2008

I'm not usually one to make any kind of New Year's resolution. I mean, all year long I'm trying to eat less sugar (not gonna happen), and work out more, so why do I really need to put the emphasis on the beginning of the year? It's a struggle no matter what time of year it is.

But when I took this life expectancy test and I only made it to 94 years old, I thought there must be something I can do to try to make it to 100. After you've taken the test, it gives you some recommendations to add some years, and there were two things that I really took notice of. Teeth flossing and less coffee. I mean, I really love coffee. Possibly even more than both the Gilmore Girls put together. But I got to thinking, do I *really* need to drink a whole pot of coffee every day? I think not. Am I capable of exercising a small amount of willpower? I hope so. It's not like I'm trying to give up salt-water taffy or anything.

My plan is to slowly decrease. Since I start my new job next week (oh yeah, I got a j-o-b finally), I'm not going to have the time in the a.m. to sit and down all that caffeine, so one cup on the go will do me just fine. After that, it's going to be tea, tea, tea and more tea.

Now, I just have to be patient and wait til 94 passes me up!

Oh, and by the way, Martha Stewart took this very same test and apparently she's going to make it to 110 years old!

All I got for Christmas was this Joey McIntyre button, circa 1988

Actually, I made out pretty well this Christmas. I got a fluffy-soft white robe that I haven't taken off since I opened it, some fun As Seen on T.V. pasta cooker, wrist weights, a stocking full of my favorite salt-water taffy, Jeff framed ALL of my ABBA records, and the grand finale was a frickin' fancy Casio keyboard that I'm actually a little intimidated by. Even the keys light up. But if you got a shit-tastic gift, your not alone. Maybe you'll feel better after you visit the bad gift emporium!

It's a Hit, Part II

Not only did my first attempt at marshmallows come out better than expected, I also found a super simple recipe for peppermint bark, which is one of my favorite holiday treats! They turned out dee-lish and pretty to boot!















And some puuuuuuuuurdy mini-cupcakes

It's a Hit

At the very last minute of the pre-holiday weekend, I decided to go ahead and try making those candy cane marshmallows. Since there were just a few ingredients involved, and I am after all, The Candy Queen, I decided to test the waters. Since I had extra ingredients, I decided to double the recipe, making one 8" square pan to cut into small squares and used the rest to fill a 9x13 pan and cut those into marshmallow bars, dipping the ends in dark chocolate.

It took a while for the sugar/corn syrup mixture to get to 260 degreesOnce I poured the mixture and did the marbleizing technique, I knew it was going to be a success!















The most important thing in making these sticky treats, I found, is to let them sit overnight to firm up and use plenty of powdered sugar when cutting them.














And then I dipped some of them in chocolatey goodness, and packaged 'em up!

Saturday Morning

Rachel: Is it weird that my favorite thing to do is surf the Martha Stewart website?

Jeff: Yes.

Rachel: If we lived in New York, I'd totally be going for a job at Martha Stewart Omnimedia. I've looked before, and you could even get a job naming paint colors!

Jeff: How boring!

Rachel: *speechless*

Happy holidays from Heart [best Seattle band eva!], y'all!

Martha Say Whaaaaaat?

Candy-cane marshmallows?!?!?!?!

Oh.My.God.

I haven't seen anything this good since Jolly Time came out with Mallow-Magic popcorn!

All Things Yum

For whatever reason I haven't felt super inspired about making holiday goodies this year. Maybe I'm burnt out from Thanksgiving, maybe I'm depressed about my job situation, or maybe it's all the disturbing news about Jamie Lynn Spears. I should have at least made a gingerbread house by now. Not sure anything could have topped last year's candy crazed gingerbread making party at my friend Amanda's house. I went to three different stores to ensure I got every available gummy, hard candy and novelty sweet. $60 later ensured that I did. Mix that with what Amanda had prepared for and her dining room looked liked it could have been the research and development room at Haribo.

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately and a lot people are out there baking away for the holidays. One writer challenged herself to make every single type of cookie in the Martha Stewart holiday cookie magazine. There are 106. And Martha's own daughter, Alexis, took it upon herself to bake ALL of her gifts this year.

These ladies had the gumption I was longing for.

But all of that changed when I was shopping for a white elephant gift yesterday I popped into Williams-Sonoma.

First I saw these adorable minuscule sugar decorations. Something I could never make on my own.
And how perfect would these be topped on my mini-cupcakes?!? Oh yes! I haven't made those in a while and cupcakes, especially the cute mini ones, would make a unique holiday treat to bring to an Xmas Eve party.

Suddenly my creative circulation was coming back. I just HAD to have these sugary decals.

Next came the great debate between cake mixes. Betty Crocker or Pillsbury? White cake, yellow cake or rainbow chip, perhaps? Hell no! Turns out, Sprinkles cupcake bakery sells gourmet mix in flippin fabulous flavors like red velvet and chocolate peppermint. So even though these little sweet gems won't be completely homemade, I'm going to make my own frosting and decorate with the sugar figures and crushed candy canes.

When I got home, I was a little more inspired and thought, maybe I could get my holiday baking mojo back and went to marthastewart.com. Sure enough I found a seemingly easy recipe for homemade peppermint bark, a favorite of mine so I will attempt that as well. And pictures will definitely be taken!

Good luck with all your holiday endeavors!