Guest Post: A Little Christmas Cheer
/Hi there :) I want to sincerely thank you ALL for the continued well wishes/thoughts/prayers/etc. I know I keep saying it, but it has meant the world to us. I love this food blog community. So much love and support. The comments you all have left, from my last post, have brought tears to my eyes.
thank.you.
And now a special surprise. I am so completely honored to have a guest post from the amazing Mama Pea. She is an inspiration to me in so many ways. Her kitchen creativity, hilarious personality, blunt honesty, amazing family, and unbelievable mothering skills, impress me on a daily basis. :) Thanks again MP!!!
....
Hi, Edible Perspective readers!
I'm Mama Pea from a little blog called Peas and Thank You.
Ashley's taking care of some family business, so I offered to put up a post on her behalf to tide you over until she comes back. My photos aren't as sharp, my prose isn't as classy, my recipes may or may not be as edible (I've had her nut butters...oh. my. peas.), but I'll try to do you and her justice.
Let me start by saying, "Merry Christmas!"
I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning, trying to figure out exactly how and why applesauce ended up in my coffee cup when my daughter Gigi started yelling, "Our neighbors think it's Christmas! They are putting up Christmas decorations!"
I tried to think of who in our neighborhood might still have their Christmas lights up, but lucky for me, that old lady four houses down moved out a year or two ago. Come to think of it, she may have died. R.I.P., Mrs. Weedy McEyesore.
Sure enough, though, when I looked out the window, I realized that Gigi spoke the truth. This time.
They sure did deck the halls. And we fa la la la la-ed...
la la la la-ed.
One of the first things I think of when I think of Christmas, aside from what my credit card's interest rate is, how I will bribe Lulu to sit on Santa's lap this year and that whole birth of our Savior thing, is Mexican hot chocolate.
I wooed Pea Daddy with it our first Christmas together.
We'd been dating a few months and since we were attending law school in my hometown, I felt it was my duty to introduce him to all my rituals and traditions (well, maybe not the ones about waxing my upper lip or reusing sports bras...not that I do that, Honey).
One of my family's Christmas traditions is to drive through a huge light display in a neighborhood that just so happens to be about a mile from where we live now. Of course, you have to listen to Christmas music while driving through, and you have to drink a hot beverage from the best coffee house in town.
It's no Starbucks, and I mean that in the best possible way. Come December, I want to turn my nose up at a Gingerbread Latte, run to the Governor's Cup and order a Mexican Hot Chocolate, just like I made Pea Daddy do that night eight years ago.
I was happy to share something I loved with him at a time when he hadn't seen the less glamorous, more human (and flatulent) side of me yet. (I still don't know who let that "goose" loose in my room during what may still be one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.) I was even happier when he said that he loved the the spicy, rich, chocolatey drink. And I was overjoyed when he said that he loved me. Still am.
I'm pretty sure he'll stay married to me if I keep making some of our best food memories into cookies.
Mexican Chocolate Cookies (vegan)
Makes 12-18 cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave and set aside.
Use restraint to keep from eating this.
Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, chili powder and pepper in a large bowl.
Using a hand or stand mixer, cream vegan margarine, sugar and vanilla. Add chocolate and continue to mix until combined.
Add in dry ingredients, a little at a time, until fully incorporated.
Scoop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.
Press dough into rounds (as with most vegan cookies, the dough will not spread while cooking).
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until cookies are set, but not hard. Allow cookies to cool on pan for at least a minute before transferring to a cooling rack.
Dust cookies with powdered sugar before serving.
My little sugar plum fairies could hardly wait for them to come out of the oven.
They tasted like Christmas...
if Christmas was a bit spicy for little tastebuds. She just wanted to lick the powdered sugar "snow" off of the top.
Oh well, more for Pea Daddy (think he'll notice the "glaze" on Lulu's leftover one?). 'Tis the season for giving.
thank.you.
And now a special surprise. I am so completely honored to have a guest post from the amazing Mama Pea. She is an inspiration to me in so many ways. Her kitchen creativity, hilarious personality, blunt honesty, amazing family, and unbelievable mothering skills, impress me on a daily basis. :) Thanks again MP!!!
....
Hi, Edible Perspective readers!
I'm Mama Pea from a little blog called Peas and Thank You.
Ashley's taking care of some family business, so I offered to put up a post on her behalf to tide you over until she comes back. My photos aren't as sharp, my prose isn't as classy, my recipes may or may not be as edible (I've had her nut butters...oh. my. peas.), but I'll try to do you and her justice.
Let me start by saying, "Merry Christmas!"
I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning, trying to figure out exactly how and why applesauce ended up in my coffee cup when my daughter Gigi started yelling, "Our neighbors think it's Christmas! They are putting up Christmas decorations!"
I tried to think of who in our neighborhood might still have their Christmas lights up, but lucky for me, that old lady four houses down moved out a year or two ago. Come to think of it, she may have died. R.I.P., Mrs. Weedy McEyesore.
Sure enough, though, when I looked out the window, I realized that Gigi spoke the truth. This time.
They sure did deck the halls. And we fa la la la la-ed...
la la la la-ed.
One of the first things I think of when I think of Christmas, aside from what my credit card's interest rate is, how I will bribe Lulu to sit on Santa's lap this year and that whole birth of our Savior thing, is Mexican hot chocolate.
I wooed Pea Daddy with it our first Christmas together.
We'd been dating a few months and since we were attending law school in my hometown, I felt it was my duty to introduce him to all my rituals and traditions (well, maybe not the ones about waxing my upper lip or reusing sports bras...not that I do that, Honey).
One of my family's Christmas traditions is to drive through a huge light display in a neighborhood that just so happens to be about a mile from where we live now. Of course, you have to listen to Christmas music while driving through, and you have to drink a hot beverage from the best coffee house in town.
It's no Starbucks, and I mean that in the best possible way. Come December, I want to turn my nose up at a Gingerbread Latte, run to the Governor's Cup and order a Mexican Hot Chocolate, just like I made Pea Daddy do that night eight years ago.
I was happy to share something I loved with him at a time when he hadn't seen the less glamorous, more human (and flatulent) side of me yet. (I still don't know who let that "goose" loose in my room during what may still be one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.) I was even happier when he said that he loved the the spicy, rich, chocolatey drink. And I was overjoyed when he said that he loved me. Still am.
I'm pretty sure he'll stay married to me if I keep making some of our best food memories into cookies.
Mexican Chocolate Cookies (vegan)
Makes 12-18 cookies
- 3/4 c. dark chocolate chips
- 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry or white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 t. cinnamon
- 1/2 t. baking powder
- 1/4 t. salt
- 1/4 -1/2 t. chili powder
- few grinds of cracked black pepper
- 1 c. organic sugar
- 1/3 c. vegan margarine
- 1 t. vanilla
- powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave and set aside.
Use restraint to keep from eating this.
Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, chili powder and pepper in a large bowl.
Using a hand or stand mixer, cream vegan margarine, sugar and vanilla. Add chocolate and continue to mix until combined.
Add in dry ingredients, a little at a time, until fully incorporated.
Scoop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.
Press dough into rounds (as with most vegan cookies, the dough will not spread while cooking).
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until cookies are set, but not hard. Allow cookies to cool on pan for at least a minute before transferring to a cooling rack.
Dust cookies with powdered sugar before serving.
My little sugar plum fairies could hardly wait for them to come out of the oven.
They tasted like Christmas...
if Christmas was a bit spicy for little tastebuds. She just wanted to lick the powdered sugar "snow" off of the top.
Oh well, more for Pea Daddy (think he'll notice the "glaze" on Lulu's leftover one?). 'Tis the season for giving.
