Holiday Baking/First Winter in NYC;COOKIES,Peanut Butter,Pretzels,Pomegranates,Peppermint JoJos,PBandJ Bars,(sweet)Potato Pecan Blondies,non-P Foods

peanut butter oatmeal cookies with peanut butter filled pretzels and chocolate chips.

name speakers for itself.

doh.

which i made for thanksgiving dinner at dillion's/dan's which liz invited me to at stumptown that morning.

liz's amazing cherry-balsamic brussels.

PB&J Bars.

ridiculously rich and dense.made these when theresa's parents came to help her move in,as a thankyou present.but i saved quite a few.i used raspberry jam.so peanut buttery and just plain buttery.

and then it was theresa's birthday...

being the great friend i am i baked her 6 types of humongous cookies.

and then at 11pm that night i made her 2 more types.hey!

HUGE classic chocolate chip cookies with vegan m&ms/smarties.

chocolate coated almond chip cookies.

classic peanut butter oatmeal cookies.

peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

all together now...

and...

chewy chocolate mint cookies with chunks o' peppermint jo jos!

chewy chocolate mint cookies with chocolate chips and walnuts.

i ate one of the jo-jo chunk ones hot off the sheet(so did theresa) and i think i've personally overdone it with mint&chocolate,because i can't look at anything mint chocolate without getting nauseous now.

though 2 days before i made the delicious cookies i had this at lula's sweet apothecary:

a scoop o' mint chip ice cream with hot fudge.yeah,for once i got what blythe reccommended.i dunno if she was more surprised or me.

and after theresa left out apartment to providence for winter break,i baked some more for christmas...

sweet potato spice blondies with sweet and sara cinnamon pecan marshmallows.

zomg.these were sooo good.especially warm/hot when the marshmallow was all gooey and melty and hot.

the blondies are the amazing recipe from vegan cookies invade yr cookie jar by isa and terry but with the added awesomeness of sweet and sara cinnamon pecan marshmallows,which are like cinnamon toast crunch but better.and in marshmallow form.

yr wishing we were friends,right?

CHEWY sweet potato cookies,with walnuts.

hooray for non-cake-y sweet potato/squash/punkin baked goods.i've done these with punkin before,but can't wait to try them out with kabocha sqaush.(japanese punkin)

so that was my holiday baking.all the way from thanksgiving to christmas.and don't forget,i made that insane four-layer birthday cake during the period,too.oh,and had school,and finals.

holidays baically alone in the city,since everyone left have been fun and productive,though.albeit a tad lonely.

on christmas i ate my first mango since october 6th,which was my first since august 6th,when previously i had been obsessively eating at least 1,upwards of 3,huge red mexican mangoes a day,until they ruined my digestive tract and i had to go to the ER.it was kind of perfect.also,because it was christmas,i bought myself a christmas present.nice mug,eh?cuz it was christmas.mango and mug.

i've been decorating,too.

and if you recall the peanut butter-ed pomegranate from vegan mofo,i finished this ball point drawing on christmas day,too:

my birthday cake!4 layer peanut butter blondie/brownie cake with espresso buttercream made with stumptown hairbender espresso & fudgy ganache.........

my birthday cake : four layer peanut butter blondie/brownie cake with espresso buttercream utilizing stumptown's hairbender espresso, and fudgy ganache, decorated with liz lovely peanut butter and coffee macadamia cookies.

yes,that's the title, and yes that's why it won't all fir in the subject/heading bar.and yes,it was the best cake ever,and no,not a single person(well,besides a very drunk chris bennett with the additional of 2 glasses of soymilk...)could finish an entire piece.best birthday ever.

3

see how it's supposed to be like 'latte art' in the top?get it?because of the espresso frosting, chocolate/coffee brownies?har.

see,like this cappuccino i had at cafe grumpy(chelsea) made with the barismo 'soma' espresso,on my birthday,in the first snow of the year.it was good,i remember it tasted like cinnamon toast crunch.okay,it was really cinnamon-y,because i know somebody is actually gonna try it and say it did not taste like cereal at all.w/e.

see,so it's also funny that we served it in a ceramic melitta pour over.

oh, & the liz lovely cookies?i tried one from whole foods,a pb one,and it was stale and sucked,so dan,from liz lovely sent me some 'fresh' ones-peanut butter classics and mochadamia mountains,and,everyone agreed,but theresa put it best "best packaged cookie ever".and serendipitously i got them in the mail the day before my birthday AND they corresponded PERFECTLY with the flavours of the cake-peanut butter,coffee,and chocolate.everything truly cafe full circle.

everytime i tried one i'd say it was my fave.then i'd try the other and change my mind.loved the macadamia nuts though,such a good idea.

thanks so much dan.

ganache-d.

self-explanatory.

i'm really attractive,i know.pics like this only gain me lots of readers.

and that's the cake.

since i'm updating,i'll throw in a few more things that happened on my birthday,delicious-wise:

macchiato,made by elliott,at stumptown.i was out till 4am the night before by birthday,but theresa and i still left to get coffee at 8:30.then my actual birthday party went till 3 then night.har.okay also...

really good lavender coconut creme brulee at blossom.only dessert we had.really good,actually.

and even though i don't care about 'real' food,here some sammiches:

seitan philly cheese steak from blossom.

tofu BLT at blossom.

and we went to cocoa v on my birthday,too,at all-vegan fancy chocolate shoppe.it's kinna on my shit list,the 'creamy peanut butter' cup tasted like bakers chocolate.the 'vegan honey banana chip' tasted like artificial banana flavour,and the caramel was not rich and thick enough,tasted like thickened agave.laame.

okay,yay!happy birthday to me!

...okay,one more so you don't forget how amazing i am: