2011 was a pretty exciting year for us here at Just Putzing Around the Kitchen. Dan and I finally furnished our new condo, got a second cat, settled into our first post-school grown up jobs, and went on our first international vacation together. Then my year-long clerkship ended, and I found myself bored and unemployed…read more »
Archives for December 2011
Kahlua Cake Trifles
Hi guys! Hope everyone had a fun and food-filled Christmas. Mine was pretty awesome. Dan and I went up to Massachusetts to spend the holidays with his family and between the two back-to-back holiday parties, the generalized excitement over our engagement, the many many bottles of wine, the mountains of presents, and the groaning tables…read more »
Caramel Corn
I think I am one of the few people in America who doesn’t like popcorn. But honestly, no matter how much butter and salt you put on the stuff, it still tastes like styrofoam. Styrofoam that gets stuck in your teeth and turns your mouth into a salt lick. Yuck. I’ll tell you what I…read more »
Gingerbread Mug Cake (Egg-less)
[Psst…check out my new Gingerbread Mug Cake post!} On the 10th day of Christmas, I ran out of eggs. I had planned to make gingerbread whoopie pies and/or egg nog cupcakes, but the no-egg situation proved devastating to my plans. Luckily a quick Google search revealed a number of fun egg-free dessert ideas, including a…read more »
Christmas Sugar Cookies
On the 9th day of Christmas…our friends Amy and Brad invited us over for a holiday/cookie-decorating party. They throw the best parties with the most delicious and deceptively lethal cocktails, so there was no way that Dan and I were going to miss out on this one! Plus, they asked me to make the cookies…read more »
DIY Infused Olive Oils
I’m really excited about Christmas this year. We’re going up to see Dan’s family again, which is always fun, but even more exciting — the cousins are doing a Kris Kringle gift swap! The only other time I’ve been part of a gift swap/Secret Santa exchange was freshman year of college, and I remember it…read more »
Oreo Truffles
When I was a kid, the holidays were all about “receiving” — gifts from my parents, gifts from my relatives, gifts from Santa…Nothing made me happier than seeing the stack of presents under our Christmas tree get bigger with each wave of guests that came by. Ah, childhood…Luckily, as I’ve gotten older and started having…read more »
Cranberry Egg Nog
For this month’s Improv Cooking Challenge, the two key ingredients are egg nog and cranberries. I was planning to make egg nog cupcakes with a cranberry-based buttercream, but…I ran out of sugar. I know. A good food blogger never runs out of staples like sugar/butter/flour, but somehow it happened. And it was tragic. But, while I…read more »
Frozen Hot Chocolate
I know hot chocolate is a staple around Christmas, but…I’m just not that big a fan of hot beverages. I feel like liquids should always be refreshing and thirst-quenching, but hot drinks just aren’t like that (incidentally, I also don’t like soup). Every time I drink hot cider or cocoa or tea, my mouth ends…read more »
Festive Cheese Rounds
The holidays are all about spending time with friends and family, and that means that means one thing — tons of dinner parties with guests galore. And, of course, feasting. My parents always throw two parties this time of year; one on Christmas Eve, another on Christmas itself. Each day, they get up at 7am…read more »