As I rounded the corner to my apartment the other evening, my eyes fell on something on the ground at the end of the hallway. A box on my doorstep! The 6-year-old girl inside me urged me to drop the groceries and run to see what this box could be. As the distance between my precious package and I grew shorter, I realized that the box was addressed to Chef Kristy. Could it really be? Oh horray! It was my BBM3 box!
My tastebuds grumbled impatiently as I struggled to find the right key amidst my armfulls of grocery bags. I struggled to get the groceries through the door while gently urging the box through the doorway with my toe. Marshall apparently knew the box's contents, as he immediately pounced on the box and attempted to slyly nudge it into his crate.
After much scolding and a few relieved breaths, I retrieved the box and sat down to open it. According to the return label, the box had traveled to me all the way from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. An envelope taped to the front contained a wonderful letter and pictures from the Culinary Bookworm of Weekly Dish--including pictures of her two cats, Chester and Carmela and her asparagus-green kitchen. She even noted that she uses wine corks as hooks to hang dishtowels and her apron on. I have to admit that before I delved any further into the box, I went in search of an old wine cork and began measuring screws to try to figure out how she did that. I still have no clue. Perhaps someone can advise?
The first package I opened was wrapped in newspaper and tied with a bow. The newspaper gave way to a layer of wax paper and finally to a layer of snowflake-shaped cookies; the recipe attached called them "Spicy Sweet Potato Cookies". I couldn't resist the urge to bite off one of the spokes. They were in fact wonderfully spicy, with a hint of orange playing against the sweet potato backdrop. The crystallized sugar from the glaze gave the slightest crunch which led to a dense, almost chewy cookie. I ate my way around the cookie, spoke by spoke, savoring each bite. The irony of the warm, spicy flavor hidden beneath the icy glaze and snowflake shape contributed to the depth of this incredibly intricate cookie. Who knew what fun can be had with sweet potatoes and snowflake-shaped cookies?!
The second package was wrapped in foil with a recipe card tied to it reading "Christmas Cracker Candy". My interest was peaked. I read the ingredients: saltine crackers, butter, sugar, chocolate. I opened the package slowly, not sure quite what to expect. Inside the package of foil and wax paper lay several (ok, tons) chunks of chocolate with, sure enough, saltine crackers and homemade caramel. I took a bit of one of the pieces and just about fell over. The perfect blend of salty and sweet, I can see what the Culinary Bookworm takes this recipe to parties! Even the toughest skeptic has been blown away so far.
The box also contained such wonders as homemade salsa (which unfortunately did not survive the trip as well as everything else. But it sure smelled incredible!), a bag of River Road coffee from Baton Rouge, Beignet Mix and a recipe for her mom's Spiced Tea.
Thank you so much, Culinary Bookworm, the treats are (errr, were) absolutely divine. I have already bought the ingredients to make both the Spiced Sweet Potato Cookies and the Christmas Cracker Candy for co-workers for Christmas. They are certainly unlike anything we have in LA. They are a dangerous discovery that I know I will turn to time and again.
