Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread

A lot of people say I'm lucky to be a teacher. "You get three months off during the year!" they tell me. I usually scoff. Three months off? When exactly would that be? I start work on August 15th. End work June 30th. That "time off" in between is used for some much needed reorganization, reworking, and replanning. You don't expect me to just teach the same thing in the same way every year, do you? New kids means new problems, new disabilities, and new ways of thinking. I need the summer to catch up.

Hogwarts Confections: The Hufflepuff Cookie

I feel bad for making Hufflepuff go last. Out of all the houses, it's usually the one that's being made fun of. But, really, you've got to give these guys credit. They're not uptight, nor do they backstab, and (lets face it) they probably procrastinate better than most of us. Also, Cedric Diggory. Cedric. Diggory.

Manly Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

Let's take another dip into the Movember pot with a mustache that is universally loved and revered. You've seen it everywhere - on your dad, on that Nascar guy, on those cops on that corner of Hastings. It's not a flashy mo, like the Dali or Walrus. Nor is it intimidating, like the Handlebar. It's just simply . . .

 The Chevron. 

In the mustache hierarchy, the chevron is a classic that is always a staple in a man's facial hair repertoire. Though it may look simple, this mo is more complex than it looks. Men must tease the hair over-top of their upper lip - anything shorter is considered a failure. Boy, the things a man does for mustache superiority -  could you image eating with that thing? Talk about your flavour-saver, dude. I bet Tom Selleck grew used to tasting breakfast while he was eating dinner. You could keep extra ice cream and cookie crumbs in there for weeks. 

Speaking of cookie crumbs, we've got a treat for you that really will get your Chevron bristling:

The Dead Elvis Cupcake

Okay. Let's admit it. Halloween is totally just for kids. It's gives them a chance to dress up like their favourite superhero and/or princess and freak out after eating their body weight in sugar. Good for them. They need a holiday to cut up the long stretch to Christmas. Let's let them have it. I'm totally talking to you, Ms. Dress-up-as-a-slutty-nurse/police officer/ninja turtle. Just take your brewskies and walk away.

Halloween for us adults should be more refined. I know, it's hard to let go of your childhood. You can still dress up, if it makes you feel better. Just not as a sexy ninja turtle, please. Around here, we take our celebration inspiration from down south. Way down south.

Dias de los Muertos takes place shortly after Halloween. If you've never heard about it, you're totally missing a party, dude. It gives us a chance to honour those who have past on into the other realm - and to feast, drink, and make really wicked sugar skulls. What's not to love?

Cowboy Cookies

I am a Canadian. I am proud of our socialized medicine and our Charter of Rights of Freedoms. I pay 12% taxes on everything (PST, GST, HST) and I do it with a grin. Yes, we do have a conservative federal government - and I'm not proud of that - but at least we don't have all those crazy Tea-Baggers running around.

America's Republican Party absolutely intrigues me. It was founded in 1854 on one simple platform: to stop the spread of slavery into the western territories. Now, last time I checked, that's not such a big hot-button issue anymore. So why is the GOP still around? (Of course, you can say the same thing about the Democrats, who were founded on the platform that Alexander Hamilton was a big D-Bag).

Enough of the history lesson. To be honest with you, I'm babbling because I've got some real guilt issues going on. I made some cookies the other day. The recipe came from a pretty prominent First Lady. A pretty prominent Republican First Lady. Doesn't seem so bad, I know - but I'm a pretty left-wing Canadian. I'm talking NDP left-wing. And this particular Republican First Lady was married to a pretty infamous Republican President. Now, this certain Republican President is not a bad man. I would totally have a brew or two with him. He was just . . . special . . .

Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mr. C and I have been running around all day, trying desperately to prepare for next week's camping trip. Yes, camping. No internet. No beds. I'm talking real, down and dirty, poopin' in the woods camping. All we'll have is a tent, a couple of sleeping bags, and (hopefully) a roll of toilet paper. Oh, and I'm sure Mr. C has packed a couple of Tolkien books - you know, just in case of a emergency.

A couple of days ago, I took on the task of cleaning out all the foodstuffs in the kitchen. God forbid we come home to a mutant pile of fermented fruit and vegetables sitting in the bottom of our fridge. Bananas are one of those things that I'm on the fence about - I could bring them along on the road trip. But, lets face it - once you put bananas into a closed space then everything starts to smell like banana. Smelling that all the way to the Oregon Coast would drive me a little nuts. My other option was to bake them into something tasty. Yes, I'm all about that option.

I had a bit of a Dr. Frankenstein moment in the kitchen that day. I combined a handful of recipes to create one tasty little monster. Banana nut bread is good. Chocolate chip cookies are good too. Banana nut chocolate chip cookies? Holy crap, are they amazing.

Chocolate Chip-Filled Melted Moment Cookies

Dear parents: Admit it. You have a favourite child. Yes, you may say you love all two or three of your munchkins exactly the same, but we all know that's a lie. One kid always tends to get a bigger slice of pie than the other. But, don't worry! We totally understand. It's the same for us at C&C. Yogurt is our star child: every cake it touches turns to gold. Marshmallow is that kid we love, but heaven almighty does it ever annoy the hell out of us (plus, it's always sticky). I'm not even going to talk about Icing Sugar. It's sort of the black sheep of the family.

Recently, we've adopted a new kid into our cookie family - her name is Cornstarch. She had me hooked when I first tasted the velvety texture of Alfajores. I now religiously bookmark any recipe that involves our new star child just so I work with that lovely silky taste again. The cookie recipe we've posted below is a great example of how cornstarch can really kick up a classic. Melted Moment Cookies come in many flavours, but we chose the Chocolate Chip-Filled variety as a starting point. Boy oh boy what a starting point.