Recipe for Curing a Bad Teen Attitude

You may already know that I am the proud owner of a 13 year old boy - yes a teenager.  So, on New Year's Eve, I took my proud possession along with his 5 year old brother to do something new, interesting and hopefully fun.  You see where this is heading, right?
Off we went to the Martin Luther King, Jr Center.  I have lived in Atlanta since 1998, it was past time to make this pilgrimage.  By the way, if you are looking for something interesting, educational, inspiring and free in Atlanta - this is a great destination.
http://www.thekingcenter.org/about-king-center

  




Well, let me get back to the point.  My 13 year was less than pleased that I pried him away from his Black Ops 2 marathon that had been ongoing since Christmas day.  He moped, lagged behind, acted uninterested or ignored me.  In sum, he did his best to ruin everyone's day.  If you have or have ever had teenagers, you know what kind of day I had.























So after skipping a fun lunch in Midtown and lecturing my teen for his poor behavior, I decided to make him do something engaging.  We made the Pepper Jelly-Goat Cheese Cakes from the December issue of Southern Living.  Here is the recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/jelly-goat-cheese-cakes-50400000125295/
Honestly, Southern Living is not usually my go to for recipes, but their offerings for the holidays were pretty tantalizing, and I needed to bring something to a New Year's party.  Plus my beautiful friend Dianne brought me a jar of Emily G's Roasted Red Pepper jelly as a hostess gift for my last cookie party, and I was itching to use it.

So I set my child to work, and amazingly, it was one of the best parenting moves I have made in a long time.   It was as if his attitude melted away like the Sriracha sauce into the cream mixture.  

If only I could make him bake every time he irritates us!

These cakes are really quite delicious and easy to put together, especially with child labor.  I did not have Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, so I added a little salt, pepper and dried thyme to the plain breadcrumbs.  I imagine you could use most anything or even nothing - the filling and Emily G's jelly together pack a spicy little punch!

I am going to rename these little darlings The Attitude Buster! 



















So there it is, my recipe for killing a bad teenage attitude and getting your work done all in one fell swoop.  Thank you, Southern Living!  So glad I renewed my subscription!

Offerings for the Sweetest Holiday

I spent the better part of the weekend baking up sweet treats for your sweetest.  Here's a basic list of what I am offering.  If you would like something that you don't see on the list, please let me know.  Some things I can provide immediately; for others I will need a bit of lead time.  Usually that means I need a weekend to whip it up.
Basic prices are listed.  If you would like a tray, special dish or wrapping, that will be additional based on what you would like.  Together, I am sure we can come up with some creative and beautiful ideas!  So, without further ado - here's what's cooking...

Cookies @ $9/pound

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip - a thick cookie blending crunchy and creamy peanut butters along with milk and bittersweet chocolate
Hot Double Chocolate - too much chocolate to name it all, along with cinnamon, salt and a touch of heat at the end
Oatmeal Butterscotch - chewy oatmeal, sweet butterscotch chips and delicious cinnamon to round it all out
Love Your Mama (aka Snickerdoodles) - it's just like your mama made but cinnamon chips take to eleven
Raspberry Ginger Sparkles - a sandy cookie covered in pink sprinkles for the season, filled with a raspberry ginger cream

Cake Pops @ $1.25 individually wrapped

Pick-Me-Up - Its inspiration comes from its Italian namesake: Tiramisu.  Coffee cake studded with white chocolate chips, coated in white chocolate, chocolate sprinkles and a chocolate covered espresso bean topping!
Red Velvet - this season our southern favorite comes with heart shaped sprinkles
Chocolate Cake - No need to mess with the best, shining with seasonally inspired decor
Yellow Cake - sometimes, that's all you need, just let us know if you want it topped in a chocolate (highly recommended) or colored candy coating!

Italian Rainbow Cake @ $1/piece

Layers of colored, spongy, almond cake gently coated in dark chocolate, cut into small bite sized squares

Brownies @ $2.50/piece

Fudgy, rich chocolate squares with bits of sweet caramel hiding inside

Cupcakes (price on request)

We can do just about any flavor, they will be made to order.  Right now I am working on a chocolate with hazelnut praline flavor.  I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out!  Please know that while I can make basic cupcakes, I prefer a more delicious approach of filling the middle with some sort of flavored cream.  A couple I have done in the past include a spice cake with with a pumpkin cream topped with cream cheese icing as well as a lemon sponge cake filled with lemon curd and topped with Italian butter-cream.  I would love to create your dream cake!

Please email me: angwit@mindspring.com

Valentine's Day is fast approaching!

I spent a bit of time on my vacation cooking and developing some recipes.  That's right; these are customized cookies, just because I love you all!  So watch out, I may come bringing samples in exchange for opinions. Mmmm!

Shown below, I have the latest from the kitchen.  From left to right you will see Oatmeal Butterscotch, Hot Double Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.

The oatmeal and the peanut butter are both thick and chewy.  The hot double chocolate is still chewy, but not as thick as the other two.  Here are the questions you can answer without a taste test (maybe):
-Do you like your oatmeal thick and chewy or thinner and crispier?
-Would you eat a chocolate cookie with a hint of cayenne pepper and smoky chipotle (not a predominant flavor but a subtle hint).  Or would you prefer a super spicy, yowza cookie?
-Would you like chocolate in your peanut butter, or are you a PB purist?
-I made these PB cookies with chunky peanut butter to add a bit of nutty texture - how does that make you feel?

I went to the store and started buying some cute containers for cupid to deliver some bites of love - start thinking about who that special someone is that deserves something sweet! I would love to help you design a custom gift or a special dessert!

The inspiration begins

So I just went to my local bake supply store and picked up some super cute sprinkles.  Some are for Eleanor's daughter's birthday cake pops (photos to come), and some are my Valentine's Day inspiration.  Lots of hearts!  So which flavors say Valentine's Day to you?  I jump right to chocolate and raspberry.  But what else makes you feel loved?  How about chocolate spiced with cayenne?  I will be conjuring up my cookies, tarts and cake pops.  Let me know what makes you drool and see little hearts floating around your head!