Halloween is coming (I think...)

Needless to say, Halloween is just a few days away.  It's been relatively quiet around here in my neck of the woods...I think we're managing our expectations about Halloween.  You see...for those of us in the New Jersey and surrounding areas, Halloween's been "canceled" by Mother Nature for the last two years.  I'm talking major storms, extended power outages, and gas shortages so missing out on Halloween was the least of our concerns.  But with that in mind, I think many of us are taking a "let's see..." and "we'll believe it when it happens..." kind of a stance on it.

It's looking good though.  I'm hopeful the kids will finally get to trick-or-treat on the actual day of Halloween and have a chance to enjoy their parade, assemblies and parties at school this year. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Halloween (sorry!) but as a mom, I feel an obligation to mark the occasion and work up some enthusiasm.  So my little ninja and I will be trick-or-treating and enjoying all the celebrations this coming Thursday.

On the home base, I whipped up these spiderweb cookies.  I'm not into anything ghoulish so I stick with cute treats when I make any for Halloween.  This year, I saw spiderweb florentines in Martha Stewart Living (yes, I said Martha - and no, we won't go there...) that seemed like a fun thing to whip up.  Instead of using the florentine recipe from the magazine, I went with my favorite tuile recipe - these almond-butterscotch ones - and added the simple dark chocolate spiderweb design on top. It's not all that different from when I drizzled them rather haphazardly with chocolate for the holidays. 

These simple spiderweb cookies are just my type of Halloween treat. And whenever I think of these types of thin, crispy, lace cookies (or tuiles/florentines), I always think ice cream.  Their crispiness goes so well as a contrast to smooth, creamy ice cream so naturally, I had to serve them together!

Have a fun and safe Halloween, everyone!

Lace cookies - part 2

Back in April, I talked about those thin, crisp lace cookies or tuiles.  I love them because they bring back good memories for me and also because they're pretty, delicate, and tasty yet really easy to make.  Plus, I think they were made to go with ice-cream and who doesn't love ice-cream, particularly this time of year.  Well, I wanted to play around with these cookies a bit more by making and molding them into different fun shapes.  More on this later but I used a fantastic recipe here for almond-butterscotch tuiles that is super easy and versatile.

Here's one of the cookies that I shaped into a little cup or bowl for a scoop of pistachio gelato.

Or how about a little edible plate here to go with your favorite ice-cream flavors?

You could also just roll them up a bit and dress up your bowl of ice-cream.

You can get more creative than I have with the shapes but whatever form they take, these tuiles are delicious - a crisp crunch with a light butterscotch sweetness.  The almonds I used add extra crunch and blend really well within the cookie.  They are much easier to make than they might look.  I hope you'll give these a try.