It's rare that I make dinner without much of a recipe and it turns out pretty good. This was so much pretty good that we made it again a few nights later. This is a basic beef stew, the cubes were dredged in flour and browned before being put in a crock pot on low with red wine, an onion and fresh thyme (which, shockingly, I had on hand). The second time we made this I cut the onion into rings which were no longer recognizable as rings by the end of the cooking. But it was amusing for a few seconds there.

The potatoes are Russian Banana Fingerlings and were oddly more delicious than other fingering potatoes. They were steamed, then tossed with butter and salt.

The carrots were tossed with olive oil, ginger, cumin and cayenne and roasted, then sprinkled with dill and tarragon. I was going off of this recipe for Spicy Roasted Baby Carrots but only used the spices I had in the house. Still really yummy, and if you get the chance I really think you should try this carrot recipe sometime soon.

And the peas were the strangest of all, but my most favorite. Simply, these were canned peas (the young, off-green sort) that were whipped, or really put through my mini Cuisinart (which was part of the BlogHer Food conference loot). I've been meaning to do this for years since Will on Will&Grace made it for a dinner party. I know it's more baby food than fancy food but I have to say in the middle of a nearly-always-raining January it's become my favorite comfort food. And it made a disturbing Gremlins splat inside the Cuisinart.

Serve with red wine, try to ignore the fact that it's distressingly dark and still raining outside.

Non-Sugary Cookies | Ask MetaFilter.

everybody likes sandwiches: fill'er up: cinnamon oatmeal waffles.

shelterrific » Blog Archive » spring wedding? try appetizers in the garden.

What tastes like black tea or pure tobacco? | Ask MetaFilter.

Cinnamon Toast Recipe | Simply Recipes. It seems obvious, but I can tell you my family did this: butter the bread, sprinkle on a 1:6 cinnamon:sugar mixture, then broil until the sugar is just starting to melt. Crunchy cinnamon toast with a still soft underbelly was very good indeed.

How to Learn Something New Everyday « Pink of Perfection. Just before I read this post I was listening to a lecture on the radio. It was a lecture given, for free, at the Seattle Town Hall and I was thinking I should up my smarts by attending them. I feel smarter already.

The Best Kitchen Gadgets of the Year: bonappetit.com.

Delicious Low-Calorie Chicken Dinner: bonappetit.com. I'm looking for something that will be like Trader Joe's frozen Chicken Serenada entrees that have become a staple lazy night dinner in our house.

7*7 Favorites of 2009: No.2 – New Kitchen tools » delicious:days.

La Cerise: The croquembouche project.

What to Drink in 2010 : A wine, beer, and cocktail forecast - CHOW. Two recommendations for Washington wines that are note "jammy, overripe bludgeons". Thank you.

Cakespy: Deep-Fried Cupcakes on a Stick | Serious Eats : Recipes.

Maybe I don't need a pizza stone after all. Last night we made pizza and since I really, really wanted to make sure the dough cooked all the way through (this time) I decided to cook it in our large cast iron skillet that had I heated in the oven and slid the pizza into to cook, around 450 degrees. I was thinking of Cinnamon as I was pulling out the skillet as she is currently doing the final edits on her cast iron cook book. (You go!)

This pizza is spicy Italian sausage, kale and leftover fresh mozzarella. It could have used a bit more garlic, a note for next time.

What can I add to my spaghetti? | Ask MetaFilter. Some fantastic spaghetti 101 in here.

How to Make Grenadine and Why You Should Bother ~ Cupcake Project, via Suburban Bliss, whose recipe for The 7 O'Clock Bedtime you should use it in.

twelve22, using a wax stamp to make a chocolate seal, this attempt didn't work out but it's a great idea.

How Candy Canes Are Made [video] – Eat Me Daily.

Cakespy: Holiday Eggnog Nanaimo Bars | Serious Eats. I had some of these and they were oustandingly yum.

I made tiny gingerbread houses that are meant to be perched on the edge of a mug of hot chocolate.

I had been thinking about those sugar cubes that hook on the rim of a teacup earlier this month, and I was also thinking about 3-D cookies and how they fit together and figured it would be pretty neat to make cookies that hang on the edge of a mug. I thought I was being so brilliant but it only took a few seconds to discover that a flat cookie on the edge of a mug has already been done. So I started wondering what else I could do. At the time I was making a bunch of gingerbread recipes trying to find one that would hold up for my partridge in a pear tree cookie, so a gingerbread house was on my mind.

I made a few versions to figure out how to make one that wasn't so top heavy that it would flip off the mug, and how small I could get away with and still fit on both large and small cups. I generally followed the size of my The Mini Gingerbread House Kit (though, those pieces don't fit together as nicely as I'd have liked).

I've made a PDF pattern of gingerbread house pieces which you can open or download right here. My only instruction is that you should make sure that the wall pieces are to be sandwiched on the inside of the door pieces, that way the roof fits on properly. I included two door pieces you can choose from, one at 3/8ths inch wide and one at 1/2 inch wide. I found that a 3/8ths inch door, or slot, fits most mugs but the 1/2 can be used for your really big and heavy mugs. I traced the pieces onto this template page at 9:54 in the evening, please forgive the sloppiness but I'm getting tired, let's just call the untidy lines charming.

I used the Gingerbread Snowflake and the Royal Icing recipes from marthastewart.com.

I rolled it out onto a sheet of tin foil at 1/8th inch thick. I skipped a silicone mat because I use a paring knife for the corner details and didn't want to accidentally cut down to the layers of glass fibers, and after some trial I found that parchment paper will warp after being chilled and then stuck in an oven which can distort some shapes.

I used a dull sewing pattern roller (like a small pizza cutter) to go around most sides. You can do all of one side than turn the entire sheet of tin foil 90 degrees to do all of the next side, this makes the process go a bit faster. Try to fit all the pieces for each individual house in the same batch, I found my batches browned differently from each other. Lift the excess dough up from the tin foil, not moving your cut out shapes at all, this will help them keep their shape. Then slide the tin foil sheet onto a cookie sheet and put both in the freezer for about 15 minutes, you want the dough really well chilled before baking.

I used a (well cleaned) flat head screwdriver to get in the detail around the doors, then a paring knife to make sure the corners are cut cleanly.

Here are some tips, most of these are in the recipe but I don't want you to overlook them:

• After making it divide the dough into thirds (I made half a recipe) wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight. Make the royal icing while it's chilling, you'll need it before you make all the gingerbread you are planning on.
• Roll the dough out to 1/8th of an inch. It seems impossibly thin but you be cutting the shapes and pulling the excess dough from around them so your pieces won't be too disturbed. Feel free to nudge your shapes back into squares before chilling them again.
• Preheat the oven, roll the dough out on tin foil, cut your shapes and lift off the excess dough, slide the tin foil onto your cookie sheet, now put the cookie sheet into the freezer for at least 15 minutes before baking. This will keep the gingerbread from spreading too much.
• Make a single test house with your chosen door width. This sounds like a pita, and it will be, but it will be far less trouble than the frustration of finding none of your finished houses fit on mugs. Knowing now that you need to cut a wider door is worth it.
• I found that dough chilled for only an hour puffed up quite a bit, but didn't necessarily spread if the cut out shapes were chilled in the freezer. Dough that had been in the fridge overnight, or even the second day (it'll keep for a few days) puffed up quite a bit less, perhaps because the baking powder had lost it's mojo by this time?
• If you suspect your intended mugs are thicker and sturdier than usual grab some cardstock or a magazine insert and cut a few different slots -- 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch wide, about two inches deep (or tall). The one that slides easily onto the edge of you mug and even has a little wiggle room is the width you want for your door.
• If your gingerbread should spread and the doors look too narrow to you, you can trim them when the gingerbread is just out of the oven before it sets and cools too much. I suggest a paring knife and trimming just a bit from either side of the door.

I decided to only decorate the roofs for now. I might make these again next year and get more detailed with the decorations. I used a variety of sugars and sprinkles. One note, I discovered that candy cane dust will stick together so well that it will not show any piping detail beneath it. I liked the way regular sanding sugar made the roof sparkle a bit, though I couldn't capture the cuteness in my pictures.

Don't fill your mug of hot chocolate too full, you don't want the bottom of your gingerbread house to get soggy.

Can you tell the crushed candy cane one was my favorite?

I would be these would be fantastic made out of sugar cookie or shortbread dough. You could certainly leave them undecorated, or perhaps press sanding sugar into the roof pieces before baking. On the other hand I'm curious to see what one would look like covered in pieces of tiny candies. I'm also planning on making house-shaped marshmallows that will fit on the edge of the mug.

update: I made a few variations including a chimney and a version made out of sugar cookie dough which you might be interested in.

The Beer with the Green Label : Sierra Nevada tries to reclaim its cred - CHOW.

Suburban Bliss:: Did They Eat It: Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos. We will be trying this soon. I'm so over that whole thing where the process of cooking stands in my immediate way of getting to eat.

Alcademics.com: Making Clear Ice by Releasing Trapped Air.

cream biscuits | smitten kitchen.

S’mores Pops · Edible Crafts.

D.I.Y. Peppermint Schnapps, at Outblush.

Dinner Tonight: Orecchiette with Braised Kale and Cauliflower | Serious Eats. Some of my favorite things all together!

shutterbean » Earl Grey Tea Cookies. These look absolutely delicious.

Sorghum, the New Pancake Pour - CHOW.

What is the best thing you ever found in your Chex Mix? | Ask MetaFilter.

Not your grandmother’s Chex Mix « The Foodie Scientist.

Slow-poached eggs. Made from the Momofuku cookbook.

Pasta with Butternut Parmesan Sauce Recipe | Simply Recipes.

Straining Ladle | Incredible Things. Like that scoop and strain As Seen on TV, but not plastic. I might get this.

What to drink on Thanksgiving: Napa cabernet - Slate Magazine. I have been avoiding Napa cabernets for the reasons outlined in this article, but the author gives us some ones to try that never gave in to trying to please wine critics.

Why Does Pumpkin Pie Weep? : Because it's sad that you're overcooking it - CHOW.

Savory Onion and Leek Tart Recipe by - CHOW.

The Lowly Côtes du Rhône : Châteauneuf-du-Pape, watch your back - CHOW.

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: gluten-free pie crust.

Tea Spot NYC: Whole-Wheat Farro Bread. As I recently discovered how much I like farro, I must try this bread.

New Finds: Glass Drinking Straws - Blog - CHOW.

MUJI Ice Maker. A newer version of the Muji ice ball maker I have, this one looks quite sleek.

Ramos Gin Fizz « SpiritsAndCocktails.com.

LAST WORD « SpiritsAndCocktails.com.

How do I roast chestnuts so that they're easy to peel? | Ask Metafilter.

Peppermint Sticks and more delicious recipes, smart cooking tips, and video demonstrations on marthastewart.com. Via Not Without Salt.

I just ate a pasta dish that was saturated with garlic. Help me get rid of the taste! | Ask Metafilter.

I love, love this cleverly disguised Extreme Pumpkin Pie over at Extreme Holiday Ideas. (Whom you might recognize from long running Extreme Pumpkins fame.) The layers of this pie are propped up in a very clever way, using lengths of Pirouette cookies.

The The Pumpkin-Apple-Pecan Pie made by Cakespy is fun, and would make sure that everybody's pie needs are filled if your gathering isn't three full-sized pies large.

And the Pumpkin Pie Bites from Bakerella are adorable and I want to make them immediately. See also the Thanksgiving mini pies made by Rakka Deer.

I also wanted to give a shout out (shout back?) for some pies baked in jars love from Bakerella and Brownies For Dinner (I wish I'd used larger jars too!).

I hope you all have a very yummy Thanksgiving!

Flipping through a Williams-Sonoma catalog I saw something familiar, they used a bacon lattice as the topping for their Home Skillet Frittata. The bacon lattice you might know as the Bacon Mat at Instructables, the inspiration for my Bacon Cups. Neat.

While I'm talking about Williams-Sonoma, did you see the Giant Sandwich Cookie Cake Pan? Or the Snowy Village Cakelet Pan? I want both, I need neither.

I have come down with a cold, so yesterday I amused myself by making Gaufres de Liege, known to me as Belgian sugar waffles. These are amazing, and have left me uninterested in most all other waffles. They are made from a yeast dough and studded with big coarse sugar that melts and caramelizes as it cooks. They are so, so good.

I had my first one of these at Arosa cafe here in Seattle. (If you live in Seattle you can read more about Arosa's two locations and Hans, whom everybody loves, here at Voracious.) Even when not fresh (I brought it home and heated in the oven for a moment) it was delicious. I tracked down a recipe over at The Kitchn and had a go.

First I needed to find pearl sugar (though the recipe calls for turbinado sugar and only pearl sugar "if you choose"). I know I'd seen it in the Scandinavian Specialties import store in Ballard, the stuff I had seen resembles the large, opaque salt you see on soft pretzels. I ended up finding some at my nearest Red Apple Market:

This brand had two kinds, Swedish Pearl Sugar (like described above) and this Belgian Pearl Sugar which is far larger than I was expecting:

But, right there on the back of the box is a recipe for Belgian Sugar Waffles:

I don't know if you need sugar this large, but it certainly seemed to work well. You can also find this Lars Own Belgian Pearl Sugar at Amazon, along with hail sugar, the small kind, which is sold by Chef Shop (whose physical location just happens to be in Seattle). You can also find the Lars Swedish sized pear sugar occasionally at Ikea.

The recipe calls for 140 grams of sugar, which for me worked out to just over 3/4 cup, but I didn't use all of it because the dough seemed so crammed with sugar.

You divide the dough into 12 parts, let them rise a bit more and put them in your waffle maker:

These aren't meant to fill the space in your waffle maker, they are meant to be oddly shaped. The sugar bits melt, so if you have an older waffle maker you might want to use that one:

Here is my DIRE WARNING. The molten sugar bits will burn your fingers when you remove them from the waffle maker. So don't pluck them from the waffle maker with your bare fingers (ow ow ow stupid ow), and don't lift them from the waffle maker with tongs but place your bare hand protectively beneath it as the hot sugar will drip onto your lower hand (unexpected ow). Use tongs to pluck it out of the waffle maker, and a spatula beneath to steady it on it's way to the cooling rack. You have been warned.

What emerges will be so good you almost won't mind the amount of work it will be to clean out your waffle maker.

The waffle maker pictured here is on it's way out and I suspect our next waffle maker will be chosen specifically with Gaufres de Liege in mind. Smaller, deeper squares and with temperature settings. (If you're wondering what happened to the waffle maker I mentioned earlier, I returned it. It made a disturbing and obviously not right click when one closed it, something was catching and we couldn't figure out what. Also, it seemed to only under or over cook waffles and for as much as it cost I wasn't too pleased about that. I'd much rather have the 1/5th of an ottoman that it was worth.)

One last note, the recipe below calls for a low temperature setting for your waffle maker. Mine just has On and Off and yet the waffles turned out just fine. I just checked to see if the outside was dark enough for me, they all seem to have cooked through just fine (I, um, ate half of them so it was a good sample). You can heat them in the toaster, but be aware of the molten sugar warnings above and if you are going to just eat it by hand wrap it in parchment paper instead of a paper towel (which will stick to the caramelized sugar exterior).

Recipe by Chichi of My Chalkboard Fridge, by way of Doc Doughtery, and was found here at The Kitchn. Presented here with a few notes by Megan from NotMartha.org.

Gaufres de Liege
makes 12 waffles

• 6 tablespoons warm milk (no hotter than 110°F)
• 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/2 cups (230 grams) bread flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 medium egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, at slightly cooler than room temperature
• 140 grams turbinado sugar, or pearl sugar if you choose (I went with 3/4 cup. It's worth seeking out Lars Belgian Pearl Sugar if you can find it.)
• Cooking spray

Dissolve the sugar in the warm milk; then add the yeast. Make sure that the milk is not too hot, lest it kill the yeast instead of promoting its growth. Place a plate or some kind of cover on top of the bowl with the milk, sugar and yeast. Set aside for about five minutes. When you check on it, the yeast should have bubbled up, looking light brown and spongy.

Meanwhile, mix the sifted bread flour with the cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour in the yeast mixture; then add the whole egg and egg yolk. Mix on medium speed until it is fully combined. The dough will be yellow and stiff, yielding only slightly to a poke.

Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in a warm place for about thirty minutes. (I always find the top of my fridge is the best spot in my house.)

Beat in the butter piece by piece; you do not have to wait for the prior piece to be fully incorporated before adding the next. When the dough has incorporated about half of the butter, the mixture will be like a very thick, somewhat broken-up paste. If you keep engaging the mixer on medium-high speed, the dough will eventually become a cohesive whole, looking smoother and more feeling more elastic. Scrape the sides of the bowl if needed.

Kneading very gently, incorporate the sugar crystals just enough to get them evenly distributed. Work quickly so as not to soften the buttery dough too much.

Divide the dough into a dozen equal pieces, gently forming them into balls.

Place the balls of dough on a cutting board in a warmish place for fifteen minutes or so. During the last two minutes of this resting time, preheat your waffle iron until it is very warm, but not hot.

Spray the griddles with cooking oil. Place each ball of dough in a whole square or section of the waffle iron. (I could fit two in my smallish, round Belgian style waffle maker.) Like regular waffle batter, the dough will start to puff up. Cook the waffles until the surface is golden to dark brown. Be sure that the waffle iron you are using is appropriately deep, or else the interior of the waffle will not be cooked through. If you are using a vintage stovetop waffle iron, flip the iron every thirty to forty seconds, lifting the iron to check the rate of browning. The browning should be gradual to allow the interior to fully develop.

(Be careful when you lift them from the waffle maker! Very hot sugar can drip from the waffles and, trust me, it burns.)

Set the waffles on a cooling rack as they come out of the iron to promote a crispy exterior. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Any leftover waffles, if they are not dark brown, can be carefully re-cooked in a toaster for approximately thirty to sixty seconds. (Again, beware hot molten sugar.) Leftover waffles may also be kept in an airtight container between sheets of parchment paper, for up to three days.