Denny posted more pictures. I’m so lucky to be married to such a good food photographer. It inspires me to make pretty things so he can take pretty pictures of them

For example…

Denny took a whole lot of really beautiful photos of the Reese Tastyspoons yesterday. He’s only posted one so far (because I begged, even though it was pretty late after we got home from the Oscar party), but he’s promised to post more in upcoming days.

Here’s the first one. Also make note of his fancy new photo-zoom-in feature on his page. Click the picture to enjoy.

I won second place in the food contest. I feel slightly robbed, but the first place winner did have a very catchy title: “Ennis and Jack: Always Wanting S’More.” Still, I got a lot of positive feedback, so I’m glad people enjoyed them. Here’s more detail on how to make them, in case you want to give it a try.

Reese Tastyspoons: “Baby, baby, baby”-sized bites of deliciousness

1. Mascarpone cream base: In a stand mixer, mix to stiff-peak stage

• 1 tub mascarpone cheese (I think it’s probably around 6 or 8 ounces)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar

Divide the mascarpone cream into approximate thirds. Into one of them, add

• 1/4 cup Amaretto

and mix well.

Into another batch of cream, add

• 2 teaspoons orange extract

and mix well.

Into the third batch of cream, add

• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract

and mix well.

Chill all the cream mixtures.

2. Make the pine nut cayenne brittle: In a dry frying pan, toast

• 1/2 cup pine nuts

until golden, stirring frequently. Spray a small pie tin with nonstick cooking spray and spread pine nuts in it. In a small, heavy saucepan, blend

• 1/2 stick butter
• a generous 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, depending on your tolerance for spiciness

and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Immediately pour syrup over pinenuts. Refrigerate for at least an hour or until brittle.3. Make the ganache: in a heavy sauce pan, melt

• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

over low heat, stirring constantly, until thoroughly blended. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. If you need to transport your Tastyspoons as I did, I recommend lining your serving vessel with parchment paper and putting a tiny dab of ganache on the bottom of each spoon to anchor it in place. Do that with 24 of your spoons, leaving 12 unanchored for the moment.
4. Prepare puff pastry bits: Thaw a sheet of puff pastry and cut out 14 tiny rectangles, about 1/2″ x 3/4″. Heat oven to 400F and bake for about 5-6 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cool.

5. Take your 12 unanchored spoons and dollop about 1/2 teaspoon ganache into each. Then put a dab of ganache on the bottom and anchor them to your serving vessel. Allow to cool slightly.

6. Place one puff pastry bit off-center on the 12 ganached spoons. Why did you make 14? Because usually a couple of them end up weird-looking after they bake. Fill a pastry squirter with the orange mascarpone cream. Put a dollop of orange cream on each spoon, next to the puff pastry. Garnish with a mint leaf if desired.

7. Fill the pastry squirter with the Amaretto cream. Fill 12 of the remaining spoons with a dollop of Amaretto cream. Put one of

• 12 fresh raspberries

on each of the spoons, and sprinkle with

• approximately 2 tablespoons of shaved almonds

8. Fill a pastry squirter with the vanilla cream. Squirt a dollop of vanilla cream onto each of the remaining 12 spoons. Break the pine nut brittle into pieces approximately 1/2″ x 1″ and place a piece onto each dollop of vanilla cream.

9. Chill before serving.