Life of Wry

It was a full season baking-wise. A lot of the usual suspects–butter balls, rocky road, ginger muffins, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and a cake or two….  And a few new entries–a wonderful gingerbread, which I’ll make again, and my new, personal favorite: cheese crackers, which I’ll definitely make again (maybe even as soon as this Friday for an upcoming potluck.. hmmm). The cheese crackers were a savory alternative to all the sweets; I am very thankful to Susan’s mom, Mumsie, for this recipe.  Not low cal, but sharp cheesy, buttery and hot (cayenne)

Then, there were these (below) which I made for a loosely-themed Downton Abbey dinner with my newish food group last Sunday (we call ourselves the Dining Divas though I haven’t quite brought myself to use that name).  I tried these little mini phyllo tarts with a greek yogurt-based cream (yogurt, brown sugar, orange juice and orange zest), topped with fresh seasonal fruit and toasted chopped pistachios. A bit odd tasting, not sweet enough, but pretty on the plate. And sugar plums.  Never knew what a sugar plum was, other than something the vision of which danced in our heads.  This is a sugar plum: finely chopped dried apricots, dates and prunes, mixed with finely chopped pecans and/or walnuts, spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, allspice and orange zest.  Oh, and rolled in either brown or white sugar. Funny, Jim and I, independently, came up with the same description: fruit cake w/o the cake. Healthy enough and not horrible, but it doesn’t bring ’em back

In addition to all that, we were the grateful recipients of numerous gifts of cookies, toffees, brittles, truffles, breads, liqueurs and boxes of candies…

I am a person in search of a good new year’s resolution.