Baking & Coffee

It was a chilly weekend here in the south. My SO and I went to visit my mom for her birthday (a couple weeks late, but we made it nonetheless). Saturday was clear but cold, and though we all slept in late, we did manage to get some good stuff done. My mom is a big kitchen gadget fanatic, so I woke up Saturday to a new coffee maker

She apparently got this coffee brewing contraption at the local Asian foods market - she made Vietnamese coffee - a very strong brew and served it with sweetened condensed milk, which served as both the cream and sugar

Then we managed to enjoy a sleepy, cozy home-cooked breakfast and head out for a late trip to the local flea market. I did find some great vintage goodies, which I'll have to post about later, but in the meantime, let's talk about the baking! To me, there's not much better on a cold winter day than home-made baked goods and a nice big mug of steaming coffee or tea - talk about comfort food!

Since we were in town for my mom's bday, we asked her what she wanted instead of bday cake - being Asian, betty crocker yellow cake mix and super sweet icing aren't really her thing. I actually think the whole bday cake w/ loads of icing is more an American tradition than anything else, but since I've only been to France, I can't say for sure. Anywho, since I've already mentioned my mom's fascination with kitchen gadgets, it may be obvious already that she's a Pampered Chef fiend too. She has all the cookbooks and cookware and plateware and probably anything else she can squeeze into her kitchen, so we made a recipe she said she had been interested in trying - Pecan Praline Triangles (at least I think that was the correct title). Basically, these babies are like a pecan pie (her fave) in the form of gooey little bars...delicious-o!!

Fresh out of the oven


Quality Assurance


Anywho, I actually have more baked goods to share, but it's bed time for moi, so I'm off for now. Good night!