I'm home in California for a few days, and am taking advantage of the time to make a special West Coast edition Fig Bar.

This one features:

*home-grown California lemons (again)
*eggs from my neighbors coop

Huzzah, Huzzah!

love,
cass

Special surprise alert!

The batch of Fig Bars shipping this week feature a totally revamped, super-delicious, all-new dough. Recipients can expect the addition of:

*hand-scraped, whole vanilla beans
*fresh orange zest

annnd... this is the best one ...

*lemon zest and juice from lemons grown on my friend Pavla's family farm in California --- ( say whhatttt? yeah... she's the best.)

I'm learning a lot as I go here. Thankfully, each valuable lesson translates into a (hopefully) more delicious fig bar for you to enjoy. (That's right, I'm FIGuring it out...waka waka waka.)

xoxo,
cassie

i've been hard at work making dough all day. phew! but it was worth it. for all you local new yorkers, fig-bar delivery begins this Sunday. i will be in touch...

xoxo,
cassie

ps. here is some nice music to cook to. and here are some photos from a day on the "job."

happy holidays!

a few snacks that are bound to make you feel festive and, possibly, a sneak peek at what might be in the "deluxe snack pack" (but, shhh -- don't tell)! the recipes are from my food blog, Sweeetheart Fever, where i will be documenting the fig-bar making marathon beginning next week! can't wait.



Homemade Peppermint Patties

Sweet Potato Pumpkin Pie



lots of love,
reality bites

i'm honestly amazed at how many new and wonderful backers have popped up in my inbox over the last few days -- and also pleasantly surprised by how few of you i have actually met before. so many names i've never seen! so many fig bars to distribute to the world! it's all very, very exciting.

but curiousity has got the best of me... how DID you find reality bites? was it because i bugged you about it (most likely)? did you stumble upon it randomly? did you see a facebook blurb, a tweet, a link? did somebody recommend it?

let me know!

and, just as a thank you for taking the time to read my post, here is some token food porn (see below).

find the full recipe for these super amazing chocolate-chip-walnut cookies at my food blog here.

love,
cass

hi everybody!

this is me extending an enormous, humongous, gi-normous, fantastic, wonderfully HUGE hug out to ALL of you for making my project a reality within LESS THAN 48 HOURS OF ITS LAUNCH. i am literally speechless... but one doesn't need to speak in order to make snacks!

lots of love,
cass

this weeks bite: homemade thumbprints

the story: my very best friend Siri grew up on an island. ask me and I will tell you all about it. don't ask me and I will still tell you all about it. aside from having cool things like a hose-filled bathtub, no modern electrical facilities, and a yurt (maybe I made that up) on this island, Siri also has a farm. on this farm grows fruit, and out of this fruit Siri's parents make jar after jar after jar of thick and gooey homemade jams. really. there is so much jam arriving in care packages to our apartment every week that we're at a complete loss as to what to do with it all. as far as I know, there are no jam-based donation drives and, even though I want to, I can't eat toast with jam and tea three square meals a day.

so what do we do? we make thumbprints!

you will need:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 egg, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
jam or jelly
1 teaspoon cinnamon (essential!)

to make:

Preheat over to 350°. Cream butter and sugar together. Add water, the egg yolk from the separated egg and the vanilla. Blend well. Sift together the flour, cinnamon and baking powder in a separate bowl, then add to creamed mixture bit by bit, blending as you go to keep the mixture moist. Shape into small balls and set them, about one inch apart, on a baking sheet. Press your thumb delicately into the center of each, creating an indentation. Using the egg-white to coat each slightly-indented cookie (trust me, this will be worth it in the end. purely aesthetics, of course). Finally, spoon a bit of your wild-island-made jam into each indentation, making sure to slop and spill and ooze it over the side of each cookie, your hands, the jar, and the counter. Pop into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the crust of each cookie begins to turn a lovely golden brown (thank you egg white). Remove and let cool for as long as you feel like. I waited approximately five minutes.

Poll-time! I've already been hard at work brainstorming snack-food recipes, ideas and flavors, but I need some public input! That's where you guys come in.

What is your absolute all-time favorite snack food and why?

Mine is graham crackers with freshly made apple butter. It's perfect, especially for fall. Just the right amount of sweet, perfectly crumbly texture, and all held together by the cohesive gum of the (still warm) cinnamon-spiked apple butter. Yuummmm.