Good thinking

For my regular job, they pay me to think. And while I wish I had all the answers, I am often confronted by the truth: I don't. Not even close. Lucky for me, I work with a bunch of other thinkers, and a few of my friends are thinkers as well. But they're located all over the place, so I can't invite them all for a dinner party!

I recently had a somewhat crazy thought that a triad of of geniuses/colleagues/friends helped me turn into a grant proposal: Beau (located with me here in DC), Kat (located in Los Angeles), and Anabelle (based out of Merida, Mexico). I wanted to do something special to thank them, so I decided to send homemade treats to each.

As soon as I saw the recipe for spicy brownies on smitten kitchen, I knew I had to try them. They were a bit "cake-y" (notice the crumbs on the bottom right) but the chocolate-y flavor enhanced with cardamom, chili pepper, and cinnamon made for a truly special treat.



Since on my last post I promised to be healthy, I also went to the Cooking Light website and found what seemed to be a delicious recipe for honey lemon drops. SO SIMPLE and they won rave reviews from all who tasted them!



And finally, a coworker recently sent me a card with a recipe for "madeleines au citron" from Claire Joyes' cookbook: "Monet's table: the cooking journals of Claude Monet." What better way to test out the recipe on other colleagues? I love the sponge-y texture of a Madeleine- and these were truly a delight.



So to Beau, Anabelle, and Kat....




(above packaging for Beau, based in DC)