Cookie Bowls and Ice Cream

I will have Mondays everyday if ends with cookies and ice cream! Even better if I can give this beloved dessert a gourmet look. 

I love perusing in kitchen stores for novelties, and last week at Sur La Table, I saw this cookie bowl pan. My first thought was: cool! My second thought was: I can make this with the muffin pan I already have at home! Because I love seeing all the novelty tools, but I prefer to have just the multi-functional basics. More often than not, there is a way to adapt, be creative with what we already have. 

First Attempt at Cake Decorating

For a while now I've been excited about trying out cake decorating, and this week I finally had the help I'd been waiting for. When I was 17, I went to study abroad in Germany and I was very lucky to stay with a family that immediately became my own. They visit me at least once a year and we always have lots of fun being as much of ourselves as we can be. It’s some kind of magic how well we fit together.

So, we planned a messy day of butter and sugar (it’s essentially what baking sweets really is).  For the cakes, we used my aunt’s simply delicious recipe. For the frosting, we decided to try buttercream (but there are other options, such as glace or marshmallow icing). We got some food coloring, chocolate bars, decorating bits, and zip-lock bags for improvisation.

Who Doesn't Like Cookies and Knickknacks?

I'm the biggest fan of knickknacks - it's actually one of my given nicknames - and I am a strong advocate of their importance and utility. Nevertheless, I've had these Christmas cookie cut-outs for years and had never used them. It's one of these things you buy because you think they are essential, that it's something everyone has to have. But the truth is that they are only essential if you actually use them! So, this weekend, I decided to prove to myself and to the world just how much I do need my cut-outs. 

Crafting Some Dinner and a Pie

Thanksgiving is a new holiday for me and I am still trying to get used to it. My first experience, 3 years ago, led to turkey on the kitchen floor before it ended up in sandwiches, soup, pasta, salad, and whatever else we were eating until the meat just started smelling weird. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Brazil and we typically reserve the turkey extravaganza for Christmas Eve. That being said, my husband and I decided we would always celebrate Thanksgiving with a culinary experiment, and be thankful for whatever comes out of it.