Friday, December 25, 2015

I Have a Little List - Christmas Eve Bread Pudding

Thursday - Tonight I am making shrimp scampi for dinner to celebrate Christmas Eve.  These last weeks I've been doing a fair amount of cooking and baking, breaking up the projects across days. It may not bother you, but it is surely bothering me that I cannot get them all typed into the blog to publish with the not-so-daily posts.

Potato Latkes
Perline Pasta with a Dry Sauce
Key Lime Sugar Cookie Cups
Christmas Fruitcake Cookies
Rice Pudding
Italian Meatloaf with Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Oatmeal Cookies with Pumpkin Spice Chips

Geez, I feel like I'm back at the office with a stack of staffing forms to catch up. Not a great feeling. I blame it on fibromyalgia and the BBC.

The scampi recipe will have to wait in the queue along with the others, but here is a wonderful bread pudding recipe I developed by improving on another one of my recipes from severl years back. In my opinion, the bread pudding just keeps getting better.

Christmas Eve Bread Pudding

2 loaves Pepperidge Farm French Toast Swirl Bread
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1-15 oz. container whole milk ricotta cheese
2 sticks butter, melted, divided
1-14 oz. can coconut milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-15 oz. can Very Cherry Fruit Cocktail, drained
1-15.25 oz. can peach chunks, drained
1-6 oz. bottle maraschino cherries, drained
1 cup cherry-infused dried cranberries
1-18 oz. jar Smucker's Cherry Preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the bread into smaller pieces; eighths work well. Divide bread into two aluminum pans, then place in oven for up to 10 minutes, just to dry out. Set aside.


Pour about 1/4 cup of the melted butter into a large deep casserole dish - I found a 10 x 10 x 3 1/2 inch aluminum pan for this, or the standard 9 x 13 x 2 works as well - and spread it to cover all surfaces of the pan.


In a deep mixing bowl, add the sugar to the eggs and beat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the ricotta and beat again to combine. Now add the remaining melted butter, coconut milk, extracts and nutmeg and beat until combined. Pour this over the bread cubes, stir gently so all the cubes are covered iin liquid, and set aside until the bread is well soaked.

In the buttered casserole dish, layer the soaked bread with the drained canned fruit, drained whole maraschino cherries, and the dried fruit. Repeat until all ingredients are used up, ending with a layer of bread, then pour any remaining liquid over the top.


Bake for 40 minutes, then remove from the oven and carefully spoon the cherry preserves over the top. Return to the oven for another 20-30 minutes, until the center is set, and the internal temperature is at least 140 degrees (the edges will register higher.) Remove from the oven and let cool a bit. This is best eaten warm or room temperature ...


... with whipped cream or ice cream or both, because anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Spoonie Does Roll That Way - Maple Pecan Sugar Cookie Cups

Thursday - As you may have guessed, it is becoming more difficult for me to type and publish a daily blog post (insert frownie face here). My wrists are hurting fairly often, my head is fuzzy, and I am frankly exhausted. So although this is Tuesday's post about Monday, I have stepped into the space-time continuum to jump ahead to Thursday because in a few hours it will be Christmas Eve, one of my favorites, and I want to wish all my Christian friends the very best, and may all the blessings of the holiday be yours. I especially want to send love and happiness to our dear friends Kathy and Al, and to say a heartfelt "thank you" for sharing your Christmas Eves with us for so many years - from the year you got married to the last Christmas before we moved to Florida. In your honor, I am preparing shrimp scampi for dinner (insert smiley face here).

These present times can be unrelentlessly grim, but as long as I have such rich and happy memories to cherish, life ain't so bad.

Tuesday - The Magic beat the Knicks at Madison Square Garden last night.  Sorry, Phil (Jackson), but I needed that win after a crazy afternoon in a strange Walmart (oxymoronic, I know), and after dealing with the kind of traffic that drives lesser mortals (non-New Yorkers) insane. People were stopping in the oddest places, blocking aisles and herding children. None of the other customers spoke English. Nor Spanish. Nor German, French, Italian, Portugeuse, or Korean. I felt like Someone had picked me up and dropped me in a very foreign country. The people were not rude, but they seemed cheerfully confused by the bounty laid out on the shelves.  I cover the aisles in Walmart in a well-established pattern, and these happy, snappy Slavic types were messing with my mind. When I finally finished shopping and paying, it was dark outside. Now I got really freaked out, because I was having a Bad Vision Day.

But you know what? Yesterday was a good day, because I got out of the house, saw the therapist, did my shopping, and got home in one piece, even if it did take me an hour and a half to get from the corner of John Young Parkway and Sand Lake Road to my house, normally a 20 minute ride. Oh, and before all that, I'd baked up the Maple Pecan Sugar Cookie Cups, taken them out of the tins to cool on racks, and generally speaking, spent my spoons wisely. My pain was contained, like ISIL (at least according to President Obama).

But that was yesterday and this is today, and I've got a different bunch of spoons to spend. I've been up and about since 7:30, which is unusual for me, at least these days. I sauteed some greens I picked up at Trader Joe's, and then I tackled today's Big Project: Potato Latkes. Yes, I know Hanukkah is over, but so what? It's December. Christmas is this Friday. My birthday is this Saturday. Who needs an excuse to eat potato latkes? And who doesn't need another miracle?

Making latkes is a cooking project I generally enjoy, as long as I'm not being rushed. Once I get into the rhythm of frying, it is very soothing, and frying up a tall tower of golden-brown, oniony, crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside perfect potato pancakes, it becomes entirely clear why I was born Jewish, in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, my back and legs are protesting the long hours on my feet, so I'm 3 Advil down and ready for more. I'm also chucking the idea of using the remaining hot oil to fry some corn fritters; I'd be squandering good spoons on a dish we don't really need right now.


I'd like to give you today's recipe - I really would - but I've been making potato latkes at least twice a year for over 40 years, and I've never really made it the same way twice. So much depends on the precise size and water content of each potato, what kind of onion is used, and whether or not it's Passover. You have to look at the bowl of mixed ingredients and use your judgment. Let's face it, my judgment is different from everyone else's. I was taught to cook by someone who did not own a set of measuring cups or measuring spoons, who cooked with kosher salt before it became popular, who thought Log Cabin was better than real maple syrup (it is) , and rarely fried anything, and then only in Mazola corn oil. Again, this was long before everybody got nuts about hydrogenated fats and high cholesterol. My mother was an excellent home cook of strong opinions. There is a reason I only use Hellmann's mayonnaise and Heinz ketchup, and that reason just happened to have had a personality disorder (my therapist insists Mom had narcissistic personality disorder, but I stand firmly behind my diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.) I wonder if you carry your personality disorders with you into the Afterlife?  I sincerely hope not.      
                     

No Tai Chi class tonight, as my instructor is out of town. I have to admit, I threw around today's spoons with gay abandon, but I saved a few just for class, and I am sorry to miss it.  The next few weeks are going to be crazy when it comes to missing two important linchpins of my tenuous sanity, namely my therapist and my Tai Chi class, but I am determined to hang on, Sloopy, Sloopy hang on. You don't have to thank me for the earworm. Besides, I have a 5-day cruise on the Carnival Sunshine coming up. That should make me right as rain, or left as Bernie Sanders.


Maple Pecan Sugar Cookie Cups

2-16 oz. flat packages Pillsbury sugar cookies
48 pecan halves

Filling:
3 extra large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup Log Cabin syrup
1/2 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 48 miniature muffin tins with Pam for baking. Place one piece of cookie dough in each muffin cup, and leave at room temperature just until soft enough to press the dough into and up the sides of the cup. The best way to do this is to use the handle end of a large wooden spoon or wooden mallet. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove and allow the cups to cool. They puff up in the oven, but they will sink down and act like a proper pie crust once they cool. Place one pecan half in each little cup, using the slightest pressure.Set aside while you prepare the filling.


In a medium bowl, using low speed throughout, beat the eggs just to mix. Add the sugar, Log Cain, flour, and salt. Beat together until combined, then stir in the melted butter. Divide the mixture among the 48 cups, filling close to but not all the way to the top, 2-3 teaspoons each cup. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, reversing the pan front to back halfway through. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully loosen each cookie using the tip of a small, sharp knife, and remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. These should be held in the refrigerator, and they can be frozen for other occasions. The shell will absorb some of the filling, so the texture and appearance will be different from a traditional pecan tassie, but who cares when something is this delicious? Not me, pilgrim, not me.


If you simply cannot bring yourself to use Log Cabin, do not try it with real maple syrup - instead, use an equal amout of light corn syrup, which is what the oringal recipe (my recipe for Southern Pecan Pie) uses.  Log Cabin is nothing more than maple-flavored corn syrup, so I felt comfortable in substituting with Log Cabin.

Towards the end of the day I crashed, hard. Standing on my feet for hours, something I used to do every day in court, has set my nerve endings on fire. Perhaps I should not have done all that kitchen hand washing after frying the latkes. Aw, hell.


Monday, December 21, 2015

How Fry I Am - Hungarian Pork Paprika and Better Than Take Out Crab Rangoon

Sunday, and we are staying home. No running around doing errands, no Publix (that was yesterday), no BJs (that doesn't sound right), no CVS, no nothing that would require I slip into a sweater and clutch Horatio Cane to get around. No bitching about fibromyalgia, either. You may take judicial notice of the fact that I have some sort of pain, and move along.  I am tired of hearing myself complain. I am going to adopt a Positive Mental Attitude, at least long enough to get some cooking done.


First I have the recipe for Hungarian Pork Paprika, which I prepared days ago but failed to add to the blog, because - well, you know. The pain I'm not supposed to mention today. Anyway, it is an easy dish to prepare even on a weeknight; add some cooked egg noodles tossed with butter, peas, and poppy seeds. and you can feed four. Well, throw in a salad and some bread. A veritable weeknight feast.  

Hungarian Pork Paprika

Wondra flour for coating the pork
olive oil for cooking
1 pound pork stew meat
1 green bell pepper. roughly chopped
2 cans stewed tomatoes (Del Monte, 14.5 oz. each)
kosher salt
ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon Hungarian sweet paprika
1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/2 cup dairy sour cream, brought to room temperature

Place the pork cubes in an aluminum pan, in one layer, and sprinkle on all sides with the Wondra flour. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet. Brown the pork in the hot oil until golden brown on all sides. Add the green pepper, the salt, pepper, and both paprikas and stir fry for just a few minutes. Add the stewed tomatoes, then cook with a cover slightly askew, for at least 20 minutes or until the pork is very tender.

Anakin uses his Jedi powers to guard the dinner from the dogs

Remove the skillet from the heat. mix 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture with the sour cream. Gradually return the sauce and sour cream mixture to the skillet, blending well. Do not boil the sauce.  Serve with sour cream, guacamole, the Usual Suspects.


Better Than Take-Out Crab Rangoon

1-8 oz. package imitation crab, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1 green onion, white and green parts, chopped fine
1-8 oz. bar cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper
a few drops of sriracha sauce
1-12 oz package wonton wrappers (I highly recommend Frieda's brand)
1 egg, beaten
canola oil for frying

Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the imitation crab and cook for 2-3 minutes. Set aside to cool. This step helps bring out the crab flavor and makes the dish taste so rich.
   

In a medium bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, green onion, garlic pepper and sriracha sauce. Stir well to combine. Fold in the cooled imitation crab, then cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.


Working 8 at a time, brush the edges of each wonton with the beaten egg. Always keep the remaining wonton skins covered and refrigerated; only take them out when you need them.


Place a small scoop of filling slightly above the midline of each wonton.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Fold each wonton bottom to top corners, using your fingers to press all sides together. The egg will help them to stick together - none of my rangoon opened up during frying.


Now go back and flatten each rangoon slightly, pressing out excess air.


Over medium high heat, heat about a half inch of canola oil in a heavy skillet to 350 degrees. Fry the rangoon four at a time, checking after a minute and turning as necessary to evenly brown the wonton. Add more oil as needed, and do not be afraid to lower the heat if the wonton brown too quickly.


Place the fried rangoon on paper towels to drain excess oil. 


This made exactly 52 rangoons, so there were no wasted wontons or filling.


Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce. My husband asked for my Louisiana remoulade, so I made up some for him. Chinese-Creole fusion!


Leftovers should be frozen in a single layer, then sealed into a ziptop freezer bag. Reheat straight from the freezer in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. 

Sunday, December 20, 2015

A Day Late

As far back as I can remember, I've always been an introvert. Working outside my home provided me with plenty of friendship and human interaction. Now, though - this is ridiculous. Fibromyalgia, I mean. I don't work, I don't see people during the day, unless it's time for my weekly visit to the therapist, or a tai chi class. So what happens when I can't make it to tai chi class? Oh, and did I mention I've been looking forward to the office Christmas party for weeks, only to have to email Terry and Brenda at the last minute that I wasn't going to be able to make it?


I'm not sure that paragraph made a lot of sense, and the grammar police are going to have a heyday, but here's the bottom line - I had a flare this week that was so freaking bad, my life literally stopped. I made some cookies yesterday, and what should have taken me one hour, including the baking, took 3 1/2 hours and left me exhausted.


These are Maida Heatter's Christmas Fruitcake Bars, and if there is one cookie I absolutely have to bake for the holidays, this is the one. So they are done, and in the freezer, and I am a dreadful, hurtful, angry mess.  There is a lot more that I wanted to accomplish, but there were at least two days when I could not get out of bed, and other days when walking downstairs left me so drained, all I could do was lie down on the couch and go back to sleep. My garden is sadly neglected, and we won't discuss laundry.


Despite that, there have been bright moments. My Magic have been winning so consistently, it reminds me of the halcyon days of Shaq and Penny Hardaway, or Dwight Howard and Hedo Turoglou (before the Dark Times; before the Dwightmare). We got caught up watching "Marvel: Agents of Shield" (this is a big deal). I decided what I was cooking for Christmas Day. I reorganized my freezers and cleaned my refrigerator. I haven't had too much insomnia to deal with, but I do have narcolepsy. Ha. No happy medium. I watched the fifth Republican debate and laughed and cussed and gave myself a headache. I even got some baking and cooking done, albeit with some scandalous shortcuts.  I made it to my Monday psychiatrist appointment by way of the wrong office; to my Tuesday night tai class, and so excited that 2 young women have joined our class; and Wednesday, as always, to my therapist, who claims his grandma made the best potato latkes. The truth is that I make the best potato latkes, but I didn't want to burst his bubble. God willing, I will be preparing potato latkes to go along with the duck and perfect eye round. If I have another bad flare, it's leftovers. Merry frelling Christmas.

Well Hello, Dolly

Everyone knows these cookie bars and almost everyone who bakes has made them at one time or another, probably under another name. Magic Cookie Bars or Seven Layer Bars or Hello Dollies, it's all the same, except, if you look a the basic recipe, you can see the possibilities.


I doubled the recipe to bake in a half sheet pan, but the only ingredients I can give you exact amounts is the butter and the sweetened condensed milk.  I combined graham cracker crumbs and pecan meal for the crust, and I'm going to guess the total amount between 3 and 4 cups.  It covered the bottom, about 1/4 inch thick.


So that's 2 sticks of melted butter, about 4 cups of crumbs, 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk, and whatever toppings struck my fancy. Raisins, 4 kinds of chips (semi-sweet, milk chocolate, butterscotch, and white), 2 kinds of coconut (sweetened and unsweetened), and an extra can of sweetened condensed milk.


These are really good, but nowhere as sweet as the original. Which is a good thing, as my taste for sweets has changed over the years. But, these cookies - and I cut them very very small - are rich from the extra condensed milk. All I needed was a cup of hot, black coffee.


Mexican Chicken

This is one of my favorite easy-cheating recipes. It is from Paula Deen's first or second cookbook and it is good as is, Mexican Chicken recipe, but after so many years I had to mess with it. I field-stripped a whole rotisserie chicken, used a lot of cheese in between each layer as well as on top, threw cumin, smoked paprika, and garlic pepper into the sauce plus a 4 oz. can of green chilies and 3 green onions thinly sliced. I also poured a 10 oz. can of red enchilada sauce over the top layer of tortillas, and then finished with more cheese. Think Mexican chicken lasagna. Yum.

Anakin guarding the Mexican chicken "so the dogs don't get it."

Friday, December 18, 2015

Statuary Progress - Bratwurst and Potato Salad

Today has been A Bad One, damn it.


Bad, as in "I can't fucking get out of bed even though there's a whole pizza from Al's in the kitchen". I slept like I hadn't slept in a month - which I hadn't - and when I finally gave in to the imprecations of a cranky bladder, I was one hot mess.             

Fortunately yesterday was A Better Day, and I managed to snap a few photos of Kissimmee Statuary, which will stay on display for some preset time.  I have to say that with one notable exception, this group of sculptures did not come close to the quality of the last few displays:











Going back to yesterday's blog post, I read today that the Grinch Principal from Brooklyn, the one who outlawed Santa Claus, Thanksgiving, and the Pledge of Allegiance, has been set straight by someone with a higher pay grade in the New York City Department of Education. Apparently the Assistant Grinch, acting under instructions, had sent out a memo that exhorted the staff to be "sensitive of the diversity of our families" and once the policy went into effect, including referring to Thanksgiving as a "harvest holiday" a whole lot of folks got upset, including a number of those "diverse" families.  My answer to the issue of diversity is to embrace it, not by exclusion but by inclusion.

But first - regarding the Pledge of Allegience - what the hell is the problem? Who is objecting to this? If the objectors are folks who do not believe in God, well big surprise, we had those folks around when I was in elementary school (and God knows that's a hell of a long time ago) and they simply stayed silent when the words "under God" were spoken. 

If the problem has to do with the student's feelings towards this country, then simply stand silent. Or move to another country. Let your conscience be your guide. But, do not force the majority to give up the opportunity to participate in this simple but powerful daily classroom ritual. Yes, I am the mother who 23 years ago damn near decapitated my son's blobbish kindergarten teacher when she could not explain to me why, after 3 weeks of school, there was no American flag in that classroom. Call me crazy, everyone else does. I am also the mom who almost got killed at a Tae Kwan Do tournament in Miami by some thuggish POS because he and his family refused to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance and the playing of the National Anthems of the U.S. and the Republic of South Korea, and I said something. Since the ATA is all about teaching and demonstrating respect, I can only assume his overprivileged spawn rarely attended classes and lolly gagged on the floor while everyone else spoke the bowing in and out oaths while facing the U.S. and South Korean flags.

~

Well ... it's been three days since I wrote that- maybe two, I can't remember anymore.  I couldn't really leave the house except to see my therapist. I had to miss a Tai Chi class. I could not cook, bake, or write. My body hurt all over, as if I had the flu. I don't get the flu, never have. My brain took a long leisurely trip to the Ninth Planet (Pluto, damn it!) and left the rest of me behind. I apologize for late posts and missed days. Here's a quickie recipe to remind us all this is nominally a cooking blog. Do not be put off by the canned German potato salad - it works well, tastes good, and fills up hungry people. I usually double it, as my boys love it.

1 pound cooked bratwurst, cut in slices
no-stick cooking spray
1 smallish onion halved and sliced
1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and sliced lengthwise
1 - 1 pound can German potato salad
Real bacon sprinkles (Hormel) - optional
Dried parsley flakes





Spray a nonstick skillet with Pam or one of her generic siblings and place over medium heat.
Add the bratwurst and stir fry until lightly browned on the cut sides. Add the onion and bell
pepper and cook another 3 to 5 minutes, until they are crisp-tender (I like them more tender
than crisp, but use your judgment). Stir in the potato salad, parsley and bacon sprinkles,
then cover and cook on medium low until the sauce bubbles lightly and everything is heated
through evenly.  Sprinkle with more parsley.                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The Month of Hanukkwanzamas - Yin and Yang Cookies


Seriously dudes, is there any better way to achieve Whirled Peas than for everyone to celebrate each other's holidays? I don't mean for Jews to start attending Midnight Mass or for Christians to start lighting menorahs while chanting the blessings in Hebrew, but rather to share the human emotions of joy and happiness associated with each occasion. That's the way I've done it since starting college back in 1970. It means partying together and learning about each other's traditions and being happy for each other.. It means telling the rabid atheists to fuck off, and rather submerge yourself in potato latkes and bright, shiny tinsel. It means being happy instead of being hateful. It means respecting each other's traditions while staying close to your own religious roots and requirements. It means sharing the best of you. It means finding balance. It means universal inclusion instead of exclusion. It means resisting Balkanization and embracing this single world in all its variations.

I grew up at a time when America was considered a great melting pot of religions, ethnicities, and races. It was before pride and particularism resulted in societal guilt and the culture of chronic apology. It was a better time. Not perfect, but better.

The moral of the story is for us Chosen People to share our latkes and for our Christian brethren to invite their Jewish friends help put tinsel on your tree - 2 strands at a time. (Yes, there's a story here. Another time, perhaps.)

I forgot the cucumbers and missed a hibiscus flower. Also, the loquat tree has started to open its blossoms and I am seeing happy honey bees hard at work. The bees are crucial to the whole process and I'm so glad they are back. A few more photos from the December in Florida file:

Sneaky creeping cucumber vines

More bougainvillea

Crotons, just naturally in the holiday spirit


Trying to look innocent cucumber vines

Rhubarb

Black Beauty Eggplant 

Okra Blossoms at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock

I feel pretty crappy today, but I have a spectacular cookie recipe, that I developed a couple of days ago, to share. This cookie is easy - STUPIDLY easy - but it looks so fancy and tastes so fine, nobody will believe that. Now they may look like New York black-and-white cookies but they are something more. Like the concept of yin and yang, these cookies are all about contrasts and opposites and how they come together to form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.                              

You will need 2 - 1 pound packages of Nestle's refrigerated cookie dough, the kind that comes in a flat package with precut cookies. I used a chocolate chocolate chip and the white chocolate macadamia nut. This meant I cut the chocolate cookies, which came 12 extra large cookies to a pack, in half so that I had 24 pieces of cookie dough for each flavor.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Press one piece of each cookie dough into a cookie scoop so that you can clearly see each half.

Use a small spoon to scoop out any cookie dough that sticks to the inside of the scoop, 
and use those bits of dough to fill up the scoops
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Place the cookie on a baking sheet lined with a silpat.  Place a total of 12 cookies on the baking sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until the cookies are barely set.  Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, then move them to a wire cooling rack. You could stop right here and serve them to friends and family, but in honor of the holidays, let's get excessive together.


Now you will need 2 cans of prepared frosting, about 1 pound each can. Any national brand (Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, Pillsbury) is fine. I picked vanilla and chocolate fudge.

Once your cookies are completely cooled, turn them over so that the flat bottom is right side up and place the racks on top of waxed paper or parchment or even foil.


Uncover the vanilla frosting and remove the foil inner cover. In the microwave, melt the frosting on time cook level 7 for 20 to 30 seconds.  Stir the frosting to distribute heat and until all the solid bits are melted. With a regular kitchen teaspoon, cover the vanilla half of each cookie with some of the vanilla frosting.  Let it set  bit, then go back with remaining frosting and cover each vanilla side a second time.  Set the cookies aside for a least 30 minutes.


Once the vanilla frosting is completely set, repeat using the chocolate frosting.  Refrigerate or freeze the cookies, single layer only.  Even so, the chocolate never hardens 100%, so handle carefully, preferably from the vanilla side.  Serve them in extra large paper muffin cups.


Very little work, but you are going to impress a whole lot of people. Unless you horde them for yourself, in which case you are going to have to have your blood sugar checked. I limit myself to one a day, like the Meloxicam. Works like a charm.