Thanksgiving is Coming, and Maybe You Want Carrot, Not Pumpkin, Soup

Yesterday I posted a quick easy pumpkin soup recipe that would be perfect to kickstart your Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe you liked the idea, but not that particular soup. WELL, here I am to solve your dilemma. I give you.... Coconut Carrot Ginger Soup! A little more work, but still not that hard.

Check it out! http://yellowfishblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/coconut-carrot-curry-soup.html

Thanksgiving is Coming, and you need this Pumpkin Soup to Kick Things Off!

Cooking for Thanksgiving is stressful, and one of the big stressors is that oven space becomes a hot commodity, what with stuffing and sweet potatoes and turkeys all taking up space, that oven fills up fast. This soup goes together in a flash, just uses the stove, and could be a really good starter for your Thanksgiving feast!

Give it a shot! http://yellowfishblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/ten-minute-pumpkin-soup.html

Halloweeny Salad: Black Rice and Purple Carrots

 This weekend while out and about, I ran across some awesome produce, which included some purple(ish) carrots. I'd never had them before, so obviously had to pick some up! As you can see, unlike some, these were mainly purple on the outside, but I think that makes them completely perfect for Halloween week.

 I was trying to think of something good to do with them- I was considering roasting them but got down a google-rabbit-hole and found this great recipe. I'd never used black rice OR  purple carrots, so bonus all around. Plus, I felt like I was getting sick (confirmed today, now that I have spent the day intermittently sleeping, watching the Lifetime Movie Network, and drinking tea with honey and lemon) and this salad is about as packed with super foods and antioxidants as you can get!

The recipe was from over at Scandi Home, and I made it almost just as recommended- this is my version. Actually, once you have all the ingredients, it was easy to put together.

The Stuff:
--1c non glutinous black rice (I used Natures Earthly Choice, which I found at my regular grocery store)
--zest of 1 lime
--juice of one lime (add half, then taste and add more if needed)
--1 tbsp vinegar- I used apple cider
--pinch salt
--1 tsp tamari
--1 tsp sesame oil
--3 tbsp sesame seeds
--5 purple carrots, grated
--seeds of 1/2 pomegranate
--3 tbsp chopped cilantro

What to do with it:
This is so easy. The hardest part is getting out the pomegranate seeds, so if you find those pre-seeded by all means go for it. Cook the rice, it took mine about 30 minutes and the water turns this amazing purple color. Drain it and let it cool slightly. Mix the lime juice and zest, oil, salt, and tamari together. Combine all the ingredients, pour the dressing over, and you're done! The original recipe called for pumpkin oil, which I didn't have and replaced with sesame, and I needed the extra lime to balance that flavor out- it probably depends a bit on your lime, so I'd taste it first.

This is also definitely fancy enough that you could serve it to guests and gets lots of ooohs and ahs. It could be a great appetizer, or larger servings could be a meal on their own. I only made a half batch, and I've already plotted to use up the rest of the carrots making more of it! I had mine with some Green Soup, made with kale I picked up along with the carrots (I've made this before and thought I posted it but it seems not, so that one is coming!). If all those vitamins don't knock down this sore throat I don't know what will!

Homemade Baked Potato Chips. Oh, yes.

I've posted before about my penchant for learning to make things you can easily buy for very little money, that are invariably time consuming and messy once you get going on them. This, my friends, is one of those things. I give you: baked potato chips and greek yogurt onion dip.

To do this, you will need a mandolin. I'm sorry, but there is no way around it- this is what separates the men from the boys, or the ladies from the girls, or the soggy thick potato slices from these actual chip-like things.

WITHOUT CHOPPING YOUR FINGER OFF, slice the potatoes into very thin pieces. (does anyone watch Master Chef? a few weeks ago someone seriously sliced themselves on a mandolin, which scared me to death). Ideally, and unlike most of mine, the slices will be the entire cross section of the potato, but mine got kind of crooked and I ended up with halves. Then, put the slices in a bowl of ice water and let them sit. A surprising amount of starch will accumulate in the bottom of the bowl.

Now, DRY OFF THE POTATO SLICES, and put them on a cookie tray that you have sprayed with cooking spray or an oil mister. Salt. Bake at 400, watching extremely carefully because they go from perfect to burnt in a heart beat.

Take them off and cool on paper towels. The dip was very challenging. I took a cup of greek yogurt and a packet of onion dip mix from the store, mixed them, and voila!

The really amazing thing here is how crispy these were, they really were like actual chips- crunchy, salty, and satisfying. I think the success is due to a few key things: 1. the mandolin, 2. the ice batch, 3. drying them off.

Now, of course comes the big question... was it worth it? Well, it was fun, and it was kind of a novelty, and the warm out of the oven chips were killer. And, I guess, these beat BakedLays by a long shot. But, it was a lot of work, so maybe it's a special occasion kind of thing.

(by the way, no, this is not a hot weather dinner, I found this is my draft of posts that I was too lazy to finish. No one in their right mind should run a 400 degree oven until at least September).

Fresh Avocado Summer Rolls

It is finally starting to feel at least a little like spring around here, and my pale, mildly cranky (with the weather) vitamin D deficient self is beyond excited about it. Part of what I'm excited about is getting a little more fresh produce- I am pretty sure I was not properly appreciative of California's constant abundance of fresh delicious fruit while I was there.

Anyhow, lately all I want to eat are things involving cold veggies- salads, sandwiches, and now... summer rolls! I got this idea in my head and had to make it happen immediately. The first challenge was finding the proper wrappers. At the first store, all they had were frozen spring roll wrappers. I bought them, however, after immediately panicking and googling it with my phone on the sidewalk, I determined that they were the wrong thing and are really meant for fried/baked spring rolls. What you actually want are rice paper wrappers. They are dry and should be on the shelf in the Asian section. These are the ones I got, but there are apparently many brands:

You can put almost anything you want in there. Your favorite veggies, chicken, shrimp, tofu- whatever! Anything you can put into long thin slices. I chose cucumber, red pepper, carrots, and instead of one of the protein choices, used avocado. You'll also want some type of herb- mint/cilantro/basil- I used cilantro. The important thing is to chop it all up ahead of time because you're going to need to move quickly.

Now- the rice paper will be very dry and stiff when you take it out of the package. I filled an 8x8 pyrex pan with warm water. Submerge a sheet until it is soft (not tooooooooooo soft, or it'll break. it'll also keep getting softer so if it feels a tad bid stiffer than you'd like when you first take it out, that's ok). I had a variety of badly shaped rolls, but when making the most successful ones, I  just immediately folded the rice paper in half, put the filling in the middle, then rolled it around the veggies as tightly as possible. I'm not going to lie, it was kind of hard to get it tight. I'm imagining it is similar to attempting to role nice looking sushi. They were all edible, but the half sized ones were definitely the most sturdy.

You could dip this in any variety of sauces, but I decided to make a simple peanut sauce (because I can't resist a peanut sauce). I used 3 tbsp peanut butter, 3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, and a squirt of sriracha (if you use regular natural peanut butter add a dab of honey. if you use peanut butter with sugar in it, then don't). This made a lot of sauce- definitely enough for two people.

(I wanted to cut a roll in half to take a lovely picture, but was afraid my rookie-rolls would fall apart, and it was my dinner, so I had a big interest in being able to eat it). 

The combination of the peanut sauce and the crunchy veggies and the creamy avocado- SO GOOD! I can definitely imagine these being a staple in the summer when it's hot out and the idea of turning on the stove or oven is overwhelming. They were really fresh and good- try it!

Something Light- Fresh Zucchini Carpaccio

In my new home city it has been HOT. (yes. all caps are warranted. I think it would also be safe to use them for HUMID).

Given the whole hot summer in the city thing we have going on here, I have been on the lookout for cool fresh recipes. (I tried to make a veggie pizza and after trying to check on it and pull it out, was basically too melted to even want to eat it).

So, I saw a recipe on Pinterest for "Raw Zucchini Carpaccio".  Then, I googled it, and it turns out there  are tons of recipes out there from the likes of Tyler Florence, Food & Wine,  Epicurious, Smitten Kitchen, etc etc. So, this is mine!

The stuff:

- 2 fresh raw zucchini (you want big, but not TOO big because you don't want too many seeds)

- 3 cloves garlic

- juice of 1 lemon

- 2-3 tsp olive oil

- salt and pepper

- grated parmesan cheese (don't use the powdery kind. also, if you want this to be vegan, this is optional, you just might want a tiny tad more salt)

- walnuts, chopped and toasted

What to do with it:

Now, the most critical thing here is to cut the zucchini as thin as you possibly can. To do this, I used a mandolin (mine is from Oxo because I have issues with my hands and I love all their good grips stuff).

(this is not my mandolin. this is a glamour shot of someone else's mandolin)

Now, the mandolin and I have a complex relationship that involves a lot of me staring at it with a perplexed look on my face and then swearing at it like a sailor. Usually I can get it working, but it takes a lot of tries in which I do my best and nothing comes out the other side. ANYWAYS. I think this is the way to go- what you really don't want here are slabs of zucchini. If you're patient enough to slice it very thinly by hand, then by all means do that. 

I also sliced the garlic using the mandolin (putting my poor little fingers at risk). Now, normally I'm a huge fan of the chopped garlic in the jar, but I think for something with so few ingredients it is very important to use fresh stuff.

Now, just slice the zucchini, toss with the garlic, cheese, and cooled toasted walnuts, and then dress with the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Then, let it sit for about an hour in the fridge to marinate. Then, eat!

This would be really great for a salad course or appetizer, or as a side dish for something grilled. I actually just increased the amount of walnuts and ate it by itself as my dinner. It was light and refreshing and delicious!

A Sweet Side Dish- Banana Curry

Sometimes I run across a recipe for something and I just know that I have to make it immediately... banana curry was one of those things. It just sounds so WEIRD, you know? 

Well, it was a little bit weird, but it was also a really unique side dish, and I think the sweetness makes it an especially great side for something spicy. 

(You may note I'm not giving you the recipe for the chicken, and that's 

because basically it was ok but nothing particularly special).

This recipe came from Manjula's Kitchen, my go-to source for Indian food. 

What you need:

3 bananas, sliced into pretty thick slices (you don't want them to just turn into mush)

1 tbsp vegetable oil (coconut oil might have also been good)

1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds

1/8 tsp asafetida (hing) (if you don't have this, you could add a little bit of garlic)

1 minced jalapeño (if it's a big one, just use half)

1/8 tsp tumeric

1-2 tsp chopped ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp brown sugar (or mango powder if you have it)

a little water (~2 tbsp)

chopped cilantro, 2-4 tbsp

What to do with it:

(Note: this all comes together really quickly so have everything ready)

Heat up the oil, and when it's hot put in the seeds until they start popping, at that point add the asafetida, turmeric, and jalapeño. Stir it around, then put in the banana, ginger, sugar and water and stir really gently. Don't cook too long, just enough to quickly cook the bananas through, then remove from heat, sprinkle with salt, and gently stir in cilantro. And... that's it!

Even if you're not a meat eater, I think this would be pretty sweet and light for a main course (I mean, there is pretty much no protein), but it's great as a side dish and it's so quick together it's definitely worth a try!

Thanksgiving: The Soup Course

Historically, I have been a little delinquent about getting things out in time for the actual holidays (you know, before the holidays actually occur and it's way too late for anything to be of any use). But, this year things are going to change... I'm going to post a series of recipes, old and new, that might be appropriate for inclusion in your Thanksgiving feast! These first two suggestions are two oldies but goodies.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is pretty delicious, not particularly difficult, and very seasonal.
http://yellowfishblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/comfort-food-squash-soup.html


10 Minute Pumpkin Soup

This is the fastest easiest soup ever. It's also light, so if you have a small cup of it, your stuffing eating potential will not be hampered in any way.
http://yellowfishblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/ten-minute-pumpkin-soup.html


As a side note, both of these soups are vegan, so if you have some vegetarian/vegan folks and are worried about having things that they'll be able to eat, these are definitely something that everyone can enjoy.

Brace yourself.... homemade soft pretzels ahead...

After years of searching I may finally, FINALLY, have found something that rivals the excitement of making homemade pita bread (did you try that yet? no? then go do it! seriously! now! I'll wait.)


What could this amazing item be? Well, the title gave it away already but just pander to my whims.... drumroll please.... HOME MADE SOFT PRETZELS! (I wish I had taken time for a prettier picture but I could hardly stand to wait another minute before devouring one).

 I learned about this process over at Pink Parsley and got some extra tips from Annie's Eats. It wasn't simple, but it also wasn't as hard as it might seem- it was definitely fun, and I think kids would love shaping the pretzels (I know I did!).


First, you need to make the dough. 
--1.5 cups very warm water 
--1 Tbs sugar
--2 tsp salt
--2¼ tsp instant yeast (= 1 little packet)
--4½ cups all purpose flour
--4 Tbs unsalted butter, melted (could likely substitute olive oil, but butter would taste better)
--Olive oil


At this point, you should also put aside some things you'll need later:
--2/3c baking soda
--more melted butter (olive oil if you really prefer)
-salt/cinnamon sugar/garlic/herbs - whatever you want to top them with.


Put the water in a large bowl, and add the yeast and sugar. Leave a few minutes just to make sure that it starts to foam (so you know the yeast is active). Stir until dissolved. Then add the salt, melted butter, and flour. Mix until well combined, and stir/knead for about 5 more minutes until the dough holds together as a unit and stays away from the side of the bowl (add more flour if it's too wet). Put the dough in a clean bowl lightly coated in oil, flip a few times so it is coated, and then cover with a towel and let rise. (I usually turn on my oven for a couple minutes so it's a little warm, turn it off, and set the bowl in there). It'll have to rise 50-60 minutes, or until doubled.

Flip the dough out on to a clean surface. Then, divide it up into equal pieces- I cut mine into 12.

Take each piece and roll it into a snake- mine were about 12-14 inches long. Twist into a traditional shape, as below, or you can make pretty much anything else you can think of. I made about half of them like this, and then the rest I chopped up in to 1.5 inch pieces to make pretzel bites (which ended up like pretzel balls after baking).

Now, here comes the exciting part. After you have formed them all, you have to boil them, which is how they get their pretzel-like exterior instead of just being like bread.

Bring about 10c of water (or, just a big pan) and 2/3 cup baking soda to a boil. 

One by one, gently place each pretzel into the water for about 30 seconds. (the soundtrack to the above picture is something like "faster! faster! take the picture take the picture! it's falling!". When I made the pretzel nuggets, I cooked them all at the same time.

Halfway through the boiling, flip the pretzel over- the outside will visibly change texture.

Gently take it out, and place on a cookie sheet lined with oil brushed parchment paper. I lightly brushed mine with butter (or the butter-like) product of your choice) and I think it was well worth it. These aren't something you're going to be making every day, might as well make them maximally delicious when you do! Put some coarse salt on top.

I also made (in the pretzel-bites) garlic and cinnamon sugar flavored versions. The garlic I made by brushing them with butter heavily laced with chopped garlic. The cinnamon sugar had some issues, I think if I did them again, I'd roll them in cinnamon sugar immediately upon coming out of the oven.

Cook them for about 12-15 minutes, until really nice and golden in an oven preheated to 450 degrees.

When they come out, be prepared to enjoy the deliciousness immediately, because seriously, they will never be more delicious than at that moment! If you want to reheat them later, I highly recommend putting them in a very hot oven for a few minutes, although some people say you can also microwave them as well. 

This was definitely a process, but it was fun, and man, they were amazing!

Buffalo Chicken, Oh My!

I actually made this recipe quite a while ago and somehow the picture was lost to the sands of time. Actually, what happened is that my camera battery died, no photos were getting dates on them, and according to my computer I made these on January 1, 1980, when I'm fairly sure I was actually doing something more like watching Sesame Street and getting potty trained, rather than making buffalo chicken potato medallions for dinner with my boyfriend. As proof, I present a picture of myself on July 5, 1980. I am rocking the stylin' striped turtleneck.

But, now back to business. These things are freaking delicious. I found them over at Cara's Cravings, which is a very reliable source of deliciousness. They could easily be an appetizer, but we had them for dinner with some salad.

The first step is to make her buffalo chicken. Now, this was part of the big draw, because I'm always pumped to find some way to use my crock pot, which I still haven't really fully integrated into my cooking life (and definitely haven't fully integrated into my block, because I'm only batting about 50-50 with that thing).

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken:
4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks- mine were still partly frozen
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced, or, 3 tsp chopped garlic
1 red bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup Franks buffalo wing sauce (you can use some other sauce, but Franks is pretty classic.
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

Toss it all in there, and cook on low until the chicken is cooked. Mine only took about 4 hours- although that may be a function of the size of my crockpot. Once it's done, shred the chicken with a fork. This stuff was DELICIOUS. Also, I like the fact that it has tons of flavor, but no added fat. After making the recipe I'll show you here, I also used this in a creamy buffalo chicken pasta, a buffalo chicken pizza, and the rest is in the freezer, waiting to be enjoyed once I recover from my buffalo chicken overdose.

Buffalo Sweet Potato Medallions:
1 large sweet potato
crockpot buffalo chicken
crumbled Gorgonzola
olive oil/cooking spray
salt/pepper

Now, these are super easy. Take a big sweet potato (we were having them for dinner, so I picked the fattest sweet potato I can find. the girth of the potato will directly control the portion size, so for appetizers, pick a skinnier potato). Slice it into about 1/4 inch slices. Toss them in olive oil, or coat with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast on a tinfoil covered cookie sheet at 425 for 25-30 min, until a little browned, flipping halfway through.

Top each cooked slice with buffalo chicken mixture, and then with Gorgonzola sprinkles. Put the sheet under the broiler to let the cheese melt (about 5 min, depending on your broiler).

Serve either as an appetizer or with a light salad to make it into a main meal. These taste way more decadent than they actually are, give them a try!

Sweet and Spicy Pepper Jelly

Ok.... this is VERY VERY exciting, for two reasons.

1. I love this pepper jelly, and
2. it's made from our very own peppers.

Basically, the balcony gardens of myself and Feeesh, my co-gardener across the city, were producing more peppers than any two people could possibly consume. So, we read on the internet that you could save them for later by just sticking them in the freezer in a ziplock, and we subsequently began hoarding them for this very purpose.

 The recipe we used for this momentous occasion is one that my grandmother used to make, and that my Mom still makes around Christmas. You can see that this is a well-used recipe card.

The first thing you'll notice was obviously added later: RUBBER GLOVES. Seriously, you'll regret it if you get hands covered in jalapeno, partly because everything you touch (like, your itchy nose) will also get covered in jalapeno. Just wear the gloves. We also actually all were a little overwhelmed by the pepper fumes in the air, so you might want to make sure you have a window open.

The next important thing is that you are preserving this jelly, and the steps to making sure the jars are sealed are all critically important to makes sure you don't make someone sick when they try to have a spicy jelly snack in six months. You need to get glass jars, with new metal rings and flat lids. You can re-use the jars later, but not the lids. Now, our technique is as follows- we have moved on from the wax referenced on the card. Take the screw on rings and the lids, and heat them in boiling water. After it boils, then let it simmer, keeping them in there and under water until it is time to use them. For the jars, wash them very well in hot water. While they are still wet, stick them in a 250 degree oven. Leave them in the oven until you're ready to use them.

Now, lets make jelly!

First, seed your peppers, and then chop them in a food processor. You want to end up with the following proportions (the type is flexible, as long as you pick peppers with the same general level of spiciness).

--3/4c finely chopped: Anaheim chilis and Green pepper chilis- NOT bell peppers including at least 20 serrano (this count is variable based on pepper size)

--1/2c chopped yellow chilis (we used our banana peppers) and jalapenos, plus about 3 dried red peppers

Some of our peppers had turned red on the vine, which actually gave us a nice mix of color.

Put these peppers in a clean pot on the stove with 6c sugar (yep, 6c) and 1.5c apple cider vinegar. Bring to a solid boil. Once it is boiling and all the sugar is most definitely smoothly dissolved, turn off and add a 6oz pack of pectin (if you are interested, pectin, unlike gelatin, is vegan), 2T finely grated lemon rind- I used my microplaner (you do not want to skimp on this, even though its quite a bit of lemon rind, it adds a delicious freshness), 10 drops Tabasco, and 4 drops green food coloring. Mix very very well.

Now, pull out your jars, which is best accomplished using a jar lifter (they've thought of everything, really). We made 2 batches, and each filled about 7 jars. Ladel the mixture into all the jars making sure to evenly distribute the pepper bits.

The critical next step is to wipe off the rims of the jars with a warm damp paper towel. The rim MUST BE CLEAN... any residual stickiness will interfere with the sealing. Then screw on the lids, and turn the jars upside down, and the heat will help make the rubber seal on the lid adhere to the glass.

After they are cool, you can turn them over (see how cute they are??). Now, you're going to want to test the seal- once the jelly has settled to the bottom of the jar leaving a little air space, you can tap the top of them- the ones that are sealed will make a nice clinking noise, whereas the ones that aren't sealed kind of make a dull plonk. If you have a doubtfully sealed one, no matter, just eat that one first, it'll keep as long as normal jam that has been opened does in the fridge.

Now, I only really have one serving suggestion for this, because it is the only way I've ever had it. But, let me tell you, once you taste it, you're not going to look any further either.

 

Serve spread on crackers- under the jelly, you need a layer of some kind of soft cheese. Cream cheese works, so do the very convenient Laughing Cow cheese triangles. If you want to serve it in a party scenario, you can get a square of cream cheese and kind of pour the jelly over the top so that it can be scooped onto crackers together. It is spicy, and sweet, and extremely delicious!!!

Lemon Cucumber

So, there is nothing I like better than taking some weird ingredient and trying to figure out what to do with it.

I have posted about my own container gardening exploits but have yet to mention that I have a co-gardener across the city with a much bigger, and sunnier, balcony. Among the other things (like delicious strawberries) that are going on over there, is a complete experiment that we bought on a whim at Home Depot. Enter, the lemon cucumber. I don't know about you, but I'd never even heard about this thing... check it out:

(yes, the lemon cucumber is on a desk in front of a laptop. that is not my laptop, because I am 100% Mac  all the way. the cuc took a detour on the way to my house and went to my co-gardener's workplace so he could show it off).

If you look inside, its basically like a cucumber, but with more seeds and shaped like a lemon. The skin has little rough nubs on it but they rub off easily when you wash it. The skin itself is thin enough to eat, although apparently the earlier you pick, the better.

To test this thing out, we perused the internet for something simple, so we could actually figure out what it tastes like (turns out, just tastes like a cucumber). We landed on slices of cucumber with toasted sesame seeds and salt pressed on them (just toast the seeds, stir in salt, put in a dish and lay the slices on it so the seeds stick), paired with a nice chardonnay (since we always snack elegantly).

The verdict? the cucumber is fine. I don't think this is our favorite way to eat it, but there is potential, maybe if some additional flavor was incorporated. Fortunately, this plant is PROLIFIC, so we have a lot more chances! Stay tuned...

Gorgonzola and Rosemary Stuffed Dates

Every once in a while, its a Sunday night, and you just want to sit on the couch with a glass of wine, watching some ridiculous movie, and having a decadent treat. This was one of those Sunday nights.

There is a bar around these parts with a delicious happy hour treat, which is bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed dates (my cholesterol rises just writing those words). I actually own dates, because I've been trying to incorporate them into my green smoothies. I decided to try a version, but I've also been growing rosemary (in addition to Bob the tomato plant and Sheila the pepper plant).
 

Basically, now I want fresh rosemary in EVERYTHING (my egg white feta rosemary scramble on Saturday missed being photographed, mainly because egg whites don't look that awesome in photos, so it won't appear here, but man was it delicious). Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients:
-6 dates (pitted)
-gorgonzola crumbles
-a sprig of rosemary
-enough olive oil just to brush the cookie sheet

I decided that bacon wrapped anything was a little too much even for the decadent treat, so went for gorgonzola stuffed dates, each with a few blades of rosemary in it. Basically, I cut the date, put some gorgonzola crumbles in it (you don't need much), slid in the rosemary, and baked it in the oven at 400. The dates got a little dark on the side touching the cookie sheet, but it ended up tasting really good and caramelized, so it was fine.

I served it with some slices of fresh pear (because its a little intense and sweet) and it was delish! Simple and easy and would be totally impressive if you wanted to make them for guests!