December 31, 2013

Remember That Time I Made That Thing?
( Yearly Wrap-Up 2013 )


We're at the very tail end of the year, and because I'm completely susceptible to peer pressure, behold!  A list of this year's most popular recipes, complete with gleaming photographs.  It's been a challenging year, and I'm grateful to every person who visits Being a Bear and helps to remind me why I write.  Your favorite recipes of the year were: 


10.   Butterscotch Pudding


9.   Shrimp in Coconut Milk


8.   Sharp Cheddar Cheese Crackers


7.   Monte Cristo Pockets



6.   Detroit-Style Coney Dogs


5.   Paczki



4.   Pasties



3.   Rice Pudding



2.   Black Forest Fudge


1.   Chicken-Fried Steak




And because it's author's prerogative, here are my favorite 3 that didn't make the list but totally deserved to:

Apple-Maple Turkey Burgers with Maple Dijon Sauce       

No-Bake Coconut Date Cracker Bars with Browned-Butter Glaze

Rosemary and Browned Butter Applesauce


Here's wishing you health, happiness, and endless supplies of browned butter in 2014.  
Love,

The Bearfrau


December 25, 2013

Have Yourself a Merry Little Meltdown
( + Gingerbread with Spiced Orange Caramel Sauce )




Let's talk for a minute about what the holidays are like for an introvert.

Remember the bleak hellscape from the Terminator movies?  The burned-out post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland carpeted with ash and human bones?  The one where, just as you think you're starting to understand the horror of this dark new world, a metal foot crushes down on the human skull you were just looking at, and you look up into the cold red gaze of a killer robot?

Yeah.  It's kind of like that.

But with eggnog.


December 24, 2013

12 Days of Cookies
( + Red-Hot Chocolate Slices )




Are you exhausted yet?  Are you cranky?  Are you staring at two visually identical gift cards and wondering which is the $25 you received from your third cousin yesterday, and which is the $100 you're supposed to give to your brother?

December 16, 2013

12 Days of Cookies
( + Chocolate-Dipped Espresso Shortbread Cookies )




On Thursday I gave you a cookie for the children in your life (big and small).  Today's a cookie for the adults.  

It's the kind of cookie you could serve to Great Aunt Myrtle alongside tea.