Sunday baking

It’s been a minute! Life’s been pretty hectic – moving into a new place, changing jobs, and this fell a little by the wayside. But I’m back! For this first posting in a while, I went classic, I went traditional, and let’s face it… I went with what I wanted to eat. So of course, gooey, dense, chocolatey brownies were a no-brainer; on this lovely Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, nothing sounded better.

The New York Times has some great recipes, but my favorites are the historical recipes. You know – the cheesecakes from 1960, or in this case, Katharine Hepburn’s brownie recipe. There’s something that I love about recipes from our past – it’s some kind of visceral connection, from history straight to my belly; it’s my own personal version of a time machine.

The recipe is super easy, cocoa powder, butter, sugar, and just a dash of flour.

The pina colada may or may not be part of the recipe. I’ll go with “strongly recommended.”

It’s so much fun to envision the great Katharine Hepburn at her home on a similar Sunday afternoon, heating up a saucepan full of butter and cocoa powder, letting her kitchen fill with that tantalizing aroma.

Oh man… who doesn’t love the smell of melting butter and chocolate!?

I know that’s probably not how it went down… but leave me to my reverie. It’s more fun this way. Anyway, add in the dry ingredients to the wet, and viola! You’re ready to pop them in the oven.

35 minutes later (an agonizing 35 minutes later!)

Author not responsible for how many brownies may or may not still be left in that pan

And you have chocolate happiness ready and waiting. I wonder who Katharine served these to? Who are you making them for?

*Special note – definitely enjoy a delicious pina colada with these. Or really, any baking. This summer I discovered the bliss that is coconut water-infused rum, mixed with pineapple coconut juice. Let me tell you – this faux pina colada is easy, delicious, and refreshing, and really, if you’re ever in need of a quick, crowd-pleasing cocktail, this 2-step little number is as effortless as it is scrumptious!

Add straw for bonus adorable factor! (I’m convinced it tastes better with a dash of stripey pizzaz!)

Christmas means a lot of things – cookies, carols, crazy retail experiences, amazingly terrible movies from your childhood you’d totally forgotten about until they pop up on ABC Family (Jingle All the Way, who could forget that mid-90s brilliance of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad!? Seriously. Amazing.)

Schwarzenegger. Sinbad. All the best that the mid-90s had to offer

and you know, more cookies. Again. Because cookies, like pie, are doubly-important. Christmas cookies hold a special place in my heart, and I’m talking about the traditional, delicious sugar cookies cut into shapes of little boots and Santas, that you bribed friends into helping you decorate in return for boozy holiday drinks and the promise of eating said cookies upon final completion. I love those cookies, they are amazing, they bring me back to happy, sugar-coma-y, childhood memories infused with the smells of cinnamon and nutmeg and a little bit of being too tired to finish the entire batch.

But this week, I was craving something a little different. Perhaps (okay fine, probably) due to my mild obsession with my new cast iron skillet, I wanted to make tiny, fried dough balls of goodness, infused with citrus and doused in honey. Because, who wouldn’t want that? And these cookies, called struffoli, were so easy, and simple, and smelled so good in my apartment, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make them. Plus, you get to say “struffoli” a lot, so that was just a big bonus for me.

Start off with lots of flour and eggs:

Get some citrus up in there

and then get zesty

zesty! cocoa for the chef option, but highly recommended

roll out some ropes

rope-y dough. Don't worry - it gets way more appetizing — rope-y dough. Don’t worry – it gets way more appetizing

And then cut and fry up those fritters!

Sizzlin' away! Look at my beautiful skillet! — Sizzlin’ away! Look at my beautiful skillet!

And then, you have bowls of delicious fritters, begging for a honey glaze

And drizzle those puppies generously

And then end up with so many plates of cookies. So, so many.

You can put them into little bags for your friends as gifts, or, you can sit and eat them all during your second viewing of Jingle All the Way. I’m not telling you which option I chose… but I will say you really pick up on the subtleties of 90s overacting after the first viewing of that movie!

all the food, all the time

Chocolate Recovery

Cocoa, cookies, and old Schwarzenegger movies?