Cubicle kitchen: Gingerbread Cookies with Spiced Apple Glaze

I've said it before and I'll say it again: my baked goods very rarely can be described in a single phrase.  It's never just 'chocolate chip cookies', it's got to be triple chocolate with added this and that and cut into the shape of a cupcake or something.  And this week was no exception.  For the final week of office treats in 2012, I wanted to be seasonal.  Gingersnaps seemed appropriate.

I may be amassing a more respectable baker's pantry, but I don't have quite the supply of spices and molasses that most recipes require, so I cheated and bought a boxed mix.  But I made up for it with the addition of crystallized ginger.  Then I decided that, hey, they make iced gingersnaps, so making a quick glaze would be in no way considered excessive.  And if there was going to be a glaze, it might as well have a little more ginger.  And then, why mix water in with the powdered sugar when there was some perfectly good apple juice in the fridge?  Apples and spices go so well together.

So you see, it's probably best that I start out with a boxed mix, otherwise I might never have had the energy for all of that improvisation.

This isn't the end of gingerbread baking for me, though.  I already know that I can 'get away' with gingerbread cookies in summer when I add lemon candies.  And Vanilla Sugar posted a great list of links to gingerbread-y recipes that I also want to try now, maybe even from scratch.

Gingerbread Cookies with Spiced Apple Glaze
made just over two dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 box gingerbread cookie mix, along with directed wet ingredients (or use your own from-scratch base recipe)
• 1/4 cup of crystallized ginger, chopped
• about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• about 2 tablespoons apple juice
• pinches of ground ginger, clove, and cinnamon

Directions:

1. Prepare the dough as directed, adding the crystallized ginger.  For my cookies, I rolled about a tablespoon of dough and placed them 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
2. After the cookies have baked and cooled, take a small bowl or mug and mix together the powdered sugar, spices, and apple juice until you have a glaze consistency.  Drizzle on the cookies.  Allow to harden before storing the cookies, or serve them as is.

Tokyo tales: I scream for...

Amazingly enough, I didn't eat any frozen yogurt while in Tokyo.  My Google research tells me that there probably are one or two places that do the self-serve weigh and pay thing, but there were plenty of other things for me to seek out, so rather than yogurt, I indulged in some ice cream.

Whether it was served as dessert after dinner in a restaurant or scooped into a cone as a vacation decadence in the middle of the afternoon, there was not a lick of the stuff that I regret.  Here's the collage of ice cream:

First, in the 'served as dessert' category: In the bottom righthand corner, a dainty scoop of vanilla bean to go with some fresh fruit, the finishing touch to a yakitori dinner in the hotel our second night.  The top center is a matcha ice cream that came after another dinner of grilled meats in a restaurant where you take off your shoes and sit on the floor.  After an hour or two it gets a little uncomfortable, but it's worth it for the creamy green tea dessert.  And in the top lefthand corner, that is a frozen apple which has been hollowed out and filled with an apple sorbet.  I ate everything but the very core.

And then, the specifically sought after cones.  On the left is an unabashed afternoon snack of dark chocolate sorbet topped with a grapefruit sorbet, which came from Grom in Harajuku.  You would think that after having ramen for lunch we'd have more restraint, but no.  It was delicious.

In the remaining two photos, we found ice cream in a surprising (to me) place: Baskin-Robbins.  It was next door to the Burger King that offered up the intriguing pumpkin burger so near the hotel.  As with the fast food, the novelty is in the available flavors more than anything else.  In the center photo, my cone is on the left, with a scoop of red bean ice cream atop BR's own version of matcha.  I love the strangeness of getting something so sweet and creamy from beans.  And the color is pretty too.  Dad's is in the right of the same photo, I believe it was an espresso chocolate chip.  

And then in the photo on the right, another trip to BR.  A seasonal pumpkin on the bottom, and an intriguing apple pie and tea ice cream on the top.  That was totally unexpected, but really delicious.  I wish I could get that scooped in the US, because apple pie is so American and all.  The pumpkin was also surprising, because while I expected it to be like a pumpkin pie flavor, it was far more a pumpkin-caramel combo, which while unexpected was absolutely delicious.

I also bought powdered ice cream mixes for matcha and red bean flavors to attempt to make myself stateside.  But I doubt they'll be anything more than a good reminder of the true greatness of the frozen desserts enjoyed in Tokyo.  Nostalgic scoops are better than none at all.

Froyo files: Seeing things Yo-Way

There are a few reasons I love my optometrist.  For one thing, he has all the latest technology to be able to take pictures of my eyes without dilating them, which is a huge plus.  He's also open on Saturdays, and open until 6 pm everyday except Tuesday, when they are open even later.  And it's right on the way home from work for me, so all in all, it's a pretty convenient set up when you're to-ing and fro-ing testing out various contact lenses.

But there's a an x-factor that just cannot be denied: my optometrist is almost literally right above a frozen yogurt shop.

Yo-Way is another one that I've already reviewed once.  But like Chill Out, they have earned another post.  The other weekend I stopped by the optometrist for two more trial pairs of lenses.  So it only made sense that I should test out one of those pairs while eating frozen yogurt, a very important task requiring vision.  Not only to read the flavor labels to avoid mixing mint and caramel, but depth perception is required to get the spoon from bowl to mouth successfully.  It's all highly skilled, you see.

The contacts performed their task very well, I think I've gotten the right prescription and type sorted now.  And Yo-Way also did their job, maybe even better.  I just have to take a moment to rave about their red velvet.  It was absolutely delicious!  And even better was the cheesecake, because this may be the first time a froyo has actually had that tang of cream cheese.  And when I combined the two, oh boy, it was a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, in swirled form.  This was two weekends ago now, so I cannot guarantee that they are still currently available, but I highly recommend them whenever they come around again, as I'm sure they will.

I'll be ordering my 'official' contact lenses this week, and I'm also planning on using up a few more of those extra flex spending dollars on a cute Hello Kitty lens case I saw at the optometrist.  Another reason to love them...

Cubicle kitchen: Homemade Butterfingers

After every holiday, there are always certain foods and candies left over that people don't really want to eat anymore after the festive glow has passed.  Fruit cake and candy canes, for instance, tend to outlive the momentary culinary enthusiasm that the season brings.  Candy corn is another one of these foods, outlasting almost all other candies in the clearance after Halloween.  But now, there is a use for all of that orange, yellow, and white stuff.  And that's by combining it with peanut butter and chocolate to create homemade Butterfingers.

This was quite possibly one of the most fun treats to bring into work.  People were so intrigued when I told them what they were, and even more impressed when they bit into them.  Because they really, truly are.  In fact, they might even be better than the actual thing, being fresh, just a little softer, and less teeth-sticking.  After the disbelieving intrigue is met with yumminess, the curiosity comes next, and people were quite honestly a little stunned to know that it took just three ingredients.

While I was never losing sleep wondering exactly what flavor a Butterfinger was, something about having found out and even made it myself is very satisfying.  I still find myself randomly congratulating myself.  Hey, I made Butterfingers!  That's pretty cool.

Homemade Butterfingers

Find the recipe at Plain Chicken, I didn't change a thing.  Just a warning, though: this is a little bit of a sticky mess when putting together, and cutting into squares is not the easiest thing.  But rustic is beautiful.

Magic loop lives up to its name

Having now sent out the last of my 2012 swap packages, I can now focus on any quick holiday knits for friends and family.  And then perhaps I can knit something for myself, what a change that will make!

But anyway, in the course of determining a particular item for someone on my list (with deliberate vagueness to guarantee surprise), I choose a pattern, found some stash yarn and the appropriate needles, and began casting on.  It directed me to use Judy's Magic Cast On, and though I was a little trepedatious, I did as I was told.  I was mostly able to follow the directions from Knitty, but I found this YouTube video super-helpful when I got stuck turning to knit the second half of the first round:

Funnily enough, despite the mention of socks in the Knitty instructions, and the word 'Magic' in its name, it didn't fully strike me that I was magic looping until I was actually doing it.  And then suddenly,  as I was finishing up that first round, it was like I was struck with that magic wand.  Bippity-boppity-boo!  Ah-ha, so this is what people are always talking about, getting freakishly long circular needles to do, taking classes for, and arguing the pros and cons of!  And here I am doing it!  Whoa.

I suppose it's needless to say that I'm not making socks, and never have.  I don't particularly plan to make any either, but I do love learning a technique all by myself without bursting into tears.  And if I ever get around to starting hexipuffs for the Beekeeper's Quilt this technique will certainly come in handy.  For now, it's just something else a little bit fiddly to deal with while I'm also cabling.

Stay tuned for actual details about this project.  The day after Christmas is the time for post-holiday sales and post-gifting show-offs.

Froyo files: Holiday flavors at Chill Out (Kyle)

With Thanksgiving over, it is now prime holiday time.  The bad news is the Christmas music that will play for the next month in stores.  The good news is the yummy seasonal flavors in everything from white chocolate peppermint M&Ms to, you guessed it, frozen yogurt.

I've already done my formal review of Chill Out, but I've been several times since then, and I have to say, I like it more each time.  On Friday night, we stopped in for frozen yogurt for dinner between stopping at Target and HEB.  We were greeted by the owner, and some yummy new holiday flavors to try.  Here's the breakdown:

Peppermint Stick: Mmm, minty.  Not too creamy, not to minty.  The only thing that holds me back from these is not knowing what to put on them, topping-wise.  Chocolate cookie crumbs would be good.  More calories, but good.

Gingerbread: Oh yes, this was most definitely my thing.  So good I had to combine it with the Orchard Cherry.  Which was maybe a little strange, but it certainly made more sense than putting Pineapple with it.  This was a good, warmly spicy froyo.  Would go really well with the pumpkin muffins they had on the topping bar as well.

Egg Nog: This was ready after I had filled my cup, but I did get to sample it.  Yum.  I don't know that I've ever actually had egg nog, so full disclosure there, but I thought this was good.  Would be nice with fresh fruit, since it's sort of custardy.

Turtle Bliss: Okay, so not strictly speaking a holiday flavor, but it is one that was specially blended in-house with chocolate, caramel, and pecan.  I lean towards a little more caramel, but this was really good.

So if you need a pick-me-up while crossing off names on your holiday shopping list, come try one or all of these.  While the weather still allows it!

Cubicle kitchen: Cranberry Lemon Cupcakes

To my mind, leftovers are just the start of a whole world of possibilities.  Yes, you can just reheat stuffing and eat it.  Or, you can reheat it and top it with a fried egg, using the herby, bready goodness to sop up the yolk.  Mmm...

Mom and I love cranberries so much we could have just eaten this leftover relish on its own, but I had to use some of it as a cupcake filling.  I call this a relish rather than a sauce because it was a chopped mix of cranberries, apples, and other fruits.  I wish I could be more specific, but this was someone else's contribution to our potluck Thanksgiving dinner, so all I can be sure of is that it was delicious.

People loved the tartness of the lemon, I think it pairs nicely with the cranberry, and has a good balance of sweetness.  This recipe would work with pretty much any cranberry sauce, though I think it's best with something with texture, chunks of actual cranberry rather than rings from where it was sitting in a can.

Cranberry Lemon Cupcakes
made a dozen regular-sized cupcakes and 45 minis

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 can Sprite Zero
• a few drops lemon extract
• sprinkle of dried lemon zest
• leftover cranberry relish (or sauce)

Glaze:

• about 1 cup powdered sugar
• less than a tablespoon lemon juice
• dried cranberries for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cake mix and can of soda together, adding additional extract and zest just to boost the lemon flavor.  Note: you can of course use your own preferred lemon cake recipe.
2. Fill lined mini-cupcake tins about half full of batter.  Add about a teaspoon of cranberry relish, pushing it into the batter until it's mostly covered.  For the full-sized cupcakes, scoop in batter about 2/3 full, add a little more relish, and then top with a little more batter rather than pushing in the relish.
3. Place in the oven and bake, about 10 minutes for minis, 15 for the full-size.  When fully baked, remove and allow to cool.
4. In a mug or small bowl, mix powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water until a glaze forms.  The consistency should be relatively thick to avoid the glaze running down the cupcake liner.
5. Using a spoon, apply a circle of glaze on each cupcake, and top with a dried cranberry.