brown sugar & buttered popcorn cookies

One year for Christmas when I was still pretty young, my uncle put together a scavenger hunt for my mom. It seems like every year my family would unintentionally (or maybe intentionally?) pick a different person to really make feel special. No one ever had money so these special gifts amounted to a lot of planning and saving and oftentimes, good old layaway. My mom always played down Christmas - "Oh, there's nothing I need! Don't buy me anything. Don't spend your money on me." But I know secretly she loved to be made to feel special. Who doesn't? When my brother, playing "Santa," handed my mom a plain white envelope with no gift attached, we all sat a little straighter, curiosity playing across all of our faces. She opened it to find the first clue. We watched her run around the house, down into the basement, in the yard even picking up the clues. What's funny is that I don't even remember what my uncle got her that year. But I do remember the joy in our house and within our family on that Christmas Eve.

For me, Christmas is about those moments spent running around the house and yard on a scavenger hunt with a smile on your face as big as the lit and decorated tree in the living room. It's about the gifts that took you months to hunt down and brings tears to the receiver's eyes. They're the gifts that are homemade and designed just for that person. They're the ones like a whole box of socks because mine always end up with holes in them that still make me laugh when I pull them on 10 months later (undoubtedly, with holes in them). They're the ones that show you know who a person is and that you appreciate them and that the last year and one coming up is better because they're a part of it.

Since Zander and I will be out of the country for Christmas this year, I've been thinking about gifts and the holiday and what it all means to me a little earlier than normal. We still want to give gifts to our family and friends, and even though it'll be a more subdued celebration, I still want them to be thoughtful. Like maybe homemade cookies and baked goods, wrapped just so, with a bow and a note that says it all.

brown sugar & buttered popcorn cookies (aka- like popcorn, you can't just eat one of these!) from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

**i used kettle corn from an adult human-sized bag gifted to Matt and me so i skipped the first 4 ingredients and the first step.

2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1/4 cup yellow corn kernels 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar (i used cane sugar)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional - i used them in half the dough)
coarse sea salt for sprinkling (optional - i found it unnecessary)

1. Make the popcorn: pour the oil in a medium-sized saucepan and heat over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the corn kernels in a single layer. Cover the pot, but leave the lid slightly off to let some of the steam out. When the popcorn finishes popping (you'll hear it stop), turno ff the heat and remove from the burner. Drizzle with salt and the melted butter. Remove any unpopped kernels. Let cook. You'll have 4-4.5 cups of popcorn.
2. Make the dough: preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla. You can do this by hand or in a stand mixer. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk the flour and baking soda. Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ones, thoroughly mixing. Fold/mix in the popcorn. You'll have way more popcorn than dough, but it works! It's okay if the popcorn breaks up. If you're using chocolate chips, mix them in now, as well.
3. Bake the cookies: Drop heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough onto your cookie sheet. If you'd like, sprinkle sea salt on the unbaked cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes - until you see the edges turning brown. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes. These yielded about 30 cookies for me. 

welcome! to a new blog and 2013! + a holidays recap

Pinch me! Someone pinch me! It's 2013, and I have a new blog design and URL! This space is cleaner, prettier, and reflective of me. Don't be fooled, I'm not that talented! It's all because of the great Bobbi over at ready to blog. I can't wait to watch this little blog that could grow into a real steam engine in 2013.

This year is going to be big with an italicized big. I hope so, you know? I hope this year drives me to the brink of insanity with all its surprises and wonders and miles on trails and in running shoes and on frequent flyer accounts. I can only dream I'll be overwhelmed with choices in my career and personal life, tested to see how much I can grow and stretch (in character, not pants size, eh?), and given multiple opportunities to present my passport for stamping. (Side bar: I know stamps are all the rage now - making your own and being crafty, but my favorite kind are still Vintage Any Airport, Circa the Advent of Air Travel.) I am forward-looking, filled with hope and really freaking pumped for 2013. It doesn't hurt one little bit that 2012 ended like the party won't stop - with my lovin' man, the funniest roommate ever (try to challenge it!), friends, family and LOBSTAH killing. That last one is awkward, but it happened! I have photographic evidence to prove it, albeit blurry proof! I'm dating my very own Dexter, serial crustacean killer.

I spent Christmas in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with Zander's family. I'll tell ya what... "We're not in Newnan, GA anymore, Theo!" was my refrain. If you follow me on twitter, perchance you witnessed the smorgasbord of intoxicated tweets, hashtagged, wait for it, #bourgiexmas (no, no, I will not storify this. Okay, I will consider it.). And by intoxicated, I mean wasted, y'all. With. His. Parents. My family doesn't drink. I mean, my mom will get drunk on a single frozen strawberry daquiri like nobody's business, but that doesn't count, does it? Probably not. Zan's parents put all parents to shame. Hell, they put us to shame. We went through approximately 18,000 bottles of wine on Christmas Eve. Zan and I were on our hungover deathbeds pretty much all day Christmas. The 'rents? Nothin' to it! Up and at 'em like kids on, well, Christmas morning! His parents spoiled me silly. Their generosity blew me away. I've never had a Christmas like this one, and I'll never, ever, not ever, forget it. I love my family, and I missed them terribly (the proof is in the drunken hour long phone call to my mother at 1:00am Christmas Eve... wooooops! More like #trainwreckmas!), but it was so special to be welcomed so warmly into Zan's family for this one. 

And then the Redskins won the NFC East title and are going to the playoffs.

And Zander and I saw the second movie in a theater of our entire relationship, and Skyfall was the best Bond movie. Ever. (Resolution: sit on our rumps in dark places and sip on $5 colas more in 2013!)

And Theo behaved himself, all of the time. It was so weird. I wanted to freeze frame all the sitting and lying down and listening he did. He listened! 

And then New Year's. Oh New Year's. I love you so! I think NYE is a magical night, that tells the tales of your year past and the one you're entering. All really drunkenly. What's more awesome than that? Only one thing. CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY. Zander let me talk him into hosting dinner at his condo (it's itty bitty, but it was perfect!). I cooked up a storm, and the guest list was short and sweet. Zan's sister-in-law and I wore the same shirt, so there was double the sparkle, double the fun, and somehow, someway, I don't have a picture of it (gasp!). Six of us ate just about every last bite, drank red and white and sparkling wines and played CAH, the game for horrible people, and we were horrible, and we rang in 2013 at one of our favorite wine bars, cheersing and kissing cheeks and lips and being so merry my cheeks are still rosy.

Here are some of the (not so great) photographic highlights of this joyfully long winter break. Tomorrow? Resolutions. I got 'em a plenty! 2013 is going to be big. 

gingerbread cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Can I brag for a second? How about a whole post?

My office's holiday party last week featured a "Cupcake Wars" contest. Most people were sold on "cupcake;" they had me at "war."

I'm a little competitive.

A little competitive like smack-talk-gauntlet-thrown-BRINGITITSBEENBROUGHTEN.

So a little.

I once created a coalition to ensure victory in a game of "Sorry" at a friend's wine and board games night.

So maybe more than a little.

The cupcakes were to be judged separately on presentation and taste. Two categories. Two winners. Two opportunities to win. Game. On.

I created a strategic plan of action:

• find the single best cupcake recipe in the world that there ever has been


• make it better


• top it with the best frosting anyone ever alive in the history of the universe has ever tasted


• make all the little cupcakes sing and dance, or, worst case, look like endearing, heart-strings pulling snowmen with top hats that no one can resist


• give victory speech; pop champagne

With that kind of foolproof plan, it was impossible to lose!

I chose to make gingerbread cupcakes, kind of a weird choice given that I've never been particularly fond of gingerbread, but in times like these, you have to listen to your growling gut. And for some odd reason, it told me gingerbread. I found a lot of options for the frosting - brown sugar cream cheese (YUM.), maple... but I went with a basic, but delicious, cream cheese frosting. (I forewent the brown sugar version because it doesn't harden as well so it's more difficult to decorate - protip!)

Y'all. This time I'm really not trying to brag, these cupcakes are so good! They made me a believer in gingerbread. They're moist and rich in flavor, spiced but not too heavily, and the all-spice is kept to a minimum (a must for my palette). Alone, they're good. They're solid. But the cream cheese frosting pairing is remarkable. It transforms the spiced cupcake into a real treat that feels decadent but not too heavy. I will keep this recipe as a go-to!

My roommate Matt and I toyed with several options for how to present the cupcakes. We settled on what we could do fairly easily and cheaply - simple, beautiful candy canes in the center of half and the other half made to be snowmen, using marshmallows, icing & oreo halves for top hats. For the main contest, I paired the cupcakes with hot apple cider that complimented and brought out the spice in the cupcakes and arranged the cupcakes on a red throw cloth with sanding sugar sprinkled around to look like snow.

that is to say, "You Can Call Me Al." Our cupcake entry had to be named, and last minute, under pressure, I shouted that and ran away. Turns out - Al is a pretty endearing name for that snow dude with a top hat!

Aaaaannnddddd the America's Next Top Chef holiday office party "cupcake wars" award goes to..... this girl with two thumbs and some cream cheese icing stuck to her shirt!

I won presentation and taste. Bow

Thanks for bearing with me through that obnoxious brag moonlighting as a blog post. ......Is anyone bearing with me? Is anyone still reading?

For those of you who made it this far (hi, Mel!) I'll stop babbling on and get to the point... the recipe!

Gingerbread cupcakes: Taste of Home (skip the maple frosting)

Cream cheese frosting

6oz cream cheese
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened1-2 cups powdered sugar, depending on your taste preference (I used 1)
1 teaspoon vanilla + a little drop or two (MORE VANILLA, PLEASE

Beat the butter & cream cheese until smooth and light
Beat in the powdered sugar
Beat in the vanilla
Consistency should be thick & smooth
Cool for at least 1 hour prior to icing if you want it to be firm enough to decorate