How to make edible Legos – Vegetable blocks
Making LEGO blocks out of fondant or some sugary treat wouldn’t be too hard, but I love that these are made out of vegetables instead. Not only does it encourage playing with your food some, but it also means eating something healthy in the process instead of pure junk.
Orange biscotti mohawks
It’s rare that I post recipes here, but once upon a time while I was still figuring out what I wanted this site to be like, I actually did take tutorial-type pictures and hold onto new recipes I tried in order to share them. (Don’t panic…I won’t bore you with a full-on tutorial.)
This is an example of one of those days. It was another cold day in January 3 years ago, not long after the duck butt ordeal, and I had discovered biscotti. Now it’s not the first time I had ever had it, but it’s the first time I’d made it and known it by a real name. Apparently “those hard, crunchy things you eat with coffee” isn’t what they’re actually called.
So before the girls got home, I hunted down a decent looking recipe, zested and mixed, baked and baked, and then rebaked again, and got the hot chocolate all ready to go….
Oooo, this is from a time before I fell head over heels in love with my Kitchen Aid mixer.
Mixing in the eggs until everything is extra fluffy is always key. Well, or it’s just fun. Whatever.
I have no idea why I had a picture of a lime, by the way. This is strictly an orange biscotti recipe. I’m sure there was something significant back then, but not so much now. Maybe I was excited by it looking more like a golf ball? Or maybe it was a particularly huge one, but I didn’t think to place something next to it for size perspective? Who knows…but hey look, it’s a lime! /random
^ How not to zest an orange, by the way. You shouldn’t see nearly as much white because that means all the white pithy stuff is getting into your food, too. But guess what? I didn’t have a zester at that point and used a knife….so I sliced off thin pieces and then scraped off as much white as I could and chopped away. Go back to the zesty mix picture and you can see that it almost looks diced.
Work with what you’ve got….another life skill from my mom. Wait until I bring out the duct tape. ;)
Those? Those are fingerprints. Like…full on indents of my entire fingers across each log to press them into the right shape. I was hoping you could see them in the final product, but not so much.
^ Not done. This is the point where you cook them until solid and hard, but after you slice them, flip ‘em on their sides and bake until they’re that extra crunchy dip-worthy biscuit people seem to love.
And then coat them in sugary goodness so they taste decent. In this case, I went with chocolate. Lots of chocolate…
Obligatory funny faces!
Here’s the recipe for you guys who actually follow them to a tee. I didn’t, though, I’m sure, so don’t blame me if yours don’t pop out of the oven all smiley and fun. ;)
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 4 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in the egg and egg white, then mix in almonds and orange zest. Knead dough by hand until mixture forms a smooth ball.
- Roll the dough into a log about 10 inches long; place on the prepared cookie sheet. Press down, or roll with a rolling pin, until log is 6 inches wide.
- Bake for 25 minutes in preheated oven. After baking, cool on a rack. With a serrated knife, cut into 1 inch slices. Place slices, cut side down, back onto the baking sheet.
- Return them to the oven for an additional 20 to 25 minutes; turning over half way through the baking. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave oven. Allow chocolate to cool but not harden before dipping one side of the biscotti into it. Place cookies on wire racks, chocolate side up, until cool and dry.
Van Gogh’s ear slides into a vat of chili – Product dump #1
You know how when people save up a bunch of pictures, and toss them in a picture dump post? The same for link dumps? They don’t think each one deserves its own post or maybe they’re behind on time and can’t write about each little thing.
That’s where I am. I’ve said it a million times before: I have THOUSANDS of links saved and THOUSANDS more pictures of my own that I want to share here. I’m never going to get through them all, of course, so I pick and choose. Well after yesterday’s post about the rolling pin I was drooling over, I figured I should probably just do a “product dump” and talk about some of the ones I’ve tucked away for a rainy day where I feel like shopping for random kitchen accessories.
For the record, all links are -not- affiliate links. Yes, that includes the Amazon ones, simply because my state no longer allows that anyway, even if I wanted to. No advertising. No sponsorship. No requests. Just quirky stuff I want. ;)
Reusable Stainless Steel Straws – I don’t use straws often, but if I were to have some at home, I’d want these. I’d probably drink more water and hey, I’d finally have a use for all those old pipe cleaners!
Universal jar lids – They’re supposed to fit most Mason jars, so it’d be another easy way to turn standard jars into more versatile containers.
Bull clip hangers – This one isn’t something to buy, but rather, a really easy fix for the kitchen. Instead of draping towels over the oven door handle and picking them up when they inevitably fall off, just tie ribbon through some bull clips and you’re good to go without the slippage.
Van Gogh Mugs Yes, there are not one, but at least two different sets of mugs that focus on Van Gogh cutting off his ear. The first mug seems clever enough by appearance, but there’s more to it: It’s made of silicone, so you can twist and tug and pull on that ear to try to take it off, ha. And the second requires you to use hot and cold temperatures to get his ear to appear and reappear. I won’t be buying these, but they still make me giggle.
Spaghetti Scrub – “are an eco-friendly alternative to cleaning and taking care of your cookware and appliances. Each uniquely shaped, pliable scrub consists of natural abrasives made from corn cobs and peach pits. There is no need for soap or cleaner since the abrasives are enough to do the trick. All it needs is moistening with water and if you would like to use soap, just a tiny amount would suffice.” I just want to taste one….
Lappers Diner Tray – No more balancing on my lap. Enough said.
Ice Cube Maker & Bucket – “Simply remove the inner bucket and fill the orb with water to the indicated fill line. Place bucket back in the orb (displacing the water), place lid on and pop into the freezer.Once frozen, again pull out the bucket, pop the ice cubes out of the wall and either use, or store inside the bucket. The orb doubles as a wine bucket or as a serving vessel.” Seems excessive unless you serve a lot of wine at backyard barbecues, in which case, you should probably get a few of these….and a new freezer to hold them all.
Fruit Slide – Because fruit bowls are so 90s…
Soup cooling paddle – You know how I am when I get to cooking. 10 quarts of chili? Let’s do it! I hate waiting on large roasters and crockpots full of food to cool down so I can split it up and get it into the freezer, though. You can actually do this with frozen water bottles if you want for it to cool down a little bit first, but that’s not nearly as cool looking. ;)
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