The Spiced Life

Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

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Archives for December 2008

Happy Holidays!

December 28, 2008 By Laura 3 Comments

I disappeared without even wishing you all a happy holiday season.  Yikes!  I got home from my Christmas celebration with my family, determined to start packing things up, and discovered the phone company had mistakenly shut off our phone and internet 1 week early.  The phone got fixed but the internet could not be apparently…. 

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Filed Under: misc

Baked Pasta With Chicken Sausage

December 20, 2008 By Laura 4 Comments

Well from here on out I will probably have house pictures for you, mostly because we are out there a lot, and each time something new has been finished in the kitchen. Like the microwave….  And we moved the fridge (it’s a long story–the kitchen designer screwed up and it has been a pain). The kitchen… 

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Filed Under: Italian American, pasta, sausage, tomatoes

Dreaming Of Mandelbrot & Making Brownie Biscotti

December 16, 2008 By Laura 10 Comments

Before I forget (which I say because I already did once and am now revising this post), I have updated pictures for you.      What a mud pit!  I am rather terrified when I think of living without a lawn until spring with 3 large (and 1 of them geriatric) dogs.  Thanks goodness we… 

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Filed Under: biscotti, chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, cookies

Braised Beef with Butternut Squash, Sweet Potatoes and Dried Cherries & A Kitchen In Progress

December 15, 2008 By Laura 7 Comments

I bet you guys wondered what on earth happened to the house pics.  What happened was I got a new camera phone–and became so enamored with it I stopped taking my camera out to the property.  In the meantime it took me forever to figure out how to upload the pictures taken with the phone…. 

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Filed Under: beef chuck, butternut squash, Dried Cherries, potatoes, sweet potato

Espresso Chocolate Chip Mandelbrot For The Troops

December 13, 2008 By Laura 11 Comments

Will you forgive me for sharing a recipe without pictures?  A Christmas cookie recipe, no less? See, on Wednesday my mom got here and we frantically started packing the house.  She left on Thursday, and I spent Thursday and Friday baking what felt like a billion cookies, for a cookie swap and for a soldier… 

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Filed Under: biscotti, chocolate chip cookies, cookies

Prozac For Dogs & Decorated Sugar Cookies For The Holidays

December 9, 2008 By Laura 7 Comments

Many of you probably remember the travails we have experienced with our middle dog, Finnegan. The one who stole my naan. The one who gets in the garbage. The one who ate half a bundt cake in 15 seconds flat. Yeah that one. Well we put him on Prozac and my sugar cookies have been… 

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Filed Under: cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, kids cooking

The Theme Of The Moment: Stress & Peppermint

December 7, 2008 By Laura 10 Comments

It suddenly feels like finding a spare moment to do anything, much less post to this blog, is not to be had. Certainly not take pictures in daylight, as these photos can attest. In light of that, this will be short, but sweet. Very sweet, rich, chocolatey and full of minty goodness. Smooth and slightly… 

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Filed Under: chocolate chip cookies, cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, mint chocolate

Mini Chip Peppermint Crisps, OH MY

December 4, 2008 By Laura 10 Comments

These are my first huge discovery of the Christmas cookie baking season. Every year I make an effort to try some new recipes, create some new traditions. Some of the really successful cookies of past Christmases (that are not family recipes) include Gale Gand’s Hungarian Shortbread, Carole Walter’s Scottish Shortbread, and a recipe found on… 

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Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, mint chocolate

Chickpea Pumpkin Curry

December 3, 2008 By Laura 4 Comments

I visit lots of blogs that feature drool worthy food (see sidebar for examples). But very rarely am I instantly inspired to make whatever it is I am reading. The one exception to this is Vicci’s The Days Are Just Packed. She has a knack for picking vegetarian or otherwise very healthy dishes that are… 

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Filed Under: butternut squash, chickpeas, curry, curry powder, easily made vegetarian, Indian recipes

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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