cowboy cookies

hi. my name is miss akp and i love anything with chocolate chips in it. i also love this guest blogger, so how perfect is that. besides being a baker-in-training, she is a feminist, a friend, a fiancee, a community leader, a jewelry designer and truly an inspiration. speaking of inspiration, i need to go make this recipe!

first, let me say that this is the first time i’ve made cookies from scratch by myself.  for the most part, making them was a breeze but i did encounter some stressful moments (realizing i forgot to get baking powder after i had added all other dry ingredients).

cowboy cookies have been a tradition in my family going back to my great grandma ruby. now, my grandma waynell makes them every christmas and gives each of us a gallon bag of them!  since i can’t be home for the holidays this year i decided to whip up come cowboy cookies on my own to cheer myself up.

what you’ll need:

2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups rolled oats (quaker oats are just fine)
1 package pecan pieces
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup margarine or butter

1. preheat the oven the 350 degrees and get out your cookie sheet, a mixing bowl and spoon.

2. cream the butter and both cups of sugar

3. add the dry ingredients and mix stir thoroughly.  once mixed thoroughly, it will look like this

4. add the eggs and vanilla, stir until the mixture is moist and you have a nice thick batter.

the stirring will take a while, so be patient.  the combination of the oats, nuts, and chocolate chips make for a good arm workout.

5. scoop spoon-fulls of the dough into your hand and mold the dough into a ball (any size you want, depending on your preference) and place them on the cookie sheet 1 inch apart.

6. pop them into the oven! cook for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden on top.  larger cookies will take 20 minutes or longer.

7. eat and enjoy! cowboy cookies are a hard, chunky cookie, but if you pop them in the microwave for 15 seconds, they become melty and delicious.

flank steak

today’s guest report comes from icf’s british correspondent, who has spent several years undercover as a “professor” and “furniture conservator,” while actually doing a close and thorough study of british food.

i’ve been teaching historic furniture making and conservation of historic furniture at a small arts and crafts college near chichester in the south of england, going on 3 years.  it is a bucolic area with pretty much everything i need…in the food department.  the pubs are historic and provide everything from fish and chips to wild game that the local hunters drag in from the woods.

imperial left-overs like curries, kabobs and chinese run the spectrum of quality, and the various pizza chains just creep onto a yank’s scale of acceptability.  (they have the strange habit of taking the 4 ingredients, say, mushrooms, pepperoni, cheese and anchovies, and separating them into quarters.  fortunately they don’t seem to mind mixing them all together, ‘a la americaine’.)

puddings (desserts) tend toward ‘sticky toffee’, and ‘spotted dick’, all made with heaps of treacle.  i love the 19th century tins it comes in, but treacle is my idea of nothing.  on the other hand, they do a great job with fruit crumbles, generally served with custard that greatly appeals to my new england background.  (for my taste, english beer does not favourably compare with sam adams boston ale, so i’ll stay away from discussing the drink.)

one thing i do miss is rare beef, and in particular a properly prepared flank steak, so when the opportunity arose for an open house in my department at college, we needed finger food for the guests.  i floated the idea with my students for a platter of thinly sliced, rare strips of flank steak, served with similarly sliced french bread.  a previous open house in the ceramics department, overwhelmingly female and asian, featured sushi and veggies, and the furniture students (including one female asian) unanimously wanted something meaty.

the problem was that the brits hadn’t heard of flank steak.  what?  the protein staple of modestly-incomed offspring-endowed families in the states…unheard of across the pond?  how odd.  the first step then was to track down what the brits called it.  a quick search came up with ‘skirt’ steak… ‘thin’ and ‘thick’.

thin skirt was considered a frying, minute-steak sort of cut, so we assumed we needed to find the thick.  visits to the usual suspects, sainsbury’s (middle of the road), waitrose (high end…what passes for whole foods) and tesco (costco-esque) all resulted in blank stares.  my student, matthew, is quite the gourmet cook and volunteered to take over the search.  his butcher knew of the ‘olde style’ cut, and ordered up twenty pounds for us from his supplier in london.  matthew prepared the marinade.

we had decided to grill it the day before in the workshop courtyard to tease the other students and ensure a good turnout for our open house, so requisitioned a big bbq grill from the college food service and stoked it in readiness.  when matthew showed up with the goods, the problem was immediately apparent.  instead of the big, wide flat steaks i was expecting, he had three footballs…massive hunks of marinading meat in plastic bags.  obviously the brits skipped the third, goldilocks version of skirt steak: ‘just right.’

each one had to be cut horizontally into thirds to get them down to the proportions we needed to avoid having to pot roast them.  matthew handled the grilling: a smart spank on both sides, and then into the fridge to chill.

that evening he prepared the dipping sauce, and the next day the seemingly endless task of carving began.  flank steak, being on the tough side, needs to be sliced thin, and across the grain, ending up with pieces that look like giant red sandworms with dark brown fringe… mm, mm, good… and the amount of beef we bought produced a beachload of the little devils.  the groaning board was a slab of maple, 12 inches wide and 3 feet long, and we could barely fit all the carved steak on it.  i could not imagine all of it being eaten, but with the appetising aroma of grilling still wafting around the courtyard, the rest of the student/faculty chow hounds were at the door on the dot… no one was interested in fashionably late.  it was a smash hit; an ambivalent veggie even fell off the wagon.

i was even able to score a couple of cases of sam adams from a local distributor at crippling cost, but the brits loved the party and we kept up the side of the special relationship.

matthew and the steak

flank steak marinade and dipping sauce

this recipe was for 6.4kg steak, you may want to reduce the amounts by half for smaller quantities of meat

for the marinade:

10oz soy sauce (preferably naturally brewed)
10oz sherry
4 tbsp pouring honey
4 tbsp toasted sesame oil
4 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
8-10 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (more if you want more heat!)

method:

score the top of the flank steak to a depth of ¼ inch approximately 1 inch apart.

refrigerate and soak in the marinade for preferably 1 to 3 days or at least 4 hours.

remove the meat from the marinade and reserve the marinade for the dipping sauce:

for the dipping sauce:

pour the reserved marinade into a large pan.

add:

10oz water
1 beef stock cube
port to taste
more honey to taste
3 squares of good quality cooks dark chocolate (at least 70 percent coco solids) green and blacks is a quality brand i use.

method:

bring to the boil and taste regularly as you add the port and honey.

once you have the taste to your liking add more chilli flakes to make a much spicier dip (or divide the mixture into 2 and add more chilli to one so you have one mild dip and one spicy dip).

simmer and reduce by half till thick and sticky, enjoy!!

pop’s eggnog

she’s back! my very first guest blogger, queen of the cocktail and winner of the 2009 tapas bonanza. this time, with a recipe for holiday cheer… from grampa. because seriously, isn’t that what grampas are for? (mine had his own bottle of champagne to celebrate my birthday, even though he’s miles and miles away. i love it. hi grampy!)

a blizzard was upon DC and a pile of gifts had accumulated under the tree, needing to be wrapped. carols were playing, the yule log was on tv and a cup of eggnog, i thought, was in store. while i was tempted to run to the store and grab a carton of ‘nog, i thought better and called my pop to freshen up on the old family recipe.

during the prohibition, my pop told me, whiskey was made in a basement distillery in my great-great grandfather’s home in annapolis.  this homemade whiskey was the staple of his eggnog.  i’m the 5th generation to drink this tasty recipe which is still enjoyed during the christmas season on miller road.

this recipe makes a vat.  it can easily be halved, which i recommend, if you’re making for just a few.

here’s what you need:

6 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup whiskey (jack daniel’s is my pick), 1/2 cup dark rum, 2 cups whipping cream, 2 cups milk, nutmeg (optional)

here’s how it’s done:

in a large bowl, put egg yolks.  in a smaller bowl, keep egg whites.

beat yolks until they look lemony with some air bubbles.  add sugar and beat.

SLOWLY add whiskey and stir in with spatula.  SLOWLY add rum and stir in with spatula.

SLOWLY should be emphasized; if added too quickly, whiskey will cook eggs. [editor’s note: really??!?!]

beat egg whites in separate bowl until very frothy and stir into larger bowl.

beat whipping cream in separate bowl until very frothy and stir into large bowl.

stir in milk.

pour yourself a cup and add a sprinkle of nutmeg. get snowed in and enjoy!

blue duck tavern

today’s guest blogger brings his english sensibilities to french food. this is a restaurant i’ve been meaning to try, and after his review, i can’t wait!

blue duck tavern
park hyatt hotel, washington

one star: fowl; two stars: blue dog tavern; three stars: daffy duck; four stars: quack! quack! five stars: mighty duck

verdict: four stars: quack! quack!

if you arrive at the blue duck tavern, haunt of politicos from potus down, expecting something rustic and tavern-like, a surprise lies in store. the layout is modern beneath high ceilings; the bar area a gleaming labyrinth of glass and polished steel; the restaurant a minimalist configuration of wooden chairs surrounding four setting square tables. in between, an array of meticulous chefs buzzes around the open kitchen and pantry. an outside patio looks like it would be pleasant in warmer months.

service was alternately intense and absent. i say the latter only because we were left without a drinks’ menu for a few minutes. however, power-suited women were on hand to take coats, to accompany us to the bar, to the table, to the bathrooms, to anywhere we wished to alight. in the dining room itself the main waiter reminded me of peter serafinowicz’s character sctanley from the movie couples retreat: full of preening pomp. aside from strutting sctanley, however, a number of supporting cast ducked around the table cheerfully refilling water glasses, providing bread, and servicing requests.

the cocktail menu was superb; the wine list large. we enjoyed a frozen bourbon concoction, much tastier than it sounds, champagne cocktails, and a signature vesper that was everything that should be in a martini glass and nothing that should not. the only regret is that we lacked the livers to try the several sampler drinks menus on offer. a pinot noir from carmel, california was an adequate addition to the main event, the food.

“ve are known for our bone marrow.” solemnly intoned sctanley. indeed they must be, because all surrounding tables seemed to be sampling this unusual dish. we followed suit and ordered.

all the food in the blue duck tavern is sourced openly, and our split cow bones arrived all the way from marcho farms, pennsylvania. although i find this notion of terroir a little overblown in 21^st century dining, it does add interest to the menu to know your meal’s antecedents. using a small spoon to extract the marrow and spread it on the accompanying country bread slices put me in mind of the movie dead poets society with its exhortation to ‘live deep and suck out all the marrow of life!’ thankfully sctanley did not request to be called o captain, my captain. novelty, however, did trump taste. the dish is rare for a reason. together with the somewhat anticlimactic accompanying crumple of sprouts, mushrooms and squash, i prepared to be disappointed. i should have kept faith.

the tavern steak, ordered medium rare, arrived looking as though it had been walked out of the kitchen still mooing. in fact, much of the apparent bloodiness was due to the accompanying cherry marmalade. it was one of the more delicious steaks i have tried in the capital. my dining partner’s organic chicken was gamey, the flavour of the meat drowning out the accompanying buttermilk and herbs. it is in places like the blue duck tavern that chefs brian mcbride and michael santoro remind us how chicken used to taste before modern farming techniques put it in every pot.

for dessert, the simply described ‘chocolate cake’ arrived at the table flaring in blue flame. it was rich. it was delicious. yes, i thought. i would return.

pecan tassies

you may recall this curious post about mystery mini pecan pies from the archives. i had lots of helpful suggestions as to what they were, and this friend and coworker even decided to break open the vault and share a family recipe for them! you all are the best readers ever.

so, as i was browsing through icf one day, i happened upon a post about miniature pecan pies – and i realized that they were remarkably similar to the ‘pecan tassies’ that i always would have when i visited my grandmother.

since there was no recipe listed, i got a hold of my family and tracked it down and figured i’d try my hand at them.

the dough is relatively easy – combine 1 1/4 cups flour with 3oz cream cheese and 8oz butter (1 stick). a pastry blender is very useful, but if your kitchen is not fully equipped with baking tools, you can combine it using two knives – essentially, you cut in opposite directions for a few minutes with the knives until the butter and cream cheese has incorporated evenly into the flour.

at the end of the process, add a few drops of chilled water, just enough so that the dough really forms, and roll into a ball. then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. next, either roll the dough out between pieces of wax paper (i used the 3 buck chuck bottle as a makeshift rolling pin) or just pinch off pieces of the dough and shape into a muffin tray or metal tart tins if you have them (this approach won out in the end). i used a non-stick mini-muffin tray and it worked great.

the filling is made of one beaten egg, 1/3 cup white sugar (or half white and half brown), 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/3 cup corn syrup, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1 tbsp. melted butter, and 1/3 cup chopped pecans.

but first, chop up a bunch of pecans roughly, and add about half of a pecan’s worth in each tin, enough to cover the bottom.

then, combine all the aforementioned ingredients into a sugary and viscous concoction.

using a medium spoon, carefully fill each tassie almost to the top with the mixture.

throw into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes, and viola, you’re done. makes around 30 pecan tassies depending on the size of your trays, and they’re an excellent wintertime treat to snack on or give out as gifts. enjoy!

[this post got me wondering what “tassie” meant. the word does not appear in webster’s universal college dictionary. when i googled it, i mostly got recipes. however, i did learn from wikipedia that tassie is a colloquial term for tasmainia, as well as the last name of a scottish gem engraver and modeller. glad to know that. there is also a silver tassie hotel in letterkenny, ireland. perhaps these were first made there? any other guesses, oh brilliant readers?]

canning tomatoes

another guest blogger returns! she is most famous for getting married, getting a phd AND making awesome-looking peach upside down cake.

last year, my roommate and i canned 120 pounds of tomatoes over 3 days. this year we were both traveling & working hard, so we had to cram it into one day.  my roommate’s parents always canned tomatoes growing up, so our instructions were given in italian — and italian cooking instructions are vague.  they involve a lot of “you know, when it’s ready” or “you know, when it’s right”.  i’ll provide the italian instructions and our slightly more precise interpretation of them.

we started with 80 pounds of tomatoes from the farmer’s market that were “cosmetically challenged”.  this means they’re perfect for canning and cheaper!  step one: wash all those tomatoes, pick off the stems and sort into gorgeous and blemished.

we canned chopped tomatoes (with the blemished ones) and sauce with the gorgeous ones.  step two for chopped tomatoes: cut out all those blemishes.

step three for chopped tomatoes: seed those tomatoes.  i think seeding appeared on this blog before. [editor’s note: how – and why – to seed a tomato.]

step four for chopped tomatoes: shove as many as you can in a mason jar, smash them up and drain the extra juice.  if you have two much liquid, your jars will float when you try to boil them & that’s no good.

back to sauce-making…  step two for sauce: boil the tomatoes until “the skin is pinchable”.  oh italian…
we took that to mean just as the tomato skins were splitting.

step three for sauce: put the tomatoes onto cheesecloth stretched over a bowl and attack them with a fork.

allow the tomatoes to drain for a long time.  you must let most of the water drain.  this was a “you know, when they’re ready” step that caused lots of discussion.  we still don’t have precise instructions for it.

side note: save all that juice that drains!  it’s delicious tomato broth for soups and risotto.

step four for sauce: run those tomatoes through a food mill.  food mills are handy for pureeing soups, making sauce (tomato & apple) and probably other things which i haven’t tried yet.

the beauty is, it mashes the tomatoes into sauce & takes the skins off for you!

step five for each: add salt to the sauce or chopped tomatoes.  the italian translated as “use a lot.  handfuls.  until it tastes right.” of course, the handful unit depends on how much sauce you’re adding it to.  we went with one handful per a few cups of sauce.  put a few basil leaves in a mason jar and fill it up with sauce or chopped tomatoes.

step six: process those jars!  we boiled them for 25 minutes to cook the sauce and seal the jar.  there are a few canning steps i haven’t entirely described, so you should find a ‘canning expert’ to consult before embarking on this adventure.

as you figure this out, you develop an assembly line of sorts and “tom sawyer” your friends into helping you.  promising them dinner with tomato sauce and wine helps.  finally, the haul from 80 pounds of tomatoes:

hopefully enough to get us through until tomato season next year.

pumpkin whoopie pies

i am so pleased to have this guest blogger back. you might recognize her from such hits as mississippi mud cake. anyway, i have this theory that cupcakes are so yesterday (so yesterday) and whoopie pies are the cupcakes of tomorrow. or they are a great thanksgiving dessert for those disinclined to pie.

there are many things i agree with ms. akp about, including the resurgence of the whoopie pie a.k.a the new cupcake. we are both convinced that the popularity of the cupcake shop will soon be joined by the whoopie pie shop and frankly i simply cannot wait.

as someone who has always been a sucker for anything fall flavored: pumpkin, squash, apple cinnamon…yum, i couldn’t wait to try my hand at pumpkin whoopie pies. i first made them for an office party, where they were a big hit, adapting a rachael ray recipe i found online. so i decided to make them again for a halloween party.

i began by making the pumpkin cake part of the pies, using vanilla, sugar, flour, eggs, butter, baking soda and baking powder. the key to the pumpkin part is using canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie mix. after i put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, i let them bake for 12 minutes.

while the delicious pumpkin aroma filled my kitchen, i got started on the simple cream cheese frosting. the frosting is simply butter, cream cheese, butter and vanilla whipped together.

i pulled my pumpkin cakes from the oven and let them cool before matching up the correct sized pies and icing them. if you do not wait for the pies to cool, the icing melts. in a pinch, you can ice the pies while still hot and stick them in the freezer!

the result is a delicious fall treat, fluffy pumpkin mixed with a sweet cream cheese frosting. they were once again, a big hit!

[editor’s note: the original rachael ray recipe.]

australia’s finest: the tim tam slam

well, this is first for icf in so many ways. our first male guest blogger! our first australian guest blogger! our first scrumptious chocolate biscuit treat! anyway, i’m honored that he’s honored, so let’s get to it…!

i am deeply honored to guest blog for icf and its illustrious founder. akp and i have actually never met; i know of her only through the reputation of this blog, and because my better half, L, was a roomie of hers many moons ago. i look forward to meeting akp because i know it will involve an extremely fun conversation over a sublime meal.

i take the liberty of breaking a couple of icf conventions. to begin, i am not blogging about a recipe, but rather of a store-bought product, for two reasons – first, it is a very special treat from my home country of australia, and second, i am introducing not only the treat itself, but a particularly marvelous way of eating it. this brings me to my second break from convention: my photos must show a face to demonstrate this unique method of consumption.

the treat in question is the tim tam, australia’s most famous and scrumptious chocolate biscuit (aside: that’s what we call cookies down under. L always complains about this so-called misuse of english, but the italians call cookies “biscotti,” the french call them “biscuit” and the brits say “biscuit” with the same spelling and different accent, so we aussies can’t be that wrong.)

according to wikipedia, the tim tam “is composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.” this definition is correct, but is far too clinical to express how orgasmic it is.

culturally, you could think of tim tams as being the “oreos of australia,” but my unbiased research suggests that the tim tam is better. for one thing, one tim tam contains more fat – on both a relative and absolute basis – than one oreo. it is also made using sugar rather than corn syrup.

tim tams deliberately come in packets of 11 – an awkward prime number so that there will almost always be a fight over the last piece (unless your group contains 11 people, which is highly unlikely.)

enough of tim tam culture for now. the marvelous method of consumption i wish to share with you is the tim tam slam, in which the tim tam – essentially a porous wafer when you remove the multiple layers of chocolate surrounding it – is momentarily used as a straw for hot beverage (typically tea or coffee). the steps to perform a slam are:

1. prepare. bite off two opposing corners of a tim tam.

2. suck. insert the tim tam into a hot beverage, and suck hard. you must leave all pretenses of modesty aside; the objective is to suck as much drink up through the biscuit as possible. if necessary, tilt the mug toward you to bring the liquid closer to the rim of the mug.

3. gobble. this is the dramatic climax of the slam. as the hot beverage permeates the tim tam you will feel it melt. stuff it into your mouth just before the point of no return (where the biscuit turns into molten chocolate mush, slips from your gooey fingers and splashes into the drink).

4. savor. as well as the chocolate buzz, congratulate yourself for accomplishing a neat parlor trick that many – including my grad school adviser, one of nasa’s most accomplished astronauts – have failed to master. for the record, all bowdoin grads who i know have tried this have succeeded on their first or second attempts.

L and i hope to see akp soon and introduce her to the tim tam slam.

[this post cracks me up every time i read it. plus, i want a tim tam. can’t wait to see both of you crazy kids!]

update! apparently tim tams are available in the states at target. next time someone goes, please pick me up a pack!

art and soul

this monday, i am proud to introduce my first guest restaurant review! this friend and fellow press flack coauthors a monthly dine-about-town blog that is funny and on point. i love their two-person review style!

c says…

for october’s selection, i opted for art and soul on capitol hill – i blame top chef masters given that art smith was a contestant and chef/purveyor of this establishment. apparently, it’s one of the places to be seen if you’re a dork who considers politicians, lobbyists and strategists to be celebrities.

the menu offers up a southern flare and pays homage to seasonal ingredients. i chose the scallops with sweet potato mash, and ham (more like thick slab bacon) with greens and fried green tomatoes on the side. the scallops were hearty and paired nicely with the saltiness of the ham and the sweetness of the sweet potato mash, which was incredible all on its own. i ordered the fried green tomatoes expecting 3-5, but out came probably a dozen of the little suckers. i can’t remember if i’ve ever had them before, but i’m officially hooked. they were amazing.

my only complaint with art and soul (and not sure many people would find this as a bad thing), but our meal lasted all of 45 minutes: from being seated, to ordering, to eating, to clearing of the table. the ambiance is lovely and the food fantastic, but it did have a “treat ‘em and street ‘em” feel – but hey, we are in the throes of reforming health care, so maybe that was apropos.

——————–

j says…

it was a comfortable fall night when c picked the liaison hotel’s ground-floor restaurant for our october dinner. the city has been insanely busy this season so the immediate seating when we arrived was a bit surprising, even with our open table reservation.

both deciding to skip the appetizer – yes, i skipped the mussels – and only do a glass of wine each rather than a bottle, this night was like speed-dating. i opted for the butter squash ravioli with seasoned vegetables. for an added bonus, i had to have a side of the buttermilk mashed potatoes. the proportions are plentiful and the food was, as standard, bursting with flavor. it had been several months since i had dined at “art and soul” but it was certainly as i remember it: classic, comfortable and convenient.

for those looking for a true dc experience, the decor is simple as not to compete with the powerhouse personalities lounging and dining within the restaurant (on the night of our dinner, senator ben “benator” nelson was there). the service is reliably efficient. and the evening always seems to leave a smile on my tummy.

art and soul – 415 new jersey ave nw, 202.393.7777

1950s dinner

i told you she’d be back! my old (and by that i mean former, of course!) roommate.

thanks for letting me guest blog again! my oldest friend tori and i were feeling very 1950’s homemaker and we decided to make turkey meatloaf with peas and mashed potatoes. dessert was a pillsbury recipe that’s so easy even my dog could do it with her paws tied behind her back.

meatloaf adapted from ina garten.

sauté an onion with a little olive oil, salt and pepper for about 15 minutes or until translucent. do not burn.

add in 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and whatever italian spices you have on hand (i used oregano), plus a splash of chicken stock.

let the tomato-onion mix cool and then fold in to about 1.3 lbs of ground turkey. don’t buy the super lean kind or it wont work. you need a little fat to keep it together. separately beat an egg and add to the meat/tomato/onion mush. throw in about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and combine thoroughly.

form into a loaf and pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. i like mine very well done on the top.

now it’s time for the mashed potatoes! boil salted water and throw in a bunch of chopped up potatoes. when they are very fork tender (err on the side of overcooked, not undercooked), add butter and milk to taste. sprinkle with salt and pepper. ta-da!

dessert – buy pre-made sugar cookie dough. could you make your own? yes. will it taste as good as pillsbury? NO. that’s why they have a multi-billion empire spanning generations and you have…a different recipe.  roll out just enough dough to cover a mini snickers bar. the small square ones, not the “fun size” halloween sized ones.

(eat some snickers as you go, the meatloaf will take a while)

stick in the oven and cook at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. check on them. you’ll know when they’re done. allow them to cool. [i had to ask – are we baking these at the same time as the meatloaf? temperature-wise, you could, but i probably wouldn’t…]

take one can of store-bought chocolate frosting (could you make your own? we already went over this…) and spoon into a big zip lock bag. Cut the tip off one end and then channel a professional pastry chef and pipe that frosting onto your snicker cookies!

oh wait! the meatloaf is done!

mmmm!

did i tell you we also made cocktails?

here are the ingredients. tori made these while i was toiling away at the stove and i can’t quite remember how she made them…but these are the ingredients.

the whole meal start to finish was an hour. can’t quite fit in to rachael ray’s timeline but she lies anyway and that stuff always takes longer than she’s showing you.