The Band Was Altogether

My 24th birthday was this past Friday and my niece and nephew, knowing how much I had adored the hermit crabs I had in the past, brought me two sparkly shelled crabs for my birthday. I named them Ziggy and Lady Stardust (because of their sparkly shells and, well, because who doesn't love a good Bowie reference), and until this afternoon they had been hanging out in the tub in our guest bathroom. Today I went our for lunch with a friend and afterward we stopped into a pet store so I could purchase some sand for Ziggy and Lady's tank as well as a few other accessories and essentials for their new home.

I decided to give their tank a bit of a land and sea feel with a sandy area with coral and their water dishes (one with plain water and a deeper dish with salt water for soaking), as well as an area covered in coconut fibers and a little hollowed out log for hiding. I spoiled them with two food dishes, one for dried shrimp and the other for dried fruit. I also feed them fresh fruit and vegetables at least a few times a week.

I tend to shy away from the look of a lot of traditional hermit crab accessories sold which are often obnoxiously neon in color. I prefer a more au naturale look for my crabitat.

If Ziggy and Lady are anything like my past hermit crabs, the clean separation of the two areas probably won't last long. With my other crabs, I would often wake up to find they had completely redecorated their tank! They love to move things around and make a mess of things. For now I like the style and set up of their tank, though I'd love to find a branch of some sort to position on an angle in the back right corner (behind the log) of the tank for the crabs to climb on.

Ziggy and Lady didn't waste any time getting acclimated to their new space. Lady hid behind the sponges in her water dish the entire time I took these photos, so I didn't get a great picture of her. Maybe I'll share some more photos of them later when they're feeling playful.

Ziggy did let me take a few pictures of him though. I hope they enjoy their new home! In the least, it's a step up from the bathtub and there's plenty to do and see, drink and eat. :)

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. Honestly, this year has been a busy one and the days, weeks, and months are just flying by! I haven't been baking nearly as much as I would have liked the past few months, and when I have gotten the chance to bake something yummy I never seem to find a moment to take a photo of my creations before they're gobbled up. I deeply miss blogging and it seems I have some very sweet readers who miss me as well! I hope to remedy my lack of posts soon.

With my lack of baking lately and having been busy with other adventures, I've been thinking about including more non-food and jewelry related posts here on the blog. I have been tackling a few projects around the house that I thought might be fun to share here, and I've recently rediscovered my passion for makeup, beauty, and fashion and am curious about sharing some posts of that sort as well. I've always been kind of apprehensive about posting on such a wide range of topics because I know a lot of my readers are only interested in food-related posts. Personally some of my favorite blogs cover a wide range of topics and I'm curious to know how my readers would react to a variety of other topics.

I made these White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies last night for a mostly-weekly movie night the hubby and I host for a small group of friends. This was my first time making White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies and I was surprised to find so few recipes available for them. After searching around online and in a few cookbooks I own, I decided to try this recipe from Handle the Heat as it reminded me a lot of one of my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes. These were quick and simple to throw together and they baked up beautifully. I used a tablespoon and a half cookie scoop and the recipe yielded just shy of 3 dozen cookies, the perfect amount for everyone to freely indulge during our movie while leaving plenty leftover for the hubby to take to work the next day. These were very well received and I'll definitely be keeping this recipe on hand for the next time I want to make these cookies.


White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
via Handle the Heat
makes 2-3 dozen

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Adjust an oven rack to lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined.

Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined. Mix in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts until incorporated.

Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into even balls and lay them on the baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, about 16 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Nanaimo Bars

I had my first Nanaimo Bar back in 2008 while I worked in the bakery at The Fresh Market. There these Canadian treats were called Dream Bars and I quickly learned how delightful they were. These were one of the first desserts I made on my own, inspired by the ones I so often enjoyed at the bakery. I made them again this past Sunday and was quickly reminded of how delicious these little bars can be.

These take a little time to throw together, due to the preparation of three different layers. No actual baking is involved, however, and these would be a great dessert to make when you don't feel like heating up the house. These certainly aren't difficult to make and would be a perfect project for a new baker.

While I was combining the ingredients for the bottom layer, I noticed the mixture was a lot more greasy than I would have expected (or remember it being from years ago when I first made these bars). I actually blotted the top of the bottom layer with a paper towel after pressing it into my pan. I'm not sure what caused the excessive greasiness at the time, but the bars set up great and tasted fabulous.

In my opinion, the real star of these bar is the second, creamy layer. I've been trying to get my hands on custard powder for ages as I really wonder if the taste of the bars would dramatically improve with using custard powder. Unfortunately I still couldn't find any around town, so I make these with your basic vanilla pudding powder. They are absolutely divine custard powder or not!

I followed Jaime's advice to use a hot knife to slice through the bars. This made cutting them a breeze, but I did notice that little streaks of melted chocolate would mar the pale yellow custard layer. The bars are still pretty, imperfections and all. I find bars like this, with distinct layers, very visual appealing.

These bars keep fabulously when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. At the bakery we would get these in frozen, thaw and cut them. I'm sure the homemade version would freezer just as beautifully. These are great chilled, just from the fridge, but I prefer them after they've had a chance to warm up a bit so the layers get soft and creamy. Absolutely divine!


Nanaimo Bars
via My Baking Addiction, originally from here
Bottom Layer
½ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten
1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
½ c. blanced almonds
1 cup coconut (I use sweetened coconut)
Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. (I ground my graham crackers in a food processor then processed the almonds and coconut with the crumbs until the almonds were finely chopped). Press firmly into a parchment-lined 8″ x 8″ pan. Refrigerate while making second layer.
Second Layer
½ cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder (such as Bird’s Custard Powder; I used vanilla pudding powder)
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and powdered sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer. Refrigerate while making third layer.
Third Layer
4 oz. bar semi-sweet chocolate
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator. Slice with a warm knife when ready to serve.