Who says s'mores are a campfire treat you can enjoy only in the Summer? Why not bring them indoors to have them year-round? For our annual ugly sweater party last weekend, I put together a s'more's bar to bring some warmth and fire to the table and some yummy marshmallow goodness to all our bellies. It was the perfect warm snack for a cold winter night, and especially festive with the twinkle lights to accompany--yes I am a sucker for twinkle lights. It also provided a great excuse to use a few of my dozen or so cake stands :)
The Beginning of Fall
One of the greatest things about living in Southern California is the weather - summed up by sunny warm weather year round. Yet with daily doses of sunshine, it is hard to imagine that Fall is already here with Winter coming up fast. 90 degree weather hardly makes me want to turn on my oven for some Fall baking and I feel rather silly ordering a hot pumpkin spice latte when it is sweltering outside. So you can imagine how excited I was when the temperature dropped from 90s this weekend down to 50s yesterday. Hallelujah it's finally starting to feel like Autumn - the season to pull out the boots and sweaters, and start thinking about the holidays coming up. After 6 years of snowy winters on the east coast, I can hardly call christmas lights strung up around palm trees around here "festive." Yet at the end of the day, even though I am missing the seasons, I am thankful for not having to wake up an extra half hour earlier to defrost my car or shovel my driveway.
What better way to celebrate the beginning of Fall than to start some Fall baking. My friend recently asked me to make a candied yam cookie that she had tried from a bakery in New York. Having never tried the cookie before, I could only go off of the description she gave me: soft, cake-like, filled with spice. So after some research, I came up with my own rendition of the candied yam cookie: Sweet Potato Spice Muffin Tops. I like to call them muffin tops rather than cookies since the texture is much more cake or muffin like. And in all honesty, it was kind of an excuse to try out my mini blow torch - so fun!
