Its been a while.

It has been a looooong while since I have come around here. So what is it that I have been doing with all this time besides baking? I know that you know exactly what I have been up to, my Dear, One, Faithful Reader, however, on the off chance I have another faithful follower unbeknownst to me, allow me to share.

I love St. Patricks Day!!!!!

I always have. I'm about as un-irish as you are going to get but there is just something about wearing green and chasing leprechauns that really excites me. When my son was in preschool he brought some "magic beans" home. I let him plant them in the yard. Well you can imagine his surprise, and mine, when those beans grew lollipops. Every year on St. Patricks day there is a fresh harvest of lollipops. He picks them all and then they keep growing throughout the day. The more he shares them with others, the more lollipops will grow. Its a lot of fun. You know what else is fun about St. Patricks day? You can buy a six pack of Guinness on sale at Safeway for $7.99. "Now what," you ask, "would you do with all that Guinness?" Um, I can't believe you would have to ask me that. You make a roast. Duh.  

Check this out...

Gives new meaning to the title "Dishwasher," doesn't it. This is my mom's dog, Willie Pugensen. He is a pug. Obviously. But this isn't really what I wanted to show you. I just thought this was a funny picture. Here is what I really wanted to show you...

Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake(s)

I know this is going to make me sound like such a grump, especially fresh on the heels of my declaration of  feelings towards football, but I'm just not a fan of Valentines Day. To be completely honest I usually wear all black on Valentines Day. All black seems entirely appropriate to wear in honor of St. Valentine. Yep folks, St. Valentine was a real person with a real story. Not just a day made up by Hallmark. St. Valentine was actually a bishop somewhere around the year 270 AD under the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius II. All the surrounding nations were in great turmoil during this time for various reasons. Claudius held the belief that men who were married would not make as strong and effective soldiers as those who were not married so he issued an edict banning all marriages. As you can probably imagine, this raised quite the ruckus. Not just with the soldiers but with Valentine as well. He felt this ban was completely unreasonable so he secretly defied Claudius and began performing secret marriage ceremonies. Naturally, his defiance could only stay hidden for so long and Claudius found out. Valentine was sent to jail. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and  tried to convince Valentine  to accept his marriage ban and also to accept his belief in the roman gods. When Valentine refused, Claudius sentenced him to death. While Valentine was in jail he befriended his jailer, named Asterius, who had a blind daughter. It is said that Valentine's deep faith healed her blindness. Eventually, Valentine fell in love with the daughter and just before his death he sent her a note which he signed, "from your Valentine." After his death he was named a patron saint. In 500 AD Pope Gelasius I set aside February 14 as a day to honor the martyr, St. Valentine. During the Middle Ages Geoffrey Chaucer started associating Valentines Day with love. It was believed that birds mated on this day. There are a couple slight variations to this story but this is basically it in a nutshell.

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cherry Cake

I'm going to say something that is really going to stir things up.

I could care less about football. I wouldn't even say that I hate it because I don't even care about it enough to bother hating it. So there you have it. How un-american of me. If you want to leave right now and never come back I totally understand. In high school I used to go to every single home football game. I'd whoop and holler when everyone else did just to give the appearance of being somewhat intelligent and interested. But I really wasn't. I did this week after week for four angst-ridden teenage years and I never really caught on to what the game was all about. I never even made an attempt to like it.  So why would I bother to keep going? Surely I could have found some more entertaining way to spend my Friday evening? The truth is, no, not really. Even though I thought football itself was the most boring thing ever, actually going to the games was a lot of fun. It was tradition. I would spend the whole evening hanging out with my friends, frequenting the snack bar, and making the occasional, awkward, gawky teenager attempt to flirt with a cute boy. Most of my fondest high school memories are the fun times I had hanging out at football games. So now here I am, I don't even want to say how many years later, just a couple days away from the biggest day of the year, other than Christmas, and not much has changed. As I said right up front, I still don't care about football. I still enjoy a good time with good friends, I still enjoy frequenting the snack bar, and even though I am far from being a teenager, I am still awkward and gawky when it comes to flirting with boys. I honestly couldn't even tell you who is playing in the Super Bowl this year. However, I can tell you that it is a great time to go shopping. Seriously. All the stores are completely empty other than the grumpy employees who have to work when they would rather be home watching the game. I can also give you some simple snack suggestions. In my opinion the snacks are the best part of Super Bowl Sunday.

Spicy Candied Peanuts

I'm just going to get straight to the point because I have a lot of ground to cover and I want to hold your interest.  These are delicious!!! I mean seriously delicious. I've already eaten just about half the bowl in the time it has taken me to post this far. You know those rich, buttery toffee peanuts that you can find sitting around at baby showers or superbowl parties? They're delicious. I could eat a whole can of them myself. I never think to buy them but whenever I am in a place that is serving them I am always feel happy. So...I decided to make some of my own and add my own little twist to them. Now, these add quite a kick to them but if you are one who does not think nice of spice, PLEASE DON'T GO YET. I've included some variations at the end for you folks. This is pretty much a something-for-everyone recipe.

You know when you go to the grocery store

and you walk through the bakery section even though you know better because you made a New Year's resolution to cut out carbs and all other things that taste most delightful and you know its best to resist the temptation? And then you know when you pass by the beautifully arranged baskets of bread? French bread. Sourdough bread. Bread with rosemary. Bread with Salt. Bread with jalapeno and cheddar. Bread with ingredients you have never even heard of. All of it just sitting there displayed in all of its carbohydrate glory.

Lunch Break

After the busy morning I've had I've earned the right to have a cookie. Maybe even two cookies. Only problem is I don't have any. I could make some. But once again, we run into a problem. I don't have any eggs. Or flour. Lucky for me I have some experience with vegan baking and on a very random whim I bought some peanut flour at Trader Joe's last week. Things are looking up. I knew some day my randomness would turn into a good thing.