Eins! Zwei! Drei! Vier!

Lift your stein and drink your beer! Whoa! Whoa! Back up...

I have a friend who recently graduated from college...he plans on opening a beer garden someday. Not a bar...not a pub...a beer garden. A beer garden sounds friendly. A beer garden sounds like a great place to hang out. A beer garden sounds like a whole lot o' fun except for the fact that I'm not a big fan of beer...I just don't like the taste.

However...I do like to support my friends in their endeavors so I told him that to commemorate the grand opening of his garden I would make an amazing cake just for him. One of the ingredients would of course be beer. This is not something new that I developed...beer cake recipes have been around as long as beer...and cake...and beer drinking cake bakers.

The more I thought about this cake though...the more I thought I needed to take it down a notch. A beer garden is not a high falutin' place so there was no need to make a showstopping piece of artwork. Instead...this cake needed to be friendly. Not quite a cupcake...not exactly a cake pop...but somewhere in between...maybe a cake ball... better yet...a BEER BALL! That sounds fun.

I used a Guiness Extra Stout and for a rather strong beer it was not overpowering. It came in as a subtle second flavor...well...pretty much everything comes in second to chocolate...which is the base flavor of the cake. All in all I think the gardeners will be happy...

The Beer Balls are the bigger treat...I'd say they are about the size of a raquetball.
The smaller balls are merely for me sampling amongst friends.

Doobie...or Not Doobie...

I have a little friend who ran away to Oregon to become a hippie organic farmer and jump out of airplanes. Before she left she was all worked up about hemp. I have known of hemp's amazing qualities as far as rope and clothing are concerned, but had never looked into the food aspect. Well...as it turns out...hemp is packed full of essential fatty acids, protein, fiber and antioxidants and its amino acid profile is close to 'complete'. Now I know what you might be thinking..."Hemp? Isn't that a respectable word for marijuana...pot...WEED?!" Not really. The hemp I'm talking about is a different strain. It contains a very minute amount of THC...so little that one would need to ingest a rainforest of the stuff to get a buzz.

As I researched hemp I came across chia seeds...
because the kind of people that eat hemp seed...
that would be ridiculously healthy people...quite often partake in the chia. It turns out chia seeds are really good for you too.

Yup...the very same chia you put on a pet.

Before she skipped town I told my little hippie friend that I would develop a cookie recipe for her that included hemp. I have decided to add chia....mostly because it makes me smile.

It wasn't long before word got out that I was making hemp cookies. Early one morning one of my co-workers sidled up to me...eyes darting furtively to make sure the coast was clear...and then whispered, "Hey...you know those cookies you're making?"
I could only guess..."The Doobie or Not Doobies?"
"Yeah...I...I want some."
"Sure! You know they're not...right?"
"They're NOT?!"
"No. They're healthy...really good for you...legal even. You can't get high...even if you ate them all."
"Eh...forget it then."

So it is with great pride that we introduce the Doobie or Not Doobie Cookie. They're not.

Made with hulled hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds and a whole host of yummy, good-for-you ingredients! Gluten free...soy free...egg free...dairy free...a true vegan delight. Your choice of nuts, nutless and/or add chocolate chips. Available by special order through our Facebook page...The Sweet Treatery. By the way..."like" our Facebook page and be a follower of this blog to be entered into our monthly giveaway of sweet treats!

The Cookie

So far, Mary and I have kept our day jobs and those day jobs happen to be at the same place. One day I was in the office of The Big Cheese and he mentioned an upcoming company anniversary party. Seizing the opportunity I asked him if he needed cookies or treats for the party because "Mary and I make really really good cookies. We can make anything you want...even cookies in the shape of the company logo". Yup. I didn't just think it...I said it out loud. I'm not exactly sure how the conversation got to where it did after that, but by the end of it we were talking about cookies for the party...selling cookies in our lobby area...cookies hanging from the rafters...cookies everywhere.

I could hardly wait to find Mary.

"Mary! Help me out here. I told him we could make cookies in the shape of a bird of paradise."
Now Mary is pretty smart...smart enough to have married a man that can do anything. She knew Big T could make that cookie cutter for us...and he did...BAM!...first try and the thing was perfect. We were practically dancing with excitement. All we had to do now was make some samples, show off our custom cookies and waltz away with a huge order. Easy.

The cookies came out great...the icing was beautiful...we patted ourselves on the back and left to find something to eat that didn't contain sugar. When we went back to marvel at our cookies we noticed something strange was happening to one of the colors in the icing. I don't even know how to describe it but it wasn't good. After that we couldn't do anything right. Under cooked cookies...over baked cookies...cookies that spread too much...cookies that stuck together...running colors...broken cookies...eating the perfect cookie instead of one with character...it's funny...now.
But from the midst of all that chaos emerged The Cookie.

Mary took The Cookie home for safe keeping and sent me a text later that night...
"Remind me to bring The Cookie in the morning." The next morning I sent...
"An armored truck with police escort will be at your house around 7:00 for transport of The Cookie."
"I kinda feel like I should carry it with white gloves."

Somehow Mary managed to get The Cookie into the office of The Big Cheese without any mishaps. It took us a full five minutes to get the exact placement on his desk and then we looked at each other...
"Did you get a photo?"  "No. Did you?"

Food styling and photography is quite an art but we just didn't have the time (or skill). We looked around, grabbed a rolled up poster from the corner, flipped it over to use as a backdrop and snapped a few shots with my phone camera. We lovingly rearranged The Cookie back on his desk and hightailed it out of there. We were both diligently at work when he arrived and by the time we saw him he had The Cookie crumbs on the front of his shirt...

He liked it...loved it...it was fabulous! However...he needed to contact The Mothership to make sure everything was above board with the entire arrangement. We still haven't heard back. I think he forgot...or maybe he is trying to figure out a way to snag another free snack. Either way...we'll keep you posted.