texas sheet cake

I came across this recipe in my alumni magazine. One of our alums, Jennifer Jones, is the Pastry Chef for the Rick Bayless' well-known Chicago restaurants, Topolobampo, Frontera Grill and XOCO. She makes this cake for staff meals and parties (in other words, you won't be finding this on their restaurant menu.)

apricot almond bar

What do you do when your dad gives you a 3 lb. bag of dried apricots? You go hunting for a recipe, that's what you do.

Luckily for me, The Gourmet Cookie Book had a lovely recipe with dried apricots, dating from the 1960's (!) I tweaked it ever so slightly, with some puréeing and a little salt and butter addition. In fact, it's quite similar to the Cherry Pecan Bars that I made awhile back. So I cross-referenced with that recipe and ended up with this one.

48 Hours in Boston

We spent 48 hours in Beantown.

Translate that into "how many seafood restaurants can we squeeze in without kids revolting?"

We hit two in as many days (canceling reservations at another) and enjoyed both.

We definitely recommend a stop at Island Creek Oyster Bar for their oyster sliders and their raw Island Creek Oysters. Kettle chips with the Lobster Roll were also delicious. Fried clams were a huge hit with the kids; we had to order a second round, because it never made its way down the adult end of the table!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated with a whirlwind "Boston in 48 hours."

(Food details forthcoming.)

How did you ring it in?