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from Epicurious.com

I will be making these on Christmas Day! (Maybe every day before that too)

Recipe for Epicurious

Ingredients

from Crate and Barrel

I have a Mac laptop. Since Apple has decided to suck every last dime out of us, they went ahead and made all their computers weird sizes, thus forcing you into their stores to buy their product (evil geniuses).  So its been hard to find a bag that 1. fits my computer and accessories and 2. is not heinously ugly. Enter Crate and Barrel. I was getting my ipod fixed (and hating life) when I decided to take a walk to Crate and Barrel. In the back corner of the store was this lonely little bag in the prettiest shade of teal. Low and behold it was on SALE! A Christmas miracle if you ask me. So I snatched up that bag and headed to the counter. Merry Christmas to me.

Large tote – on sale for $59.

Check it out.

To my husband, no, I did not buy anything. Promise.

I have some exciting news to share. The Poor Girl getting all dolled up and moving to a new home! The new look is undergoing its final touches and we’re packing up our virtual stuff and getting ready for a new journey. I’ll keep you posted on the whens and the wheres. I’m looking forward to having you all over at the new place!

xoxo,

J.S.

from Floral Scrapbook

from Wordboner.com

True story.

While the jury is still out on my home-made jerky, the verdict is in on these bad boys and they’re awesome! Ok, I know that’s cheesy but that’s really how good they are. I adapted two recipes for what I did. My version is below. A word of warning though, I have an actual fryer, not a pan with oil. If I didn’t have the fryer, I wouldn’t have attempted this. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, it just mean you have to be braver and way less distracted than I am. Another note, each of these gifts cost me less than $4 a pop. Pretty impressive.

Churros with Spiced Chocolate Sauce

Adapted from Cannelle et Vanille and Food Network.

Ingredients

• Vegetable or olive oil, for frying
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup whole milk
• 8 ounces butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cup all purpose flour
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• Chocolate  Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Prepare to fry the churros by heating 1 to 1 1/2 inches oil in a deep pan to 360 degrees F.

Place the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring this to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a smooth ball.

Transfer this mass to the bowl of an electric mixer (or can do it by hand) and start mixing with a paddle attachment. When most of the steam has evaporated, add the eggs one at a time. Mix until it comes together to a smooth thick mass.

Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.

Squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time until golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Mix the sugar and cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Roll churros in the cinnamon sugar. Serve with Chocolate Dunking Sauce.

Spiced Chocolate Sauce

3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick of cinnamon
Zest of 1 orange
3 slices of fresh ginger
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
6 egg yolks
12 oz chocolate, chopped ( I used semi-sweet and I would not recommend that. You want it sweeter.)

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, sugar, vanilla,  cinnamon, orange zest and fresh ginger. Bring it to a boil. Turn the heat off and let it set for about 10 minutes. Return the mixture to a boil and add the cocoa powder and instant coffee powder. Whisk together.

Place the egg yolks in a large bowl and temper the milk mixture into them while whisking. Return this mixture to the sauce pan and cook for a couple of minutes while constantly stirring until lightly thickens.

Place the finely chopped chocolate in a large bowl. Place a fine sieve over the bowl and pour the custard over the chocolate. Mix until all the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth cream.

Can be served warm, room temperature or cold. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. It will thicken when it cools.

from Food Network

from Food Network:

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2/3 cup superfine sugar
• 1 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup limoncello
• 2 teaspoons vermouth
• 1 (750 ml) bottle chilled dry Champagne or sparkling wine
• Ice
• Lemon twists, for garnish

Directions

from Cannelle et Vanille

Churros and Chocolate Bisque.

I think these will make good gifts for work people. What do you think? I think Aran at Cannelle et Vanille just might be a genius. Check out her recipe here.

I’ll post my attempt soon.