I hope everyone that I sent cookies to got them in good condition. I sent out nine boxes in all (three to people named Jason, and five to people whose name starts with a J), and perhaps next time I'll need to send out even more because the news seems to be spreading....though maybe not if I set a shipping budget :P


I started out the baking process armed with some of my favorite chocolates. One of the brownies also needed "instant espresso" but I have no idea where to get or what instant espresso is since I don't drink coffee, so I used some Starbucks Via which was recommended by my dad.


The Callebaut chocolate I got from the local gourmet food shop came in 1/2 lb chunks so I had to break them down in order to melt it evenly. Last time I tried to just crush it with a hammer or rolling pin but that was a disaster :x I had to actually make a trip to the hardware store to buy a chisel and mallet just for these chunks of chocolate.

Ugh, I can't get scrapbook to straighten out this picture. Too lazy to fix it and reupload, I'll try again when I'm less lazy.


Here was me packing all the cookies and brownies. I was a bit worried that the bittersweet brownies would get squished since they were so soft. Plus I was sort of worried that everything would smell like peanut butter from the pb brownies....sounds like they were ok though.

Some of the recipes, if anyone's interested:
( Chocolate cherry cookies )

( Bittersweet Brownies )

( Peanut butter swirl brownies )

So, it looks like I will be doing another cookie mailout this year :x The weather is cooling down finally and fall baking season is approaching (yum, pumpkin bread and pie). I can't fit in a whole lot into those priority mail boxes, so I'm going to do two polls to narrow down what I'll be making this time. Last year I had two gallon ziploc bags full of leftover cookies, which made my labmates really happy.

Too bad this won't raise my cooking skill for XI and XIV :(

Poll #1774094 2nd Cookie Mailout: Preliminary Poll
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: Friends, participants: 6

What kinds of baked goods should I make this year?

Should I add nuts? (most likely walnuts)

Popular/traditional baked goods, or something new?

Tried out this recipe that was in my Food Network desk calendar. Took a lot longer than I thought to make, and also left a million dishes to wash. Anyways, I hope it turned out well.

( Caramel Peach Upside Down Cake )

Made two batches of cupcakes last night while I should have been working on my discussion notes for the very last section of this semester. On the other hand, these cupcakes were for my students so maybe they wouldn't mind how scattered my lesson plans were.

Bleh, because I was scrambling to get my notes and cupcakes ready this morning, I left my lunch sitting in the kitchen ; ; Hope it's still ok when I get home.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream
(modified from The Cake Doctor Returns)

Pic to come when I'm less lazy, maybe.

These turned out nice looking, though I couldn't try one because I don't know if I have enough. The buttercream could have been better, because I think the butter was a little old.


Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Topping

Pic to come as well, though I think I might have posted this already.

My usual fallback for when I need to make cupcakes and don't know what people like.

I've been trying to use up some of my maple syrup and I decided to try out a maple cheesecake recipe. However, I really didn't want to make a full-sized one so I fell back on my mini cheesecake recipe from earlier. They turned out ok, though I wish the maple flavor was stronger.

( Mini )

My parents were hosting a dinner and asked me to make dessert. I ended up making two tone biscotti like I made before, and a honey lemon pound cake which turned out pretty good. The recipe actually is for one loaf, but after reading reviews I decided to split it in half in case the batter didn't cook all the way through or might spill over. They turned out a little small but fine (and sort of look like corn bread).

( Honey Lemon Pound Cake )

I was too lazy to put up the pictures from last week's dessert night, but here they are now. I just wanted to post them because I have more pics of my baking spree this weekend (two batches of brownies and 3 dozen snickerdoodles done!)


This turned out really nice and I like how the crust is a lot nicer than the ones I've made for tarts previously. I'll definitely try this one again.

Raspberry Tart recipe to be posted soon!


I'm just not very good at making cakes I think. It looks nice but the cake turned out weirdly gooey instead of cake-like. The pudding layers were pretty good though.

Chocolate blackout cake recipe


Not the prettiest slices (these were some of the last ones left after I ate a bunch over the next few days), but I had to show my first three-layer cake.

So, on a really random note and because I am good at finding things to do that helps me procrastinate (and due to Joe/Fream constantly mentioning this), I've decided to mail out small boxes of cookies to my FFXI friends. If you'd like a box, just fill out the poll and get in touch with me sometime this week about your contact info. I'm hoping to do most of the baking this weekend and have them mailed out Monday or Tuesday.

It'll mostly be simple stuff (I don't want to try something new and mess it up XD) and I won't be making all the different varieties on the poll (I'd go insane) but I'd like to see what people are interested in. I'll probably make the two top cookie choices, as well as brownies, and maybe rice krispy treats as well. Let me know in the text box if there are things that you especially want or don't want sent.

You'll have to be logged in to take the poll:

Poll #1598481 The great FFXI FL cookie mailout
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: Friends, participants: 8

What kind of cookies do you like? (pick two)

Brownies: Toppings/addins of choice?

Rice Krispy Treats?

Any comments/requests?

I have another post coming up pertaining to the dessert night that will be happening in about....1 hour. I've been prepping and baking all yesterday evening and since I woke up today morning. I am sooo tired. Anyways, I tried out this shortbread recipe a few days ago, and it turned out quite well for being my first time trying to make this. No pictures again due to laziness.

( Wheat Shortbread )