Spicy Honey Roasted Cashews

  So!  As it's my first day off in a week, I thought I'd take advantage of it and catch up on my missed Sundays with Joy post.

  Do forgive me.  I work seasonally, and until October ends my life is not my own.

Baked Chili Cheese Fries (sans chili)

  We all seem to feel very strongly when it comes to french fries.  Some go for that one mushy fellow in the bunch (guilty as charged), others prefer their potato crisped beyond recognition, some use salt with abandon (Yes, even on McDonald's fries...), and others will say that the only way to go is to fry them twice.

  Look, I'm not here to give you the "perfect" fry.  I doubt I could even if I tried, everyone likes them so differently.  So, let me just say here and now, that I'm just going to let a potato be a potato. 

  By the way, the above list is by no means meant to be disrespectful.  Frying fries twice has been proven to be a very effective method.  I'd try it myself, but my mother is prone to queasiness whenever I heat up oil.  So, to save myself a fun time in the mudroom with our little thermometer-less deep fryer, I figured we should just go the baked route here.

Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

  Seems like I've been on a peanut butter and chocolate kick lately.

  Seems like that's entirely ok with me.

  This recipe is so simple you'll freak, and so addictive you might need to get to know your neighbors.  Like, right now.  Whoever thought of this is seriously an evil genius, and is probably thoroughly enjoying their five minutes of blog fame, thanks to Pinterest.

  Oh!  On a very unrelated note, I'm on vacation this week.  No biggie, I'm just gone up north Thursday-Sunday, so don't freak if I don't answer your pressing comment or email.  I'm not gone for too long!  I've got some scheduled posts for you, so don't feel too abandoned.

  Anyway!

  The method:

Avocado Fries with Spicy Dipping Sauce and BBQ Sour Cream Chive Dip

  My titles have been on the long side lately.  And that's cool!  Means lots of flavors are happening.

  This week's Sundays with Joy post was a challenge for me in a few ways:

  1. Deep frying...and avocados.  I was skeptical, I'll admit it.  And maybe wouldn't have tried it out if it weren't for this group.  Gettin' outside my box!

  2. I cook and stuff, a girl can't live on cupcakes and cookies alone, but my blog is definitely heavier on the baked goods.  I don't have a lot of practice taking pictures of fried things.

  3. The smell of hot oil makes my mother nauseous.  Making these entails dragging our mechanical deep fryer out to the mudroom and guessing at the oil temp, which is maintained with a blinking light and my gut instinct.

Mini Quiche Appetizers

  As one of the more popular appetizers at the party I catered, I thought it might be good to share these.  That, and my little sister had been bugging me to make them again ever since she discovered the leftover frozen puff pastry.  The little piggy.

I Catered a Party. Wait, What?

  14 recipes, 3 grocery trips, too many ingredients to count, several post-it notes, sore feet, 3 days of cooking/baking, much mental math, and 50 hungry mouths.  That was my weekend.

  The day of the party was so incredibly surreal.  I was going bonkers, but in a very calm and efficient sort of way.  I was ordering my parents and sister around like any typically crazed head chef, and was actually the last one to arrive (45 minutes late...) at the party, bearing still warm mini quiches.