Moving Announcement

Hello everyone!

You may have noticed that things have been kind of quiet around here lately. (Actually, they've been a lot quiet. I haven't posted anything since December. Sorry!) While you were experiencing silence, though, I was working diligently on some new things.

First, Sweet Madness has been moved! You can now find me at the fancy custom domain of whatsweetmadness.com where I'll be doing a bunch of new and exciting things. I was going to hold off on announcing the new site until everything was perfect and ready, but considering how much I tweak things it will never be ready, so I gave up on the perfection. You'll have to bear with me while some links and things don't work for a while, but please check it out!

The 2013 Reading List

It's the end of the year, which means it's time to debut the 2013 Reading List for the SMD Book Club! Basically this is my list of books to read and blog about next year, but you're welcome to read along with me if you like.

This year the list starts at a genre-defining Gothic novel from the 1790s, meanders past mathematical satirical fiction of the 1860s, through classic coming-of-age stories from the 1960s, all the way to historical fiction published in 2012.

You can check out the list over at the SMD book club or on my 2013 shelf at Goodreads.

Best Thing: Christmas Unicorn

This album by Ella Fitzgerald came up on one of my Pandora holiday stations the other day. I'm not entirely sure what psychedelic unicorns eating flowers has to do with Christmas, but I think we should be utilizing that motif a little more often. And that purple 60s typography! Love it.

December Novel: Bossypants

Seriously, who doesn’t like Tina Fey? She’s funny, witty, and can do everything. How many other women do you know who can write and act in films, write and act in sitcoms, write and act in live comedy performances, host award shows, and write a book -  all while raising two daughters under seven?

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November Novel: Dune

As I started reading this book, literally one of my first thoughts was Why has no one ever recommended this book to me? I was sucked in from the first chapter. I had been afraid that I wouldn’t be able to finish the 800+ page novel in the course of a month but found instead that I couldn’t put it down.

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Reasons I Still Love Staying Over at Grandma's

1. She keeps an electric blanket on the spare bed and turns it on before I get there so it's nice and toasty.
2. Most of the shows she watches first aired the same year I was born so I don't remember seeing them before.
3. The kitchen table is just for looks; all meals are eaten in the living room off of trays.
4. She will still make me hot tea and toast cut into strips for dunking if I ask for it.
5. Things I made for her as a little girl are still up on the walls or tucked into picture frames.
6. She almost always has a bag of strawberry Twizzlers.
7. Every pitcher of pink lemonade kool-ade is made with twice the amount of sugar it calls for.

Top 5: Fall Recipes

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is this week! I am not at all prepared for how fast time is passing or how soon there will be a perpetual blanket of snow on the ground. It's still fall until at least December 1 in my book, so I'm making autumn last as long as possible. Fall food is some of the best, and we have a whole holiday where all you do is get together and eat, so I'm pretty excited. Below are my favorite fall recipes that I'm still hoping to squeeze in before the onset of Christmas cookies.

5. Gingerbread & Cool-Whip

Food doesn't have to be fancy to be delicious, and this is honestly one of the easiest desserts in the world to make. It's not even an actual recipe but I'm including it anyway. Basically you buy a box, mix it up and bake it like cake, and serve it with a huge dollop of cool whip on top. This works for Christmas, too, so I won't be terribly upset if I don't get to it until sometime next month.

4. Pear Cider

So I've never actually had this, but doesn't it sound delicious?? I came across the recipe on Pinterest and had to try very hard not to salivate all over my keyboard. You can find the recipe here.

3. Caramel-Filled Snickerdoodles

photo from The Baker Chick

First of all, Snickerdoodles are one of my all-time favorite cookies, right after my mom's Cocoa Mint Dollars. Second, THEY ARE FILLED WITH CARAMEL. How could that not be good? This is another thing I found on Pinterest and will actually make in real life. The Baker Chick suggests Martha Stewart's Snickerdoodle recipe but I bought a prepackaged mix at Target along with a bag of Kraft caramels.

2. Jim's Chili 

I've written about my college professor's chili recipe before, but I don't think I can say enough about how delicious it is. I tend to crave it around the end of October and first of November because he always made a batch for our art department Halloween party. Get the recipe from my original post here.

1. Sweet Potato Casserole

My family doesn't actually make sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving. Some people love candied yams with mini marshmallows, but we are not those people. But every year a lady at my parent's church brings this sweet potato casserole to our Thanksgiving meal and I make sure to get a good-sized serving. It's mashed sweet potatoes with a crunchy pecan topping and is so sweet it's practically a dessert. I don't have her recipe, but Googled it and found this, which sounds extremely close. Now that I've talked about it I might have to pick up all the ingredients and make a batch.
 

**Bonus: Yesterday I got to try some of Jeni's Sweet Potato with Torched Marshmallows ice cream and boy, is it delicious. The ice cream is smooth and subtle and spicy like a pumpkin pie ice cream, and is dotted with homemade marshmallows that are toasted first. Seriously, you need to try it. It's like dessert casserole, but tastes way better than "dessert casserole" sounds.