A Mid-Life Culinary Adventure

TWD: Cranberry Upside-Downer

2010-09-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile. Once again I forgot my password to sign into the blog. Once again I've been busy. I tried to join in a few recipes last month. I even bought ingredients. But the summer just got away from me.

I was excited about this pick, by Sabrina of Superfluous, but I could not find any cranberries. Cherries seemed like an excellent idea. Everything was coming together beautifully, though I did worry about not having 8 inch pans. I went with 9 inch, and tossed a little extra into the bottom of the pan.

Everything smelled great, and flipping the cake went well (nothing stuck to the bottom). Sadly the cake doesn't look very pretty.

I'll let it cool a bit more to see how it tastes. No biggie - it's all a learning experience. And with any luck it will be tasty and I can keep it all to myself.

Sorry so short this week. Will do better going forward!

TWD: Chewy Chunky Blondies

2010-07-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

I know the rest of the country has been dealing with extreme heat, but here in "sunny" San Diego we've barely seen the sun all month. This has been just fine with me, as I live in a little house with little windows making it very difficult to cool down at night. While others complain I like the silver lining of being able to bake in the summer. And to enjoy hot tea in the morning, but that is another story.

Sometimes there is no better therapy than baking. Baking is good for the soul. And my soul has needed a little TLC this week. Everything is fine with me. No complaints, actually. But friends past and present have suffered great losses recently, and I feel for them. Scratch that - I ache for them. I ache and I am frustrated at not being able to help relieve their pain.

So you can see why I am so happy to be able to fire up the oven.

These little gems, chosen by Nicole from Cookies on Friday were a big hit at the office today. I occasionally lead meetings with my co-workers, and it is always nice to win them over first with a tasty treat. Too bad for those who don't like coconut (with all due respect, what is wrong with you people?). Apparently these looked and/or smelled so good that a non-coconut person broke down and gave them a try. Sadly, he tasted the coconut in them, and a perfectly good Blondie square was wasted. Sigh.

These were super easy to make, and although mine seemed to bake forever they ended up being perfectly done. If I need a quick and easy dessert to take somewhere, this will be high on the list.

TWD: Tarte Noire

2010-07-06T23:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all - this will be quick. I have a weird habit of participating, enjoying what I make, and then totally forgetting to post. UGH!

This should be an interesting summer as I have once again made two boo boos. At least I got the right recipe this time (whew!) but messed up both parts to it. I used regular sugar for the crust rather than confectioner's sugar. The other mistake was not getting the butter to the correct room temp before putting it into the ganache. The result - not quite mixed ganache, which isn't very pretty. The most upsetting bit about this is my attention to detail is quite good, if I do say so myself. Or at least it is at work. Somehow I'm making some stupid mistakes in the baking department.

I went super bittersweet on the chocolate, for reasons that escape me, so this is a bit too much. I definitely needed the whipped cream to offset the taste of the chocolate. Were I to make this again I would use a milder chocolate, or perhaps one with a flavor (a little chocolate and coconut sounds pretty darn good).

My thanks (and apologies) to dharma girl at bliss: towards a delicious life for this week's pick. It would be a show stopper dessert in someone else's hands. I'll give this a try again another day, correcting my errors (I hope!).

TWD: Dressy Chocolate Loafcake

2010-06-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

This cake was a challenge for me. It looked easy. I've been busy lately so easy was perfect for a birthday cake I needed to make for someone at work. And this could have been easy too, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I had a pan a little longer than suggested. This made getting the baked cake out of the pan and flipping it a little difficult. I should have waited longer than the 5 minutes Dorie suggested for it to cool (I almost lost the whole thing at least twice). I was in a hurry. This would be my downfall the following morning as well.

I didn't quite have the correct plate size. You can see that I've already lost a corner of the cake. I found the raspberry filling a little runny.

Then came the cutting. This is where I made my biggest mistake. Being in a hurry led to the leaning tower of chocolate cake. Also known as "the cake too ugly to serve." At this point, both out of frustration and a lack of time, I wrapped the thing up and went to work. No birthday cake for you, co-worker!

Hating to let a perfectly good cake go to waste, I decided to try again, only this time on a surface that was appropriate for the cake.

After some shaving (and eating the extra bits - yum!) I had a cake that was almost presentable. I cut off the ends to make them even and smaller, and shaved the top to even it out. I hoped with the icing no one would notice how uneven and unattractive the layers were.

I had some delicious left overs. Overall I liked this cake, but as I'm not a big fan of chocolate and raspberry (I know - what's wrong with me) I probably wouldn't make it as is again. A different filling, with more time to cool before taking out of the pan, and better knife skills - I could be persuaded!

So thank you, Amy at Amy Ruth Bakes for this week's pick. Want the recipe - visit Amy for the details!

TWD: Color me Embarrassed!

2010-06-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

I almost didn't post this, but since I'm pretty sure I don't know any of you in real life, and you're all so kind, I decided to admit my mistake.

You see, once the month's recipes are announced I go through the book and mark each one and decide which, if any, I will do. This process works great 99% of the time. This month I marked the wrong recipe, so while all of you were making "Tender Shortcakes" (page 423) I was making "Devilish Shortcakes" (on page 425).

Perhaps it is time to get new glasses......?

You'd think I'd have noticed. I even left a comment on the P & Q and darn if it doesn't say "Tender Shortcakes." And I spent the week looking at the picture for the Tender Shortcakes thinking they looked tasty.

How did I discover my mistake? Looking at other blogs while my shortcakes were baking. "My, those don't look very dark," I thought at the first blog to pop up on my Reader. The next one looked a little pale as well. Then, as they say, the penny dropped. In disbelief I ran to the book for confirmation of what I already knew. Ugh!

This is so not the blog I was planning on writing! My deepest apologies to Cathy of The Tortefeasor (a blog I absolutely LOVE) for messing this up.

That all said, here are some pictures from my adventure. At least I'll be prepared when someone chooses this recipe!

This recipe does the 1/3 cup drop. I made the whole recipe (I couldn't figure out how to halve an egg). Some are in the freezer waiting for more strawberries. Some are wrapped up in the fridge. Some are in my tummy.

I can't even tell you how much I love strawberries. LOVE them!

Yes, they do look a little like turds. They smell a LOT better though.

I cheated and used canned whipped cream. At that point what did I have to lose!

These are delish. I highly recommend them, especially if you have left over strawberries (not a problem I ever have, but just in case you do).

TWD: Banana-Coconut Ice Cream Pie

2010-05-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

The timing of this recipe was perfect. I needed a little something to bring to a viewing get-together for the series finale of "Lost" and the tropical ingredients seemed perfect. I come from a long line of ice cream eaters, so it seemed even more perfect.

Of course, just like in "Lost" there was a complication (no Smoke Monster, luckily). I love bananas in bread, on sandwiches with peanut butter, in my cereal. But I simply do not like frozen bananas. Not one bit. It may go back to a "traumatic dessert" experience when I was a kid. My Mom would often take me to the Zoo (it's handy to have a "world famous" Zoo in one's backyard. Even more handy for my Mom since kids under 16 had free admission back then). I was fairly young and saw the advertisements for chocolate covered frozen bananas. They looked delicious! After an afternoon of whining, my Mom finally caved in. I took one bite, and BLECH! I don't know what my small child self thought it would taste like, but I was having none of it. My Mom couldn't have been less pleased! Even then stuff at the Zoo cost a lot of money, so she couldn't have been happy about this tyke turning up her whiny nose at the frozen banana. I distinctly remember her getting very quiet, and not wanting to eat the rest of mine.

Haven't had a chocolate covered frozen banana since.

Because of my aversion I opted to not have any bananas on the bottom of the pie and only mixed one banana into the ice cream. Even so I thought the banana flavor was too much. If I were to make it again, I'd just pick a really yummy flavor, or make one, and have it and the crust.

Because that crust was oh-so-good! Definitely the star of the dessert. A little difficult to get out of my brand-new Giada Pie Pan from Target, but once properly defrosted, absolutely the best thing about this pie!

I thought it needed a little something on top, so I added a bit of whipped cream. That did the trick!

If I needed a pretty easy dessert to take somewhere, I would definitely make this again, with the changes listed above. Or I might just make the crust and eat it on its own (only kind of kidding about that idea). Either way, thanks to Spike at spike.bakes for choosing this recipe (it all made sense once I learned Spike is from Massachusetts. One of my most favorite things about New England - an ice cream stand on every corner, and they all seem to have a line of people - day or night, no matter the weather).

PS - Any "Lost" fans out there? What did you think of the finale?? I LOVED it. Cried like a baby at the end, mind you, and have felt like I've had a "Lost" hangover ever since, but loved it!

TWD: Apple-Apple Bread Pudding

2010-05-18T23:30:00.001-07:00

It's hard to get back to the things you love sometimes. So much can get in the way. There's work, of course, but also family obligations, new puppies, friends, becoming a Mac, laundry, the epic end to "Lost." But eventually, with careful planning, and re-arranging of puppy space in the kitchen, you get back to baking. And that is a good thing.

Of course the getting back can be poorly planned. As I type this the bread pudding is in the oven, with another hour to go. But I have high hopes for it's taste based on fellow TWDer's reviews, and the fact that all of Dorie's apple recipes have been stellar.

I made an 8 x 8 pan rather than the 9 x 13, and tried to reduce the recipe by 1/4 (I guess that means I made 3/4 of the recipe??). My math is never very good, so it will be interesting to see how this all turns out. I had hoped to get some apple butter from Trader Joe's, but was left with a monstrously large container from Vons. Good thing I like it when I tried it on the end of some left over challah. I will be adding it to my toast in the future (and for a long time after!).

A few apple slices hit the floor on their way to the pan, so it was a great opportunity to see if Bailey (the new pooch) liked apples. Apparently he didn't know himself until after he played with the slices a few times. He came back for more, which seemed like a good sign.

This is a little rambling since I have no actual dessert yet. But a big shout out and thanks for the pick to Elizabeth at Cake or Death. I have another year before I get to pick a recipe (assuming I post a wee bit more than I do now) so I can understand the angst that goes into making the choice. But based on the reviews and the fabulous smell coming from my oven, this one is a real winner.

TWD: Coconut Tea Cakes

2010-03-31T07:30:00.000-07:00

Picture this - it's just after 11:30pm. I've taken the new pup for the last walk of the night as the last of my Coconut Tea Cake cupcakes are baking in the oven. After getting him settled I pull the cupcakes out of the oven, having already put the first batch in a container to take to work. I settle into bed, warm and snugly, happy in the knowledge that I have finally reclaimed my kitchen after 2 weeks of exile. This "being a new mom thing" is really hard, even if it is only being a canine mom.

Then, just as I am about to drift off to sleep, happy in knowing I have baked and baked well, I look at the clock and realize I forgot one last step - I didn't post! Since it was after midnight, I figured a few hours either way wasn't going to matter.

So that is how I am here posting on Wednesday morning about this delicious recipe picked by Carmen of Carmen Cooks.

Since I don't have a bundt pan I went the cupcake route. I used sweetened coconut as I am a huge lover of coconut. The cupcakes took about 20 minutes and turned out moist and and so good (I've already had two!). They have just enough coconut flavor without being over powering and I love the texture the shredded coconut gives. These will definitely find their way into a rotation.

Since I made cupcakes I was tempted to find a way to top them, but I think they will show up to work "naked." They are tasty all on their own. And for my co-workers who may reject them because they need a topping, then I say "more for me!"

Why there is no TWD from me this week

2010-03-16T22:33:00.001-07:00

And it's a good one......I'm a mom again! Complete with lots of walks (us), a little separation anxiety (us again), a few "accidents" (that would be him) and a whole lot of sleep deprivation (me! He's snoring right now! UGH).

That said, I think I struck gold with this little rescue poodle/terrier/who-knows-what mix. I've been 2 years without a furry companion after Jake the Wonderdog went to doggie heaven. It was finally time to bring in a new recruit. And this little one year old, named Bailey, is a well mannered, smart, fun little guy. We're getting to know each other, and so far I think we like what we see in the other.

I'll be back to baking next week. See you then!

TWD: Thumbprints for us Big Guys

2010-03-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I can say I'm not a guy - no comment on the size part. And instead of a thumb this recipe calls for a pinky. I went the wooden spoon route, but I am getting a little ahead of myself.

I made half of the recipe, and used almond meal rather than ground hazelnuts. Since Trader Joe's carries the almond meal it just sounded easier and cheaper. Also I am not a huge fan of raspberry, so I used what I had on hand - apricot preserves and lemon curd (oh how I love lemon curd!). Otherwise I followed the rest of the recipe. I won't tell you how old the almond extract I used was. Let's just say I haven't used much of it until now, but it has been packed up and moved with the rest of the kitchen things more than once.

Sadly I felt very rusty making these, even though I have baked since January. When I mixed everything together it just didn't come out right. Rather than dough I had sand and definitely not the correct consistency. My solution - my hands. I squished everything together until it was dough like, and would maintain the shape of a ball.

These also seemed pretty small. Somehow the picture in the book makes both the cookie and the "thumbprint" look much bigger. And they didn't come out of the oven looking very pretty (probably due to the weird consistency of the dough). They look more "ragtag" than anything else.

It's at this point in the process I think that my co-workers will not be munching on cookies tomorrow.

After cooling I filled them and gave them a try. A little dry - again, probably more to do with me than with the recipe - but very tasty. I really like the nutty flavor with the sweet apricot. The lemon curd sure does give it some tang! Still won't be bringing these to work for the co-workers (I have a reputation to maintain), but they will be very nice with a cup of tea in the morning.

PS - it sure is good to be back!

Almost Back!

2010-03-09T19:40:00.001-08:00

Hey there!

Long time no blog. So long, in fact, that when asked for my password I really had to think about it. I'm horrified it's been since January since I've posted here. Yikes!

My excuses are the usual - work, family, etc. I work for a company that is very busy around Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. This year I was able to travel for the company, which I love to do. I have to work really hard, but I also get out of the office and meet new people and see new places. This time I went to Maine. Since I have friends in New England I was very happy about the location (plus the incredibly mild winter they are having this year!). Last time was Albuquerque (which I can now spell). Most "interesting" place was Waco, Texas. "Interesting" indeed!

Other than those reasons I feel compelled to share one more. I suffer from a "perfectionism" problem. It isn't just here, it's really all through my life. I don't want to do something unless it is nothing short of spectacular. So often times I don't post because I'm just not feeling spectacular. Anyone else have that problem? I know it's ridiculous, so I'm going to try to make a concerted effort to post more often, even if it's only "good enough." Get on me if I don't. A little peer pressure and/or friendly support is good for these personal life changes one wants to make.

Anyway, I'm just typing this up while I wait for my butter to get to "room temperature" so I can make this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. Plus I wanted to lessen the shock of my return. Oh, and bribe you a bit. Many of you asked about my cool Recipe Divider months back. It divides and multiplies measurements by two and three - very handy when not wanting to make 60 cookies, for instance. I was at the local cooking store recently and picked up an extra as a give away. So leave a comment on my blog (any post, not just this one) during the month of March and I'll pick a name at random and send it to you.

I look forward to seeing what you've been up to the last few months. Now - off to bake some cookies!

TWD: Tarte Tatin

2010-01-05T23:03:00.000-08:00

First let me say "Happy Birthday 'Tuesdays with Dorie'!" At this time of year, especially when flipping over to a year with a "0" one can't help but look back and reflect on what has come before. Two years ago I never would have imagined I'd be blogging about cooking or baking. Or would I have imagined that one cook book can hold so many wonderful treasures. Or the confidence I would gain in the kitchen by making the variety of recipes we've made out of said book. But most of all, I wouldn't have imagined meeting such a fun and fine group of people as yourselves. I'm somewhat sporadic in visiting your blogs, and even more sporadic when it comes to leaving comments - so you may have a hard time believing how much I've come to adore you. Thanks so much for the cyber friendship. It means a lot to me.

Last, but not least, a special thanks to LW who got the whole TWD thing rolling. Your hard work is appreciated and you should be very proud of this amazing thing you created. Congrats!

Now -- on with the post!

I can't tell you how much I've looked forward to this recipe. On my whirlwind 48 hour trip to Paris I took in 2003 I had this dessert for the very first time. How little I knew about food is horrifying in retrospect. But I did "get" that "caramelized apple tart" sounded like a very good thing. And it was. Heaven on earth. It sealed the deal for my love of Paris (that and the multitude of chocolate croissants I consumed!).

I've pondered getting a cast iron pan many times just for this recipe, but since Dorie gave a great option of using a skillet I gave that a try. I was very nervous about the whole project. Worried the pan wasn't right, worried the Braeburn apples weren't the best choice, worried the caramel would burn, worried I wouldn't survive the flip. And truth be told the pan was probably a little big and the sides a little too slanty. The apples were a little soft when I cut them and probably weren't the right choice. Although I let the apples cook over the stove for much longer than the 15 minutes Dorie recommended, I didn't have the heat on high enough to get the proper color on the caramel. The one true success was the pan flipping. I just took Dorie at her word - I flipped it "confidently" and it worked. Had I listened to her on all the other things, I probably would have better results.

All of that said, even though I have very "tender" apples that have very little color, the results are delicious. And due to my experience this past year plus of baking with this group, I know I have another puff pastry in the freezer. A few more apples (I'll try Gala this time), a trip with my coupon to my favorite cooking store to get that cast iron skillet, and I'll be good to go trying this out once again. I can't wait to do so. Just like I can't wait to see what this year brings baking with all of you.

Happy 2010!

TWD: My Favorite Pecan Pie

2009-12-27T23:04:00.000-08:00

Hellllllooooooooooooooooo! Remember me! I'm stunned I haven't written since November. I guess I've been busy! Will have more details on that later - but for now, pie!

I love pecan pie. It is my favorite right behind Apple Pie. Up to this point I was intimidated by making it, so I really didn't want to miss out on this recipe, and was super happy to have a little extra time to write up this post. So thanks to LW for the leeway on the date of posting, and super special thanks to Beth from Someone's in the Kitchen with Brina (and her husband!) for picking this recipe.

Despite my love of pecan pie I agree with Dorie that most versions are just too sweet and make it hard to eat even a small slice. This recipe tones down that sweetness nicely. I used instant coffee instead of espresso and cut the amount in half. Glad I did, as I think it would have been too much. The chocolate seemed a bit much too, but that might be more about how large I chopped the pieces (I think I took "course chop" a little too literally).

This is a great recipe, but I'll be happy to get the rest of it to work tomorrow. Much too dangerous to have alone in the house with only me to eat it! I'm sure I'll have plenty of volunteers and it will be gone before noon.

Here's hoping you've all had a good rest over the holiday weekend, and that all is well in your worlds. I've missed being here, and will resolve (as it's a resolution time of year) to be here more regularly as we proceed into the new year (and decade).

See you soon!

TWD: All in One Holiday Bundt Cake

2009-11-24T23:29:00.001-08:00

This will be quick, as I'm pretty sure I'll be working a full 40 hours in 3 days this week. Can I tell you how much I'm looking forward to a 4 day weekend??

Since I don't have a bundt pan and I had a few purposes for this cake, I made a mini cake, and 2 batches of cup cakes. I'll drizzle all with the maple glaze tomorrow.

This was pretty easy to put together, and I must say that after a long and stressful day, I rather enjoyed the prep. Not so much the clean up - the dishes will wait until morning.

I snuck a taste of one of the cupcakes and it was very "autumnal" and tasty. I hope my peeps at work like the cupcakes. The mini cake is going to a very good friend who's birthday is tomorrow.

Sorry this is so short - that's just how I roll this time of year. But I do want to thank you who keep stopping by and leaving comments although I haven't returned the favor. I'm hoping to get caught up this weekend. And finally, a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone!

Gobble!! Gobble!!

TWD: Sugar Topped Molasses Spiced Cookies

2009-11-17T23:04:00.000-08:00

Today was a very long day. It started by baking these cookies, picked by my pal Pamela over at Cookies with Boys. I don't usually bake in the AM, but I wanted to get some decent pictures. Then I went to work where I dealt with a crises before I even made it to my desk. It was the first of many. Finally got a lunch today (no lunch the last 2 days - I don't even want to admit what I consumed yesterday - no bueno!) but not until 4pm (ditto regarding what I ate today). Left work on time to go to class, after class stopped at Whole Foods so I would have something to eat tomorrow (break or no break, a girl's got to eat). And then, after bringing myself and food into the house, I look over and see these. Lovely, edible cookies. So good, and just what I needed after a big day.

I'm training some folks at work, and they were having a hard time with the material, so I'm going to bring these cookies and some milk to work tomorrow. Just a little something to feed their soul.

This is quick since I'm tired, but I did enjoy these a lot. I have the other half of the dough in the fridge waiting to be baked. I loved how easy these were (much appreciated this week!), and it was kind of fun (therapeutic) to roll them up, roll them in sugar, and then mush them.

Yes, they did spread a bit, but were the perfect combination of chewy and soft, sweet and spicy. These will be made again before the holidays are over.

To see the recipe head over to Pamela's blog.

Sunday Soup: Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Cider Cream

2009-11-16T21:16:00.000-08:00

I'm a day late, I know, but I was very busy yesterday being lazy. This week for me at work is insane and is usually the busiest for each holiday peak we have. So I tossed away my "to do" list and cocooned myself in my tiny house, trying to brace myself for the marathon week this will be.

And what better way to fortify yourself than with soup. There are so many things I really like about this soup. First, it is fast to make and tasty to eat. I'm assuming there is some healthiness going on as well. One way it is fast is to use pre-cut items like this butternut squash. Couldn't be handier, and is good to have leftovers for a quick and healthy side dish. I also took advantage of Trader Joe's prepackaged leeks. I appreciate buying just the part that I want to use. It doesn't seem as wasteful as buying a whole leek only to throw half of it away.

The other thing I'm loving about this soup and the last one is the use of an immersion blender. These little babies are among my top 5 tools in the kitchen. They are fun to use, easy to clean up. And I simply love blended soups.

I cut the recipe in half and each serving was very generous. You won't go hungry with this. And another plus - this recipe wasn't very expensive. I used many of the ingredients from the last soup, plus others I already had on hand.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Cider Cream
from the book Sunday Soup: A Year's Worth of Mouthwatering, Easy-to-Make Recipes
by Betty Rosbottom
Serves 6

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 cups peeled, seeded, and cubed butternut squash (from 2- to 2 1/2- pound squash; cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts only (about 3 medium leeks)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped carrots
1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped, plus an extra apple for garnish
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried sage
5 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups apple cider, divided
Kosher salt
2/3 cup sour cream
5 bacon slices,sauteed until crisp, drained and crumbled

Melt the butter in a large, heavy pan set over medium-high heat. When hot, add squash, leeks, carrots, and celery and saute', stirring frequently, until vegetables have softened slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Add apples, thyme, and sage. Add stock and 1 cup of the cider. Bring mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently until vegetables and apples are tender, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Meanwhile, make the cider cream. Boil remaining 1/2 cup cider in a small, heavy saucepan until it reduces to 1/4 cup, for about 5 minutes. Cool, then place sour cream in a small bowl and whisk in reduced cider. (Cider cream can be prepared 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate until needed.)

Puree the soup in batches in a food processor, blender, or food mill, and return soup to the pot. (Or use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot.) Taste soup and season with salt, as needed. (Soup can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat over medium heat.)

For the garnish, halve and core the reserved apple, then cut one half into 12 paper-thin slices. (Eat or save remaining half for another use.)

To serve, ladle soup into 6 shallow bowls and drizzle with cider cream. Garnish each serving with crumbled bacon and a couple of apple slices.

Sunday Soup: French Lentil Soup with Garlic Sausage

2009-11-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went to my favorite cooking store in San Diego, Great-News, to use my coupon that was about to expire. I looked at lots of cool gadgets and supplies, but the item that spoke to me most was this cookbook - Sunday Soup: A Year's Worth of Mouthwatering, Easy-to-Make Recipes by Betty Rosbottom. I love soup, I really do, but my repertoire is very limited, and I tend to stick with the standards. This book is a godsend, as it offers up lots of recipes, but best of all it breaks them down by season. So all the Fall Recipes are grouped together, followed by Winter and so on. That way you can make a soup using seasonal ingredients. And best of all, there is a Summer section full of cool (literally, as in "cold" and "chilled") soups to make.

The first soup I made is "French Lentil Soup with Garlic Sausage." I tried this one because I had the lentils on hand. The recipe calls for Puy lentils from France and I had some leftover from a Jamie Oliver recipe ("Pan-seared Scallops with Crispy Bacon and Sage, Puy Lentils and Green Salad" from The Naked Chef cookbook. It was a lot of work, but very tasty). I searched far and wide and eventually found a substitute for them at Whole Foods. I thought about getting the "real" version from an online store, but these worked out great.

I only made half of the recipe, but that was enough for 3 good-sized servings. The house smelt so good when the soup was simmering (it was a particularly cold night, so that probably made the whole experience that much more delicious). I used pork kielbasa along with the puy lentils (oh the fun of running around saying "pwee" and KIL-basa, like Mufasa from the Lion King) and the result was a hearty bean and sausage soup. It's not the prettiest soup around, but very tasty. Held up nicely the next day for lunch too.

I'll let you know how I progress with the rest of the recipes. Next up - Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Cider Cream. Yum!

French Lentil Soup with Garlic Sausage
Recipe from Sunday Soup by Betty Rosbottom
6 servings

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced carrots (1/4-inch dice)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced celery (1/4 inch dice)
3 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
6 ounces garlic sausage, such as kielbasa, cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 teaspoons dried thyme
9 cups beef stock
2 bay leaves, broken in half
1 pound (2 cups) Puy lentils (French green lentils)
Kosher Salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Heat oil in a large pot (with a lid) over medium heat. When hot, add the carrots, onion and celery. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are just softened, for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, sausage, and thyme, and cook 1 minute more.

Add the stock and bay leaves, and bring mixture to a simmer over high heat. Stir in the lentils, then reduce heat, cover, and cook at a gentle simmer until tender, for about 50 minutes.

Remove and discard the bay leaves. Remove the garlic pieces and transfer to food processor. Using a slotted spoon, strain 1/2 cup solids (vegetables and sausage) from the soup and puree them with garlic pieces in a food processor, or combine them with garlic pieces in a small bowl and smash with the back of a fork. Stir the pureed mixture into the pot; this will thicken the soup slightly. Taste soup and season with salt, as needed. (Soup can be prepared 1 day ahead; cool, cover and refrigerate. Reheat over medium heat.)

To serve, ladle the soup into 6 soup bowls and sprinkle with parsley over each serving.

CEiMB: Linguini with Shrimp and Vegetables

2009-11-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed this recipe, chosen by Farah over at Confessions of a Novice Baker. So much so that last night after making it, eatting it, and tidying up the kitchen and watching a little TV, I went to bed and forgot about this last step in the CEiMB process. oh well -- better late than never.

I used my precious Argentinian shrimp for this (those babies are so good), and I love all the other ingredients, so I knew going in this would be a winner. Work is beginning to get a little intense, and will only get more so as we get closer to the holidays, so I was probably most enthusiastic about the wine (just kidding -- well kinda).

I only made half of the recipe and it was a ton of food. I'm happily bringing the second serving to work today -- I love having good eats as leftovers.

This will be going into the rotation with the other Ellie recipes I love.

TWD: Cran-Apple Crisps

2009-11-03T23:40:00.001-08:00

Hey kids -- did you miss me???

It sure is nice to be back and baking with you all. I'll post a little something about my vacation later this week. I started working on it when I was getting my car serviced this weekend. Apparently "free wifi" does not equal "speedy wifi" or "convenient wifi" or "non-maddening wifi" so that entry will post later.

I'm also back to my old ways of starting projects on Tuesday night. Since I'm taking a class and don't get home until 10pm, that's a little later than normal. As a result I've got the crisps in the oven as we speak, so I'll have to give you a full report a bit after midnight.

It sure is great to take November's recipes in whatever order works. This one is great because it is so easy. Well, easy as long as you're not trying to divide by 3. If I were smart, I would have just divided by two and had large crisps. On the other hand, if I were smart, I wouldn't have just 3 ramekins, but 4 (thus making the division thing easier). Happily I have a handy dandy dial that helps with this type of complicated math. Not perfect, but it helps.

At the moment all I can smell is something burning in my oven (I must have spilled something - maybe a nut or something when I made granola this weekend) but otherwise I'm very excited about this recipe. I love anything with apple in it, and cranberry is another favorite flavor. Fall is by far my favorite season. Some people lament a lack of seasons in San Diego. We do have seasons - people who don't notice them don't appreciate subtly.

I'm going to post this now to beat the midnight deadline, but will let you know how this all turns out. If I were a good girl I'd let them cool and try them in the morning. But why do that when I only have to let them cool for 10 minutes before I try them!

I'm looking forward to catching up with all of you out there in blog-land and see what you've been up to while I was gone. Happy fall, everyone!

Edited to add this picture of the finished product. Boy was it YUMMY! And, I found my 4th ramekin. I had it stashed separately from the others. No idea why. Oh well, next time I'm making four of these!

Vacation - bound!

2009-10-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hello! Just a quick note to say I'm off for a two week vacation so I won't be posting for a bit. If I were super organized I would have baked/cooked/blogged ahead and had things magically show up here while I was gone. I'm just not that person.

I've been out of touch for awhile, and now out of touch for a bit longer. How those of you who post regularly do it, and still have kids/spouses/jobs is beyond me. You have my respect and admiration!

Will "see" you when I get back!

CEiMB: Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

2009-09-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

This week's recipe was chosen by Leslie over at Lethally Delicious who is one of the bloggers that got me interested in CEiMB to start off with, and is an all around great gal who is a hoot! And now she can add "great picker of recipes" to the list of her positive traits, as I thought this sandwich was super good.

Sadly, my pictures are not super good, so I'm only submitting the best one (sad that picture up there is the best one). This was a "night time shoot" and the photographer (um...that would be me) was very hungry, and didn't have the patience to set up a decent shot. So imagine these as beautiful albeit slightly blackened sandwiches.

I really liked how all the flavors worked together -- the spiciness of the cheese was cooled by the tomatoes, which were made more savory by the caramelized onions. I made two sandwiches and heated up the second for dinner tonight. It was as yummy as the first one.

Head on over to Leslie's blog for the recipe, and then head on over to CEiMB to join the fun.

TWD: Cottage Cheese Pufflets

2009-09-22T23:17:00.000-07:00

It is kind of funny how things work out, especially in a baking group like Tuesdays with Dorie. Some weeks I read the P&Q and think "hey, this will be a breeze." Then I make whatever the week's pick is, and I have a terrible time. Then other times, like this week, I read the P&Q and think "Oy! This isn't going to be pretty." But then, for some weird reason, everything turns out fine. Not sure how this ended up an "everything turns out fine" week, but I'm darn happy!

I was intrigued with this recipe, and was glad that Jacque at Daisy Lane Cakes choose it, because frankly, I would have gone right past it. The name doesn't scream "yummy" (more like "cottage cheese what??"), and I've never made dough/pastry/cake-like things with cottage cheese. So from a curiosity factor alone, I was in.

It would seem that the consistency of the cottage cheese was the key to success in this venture. I used Trader Joe's Low-Fat Cottage cheese which isn't runny at all. I made the dough this morning and it had little trouble. Since I made half of the recipe all the ingredients fit nicely into my mini-food processor.

I spent the day at work thinking about the baking ahead. So many TWDers had trouble with the dough. But with a "what's the worst that could happen??" mentality, I unwrapped the dough and found it quite usable. Definitely moist, but not unbearably sticky. I rolled it out on a cutting board with some flour and used a pasta cutter to make squares (and frankly, some rectangles - a little harder to fold, fyi). My choice of filling was apricot preserves.

I baked them for about 15 minutes (checking at 8, 10 and 12 minutes in) and let them cool. I had NO idea what they would be like, which was kind of fun! You have a preconceived notion of brownies, or chocolate chip cookies, but who knew what a "cottage cheese pufflet" would taste like?

The answer -- a little slice of heaven. The pufflet actually "puffed" to make the dough nice and airy. The preserves gave it a sweetness that was just right. The over all flavor was very good. A little too good, frankly. I'm supposed to bring them in to work tomorrow for a department event but I'm not sure I have enough -- I'm hoping some of my co-workers call in sick.

To those who did not have luck with these, please give them another chance. They were light and fluffy, and for me, for whatever reason, not at all hard to make. Don't hate me though -- there will soon be the recipe that makes me pull out my hair and use a few swear words. Frankly, I think it's all part of the fun of Tuesdays with Dorie!

CEiMB: Black Bean Mexican-Style Pizza

2009-09-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

I was plenty happy when I saw that Joanne over at Apple Crumbles chose this recipe for this week's Craving Ellie in my Belly (where, for reasons I can't explain, I can't leave comments - bummer!). I was happy because it was a non-chicken recipe (yay!) and because this looked like a tasty, healthy, EASY recipe to put together.

The bean dip was pretty easy. I recently had a bad experience with a jalapeno pepper (burning, I mean sizzling pain, that slowly worked its way from one finger to the next. Had to throw out the sponge so I wouldn't reinfect myself), so I added hot sauce rather than a pepper. The dip was definitely a winner - mine turned out a little too limey, so much so that I double checked the recipe to make sure I didn't get my "tablespoons" and "teaspoons" confused. But after the first night that flavor mellowed out, and I've really enjoyed the dip after that.

The pizzas came together quickly and easily. I made one as written, and one I added just a little bit of cheese. After a trip to the oven I cooled it off and ate it. Very tasty - even the one without the cheese was flavorful and complete.

This is definitely going into the keeper pile. The recipe is here, and over at Apple Crumbles.

An attempt at artful plating - not so successful!

TWD: Flaky Apple Turnovers

2009-09-15T23:48:00.000-07:00

Despite mistakes, confusion, and a few swear words, this was a very unattractive but tasty choice for this week. Thanks to Julie of Someone's in the Kitchen for picking a challenging and delicious treat!

Things started out rough when the dough wasn't broken down into small enough parts.

My butter was too cold, so it didn't "make friends" as much with the rest of the dough as it should have.

After a trip to the fridge, out came the crumbly dough -- all over the floor.

A little more sour cream and a little more mixing, and back into the fridge the divided dough went.

Out for a roll -- not exactly 9x18. Both of mine looked like small European countries.

Back into the fridge (where one still lives) for more rest, while apples were cut and mixed.

A trip to the oven, took about 23 minutes for them to become the right color and doneness.

Too many apples, too small of dough, too ugly to serve to others. But oh so tasty, flaky and flavorful once cooled.

Since I have another dough in the fridge, I can give this another try. I probably didn't have the dough rolled out thin enough, and I can't imagine how TWO tablespoons full of the apple mixture would EVER fit in the dough round. Like I said, it wasn't pretty, there was some swearing, but gosh these things are good. Definitely a challenge, and one I'll likely try again!

CEiMB: Substitution Thursday

2009-09-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

"Substitution Thursday" is what I'm calling this week, since I can't eat the Pulled BBQ Sandwiches chosen by the fabulous Pamela at Cookies with Boys (those boys sure are cute!). I love barbecue, I love rotisserie chicken. But unfortunately, chicken does not like me. And since the last few weeks have featured chicken recipes, I'm woefully behind in my CEiMB participation.

I am still working with "The Food You Crave" and have made more out of this book than any other recently. I'm still obsessed with Ellie's Nutty Granola though I'm naughty and add sweetened coconut to the mix. How can I resist when it adds such a nice flavor?

I've also tried her Turkey Meatballs with Quick and Spicy Tomato Sauce which is the recipe that lead me to join the CEiMB group. Every blog I visited the week it was the recipe raved about how good they were and the pictures all looked fabulous. The meatballs are unbelievably flavorful, and I really do like the sauce. My only complaint is that there isn't enough sauce to pasta ratio. I like really saucy pasta dishes as it's a way to eat less carbs and more "good stuff". I was so intent making this - both times - that I only got a quick snap. Love the splash of sauce on the side - classy, no?

I'm looking forward to next week when I can get back into full participation mode. The Black Bean Mexican Style Pizza looks yummy, so I'll meet you back here next week with a full report.

Tivo Alert! "What Would Brian Boitano Make?"

2009-09-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

Picture courtesy of the Food Network

If you have not seen this TV show already, can I urge you to set your Tivo/DVR to record it. "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" is the most original show the Food Network has put on the air in a long time (the last one probably being anything that Alton Brown has done). If you like campy and funny, then you will like this! When was the last time a cooking show made you laugh out loud? Plus, he uses the South Park song - well, part of it. Definitely left out the "questionable" parts. But still - how can you not love that!?

The first episode I saw was "Derby Girls" (as in roller derby, as in Brian Boitano skating with them), and all the recipes had bacon in them. The second one was "The Handyman" which was equally cute. Mr. Boitano does on camera narration that is very clever. But the great thing is that although neither Mr. Boitano nor the show takes anything too seriously, the food looks good and the information is there. The man knows how to cook.

I talked to several food folks at work today urging them to watch this, but they all beat me to the punch and loved it. I don't get this enthusiastic about much I see on TV, so please give it a try. It may not be your cup of tea, but as I said, if you like campy, you'll like this. Enjoy!

TWD: Chocolate Souffle

2009-09-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

First of all, I must tell you I was stunned when the little blogger dashboard said I had not posted since August 18th. I knew it had been awhile, but 3 weeks -- really?!?! YIKES! I have no "good" excuses ("good" as in really bad, as in some calamity struck me making my absence obvious and forgivable). August just hasn't been my best month for a couple of years now - I am beset with allergies, and end of summer blahs, plus it has been hotter than you-know-what. So hot my thermostat on the heater just went to the far right and let me guess how hot it was. So hot that I was pretty sure my candy thermometer would be able to give me an idea of the temperature in my house. Happily we're now living in post-heat wave when all is well and August is over. Pre-heat wave I did some stuff that I'll post later, but today, I want to focus on the souffle at hand.

I feel pretty confident tempering eggs, but when it comes to whipping egg whites I'm a mess. I've never gotten the hang of it, even in my baking class, so I approached this with a wee bit of trepidation. Ironically, I have an incredible soft spot in my heart for chocolate souffle. It is at the heart of one of my favorite work moments - not a triumph that one should be proud of, mind you, but one that to this day fills me with a certain amount of satisfaction.

I wasn't sure how the results would look, so I went for really nice mise en place!

Ten years ago I had just worked for a decade in a variety of places and fields where the best of times were behind the organization. Ten years of "do you remember when (insert something really awesome here) happened?" Which I didn't remember because it was before my time. I only experienced the crummy times that followed. Well this was my opportunity to spoil it for someone else!

I didn't plan on spoiling it for someone else. I was just going to a Christmas luncheon. At the time I worked on the outskirts of the entertainment industry. By outskirts I mean the last farm on the end of a long dirt road that had no other houses and no lights. But there was a lunch at a restaurant in LA that was famous for their chocolate souffle, so everyone ordered that early (as the kitchen needed time to prepare). Since the "big wigs" were sitting at a table together, that left us "little wigs" alone with an open menu. I totally succumbed (willingly) to the peer pressure of the mail room guys to order the crab cakes as the appetizer, the fillet for the main, and the aforementioned souffle for dessert. I don't even want to think what the tab for drinks was at my table. And by drinks, I mean drinks! As you might imagine, it was the most wonderful lunch I ever, EVER had.

The following year, after I moved on to another job in another industry, there was a pre-set menu at the Christmas luncheon.

I know I shouldn't feel proud. But after all the living in a world spoiled by someone else, it was a nice change.

Fast forward to this week -- this was my first post-heat wave project. I'm still a little dodgy about egg whites, but this seemed to come together okay. Although I knew better, I probably under buttered the ramekins, so I didn't have that nice "straight up" puff. What it lacked in beauty, it totally made up in flavor. These babies were awesome!

So thanks to Susan, at She's Becoming DoughMessTic for picking an awesome recipe and allowing me to stroll down memory lane. Both are greatly appreciated. Head over to Susan's blog for the recipe -- it appears that she has fond memories about souffles as well!

TWD: Applesauce Spice Bars

2009-08-18T22:35:00.000-07:00

Karen over at Something Sweet by Karen defied the season and picked a treat that quickly put me in the mood for Fall. It helps that the weather here has been unseasonably cool. It should be blazing hot, and all the fans in my house should be on, but instead just one little fan on low, just because the oven was on and the house had been closed up all day (closed windows another sure sign it isn't summer). Before you all get jealous, I'm sure we'll be in for a scorching September and October. Hopefully scorching in temperature only, as we are well known for our October wild fires.

But on to more pleasant talk -- how about these bars!?!? Super easy to make with a minimal of equipment needed (I reread the directions to make sure I added up the number of bowls/pots I would need - two just seemed too good to be true). This was the recipe that made me break down and buy allspice. We've had recipes that required it before, but I've always skipped it. I don't know why this one made me open up the wallet -- I guess that picture in the cookbook just looks too good to mess with.

A whisk, some melting and whisking, a bit more whisking and then gentle stirring. Baking whilst watching a little Big Brother (I was expecting more "oomph" with Chima's expulsion - kinda disappointing), cooling while washing, more melting and whisking (oops, put the vanilla in early!), a little putting the thing back together as it broke coming out of the pan, a bit of spreading, and viola, a yummy dessert!

I like how the spices are there, but not overpowering, and I like the contrast between the apples, the raisins (used those Trader Joe's goldens) and the pecans. Simply delish!

Perhaps some will make it to work tomorrow, but not all. Some will definitely stay behind to keep me (and my hips) company. These are good enough to willingly go to the gym tomorrow (that means they are good!).

CEiMB: Stuffed Turkey Burgers

2009-08-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

This week has been a whirlwind. Last thing I remember it was Sunday night and I was bemoaning going to work in the morning, and now it is Thursday night. How did that happen!?!? Not that I'm complaining that another weekend is suddenly upon me, but whew! What a week!

I've been very busy at work - a ton of stuff going on in my department, bunch of changes coming up, plus the company is moving to a new building. We are almost literally moving across the freeway. Across the street or across town, moving a company of 400 people is no easy task! The place is beginning to look like a college dorm at the end of spring semester. As much as I hate moving myself, I wouldn't wish moving a company on anyone.

So with all of that going on I was so happy that Peggy at Pantry Revisited picked a nice, easy recipe for the week. I'm slowly catching up on old Ellie recipes that the CEiMB group made before I officially joined, so I got enough turkey to make both 1 burger and the Turkey Meatballs.

Instead of going the jarred red pepper route, I decided to roast my own. There is something satisfying watching food burn on your stove after a hectic day. I was a little concerned when the stem caught on fire, but the house is still standing so all is well.

Once that process was over, putting this together was a snap. Had a little "stickage" problem with the grill pan (so much for my new non-stick spray!), but once pried out of the pan this was very good.

I served it with a smidge of the usual condiments (I was very good and really used a very small amount), plus a tomato slice, and the obligatory avocados on a sesame seed bun. Surprisingly good (though not a beauty to photograph)! I would certainly make these again. Easy to do just one, and a great way to use up left over ground turkey.

TWD: Brownie Buttons

2009-08-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

Lessons learned this week while making the Brownie Buttons, chosen by Jayma over at Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen.

- Dorie follows a "truth in advertising" policy I think. These were very small, literally the size of buttons. Well, buttons worn during the 1980s perhaps, but buttons nonetheless. No rise, which is no surprise (oh - I made a rhyme!) since there was no leavening agent. But once the concept was embraced, I was on board.

- Trust in the power of Dorie. You may think those "optional" ideas sound weird, but I haven't tried one yet that hasn't spoken to me. Instead of orange zest I went with lemon (that is what I had on hand) and I really, really liked it. The balance between the zing of the zest, the richness of the chocolate brownie, and the sweetness of the white chocolate icing really worked.

- Trust your timer. If you set your timer to a particular time, and you hear it alert you to the fact that 14 minutes have come and gone, do not think, "oh, I'll get there in just a minute." Because if you're baking something this small, that extra minute is going to cost you. Second week in a row that "moist" isn't a word used to describe my results.

- If you put a metal bowl inside another metal bowl filled with simmering water, and the white chocolate in the first bowl melts as a result of said simmering water, there is a very good likelihood that picking up the first bowl with the melted chocolate WITHOUT some sort of heat protection isn't a very good idea.

- I am grateful on a daily basis for the quick reflexes and excellent balance I inherited from my father. Without them, my kitchen would be a whole lot messier.

- Still no obvious upside to chubby, short fingers. These little suckers were hard to hold on to! I finally gave up and just frosted them with the back of my spoon. Got the same results with a lot less swearing.

- On the downside theme, tiny desserts are evil. You are lulled into thinking "just one of these adorable little treats can't possibly hurt....." Sixteen of them later - well, 'nuff said.

So there you have it. Another successful TWD project completed, with an extra dose of insight at no extra cost. Sadly my co-workers did not partake in this - both sadly for them and sadly for my hips. Lucky for them, and my hips, the Applesauce Spice bars look like a good "let's share" dessert. I'm looking forward to making them next week. And - I finally got around to making the vanilla ice cream. Full report to follow.

CEiMB: Updates, a catch up, but no Carrot Cake

2009-08-06T23:26:00.001-07:00

Although I am a big fan of carrot cake I passed on this week's recipe selected by Leanna at Enjoying My Favorite Things. I feel very sloth-like, since she battled tornadoes and power outages to get hers done. I just battled a little bit of busy-ness at work, and lost. Ugh!

I am happy to report I remembered to photograph my second serving of last week's pick, the Cobb Salad. I've enjoyed the dressing all week. It is pretty tasty just mixed with tomatoes and avocados.

Speaking of tomatoes and avocados, I took advantage of left overs and made a BAT - Bacon, Avocado and Tomato sandwich. It was seriously yummy. I pondered tossing a little blue cheese in there just to give it some zip, but decided against it. It was tasty, but I'm thinking I should make it again for the experiment -- yeah..... I need to sacrifice and make another sandwich for the sake of science to see if the blue cheese is as good as it sounds.

Also, on a coolish day, I made Ellie's Granola (previously made by the CEiMB group before I joined). I must say it was/is very tasty. I followed the recipe exactly (except for that handful of sweetened coconut I added) and LOVE it. I've had it as a cereal, I've added it to yogurt, I've eaten it solo as a snack. I just can't eat enough of this stuff. It is a great way to use up the left over bits of nuts (or coconut!) from other baking/TWD projects. Healthy - tasty - easy. Can't beat it. If you've joined CEiMB after that was made, you'll definitely want to give it a try.

I'll be back with the regularly scheduled CEiMB recipe next week. Hope you all have a great weekend!

TWD: Banana Bundt Cake

2009-08-04T20:51:00.001-07:00

As much as last week's CEiMB was proof positive that I am not a "real" food blogger, this week's TWD is proof that I am a baker. If I had to choose, I'm pretty happy with the one that I am. My co-workers are too, based on how quick the Banana ~~Bundt~~ (Cup) Cake went.

For the baking classes I took in culinary school, the teacher (a very experienced, ~~very dreamy looking~~ very well known pastry chef here in San Diego) would give us minimalist recipes on the board. His theory - a sound one - was once you learned the techniques you don't have to write out the directions. If he wrote "2 sticks butter" and below it "2 cups sugar" on the board, connected them with a line, and then wrote "cream" next to it, then we knew that we would put both ingredients into a stand mixer and let them go at medium speed for approximately 5 minutes or until they got to that beautiful, light fluffy stage that we all know and love.

Since my kitchen is small, and because time was short, I translated Dorie's recipe into Chef McDreamy haiku. I must say I got this cake done in a short period of time, and felt very confident along the way. It's a nice feeling, one that I've felt slowly increasing over the last year of participating. Practice really does make perfect.

Since I don't have a bundt pan (sorry Mary!!) I went the cup cake route. I had a bit of batter left over, so I filled up half of a mini-muffin pan and tossed that into the oven as well. Those were done first, and the cupcakes took about 30+ minutes to finish baking.

Waiting for the trip to work

The mini-muffins ended up being a great way to please all parties at work. Those who just wanted a bite got one. Those who wanted a snack took the full sized muffins. Everyone was happy, and they all disappeared in a hurry.

I didn't try the glaze, mostly because of time. I would think that it would add a "wow" factor to an already tasty cake. The mini-muffins were a little dry, the regular sized muffins weren't bad, but not as moist as some said in the P&Q. Perhaps because I used non-fat plain yogurt? Or perhaps I didn't add enough banana? Whatever the reason, these were still good, and I add this to the list of "sure, I'd make that again"-s.

Thanks to Mary from The Food Librarian for picking out something that was truly tasty, but without TWD I never would have tried!

CEiMB: Cobb Salad

2009-07-30T22:55:00.000-07:00

The subtitle of this post is "How I Know I'm Not a Real Food Blogger." One sign - the picture above. Yes, this is the only picture I have to offer you this week - the aftermath of this salad. Sad, I know. If I were a real food blogger I would be very mindful of taking pictures at the right time in the process, making sure I did so at the right time of day to take advantage of the best light. Almost none of my pictures work out that way, and more than a dozen times I've nearly been pictureless for a post. This time, I succeeded??? I figure the aftermath is better than nothing.

Also, if I were a real food blogger I wouldn't be embarrassed to take pictures of my food in restaurants. I've had meals that I wished I documented so I could post something about them, but I find it all so awkward. Really, really awkward. And a smidge pretentious perhaps. No offense to the people who do take pictures of their restaurant experiences. I just feel that no one can really be that interested in what I eat.

And there lies my problem today. I love food. And I was into this recipe. I did some tweaking - I just did mixed spring greens (I prefer them to romaine), and I skipped the chicken (I've recently realized I'm either allergic to or have an intolerance for chicken. Who knew that was possible? Well, it is), and I prefer bacon to ham (sorry Ellie). But anything that combines bacon, tomato and avocado I'm all for (As a native Californian I'm contractually obligated to love avocados. And boy do I). So with great enthusiasm I created a culinary masterpiece ----- and then ate it without a thought for all of you. Ooops!

I made a smaller version of the salad but made the full dressing since it sounded intriguing. I've never put Worcestershire sauce in a dressing before. The dressing was really wonderful. I think it would be lovely just on top of an avocado, let alone all the fixings.

Overall easy to put together and delicious. I may have missed the "healthy" part by adding the bacon, but I promise to have a diet Coke when I wash it all down tomorrow for lunch.

The recipe can be found here. Thanks to Gabi at The Feast Within for this very yummy and easy pick!

CEiMB: Oven Baked Onion Rings

2009-07-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

Somehow this summer I have lucked out with the weather. Every time there has been something that I needed to bake, the last minute to do it (my normal time to complete these things) was the coolest part of the week. With gratitude my luck has held with this week's pick.

I was excited when I saw that Mare from Meet Me in the Kitchen had picked the Onion Rings. I do really love onion rings, and will pick them over fries most of the time. But I do dislike the kind that are simply soaked in grease and become so rich that you can only eat a few. So I thought this would be great.

Then I read the recipe. I must tell you that I never (truly never) buy potato chips. Occasionally I'll buy tortilla chips, but never potato chips. They simply aren't something I think about buying, plus I'm one of those "can't have just one" types of people. I did not want extras lurking about the house.

So I compromised and bought an individual bag and figured I'd just make part of the recipe. Who needs 4 servings of onion rings anyway? Plus I read the reviews online at the Food Network and I wasn't completely convinced I was going to love this.

I followed the recipe, but ran out of chips before I ran out of buttermilk mixture or rings. I supplemented what I had left with some panko. Results? Too much Cayenne in the original batch, not enough flavor in the panko batch. I think this recipe is a definite keeper, I could see (taste?) the potential in what I had. Perhaps the doctoring that Sara did with a downgrade in the cayenne is the way to go.

To sum up - not my favorite thing ever, but this definitely has potential. I'll have to give it a try again - hopefully the cooling trend in the weather will last!

PS - any "Torchwood" fans out there? I'm late posting this week due to my complete immersion into the 5 night series. Tonight was super intense -- I'm not sure my nerves will make it through tomorrow night's finale!

CEiMB: Aromatic Noodles with Lime-Peanut Sauce

2009-07-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

I was very excited when MrsBethorama from Supplicious picked this recipe, as it was on the short list when I was trying to find a CEiMB pick. It looked flavorful and healthy and were it not for Father's Day, I probably would have picked it.

So much enthusiasm and happiness going into this week. I cut up all my veggies the night before while something else was cooking to speed up putting this together. I hate to admit this, but it was the first time I bought Sugar Snap Peas or Snow Peas. Now I'm a big fan. Since I'm not a big fan of whole wheat pasta I decided to try something else. I found some Rice Sticks at Trader Joe's that looked intriguing, so I gave them a try. I found them very delicious and perfect for this dish. I just love Trader Joe's!

I got a chance to use my still-relatively-new Cuisinart food processor, yay, and it all came together quite nicely. I cut the recipe by half, and the three servings I got seemed fairly small, but I didn't feel hungry after I ate the first one.

I liked this so much (by far my favorite CEiMB recipe to date) that I may bring one to work today even though my company is buying us lunch. Whatever they will feed us just won't be as good as this. This will definitely be going into dinner/lunch rotation soon.

Happy Bastille Day!

2009-07-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Blogger is not my friend. On occasion it won't let me rotate a picture. Other times it won't publish a post when I want to. I queued up a Fourth of July entry for while I was gone, but nothing happened. Sadness. But, when Blogger gives you nothing for Independence day, simply rearrange the colors and celebrate Bastille Day.

So here is a blue, white and red Bastille Day celebration from the garden. Enjoy!

TWD: Brioche Plum Tart

2009-07-14T22:16:00.000-07:00

There are days when it is just too hot to bake. This past weekend in San Diego was mighty toasty, so I was a bit worried that this just wasn't going to happen for me. Happily there was a break in the heat wave, because man oh man, was this yummy!

I don't have a large tart pan, and I certainly didn't need 6 servings all to myself. So I broke out the mini tart pans and planned to make two individual tarts. Usually I would make only 1/3 of the dough recipe, but I've learned that one can divide the recipe down to almost nothing, which is very difficult to work with. So I made the complete dough recipe, and would just do enough filling for the minis.

The dough came together easily, and I planned to do the "slap dance" Monday evening and bake it this morning. Although it required a lot of time, the dough really took no effort at all.

I lucked out and got some very yummy, very ripe organic plums from Trader Joes. I thought I had some strawberry jam, but apparently it has been in the fridge too long to use (I'll leave it to you to create the word picture here....). Luckily I had some apricot jam from another Dorie project, and it worked surprisingly well on the plums.

I baked for 15 minutes and then tented the minis and gave them another 7 minutes in the oven. They looked mighty pretty if I do say so myself, and I just couldn't wait to make a cup of tea and have one for breakfast. The other went to a co-worker celebrating her birthday. Elegant baked goods are such a better gift than knickknacks!

These were so good that I may have to do an experiment and see how well the dough does after a whole day in the fridge. Yeah.....that's it..... another batch would be a service to the wider TWD community and would be seen as an effort to expand our culinary knowledge. Yeah.....

Many thanks to Denise at Chez Us for a great pick. This will definitely be put into heavy rotation (but only when it's not 90 degrees in my kitchen!). I can't wait to try other fruit options. YUM!

TWD: Tribute-To-Katharine-Hepburn Brownies

2009-07-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school the only Advanced Placement class I took was an English class my senior year. One of our assignments was to write to a famous person and to create a letter that was so good we got a personal response. An impossible task today, I would think. Being the odd child that I was, I picked Katharine Hepburn. I admired her independence and smarts, and one of my favorite movies then was "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (still is).

Sad to say I did not get a personal response from Ms. Hepburn, but did get one from her long time secretary Phyllis Wilbourn. It took a little persuading, but I got credit for the response. I assume it is stashed away in a box somewhere (I tend to hoard paper). I know that the picture I had of Ms. Hepburn on my dorm wall my freshman year (did I mention I was an odd child?) is long gone.

As for these brownies, they were easy enough to put together, but I'm feeling way out of practice. I've been MIA the last week or so - first there was an unexpected health issue (hmmm...are health issues ever "expected?") which happily turned out to be nothing, then there was a much needed mini-vacation over the holiday weekend. Today I had jury duty (not picked, sadness) and I also have a visiting house guest who is sweet, and he keeps me company, but he does snore terribly (he snores enough to make me miss my Dad -- for the first hour.......)

For the life of me I can't get this picture to rotate - ugh!

So although these brownies should have been easy, they were not. They definitely turned out oooey and gooey, not to mention tasty, but very, very messy. I'm so out of touch I forgot to check the P&Qs (I bet there are others who had the same problem). I'll see if I can get the brownies out of the pan (something went wrong there) and into a container without getting covered in chocolate. Or maybe I'll just hoard them too (why stop at paper).

Oh, you're supposed to sift the cocoa into the pan......

Many thanks to Lisa at Surviving Oz for this pick, and also for the beautiful, fantastic new logo for TWD. I absolutely LOVE it! The pictures on her blog are beautiful, and I can tell I'll be digging deep into the archives.

As for me I'll be back into the swing of things soon (I hope!).

TWD: Sadly -- not this week

2009-06-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

This cake looks delicious, and I really wanted to give it a try. I was enthusiastic despite my shaky relationship with butter cream. I've yet to master it and the thought of trying again gives me nightmares (I'll temper eggs any day rather than try butter cream frosting).

This week the spirit was willing but the schedule was not. I'll eventually get to it, but this week it just isn't in the cards. I look forward to seeing what everyone else does (I'll probably need to wear a bib while visiting y'alls blogs so I don't drool on myself).

My apologies to Carol at mix mix....stir, stir for not baking along this week. She had quite an adventure with her cake and the results look yummy. I look forward to having my own adventure with this cake soon.

CEiMB: Vegetable and Cheese Strata

2009-06-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me thank any of you who cooked along with me this week. I was kind of surprised when my turn to pick came up so quickly. I won't be picking for Tuesdays with Dorie until sometime in 2011 or 2012 by my calculation. I spent a bunch of time looking at all the choices and tried to find something different yet tasty.

While putting this together I thought of those old Night of a Thousand Stars TV shows because this seemed like a Recipe of a Thousand Ingredients. A love all of the ingredients in the strata, which is why I picked it, but sheesh, there were a lot of them once it came time to do the prep.

I also thought about my Dad, since I picked this recipe thinking it would be good for Father's Day. This is the 5th Father's Day that has come and gone since my Dad died in 2004, and I can't say I miss him any less than I did on the first one. He was one of those quiet guys who everyone considered "just a NICE guy!" I said at his funeral that he'd give you the shirt off his back and then come back the next day saying he just happened to be in the neighborhood with these three other shirts and thought you might like them. Ridiculously smart despite little formal education, he had life smarts galore, and I sure do miss his insights on people and situations. He was almost never wrong when he sized up someone.

His last days made me understand the importance of food in nourishing the body and the soul - both of the person who eats the food AND the person who makes it. One of the very last things my Dad ate was a grits casserole I made for him. I fed it to him the day I brought it over. It was funny, I got talking to my Mom or someone and he'd tap my finger to let me know I was falling down on the job feeding him. He ate it later that week as well, and I can't tell you how special it is to me that I made something he like and it was the last real food he had. I've found a surprising amount of comfort in that these last 5 years.

Happily time does help you remember the good times, not just the bad ones, and between all the parental June holidays we have in my family (both my parent's were born in June - yes, two Gemini parents - I joke that I didn't have 2 parents growing up, I had 4 - plus their anniversary, plus Father's day) plus the photo project I just did for my Mom's 80th party I have a lot floating around in my memory banks. So although this recipe took a lot of prep time, it gave me a chance to do some sorting of those memories, which was nice. In the end, all you have is your memories of the people you love, whether they are in the great beyond or in the next state. That means you can spend time with them whenever you wish. I find that comforting as well.

As for the recipe itself, it came together pretty well. I think I've finally figured out the problem I've been having with cook times in my oven -- the clock in my kitchen is 10 minutes behind the clock in the living room. Since I usually have a sit in the living room after making something, this might explain my temporal confusion.

I made half the recipe, and thought it wasn't bad. It did need a little something, so I spent the day trying to sort out what it was. I figured I might have missed something in the process of dividing everything by two (I know - sad, isn't it?). Finally, I called on my Southern California Culinary roots and came up with the perfect solution.

Everything, especially eggs, taste better with a dollop of sour cream and some avocado. Heaven!

Thanks again for cooking with me, especially since I've been MIA lately. I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and that if you served it for Father's Day that the Dads at the table enjoyed it too.

For the recipe (I've run out of time to post it -- must dash off to work) click here.

TWD: Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise

2009-06-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes there is such a thing as too small. Especially when it comes to desserts. Sometimes you get to "too small" while trying to avoid "too big." Thus is my story with this fabulous dessert, picked this week by Andrea from Andrea in the Kitchen.

All the parts of the recipe looked doable, but I did not want 12 servings. I sensed before I started that this wasn't something I wanted to transport to work, and I certainly do not need 12 servings all to myself. Using my oh-so-bad math skills, I figured I'd divide by 4. Easy enough for the most part, a little tricky with some ingredients. But rather ridiculous when it came to making the outlines on the parchment paper. The 12x6 dessert calculated into 3 x 1.5 to me, which just seemed too small.

Once I assembled the ingredients for the meringue, it was obvious my outline was quite right. So I improvised (always, always a bad idea!). Still got it all on one pan. Now the question became, how long do I cook this for.

For the last few recipes my bake times have been much longer than suggested. One would think it was the oven, but for everything else it works fine. Oh the dilemma - do I cook it the 3 hours figuring it would all even out? Do I cook it for a shorter time knowing the pieces are smaller? Ugh - I hate this kind of math.

I put it in for 1 hour, turned it and left it in for another hour, turned again and took it out 45 minutes later.

All other parts were easy enough to do. I looked and looked (meaning I went to three stores) to find white chocolate. As it turns out, I found the chocolate I used at an Italian restaurant and deli (go figure!). Another good reason to decrease this recipe since the chocolate was hard to find. I had a bad feeling about my math here, but plunged forward.

Pineapple was fine - it was good to use my pineapple cutting skills learned in culinary classes. However, can you spot the problem on the pineapple's first trip to the oven?

The ganache did not turn out quite right - it was more of a "pour" onto the meringue rather than "spread." If that wasn't enough of a sign, here's another --when your pineapple slices start sliding OFF the dacquoise, then you know something has gone terribly wrong.

I must confess I almost didn't make this dessert. I wasn't sure I would like it. But I thought the challenge might be fun and it was. As my dad used to say "win some, lose some, some you call on account of rain." I think this was a bit of all of those -- I won with the experience, I lost in the presentation, and the rain, well, if you count "raining" pineapple, then I've got all three.

A little housekeeping, part 2

2009-06-22T23:23:00.001-07:00

I'm changing names on you, now that you know who I am. The blogger formerly known as Tour Guide Jenn will be masquerading as Jenn H (formerly Tour Guide Jenn) for the next month or so. Since that's a bit cumbersome, I'll be dropping the last part sometime this summer. I just want to make sure when I visit y'all you're not wondering who the heck I am, and how many Jenns are there anyway. I'll keep my little orange flower picture, since I'm a visual learner and perhaps you are too.

Once the official Tour Guide Jenn blog is up and running I'll point you in that direction (but not vice versa). I'm hoping to use it for business and some fun. For instance, in less than two weeks this will be me. And the other blog will be a good place to share the details.

Thanks for visiting and trying to keep track of my identity. I do appreciate it!

CEiMB: Nope, not this week...

2009-06-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

With most sincere apologies to Anonymous New York I did not make the Jambalaya this week. I intended to, really I did. I also intended to be recovered from the big party by now. Everything up to Saturday I estimated spot on. I just didn't even think about the "aftermath."

I'd post pictures from the party, either the 100 people having a great time or the great food I made with lots of help that was delish. Sadly, I took no pictures, so I have none to share. I'll try to solve that problem in the near future with another post. But for today, I'm still getting my life, and my kitchen, back to normal.

I'll be back with you all soon -- promise!

TWD: Honey-Peach Ice Cream

2009-06-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

I come from a long line of ice cream eaters, so this recipe is the perfect end to a 5 day family fest. Mom's 80th party was a big success and everyone had a good time (more details later). That said it's nice to get back into the swing of things, and ice cream seems to be a nice end to the first "normal" day in weeks.

I made the custard this morning before work. That came together easy enough. My only real problem was not enough ripe peaches despite a weekend in a dark place. I put the two truly ripe peaches into the sauce pan and added honey.

It always surprises me when the tempering process works the way it is supposed to. I always expect to scramble my eggs so I tend to be super careful. As I was working on it this morning, I wondered who was the first to figure out this process works. The same person who figured out those spiny, bug-looking bottom feeders taste yummy boiled and dipped in butter?

Anyway, I got the custard to a temperature that would be happy in the fridge, and chilled all day. When I got home I whipped out the ice cream maker (love it!) and the bowl from the freezer (it lives there all the time, but, sadly, is rarely used). This process made me realize that I could do this more often - custard making in the AM, a trip to the maker in the PM, and a yummy midnight snack to top off the day.

Since so many people did not like how the frozen peaches felt/tasted in the ice cream I only put one peach when the ice cream was almost done. Otherwise I followed the recipe as written. I think it's a very tasty choice. If you want to see the recipe head over to Tommi's blog at Brown Interior for all the info, plus a cute limerick.

TWD: Parisian Apple Tartlet

2009-06-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

Jessica at My Baking Heart is my new hero and best friend, though she doesn't know it. Anything with baked apples is at the top of my culinary loves. One day remind me to wax poetic about the Tarte Tartin I had during my 48 hours trip to Paris. It was long before I knew anything about food, but the trip gave me an inkling of what I was missing. So I was totally on board with any pick that has apples and sugar in it. Then add to the fact that on the busiest week of my year Jessica picks a recipe with no need for a mixer, a bowl, a sauce pan or most any other kitchen tools, well, I almost fell to my knees in gratitude!

I had some puff pastry from our friends at Trader Joe's in the freezer. Only needed to pick up some apples from the store, and I was ready to go. This couldn't be easier to make. But just like the last few recipes I've tried, it took longer to bake than stated in the recipe. And even then my apples weren't completely cooked. I was worried about the puff pastry being a little too done, so I made do.

It was yummy for dessert last night and yummy for breakfast this morning. I love the fact that I could whip this up at basically a moment's notice. We've had other desserts that were prettier, more decadent and/or sinful, but this wins in the "easy to make but with bang for your buck" category (don't worry if you didn't know that was a category until now. Neither did I).

This will be it for me until sometime next week. Plans for Mom's party are in full swing with relatives landing on Thursday AM and being drafted into work upon arrival. Shopping on Thursday, food prep on Friday, panic on Friday night into Saturday morning, then "too late to change anything now" mode at noon on Saturday. Wish me luck. I'll report on how it all turns out next week (I'd say after I've recovered, but it would be nice to make an appearance here sometime before 2010).

Will miss you while I'm gone. Have a nice week and see you soon!

TWD: Cinnamon Squares

2009-06-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes you just sit and stew about things? Or wash dishes and stew about things? Or bake and stew about things? Well, that's where I was at when I made this very yummy dessert picked by Tracey at Tracy's Culinary Adventures. Plans continue for Mom's party, and those are going great. The trouble comes when relatives try to throw monkey wrenches into the plans. But that's why we love relatives, right???

Good thing this recipe was easy with all the stewing going on, in addition to the fact that half of my tiny kitchen (I mean TINY) has turned into a photo lab. I use my kitchen table for a variety of tasks, and really need the space when it comes to baking day. But with the photo scanner, little laptop, and pictures and slides o'plenty being cleaned and prepped for a presentation at Mom's party, space is at a minimum. Happily this recipe didn't need a lot of bowls or fuss, so the photo lab remained undisturbed.

How embarrassing!

Lucky for me I find stirring and mixing to be very therapeutic, so before long I was done stewing and enjoying the baking. Everything worked out great in putting this together. It took a little longer than stated to bake (almost an hour), but other than a very golden top, the cake turned out great.

Had a little trouble with the frosting when I put that together -- it got a little runny, so the frosting spent a few minutes in the fridge, and the frosted cake took a quick trip to the freezer to set before cutting this up and bringing it to work for my boss' birthday. My co-workers made quick work of it, and I must admit I was over getting a square or two throughout the day. Very yummy indeed.

Another tasty and easy pick to put in the repertoire. I would definitely make these again.

A little housekeeping

2009-05-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

You'll notice I've changed the design of this blog, and it may change a few more times before I settle on something. The black worked during the winter, but with the beginning of summer just around the corner, I thought I'd lighten up this space.

I'll also eventually be changing my name -- no more "tour guide" just "Jenn" as I want to retain the tour guiding thing for actual tour guide business (not that there is much of it in this economy, but eventually it has to get better). I'll have to figure something out so when I go visit blogs and leave comments everyone won't wonder "who's the new girl?"

Let me know what you think of the changes!

CEiMB: A funny thing happened on the way to Crispy Fish Fingers

2009-05-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

I've been a little distracted lately. Okay, a lot distracted. Just came off of a huge project at work, and now I'm working on a huge project for next month -- I'm throwing a party for my Mom's 80th birthday. We're looking at about 100 people attending, many of them out-of-town relatives, and I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row for that. Just got tables and linens rented, now working on how to get the flowers to the location on time. You know the drill.

I tell you all this as a explanation for my "oops!" this week. I saw the "Crispy." I saw the "Fingers." What I missed was the "Fish." Somehow I got it in my head that we were doing the "Crispy Chicken Fingers" (page 200). Like I said -- Oops!

So enjoy the pictures, and I'll include the recipe below. Good to know the group hasn't made this one yet so I feel like I'm blazing a new trail rather than doing a rewind (it may not seem like a big consolation to you, but when blazing a new trail to stupidity it's nice to know the scenery will be new to everyone else).

These were tasty and super easy. The chicken was very moist and the texture was fried chicken-like, but the taste wasn't. But with the addition of the Honey-Mustard Sauce, it was really yummy!

Crispy Chicken Fingers

from The Food You Crave (p. 200)

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut across into 1/2-inch thick slices

1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk

Cooking Spray

4 cups whole-grain corn cereal such as Corn Chex or corn flakes (I used regular corn flakes)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Honey-Mustard Sauce (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the chicken and buttermilk in a shallow dish, turning the chicken to coat it with the buttermilk. Cover and chill for 15 minutes. Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray.

Put the cereal in a sealable plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Transfer the crumbs to a shallow dish and season them with the salt and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken in the cereal to fully coat and arrange on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Leave the chicken on the baking sheets to cool slightly. It will become crispier.

Serve with the mustard sauce on the side.

Honey-Mustard Sauce

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons honey

In a small bowl, stir together the mustard and mayonnaise until smooth. Stir in the honey.

TWD: Chipster-Topped Brownies

2009-05-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile one of Dorie's recipes will break your heart, and for me, this was the one. I was rather ambivilant about the recipe -- chocolate chip cookie dough on top of brownies seems a little excessive. It's the "one of a good thing means 5 will be better" kind of thinking that is the root cause of much that is wrong in modern times. But I was willing to give this recipe a shot. I love chocolate chip cookies. I love brownies. How could this go wrong?

It went wrong in one way - not getting cooked enough. When I came out to the kitchen the next morning and saw the crater in the middle of the pan, my heart sunk (just like this recipe!). Although I cooked it for the required amount of time, and did the test per Dorie's instructions, the middle was not cooked enough. The edges were cooked a little too much. If I were to make this again I'd make it in two smaller pans rather than in one large one.

I followed the directions and everything went great. I did use the nuts (stunningly I had just enough on hand), and had no problem getting the cookie dough on top of the brownie layer. The brownie layer seemed to set up nicely while putting the dough together, and I didn't have the problems there that some seemed to comment on in the P&Qs this week.

Since I planned on bringing these to work for an occassion, I tried to save the middle pieces by sending them back to the oven for a short time. Crazy, I know, but desparate times require desparate measures (it was a whole lot of chocolate and butter to just go to waste. I had to try something!). After 6-7 minutes in a 350 degree oven......well.......see for yourself.........

Before.........

After.........

Despite the trouble and heartbreak, these were very tasty and my co-workers gobbled them up. Sadly there were only a few that were just right rather than too soft or too dry (perhaps I'll call these the Goldilocks bars - I kind of like that!).

The recipe can be found at Supplicious and was picked by Beth. I always feel bad when I make something that doesn't turn out -- I don't want the one who picked to think they picked a dud! So Beth, although it was a mixed result, the part that was edible was really tasty (okay -- even the melty version above, super tasty!).

CEiMB: Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut-Curry Broth

2009-05-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

This recipe had elements I love (coconut) and elements I'm not a big fan of (fish, curry). I'm a little disturbed by my recent trend of "I'm not a big fan of......" in this blog, but on the other hand, I've definitely been pushing my culinary envelope this week.

I like shell fish much more than "real" fish, but if forced to have "real" fish halibut is one that I will pick. Curry isn't something I've had a lot of experience with, and only like if coconut milk is involved to tone down the taste and the heat. That said I had a good feeling about this pick, and was pretty excited to give it a try.

This was pretty easy to put together. I must confess I cheated by using a pre-cooked brown rice from Trader Joe's (at least it was organic!). The spinach I did fresh, and I used curry powder rather than the red curry paste. The curry powder I bought from the bulk area at my local Henry's so it only cost me 21 cents. I figured I wouldn't be out much if I hated it.

All the elements came together nicely and quickly, and I have to say I really liked it. Each individual element was okay, but I really liked all four elements blended together (the fish, rice, spinach and sauce). Together they were yummier than the sum of their parts.

Since I really should eat fish and brown rice more than I do, this is a sure bet to try again. Thanks to Liz over at Not So Skinny Kitchen for this week's recipe. Head over there for the recipe, or go to page 232 in "The Food You Crave" by Ellie Krieger.

TWD: Fresh Mango Bread

2009-05-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

I can't say I've ever been a fan of the mango. I like mango mixed with other foods, especially passion fruit. Orange Passion fruit Mango is one of my favorite juice drinks, for instance. But every time I've had mango there's been a little something about it I haven't really warmed up to.

While I was cutting up the mango for this bread, I was thinking about a long lost friend of mine I've recently found thanks to Facebook (I'm up to 17 friends, pretty exciting!). AK lives in the Florida Keys and was announcing on her page a massive mango give away, posting "Mangoes! Mango bread, mango muffins, mango mousse, mango smoothies, mango chicken, sliced mango, diced mango, frozen mango, mango wine..." Mangoes in Florida must be like Avocados here in California. Lots of people have trees, when they are ripe you can't get rid of them fast enough, and everyone has lots of ways to use them. Plus people either love them or hate them. (Did I mention I'm not a fan of the mango?)

So there I am comparing mangoes with avocados (even the way you cut them is somewhat similar) when I unthinkingly put a stray piece in my mouth and ate it. And didn't hate it. In fact, I rather liked it. Since I didn't have many to spare I scrounged around for another taste just to be sure I still didn't hate it. Not bad. Perhaps I've been trying "bad" mangoes all this time. But I liked it, I really liked it!

I heeded the early reviews from the P&Q and didn't add all of the ginger, and bought two mangoes just in case they were needed, and they were. The bread came together easy enough, just very late in the day....er evening.....well, night, really. As in "I hope the bread gets out of the oven before midnight" late. Since Dorie says it will be tastier to eat the next day, it will be perfect to bring to work tomorrow. Technically tomorrow is "the next day," though perhaps only 9 hours after it comes out of the oven.

Thanks again to all who contributed to the P&Q this week. The news on needing more than one mango was very helpful and very needed. And thanks to Kelly at Baking with the Boys for this week's selection (recipe can be found on Kelly's blog).

ed on 5/20 to add top photo of it cooled and out of the pan. Also to add that it is tasty, though the strongest flavors are the spices and not the mango or the zest. A little chopped nuts and coconut would be nice additions for a second baking.

CEiMB: Jerk Chicken with Cool Pineapple Salsa

2009-05-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

As you can see I've joined the Craving Ellie in My Belly crew. Since all the cool kids are in the group, I wanted to join to (by cool kids I mean Pamela and Leslie and Cathy, to name a few). The food always looks good, and the reviews the same. Plus one can not live on desserts alone (as tempting as that may be). One of my goals is to do more cooking for myself, and to be mindful of what I eat (quality of ingredients, eating whole foods, not to mention quantity), so this seems to be just the thing to be "cool" and accomplish goals. During my stress shopping last week I added "The Food You Crave" to my Amazon cart. The book arrived on Monday and I've had some fun looking through it.

I must confess when I saw "Jerk Chicken" as the first recipe I thought about skipping it and waiting until next week to start. Anything super spicy, or medium spicy, or anything that even has a hint of spicy is too much for me. My dad, who I'm very much like in so many ways, could eat a jalapeno pepper whole and not even break a sweat. I break a sweat just looking at a jalapeno, let alone a scotch bonnet (which is ten million times hotter on the Scoville scale --okay, perhaps I exaggerate -- but not by much). I was going to try a bit of jalapeno, but ended up having everything else I needed at home, and simply did not want to stop at the store to buy one ingredient that I don't like very much.

One of the things I had were gigantic organic chicken breasts from Trader Joe's. They were large enough that I just pounded out one and cut it in half, and then halved the recipe to make two servings. This was tasty enough, and I really did like the salsa that goes with it, but I'm sure something was lost in the translation by leaving out the heat. Tasty, indeed, but okay.

I'm so looking forward to exploring this book. I definitely don't need another cook book, but I love the pictures, and the fresh ingredients, and the helpful hints inside. I think this will be fun. Plus I get to be in some pretty nice company.

Too bad I joined after Jen from Notes From the Table, who picked this week's recipe, headed to my home town. I could trade her a city tour or a ride to the Zoo for a taste of all those yummy treats she made for the trip. Oh well -- next time.

Thanks for allowing me to join CEiMB!

TWD: Tartest Lemon Tart

2009-05-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

I must say I approached this week's pick with a little hesitancy. Don't get me wrong, I like lemon and tart as much as the next girl. But the reports in this week's P&Q section indicated that this was a mighty tart tart!

This recipe gives me the opportunity to introduce the newest member of my family! Apparently I'm not only a stress eater, I'm a stress buyer as well. Last week was the busiest week ever for my company (I'm not exaggerating). In the middle of the hustle and bustle, I took my lunch break and meandered on over to Amazon, where they had a 3 cup Cuisinart food processor on sale. Every time we have a Dorie recipe that says "In a food processor....." I say "oh dang it" (well, maybe something a little stronger) and long for the day when I own one. So this little guy is perfect for my little kitchen and little ol' me. Without a moment's hesitation I clicked "add to shopping cart" and 2 clicks later it was on it's way.

My new toy.....er.....tool made it's maiden voyage this weekend when I made the tart crust for both this recipe and the Chocolate Cream Tart from a few weeks back (more on that later -- made it for Mom's day and it was yummy! Mom is still talking about how good it was). Worked like a dream. Since I'm minus a blender I used this for the filling of the Lemon Tart. I made half of the filling recipe as I was only using two mini-tart pans.

The filling was easy enough, and soon enough the tart was on its way to the oven. I have some filling left over -- hopefully it won't mind an evening in an airtight container enjoying a rest in the fridge.

My only complaint is that this recipe takes a long time to make from beginning to end. I'm really happy I had the pastry dough all ready. My crankiness at the bake time is undoubtedly in direct proportion to my level of tiredness. I thought I'd just suck it up and stick it out tonight, and come home and crash tomorrow. That was before I remembered the season finale of LOST is on tomorrow night, and my Tivo is jammed (that cute little logo is bulging out and his little antennas are droopy). But I digress.....

Due to the hour this is once again a recipe where the components taste yummy, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to know how the whole package will taste. The edges are a little dark, and I'm not sure I cooked it too long, or not long enough. I guess I'll find out in the morning. If nothing else I can think of worse choices for breakfast.

Thanks to Barb at Babette Feasts for picking this recipe. The lemon is such a nice change of pace from all the chocolate, and this looks to be tasty!

ed. added photos from the second attempt, which was much tastier, and prettier, than the first attempt. It's amazing what a little sleep can do for a girl.

TWD: "Tiramisu" Cake

2009-05-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a pretty quick post, but it's a pretty quick dessert as well. I must confess that the reason the Tiramisu is in quotes is because I'm not a fan of coffee, or any coffee flavored thing. When the Tiramisu craze hit I simply didn't get it. I'm sure if I liked coffee I would, but alas, I don't. The upside of that is I haven't given half of my earnings to Starbucks in the last decade.

I made the cake as instructed, only half the recipe to go into my 6" cake pans. I passed on the syrups. When I took a cake making class a year or so ago just about every cake (scratch that -- every cake) had some kind of liquor based syrup that went on it, so I feel like I've had plenty of experience in that area. I did add a smidge of brandy to the frosting, since it clearly needed some flavor and liquid. I didn't add enough, so a couple of drops of milk had it to the correct consistency prior to adding the whipped cream.

A few left over Nestle' chocolate chips in the middle and a few on top for decoration, and viola! A variation on a cake which is a variation on a dessert I don't like very much. Since it is late, and the cake needs to sit before consumption (I'm assuming the chocolate and the brandy need to make each other's acquaintance and become friends prior to eating) I don't know how it tastes all together. But I can say that the individual components are quite tasty. Since it's a crazy week at work, and I am a stress eater, I'm sure the cake will be gone by this time tomorrow. I'm only kind of kidding.

Many thanks to Megan over at My Baking Adventures for this week's recipe. I enjoyed practicing the cake skills I learned in the aforementioned class and seeing how far I've progressed.

TWD: I was ready......

2009-04-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

I was excited about this pick, and even went to my favorite cooking store on Sunday to pick up two mini tart pans so I could try both the original version of Chocolate Cream Tart and the Coconut version (love the coconut and have some left over from the Coconut Butter Thins). Unfortunately a few hours later I learned that a relative had passed away. It was one of those situations where you're grateful for the person to not be suffering any more, but saddened for the loss of those left behind. This part of the family has been through a lot in recent years, so my heart goes out to them.

Needless to say, my plans for the week have changed. Tomorrow I will be taking a short roadtrip up the state for the funeral. As a result I will miss work at our absolute busiest time. Being the good worker bee that I am I stayed late to be sure all was covered in my absense. My hopes of squeezing in a baking project tonight didn't make it past my return home at 9pm.

I'm hoping to make this later in the week, as the reports are that it is quite good, and I have my mini tart pans and all. And frankly this is what life is all about. After any loss you simply must pick yourself up and keep on moving, enjoying the good stuff while you can. Horribly cliche, I know, but go on you must, so you might as well do it with some yummy desserts as comfort along the way.

My apologies to Kim over at Scrumptious Photography for not being able to bake along in a timely fashion. Her pictures are amazing, and further inspiration for trying this dessert. I will catch up with everyone as the week progresses. In the meantime -- bake on!

TWD: Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

2009-04-21T21:34:00.000-07:00

First, I'm going to apologize to any of you who live in cold climates. Really, I've been there, I know how painful these words are this time of year. The words are these -- it is too dang hot to bake (cruel! I know!). Today wasn't nearly as hot as yesterday. It would be impossible to bake yesterday (actually, just walking into my house at 8pm last night felt like I was baking). This brief warm spell we're having is making me worry about what I'll do this summer. No air conditioning. Little house. I'll have to participate in TWD at 3am. Oy!

Moving on -- it's been awhile since I've done the TWD thing, so I felt a little out of practice. Good thing there weren't too many ingredients. And in this heat, "chopping" the chocolate was pretty darn easy.

I first thought I'd go the 8x8 Pyrex route, but upon looking over some of the comments in the P&Q I decided I really liked the idea of ramekins (ah yes, my still new ramekins in their shinny new roasting pan). I made half of the recipe, and divided into four. It was at this point I remembered the whole "take pictures as you go" thing. As many of you have no doubt discovered, this is not a pretty dessert. Not at all. I find myself trusting in the power of Dorie. Were it not the experience of knowing her desserts taste divine, I would have serious reservations.

This baked for 45 plus minutes, and it still didn't look appetizing. But oh boy, is it yummy! Super rich (perhaps a little too rich even in a 6 ounce ramekin portion) with just the right balance of chocolate and bready goodness. My intention was to only take a bite for the sake of the picture. Alas, the container is almost empty at this point (someone save me from myself!).

Many thanks to Lauren of Upper Eastside Chronicle for choosing this week's recipe!

On the cutting edge....?

2009-04-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

If there is a hip new thing in the world, something very cutting edge, be it in food, or pop culture, fashion or music, at the very forefront of it -- you won't find me. Or even second in line. Or even in the middle somewhere. More likely than not, I'm in the back of the phenomenon saying "what....!?! what are you talking about?"

Want examples? I just joined Facebook. I'm very proud of the fact that I did not need a "young person" to show me how. Even more impressive than that -- I now have 10 friends. TEN! Okay, some are relatives, but you know what I mean.

Another example? I thought the idea of a reality TV show where people are thrown into the most primitive of conditions and vote each other out of the tribe each week the stupidest idea I ever heard. Ditto American Idol. Alas, I won't grow up to be a network executive.

Food example? Krispy Kreme Donuts. Don't get me wrong, they are a darn fine donut. But.....they're a donut, not the cure for cancer. Why people used to drive from LA to Las Vegas for one is beyond me.

So while in LA this week I decided finally check out the phenomenon that was Sprinkles. Note the "was." I think the cupcake craze has come and gone. Also gone are the 45 minute lines out in front of the Beverly Hills store. Good thing too as I didn't have much change for the meter and was on a schedule to meet my cousin for lunch. (I sensed the tide had turned on cupcakes when parking was a snap).

The staff was super nice, and I decided I'd only try two (at $3.25 a cupcake, who can afford a dozen or so??). I picked the Chocolate Coconut and the Peanut Butter Chocolate. They were nicely packed and I was good and didn't dig into them until I was safely back in San Diego.

They were tasty and pretty, and the presentation was very nice. The coconut topping was good, but the chocolate cupcake was a little bland. Not so the peanut butter cupcake -- both cake and topping were delicious.

According to their website Sprinkles has 6 stores currently open with more stores opening in other parts of the country (including one here in San Diego). I feel kind of bad for them -- I just can't imagine in this economy people plunking down hard earned money on cupcakes. But as I've shown above, I've been wrong before. It will be interesting to see what happens to them once they get out of California and into Kansas City.

So......have you had these cupcakes? What did you think?

TWD: No posting (again!)

2009-04-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

This will be quick, as I'm getting ready for a short road trip. Alas, no contribution from me this week. This is the first time since I've joined that I've missed two in a row, and I feel really bad. On the up side, I have just a smidge more room in my pants I've noticed.

Anywho........I've looked over the next recipe carefully, have plotted out time, and have access to all the ingredients, so I'm good to go. I will bake enthusiastically upon my return. And will post any cool pictures if I come back with them (a wee little trip to Hollywood -- will post interesting food and star sightings if I have any. I'm not so good with the star sightings, but who knows!).

See you all soon!

TWD: No Banana Cream Pie for me

2009-04-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

With apologies to Amy at Sing for Your Supper (who has a cute dog in between the pictures of yummy looking food!) I am sitting out this week. Partly because I have no pie making equipment. I can make cakes in 3 different sizes, but no pie. Partly because it looks a little messy to lug to work. And mostly because I ate waaaaaay too many Coconut Butter Thins last week. They were just too good.

While my waistline takes a break, I'll leave you with some pictures of spring from just outside my tiny house. My landlords love to garden, so I get the benefit of that. I came home last weekend with the sun shining and the birds singing (more on that in a second) and the flowers blooming and I opened the gate and said "PRETTY!" out loud (my neighbors must think I'm a little nutty). For those of you who are curious, the dang bird is still singing his nighttime song. Apparently he is looking for a friend. As a result, I've learned the benefits of running a fan at night.

I look forward to seeing what the rest of you did this week. Amy's pie looks yummy -- anyone want to send me a slice??

Our color theme this season - Orange

This is my favorite picture and it uses the macro setting on my camera. The purple flower is the size of the tip of my little finger. The orange flower the size of a quarter.

The orange flower in a group (note that I use the specific Latin term for each plant). The flowers are from a type of ice plant.

This one I know! California poppies (our state flower).

TWD: Coconut Butter Thins

2009-03-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

Another busy week, another last minute baking frenzy for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick. I was super excited about this one, as I love, I mean LOVE coconut. It's one of those things that people either love or hate. I'm a lover! So a big "thank you!" goes out to Jayne from The Barefoot Kitchen Witch who picked this week's recipe (check out her great pictures and cute kids!)

Since I'm all about the last minute often times I find the hardest thing about a recipe is getting the butter to room temperature. But other than that wait, this was super easy. I've really been loving the last few weeks where we've rubbed the zest of lemon/lime into the sugar. It's like a little aroma therapy/stress reduction treatment. And the idea of putting the dough into the zip top bag and rolling it out is genius - pure genius.

The only down side of this recipe is having left over macadamia nuts. I think I ate my daily -- or was it weekly -- amount of calories just snacking on them tonight. They are pure evil (Oh. So. Good. EVIL!).

Since it is late, and I only have one rack in my oven I'm baking two sheets worth of butter thins and I put the rest into the fridge and will bake those off later. I had a little bit of a math problem when cutting the dough into pieces (curse math!) so I have many more pieces, in a much smaller size than they should be. (Can I just take a moment to curse the bird outside my window singing. I'm all for birds singing. I truly love hearing them throughout the day. But it's 11:30pm and this guy is just warming up for his big solo. All last night I kept waking up to him singing. When the alarm went off this morning -- nothing! He must be desperate or an insomniac or something! Sorry, I feel better now).

I've been doing this TWD thing long enough to know that however the dessert tastes coming out of the oven isn't necessarily how it will taste when it cools. Usually it will taste better. Since these butter thins are unbelievably delicious (heaven I tell you!) out of the oven, I can only imagine how fantastic they will be in an hour. I was planning on going to bed. I may have to stay up a little longer than I planned (with my little birdy friend outside, this may not be a problem).

PS - I have to ask........was I the only one singing "put the lime with the coconut and shake it all up" while mixing ingredients? Honestly -- I wasn't alone, was I???

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

2009-03-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Let me just start off by saying this was a winner. A quickly devoured treat at work, one that merited a call from the big big boss (I like to keep him well fed, especially as we get closer to bonus time.)! Overall, quite a success.

I must confess, I'm not a big blueberry fan. In all the wonderful ways blueberries come packaged - in muffins, bagels, yogurt et. al - I generally choose a different flavor. It's nothing personal with the blueberry. It is, after all, a super food. But for whatever reason, I'm much more fond of just about every other berry out there. Sad little blueberry!

My trip to the store to get the mighty little berry created a moral dilemma right there in the frozen food section. The fresh berries were from Chile. That seems like a mighty long way for a little berry to travel, and although I'm not an avid follower of the slow food movement, I did think about how much energy it took to get the little pint of berries there. So I decided to check out the frozen berries (Trader Joe's is so great about having a really nice variety of frozen fruit - they have plenty to choose from). They had some wild little berries grown in a forest for less money, and that sounded nice and natural. But they came from Canada - yes, closer than Chile, but still, keeping them frozen from there to California had to use a bunch of energy as well. Who knew such a little berry could create such a dilemma! I did what most people do -- I voted with my pocketbook. The frozen berries were cheaper, and I'd get more for my money. Problem solved.

This recipe came together quickly, and other than the dreaded blue batter (the frozen berries got a little defrosted when I wasn't looking!), and the pools of butter that many others had (I had to bake mine for 80 or so minutes) this was easy to do. And the results were de-lish. I think my boss said it best -- there were hints of so many wonderful things that played off each other -- I taste lemon! I taste blueberry! I taste butter! I taste sugar! Yum!

Thanks to Sihan at Befuddlement for picking this recipe. I can truly say I never would have made it otherwise, and it was a sweet and wonderful surprise.

TWD: French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze

2009-03-17T21:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another "how many minutes 'til midnight?!?!?" TWD posting. Once again I'm starting this near the end of a Tuesday. The lateness of the post has nothing to do with my enthusiasm for this week's pick (thanks to Liliana at My Cookbook Addiction for choosing another non-chocolate, lemon (yay!) dessert). I was really looking forward to it, but made a critical error - I used the last of my oil for dinner Saturday night, didn't realize my error until Monday night (oops!), prompting an emergency after-work stop at the store and the last minute rush for cakey-goodness.

Maybe it was the last minute rush that made me feel like the Swedish chef this evening - instruments going here, flour going there (happily nothing came to life like in this example!). I think I caught myself singing the little song at some point. Regardless of which Muppet I was channeling (usually it's either Waldorf or Statler) this cake was fun. I liked how easy it was, and surprisingly, I really liked how it was mixed by hand (no KitchenAid to do the work). And the aroma - ah, the aroma. My house smelled like a little slice of heaven. After a rough week (yes, I know it's only Tuesday!) I found it all of this very therapeutic.

A small bit of trouble getting the cake out of the pan (whole, that is). I'll just blame that on spending too much time reading other blogs and not enough at reading the directions (take the cake out of the oven and put on rack, NOT put on top of oven on hot baking sheet and walk away). Since this cake isn't going anywhere there's no reason to panic over a little cake left in the pan (a little something to nibble on).

I have no lemon marmalade for the glaze (I want to find some though as it sure sounds good), and my bread pan was a little bigger than the directions, so the end result required a bit of improvising. I do love how Dorie gives some ideas, and other TWDers are so creative and share theirs too. I culled from the group and went with a little lemon curd (store bought from Trader Joe's - not the same as home made, but still very good), with some strawberries for color and variety. I decided not to "curd" the whole cake as I wanted to put some in the freezer, so I only worked with what I wanted to eat.....um.......should eat..... soon.

Since I like the look of pictures with natural light much better than the lousy lighting I have in my kitchen at night, I'll update my photos in the morning (guess what I'm having for breakfast!). This cake is easy and yummy. The only thing I would do differently is either buy almond meal or use all AP flour. The cake was a little nuttier than I liked -- not horrible or anything, just a bit too much -- and I'm sure that has to do with my shabby little grinder not making them fine enough. No worries -- just a great excuse to make this again!

March = Ireland

2009-03-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

The luckiest sheep anywhere - beachfront property!

This time of year my thoughts always wander to the Emerald Isle. Of course all the cable networks trot out their Irish documentaries and specials, Saint Patrick's day decorations are on display, and QVC does it's annual All Irish day (I love watching just to listen to the accents). My family isn't Irish, and I knew almost nothing about Ireland before becoming a tour guide and escorting tour groups there in 2000 - 01. It was terrifying -- 10,000 years of history, guests who were fiercely Irish American, in a new country where they "sort of" speak the same language (try figuring out what "half eight" means, or whether the "the craic is mighty" at the pub is a good thing or a bad thing!). There is nothing easy about being a tour guide.

Being in Ireland, however, couldn't be easier. The people are friendly, generous and well informed. I had the best, most interesting conversations nightly. The landscape is gorgeous, the history fascinating, and the food is very good. I learned to love many things while touring there, and decided to recreate some of the edible ones in my kitchen this month.

Poulnabrone - Portal tomb in County Clare

Ireland is a cool country (both in attitude and temperature) and a pub lunch of soup and brown bread hits the spot on a rainy day. Lunch is at 1pm there, so it's good to get ahead start on the locals. Irish pubs are wonderful places and I wish the US could embrace the idea. They aren't just about drinking -- in fact you can spend a pleasant afternoon or evening in a pub and never have any alcohol. They are places to get good food at a fair price, and to enjoy great conversation and exchange information about your community. It's the community function that is the heart of any pub.

Paddy Burkes Pub - Clarinbridge, Co. Galway

Soup in Ireland is different than in the US - most are creamy and blended (no minestrone or chicken noodle soup). I became a huge fan of Potato Leek Soup and decided that my first recipe would be along that vein. I have a cookbook called The Irish Heritage Cookbook by Margaret M. Johnson, and decided to try out the Colcannon Soup. Colcannon proper is a traditional dish served on All Hallows' Eve (many of our Halloween traditions come from Ireland), and is a dish that uses cabbage, potatoes and leeks. One of the traditions is for a gold ring, wrapped in paper, to be placed in the dish. Whoever finds the ring is likely to marry within the year.

It is a little hard to hide a ring in some soup, but this soup is very easy to make. I under estimated my potatoes and over estimated my chicken broth, but overall I was very pleased with how the soup turned out. Served with some Irish Brown Bread (that will be the next post) it tasted just like Ireland. And with my many pleasant memories of Ireland, that was a very good thing indeed!

I used an immersion blender rather than a traditional blender (aren't immersion blenders the handiest of gadgets!?) and I left out the parsley (not a fan). Otherwise, I followed the directions below.

Colcannon Soup from The Irish Heritage Cookbook

Serves 6 as a first course

4 Tablespoons butter

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pound leeks (white and pale green parts only), washed and chopped

5 cups homemade chicken stock, or canned low-salt chicken broth

Salt and ground white pepper to taste

Pinch of ground nutmeg

1 1/4 cups half-and-half

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, or 1 tablespoon dried.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the cabbage, potatoes, and leeks, cover, and cook over medium heat until slightly tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

Add the stock or broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the vegetables are soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Transfer to a blender or food processor in batches and process until smooth. (To make ahead, cover and refrigerate for up to 12 hours).

Return the puree to the same saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the half-and-half. Heat through over medium heat. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with the parsley.

TWD: Lemon Cup Custard

2009-03-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie pick is from Bridget over at The Way the Cookie Crumbles. I must confess I got very distracted over there by all of her beautiful photography. WOW! I skimmed the Photography Tips section and will definitely go back with camera in hand to read that section more carefully.

This week's pick created a lot of conversation in the P&Q section: lots of discussion about the "eggy-ness" of the custard, questions about whether or not to participate, even Dorie left a comment about the recipe! I felt kind of bad for Bridget -- I can imagine it's a lot of pressure to pick the week's recipe (I won't be picking for another 4 years, I think) and to get such a strong reaction to your pick must be kind of tough. Despite the chatter of eggy-ness, I was determined to try this recipe. I love lemon flavored anything, there was no chocolate to chop (YAY!) and heck, I went out and bought ramekins for goodness sake! I was in!

New Ramekins in my shiny new Roasting Pan - pretty!

The recipe is quite easy (see Bridget's blog for it) and didn't take much time to put together - although at one point I wished I had a third hand (one to pour the hot liquid into the eggs, one to hold the strainer, and one to whisk so that the eggs didn't cook). I made half of the recipe, and I think I overcooked it as there was no jiggle in my custard when it came out of the oven. I didn't take into account the smaller batch, or the larger than necessary ramekins which caused the custard to be done sooner than I was counting on. As a result it didn't jiggle and it didn't look "flan-like" either.

No jiggle

That said, the taste wasn't bad. Yes, it was a bit eggy, but I did have just the right amount of lemon flavor (I added a little lemon extract). I loved the color, and with a little sprucing up it looks like a very grown up dessert. It also tastes AMAZING with the whipped cream and the strawberry, and I liked it the next day much better than the day I made it. I'd definitely make it again -- I'm always cooking with lemon, so it would be a great way to use the left over zest from other recipes (and have a themed dinner menu).

Hopefully those of you who tried it liked it, and those of you who didn't try it might in the future.

It's worth it!

** I just posted this at 12:01pm my time on Tuesday -- it has the saved draft date and time for some reason. Just don't want anyone to think I cheated!

TWD: Chocolate Armagnac Cake - The Cake That Got Me Fired

2009-03-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

Greetings all! I'm sitting this cake out this week. No offense to Lyb over at And then I do the dishes. I think this pick is a bold choice and I'll probably make it some point. But right now, as many people are, I'm trying to be miserly with my resources, and this recipe calls for ingredients I don't have on hand. Okay -- if I were really being honest, it would be that....AND the fact that I'm just a little "sweet-ed" out. I never dreamed I could reach a limit on sweets, especially chocolate. But, sadly, I have. I mentioned being tired of chopping chocolate in a previous post, and that feeling just hasn't left me yet. Happily I have Lemon Cup Custard to look forward to next week. It will force me to buy the ramekins I've been eyeing for awhile.

On a different note -- I'll be doing several posts around a theme this month. I'm pretty excited about what I've accomplished so far, so please check back for that! In the meantime I look forward to checking out what you all did this week!

Making up TWD: A Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

2009-02-26T07:41:00.000-08:00

For the Oscars on Sunday I made a cheesecake. This was on the TWD list from December, and I was all set to make it then. I had the main ingredients that I normally don't have (4 blocks of cream cheese, and chocolate graham crackers since I wanted to make the Layered Chocolate version). But then I was busy at work. And then I caught a cold. Then I was busy at work again. Then I caught another cold. The cream cheese in the fridge and the graham crackers in the cupboard mocked me everytime I opened them. They had just one question - when?

So what better occasion to make an elegant black and white dessert for than an Oscar party. The pressure was on, and as typical for me, I did a dopey thing -- I didn't read the recipe all the way through before I started to see if I had all the ingredients. What -- you mean I need something other than cream cheese and graham crackers??? To say I made this by the skin of my teeth would be an understatement (picture, if you will, opening about 20 sugar packets so that I could have enough sugar - need I say more?).

Since I never made a cheesecake before, and because this was going to a party with actual people (rather than my non-fussy co-workers) I was very nervous and thought I'd pass out from anticipation (or was that passing out feeling a Hugh Jackman closeup?). Happily, it was a success. Very tasty, very tall, very creamy (the cheesecake, not Hugh Jackman.....hmmmm.....let me rethink that last statement......).

I was surprised how easy this cheesecake is to make. It needs time, sure, so it's not a "throw it together" kind of dessert. But a show stopper for those special occassions.

TWD: Carmel Crunch Bars

2009-02-24T19:06:00.000-08:00

Today's TWD was just something that needed to get done. You know that feeling -- you've got a lot to do on top of a lot that's already done, and this little baked good is just another thing on the "to do" list that needs to be checked off. That was how I approached this week's choice by Whitney over at What's left on the Table. I know I shouldn't say such a thing out loud, but that was my reality this morning when I started. I simply wanted to get them done.

I really was looking forward to this choice too. If it has Heath Bar anything, I'm sold. This recipe is easy enough, but, if I can confess one more thing I shouldn't, I'm getting a little tired of chopping chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I love to eat chocolate, and I love chocolate desserts. But working with chocolate is messy, and everything I've made lately has chocolate (including Sunday's Oscar night Cheesecake), and I'm beginning to have evil thoughts about it.

On the up side I realized as I worked that the whole "practice makes perfect" thing really is true. I've found a rhythm in my kitchen and baking routine and have a much better idea of how to get ingredients and recipes put together without it seemingly taking all day. I felt pretty good about that, and thought it was my "take away" for the project.

Then, just after I put the base of the bars in the oven, I had a bite of the dough. If my mouth could have done a back flip and jumped up and down like a cheerleader, it would. "Oh my, that was good!" it shrieked (shrieked I tell you!). Suddenly, the whole "project" turned to a joy. Kind of like driving to work in the rain, cursing all the traffic, only to see a double rainbow light up the sky. Or you go to a movie you didn't really want to, only to think it the funniest thing you've seen in ages. That's what these bars ended up being for me.

My co-workers were enthusiastic as well. Their mouths were doing back flips too, I'd guess, based on how quickly the bars went, and how many requests for the recipe I got. So thanks Whitney, for a great pick. And for providing me my double rainbow for the day.

TWD: Devil's Food White-Out Cake

2009-02-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

Finally - the cover cake! Thanks to Stephanie over at Confessions of a City Eater for picking this cake (be sure to check out her cute dog!). Everyone over at TWD was very excited about this pick, as was I.

That is until the angst. At first I thought I'd get a head start and make this early. But I work in an industry that's a wee bit busy around February 14th, so that didn't work out. Then, as the days got closer to the 14th, my cubicle world started sounding like a T.B. ward. The coughing, the hacking, the sneezing -- it was only a matter of time before I caught the dreaded company cold.

Since no one wants to eat baked goods from a sick person (well, actually some of my co-workers would, but I want to save them from themselves) I thought I'd do what so many of the creative TWDers do and make a smaller cake. I went over to Great-News (simply the best cooking store in San Diego - hands down!) and bought 6" cake pans. How cute are they!

That was all good until I realized I'd have to do math to cut down the recipe. We've already established I'm not so great at that. So after much head scratching and scribbling, I decided to just go with the full recipe, use the 6" pans, and make cup cakes to freeze for later. Shesh - so much effort and I hadn't even started baking yet!

One of the very cool things I learned in culinary school is how to easily make a round parchment bottom for any sized pan. For my 9" pans I have some cool silicon inserts, but had to use the parchment paper for my new 6" pans. Very easy - just fold the parchment paper in half, then in half again, so now you have a square. Bring one side up to form a triangle (like you're going to cut out a snowflake) and keep going until it's as small as you can make it. Put the triangle at the middle of the pan, and cut to fit. Perhaps everyone knows this trick, but I sure didn't. I was the person tracing the pan on the parchment paper and then cutting it, and re-cutting it, trying to make it fit. This way is easy, breezy.

Because of all of the angst I started this project at my usual 7pm Tuesday night. All seemed well until the frosting stage. Just like many other bakers, my frosting seemed to take a long time. I was beginning to think that Conan O'Brien would be on before I got to the magic 242 degrees. Happily, I didn't have to wait that long!

I think one of the things I like most about this cake, is that it is so forgiving of BHMOTW (bone head moves of the week). Cook the sugar mixture too long and get a slightly brown frosting? No problem! Have a little trouble cutting your cake in two and have a big chunk fall off mid cut? No problem! All of these little mistakes are covered up by the cake crumbles. Genius!

The cake is firming in the fridge, but I did sneak a taste from the cupcake above. The frosting is really yummy and nicely complements the cake. A little too well, I'm afraid, considering I now have a cake all to myself. I wonder what my landlords are doing tomorrow???

See Stephanie's blog for the recipe. It's a keeper!

TWD: Passing on this week

2009-02-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

You will see me sitting out this week's pick. My apologies to my fellow TWDers and to Shari at Whisk: a food blog who is responsible for picking Floating Islands. Since I have no "built in" group to try and, more importantly, eat my creations, portability is a must! Whether that's over the back fence to the landlords, or to my eager and greedy co-workers (who recently have become a little pushy and demanding regarding baked goods. Sheesh - feed a co-worker a cookie, and they just want MORE!) whatever I make has to travel. The Floating Islands just didn't look like something that was going to be easily brought to work and divided among 20 people. What I've seen and read on the TWD blogs is very positive and has inspired me to try them the next time I have company.

I am very excited about the "cover cake" pick for next week. I may buck my own tradition and make that before Tuesday night!

TWD: World Peace Cookies

2009-02-03T20:01:00.001-08:00

World Peace is within our reach!

At least World Peace cookies are within reach, thanks to this TWD pick by Jess at cookbookhabit (visit Jess to get the recipe). These were a big hit with the TWD bakers, crumbly dough and all. I didn't have a problem with the dough, actually, and hardly a BHMOTW (bone head move of the week) worth mentioning (but will, just because it's a regular feature now).

These cookies were incredibly easy. I've occasionally had problems with the directions from the book "Baking from My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan. Most of it is due to my limited culinary knowledge. Happily since baking with the TWDers that knowledge has grown, and these cookies were a success.

Although I love eating chocolate, I'm not as big of a fan of working with chocolate. It is messy and temperamental. Did I mention it is messy? Anyway, the chopping of the chocolate was the most difficult part. After that I was home free.

I did not purchase the fleur de sel sea salt that was recommended in the recipe. I didn't see it at my local store, though I did see it at my favorite cooking store in town (this is a very dangerous place - avoid if you don't want to spend hours of your time and many of your dollars on all the wonderful things they have for sale. And the staff there are so incredibly helpful!). Their price was about $14, and for 1/2 teaspoon I thought I'd skip it and go with sea salt. I cleverly used my Trader Joe's Sea Salt Crystals, and then put them through a sieve to get them extra fine. The salt taste wasn't super strong, but just enough to be intriguing. I like intriguing, so it worked for me.

Here it is - time for the BHMOTW. Not all of the salt made it out of the sieve. I moved on to other things. I forgot about the salt in the sieve and moved it. Here is the result (too bad you can't hear the sound of it falling like sand on the chocolate). Not nearly as bad as tossing a whole cake against a refrigerator, but it still made me laugh at myself.

I had no trouble getting the dough into logs (perhaps because I used Dutch processed cocoa which Dorie says may be the key to success here). I made the log smaller than I thought it should be, to compensate for my lack of math skills. Between the two - success! After an overnight in the refrigerator, the logs cut up nicely (a little crumble, but no big deal) and the house smelled soooooo good while the cookies were in the oven!

These were a huge hit with the co-workers, and me for that matter, so they will definitely be made again. I'd make them daily if I thought that they really would expand peace throughout the world. Unfortunately the only thing they would do is expand my waistline, I think.

TWD: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread (aka the Gingerbread too tough to die!)

2009-01-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

If I were to pick a "Bonehead Move of the Week" (or "BHMOTW" - a new feature I think I'm going to run with), it would be very, VERY difficult to pick just one. How this week's pick (courtesy of Heather at Sherry Trifle) turned out so good is beyond me. It must be due to a great recipe. Many TWDers said they would have passed it up and were so grateful they made it instead.

This was my first time using fresh ginger (BHMOTW #1 - wondering what fresh ginger tastes like. Yikes!). I'm glad to know that it freezes so I can put the leftovers away for a bit and try something else later. The recipe is straightforward and easy (assuming you get your butter to room temperature correctly - BHMOTW #2. Otherwise you'll spend a bunch of time messing around with your mixer getting everything to the correct temperature). Dorie recommends a true 9x9 pan, or to use less batter, but I decided to just go with the 8x8 pan that I had a see what happens (oh yes, that would be BHMOTW #3). It took longer to cook than suggested (no surprise) and I probably should have factored that in when I was letting it cool before taking it out of the pan (part of the still-warm bottom stayed behind - BHMOTW #4. That did give me a chance to sample the cake, however, and it was quite good).

After a cool down over night I made the frosting, which generally turned out okay. Frosting it was quick, and since I had to go to work, but wanted to take a picture before I let my co-workers devour it, I popped the gingerbread in the freezer to set up quickly. As I was taking it out of the freezer, somehow the gingerbread and cutting board it was on got away from me. Happily I caught it in time, but only after it landed against the refrigerator (say it with me -- BHMOTW # 5. My personal favorite). Somehow it had set just enough to have no negative effect on the gingerbread, except for a dollop of frosting left behind (pictured here).

Despite it all, I must say that I really liked this dessert! The cake was moist and flavorful. The frosting was a nice complement to the gingerbread (it made a pretty good gingerbread into a really outstanding gingerbread). The folks at work really enjoyed it, and I'm most happy to have one last piece to enjoy this evening. The recipe says to cut it into 9 pieces which I think is too big. I went the 16 piece route. I've heard it's even better with the ginger-infused whip cream, but I'm pretty content as is. All in all, this is a definite keeper.

Is it just me?? The Food Network Magazine

2009-01-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

As my TWD contribution bakes in the oven, I'm pondering what it is about this magazine I don't like. First, you should know that I love magazines. I have tons of them -- and I've recently culled the herd a bit too, yet still have a pile that's reaching Everest proportions. I especially love food magazines, so when I renewed my Oprah subscription (I'm an original subscriber, I'll have you know) I was offered a free copy of the premier issue of the Food Network Magazine to try for free. I said sure (and I'm now inundated with a bazillion offers from other magazines - my mistake!). I was so underwhelmed by the first issue that I said "thanks but no thanks" per their offer and asked that they cancel the subscription.

They sent me the second issue anyway, and I looked through it cover to cover tonight, and found darn little to interest me. Almost nothing to tear out and keep (if you only saw all the clippings I have you'd know this is not at all usual for me). I've been wondering what it is I don't like and the only thing I can figure is that I am not their demographic. I'm not sure who is, but it definitely isn't me.

There's no depth, no substance, too much "hey look at me!" graphics and flash. Somehow the food is photographed in a way that doesn't look at all appetizing (they need to hire some of my TWD brothers and sisters who take awesome photographs of food!). I saw a bunch of recipes that had specialized ingredients I would have to go out and buy, or they just did not interest me at all (Scallops with Cabbage and Capers - really?), so I moved on without investigating. They showed Bobby Flay's kitchen (they did Tyler Florence's kitchen last time) and showed his $9,224 Viking range. In this economy, when so many people are losing their jobs, who can afford that besides a Food Network star?

So I'm wondering -- have any of you looked it over? Is it just me?

TWD: Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

2009-01-13T22:01:00.000-08:00

It's been an interesting few days - the picture below rather sums it up (note cough drops in the midst of muffin making, and the unused chili fixings in the back). Since my time was unexpectedly shifted elsewhere in the last 48 hours, I was most happy to find that I could still get this week's pick done before the deadline (I cracked open the cookbook at 9pm.)

Today's recipe comes from Rebecca over at Erza Pound Cake. I discovered her blog in my ramblings through the TWD universe, and I really love her writing (I wish I could put my words together like she does). I also really love her pictures. And her choice this week.

In her blog Rebecca talks about cornbread highlighting the differences between a Southerner style vs Northerner style cornbread. As a Westerner who is half Southern I'm not sure where I come down in this debate, but know I'm out of whack all the way around. The TWD Southerners are not so pleased (respectfully) with sugar in cornbread and think this week's selection is too sweet. I like sweet cornbread (sorry Southern family members), so the addition of the sugar was fine by me (can I get some Southern love by saying I still eat grits at least once a month?). That said, my Western upbringing should mean I'm all about the spicy, but I am a complete spice wimp. My Southern father could eat a raw jalapeno, but I tend to stay as far away from the hot stuff as possible (I'm looking over my sore thumb from the jalapeno juice while dicing the pepper -- even my skin is wimpy!).

Before the results - the process. All went well at the start, until the bonehead move of the week.** I got the butter melted and cooled, but stupidly poured super cold buttermilk in. Can you guess what happened next? Yup -- the butter seized up and clumped up. After a few gentle trips to the microwave to warm to the correct temperature without cooking the yolk (and a few impolite words -- sorry again Southern family members!) the liquid got to the appropriate "well mixed" stage and things continued swimmingly from there.

The muffins made the house smell like a little slice of heaven, and had me wishing I made chili like so many of the TWDers! The results were delicious! I like the sweetness upfront, followed by the spicy (but not too spicy) kick at the back. As it turns out, these muffins perfectly represent my out of whack heritage. These will definitely be made again!

*** I'm thinking of making this -- the bonehead move of the week -- into a regular feature. I seem to do so unintentionally each week. Might as well incorporate it into the posting!

TWD: French Pear Tart

2009-01-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

Let me first set expectations by letting you know this entire post was written under the influence of DayQuil. So if I ramble or embarrass myself, I'm blaming it on the nice folks at Vicks.

If I didn't already have a naming convention for my Tuesday with Dorie posts, I'd probably entitle this one "It All Comes Down to This." This recipe, more than any other, nicely illustrates my frustrations with learning to cook out of a book, and why I love the TWD group.

I haven't talked much about the classes I took last semester (they ended up being a bit of a bust - more on that later), or about why I'm taking them at all. As it turns out, I truly am at mid-life and am just learning about food and how to cook it. My mother readily admits she did not have the patience to teach me to cook (it was her, not me!) so I left home and went off to college with only a basic meatloaf recipe under my belt. I didn't really learn much in the following decades but really wanted to know more. I've subscribed to cooking magazines and picked up cook books for years and have tried various things with various levels of success.

It really wasn't until I took the classes in Culinary Arts at my local community college that I got any really helpful information. Perhaps most people are like this, but I'm an "observe and do" kind of a gal. I need someone to show me, and then practice myself, before feeling like I "get" something. And that is one of the most important things I've learned in school -- this is an art (ergo "culinary ARTS") and just because you make something once and it didn't' turn out well doesn't mean you should give up on that thing. Learn from those mistakes and try again.

It also opened my eyes to why cookbooks don't really teach you how to cook. Which brings me back to my tart. Had I not taken a cake decorating class (we made the most exotic cakes and very few gum paste roses in that class) I would have had NO idea what this recipe was about. I probably would have run at "blanched" almonds (cooking 101 taught me how to blanch a tomato - who knew you could blanch an almond!), and I never would have figured out that an 8 inch springform pan will stand in fairly well for a 9 inch tart pan. And I definitely never, EVER, would have known what Dorie meant when she described cutting the pears to put on the tart. And that has nothing to do with Dorie's description. If you've seen it, it makes perfect sense. And luckily I have, so I knew what to do.

Other TWDers, however, never had, and that's what I love about this little community of bakers from all over the world. You can ask questions and get answers from people who know without them making you feel like a complete dope! Links to pictures were even included, which were incredibly helpful to those who needed it. And those of us without food processors (I seriously have no room for any more equipment in my tiny kitchen -- seriously!) learned what our options were to make this without one.

While trying to contend with my dough without a food processor, it occurred to me that every chef I admire at some point in time has written the words "I learned this from 'X' at 'Y place' " -- meaning even the Dories and the Davids and the Jamies of the world have learned not from books but from their friends and co-workers who love creating with food as much as they do. Although we TWDers aren't in the same kitchens to learn "with" each other, this wonderful little community allows us to do that nonetheless.

So with all of that -- here it is, my French Pear Tart. Made with pears from a jar, and in an 8 inch springform pan. Had trouble with the dough, but I think it came out okay. My biggest problem was I had the "brilliant" idea of just blanching almonds I already had -- I'm on a resource saving kick. That way the only thing I needed to buy was the pears.

This was indeed a money saving idea -- I snack on raw almonds so I had them in the house -- but it definitely was not a time saving idea (I need to be more specific about which resource I'm trying to save!). Other than that taking forever, everything went along swimmingly. It was a little challenging to smooth out the almond cream in the springform pan. I only used 4 pears rather than 6. Going in it looked promising!

And coming out - oh so yummy! And pretty! I think this is the prettiest thing I've ever made! It is cooling as I type, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how it tastes. Maybe I will have fully recovered my sense of smell by then (I hope!!).

One thing before I close......There are recipes in Baking: From My Home to Yours that scare the pants off me, and I semi-cringe whenever the recipes are announced each month, worried that something I am ill-prepared to bake will be picked. But with each passing week I'm learning that "I can do that!" with the help of my TWD friends. So rather than running for the hills, I'll be running over to TWD to get some coaching. Thanks, friends!

TWD: Move along.....nothing to see here today.......

2008-12-23T08:13:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting out this week's recipe. For one thing, I'm not sure I'm a big butterscotch pudding fan. However, I've been surprised by how much I've liked a recipe before, so that's not the real reason for the "bye."

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but Christmas is just two days away! I know -- how did that happen?!? Since I work in a business that is busy this time of year I've spent a lot more time at work than home lately. Plus I'm not 100% done with my Christmas shopping, so tonight I'll be fighting my way into a few places to finish that up. I'm really looking forward to a few days off post-holiday. I mean REALLY!

After Dec. 25th I'll post about my contribution to the family's holiday dinner, along with my new favorite dish to make. And I'm excited about next week's TWD recipe -- I've never made a cheesecake before, so this should be a true adventure.

Here's wishing you all the very best this holiday season, whichever holiday you may celebrate!!

PS -- is it just me, or am I the only one who has eaten waaaaay too many sugary sweets this week or two? I've been semi-joking at work that if I keep at the rate I'm going, they will have to remove one of the plate glass windows to hoist me out of the building by year's end. I'm a little worried.......seriously!

TWD: Buttery Jam Cookies

2008-12-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Well, the Tuesdays with Dorie Cookiepolooza has come to an end. This week's selection comes from Heather over at Randomosity and the Girl. She picked this recipe because it's the time of year where there is lots of baking, and these are quick and easy. For me, this week's selection was a matter of survival! I am not kidding! (exaggerating, perhaps, but not kidding). Heather finds herself without the internet, I find myself without heat. I can't complain too much, what with half the country in the deep freeze. But a chilly house is a chilly house, so I needed to bake the cookies to stay warm. (Worry not, I don't have slum lords and I did pay the bill. Just a little glitch that will be fixed when the gas man comes out tomorrow. Perhaps I'll leave him some of these cookies like he's Santa!).

Some of the TWDers were won over by these cookies, others were not. Many found their cookies came out of the oven exactly the shape they went in. I really appreciate all the sharing that goes on at the site -- it has saved me more than once. Based on the shared experiences this time, I was extra careful not to over mix the dough so my cookies spread just a bit. I also made sure the cookies didn't have any burnt bottoms. And because I'm just a generous kind of gal, I taste tested each batch as it came out of the oven. I like to think of it as "quality control."

Because I did make the cookies small (I took the "rounded teaspoonful" directions literally) I got the 45 cookies as promised in the recipe (and no stomach ache after all the tasting). As for their taste, they grew on me. When reading the recipe it was pretty clear that there wasn't a lot of flavor outside of a small amount of ginger, the jam (I used apricot) and the vanilla. As Dorie said, it's a "side of the saucer" cookie, not the stand alone kind. I'll be curious what they taste like tomorrow, as a few bakers found they liked them better the next day. They'll go great with the morning tea I bet. These are the first cookies that were successful enough to go into the office for the co-workers. We'll see what they think of them (if a success they may see them again as their holiday gift!).

TWD: Grandma's All Occassion Sugar Cookies

2008-12-09T22:47:00.000-08:00

This week's post will be like this week's recipe - short and sweet! Ulrike over at Kuchenlatein picked these quick and versatile cookies. A great choice for the holiday season!

I like versatility, and this recipe says you can either roll the cookies out and use cutters for the shapes, or you can shape the dough into a "chubby sausage" and slice-and-bake them. When I divided my dough I did half one way and half the other, but like last week I do have some dough in the fridge (good news if I can't decide what to give someone for the holidays!)

Due to a very busy job, end of year work celebration and a birthday (yay!) I only finished the slice-and-bake variety. And I didn't frost them (see "I am busy" statement above). I baked them on Sunday, and by tonight they are a little crunchy, but still good. This would be a great recipe to have on hand if you were the type of person who had unexpected company since the dough can stay in the freezer for up to two months.

The important lesson I learned this week (or relearned, as the case may be) is that I need to work on my math skills. I thought last week's cookies were too thick. This week I finally wised up and got out the ruler. As it turns out, there was a really good reason I thought my cookies were too thick -- they were! By about 1/4 of an inch! Oh bother! I adjusted my slicing skills this week and the sugar cookies turned out great. I'll get the hang of measuring things eventually (I hope!).

Many of the TWDers already have sugar cookie recipes that they are very fond of, but I'm not committed to any one recipe. I'd definately give this one another try, and I'm looking forward to rolling out the shapes and see how those cookies turn out. And I think frosting is fun, too.

TWD: Linzer Sables

2008-12-04T00:02:00.000-08:00

This week "TWD" stands for "Thursdays with Dorie" - I was a little off on my calculation below. Oh well -- I'll get back on track by next week (hey, maybe I should start baking those cookies now!)

This week's recipe comes from Dennis at Living the Life. Linzer Sables are versatile little cookies that can be made as a single cookie, or as a sandwich. The filling can be either jam or chocolate. I like both fillings, and I really like the "peek-a-boo" nature of the sandwich option, so I decided to make the sandwiches with both fillings.

Cookies are something I have some experience with, certainly much more experience than just about anything else I've blogged about so far. It was the first thing we learned in my beginning baking class. One of the keys, I learned, is in the blending of the sugar and butter. Up to that point I had not blended long enough. But once I learned to let the KitchenAid go for 5 minutes or so, my cookies have turned out much better. Plus I love the pattern it makes in the bowl.

The trait I have yet to master, however, is not getting impatient in all other things. I often stop a process early for fear of going to far, when in fact the end result doesn't turn out as well because I didn't let the process go on long enough. This may be the case with my dough, which seemed a little grainy and didn't seem to come together enough.

I rolled out enough to make 9 sandwiches, and probably have enough to make 2-3 more in the freezer from the scraps of the first round. I sure wish I had a cute little cutter like the one in Dorie's book, but used my regular round cutters instead. I picked the smallest one for the center cut, but it may be too big. Almost all of those cookies broke when making the center cut. Drat!

The cookies were in the oven a wee bit too long (so much for my impatience when I get distracted), but the powdered sugar hides that fairly well. I really like the crunchy texture and the nutty flavor from the almonds (the recipe let you choose the type of nut to use - the other choices were either hazelnuts or walnuts). I thought I would like the chocolate sandwich better, but I actually like the jam option best (I used strawberry preserves as that is what I had on hand). Something about the sweet fruit contrasting with the nutty cookie just spoke to me.

These cookies sure look cute, and are very tasty. I would definately try them again, but would roll them out thiner. Several TWDer thought 1/4 inch was too thick for the sandwich version, and I agree. For a single cookie that's okay, but for a sandwich -- too much.

Oh, and next time I would try not to get either impatient or distracted! (ha!)

Announcements

2008-12-02T23:14:00.000-08:00

First off, I humbly say that this week I will be participating in "Wednesdays with Dorie." I know -- I know! -- it's not Wednesdays with Dorie, but for me, this week, it is the best I can do. Blame it on the holiday weekend. Blame it on school last night. Blame it on a 12 hour work day today. i will endeavor to do my best to get back on track next week, but for this week, you'll see Linzer Sables on Wednesday.

That said -- I have very exciting news. News I have waited TWO years to get. Many a week I have hoped, many a week my hopes were dashed - until last week.

Yes, it's true.......

The Argentinian shrimp are back at Trader Joe's!

It all started for me several years ago when I worked at my local TJ's. I was introduced to this shrimp by the "more experienced" crew members. They lured me in with this shrimp wrapped in bacon ("oh, just take one" they said), and other nefarious ways of preparing it. I was hooked. Then, without warning, the shrimp were gone. Something about over fishing or no supply. I was crushed. Then two years later, after I was no longer employed but still shopped there, they were back. I was overjoyed, but low on cash. "I'll only get one" I said, "and I will get another bag the next time I'm here." Oh yes, you guessed it, when I returned, the shrimp had once again disappeared.

Every week I would stroll by the place they once resided, and every week I would be disappointed. They were gone for another two years (TWO YEARS!) until last week. Having learned from my mistakes, and having earned two years of rasises while waiting, I did not hesitate when I saw them and I bought two bags. I sleep a little sounder knowing they are in my freezer. Just waiting for me.

If your local Trader Joe's sells these little delights RUN to the freezer section and buy a bag for $8.99. I don't know if all TJ's sell them, I can only speak for the San Diego County stores. If you find them though, you won't be disappointed.

Mac and Two Cheeses with Caramelized Shallots

2008-11-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

I'm new to Bon Appetit magazine. I saw one of those deals that I couldn't resist, so I'm giving it a whirl. What lured me in, besides the ridiculously low price, was the fact that two of my favorite food writers are regular contributors - Dorie Greenspan (a la Tuesdays with Dorie) and Molly Wizenberg (who's blog is one of the most sublime reads ever. How does she put all those words together so beautifully? And when she wrote about her wedding last year.....well.....I needed a hanky.)

I mentioned this recipe in another post, but thought I'd give it a solo entry. It was the first recipe out of the magazine I tried. I'm incredibly busy at my job, so comfort food was really attractive. To say the results were yummy would be an understatement. It was beyond yummy. And frankly, with the ingredients listed, how could it be anything but yummy. I must caution you, however, that if you truly want to enjoy it, DO NOT read the nutritional information at the bottom of the online recipe. Seriously! Just make it, enjoy it, savor it. Perhaps small helpings so as not to overload your arteries all at once. Oh and perhaps run a marathon after you're done. Then you'd be a-okay.

With that warning, here's all you need for serious comfort and yum!

TWD: What's Black and White.....

2008-11-18T07:37:00.000-08:00

....and runny all over? Well, that was the buzz on the TWD blog with this week's recipe Arborio Rice Pudding, White, Black (or both). I really love rice pudding. It's among my favorite "comfort" type desserts. And I had the rice on hand, since I like making risotto, so I was looking forward to giving this a try, especially after last week's cake.

Luckily I do these recipes after many others have posted about how it worked for them, so I can learn from their experiences. And this week Dorie herself posted that the recipe had a fatal flaw in that the time for it to simmer on the stove was off by 20 minutes (explaining why so many people had rice soup).

Knowing that in advance I settled in for a long night of simmering, and "entertained" myself by simultaneously making the Mac and Cheese recipe in this month's Bon Appetite Magazine (FYI - way yummy!). I didn't time how long the rice simmered, but the milk looked 80-90% absorbed to me, so I took it off the stove and divided it in two to do both the vanilla and the chocolate versions.

For some time now, I've known I'm not so good with the math (many moons ago, when I worked banquets, the powers that be finally stopped sending me out to determine how many people were at my 4 tables of 10 because I could never come back with the correct answer. I know! Sad! But somehow I can balance my checkbook to the penny. But I digress). My point is, I apparently don't know what 80-90% milk absorption looks like, as this morning I find I have rice soup. At least it is tasty rice soup, and I have plenty of company as many other TWDers got the same result.

This is a recipe I might try again at some point, but probably not anytime in the near future. The servings were VERY small, and it seemed like a lot of time for little return. If I were to make it again I would probably add a bit more rice (this time I increased the amount stated by a small amount, and decreased the milk 1/4 cup, hoping to avoid the soup result). I've only tried the chocolate, and although tasty, there was something about the consistency I didn't like. Perhaps I needed to chop my chocolate into smaller pieces. Perhaps the rice wasn't hot enough by the time the chocolate got mixed in to adequately melt all of it. Perhaps I need to go to chocolate school?

I was hoping to bring in a serving or two for my boss' boss, who had a birthday a week ago and I missed it. Alas, I don't think this will be the "presentation" I was hoping for, so he will have to wait for another week.

TWD: Kugelhopf

2008-11-11T08:07:00.000-08:00

I know -- easy for you to say!

I just officially joined Tuesdays with Dorie, and this is my first official attempt at the weekly recipe. I have to say that when I read it over, and realized how much time this was going to take, that I reconsidered my membership! It is a daunting first recipe due to the time it takes to make it.

Kugelhopf is a bread-like cake from the Alsace. The recipe includes a lot of rising and "slapping down" of the dough, plus a overnight in the refridgerator (which due to my busy scheduled turned into two nights). Many of my fellow TWDers had some of the same problems I had.

My first sign of trouble was when the dough did not rise up onto the doughook of my mixer. Happily (well, in a "misery loves company" sort of way) others had the same problem. I was also not alone with the cake not rising completely on the second round.

The result -- not bad. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly -- used golden raisins left over from the pumpkin muffins, and tossed in a few chocolate chips just for good measure. And the sugar on top is Turbinado from Trader Joes. Otherwise, no variations.

Worth the time - probably not. However, I'm rather looking forward to it for breakfast!

(ed to add photos)

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

2008-11-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

Trying this recipe came about for three reasons. One -- I've been collecting recipes out of magazines for a very longtime, but they have just sat in big piles, unorganized and untested. It was making me crazy so I finally sorted through them. I tossed duplicates (a girl can only have so many recipes for potato salad or lasagna) and organized by type. Two - while sorting through the piles, I found this recipe, and knew I had some left over canned pumpkin for trying a TWD recipe (Pumpkin Muffins - didn't much like them. I think I over cooked them . Sadness...) And Three -- I have a mini-herb garden off the back step, and I'm always looking to use up the sage that is growing so happily out there. Three birds, one stone!

This recipe isn't particularly difficult, though it does take a little bit of time to put together the ravioli. I'm still working on my time management skills in the kitchen, so the end felt a little rushed. The recipe said to add more to each won ton wrapper than I thought would work, but even though I didn't use as much per round, I ended up not having as many ravioli at the end as planned. The recipe says it makes 30, and I probably got 25 ravioli when I was done.

And the result -- well it was okay. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either (how's that for an endorsement!). I liked the creaminess of the pumpkin and how it played with the creaminess of the sauce. I also liked the bite the sage gave the filling, and how it played with the bite from the Gorgonzola. It seemed okay overall, and I was content to put away the extras for lunches later.

The next day I took one said lunch serving out, heated it up for two minutes, and really liked it much better than the night before. Maybe it's one of those things that needs to sit to really make the flavors sing. I'm still not sure I will be making this again, but I do know I'm happy to have two more servings waiting for me in the fridge!

I substituted pecans for hazelnuts (I had a few pecans that needed to be used), otherwise, I followed the recipe as below.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

Cooking Light Magazine, Nov. 2007

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin

2 Tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

2 Tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh sage

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

30 round wonton wrappers

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Cooking spray

1 cup fat-free milk

1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, toasted

1. Spoon pumpkin onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels, and spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a medium bowl using a rubber spatula. Stir in breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt, minced sage, pepper, and nutmeg.

2. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel to keep from drying), spoon 2 teaspoons pumpkin mixture into the center of wrapper. Brush edges of wrapper with water and fold in half, pressing edges firmly with fingers to form a half-moon. Place on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton wrappers and pumpkin mixture.

3. Fill a large Dutch oven with water; bring to a simmer. Add half of ravioli to pan (cover remaining ravioli with a damp towel to keep from drying). Cook 4 minutes or until done (do not boil), stirring gently. remove ravioli with a slotted spoon; lightly coat with cooking spray, and keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining ravioli.

4. Combine milk and flour in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil, cook for 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter, stirring until butter melts. Gently stir in Gorgonzola.

5. Place 5 ravioli in each of 6 shallow bowls, and drizzle each serving with 3 Tablespoons Gorgonzola mixture. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons hazelnuts. Serve immediately. Yield: 6 servings

Caramel-Peanut Topped Brownie Cake

2008-10-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

Now that I've dropped a class, I'm thinking about hopping on the baking bandwagon. The weather is turning cooler, so baking is more reasonable now than in the summer when it is so hot (and I have no air conditioner). I also wanted to see if I could commit to what it takes to participate with the gals over at Tuesdays with Dorie. I bought the book, and gosh, there are so many delicious and beautiful things to bake. I made this too late to post on the required day, but gave the Oct. 7th recipe a try, and will try to pick up with next week's item (the Pumpkin Muffins, just in time for a fund raising bake sale at work!).

If I had not taken a Baking and Pastry class previously, this recipe would have been very challenging. Dorie Greenspan does a really super job with directions, so I could have worked through it, but the extra experience sure helped (I'm not very confident trying new things in the kitchen. I need the remedial class most of the time!). The trickiest part is the carmel for the topping. That stuff is like molten lava, and the last thing you want is to have some sort of an accident. Yikes! But truth be told, I'd rather cook with that than chocolate. That stuff gets everywhere!

Since one of the rules is to not post the recipes for TWD, I'll just include some steps and pictures below.

The batter was pretty quick and easy. You can see the bowl from melting chocolate and butter over a pan of water behind the bowl with the batter. Like I said, that stuff gets everywhere!

One thing I do like about baking, is while the cake is in the oven, and/or while it cools you can do the dishes. It's nice to have a tidy kitchen.

After letting the cake cool, and preferable right before you serve it, you make the topping. That's when the science experiment begins. Many of the folks who tried this said this stage took longer than the recipe advised, and I had the same experience. Besides being the temperature of the sun, carmel is one of those things you need to keep an eye on. It takes forever to turn a carmel color, but once it turns it doesn't take long for it to pass the point of no return (and burnt tasting carmel). Happily mine did not.

Once off the heat peanuts are added, and then the cake, back in its freshly cleaned springform pan, is topped. I don't have any pictures of the cake once "released" from the pan, as that happened at work, and my co-workers took care of this cake in record time.

It's very good, though very sweet and very rich. A little goes a long way. I would definitely make it again -- especially as a celebration cake, or to impress someone.

Latin America - Chiles Rellenos

2008-10-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

First let me say this -- sheesh, this hasn't gone well so far!

The school thing combined with the work thing is grueling. Too much to do with a full time job. Something had to give, so it was with great sorrow that I gave up my International Cooking class. I really liked it and felt I learned a lot, but it was scheduled on Friday and it kicked my butt. I worked from home for 1 1/2 hours, went to school for 5 hours, then drove to the office and worked another 5-6 hours. A very long day to say the least!

When I was going to that class, I kept forgetting my camera. Plus, although I'm very capable of cooking things at home, for some reason I had a bad mojo in that class, and things didn't turn out so well (therefore, I was pretty happy not to have the camera!).

That all said, I tried some interesting food that I really enjoyed, and I plan on making some of it on my own. First up, from our Latin America class - Chiles Rellenos. They have a special spot in my heart as my dad would make them when I was a kid. They aren't very complicated, but they are a little labor intensive.

The first step is to roast the chiles.

In class we put them over the gas flame on the stove. At home (above) I chose to put them in the oven. I liked that better. It made the chiles easier to peal and and the seeds and veins easier to remove. It seemed like there was less "chile" there, however. If I were to do it again, I would put them in the oven, but with something on the pan. They popped and spattered all over my baking sheet -- but the house sure smelled good.

After roasting them, they need to sweat for a bit, and I took that time to prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In class we used gloves to remove the skin, seeds and veins of the chile, and stuff them with cheese. At home I had no problem with the oils from the chiles. I did have trouble getting the little buggers stuffed and back into their original shape. Again, it was easier at home than in class -- not sure if that's due to how the chiles were roasted, or the old "practice makes perfect" idea.

After reconstructing the chiles it was time to whip up the batter.

This worked out much better at home. It looked so pretty I didn't want to dip the chiles in it! But everybody ended up in the pool and in the frying pan. Try to keep track of where the slit is on each pepper and make sure that it is facing up when you put the chiles in the pan. Otherwise your cheese might melt and ooze out, which is neither pretty or tasty (well, fried cheese is tasty, but for this you'd rather have it in the chile -- or would you?)

After a quick fry and a quick turn, out they come to drain on a paper towel. You can eat them with salsa, but I enjoyed them just on their own.

Overall I was pleased with the results. They still had some chile heat, but not too much (I don't do well with spicy food). They probably could use a little bit more of a drain (perhaps a second set of paper towels to pick up some of the grease), but otherwise, they were very yummy. And happily I found all of the toothpicks! (be sure to count them as you put them in so you know how many you need to take out!).

Chiles Rellenos with Fresh Green Chiles

Adapted from: That's My Home 2000 - 2006

12 medium Anaheim or Poblano chiles (about 2 pounds), roasted and peeled (see notes) (I used Anaheim chiles which are easy to find in your grocery store produce section)

1 1/4 lbs. grated Monterey Jack cheese (5 cups)

3 eggs, separated

1/8 tsp salt

vegetable oil, for frying

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups prepared salsa

Slit each Chile open lengthwise along 1 side and gently remove seeds and vein. Spread about 1/4 cup cheese in center of each pepper and press closed. Secure with toothpicks if necessary (remember to count them!). Set aside.

Beat egg whites in large non-aluminum bowl until stiff. Beat in salt, then egg yolks, 1 at a time.

Pour 1/2 inch of oil into heavy skillet and heat until almost smoking.

Sprinkle flour on both sides of as many chiles as will fit into your skillet in a single, uncrowded layer, then dip each pepper in egg mixture (you definitely don't want to dip them all at once). Place in oil and fry until golden on bottom, turn, and fry until golden on other side, about 1 minute. Remove chiles to paper towels to drain. Continue until all peppers are fried. Keep in a warm oven until all chiles are fried.

Arrange chiles on platter or individual plates and top with salsa. Serve right away.

Note: Wear gloves when handling fresh chiles; the oils can cause a burning sensation on your skin.

Note: To roast chiles, place in a preheated 450 degree oven on cookie sheet, turning after 10 minutes, and continue roasting until skins blister and blacken in spots. Or, place on broiler pan and broil about 5-6 inches from the heat source, turning often, until skin is charred on all sides. Or, hold over gas burner, turning until all sides are charred. Place in a bag or covered bowl for about 10 minutes. Skin should peel right off.

What am I getting myself into!?!

2008-08-30T23:50:00.000-07:00

This week, I made a sudden and rash decision to return to culinary classes after a year and a half absence. What started as one "well, might as well" class has become two "omg, will I be able to keep up" classes (as there is a full time job and a tour guiding gig to juggle in there as well). Decided to raise the "steaks" (ha - food joke!) and add a blog to the mix.

So it is here that I will be writing about what I learn, how the things we make in class turn out, how the at-home practice dishes work out, and if I'll still be alive at the end of 16 weeks.

Wish me well!