With kids running around and friends meeting our new puppy, our parties have evolved throughout the years into a more family-friendly and relaxed environment. Guests arrive early and leave by 10 pm. It’s not better or worse, just different. We still eat and laugh a lot, which I think is what matters most.

I admit I was not ready for this party! I did a bunch of mental pre-planning but with a training run that morning that I procrastinated for a few hours, we were running around cleaning and cooking until the last minute. Pro tip: clean and go grocery shopping in the days before a party! Nevertheless, guests trickled in later than expected, so it turned out all right.

For dinner, we made spinach artichoke dip, garlic bread, vegetable pasta casserole, and beef pasta casserole. Our friends brought creamed corn, beans, and pate chaud (Vietnamese pork puff pastry). For drinks, we had naughty (spiked) and nice Christmas punch (this recipe) and eggnog, a la Alton Brown’s eggnog recipe aged for three months! This eggnog was boozy and creamy. I think it’s good to sip on but typical of eggnog, it’s rich and thick.

But we were also here for holiday desserts. For the cookie contest, we had four competitors.

1. Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
2. Trash Cookies
3. Cranberry Cookie Bars
4. Lemon Sugar Cookies

The top two cookies ended up being the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie and the Trash Cookie with the Trash Cookie being the winner. When Cristina unwrapped her prize, she unknowingly found her award-winning cookie mix – Trader Joe’s It’s Sedimentary My Dear Cookie Mix! HA! That’s right, the winning cookie was a mix from Trader Joe’s! It was pretty good, so if you’re looking for a quick cookie mix, the jar is about $6. The cookie has sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter chips, candy-coated chocolate, oats, coffee grounds, and graham cracker crumbs.

Embarrassingly, I ran out of time to make cookies, but here are the two recipes I was considering: Lace Cookies and Butter Pecan Cookies. But I did make this Sweet Salty Santa Bark and it was so good!

One of my goals is to get more photos and more photos with people! We see each other fairly often but a photo lasts much longer.

I’m thankful for gatherings like these and hope you celebrate in your own way this season. It doesn’t have to be big, themed, or perfect. Happy Holidays!

Have a favorite cookie recipe? Share it below!

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The post Our Holiday Cookie Party appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Larb Moo and Sticky Rice with Mango at Dee Dee

Dee Dee has been on my list for a while because I heard their Northern Thai food was incredible. The reviews are correct! This trailer on the east side serves spicy, sizeable dishes and an unforgettable dessert.

Whiskey Chocolate Ice Cream at Prohibition Creamery

Boozy ice cream! Prohibition Creamery opened on the east side this year. I tried a scoop of their whiskey chocolate ice cream and it’s exactly what you’d expect. Vodka, rum, bourbon – they’ve got it in ice cream form. They also have mix-ins for your ice cream and milkshakes.

Eats in Houston

At the beginning of this month, I indulged in great eats in Houston. Check out this “best restaurants in Houston” post for the details.

Milk and Cookies Ice Cream at Lick

Did you know Lick has pints in-store? I picked up a pint of Milk and Cookies to enjoy. It’s brown sugar ice cream with oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough. The milk flavor was stronger than I expected and the cookie dough morsels were my favorite.

Sake Tasting at Texas Sake Company

My friend Amy of Sushi in the ATX and Our ATX hosted a sake tasting at Texas Sake Company. The company brews the sake right in Austin, and it was interesting to taste and learn about the different types. The Junmai Nama was my favorite one. I also loved the beautiful and tasty sushi cookies by Sharp Cookie. Head over for your own tasting and or sake cocktail happy hour.

Lunch at Geraldine’s

I finally tried out Geraldine’s during lunch. Our table started with the Ceviche and Beet Salad for appetizers and I had the Braised Short Rib Sandwich as my entree. Surprisingly, the beet salad was my favorite of the meal. The sandwich left more to be desired but the side salad had a good vinaigrette.

Salmon Poke Bowl Aloha-Style at Poke Poke

Poke is the new trendy dish in Austin. Raw fish tossed or marinated in seasoning and/or sauce is served by itself or with rice. I tried the salmon special marinated in shoyu sesame oil, green onions, and spices. I love sashimi and tartare but I think poke might be too much raw fish at once for me. It was tasty at first, but I would prefer to get it with more rice next time. Otherwise, it was a fun place to try poke.

Peppercorn Chicken with Rice at Coco’s Cafe

I hadn’t been to this restaurant since college but their popular peppercorn chicken is still as crispy and satisfying as before!

Juice and Snacks at The Honest Bar

When I tried the workouts at The Lab, I also got to try the juice and snacks at their in-house The Honest Bar. My favorites were the Greenie smoothie (Spinach, Kale, Banana, Pear, Spirulina, and Almond Milk), Fall Kale Salad, Wild Animal Juice (cucumbers, celery, lemon, apples, ginger root, and cayenne), and the Apple Cinnamon Energy Balls.

Wagyu Tartare and Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich at Delicious

For my friend Peter’s birthday, we met up at Delicious, a new-ish spot in South Austin. They are a grocery store, bar, and counter-service restaurant. The Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich was spicy and the chicken was good. I enjoyed the Wagyu Tartare more. The staff is very hospitable and made sure our every need was met.

Muffuletta and Soft Serve at Mr. Mc’s Grocery Market
This warm and gooey muffuletta sandwich was heavenly. This traditional New Orleans sandwich has olive salad, mortadella, salami, mozzarella, ham, and provolone. I also had to try Laura Sawicki’s soft serve. A vanilla and chocolate twist with carrot cake crumbles was delightful!

Happy Hour at BaseCamp

For our Austin Food Blogger Alliance happy hour this month, we tried the dishes at BaseCamp, a sports bar on 5th Street near Congress. We tried the beef slider, buffalo wings, dry rub wings, barbecue wings, shrimp tostada, and queso. My favorites were the shrimp tostada (with black bean and avocado) and the slider.

9-Course Dinner with Drink Pairings at Barley Swine

chocolate ice cream sandwich with honeycomb and pecan

Akaushi Ribeye with bone marrow hash and corn pudding

masa cornbread with pork and arugula

What delicious things have you been eating lately? Let me know your recommendations below.

Keep up with me elsewhere! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, or Snapchat (@wanderlustanita). You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

The post Flavors of the Month: September 2016 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Kindness
I’ve been thinking about this post from The Fresh Exchange a lot. As someone who was also raised with the church and Christianity being an incredibly big part of my life, I know the feeling behind this post, but the overarching lessons that can come from religion and the story about tremendous kindness that extends beyond differences.

The Great Food Bloggers Cookie Exchange
I was really excited to participate in the Great Food Bloggers Cookie Exchange this year. I received a dozen cookies each from three bloggers (see below) and I came up with a recipe that I sent to three different bloggers. Take a look at my recipe.

Deb Perelman Interview on The Great Discontent
I love the thoughtful interviews on The Great Discontent and they recently posted an interview with one of my favorite bloggers, Deb Perelman of The Smitten Kitchen. There are so many good bits in the interview, so I’ll let you take it all in.

I Ran my 4th Half-Marathon!
You would think that by the fourth time around I would actually train for the race. I haven’t gotten down the discipline of keeping up with a training schedule, especially in the wintertime, but I finished with a PR of 2:43, four minutes faster than my previous time. The weather was absolutely perfect for the race! I’m looking for my next race because I still want to maintain a 10-minute mile!

Birthday Celebrations
My birthday was at the end of November and the celebrations came in a flurry of two weeks, due to Thanksgiving and the half-marathon being prioritized over it. I celebrated with a cake with my family during Thanksgiving, going out to dinner with the boyfriend, birthday lunch with my co-workers and Cake Party! It was a chill and relaxing time and I wouldn’t have had it any other way!

Drake on a Cake
No further explanation needed.

Instagram Husband
Because behind all the beautiful photos you see on social media is an Instagram husband putting up with everything.

The post Captivations v.18 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

For the 5th Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, I combined my favorite cookie ingredients – caramel, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips – into one super cookie. You could call it indecisiveness or gluttony. All I say is ‘why not?’ You’re going to love this recipe because this chewy cookie gives you rich, buttery, and bittersweet flavors that perfectly blend sweet and salty.

You can easily adjust the caramel, chocolate chip and butterscotch chip ratios to your liking. I found that the ratios of caramel and butterscotch chips I used in the recipe ensured those rich and buttery flavors weren’t overpowering.

I was excited to participate in my first Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap with 475 other food bloggers around the world! This year was the 5th annual of the event. I received the names of three different bloggers to send a dozen cookies to and I received a dozen cookies from three different bloggers. All participation donations were given to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a non-profit organization fighting against pediatric cancer. It was so fun receiving and opening up my cookie packages and the cookies disappeared very quickly after opening. Also, thank you to OXO, Dixie Crystals and Land O’Lakes for being brand partners of the event, for matching the donations of the cookie swap, and for sending bonus goodies to help make my cookies!

I’m craving more of these cookies, so it looks like my family and friends are going to enjoy them this holiday season!

Salted Caramel Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Cookies
Makes 40 cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup salted caramel sauce (I used Ree Drummond’s recipe)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
Coarse sea salt (optional, to finish)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
3. Add egg and vanilla. Scrape down bowl as needed.
4. Lower speed of mixer and mix in caramel sauce until incorporated.
5. Mix in fine sea salt and baking soda until combined.
6. Mix in the flour.
7. Fold in chocolate and butterscotch chips gently.
8. Scoop cookies into 1 tablespoon and place two inches apart on your baking sheet.
9. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, until golden. It will be soft on the inside.
10. Remove from oven and let rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.
11. Sprinkle cookies with coarse sea salt.
12. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
13. Enjoy!

Want more cookie inspiration? Check out #fbcookieswap on Instagram. Happy baking this holiday!

The post Salted Caramel Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Cookies appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Calligraphy
I took a fun calligraphy class by Lauren of Blue Eye Brown Eye at the beginning of the month. I’ve wanted to learn how for more than a year, so I’m glad to get started. It will take lots and lots of practice but I think this will be a fun hobby to have.

Neil Patrick Harris
Mr. Neil Patrick Harris was in Austin last month for his book tour. He just released his autobiography. It is pretty funny, so if you’re a fan, I encourage you to pick it up. From what I know about NPH through his work, public appearances and what he shows through his social media, I think he is a talented, funny, passionate, kind, and family-oriented individual. A good hero to have! Other than that I love his character on one of my favorite shows, How I Met Your Mother.

Camille Styles Entertaining
Camille Styles, an Austin-based blogger, recently released her book Camille Styles Entertaining: Inspired Gatherings & Effortless Style. It contains recipes and entertaining ideas for every season. I’ve read through half of the book and love it so far. I love the idea of making every gathering, small or large, a celebration, and I’m looking forward to incorporating some of her ideas in my future celebrations.

Brunch
I love long weekend brunches! Food, conversation, sunshine, and no time constraints.

Thanksgiving Cookie Decorating
My little sister from Big Brothers Big Sisters and I celebrated her 17th birthday by going to a cookie decorating class at Make It Sweet. We had so much fun learning easy and cute decorating techniques. Those turkeys are my favorite!

What have you been captivated by lately?

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