this is a food blog and supposed to contain a jillion delectable 'edible' items, but these last couple weeks have been beyond nuts so unfortunately the family has been living on salad out of a bag and endless nights of hot dogs and fish sticks! There may have been some steamed broccoli in there somewhere as well. I can't really remember.


I promise to get back in the swing of things and start cooking again.
But today I thought it would be a good idea to give the world a glimpse of how I have been spending my time (in addition to all the time spent volunteering in my daughter's classroom and all the failed attempts to get this house clean and get some laundry done and maybe stop at the grocery for another frozen pizza) I really, really tried to be super mom and do ALL of my normal chores as well as ALL the prep needed for this huge show.
It didn't happen.
Something had to give so unfortunately the blog suffered.


But, the show is done.
I feel like I have recovered and gained a little of my normal sanity back.
(for those that know me it's probably more accurate to say "a little of my normal insanity")


There will be food soon (good food!)


Stay tuned.




Some photos of some of the products I made for this show are here. Many of the pieces will also be up in my etsy shop in the next week or so.
Majuk ink and paper is the shop name although it's pretty bare right now.
Here's a link if you're interested in checking it out. LINK  :-)

My friend liz said my house looked like Pinterest puked all over every flat surface available. Pretty accurate description.


I made a ton of coasters and trivets.

Made a ton of cards.

Used my own photos for an entire card series.

Did quite a few mixed media pieces.

And of course had to do a whole gob of festive garland.

Some photo or card holders.

and a whole boat load of other items!

whew...it's been quite a few weeks of crafty nonsense.

am looking forward to getting back into the kitchen.