My hair is straight today.

My hair is straight today only because a woman spent about two hours pulling, tugging, blowing, and spraying my hair into this state.

It’s still curly on the bottom.  It’s also still frizzy on the top.  It would appear as though the outside of my head is as stubborn as my inside brain.  Stubborn!

I should just let my hair be how it lives.  Curly with a charming hint of frizz.  But… sometimes you want a change.  Sometimes you want to toss your bangs like the girls with the long straight hair.  Whatever.   Sometimes you want to bake your brie up into little bite-sized squares so you can eat too many of them without feeling like you’re eating an entire round of brie.  Again… whatever.

Also… it’s raining today.  I don’t even want to talk about the frizz this will induce.  I’m probably going to stay inside where the baked cheese is.  Just so you know.  Leave me be.

These bite-sized treats come together with puff pastry.

It’s buttery.  It’s flaky and light.  It’s buttery.

It’s totally buttery.

I cut the sheet of puff pastry into 12 rectangles… then each rectangle in half.  That means 24 little rectangles that will make 12 little puffs.

That was math.  I’m totally sorry.

I brush half of the squares with egg wash, a little nibble of cheese (do not be afraid of the brie rind!), a touch of jam, and more puff pastry.

It’s happening!

Yes.  I put these little brie bites on sticks.  I stuck a small popsicle stick half way up the puff pastry and then pressed it all together.

You don’t need popsicle sticks.  You totally don’t.  The sticks just make things more… sticky.

Sweet little cheese pockets.

A lot of brie was eaten in the making of these pockets.

Egg washed and a sprinkling of salt.

Major magic.

Baked and puffed and sometimes they bleed jam and cheese.  No biggie.

These bites are best served warm… but I sure did eat several of them at room temperature.  Delicious still.

It’s warm cheese baked in buttery crust with sweet jam.  If you need convincing… I just… I dunno.

Since when are you the type of person to make your own crackers?

Since… today.

You’ll feel fancy.  You’ll feel accomplished.  You’ll want to show off.

… and all you did was whip up some crackers.  Kind of amazing.

What’s going on in these here crackers?

Crunch from cornmeal.  Salty goodness from the Parmesan cheese.  Spice from cayenne pepper.  Nuttiness from whole wheat flour.

Geeez!  That’s a lot packed into one little round.

I like using the food processor.

Oh!  Did I mention the buttermilk in these crackers?

Heck… they’re nice.

Cracker dough.  That took seven minutes from measuring to mixing.

Is this how to people at Ritz make their crackers?

Probably not.  Make your own crackers.  Show Ritz a thing or two.

The kitchen.  It’s where I do a majority of my… standing.

Standing and staring.

Standing and staring and spreading cream cheese onto Wheat Thins.

Standing and staring and eating cream cheese and Wheat Thins until I come up with a recipe and post idea.

If you were a fly on my kitchen wall… well, I wouldn’t like that very much… but you would probably think that a) I have very few brain cells firing with all of the standing and staring I do and b) I have an unhealthy relationship with cream cheese.

You might be right about the brain cells…  I won’t argue that the standing and staring is a strange process.  But the cream cheese?  Yea… I’ll admit I have a bit of a problem with cream cheese and crackers.  I’m trying to break the habit with chick peas and olive oil and mint and parsley.  I think it’s working.  I really think it’s working.

Delicious.  Delicious.  Crazy delicious.   This spread is hummus meets pesto meets lemon meets delicious.

Ooh… and it’s totally healthy too. Dang!

This spread  is creamy without the cream, a little tart, a little herby and all sorts of satisfying.  On warm spelt tortillas… it’s my new favorite thing.  For serious.

Here’s a fun thing to do!  Take a few minutes to close your eyes and imagine yourself as an old person.  I’m not talking about late sixties.  That’s not old yet.  I’m talking about great great grandmother old.. pushing the mid-nineties.

Sounds crazy?  Why would you spend time picturing white hair in bobby pins, shuffling feet and rocking chairs?  I feel like getting old is a luxury.  Not everyone gets to do it, so why not sit and enjoy the thought a bit?

I imagine that I’m the kind of old lady that talks to her over fed cats, and yells across the house to her practically deaf husband.  I hope I’m the kind of old lady who has a piano in the house just so my grandchildren can come over and practice their scales while I shuffle around the kitchen baking them cookies.

I want to be the kind of old lady that always thinks a glass of champagne is a good idea.

I want to be the kind of old lady who always has something out on the living room table for that unexpected guest.  Maybe it’s those soft chalky mints.  Maybe a freshly baked pie.  Maybe it’s these Sweet and Spicy Baked Almonds.  These nuts, my friends, have me daydreaming of old lady times somehow… with a smile on my face.

So, you might be thinking… really Joy?  Nuts?  That’s all you’ve got for me today?  My answer to that… yes.  Nuts.  Live a little.

These nuts are simply almonds sprinkled in magic, aka fennel seeds.  They’re sweet.  They’re spicy.  They’re salty and crunchy.  They make a super yumtastic snack to have around the house, a snazzy hostess gift, or they’re great to bring to a cocktail party.  All around winners, that’s what these almonds are.