Month: December 2022

Cooking With Christie! Stamped Gingerbread Cookies

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Inspiration: So when my bakes fail, they do so in spectacular fashion….The first and only time I attempted to use my set of cookie stamps, I set one tray of cookies on fire, singed the second pan, and wildly overbaked the third. Then, staring at the fourth prepared pan, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and my quest for cute cookies wasn’t worth setting off the apartment building’s fire alarm system.

(BTW: You NEVER want to be the person who causes a building-wide evacuation at 11 pm or explain to the fire department that you really can bake whilst briquettes sit smoldering in the sink.)

Since we no longer live in an apartment, I decided to give my festive set of stamps another try, only this time, using a recipe created for the express use of the cookie stamps. Perusing the Nordic Ware site, I found this recipe, which turned out great on the first try!

(BTW – this is not a sponsored post. I happen to like their bakeware.)

Surprisingly, I didn’t change a thing — though I must admit these were a touch too spicey even for me. Next time I’m going to cut down on the cloves to a heaping 1/8 tsp rather than a heaping 1/4 tsp and see if it helps. Though I suppose if you eat these cookies with ice cream, it would balance the flavors rather neatly….something to keep in mind.

Christie: I can see Inspector Japp and/or Captain Hastings enjoying these cookies with a bowlful of vanilla ice cream during the holidays!

Book Review! Other Birds

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Sarah Addison Allen – Other Birds

I read Sarah Addison Allen’s Other Birds back in September, and I’ve struggled to figure out how to review it ever since then. Not because it’s terrible — but because I enjoyed it so very much. And the fact that Sarah Addison Allen’s style, magical realism, is done with such a deft hand, I don’t want to ruin the book for you! 

What can I tell you? 

Well, there’s a peculiar death, a series of strange occurrences unrelated to the four ghosts who also call Dellawisp home, and a cantankerous flock of birds flitting about the property. Add in the living human happenings in the small block of apartments, and you’ve got a riveting read! 

Seriously, Sarah Addison Allen is one of my all-time favorite writers. Who, in fact, penned my all-time favorite novel, The Sugar Queen. In Other Birds, as with Allen’s other novels, she brushes up against several writing styles, like mystery and urban fantasy — which creates a story that’s more than a sum of its parts. (Or literary techniques in this case.)

Sitting here writing this review, I realized all the nice things I wish to say about this book boil down to this: I enjoyed every page of Other Birds. And I cannot wait to revisit the Dellawisp apartments and its inhabitants again and again. 

Seriously, if you’re looking for a mysterious and lovely read this festive season, you cannot go wrong with Other Birds.

Cooking With Christie! Bread Pudding

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Inspiration: In a fit of ‘waste not want not’ my husband and I decided to make bread pudding after a loaf of bread I’d baked turned out utterly wonky. And by wonky, I mean the seam split from the main body of the bread loaf, and one side was substantially larger than the other…However, when cut into small one-inch cubes, the bread’s lop-sidedness disappeared!

(Who would’ve thunk it….)

Ree Drummond on the Food Network site wrote the base recipe we used. Though, predictably, we made a couple of changes….

The problem with Bread Pudding, for me, is the texture — or the lack thereof — so my husband had the idea of putting a crumble on top made with cinnamon (1tsp.), butter (2Tsp.), flour (1/4c), and brown sugar (1/4c). And when all I wanted to do was eat the sweet, crunchy topping? Well, we sliced the remaining pan full into one-inch thick strips, turned them onto their sides, made more streusel topping, coated the lot, and baked it again until golden brown.

The concoction was terrific! Even better? With the topping, it actually had texture!

Christie: Honestly, I can see Miss Marple making this for the same reason, especially during WWII (or after, as the habits formed during this period still inform decisions today), as the dessert is a tasty and economical one!