Thanks to Random.org , Antonella will be getting fresh baked, salted caramel brownies.

The brownies will be baked and shipped out on Monday.

Enjoy!!

So, I know I’m supposed to be focusing more on macarons this year, but I had a dilemma.

You see, Icemageddon has happened here in Atlanta.  Being stuck inside and being very cold can only call for rich, chocolatey, warm brownies!

Caramel… Check!

Chocolate… Check!

Layer together!

So now for the giveaway part…

Aren’t you excited?!  Here’s the deal:

Just put a comment on this page. You have until Friday,  January 14, 12pm.

Ready.

Set.

Go (brownies)!!!

* 1 winner will be picked by Random.org*

I have absolutely no idea when or why I suddenly had this thing for macarons.  But ever since then, they are all I can think about.

With this new obsession,  I tried and tried and kept on trying to make them.  And for some reason, I can’t make them well… consistently.

So my New Year’s Resolution 2011: master the macaron!

And it just wouldn’t be me to do the traditional first, using almond flour.  I love hazelnuts, so that’s what I used, instead!

A little bit of egg whites, a little bit of sugar, a little bit of hazelnuts, a little bit of chocolate… and voila!

Ok, first let me say that I tried really hard to not eat sweets this week.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), my table at the Midtown Pop Up Market was right next to Gigi’s Cupcakes.

White Chocolate Macadamia:

Holiday Texas:

Strawberry Shortcake:

They look BEAUtiful, but how do the taste?  The cake is delicious, but the frosting.  There frosting is very sweet, and there is a LOT of it.  They do have a few varieties that don’t quite have that much frosting on them such as Almond Bliss, my personal favorite.

I loooove pecan pie! Love.  So I thought, hey! Why not tackle it for Thanksgiving dinner.  It is tremendously easy, but I have to admit it… I cheated.  No pie dough from scratch here!

I was at the Farmer’s Market doing my shopping, and what did I spy with my little eye? Pecan tart shells! How perfect!

Then I just add the filling…

And bam! Pecan pie tarts!

Mini ones!

Now I don’t have to feel ashamed about eating a “whole” pie!

Oh who am I kidding, I’ll probably eat all four of them…

The non-canned variety here, my friends…

You know, I’m not really a fan of cranberry sauce, but somehow, things always taste better when you make it yourself.

It’s simple really.  I added a little sugar, a little orange, a little ginger, and a little alcohol…

Cook until thick and syrupy!

I know, I know… I haven’t posted in forever.  But to make it up to you, I made cookies… for myself.

Chocolate chip cookies.

My reward for finishing FitWit the past 6 weeks, and then rejoining.

I hope you enjoy looking at the cookies as much as I enjoy(ed) eating them.

*many chocolate chips were harmed during the making of these cookies

Super H is a chain of Asian grocery stores around Atlanta.  Since I don’t live anywhere close to any of their locations, imagine my happiness when I found out I had to do a demo for work in one.  You better believe I blew some money on unnecessary items such as:

• Banana Ketchup
• Lumpia wrappers
• Dumpling wrappers (more on this later)
• Tilapia
• Chinese eggplant
• Long Beans
• Kimchi
• Swiss Roll Cake

I could go on… I actually wanted a good rice cooker but those things are over $100.

Back to the dumplings…

Home made dumplings are so easy to make…

Have dumpling wrappers in hand, a mix of ground or chopped protein of your choice, soy sauce, sesame oil, green onions if you want and then wet the edges of the wrapper and close!

I made a bunch and stored them in the freezer, ready to be pan-fried or boiled to my liking!

… Say whaaaat??!!  Listen to me for a moment…

A graham cracker crust, with a chocolate layer, chocolate cupcake.

Marshmallow frosting.

Graham cracker and a touch of cocoa.

You. are not. dreaming.

I was on 10th St. the other day and I had two choices.

a. head to the gym on 14th St.

b. or stay on 10th and go to Sublime Doughnuts

I guess you know which one won!

There were so many to choose from, so I had the owner pick which he thought was best!

Strawberries and Cream,  Reeses Peanut Butter Cup (I do not apologize for the half eaten donut pic), Smores,  A-Town Creme, some sort of tropical one I can’t remember the name of and A-Town [ raspberry?].

You might want to wipe that drool off your face.  Nope… other side.