Teaser: Peanut Butter S'Mores Bites

Last week, I invented a recipe. This is a first for me. It is a huge deal. I know, for most of the food bloggers out there it's a weekly thing, but I had been in a bit of a baking funk, and this adventure in originality reminded me that I know flavors work and I'm not completely inept with candymaking.

Now, I don't want to share the recipe just yet because it's not perfect - at this point, the measurements are all eyeballed and it would be pretty difficult for me to teach y'all how to replicate it. But I do want to let you know that these delicious little wonders exist. I'm still not quite sure if I should classify them as a cookie or a candy, but suffice to say, they rock.

So why am I telling you about them if I'm not sharing the how-to with the world? Because over on my personal blog I cosponsor this awesome thing called Freeky Friday. Every Friday, my sister and I invite you to blog, tweet, and/or comment on Facebook to promote positivity, unity and love - all wrapped up in a clothing line called Freekware. Every time someone does any of these things, they are entered to win a delicious treat and a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in their name. Last month, Jessica won some Brownie-Covered Oreos. This month, our winner will receive these Peanut Butter S'Mores Bites! Now, there are five Fridays in July, so if you blog, tweet, and comment on Facebook every week, you'll be entered fifteen times!

For more on Freeky Friday, check out Concrete Jane (my personal blog), Dr. Princess (my sister blog), and the Freekware Facebook page. Hope to see you on Friday - and to send you some goodies at the end of the month!

Fresh Outta The Oven

Hello out there! Welcome to Cake Walk and Coffee Talk! Some of you may know me from my personal blog, Concrete Jane, and those of you that do can attest to the delicious goodies that I bake up whenever I'm bored and/or stressed. I've even taken to baking when I'm in a good mood (gasp!). What can I say? Baking calms me down. There's something wonderful about knowing that no matter what is going on in the outside world, I know that I can cream together butter and sugar, add in some eggs, flour, leaveners, and flavorings, and something yummy will absolutely emerge.

I live in New York City, home to about a billion cafes. Did you know you could eat at a different restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner in NYC for fifteen years without having to go back to the same place twice? It's ridiculous! While I do enjoy making my own goodies at home, I have to say I've become quite the taste-tester. I love wandering around the city and trying out different bakeries, trying to determine which one makes the ultimate red velvet cupcake or peanut butter cookies. And then, of course, I love coming home and trying to top that.

Because I live in New York City on a grad student budget, I do not have the luxurious kitchen I once had (I use the term luxurious loosely; what people outside the city consider normal, people inside the city consider spacious and extravagant). The vast majority of my baked goods are created in my tiny dorm kitchen, baked in my tiny dorm oven, and stored in my tiny dorm cabinets, on my tiny dorm kitchen table, or in my tiny regular sized dorm fridge until I have successfully fattened up everyone around me. I don't have a stand mixer. I don't have a cake carrier. I don't even have cooling racks. But I make it work, somehow, deliciously.

So join me on my cake walk. Sit down for some coffee talk (because really, what is coffee without something sweet to enjoy with it?). I'm always up for an adventure, and I'm determined to make baking my speciality!