Whisks & Needles

Trick Or Treat Bag

2009-11-03T20:37:00.013-05:00

Ok, so I know that this blog is all but dead. I just don't have the time to blog like I used to. But I have a craft project that is so easy and fun, I just had to share.

We took the Munchkin trick-or-treating this year, and I wanted to make him a bag for the occasion.

You will need:

--primary (outside) fabric

--liner fabric

--applique fabric

--fusible web

--iron

--sewing machine/needle/thread/other sewing basics

How much of each fabric you need depends on the size of the bag you want to make. I bought a yard each of the orange fabric and the black skeleton liner fabric, and was able to make three bags, measuring about 9 1/2" x 11 1/2."

1. Determine how big you want you bag to be. I decided that 10" x 12" was about the right size and the numbers were easy to work with. Cut primary and liner fabrics to measure the width of your bag (plus ~1/2" for seam allowance) x two-times the length of the bag (plus ~1/2" for seam allowance).

Here are my primary and liner fabric, cut to 10" x 24" and then folded in half to measure 10" x 12"

2. Fold fabric in half lengthwise, right sides facing, and sew along the outside edges of the fabric, leaving 1/4" to 1/2" for seam. When sewing the liner, leave a hole at the bottom corner of one side (In the picture below, you can see the orange fabric sticking out of the hole at the bottom of the liner).

3. Turn liner right side out (leave outside of bag inside out). It might help to iron the liner at this point to crease the bottom and flatten the seams. Place the liner inside the bag, so that the right side of the liner (outside) faces the right side of the bag (inside).

4. When placing liner fabric inside of bag, line the seams up as best you can (This is where ironing the lining fabric really pays off. When it's flat and well shaped, it's much easier to slip it into the bag). Sew lining to bag along the top of the bag, leaving 1/4" to 1/2" seam allowance.

5. This is where the magic happens. Reach into the bag and pull the bag and liner out through the hole in the bottom of the liner.

6. When you are done turning the bag inside out, sew up the hole in the bottom of the lining, then insert the lining back into the bag. Iron the bag to flatten seams and shape the bag. You now have a lined bag.

7. At this point, use the fusible web to applique whatever design you like. I chose this happy Jack O' Lantern Face. (Follow instructions on whichever fusible web product you are using to complete this step).

8. Now it's time to make the handles. 1) Determine how long you want your handles to be. Cut the fabric equal to the length of the fabric x 4 times the width. My handles were 14" long by 1" wide. 2) Fold strip of fabric in half, and iron to press crease along center of the fabric. 3) Unfold fabric, and then fold edges of fabric into center and press creases into fabric. 4) With edges folded in, fold fabric along center crease, and you have your handle!

9. Determine handle placement and pin handles to bag. Sew handles onto bag using a criss cross pattern to add extra stability. Don't forget to keep the back of the bag away from the sewing machine! You don't want to sew the bag together when sewing the handles one. We'll just pretend I didn't learn that one the hard way ;-)

Now your Trick-or-Treat bag is finished. Hand it off to your favorite little Munchkin and enjoy your Halloween!

(Yes, I know this post is too late to actually make one for this Halloween. But the beauty of this bag is that it can be ANY kind of bag...a craft tote, a Christmas bag, a small diaper bag, whatever you want. So have fun with it. I know I did!)

A Late DB Torte

2009-09-02T23:00:00.004-04:00

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

Apologies for a late post. I actually made the challenge a couple of weeks ago, but I just haven't had time to upload the pictures and blog about it. The Dobos Torte is several thin sponge cake layers, all held together and smothered with a wonderful, rich, chocolate butter cream frosting, and a caramel topping.

The recipe was pretty straight forward, though the sponge cake technique was new to me. Rather than bake the cake in a pan, a template was drawn on parchment paper, and the batter was spread in the template. It was kind of fun to see this circle of batter turn into a cake layer.

For the most part, this recipe gave me little trouble. The only snag I had was the caramel. I didn't let it boil down enough (I ran into the Munchkin's bed time, and ran out of time for it), so my top layer was more of a simple syrup layer than a caramel layer. But other than that, everything went really smoothly. And...I have some left over butter cream in the freezer, perhaps for a future batch of cupcakes?

You can find the recipe on Lorraine's blog.

Daring Bakers: Milan Cookies

2009-07-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I was very excited to log in to the Daring Bakers forums this month to discover that the July challenge was cookies. I LOVE cookies. Although my intention was to make both cookie recipes, I was a little busy this month, and only got around to making one of them: the Milan cookies.

These cookies were fun to make, and they flew off the plate at the July 4th potluck I brought them to. The cookie part was nice and delicate, and the chocolate wonderfully rich! I loved the sophistication that the hint of orange in the chocolate lent to the cookies.

These cookies get their shape by piping the batter/dough onto cookie sheets and baking. Apparently my piping skills need work, because I had a hard time getting them all to be uniform in size and shape. So...when it came time to "sandwich" the cookies, it was kind of like a puzzle to find two cookies that would fit well together. But all in all, this was a fun challenge, and a great new cookie technique. I still do intend to make the marshmallow cookies too, but between these cookies, a test birthday cake, and a real birthday cake, I just ran out of time.

Thanks for a great challenge!

Happy Birthday Munchkin!

2009-07-26T20:36:00.007-04:00

It's hard to belive it's already been a year! We celebrated the Munchkin's birthday this weekend, and in addition to reflecting on what a wonderful son we have, marveling at how he's grown and changed this year, and pondering our own evolution from childless couple to parents, it provided a great excuse to make a cake!

The Munchkin LOVES dogs, especially Thea, I decided to try to make him a puppy cake using Thea as my inspiration. Here's Thea:

And here's the Munchkin's birthday cake:

I was really happy with the way this cake turned out. I used Rose Levy Beranbaum's Perfect All American Chocolate Cake recipe, with Chocolate frosting. The face was carved from a 15" square cake, while the ears and tonge came from a 12" cake.

Once the cake was baked, carved, and assembled, it was time to decorate it. After talking to a cake decorator at another first birthday party a few months ago, I decided to try my hand at making marshmallow fondant. It was surprisingly easy! It came together very quickly and rolled out really smoothly. The only real problem I had was in dyeing the black fondant. For whatever reason, the amount of black dye I needed to add to the fondant to get such a rich black color seemed to affect the texture of the fondant. It tore really easily, and was just much more difficult to work with. I'll have to see if I can figure out why that was. I didn't have the same trouble with the red and brown dyes, but I didn't have to use nearly as much of those to get the color I wanted. But despite that, I'm really proud of this cake. There was a huge sense of accomplishment in coming up with the design, executing it, and having it come out the way I wanted it to.

All of our guests thought the cake looked amazing, and tasted even better. The Munchkin got his own cake, shaped like a bone.

He wasted no time digging in, not wanting to wait til we were done singing to grab his first fistful and shove it in his mouth. Once we set it in front of him, he went to town! It didn't take him long to decide he likes chocolate cake! I had a lot of fun working on this cake, and I loved seeing my guests (and my son) truly enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Happy Birthday Munchkin!!

A Bakewell Success

2009-06-27T21:51:00.006-04:00

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Cofessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

After the disaster that was last month's strudel, and what has felt like more failures than successes in my Daring Baking, June's challenge was just what the doctor ordered. JasimeandAnnemarie chose a Bakewell Tart for the challenge. This as a wonderful British dessert with a shortbread pastry crust, filled with jam or curd, then topped with an almond frangipane.

I knew right away that I would like this challenge, mainly because it is pie-like. I can do pies. I'm good at them. With my Amish/Menonite heritage, it's in my blood. So it was really nice to have a challenge that allowed me to focus on my baking strengths.

The Bakewll Tart has three parts: A shortcrust pastry, a jam or curd filling, and a frangipane top. Because I have to fit my baking in around the Munchkin's eating and napping schedule, being able to break up the challenge into three parts, two of which could be made in advance, was great! My initial plan was to make a Blackberry-Mango tart, but decided at the last minute to just do the blackberry. I think it was the right call. I made Jasmine's Blackberry Pan Jam, and it was so simply and yummy! It was a perfect element for this dessert!

On Sunday, I made the shortcrust pastry, which came together quite easily for me. While I have a lot of experience with making pie crust, I've never done a short crust pastry. The recipe called for grating a stick of frozen butter into the flour. I really liked this technique. Though it is surprizingly difficult to grate frozen butter, it is still much less trouble than trying to dice up the butter and keep it cold enough to cut in when you need it.

With these two elements of the dessert made in advance, it was quite easy to finish the tart in time for a Tuesday night dinner party. All that was left was the frangipane, a sort of almond cake that tops the tart. It came together for me quite easily and uneventfully. My frangipane batter didn't even curdle when the eggs were added, something we were warned might happen. After reading that several DB-ers had trouble with a slightly soggy pastry crust, I decided to pre-bake my crust. I'm glad I did, as the crust stayed nice and tender without getting soggy during baking. I simply baked the crust, covered with aluminum foil and pie weights (which for me is a bunch of dried beans) for 10 minutes. Once the crust cooled, I spread about 1/2 cup of the blackberry jam (the recipe called for closer than a cup, but in her notes on the recipe, Jasime mentioned that one could use anywhere between 1/4 - 1 cup of filling), and topped with the frangipane. Thirty minutes later, a perfectly browned tart came out of the oven.

When it came time for dessert (after a yummy dinner of spinach lasagna), I presented the tart to oohs and ahs from my guests. Served with a dallop of Amaretto whipped cream, this tart was divine. My guests raved, and some even went back for seconds. This was an incredible dessert, and one that I will definitely have to try again!

Thank you Jasmine and Annemarie for a wonderful challenge, and for helping me get my baking mojo back!

(The recipe is kind of long, so rather than post it here, click over to Annemarie's post for the Bakewell Tart recipe)

Changing Expectations (Or Better Late than Never)

2009-05-31T21:37:00.005-04:00

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Since the Munchkin arrived, I've had to come to grips with the fact that I just can't do it all. I've tried, and only ended up driving myself crazy. There are only so many hours in the day, and so much that needs to be done, that somethings just fall to the bottom. Unfortunately, my fun, more-than-just-throwing-dinner-together cooking and baking have had to get tossed aside. Every month, I check the Daring Bakers forum, and get excited about that month's challenge. And then the next thing I know, the posting date is almost here and I haven't had a chance to give it a second thought. And every month, I think that it would probably be easier if I just gave up the DBs. It would be one less thing staring at my from my To-Do list. But...I enjoy it. And as a mom, I have so little time for things that I enjoy, things I do just for me. So, even though it is always difficult to find time to get the challenge done, I don't want to give it up, because I need that outlet. I need the chance to do something that I enjoy just because I enjoy it. But...I've had the change my expectations. I don't have the time and energy I did to really come up with something fabulous and creative. I don't have the time to try things multiple times if it doesn't work out the first time. It's hard enough to find the time to do it once. So...my success rate with these challenges has dropped significantly. Today, after finishing the challenge late and having it not turn out at all, a strange thing happened: I didn't mind. I wasn't upset, I didn't feal like a failure, and didn't wonder why in the worled I even bothered to try it anyway. I was happy. I felt like a success, because I did it! Right now, just getting it done is a huge accomplishment. And I'm proud of myself for it. And I realized, I'm going to stick with the Daring Bakers. I'll find some way to get these challenges done, and I'll laugh at the things that don't work, and be pleasantly surprised when the do. Because it's not about perfection, it's about learning and having fun. And I can do that, even if things don't turn out just right (especially if they're still yummy anyway).

This month's recipe was an apple strudel. I enjoyed working on it, but I had a hard time with the dough. I just wasn't able to stretch it thin enough. In retrospect, I think it was because the dough was too dry (despite the warning not to let the dough get dry). But when I added in the liquids to the dough, it seemed way too wet...so wet that it didn't seem like there was any way it would be able to be kneaded and rolled into anything. So I added a little more flour. And I continued to fiddle with the flour/water ratio to try to get it right. Though...having never made strudel before I didn't know what right was. But I went for it. I rolled out the dough pretty well, but it just wasn't elastic enough to stretch as then as it needed to be. But I put the filling in and rolled it up and baked anyway. Although the result was tasty, I think the end result had a pastry that was too thick to realistically be called a strudel. Despite that...in the 3 hours it's been out of the oven, Psycling and I have managed to polish off about half of it, so I guess it's not that bad. ;-)

I definitely want to try this again. Sometime when I'm not having to try to fit it in over a nap time, or shuffle feeding schedules to get it done. But, for now, I'm happy that I did it. I'll have a life time to cook, bake, experiment in the kitchen, and work on perfecting recipes. But the Munchkin is growing so fast, checking off milestones right and left, I only have a short time to enjoy him at this stage before he moves on to the next one. So I'm relishing that. The kitchen will always be there.

Oh, and sorry for the whole pictureless post thing. I guess that's part of my new slacker outlook on baking. How 'bout a picture of the Munchkin instead?

Delicious Simplicity

2009-04-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

It seems that life is getting increasingly complicated. The Munchkin is crawling and is getting into everything! I can't turn my back for a second, or he ends up playing with the DVD player or opening a window! He's eating solids and finger foods, so feeding time takes forever and makes a HUGE mess (especially when he eats blueberries). I've joined the YMCA and have been trying to get a workout in three times a week, on top of our play dates, errands, chores, etc. My stack of sewing and mending projects is growing faster than I can keep up. Throw in some traveling, weekly agility with Thea, Psycling's busy schedule -- it leaves my head spinning!

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I was really excited when I saw that Jenny chose cheesecake for this month's challenge, and even more excited that we could get as creative as we wanted with it. I immediately started thinking about different options -- mocha cheesecake with chocolate graham cracker crust, mango cheesecake with gingersnap crust, lemon cheesecake, vanilla bean cheesecake...it seemed the options were endless! As I continued to ponder my cheesecake, I remembered the beautiful local organic strawberries that had just arrived in our CSA box. And I decided that the beauty of my cheesecake would be it's simplicity. A basic cheesecake topped with delicious fresh strawberries. Why make it any more complicated?

I (mostly) followed the recipe as written with only a couple of exceptions. When making my crust, I added about a cup of sliced almonds to the graham crackers, to give it a little extra flavor and texture. To complement the almonds in the crust, I used Amaretto as the liqueur in my cheesecake batter. After topping the cheesecake with strawberries, I brushed them with a glaze made by heating strawberry jam with a little bit of amaretto. The glaze was more for aesthetic purposes...it just added a little extra red and shine to the strawberries.

I took this cheesecake to an Easter potluck, and it disappeared so quickly, I barely managed to get a piece. In fact, some of my friends were late to the dessert table and missed out actually licked clean the server and the bottom of the springform pan. It was delicious. However, Psycling and I both agreed that it didn't quite compare to my "gold standard" cheesecake recipe (the one in this book). I've yet to find a cheesecake that is better, though I think this challenge is the closest yet. It's definitely worth a try!

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

I Heart Chocolate

2009-02-27T22:22:00.006-05:00

This month, our hosts pulled out all the stops for a wonderfully decadent dessert--a flourless chocolate cake.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

This recipe came together very quickly, and was easy for me to put together while the Munchkin was napping. There are only three ingredients -- chocolate, eggs, and butter -- so getting top quality ingredients was key. Especially the chocolate. I've always read that Valrhona chocolate is the preferred chocolate for many pastry chefs. But...it's kind of pricey. However, given the prominence of the chocolate in this recipe, I decided that if there was ever a recipe that warranted the splurge, this was it. I'm glad I went for it. The chocolate was wonderfully smooth and decadent and everything chocolate should be.

Ideally, the Chocolate Valentino should be baked in a heart shaped pan, but when I poured the batter in, I realized the pan was way too big. Rather than risking a too-thin, unevenly cooked cake, I ended up using an 8" cake pan instead. It was just the right size. But, even though the heart-shaped pan didn't work out for me, I kept the valentine's theme going in my decorative elements.

In addition to the cake, Wendy and Dharm presented us with an optional (but very much encouraged) challenge -- ice cream. But even if we didn't make the ice cream, we were required to make some sort of topping (the original recipe called for the cake to be served with whipped cream). I opted not to make ice cream. An ice cream maker is on the top of my list of must-get kitchen gadgets, I don't have one yet. And while it is possible to make ice cream without a machine, I didn't really have the time to be tied to the house to regularly stir the ice cream. So I went ahead and made the whipped cream suggested with the recipe. But to mae it a little more fun, I froze some of the whipped cream in my "hugs and kisses" silicon cake mold. In addition to the frozen whipped cream, I made some raspberry sauce, some of which I also made into Xs and Os, which I served with the cake.

This cake was wonderful! The whipped cream and raspberry were perfect with it, and our dinner guests raved about it. And the frozen whipped cream was a perfect addition to my coffee.

Head on over to Wendy's or Dharm's blog for the recipe and give this a try. You won't be sorry!!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

2009-02-18T21:05:00.004-05:00

I hadn't yet figured out what to make for dinner, when I came across this post. I've only recently discovered the Pioneer Woman (yeah, I realize I'm a little late on this one), and have been drooling over some of the recipes she posts. Since I had everything on hand to make this, I decided to give it a try.

This was really good. Psycling (who doesn't even like mayonaise) thought it was really good. It was also quite quick and easy to put together. I prepped it earlier in the day while the Munchkin was napping, and was able to just stick it in the oven at dinner time. With a green salad and roasted CSA sweet potatoes, this was a great weeknight meal.

Southern Saute

2009-02-18T20:43:00.004-05:00

One of the nice things about living in the south is the long growing season. Our CSA is able to deliver produce year-round. These days, we're getting lots of leafy greens and root vegetables. Recently, we got a nice big bunch of collards. Despite growing up in the South, I've never particularly liked collards. I think that's because all the collards I grew up with were boiled to the point of becoming mush. I figured there had to be another way to eat collards. I started playing around, and this is what I came up with.

Psycling and I both really liked this. It made for a nice one-dish meal, and was fairly quick and easy to pull together.

While it's actually more of a braise, I like the alliteration of "Southern Saute." This was really good. Turns out I like collards after all :-)

Southern Saute
(makes about 3 servings)

5-6 strips of bacon
1 Onion, vertically sliced
1 Bunch collards, coarsely chopped
~3/4 c. chicken broth
1 c. soaked black eyed peas
2 c. hot cooked rice (I used brown rice)
Hotlanta Hot Sauce (or Tobasco)

1. Cook bacon inlarge skillet. Set aside to drain on paper towels. Crumble into bacon bits.

2. Pour off all but about 2-3 tsp. of bacon grease. Add onion, and saute until getting tender. Add collards, and sautee for a copule of minutes, until leaves are coated in bacon grease and just starting to wilt. Add chicken broth; cover and cook until broth is absorbed, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Add black eyed peas, and cook, stirring, until beans are warmed through.

To serve, put about 2/3 c. of rice in a bowl. Top with about 1/3 of collard mixture. Sprinkle with bacon bits and drizzle with hot sauce to taste.

LIVESTRONG: A Taste of Yellow -- The Book

2009-02-11T20:09:00.002-05:00

To those of you who found your way here from Barbara's blog, Hi! As you can see, posting here is sparse these days, as I haven't quite figured out how to fit blogging back into my life since the arrival of the Munchkin. But, I'm hoping to get back to it soon.

Barbara launched the Taste of Yellow blog event as part of LIVESTRONG day in 2007. She is a cancer survivor, who was greatly inspired by the story of Lance Armstrong, and created this blog event to raise awareness for cancer, as well as promote the great work done by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

I came up with the idea for this book a few months ago, after losing my mother-in-law to cancer. After surviving both melanoma and breast cancer, the melanoma returned, spreading to her lungs and brain. Despite their best efforts, it was too much, and she passed away in November. My mother-in-law was an amazing woman, and I feel very fortunate to have had her in my life, even if it was for just 7 short years.

To honor her memory, my husband and his brother decided to participate in the LIVESTRONG Challenge, and will be doing a 90 mile bike ride in Austin, TX this October. I will be doing the 5K run/walk with the Munckin. In brainstorming fundraising ideas for their team, I remembered reading the Taste of Yellow round up on Barbara's blog, and an idea was born. I thought that if we could publish a cookbook of the Taste of Yellow recipes, all proceeds from the sale of the book could go directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. While I'm not sure that this project will be completed in time to benefit Psycling's LIVESTRONG challenge ride, it is my hope that it will continue to bring in money for the work of the Lance Armstrong Foundation well into the future.

I honestly have no idea what the timeline for this project looks like. As of now, I am compiling the recipes, blogs, and contact information of all the Taste of Yellow submissions. Once I pull everything together, I'm not sure how long it will take to get the book put together and published. But Barbara and I will keep you posted on its progress. We really appreciate everyone who has already emailed or left comments giving us permission to use your recipes and photos. I'm realy looking forward to seeing this project come to fruition, and I hope that it will bring attention to and raise money for the amazing work being done by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Until then, LIVESTRONG!

Daring Bakers December 2008: Murphy's Law Edition

2008-12-29T22:04:00.004-05:00

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand. I have few pictures for you this month, mainly due to the fact that this month's challenge was pretty much a complete failure. It seems that this month, my baking mojo left me to fend for myself. Believe me, it was not pretty. After what seemed like the ten-billionth thing to go wrong, I found myself in a ball of tears on the kitchen floor around 9:00 pm on Christmas Eve. But even though this was the challenge that made me want to rip out my kitchen and give up baking forever, I completed it. And it was edible (if not pretty). And this month, that in itself is quite an accomplishment.

A quick preface: A French Yule log is different quite different from what I consider to be the more traditional Yule log. The French version is more of a frozen entrements, or "creamy dessert," as opposed to a cake. It includes a variety of different elements, each surrounded by an insanely rich and delicious dark chocolate mousse. So...without further adieu, here's the story of the dessert that got the best of me.

We were given lots of freedom to play with flavors, and I quickly settled on a chocolate and hazlenut dessert with a hint of coffee. So, I started baking the dacquoise. I decided to use hazlenut meal instead of almond meal. I made my own meal, but ran into trouble when I just couldn't seem to grind my hazlenuts into a fine enough meal. It worked, but my dacquoise was grainer and thinner than I would have liked, partially because the larger pieces of nuts deflated my heavily whipped egg whites, which is what normally would give the biscuit its lift. But, since it tasted fine, I didn't worry too much about it.

Second was the dark chocolate mousse. The mousse recipe involved making a pate a bomb which involved beating egg yolks with a sugar syrup. This gives the mousse added structure to be able to support the other elements of the cake. On my first attempt, I heated the sugar too hot, and when I added the syrup to the beaten egg yolks, it hardened and left a lump of yolk covered rock candy at the bottom of the mixng bowl. (Though the little bits of syrup that hit the whisk as it was mixing turned to cotton candy, so I accidentally made cotton candy with my Kitchen Aid). After cleaning the bowl, I went back for take two. Instead of waiting for the syrup to reach 244 F, I just let it go until it reached the lower limit of the "softball" range indicated on my candy thermometer. This time it worked, and the rest of the mousse came together really well. (Did I mention that it was insanely rich and delicious?)

Next, I made the creme brulee insert, which is what really did me in. When infusing the cream with the vanilla bean, I few in a few coffee beans as well. This was an experiment, and flavor wise, it actually worked out really well. The coffee flavor was more subtle (which I wanted) and the beans didn't discolor the creme brulee, which was also good because I wanted the contrast of the light custard against the dark chocolate of the rest of the dessert. It was in the baking and setting of the custard that I ran into trouble. The recipe said to bake at 210 F degrees, but I read that many daring bakers had trouble getting the creme brulee to set at that temperature, so they increased it. So I started out baing it at 245 F. After an hour, it was still liquid. So, I bumped the temp up to 270 F and baked for another hour. When I pulled it out, I gave it a jiggle, and it seemd "firm on the edges and slightly wobbly in the center." So I covered it and put it in the fridge to continue setting.

The next day, I went about finishing the dessert. I started by making the praline feuillete, or crisp. Knowing my own limits, I knew better than to attempt to make my own praline, and instead decided to use Nutella instead. I'd read that it worked really well for some other DBs, and it went very well with my chocolate-hazlenut flavor. But I did intend to make my own gavottes (very thin lace crepes which are used to make the crisp part). It seems I wasn't able to spread the batter evenly, so while I got nice crisps in some part of the pan, the rest was softer and more crepe like. Unusable. So I tossed those and went to Plan B: Rice Krispies. Not as elegant, but they worked. And really, I discovered that chocolate and Nutella covered Rice Krispies are a treat unto themselves.

It was finally time for me to start assembling my Yule Log. I assembled it upside down in a loaf pan, not having the more traditional half-pipe mold. I put down a layer of the dacquoise and topped with a third of the mousse. So far so good. Then, I went to get my creme brulee, and when I unmolded it to place it in the mousse, I discovered it hadn't set at all. Still runny. And since I unmolded it unto my loaf pan mold, I couldn't take it out. This caused me to turn to Psycling and inform him that it was ruined, and it looked like we wouldn't have dessert for Christmas dinner. But, already having put so much time and effort into this dessert, I soldiered on. So I added the next third of the mousse and my Rice Krispie feuillete, followed by the last of the mousse. Then I put it in the fridge to stay cool while I made the ganache insert.

(Convinced this dessert was totally ruined, I made a back-up dessert, which also totally failed when my cake didn't rise enough, so that ended up in the trash too. It was not a good night.)
When I think of ganache, I think of chocolate melted together with some cream and butter. But this ganache was done differently. I started by making a caramel. When the caramel was just about ready, I realized I hadn't started heating the cream yet, and when I went to go get it started, I bumped the glass and spilled it everywhere. There was cream all over the kitchen floor, under the oven, everywhere. At this point (about 9:00 pm Christmas Eve) that was the last straw. I collapsed in a big pile of tears convinced I would never be able to do anything right agian. Once I had that cleaned up, the sugar caramel was burned, and I had to start over. So,m I threw that out and started over again. This time, I manged to not spill the cream, cooked the caramel to a nice dark amber, (darker than I made it for last month's challenge), and when I whisked them together, and added my chocolate and butter, I got a wonderful smooth ganache with a deeper flavor thanks to the caramelized sugar. I added it to my log, topped with another layer of the dacquoise, and stuck it in the freezer for the night.

The next day, after a nice breakfast, and a quiet and low-key Christmas with Psycling, my mom, my brother, and of course, the Munchkin, I set out to make the glaze. This was the only element that I completed without a hitch. It was a beautiful shiny glaze that set just right.

I ended up bringing this dessert to our Christmas dinner with friends (with a pan of uber-yummy brownies just in case) with the caveat that they might not be edible. When I sliced it open, it wasn't very pretty (more marbled than layered thanks to the runny creme brulee), but it tasted great, and it got lots of compliments. Though to be honest, I didn't particularly enjoy it. It tasted good. But I was so jaded by how much trouble it gave me that I didn't particularly want to eat it.

I'd like to try this again sometime, and get it right. But I think it will take a while before I work up the guts to go for it again.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) and that you have a wonderful 2009!

Daring Bakers: Mmmmm...Caramel

2008-11-29T21:42:00.009-05:00

I love caramel. I find the sweet, creamy, gooeyness to be irresistible. So it is quite appropriate that I officially end my Daring Bakers maternity leave with Shuna Fish Lydon's signature Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting, as published on Bay Area Bites. There was an optional challenge of Alice Medrich's Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels from Pure Dessert. This month's challenge was co-hosted by Delores, Alex, and Jennny, with Natalie helping out with the gluten-free option.

I have to admit that I was a little intimidated when I read what Shuna had to say about this recipe:

"This is one of those cakes that is truly about baking. It may sound strange because aren't all cakes about baking? What I mean is that getting this cake to bake is about balancing fat with acid and protein JUST RIGHT...It would be very easy to get various other flavours in the caramel cake but what's tricky is making sure the flavour does not screw up the liquid-fat-flour ratio too much...Various flavouring ingredients and agents carry with them their own acidity and moisture contents...But I will say this about flavours: you will hide and lose the subtlety of the caramel flavour in the cake and that's what this cake is about."

I initially was thinking about trying to add a little coffee flavor to this cake, as I LOVE the coffee and caramel flavor combination (my guilty indulgence at Starbuck's is a Caramel Macchiato, and my standard order at Cold Stone involves coffee ice cream and caramel), but after reading Shuna's warning, I decided that this cake would probably pose enough of a challenge as is.

I decided to make this cake for Thanksgiving. I started Wednesday night by making the caramel syrup. It's amazing how just sugar and water (and heat) can turn into such a wonderfully flavored syrup! Following the warning of the DBers who'd already made their cakes, I wore long sleeves and a heavy oven mit to pour in the water to stop the caramelization process. I think this was wise. There was lots of sputtering and spitting of molten hot sugar. The instructions said to cook until "dark amber" which I realized as I was making it is a rather subjective term. In retrospect, I think I could have let the syrup cook a little longer before stopping it, and let it develop a richer caramel flavor.

Does this look "Dark Amber?"

Despite that, the syrup still had a wonderful caramel flavor.

Once the syrup was made and cooled, I got started on the cake. I have to admit that I got a little distracted, and realized as I got into it that I added some of the ingredients in the wrong order. I'd started adding my dry ingredients and milk when I realized that I'd forgotten to add the caramel syrup (only the key ingredient to the cake). So I went ahead and added it as soon as I remembered, but I was a little nervous, as Shuna's warning about this cake was floating around the the back of my head. Fortunately, this little lapse did not affect the final product in any way. (Side Note: One of my favorite kitchen tricks involves the measuring out sticky things like honey, molasses, or caramel syrup. If you spray the measuring spoon or cup with cooking spray before measuring out the sticky stuff, then it slides right out when adding it to whatever you are making. It makes things so much easier!)

I made the Caramelized Butter Frosting on Thursday afternoon. I was quite wary when I saw that the first step in this recipe was to brown the butter. I've always been scared of browned butter as everything I've read is that it's easy to burn. And the recipe did not give much direction as to how to go about it. So, I did what I always do in such situations, and I asked Google. Google provided me with several good links, and after reading through a few web pages, I decided it was time to bit the bullet and conquer my fear of browned butter. (The best tip Google gave me was not to use a dark bottomed pan to brown the butter, because it makes it too difficult to see the color of the butter and the milk fats as it's cooking. So I figured I'd share the love and pass that tip on to you!) My butter browned successfully on the first try. And it was nearly as scary as I'd been making it out to be. Once the browned butter had cooled, I started beating in the powdered sugar, and thinning with cream and caramel syrup as necessary. After frosting the cake, I used some of the left over caramel syrup to decorate the cake.

With all the warnings and sputtering caramel and browning butter, it actually came together really easily for me. It seems that the DBs have all had different experiences with this cake. Some said it was dense like pound cake, others said it was light and airy. Mine was somewhere in between. But it was very moist, and DELICIOUS!! It got rave reviews from everyone at the table. I'd read from the other DBs that this cake, particularly the frosting, were very sweet, and I was worried that they might be a little too sweet for me. But they weren't. It was perfectly balanced. The cake was sweet, but not in the gave-me-a-tummyache-and-sent-me-into-a-sugar-coma kind of way. The subtle yet rich flavor of the caramel was just right. Not over powering, but enough to really infuse the cake with that little something extra. And it was even better the next day, after the flavor of the caramel had time to mellow and deepen.

While I could go on and on about how wonderful this cake was, it boils down to this: simply amazing! Go find it and bookmark it. This is definitely a recipe you want to try!

P.S. I didn't get to the caramels, but those that did raved about them, so I'm going to try to get to them before Christmas.

P.P.S. I've been cooking and even remembering to photograph, but I haven't had time to blog. Hopefully I'll get to some of these backlogged recipes soon. But it's so hard to tear myself away from this:

Black Bean and Butternut Squash "Lasagna"

2008-11-12T21:56:00.002-05:00

I got the idea for this dish when I was looking for something fun to do with the butternut squash we got in our CSA bag. As I was browsing through various recipes, I noticed lots of black bean and butternut squash combos. I decided to see what I could do with it. I ended up with a yummy and filling vegetarian entree.

I was planning on doing either tacos or buritos or something along those lines, but this is one of those dishes that just evolved as I was making it, based on the things things I had on hand. I'm glad I made this "lasagna style." It worked really well, and was quite tasty. Psycling and I both went back for seconds. The spiciness of the pepper jack cheese complimented the sweetness of the squash, which was enhanced by the hint of cloves. This lasagna makes for a filling vegetarian main dish, and

Black Bean and Butternut Squash "Lasagna"

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 butternut squash, peeled, seeds scooped out, and cut into ~1/2" pieces
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 c. vegetable broth
2 15 oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
10-12 small corn tortillas (depending on the size of your dish)
1 1/2 c. grated pepper jack cheese

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sautee until soft. Add garlic, squash, and spices and cook about 30 seconds.

2.) Add vegetable broth to skillet and cook, covered until liquid has evaporated and squash is tender (add more vegetable broth if needed to get squash to desired softness). Add beans to skillet and cook until heated through.

3.) Grease a baking dish (I used a smaller one, about 8 x 11, but a 9 X 13 would work too) with cooking spray. Cover bottom of dish with tortillas, tearing them if necessary to fit. Spoon half of the bean mixture over tortillas, and sprinkle with 1/2 c. cheese. Place another layer of tortillas on top of this. Add rest of bean mixture, and sprinkle with another 1/2 c. of cheese. Top with another layer of tortillas.

4.) Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for another 5 minutes until cheese melts.

Enjoy!

P.S. Sorry, no pictures because 1) I'm lazy and 2) the software we use to upload them crashes Psycling's new computer. We're working on fixing that...

Menu Planning Monday -- 10/10/08

2008-11-10T08:46:00.003-05:00

Last week, despite my best intentions, we didn't do a very good job of sticking to the menu plan. Here's the week in review:

Monday: Planned -- veggie loaf; Actual -- veggie loaf (YAY!!)
Tuesday: Planned -- sweet potato and squash shepherd's pie; Actual -- pizza for an election night party
Wednesday: Planned -- vegetable soup; Actual -- squash and sweet potato shepherd's pie
Thursday: Planned -- eat out; Actual -- left overs
Friday: Planned -- Squash and black bean quesadillas; Actual -- last minute invite out for dinner

Given that, this week I'll be recycling some of these meals. So here's the plan for this week:

Monday: Left overs (Psycling is working late on a paper deadline)
Tuesday: Vegetable Soup
Wednesday: Squash and black bean quesadillas, turnip greens with chipotle vinaigrette
Thursday: Doggy class -- eat out or left overs
Friday: Stuffed Acorn squash, salad
Saturday: Fried Green Tomato BLTs
Sunday: left overs or something easy I'll throw together.

We'll see if we do a little better this week on sticking to the plan.

Menu Planning Monday

2008-11-02T22:06:00.002-05:00

Life is busy. I'm sure that's nothing new, for you or for me. But you know how sometimes, you just have so much going on, and it seems like there's no way you can add yet another thing to the mix. Then something else comes up. And you have a really full plate. And then more stuff comes up, and you wonder how in the world you'll handle it. Then eventually you realize something's gotta give.

That's how things have been around here. There is just too much going on, and I realized that the pace of life as I was living it was unsustainable. And something had to give. That something was my job. So now, I am a full time, stay-at-home-mom to the Munchkin. My new "work" will be very different from the office job that I've been used to, but it was the right decision for me and my family, and I'm looking forward to starting this new chapter in our life.

I'm also hoping that I'll have a little more time to pay attention to this blog. I'm going to start with Menu Planning Monday. This is something I've seen around the blogosphere, and I like the idea. I'm hoping it will also provide the impetus I need to get a little more organized, and get back into the swing of things in the kitchen. So, without further adieu, here is what we'll be eating this week:

Monday: Veggie Loaf, roasted radishes
Tuesday: Sweet Potato & Squash Shepherds Pie, salad
Wednesday: Vegetable Soup
Thursday: Doggy class -- Eat out
Friday: Veggie, Sweet Potato, and Black Bean Quesadillas, turnip greens with Chipotle Chile Vinaigrette
Saturday & Sunday: some combination of winging it, left overs, and/or dinner with family

Our menus are very much planned around the produce we get in our CSA bag every week. Right now, our fridge is bursting with hydroponic lettuce, radishes, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, butternut squash, green beans and broccoli. While I may not stick to this exact schedule (in fact, I very likely won't), I do know that this is what we'll be eating over the next week or so. And I will do my best to blog about some of these recipes, and get back into the swing of things here.

I'm Alive! With a Recipe!

2008-10-22T20:31:00.004-04:00

Not that you'd know it from this poor neglected blog, but I am still alive, and I have been cooking. The cooking has been much less time and labor intensive since the arrival of LC, but I'm working on getting back in the groove.

I have been planning our meals around the wonderful produce in our CSA. Since we often get the same things several weeks in a row as they hit their peak harvest, it's forced me to cook outside the box, and find new and creative ways to prepare veggies. Tonight, we we had Margarita Fish Tacos with Chipotle-Lime Mayo to use our arugula, and I wanted to make a side dish with our green beans (It seems like we've been eating green beans for months...and they're still coming!). Regular old steamed green beans can be kinda boring, and I wanted to find some way to tie the green beans in with the rest of the meal. So I did what I do best and I started playing. The resulting Chipotle Green Beens were surprisingly good.

Chipotle Green Beans (all amounts approximate)

1/2 lb green beans, trimmed
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp. adobo sauce from canned chipotle chilis

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add green beans, and season with salt and pepper, cumin and chili powder. Saute for about a minute. Add water, cover, and steam for about 3 minutes or until crisp tender. Uncover, and cook until water boils off. Add adobo sauce and tomatoes and cook until mixed and tomatoes begin to soften and brown.

As I was making this, I was skeptical. I was planning on giving Psycling my standard disclaimer that this was an experiment and I wouldn't be offended of he didn't like it. But they were actually really good. I like using the saute/steam method for green beans because the sauteing really brings out the flavor, and the steaming gets them to just the right texture. I also really like adding tomatoes to my green beans. The flavors work well together, and they provide a nice visual contrast as well. The cumin (one of my favorite spices), chili powder, and adobo sauce were surprisingly good on the beans, and this made for a perfect side dish to our fish tacos.

Now...I just need to figure out what to do with the billionth bag of green beans we got today. And the arugula. Apparently it's arugula season. Any ideas?

A 9/11 Remembrance: Baking a Little Love into the World

2008-09-11T11:44:00.007-04:00

On September 11, 2001 I was 23 years old, one year out of college, and working as an analyst with the Department of Defense just north of Washington DC. I remember that day like it was yesterday -- the intensity of the fear, the profound sadness, the confusion, and the incomprehensibility of what had happened.

I'd gotten into work early that day, by 8:00, which was highly unusual for me. I answered the phone when one of my co-workers (who was on leave that day) called in to say "Turn on CNN, someone just flew a plane into the World Trade Center." I remember thinking it must have been an inexperienced pilot who lost control of his little plane when out flying. It NEVER occurred to me that someone had intentionally flown a plane into the WTC with the intent to cause as much death and destruction as possible.

The one TV for our entire office was in my cubicle area, and I went and got someone who knew how to turn it on (with the way it was set up, you practically needed an advanced degree to turn the dang thing on!). When I saw what was really happening, that this was not an unfortunate accident, but rather a terrorist act, my jaw dropped. As word spread around the office, more co-workers trickled into the area, and before long, the entire office was standing around the television watching in a stunned silence, trying to comprehend what was happening.

I remember calling Psycling, who was a grad student at UMD at the time, and I asked him "are you watching the news?" He said he'd been trying to get to the CNN website for his daily news check, but assumed the server was down because the page wasn't loading. Then I told him what was happening. He and his friends found a television and joined the rest of the nation as we watched events unfold.

I remember watching CNN, a journalist reporting live from the Pentagon, when the third plane hit there. I remember hearing the fear and confusion in his voice (his initial assessment was that "a bomb just went off here at the Pentagon"). And I remember the intense fear I felt at that moment. This was not an isolated event in New York City, this was national. And it was happening near me. And they were targeting Defense facilities in the Washington DC area. And there I was, working in a Defense facility in the Washington DC area. It didn't take very long for me to realize "IT COULD HAPPEN HERE!!!" The fear I felt at that realization was deeper and more intense than any other I had ever felt up until then, or since. My legs were shaking, I was feeling nauseous.

At that point I decided to go home. I wasn't getting any work done, and I knew I wouldn't the rest of the day. We were all just standing around the television, and I figured I could do that much more safely from my apartment. After shutting down my computer and locking up my work space, I practically ran out of the building. And then I got outside, where the perfect fall weather seemed so eerily at odds with what was happening in the world. It was warm for September, sunny, with bright blue skies, puffy white clouds, and just a hint of red and yellow dotting the green trees that lined the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

I got home and Psycling arrived not too long afterwards, as did my roommate, who also worked for the DoD. It turns out they evacuated the facility. We were out of work for three days, as the powers that be figured out what was going on, and made sure everything was safe.

The next day, I was so overwhelmed with the death and destruction that I could not bring myself to continue watching the non-stop news coverage; I did not want to be continually bombarded with the image of the planes hitting the towers. As it is, that is something that is seared into my brain forever. Amid all this craziness, sadness, hatred, evil, I needed to do something good; I needed to create, to prove to myself that good can and will triumph over evil, and we will get past this. Not knowing what else to do, I baked. I'd recently been to a wedding where the favors were heart-shaped cookie cutters attached to a recipe for sugar cookies. Hearts represent love, and to me, love was the antithesis of the evil and hatred that perpetuated these terrorist attacks. Baking these heart shaped cookies was my way of saying "F$*K YOU" to the terrorists, of saying that despite this horrible thing that you have done, you HAVE NOT WON!! Because I still have love and soul and passion and those cannot be taken away. And those things will over come in the end.

This year, the 9/11 anniversary has hit me harder than it has in recent years. I had a hard time falling asleep last night, as the images and feelings of that day played through my head like a movie. And I knew what I had to do. I had to make cookies.

I still believe that in the end, love and compassion will win out. I have to believe that. So today was spent doing what I love with the people I love.

When I woke up this morning, Psycling agreed to watch LC while I got busy in the kitchen. I couldn't find my original sugar cookie recipe (I tore through all my folders of recipes looking for it), so I looked for a comparable one, one that uses confectioners sugar instead of granualted sugar, and includes Cream of Tartar. None of my cookbooks had an acceptable recipe, and couldn't find one on Epicurious either. So I turned to my friend Google, and after some searching found this recipe.

These cookies came out really well. They were soft and chewy; sweet but not overly so. In essence, exactly what I wanted in my sugar cookies. I baked these cookies in remembrance and honor of all who lost their lives or their loved ones on 9/11, and as an outward display of my faith that the goodness that is inherent in humanity is stronger than evil and hatred. What better way to demonstrate that than to share the love. So we took the entire batch of cookies into Psycling's lab at school to feed hungry grad students.

I may not be saving the world, but at least I can bake a little love into it.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar for decoration

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; blend into the creamed mixture. Cover and chill for at least two hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the dough into two parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of the dough out to 3/16 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle cookies with plain or colored granulated sugar.
3. Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Daring Bakers: Better Late than Never

2008-09-03T08:03:00.010-04:00

Though I'm not officially "back" from my Daring Bakers maternity leave, but the August challenge, Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé (hosted by Meeta and Tony), was calling my name. Besides, cooking and baking are things I enjoy, and getting back into the kitchen, even though it takes a lot more time and planning than it did before the Littlest Chef arrived, I feel less stressed and overwhelmed after some good kitchen time. So I made it work, but I couldn't have done it without Psycling (who is Super Dad) helping out with LC.

Eclaires are something that I have been wanting to try for a long time, so this seemed like the perfect excuse! This particular recipe is great for chocoholics like Psycling and me. In addition to the traditional chocolate glaze on top, they are filled with a chocolate pastry cream as well. Since I had to fit this baking project in between LCs feedings, I had to break it up and make each component separately (the choux, pastry cream, chocolate sauce, and glaze), then assemble them later.

I noted that the recipe stated that the choux could be made in advance, shaped, and then frozen. So I made that first:

While Psycling took Thea and LC for a walk, I had *just* enough time to make the choux and get it piped out onto some parchment and into the freezer. I've never made a choux before and it took a couple of tries to get it right. The first time, something seemed off. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it just wasn't behaving the way the recipe said it should. So...I grabbed Psycling's laptop and went to the DB forums to see if anyone else had trouble with the choux (something I probably should have done *before* starting to cook), and saw that a few people had trouble with the choux leaking oil. I saw their pictures and they looked how mine was starting to look. It seems that this is the result of the milk/water mixture not being at a full, rolling boil before adding the flour. So I tossed that batch and started over. This time, I made quite sure that the liquids were at a rolling boil before adding the flour. This attempt seemed to go much better, though I was still a little nervous because a crust never formed on the bottom of my pan like the recipe said it would.

Then I went to pipe out the dough. The recipe called for using a 2 cm tip to pipe the dough into little fingers, but the largest tip I had was 1.5 cm. So, I went with it, and decided we'd just have mini eclaires. After I piped out the dough, I stuck the baking sheets in the freezer. The next day, I transfered all the little frozen choux-fingers to a zip lock freezer bag for use later.

The next day, while Psycling was holding a fussy baby, I made the chocolate sauce, which would be used in the glaze. It was pretty straight forward, and there was no real trouble there. But, it was quite yummy! We have a fair amount left over, which other DBs say is really good in chocolate milk. I'll have to give that a try!

Then I made the pastry cream, which for me ended up as more of a pudding. But it still worked, it was just thicker than I expected it to be. I have to admit to taking a little shortcut...LC was getting increasingly fussy and hungry, so I needed to finish up so I could feed him. So, I didn't strain the mixture after tempering the eggs and before putting it back on the heat. Fortunatley, everything worked well, and there were no scrambled eggs in my pastry cream. Once the pastry cream was finished, Psycling helped by "cleaning" the chocolate-covered bowls, spoons, and whisks, and I took over baby duty.

We were planning on unloading these eclaires at a labor day cook out with some friends, so on Monday, I skipped my normal afternoon nap (they say you should sleep when the baby sleeps, but that's surprisingly difficult sometimes) to bake and assemble the eclaires.

While the choux was baking, I made the glaze. It was very easy and stright forward, and also very yummy. It was basically a ganache thinned with the chocolate sauce I'd made the day before. I was a little worried about how the choux would bake up. I know that several of the DBs had trouble with the pastry either collapsing, or just not puffing at all. Because mine were smaller, they needed less cooking time than the reicpe called for, but in the end, I was very happy with how well the puffed up.

See? Nice and puffed and golden, just like they're supposed to be!

Then it came time for assembly. I sliced each eclaire in half and piped on some of the pastry cream.

I then dipped the top in the glaze, and placed it on top, then put them in the fridge until time to eat. They were a big hit at the cook out, with some guests stationing themselves next to them and just eating one after the other. There were hardly any left by the time we left, but with so many volunteers to take home any left overs, we just left them there. I would bet there weren't any left overs to take by the time all the guests left.

The verdict: these eclaires were really good, and fairly straight forward to make. I also liked it that this was a recipe that could easily be broken up and made in stages, making it easier to complete it, even if your life is controlled by the feeding schedule of a new born ;-)

Speaking of LC, look how much he's growing!

He's already 6 1/2 weeks old, and is lifting his head, smiling, gurgling and all the cute stuff babies do. Now, if only we could work on the sleep thing...

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with
waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.
Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.
Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.
The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the
handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the
oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue
baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You
need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough
will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,
beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do
not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you
have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it
should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the
piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

[bNotes:[/b]
1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly  in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:
1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

CSA Bounty

2008-08-25T11:34:00.001-04:00

I believe I mentioned that this year Psycling and I decided to join a CSA. I have really enjoyed cooking with so many wonderful fresh, local, and organic ingredients, and we have made some really good stuff! Earlier this summer, I made a wonderful meal out of the fresh patty pan sqush, cucumbers, and tomatoes that came in one of our CSA bags.

When we got such beautiful fresh tomatoes and cucumbers in the same bag, they were crying out to be turned into a tomato and cucumber salad.

Unfortunately, I don't have an actual recipe to pass on, but this was so simple to throw together that you don't really need one. I chopped up some tomatoes and cucumbers, drizzled them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and tossed it all together. Then I topped it with some chopped basil fresh from the garden. It was delicious!

The same week we got all those gorgeous tomatoes and cukes, we got some patty pan squash, so I made Sauted Baby Squash with Basil and Feta.

Psycling isn't a huge fan of feta cheese to I used goat cheese instead...and, really, how can you go wrong with goat cheese? To go with these two wonderful vegetable dishes, I just did a simple lemon and olive oil marinade for some grilled chicken breasts. It was a perfect meal!

P.S. I apologize for the bad photos. During my pregnancy, just getting the meal made was a big accomplishment. Getting nice pictures after just wasn't happening. Hopefully, as I get back into the swing of things, I'll be able to work on my food photography, as well as my cooking!!

2008-08-18T10:06:00.002-04:00

I saw this over at Dispensing Happiness, and thought it was neat. What to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. ~~Steak tartare~~
5. Crocodile
6. ~~Black pudding~~
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. ~~Hot dog from a street cart~~
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. ~~Brawn, or head cheese~~
26. ~~Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper~~
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a ~~fat cigar~~
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. ~~McDonald’s Big Mac Meal~~
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. ~~Poutine~~
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. ~~Sweetbreads~~
63. Kaolin
64. ~~Currywurst~~
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. ~~Haggis~~
69. Fried plantain
70. ~~Chitterlings, or andouillette~~
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. ~~Roadkill~~
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. ~~Horse~~
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

As you can see, there are very few things that I would NEVER eat. Even though I generally don't eat red meat, it's because I don't like it. But, I'm willing to try *almost* anything at least once. So what about you? Is there anything you'd NEVER eat?

*Also, I have to admit that there are some things on this list that I was unfamiliar with. Wikipedia helped broaden my food knowledge.

The Dinner A'Fare

2008-08-04T22:04:00.003-04:00

When the Littlest Chef was born, I knew I would need time to recover before jumping back into the kitchen. So my mom went to A Dinner A'Fare and ordered several meals for us. A Dinner A'Fare is one of those meal prep stores, in which you can go in and use pre-prepped ingredients to assemble 12 meals in about two hours. Or, if you're really short on time, you can just order the meals already assembled. This is what my mom did.

I had heard about places like this, but as someone who loves to cook, I've never felt compelled to check them out. But in the couple weeks since LC was born, it has been a wonderful, and Psycling and I have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the meals. We've had tuna steaks with a roasted red pepper sauce, chicken with mushroom alfredo, Italian shrimp wraps, chicken fingers with honey mustard sauch, hickory chicken with a plum sauce, and more that I can't even remember. And all have been very good.

I'm just now starting to feel the itch to get back into the kitchen, and I'm looking forward to getting back to meal planning based on the loot from our CSA. And while I don't see us using a service like A Dinner A'Fare on a regular basis, I would definitely recommend them if you find yourself in a situation where you need quick, easy, relatively healthy homecooked meals. And several meals pre-made would be a great gift to any new mom just finding her feet upon returning home from the hospital.

He's Here!

2008-07-29T17:15:00.002-04:00

The Littlest Chef (LC) has arrived! He caught us off guard and decided to enter the world two weeks early!

He was born Sunday July 20 at 11:18 am, weighing in at 7 lbs 1 oz and measuring 20.5 inches long. He is doing great, and mom and dad are falling more in love every day!

Cooking and knitting have kind of fallen off the radar, but before long, I hope to be back in the kitchen, cooking and baking for my new (larger) family.

Me as a Flickr Mosaic

2008-06-25T19:50:00.003-04:00

I've seen this a few places in the blogosphere, and it seemed kinda fun, so I figured I'd go with it. Here's how it works:

Go to Flickr, and type in your answer to the following 12 questions in the Flickr search box. Using only the pictures returned on the first page of results, pick and image, and copy it's URL into the Big Huge Lab's Mosaic Maker.

Here is my mosaic:

And here are the questions that generated it (and my answers):

1. What is your first name? Sara

2. What is your favorite food? I had a hard time with this, but ended up going with dark chocolate. I picked this particular picture because blueberries are my favorite fruit, so what's better than chocolate with blueberries?

3. What high school did you go to? North Atlanta

4. What is your favorite color? Purple. I found it interesting to see what kinds of pictures pop up when you just search for a color. I had the hardest time choosing from this set.

5. Who is your celebrity crush? I don't really have one, but figured if I did, it would be Bono. Not only does he make amazing music, but I love how active he is in making the world a better place. And really, I'm a sucker for anyone who speaks in an Irish brogue.

6. What is your favorite drink? I had a hard time on this one too, but ended up going with dry red wine. Though gin and tonic is a close second. Not that I've been able to drink either in the past 8 months. I'm looking forward to a nice glass of wine as soon as I can!

7. What is your dream vacation? Patagonia. I've always been fascinated by it, and by Chile in general. But if I could only ever take one vacation , that would be it. Reykjavik, Iceland would be a close second.

8. What is your favorite dessert? I had to go with ice cream. I love it! I'm one of those people who will eat ice cream, no matter the weather...any kind (though love the chunky Ben & Jerry's), any time. I just love ice cream!

9. What did you want to be when you grow up? A dolphin trainer. For as long as I can remember, that's what I wanted to be. Dolphins are still my favorite animals, and I get a twinge of envy when I see the dolphin trainers doing their thing at an aquarium.

10. What do you love most in life? Unconditional love. It's amazing. Almost all the pictures that come up when you type "unconditional love" into the search function are animal pictures. I guess given how much I love animals, it made sense that I'd pick one of those.

11. What is one word that describes you? Whimsical. I loved this picture of the little girl, which was entitled whimsical. It seemed to capture all the imagination, creativity, and hope that I think are part of whimsy.

12. What is your flickr name? I don't have my own Flickr account. Psycling and I share one, and Surprise! Our user name is Psycling!! This is the only picture that comes up when you tupe "psycling" into the search function (I was searching for photos and not people) this came up. I have no idea who these two girls are, or what their association to psycling is, but I went with it.

And because I want to give credit where credit is due, here are the photo credits for my mosaic!

1. Sara Longwing, 2. Handmade chocolate cupcakes filled with blueberry cream and topped with dark chocolate ganache and some more of these absolutely delicious wild blueberries, 3. Interstate 85 North, 4. purple haze, 5. Bono @ Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man Premiere, 6. Dry red wine, 7. Cuernos del Paine, 8. Chocolate white chocolate chip cookie and vanilla bean ice cream sandwich with chocolate chip trimming, 9. Working Together, 10. Unconditional Love II, 11. Whimsical, 12. The birthday girl

So if this looks fun to you, go for it. And because photos get uploaded and tagged so quickly, the mosaic you make today could look quite different from the one you make next week.

Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Squash

2008-06-14T09:02:00.003-04:00

I scan many different food blogs...mostly for new ideas for things to cook and bake. But, even though there's LOTS out there that looks yummy, I'm actually pretty selective about which recipes I "star" in my google reader. If my only criteria is "that looks yummy" I'd star more in a day than I could make in a month. So I really try to limit to the recipes I think I will actually make (and I *try* to be realistic in this assessment...).

All this lead-up is to say that the other day, I found a recipe on Cupcake Muffin for Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Zucchini and Sausage. Given that I love love love goat cheese, and it looked like a simple weeknight meal, I starred it. Later that day, I went to pick up our CSA bag and discovered some gorgeous yellow summer squash!! I knew immediately that it was destined for this recipe!

I made a couple of slight modifications, based on what I had on hand...though to be honest, many fewer modifications than I might normally make to a recipe. I have to say, it was really good (and with all that goat cheese, how could it not be?). In my opinion, the freshness of our straight-from-the-farm squash made a huge difference in this dish. I can honestly say, it is the best squash I have ever had! Psycling and I both really enjoyed it, thought we also had different assessments of it. For instance, I thought the hot sausage almost overwhelmed the delicate taste of the squash, and thought it might have been better with mild sausage (or at least a mix of the two). Psycling, on the other hand, thought that the spiciness of the hot sausage added a punch to the dish that was critical, and that maybe it would be too bland with out it. Either way, we both quite enjoyed the meal!

I'll put my "tweaks" in italics. The tweaks I made were based almost solely on making the dish with what I had on hand, to avoid a shopping trip and make a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Zucchini and Sausage (adapted from Fine Cooking)
Serves 3

Kosher salt
1/2 lb. dried rigatoni (I used penne since it was what I had on hand)
1/2 lb. hot Italian sausage (I used turkey sausage)
2 medium shallots, finely chopped (I used leeks, since we also got those in our CSA bag)
1 1/2 cups yellow and green summer squash, cut into 3/4 inch dice (I just used the yellow summer squash from our CSA bag)
3 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled
1 tsp finely chopped parsley (I added a little bit of chopped fresh oregano too...I had some, and thought it would taste good...it did!)
Freshly ground black pepper
Parmigiano-Reggiano to serve (I actually left this out...I may have used a little extra goat cheese, and the pasta seemed cheesy enough without the parm. It may have been good with the extra cheese, but I didn't miss it at all.)

So there you have it. For a quick and delicious weeknight meal, this recipe definitely deserves a star. I would highly recommend giving it a try, and tweak it based on what you have on hand. I bet it will still be yummy!

Oprea, anyone?

2008-05-28T20:10:00.009-04:00

This month, our Daring Baker's hostesses Lis and Ivonne treated us to an opera...cake, that is. While I may have once or twice heard the term "Opera Cake," I really had no idea what it was. Fortunately, they provided a very thorough description. For those who are as clueless as I was, an Opera Cake is

"an extremely elegant and polished French dessert that is believed to have been created around the beginning of the 1900s. Many people credit a gentleman by the name of Louis Clichy with inventing the cake and that's why it's sometimes referred to as Clichy Cake...it's a cake that is made up (usually) of five components: a joconde (a cake layer), a syrup (to wet the joconde), a buttercream (to fill some of the layers), a ganache or mousse (to top the final cake layer) and a glaze (to cover the final layer of cake or of ganache/mousse)."

Clearly I had my work cut out for me. But...as if this wasn't challenging enough, Lis and Ivonne decided to throw in another twist:

"Traditionally, a joconde is flavoured with darker flavours such as chocolate or coffee. But in honour of the season (spring in our neck of the woods) and as part of our decision to tie our posts in with the LiveSTRONG theme, we are making Opéra Cakes that are light in both colour and flavour."

Wow. After some pondering, I decided to make a lemon and raspberry opera cake. I wanted a lemon flavor cake, with the raspberry butter cream. Being close to 8 months pregnant, I knew that I was going to have to break this challenge up into smaller pieces if I was going to complete it. So on a Monday, I made the syrup, flavored with just a little vanilla extract to enhance the lemon and raspberry I was planning. Because this was a simple syurp, it was, well, simple, and within about 1o minutes, I had step one done!

On Tuesday, I made the mousse:

As you can see, the ingredients were quite simple...cream, white chocolate, and to make it that much more decadent, a splash of Godiva White Chocolate liqueur. The cream whipped up nicely in my kitchen aid, while the white chocolate (with more cream) melted. I added my splash of Godiva and folded everything together, and before too long, I had a very rich white chocolate mousse. Step two was done.

Friday came step three: the jaconde.

The jaconde is kind of a cross between a cake and an almond biscuit. In fact, as I did a little more research on Opera Cakes, I discovered that some people refer to the joconde layer as an almond biscuit. It was certainly unlike any cake I'd made before. There is very little flour, and uses almond meal instead (that's what's in the food processor). It also uses mostly confectioners sugar, and only a little bit of regular sugar.

Making the jaconde starts with whipping up some egg whites.

I think I may have whipped them a little bit beyond the "stiff peaks" stage, what do you think? Fortunately, it still worked for me. After that, I beat the almond meal, confectioners sugar, and egg until nice and light, before adding the flour. Then it was time to add my secret ingredients: lemon zest and lemon juice! This was to make my lemon jaconde. I then folded this mixture in with my overly stiff egg whites, and had a very airy batter to spread on my jelly roll pan.

Because my pan was slightly bigger than the one called for in the recipe, my cakes were a little thinner than the might have been otherwise. But I didn't worry (especially after looking at pictures of other oprea cakes) because the jaconde layer is supposed to be thin. It seems that the butter cream and mouse are the stars of the show!

See, look how thin! But, either way, step 3 was done!

Saturday was reserved for the final two elements and assembly of the cake. The day ended up being busier than expected, so I didn't really get any pictures of steps 4 & 5. I started on my butter cream late Saturday morning. I made the basic butter cream, but then folded in some pureed raspberries. My plan was to strain the raspberry puree to get the seeds out, but 1) I was running low on time, and 2) I felt justified being a little lazy given my physical state. So the seeds stayed in (no one seemed to notice or mind, by the way!). But after folding in the raspberries I gave it a taste and it was exactly what I was aiming for. I'd never tried folding something into butter cream like this, so I was a little unsure if the finished product would at all resemble what I was hoping for. However, I was not disappointed.

I then started layering my opera cake...jaconde, butter cream, jaconde, butter cream, jaconde, mousse. At this stage, the cake went into the fridge to chill, and allow the butter cream layers to firm up and set. Fast forward a couple of hours, and I pull the cake out of the oven just in time to head over to a friends for a Memorial Day Weekend cookout. Once we got there, I made the white chocolate glaze, poured it over the cake, and put it back in the fridge to chill until time for dessert. The happy guests got to pull out spoons and eat the left over glaze.

After our amazing meal, it was time to serve the cake!

The guests seemed to really like it (and took some of the left overs home), but Psycling and I thought it was just OK. For us, it was just too sweet. The jaconde layer itself (especially doused in the syrup) was quite sweet, and that was compounded but the sweetness of the two white chocolate layers (mousse and glaze). In fact, the jaconde was so sweet that even the lemon added to it couldn't cut it. In fact, we could hardly taste the lemon. It really tasted like a white chocolate-raspberry cake. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just wasn't what I was hoping for. After trying this cake, I can understand why an Opera Cake is traditionally made with chocolate and/or coffee flavoring. The inherent bitterness of those two flavors would really complement the sweetness of the jaconde. I think I would have enjoyed a traditional opera cake much more. But with that said, the cake wasn't bad, and I do think it was a good challenge. It definitely forced me outside of my norm or my comfort zone, and I did learn quite a bit from completing this challenge.

Unfortunately, this may have been my last Daring Baker's Challenge for a while. It really took a toll on my pregnant body, and I can't imagine doing it again in a month. But we'll see. But when ever I do my next DB challenge, whether it's next month, or several months from now after settling into a routine with our new family of 3, I'm looking forward to it.

For those of you who made it all the way through, and would like to try to make your own opera cake, here is the basic recipe (feel free to tweak and flavor to suit your tastes):

A Taste of Light: Opéra Cake

This recipe is based on Opéra Cake recipes in Dorie Greenspan’s Paris Sweets and Tish Boyle and Timothy Moriarty’s Chocolate Passion.

For the joconde

(Note: The joconde can be made up to 1 day in advance and kept wrapped at room temperate)

What you’ll need:

•2 12½ x 15½-inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans (Note: If you do not have jelly-roll pans this size, do not fear! You can use different-sized jelly-roll pans like 10 x 15-inches.)
•a few tablespoons of melted butter (in addition to what’s called for in the ingredients’ list) and a brush (to grease the pans)
•parchment paper
•a whisk and a paddle attachment for a stand mixer or for a handheld mixer
•two mixing bowls (you can make do with one but it’s preferable to have two)

Ingredients:

6 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tbsp. (30 grams) granulated sugar
2 cups (225 grams) ground blanched almonds (Note: If you do not want to use almond meal, you can use another nut meal like hazelnut. You can buy almond meal in bulk food stores or health food stores, or you can make it at home by grinding almonds in the food processor with a tablespoon or two of the flour that you would use in the cake. The reason you need the flour is to prevent the almonds from turning oily or pasty in the processor. You will need about 2 cups of blanched almonds to create enough almond meal for this cake.)
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
½ cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. (1½ ounces; 45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1.Divide the oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven.

2.Preheat the oven to 425◦F. (220◦C).

3.Line two 12½ x 15½- inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans with parchment paper and brush with melted butter.

4.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a handheld mixer), beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. If you do not have another mixer bowl, gently scrape the meringue into another bowl and set aside.

5.If you only have one bowl, wash it after removing the egg whites or if you have a second bowl, use that one. Attach the paddle attachment to the stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer again) and beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes.

6.Add the flour and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined (be very careful not to overmix here!!!).

7.Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture and then fold in the melted butter. Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of each pan.

8.Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes depending on your oven. Place one jelly-roll pan in the middle of the oven and the second jelly-roll pan in the bottom third of the oven.

9.Put the pans on a heatproof counter and run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover each with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, turn the pans over, and unmold.

10.Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cakes. Let the cakes cool to room temperature.

For the syrup

(Note: The syrup can be made up to 1 week in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator.)

What you’ll need:

•a small saucepan

Ingredients:

½ cup (125 grams) water
⅓ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
1 to 2 tbsp. of the flavouring of your choice (i.e., vanilla extract, almond extract, cognac, limoncello, coconut cream, honey etc.)

1.Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.

2.Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

For the buttercream

(Note: The buttercream can be made up to 1 month in advance and packed in an airtight container. If made way in advance, you can freeze the buttercream. Alternatively you can refrigerate it for up to 4 days after making it. To use the buttercream simply bring it to room temperature and then beat it briefly to restore its consistency.)

What you’ll need:

•a small saucepan
•a candy or instant-read thermometer
•a stand mixer or handheld mixer
•a bowl and a whisk attachment
•rubber spatula

Ingredients:

1 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
¼ cup (60 grams) water
seeds of one vanilla bean (split a vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the seeds) or 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract (Note: If you are flavouring your buttercream and do not want to use the vanilla, you do not have to. Vanilla will often enhance other flavours but if you want an intense, one-flavoured buttercream, then by all means leave it out!)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¾ sticks (7 ounces; 200 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
flavouring of your choice (a tablespoon of an extract, a few tablespoons of melted white chocolate, citrus zest, etc.)

1.Combine the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds or extract in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.

2.Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225◦F (107◦C) [*Note: Original recipe indicates a temperature of 255◦F (124◦C), however, when testing the recipe I found that this was too high so we heated to 225◦F and it worked fine] on a candy or instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the syrup from the heat.

3.While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk them until they are pale and foamy.

4.When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, reduce the mixer speed to low speed and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment. Some of the syrup will spin onto the sides of the bowl but don’t worry about this and don’t try to stir it into the mixture as it will harden!

5.Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the eggs are thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).

6.While the egg mixture is beating, place the softened butter in a bowl and mash it with a spatula until you have a soft creamy mass.

7.With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny.

8.At this point add in your flavouring and beat for an additional minute or so.

9.Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it’s set enough (firm enough) to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes).

For the white chocolate ganache/mousse (this step is optional)

(Note: The mousse can be made ahead and refrigerated until you’re ready to use it.)

What you’ll need:

•a small saucepan
•a mixer or handheld mixer

Ingredients:

7 ounces white chocolate
1 cup plus 3 tbsp. heavy cream (35% cream)
1 tbsp. liquer of your choice (Bailey’s, Amaretto, etc.)

1.Melt the white chocolate and the 3 tbsp. of heavy cream in a small saucepan.
2.Stir to ensure that it’s smooth and that the chocolate is melted. Add the tablespoon of liqueur to the chocolate and stir. Set aside to cool completely.
3.In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form.
4.Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate to form a mousse.
5.If it’s too thin, refrigerate it for a bit until it’s spreadable.
6.If you’re not going to use it right away, refrigerate until you’re ready to use.

For the glaze
(Note: It’s best to make the glaze right when you’re ready to finish the cake.)

What you’ll need:

•a small saucepan or double boiler

Ingredients:

14 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream (35% cream)

1.Melt the white chocolate with the heavy cream. Whisk the mixture gently until smooth.
2.Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the chilled cake. Using a long metal cake spatula, smooth out into an even layer.
3.Place the cake into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.

Assembling the Opéra Cake

(Note: The finished cake should be served slightly chilled. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 day).

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Working with one sheet of cake at a time, cut and trim each sheet so that you have two pieces (from each cake so you’ll have four pieces in total): one 10-inch (25-cm) square and one 10 x 5-inch (25 x 12½-cm) rectangle.

Step A (if using buttercream only and not making the ganache/mousse):

Place one square of cake on the baking sheet and moisten it gently with the flavoured syrup.

Spread about one-third of the buttercream over this layer.

Top with the two rectangular pieces of cake, placing them side by side to form a square. Moisten these pieces with the flavoured syrup.

Spread another third of the buttercream on the cake and then top with the third square of joconde. Use the remaining syrup to wet the joconde. Spread the remaining buttercream on top of the final layer of joconde and then refrigerate until very firm (at least half an hour).

Make the glaze and after it has cooled, pour/spread it over the top of the chilled cake. Refrigerate the cake again to set the glaze.

Serve the cake slightly chilled. This recipe will yield approximately 20 servings.

Step B (if making the ganache/mousse):

Place one square of cake on the baking sheet and moisten it gently with the flavoured syrup.

Spread about three-quarters of the buttercream over this layer.

Top with the two rectangular pieces of cake, placing them side by side to form a square. Moisten these pieces with the flavoured syrup.

Spread the remaining buttercream on the cake and then top with the third square of joconde. Use the remaining syrup to wet the joconde and then refrigerate until very firm (at least half an hour).

Prepare the ganache/mousse (if you haven’t already) and then spread it on the top of the last layer of the joconde. Refrigerate for at least two to three hours to give the ganache/mousse the opportunity to firm up.

Make the glaze and after it has cooled, pour/spread it over the top of the chilled cake. Refrigerate the cake again to set the glaze.

Serve the cake slightly chilled. This recipe will yield approximately 20 servings.

Memorial Day Cook-Out

2008-05-26T17:12:00.008-04:00

What better way to celebrate a long weekend than with a cook-out? This weekend, Psycling and I went over to a friend's house for a Tech Chefs Memorial Day cookout. There were only 5 of us there, but seemingly enough food to feed about 30!

The main course was Beer Butt Chicken. We had two 5-lb chickens, which were rubbed inside and out with a rub composed of 1:1:1 paprika:sea salt:brown sugar with a little black pepper added in as well. Next, you drink (or pour out) half a can of beer, and throw a few Tbs. of the rub into the remaining beer. Then (excuse my vulgarity) you stick the can of beer up the chicken's butt.

You then very carefully move the chickens (keeping them upright) to the grill, where you set them over indirect heat, and adjust the legs so that the legs and beer can form a "tripod" to keep the chicken upright while cooking. See our chicken "tripods"?

Then, the chickens cook over indirect heat, with a grill temp of about 350F - 400F for about an hour, or until a thermometer inserted deep into the meatiest parts of the chicken register 180 degrees. At this point, you remove the chicken from the grill, and remove the beer can from the chicken's butt (this was a two person job...one person to use tongs and a meat fork to hold the chicken, and another to use a second pair of tongs to remove the beer can).

While the chicken was the main attraction, we had so much other food, and a very crowded grill.

Along with the chickens you see our chili-rubbed corn and our grilled onions. THis is one of my favorite ways to make corn, and it comes from my Williams-Sonoma Seasonal Cookbook. For six ears of corn, you need:

2 Tbs. melted butter
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. (or less to taste) cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

1. Peel husks back and remove corn silk. Pull husks back up over corn cobs and soak for about 20 minutes.

2. Mix together melted butter and spices. After soaking corn, brush each ear of corn with spiced butter mixture and pull husks back up over corn. Wrap each ear in aluminum foil.

3. Place on grill and cook for about 15 minutes, or until done.

But I saved the best for last...the grilled onions! By far the best onions I have ever had!! I'm glad I watched the preparation of these because I will definitely be making them again. Peel the onions, and cut a flat surface on both the bottom and the top.

Then, you cut a hole in the top of the onion, as you can (kinda) see in the picture above. Then fill each hole with bullion granules (we used beef...if I make these on my own, I'll probably use chicken, but any kind of bullion will work). Then top off with 1.5 - 2 Tbs. butter. Wrap each onion individually in aluminum foil and place on the grill for about 20-30 minutes, or until nice and soft and tender (you can test with tongs so as not to burn yourself). To eat, place the onion in a bowl with all it's wonderful juices and enjoy the best tasting onion you've ever had in your life!!

I wish I'd taken a picture of the table before we all dug in. In addition to the two chickens, the corn and the onions, we had a fruit salad, a potato salad (with sweet potatoes...yummy!), and a vinegar based slaw made from some cabbage fresh from our CSA share last week. And all this for just 5 people. But, by the time we sat down to eat, there was no time for photographing! We were starving, and couldn't wait to dig in. It was an amazing meal! One I will remember for a long time...and that has set the bar really high for future cook outs!

As for our dessert...you'll just have to check back on May 28 to see what the Daring Bakers had in store for us this month ;-).

On Reading

2008-05-12T15:12:00.002-04:00

I apologize for the rather random hodgepodge of things this blog has become...though to be honest, it's fairly indicative of the state of my brain and my life these days :-)

I've seen this floating around in the blogosphere, and because I've always loved reading, it caught my eye. For a while, I wasn't reading much, but recently, I've been going to be earlier just to give me time to read before bed. I'm so happy to be reading more once again.

So here's the deal. Below is a list of the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users. Here's the key:

Bold = books I've read
Underline = books read for school
Italics = started but not finished
* = currently on my bookshelf waiting to be read

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: a novel
The Name of the Rose*
Don Quixote*
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey (It's not that I started and didn't finish, but that we only read a portion of it when we read it in school)
Pride and Prejudice*
Jane Eyre*
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace*
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad (this is another case of only reading a portion in school)
Emma*
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway*
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha*
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man*
Love in the Time of Cholera*
Brave New World*
The Fountainhead*
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel*
1984
Angels & Demons*
The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility*
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels*
Les Miserables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury*
Angela’s Ashes: a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners*
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved*
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

As you can see, I don't have a strong foundation in "the classics" as generally taught in schools. In high school, I was in an International Baccalaureate program, so the bulk of the literature that we read was world literature. In college, I didn't take any traditional English/American literature classes, and rather skewed toward comp lit classes focusing in East Asian literature.

Most of the classics on this list have the little astrisk next to it. That's because after college, I realized that I was lacking a foundation in "the classics" and took it upon myself to correct that. So as I visited used book stores or library sales, I'd pick up the classics (usually returned to the the book store after being read in a high school or college class), so have a great collection sitting on the book shelf. Now, I just need to find the time to read them!

You'll also notice that there are very few underlined books. I have this thing about finishing a book once I start it, regardless of how difficult/boring/whatever I might find it. The best example of this is Les Miserables. I read this book of my own volition (not for school) and struggled through the chapters upon chapters of French philosophy that I did not completely understand. But I did my best, and while many parts of it were over my head, I was still able to enjoy it (in retrospect), learned from it, and took something out of reading it.

I love books, and I love reading. I'm hoping that eventually, I will get through all the unread books on my bookcase.

Another fluff post...but it's fun :-)

2008-04-30T11:36:00.002-04:00

I found this on another food blog. What kind of cereal are you?

You Are Muesli

You are broad minded and cosmopolitan.

Your tastes are varied and numerous.

You like many types of things. You definitely aren't picky.

The only thing you can't stand is being bored.

You're the kind of person who can't have the same breakfast often.

Your breakfast is unpredictable, unique, and very varies.

What Kind of Cereal Are You?

The Daring Bakers Play with Cheesecake

2008-04-29T20:24:00.002-04:00

I'm a little late with this Daring Bakers post, but April was one of those months where life just completely overwhelmed me and took over (That's also why there are no pictures in this post). But better late than never, right?

This months challenge was hosted by Deborah and Elle. The recipe they chose was for Cheesecake Pops from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor. The cheesecake pops involve making making a cheesecake, scooping them into little balls, placing sticks in them, freezing them, then dipping them in chocolate and decorated however we wished. Normally, this is the type of challenge that I would relish and take to extremes. But with how busy life has become, and the increasing exhaustion of this pregnancy, I just didn't have the energy to go all out the way that I wanted to.

Overall, I would say this was a great concept, but only a good recipe. Before I made the recipe, I read that several other Daring Bakers had trouble getting their cheesecake batter to set sufficiently. Unfortunately, I had the same problem. When it came time to form the balls, I found that the cheesecake was well set around the edges, but not so much in the center. Though not fully set, however, it was firm enough that I was able to make balls and insert the sticks (or in my case, segments of drinking straws). After freezing them, the dipping and decorating went well (too bad I didn't manage to get any pictures).

I thought the finished product was quite good, and Psycling quite enjoyed these little pops as well. We also gave some to a friend, who sent me this email a couple of days later:

I just ate your cheesecake balls for breakfast O:-) Damn they were good. The cheesecake part was the perfect consistency for my taste and the chocolate give it a nice texture contrast. I loved them!

I guess they were a success :-)

Now for my assessment: I thought these were very good, but if (when) I make them again, there are a few things I'd do differently. First, I'd use my standard, go-to cheesecake recipe which has never failed me. It comes out perfect every time! Second, rather than making cheesecake pops, I think I'd make cheesecake balls. Perhaps it was because I had trouble getting the cheesecake to set, but the sticks didn't stay in well...the balls of cheesecake tended to fall off them. But little balls of chocolate covered cheesecake sound like perfection!

Sorry for the boring (late) post this month. Hopefully, I'll be back on track for the May challenge.

Callie & Wylie need new homes...Can you help?

2008-04-02T21:45:00.002-04:00

This is Wylie. I rescued him as a kitten shortly after I graduated from college. He had developed a really bad eye infection and someone just dropped him off at the vet to be euthanized. The vet refused to euthanize for such a treatable problem, and cured the eye infection and put him up for adoption. He was five months old. He's now about 7.5 years old and a very loving, playful, personable cat who sometimes thinks he's a dog. He greets me at the door when I come home (though it might just be because he wants food) and he does actually play fetch with his toys. He likes to curl up next to me (or on my lap) and have his ears scratched, and purr like crazy! His favorite toys are pipe cleaners (especially coiled up) and shoestrings, and he is very attached to his toys! He will often keep them all together in one spot. He's a fun cat!

This is Callie. I got her a few months after Wylie because I thought he needed a companion while I was at work all day. She is one of the most loving and personable kitties I've ever met. She loves to be held or to sit on your lap and purr. Every night, she sleeps curled up next to me. Besides being pet and getting attention, one of her very favorite things is chasing the laser pointer red dot!

Unfortunately, Callie and Wylie need to find new homes. Ever since we got Thea, their quality of life has degraded. While we did everything we could to socialize the dog with the cats, nothing worked. Apparently there are just some dogs that just don't seem to be able to over come their instinctual desire to chase cats. Despite our reprimands (and several scratches on the nose from the cats) Thea just won't leave them alone. Because of this, we can't give them the kind of good life and attention that they deserve.

I love these kitties, and I can't tell you how sad it makes me to have to give them up. But I know they deserve a better life than what we are able to provide them with now. The deserve to be in homes where they can soak up all the love and attention and playtime that there is to offer.

Both Callie and Wylie are current on vaccinations and routine veterinary care. When each goes to their new home, they will bring with them some of their favorite toys and other necessities. Can you help Callie and Wylie find the loving new homes they deserve? If you or anyone you know (living in or traveling to the Atlanta area) would like to adopt one (or two) lovable, personable, adult cats, please let me know. For more information, feel free to contact me at sara[at]thepaynes[dot]cc.

Party Time with the Daring Bakers

2008-03-30T11:11:00.016-04:00

It's the end of the month, which means it's time for another Daring Baker's challenge, the monthly food blogging event that keeps from completely falling off the face of the blogosphere. This month's host was Morven from Food Art and Random Thoughts. The recipe she chose was the Perfect Party Cake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours. This was a great recipe, and probably one of my most successful Daring Bakers Challenges yet. It was not very difficult, and because Morven was kind enough to allow us to play around with flavors and decorating, I was able to just relax and have fun with the baking. And I must admit, the final result was stunning!

With the help of my beloved KitchenAid, I was able to whip the cake up pretty quickly. Dorie's original cake recipe is for a lemon flavored cake with lemon butter cream and coconut. But, since we had a fairly recent lemon-themed DB challenge (and since Psycling won't eat coconut), I decided to go with one of my favorite tried and true flavor combinations: Cherry and Almond. So I replaced the lemon zest and lemon extract with ground almonds and almond extract respectively. Once the batter was whipped up, I divided it between my two cake pans, and was amazed at how white the batter actually was. I could tell it would make a beautiful cake! After the baking, I pulled the cakes out to cool, and it was time to start working on the butter cream.

We were given the option of using a stiff whipped cream for the filling in place of the butter cream. But I've never been one to shy away from rich desserts and decided to go for the butter cream all the way. I'm glad I did :-). Again, I omitted the lemon juice and used almond extract in place of the vanilla. I also made some extra butter cream, just to make sure I'd have enough for some decorative piping when I was done frosting the cake.

It was time to start layering. I used cherry preserves for the cherry part of this cherry almond cake. On top of the preserves, I spread a nice layer of butter cream, then repeated the process with the remaining layers. Then, it was time to frost the cake with the butter cream. I decided to garnish the sides of the cake with sliced almonds in place of the coconut. Psycling doesn't like coconut, and even pregnant, I don't need to eat an entire cake by myself! After the sides were covered with the sliced almonds, I piped some shells along the top edge. The cake was looking good, but it still looked a little naked to me...it needed a little something else to be just right. That's when my dad came to the rescue! He was on his way over to our house anyway to help out with some home repairs (and because I'd promised him some of this cake), so I asked him to pick up a jar a maraschino cherries along the way. When I added the cherries to the top of the cake, it was perfect. It was exactly what it needed!

After working on our nursery for a little while, everyone came upstairs for a slice of cake. It was a hit! The cake had a wonderful almond flavor, the cherry preserves were just right, and the meringue-style butter cream managed to be both light and rich at the same time. There was not a crumb left!! I took the remaining cake to work the next day and it was a big hit with my coworkers. I got a flood of compliments from all over the office, with everyone being impressed by the taste, texture, and presentation of the cake. While I have no doubt that the original lemon cake would have been wonderful as well, I must admit to feeling really good about so successfully putting together this cherry almond flavor combination.

To sum it up, this was an amazing cake that really lived up to it's name. The cake itself is a real crowd pleaser, and the white cake with white butter cream leaves it a blank canvas for any sort of decoration. It truly can fit in with any party!

Below is Dorie's recipe. It's worth making. I've included my modifications in italics, but I have no doubt that making this cake as written would also be delicious!

Perfect Party Cake
Courtesy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours (page 250).

Words from Dorie
Stick a bright-coloured Post-it to this page, so you’ll always know where to turn for a just-right cake for any celebration. The original recipe was given to me by my great dear friend Nick Malgieri, of baking fame, and since getting it, I’ve found endless opportunities to make it – you will too. The cake is snow white, with an elegant tight crumb and an easygoing nature: it always bakes up perfectly; it is delicate on the tongue but sturdy in the kitchen – no fussing when it comes to slicing the layers in half or cutting tall, beautiful wedges for serving; and, it tastes just as you’d want a party cake to taste – special. The base recipe is for a cake flavoured with lemon, layered with a little raspberry jam and filled and frosted with a classic (and so simple) pure white lemony hot-meringue buttercream but, because the elements are so fundamental, they lend themselves to variation (see Playing Around), making the cake not just perfect, but also versatile.

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (I used 1 Tbs. of ground almonds)
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract (I substituted almond extract)

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons) (I omitted the lemon juice)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used almond extract instead)

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable (I used cherry preserves)
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut (I used sliced almonds. I'm not exactly sure of the amount, but enough to cover the side of the cake)

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Playing Around
Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

This cake is definitely worth making. Go give it a shot.

And don't forget to check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see how the other DBs interpreted this recipe.

A Real Challenge

2008-02-29T14:07:00.014-05:00

It's the end of the month, so that means it's time for another Daring Baker's Challenge. This month, our hostesses were Mary from The Sour Dough and Sara from I Like to Cook. The recipe was Julia Child's French Bread.

This recipe was definitely a challenge for me. I don't bake bread frequently, but this was still quite different than any bread I've made before. That's what made it a challenge...while not technically challenging (though it was time and labor intensive) it was just different. But, with careful reading of the extremely thorough instructions, everything came out wonderfully!

I started out by letting my Kitchen Aid do the mixing for me, but I knew I wanted to the kneading by hand. I'm a learn-by-doing kind of person, and I figured I would get more out of hand-kneading than I would by letting the kitchen aid do it. Just 8-10 minutes of kneading made for quite the transformation in the dough!

Next it was time to let the dough rise. The recipe was very specific about having the right temperature for the dough to rise appropriately. Knowing that we like to keep our house cooler than the 72 -74 degrees specified, I tried the tip suggested in the recipe. A few minutes before the dough needed to rise, I turned the oven on to a low setting for about 45 seconds, then turned it right off. When I put the dough in about five minutes later, I had a warm-but-not-hot place for the dough to rise. It seemed to work well!

I punched the dough down, kneaded it a bit, then back in the warm-but-not-hot oven it went for the second rise. At this point, it was late, so I stuck my dough in the fridge to finish it up the next day.

When I woke up on Sunday, it was time to form the loaves. The recipe gave instructions for forming loves of a variety of sizes and shapes. I decided to make two small round loaves and a batard. Round and "long and skinny" are the two primary shapes for French bread, and have very different methods for shaping. I decided this would give me some experience with both shapes.

I divided the dough into three roughly equal pieces and allowed them to rest for a few minutes to relax the gluten. The recipe explains that since French bread bakes free standing, as opposed to any sort of pan, the dough has to be worked and shaped correctly to develop an outer "gluten cloak" that allows the bread to hold its shape while baking. So, the shaping of the loaves is actually critical in getting a good French Bread. The shaping instructions are quite detailed and lengthy, so rather than repost them, check it out in the recipe at the end of this post. First I shaped the batard followed by the two round loaves. Once the loaves are formed, they are placed on a stiff floured cloth to rise one final time. After the final rise, I transferred them to a baking sheet (another somewhat intricate process), and made the tell-tale slits that make a nice French bread loaf.

Into the oven they went. Another important aspect in baking French bread is steam; it is critical in forming the wonderful crusty outside that is what really makes it French bread. Most home ovens are not equipped for steam so we had to improvise. Right before going in the oven, the loaves were spritzed with a fine mist of water. Then, as soon as they went in, some ice was dropped in a pan of hot water on the bottom of the stove. This created a burst of steam for the oven. Then, every three minutes for the first 12 minutes of baking time, I quickly opened the oven door and spritzed the loaves with water. By the time I opened the oven for the final spritz, it was starting to smell really good!! After about 25 minutes in the oven, out came some nicely browned, very crusty loaves of French bread!!

The loaves came out of the oven around 4:00, giving them the requisite 2 hours of cooling time before dinner. I invited my mom and brother over for a dinner of Black Bean Chili and fresh French bread. The chili was the perfect complement to the bread, and between the four of us, we polished off half the pot of chili and just over 2 loaves of bread.

This is probably not a recipe I will make frequently, mainly due to the time and effort involved. But, given that, the finished product is well worth the effort.

For the recipe, visit Mary's blog post about this challenge. She provides the full thorough, detailed recipe with pictures, something I would have loved to have had in figuring out how to shape my bread.

All in all, this was a great recipe, and I think I learned more during this challenge than I have in any of the other Daring Baker challenges I've done yet. Thanks for a great challenge!

Hot & Spicy

2008-02-19T12:21:00.001-05:00

Since I can't seem to find the time and energy to create substantial content for my blog these days, I guess you'll have to do with fluff :-)

I found this little quiz on another foodie blog, and thought it might be fun.

You Are Cayenne Pepper

You are very over the top and a bit overwhelming.

You have a fiery personality, and you can give anyone a good jolt.

You can easily take things up a couple notches, no matter what crowd you're running with.

What Spice Are You?

Check it out! What spice are you?

Mmmm...Croissants!

2008-02-11T20:36:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I made baked stuffed French toast, and I had some filling left over. When pondering what to do with the left-overs, I decided that it would make a great croissant filling. I've been wanting to try my hand at croissants for a while, so this was a great excuse!

A year ago for Christmas, Psycling got me this book. I LOVE it. It is a wonderful source of information on different techniques in pastry making, as well as collection of great recipes. Like most "professional" culinary texts, the recipes are scaled for large scale production, but one thing that I like about this book is that it also provides a "small batch" scale for the recipe. So, when I wanted to make croissants, this was the first place I turned.

If there's one thing I can say about this recipe it's that it's very thorough. It is also very clear that it was written for professionals, kitchens that have things like "proofing boxes" and large working surfaces. But, despite not really having those, I still managed to make this recipe work.

It was a two day process, but the end result was WONDERFUL...nice and flakey with an intense buttery texture and flavor. When you bite into one, you unearth layer after layer of buttery flakiness. Psycling and I found that they made a great afternoon snack, and we definitely couldn't stop at just one! There was only enough filling to make four filled croissants, but they were quite good...just enough filling to add some extra flavor and interest without over-powering the delicate nature of the croissant itself.

I only had one real complaint about this recipe...some of my croissants almost burned. The recipe said to bake at 425 until cooked through or about 25 minutes. When I wennt to check on them at about 20 minutes, they were well past a nice "golden brown" and on their way to black. I know that my oven generally runs pretty true to temperature, so I don't think that was the problem. But fortunately, even though a little dark and crispy, even the burned ones tasted great.

All in all, I really enjoyed making these croissants, and look forward to trying them again sometime. I learned a lot, and while these were quite good, I think I can apply the new lessons and make them even better next time!

Breakfast for Dinner: Stuffed French Toast

2008-02-03T17:17:00.000-05:00

I want to apologize in advance for the lack of pictures in this post. I was already done making this by the time I realized that I wanted to blog about it...I guess I should start getting in the habit of taking pictures while I'm cooking on a regular basis.

Last night we had another Tech Chefs dinner. The group is a little smaller now than it was when it was at it's peak last year, and we've changed the format a bit. Someone is in charge of picking a theme, and we are now doing the dinner pot luck style. This month's theme was breakfast for dinner. It was a big hit! We started by toasting the evening with mimosas (don't worry, I had mine with ginger ale instead of champagne), and we made the bacon and sausage. When that was ready, we had our first course: a crab quiche that was AMAZING!! Unfortunately, I didn't make that one, so I don't have a recipe to post, but if I did, I would tell you to forget any dinner plans you might already have and just make this. It was that good!! Next up were the Eggs Benedict. Such a classic hardly needs elaboration! At the end of that course, I was just sopping up the extra hollandaise sauce with an English muffin. With so much butter, you can't go wrong.

Our dessert course was my original Stuffed Baked French Toast. I made 4 different flavors (peach, raspberry, blueberry, and apple), and it seemed like everyone had a different favorite. We pulled the breadmaker out so we could make the French toast with homemade bread. Mmmmmm....I loved having the house smell like fresh bread for 2 days straight!! It made me remember why we used to make homemade bread every week!

Three of the four fillings were cream cheese based. I mixed together softened cream cheese and sugar. If I were making this again (and for less than 8 people), I would use about 8 oz of cream cheese and 3/8 c. of sugar. This is enough to make the cream cheese a little sweeter, but not overly sweet! I divided my cream cheese filling into 3 bowls:

Bowl One: I added just over 1 c. of frozen raspberries, thawed and sprinkled with a little sugar. I mixed it together with a hint of cardamom, some cinnamon, and a sprinkling of nutmeg.

Bowl Two: I added about 1 c. of frozen blueberries, thawed and sprinkled with a little sugar. I mixed it together with about a 3:1 ratio of cinnamon:nutmeg. But I was eyeballing it, so don't quote me on it :-)

Bowl 3: I added about 1 c. of chopped peaches (canned), and sprinkled in some cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of ginger.

For the fourth filling I made an apple compote. I diced up an apple (peeled and cored) and sauteed it in about 2 Tbs. of butter, and added 2-3 Tbs. of regular sugar and 2-3 Tbs. brown sugar. I cooked it over medium heat until it was reduced quite a bit and thickened to a nice apple-pie-filling texture. Nice and sweet and sticky and gooey!

Now that you have your bread and filling, you can assemble your French toast. First, generously grease a 9 x 13 baking dish (or two depending on how big your bread is). Thickly slice your loaf of bread (about 1" - 1 1/4" thick). Using a serrated knife, cut a slit in the top of each slice of bread. The slit should be about 1 1/2" deep, or deeper. The bigger the pocket you make, the more filling you can fit in it :-). Spoon your filling into the pocket of your bread, and place it in the baking dish. Repeat for remaining bread slices.

Next, mix up the custard mixture. I used whole milks and eggs in a ratio of about 1 cup of milk to about 3 eggs. For a full 9 x 13 tray, you will probably need about 2 c. of milk and 6 eggs. Add a little bit of vanilla and couple of teaspoons of sugar and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Pour custard over bread slices, and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Flip slices over, and place in refrigerator for another 15-20 minutes, or until bread soaks up all the custard.

Once bread soaks up the liquid, sprinkle with a little bit of sugar (I like to use turbinado sugar for a nice little crunch), and bake at 400 F for about 25 minutes, or until cooked through. I served this with a choice of powdered sugar or maple syrup, though the French toast is sweet enough on it's own that very little of either is needed. Those who aren't pregnant enjoyed this breakfast dessert with some decaf spiked with a little Bailey's Irish cream liquor. It was a rich, filling, yummy end to a wonderful Breakfast-For-Dinner.

A few notes: If I make this again, I will choose only 1 kind of filling, as I have a fair amount of each kind left over (stay tuned for how those left overs will be used up...I have a fun idea!!). Also, this recipe could be simplified by using regular store bought sliced bread. Rather than cutting a slit in the slices, you can "sandwich" the filling a little bit by placing some of the filling on one slice, and then topping it with another. You can then treat the sandwiches just as you would the thick cut slices mentioned above. If you do make your own bread, I discovered by accident that if you use slightly less yeast than called for in the recipe (by about 1/4 tsp.), you get a denser loaf that is easier to slice pockets into. The one loaf I made that had the right amount of yeast tasted great, but since it was a lighter airier bread, it was more difficult to slice good pockets. And finally, the first time I experimented with this recipe, I used a loaf of challah bread, thickly sliced, and it made for WONDERFUL French toast!

If you are looking for a wonderful, over-indulgent breakfast, this is it!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Pie!

2008-01-28T20:07:00.000-05:00

Another month has come and gone, which means it's time for another Daring Baker's Challenge. This month's challenge was hosted by Jen at The Canadian Baker (who gets big points for picking a recipe that required only ingredients that I already had on hand). This month's recipe was Lemon Meringue Pie from Wanda's Pie in the Sky.

I LOVE baking pies, but I've never made lemon meringue before, so I was really excited about this month's challenge. I started with the crust, which was different from my standard pie crust. It was almost more of a shortbread crust (meaning LOTS of butter). I am a pie crust purist and like to make my pie crusts by hand, so that's how I did this one.

I started with the raw ingredients:

After mixing together the dry ingredients, I added the cold, chilled butter. Then it was time to cut the dough, until it resembled a coarse meal. A few minutes with my pastry cutter, and a transformation occurred!

After adding the water, I chilled the dough before rolling it out. After a few minutes in the oven, I had a nice pre-baked crust cooling as I made the filling:

Next up, the wonderful lemony filling!

I was a little nervous about it. I was worried that it wouldn't quite thicken up enough and I'd end up with a runny pie. However, it thickened up quite nicely, just like the recipe said it would.

I then filled my prebaked crust and allowed it to cool while I went outside to play in the snow with Thea! It was a nice baking interlude!

Finally, it was time to make the meringue. I took these ingredients:

...and let my KitchenAid whip them up like crazy!

Once done, I piped the meringue onto my pie and stuck it in the oven. The result was a perfectly browned Lemon Meringue Pie!

I took the pie to dinner at my dad's house, and served it over a blueberry sauce, and it was a big hit! The pie had a very lemony taste without being overly tart, and it was perfectly complemented by the light sweetness of the meringue. The blueberry sauce was a great addition, and provided a great visual contrast to the bright lemon filling.

And now, the recipe:
Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:
¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup (60 mL) butter
¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Be sure to check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see how the other daring bakers conquered this challenge.

Breaking Radio Silence

2008-01-16T19:00:00.000-05:00

This will be short and sweet, but after being such a bad blogger for so long, I feel I owe you an explanation. You see, it has been a very exciting time in the Whisks and Needles home. On the day before Thanksgiving, Psycling and I received wonderful news: we're going to be parents! The little one is due on August 2. So, this means for the past couple of months I have been battling the nausea and exhaustion that come with the first trimester of pregnancy. As a result, I haven't had the energy to do much but sleep...which means too tired to cook and too tired to knit. Unfortunately no cooking and no knitting (and no energy) means no blogging. And the nausea has meant that I wouldn't really be able to eat anything that I might cook anyway...for a while I was living on grilled cheese, cereal, bagels and cream cheese, and mac and cheese (notice a theme here?).

I'm now about 12 weeks along, and fortunately, the nausea has tapered off and I'm slowly getting my energy back. Not only am I writing a blog post, but I might even find the energy to knit when I'm done (this a pretty huge given my zombie-ness recently).

I hope that as my energy comes back, I will be able to do some more experimenting in the kitchen, get some more projects going on the needles (maybe from the Baby Knits book Psycling got me for Christmas), and generally maybe be a normal person again. I'll do my best to stick to the basics here, and not turn this into a blog about pregnancy and impending mommy-hood. But with such big changes going on, I imagine some of them will find their way into this blog.

Stay tuned...more on the way eventually!

Proof That I Do Knit

2007-12-04T12:29:00.000-05:00

There's been very little knitting content recently, for several reasons. Cooking has taken over as my primary hobby, which often leaves very little time for knitting. Adding to that, almost all of my knitting recently has been Christmas knitting, and I don't wan to post here and spoil everyone's surprise.

But, meet my friend H:

She is one of my best friends, and is actually the person who taught me to knit. She is a wonderful, crazy, free-sprited person. I also happen to know that she does not read my blog. Shes in her second year of vet school at Virginia Tech (the picture above is her showing her school spirit with her partner-in-crime, Diego). She stays so busy just keeping up with her classes, working as the medical coordinator for a local animal rescue organization, caring for her own menagerie of animals (Diego is the big brother to a few kittens, not to mention her roommates pets), training for and completing triathlons, and trying to maintain her sanity. So, I feel relatively safe blogging about her Christmas present.

As you can probably tell, H shares my fondness for crazy hats. So I decided to make her one:

Yarn: I don't remember offhand, but I'll try to check when I get home and edit this post:
Needles: US7 circulars and DPNs
Pattern: Kinda my own basic hat pattern. Nothing too exciting.

I used Virginia Tech colors, and took my striping inspiration from Kristy. I liked the idea of having the stripes get thinner as the hat got narrower. I realized though, that if I made each stripe one row thinner than the previous one (like Kristy did), the hat wouldn't be nearly long enough. So each "set" of stripes is thinner than the "set" before it. For example: The first maroon stripe and the first orange stripe were 14 rows. The next maroon stripe and orange stripe were 13 rows...and so on, until the last few stripes were just one row each!

When modeling this hat, it only took a few minutes for me to discover how warm it actually is. I hope H will like it, and it will be able to keep her warm during the cold winters in the mountains of western Virginia. For a warm-weather lover like H, you can never have too many things to keep you warm in winter!

The Better-Late-Than-Never Thanksgiving Post

2007-12-02T20:08:00.000-05:00

So, posts are few and far between these days...with the lead up to the holidays and all the extra cooking and knitting that entails, there has been very little time to actually blog about all this! But as a food blogger, and can't let Thanksgiving go by without a post.

As you know, I don't like to cook the same recipe more than once, and this includes Thanksgiving. My only real Thanksgiving "tradition" is that I make Cornish Hens instead of Turkey. We usually only have a small group of guests (just four this year), and even the smallest Turkey is overkill. Cornish hens, on the other hand, allow for a nice presentation, and have limited left-overs.

This year, I decided to have a Moroccan-themed Thanksgiving dinner. I started with some homemade hummus and babagannouj, with pita and vegetable for dipping. Our main course was Moroccan-style Cornish Game Hens served over Golden Couscous.

I prepared this pretty much as written...only a couple of exceptions. First, I decided to brine the hens in a solution that had hints of the Moroccan spices. I made a brine mixture, then threw in chunks of onion, a few orange slices, and some whole allspice, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, fennel seeds, and cardamom pods, and allowed them to brine for about 4-6 hours. Before making the spice mixture, I toasted spices briefly in a dry skillet for about 2-3 minutes until fragrant. The couscous was also prepared almost as written, except that I added golden raisins and chopped dried apricots, for added flavor and texture.

Sides included:
Tender Potato Bread rolls and Moroccan Focaccia

Moroccan Salad with Goat Cheese, Beets, & Oranges.My sister-in-law loved this salad, and would grab a little bit as a snack the few days following Thanksgiving. While I'm not normally a beet fan, this was pretty good.

And Spaghetti Squash with Moroccan Spices Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of this one, but it was yummy. But with that much butter and garlic, how can you go wrong?

Dessert was my favorite pumpkin pie recipe, from this book. It's sweetened and flavored with maple syrup, giving it a wonderful depth of flavor that you don't find in most pumpkin pies.

While the food was wonderful, the highlight of Thanksgiving was the family. My mom joined us for dinner, and Psycling's brother and sister-in-law came in from Louisville. We had a great weekend with them. We went to the Georgia Aquarium, watched movies, and My sister-in-law and I visited various craft and yarn stores, and spent time knitting while the guys did "guy stuff." It was fun.

I was reminded of how fortunate I am to have such wonderful family, both the family I was born into and the family I married into. Food is yummy, but you can't have a good meal without sharing it with loved ones!

Daring Bakers: Thanksgiving Edition

2007-11-27T19:05:00.000-05:00

It's time for another Daring Baker's Challenge! This month, the recipe was for Tender Potato Bread. I decided that since fresh baked bread is necessary for Thanksgiving, I would make our Daring Bakers Challenge our Thanksgiving bread.

However, because I made this on Thanksgiving along with the rest of our meal (planning ahead didn't quite happen like it should have this year), I neglected to photographically document my experience in making the potato bread. I really wish I'd had my camera handy, because the dough for this recipe is a very soft dough, unlike any I'd ever worked with before...this also made it rather difficult for me to work with as well...working with soft dough is definitely something that needs lots of practice.

Despite the difficulties, however, this bread came out very well. For this challenge, we were allowed to shape the bread however we wanted to, with options given for loaves, dinner rolls, and focaccia bread. As someone who likes variety, I decided I'd try a couple of different options. This recipe makes a LOT of dough, so I made one batch of dinner rolls, and decided that I would make a focaccia that mirrored the spices and flavors of our Moroccan inspired dinner. It was a big hit!

Tender Potato Bread

from Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour & Tradition Around the World by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Makes 1 large tender-crumbed pan loaf and something more; one 10X15 inch crusty yet tender foccacia, 12 soft dinner rolls, or a small pan loaf

Ingredients:

4 medium to large baking potatoes (such as Idaho, Russet, or Yukon Gold), peeled and cut into chunks
4 cups water (This should be your reserved water from boiling the potatoes)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
6 ½ cups to 8 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 cup whole wheat flour

1. Put the potatoes and 4 cups water in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and cook, half covered, until the potatoes are very tender. Drain the potatoes, SAVE THE POTATO WATER, and mash the potatoes well.

2. Measure out 3 cups of the reserved potato water (add extra water if needed to make 3 cups). Place the water and mashed potatoes in the bowl you plan to mix the bread in – directions will be for by hand. Let cool to lukewarm – stir well before testing the temperature – it should feel barely warm to your hand. You should be able to submerge you hand in the mix and not be uncomfortable.

3. Mix & stir yeast into cooled water and mashed potatoes & water and let stand 5 minutes.Then mix in 2 cups of all-purpose flour and mix. Allow to rest several minutes.

4. Sprinkle on the remaining 1 tablespoon salt and the softened butter; mix well. Add the 1 cup whole wheat flour, stir briefly. Add 2 cups of the unbleached all-purpose flour and stir until all the flour has been incorporated.At this point you have used 4 cups of the possible 8 ½ cups suggested by the recipe.

5. Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, incorporating flour as needed to prevent sticking. The dough will be very sticky to begin with, but as it takes up more flour from the kneading surface, it will become easier to handle; use a dough scraper to keep your surface clean. The kneaded dough will still be very soft. (Sara's Note: I don't have a dough scraper but found that a metal spatula works very well for this purpose as well!)

Note: As a beginner, you may be tempted to add more flour than needed. Most/many bread recipes give a range of flour needed. This is going to be a soft dough. At this point, add flour to the counter slowly, say a ¼ cup at a time. Do not feel you must use all of the suggested flour. When the dough is soft and smooth and not too sticky, it’s probably ready.

6. Place the dough in a large clean bowl or your rising container of choice, cover with plastic wrap or lid, and let rise about 2 hours or until doubled in volume.

7. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently several minutes. It will be moist and a little sticky. Divide the dough into 2 unequal pieces in a proportion of one-third and two-thirds (one will be twice as large as the other). Place the smaller piece to one side and cover loosely.

To shape a large loaf:

Butter a 9X5 inch loaf/bread pan. Flatten the larger piece of dough on the floured surface to an approximate 12 x 8 inch oval, then roll it up from a narrow end to form a loaf. Pinch the seam closed and gently place seam side down in the buttered pan. The dough should come about three-quarters of the way up the sides of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 35 to 45 minutes, until puffy and almost doubled in volume.

To make a small loaf with the remainder:

Butter an 8 x 4 inch bread pan. Shape and proof the loaf the same way as the large loaf.

To make rolls:

Butter a 13 x 9 inch sheet cake pan or a shallow cake pan. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape each into a ball under the palm of your floured hand and place on the baking sheet, leaving 1/2 inch between the balls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 35 minutes, until puffy and almost doubled.

To make focaccia:

Flatten out the dough to a rectangle about 10 x 15 inches with your palms and fingertips. Tear off a piece of parchment paper or wax paper a little longer than the dough and dust it generously with flour. Transfer the focaccia to the paper. Brush the top of the dough generously with olive oil, sprinkle on a little coarse sea salt, as well as some rosemary leaves, if you wish and then finally dimple all over with your fingertips. Cover with plastic and let rise for 20 minutes.

Place a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles, if you have them, if not use a baking/sheet (no edge – you want to be able to slide the shaped dough on the parchment paper onto the stone or baking sheet and an edge complicates things). Place the stone or cookie sheet on a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450°F/230°C. Bake the flat-bread before you bake the loaf; bake the rolls at the same time as the loaf. If making foccacia, just before baking, dimple the bread all over again with your fingertips. Leaving it on the paper, transfer to the hot baking stone, tiles or baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack (remove paper) and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Dust risen loaves and rolls with a little all-purpose flour or lightly brush the tops with a little melted butter or olive oil (the butter will give a golden/browned crust). Slash loaves crosswise two or three times with a razor blade or very sharp knife and immediately place on the stone, tiles or baking sheet in the oven. Place the rolls next to the loaf in the oven.

Bake rolls until golden, about 30 minutes.

Bake the small loaf for about 40 minutes.

Bake the large loaf for about 50 minutes.

Transfer the rolls to a rack when done to cool. When the loaf or loaves have baked for the specified time, remove from the pans and place back on the stone, tiles or baking sheet for another 5 to 10 minutes. The corners should be firm when pinched and the bread should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Let breads cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Rolls can be served warm or at room temperature.

Moroccan Onion Focaccia

3 Tbs. butter
2 small onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp. Moroccan Spice Mixture from here.
Olive Oil for brushing
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Lightly toast spices in dry skillet than grind in coffee grinder or spice grinder. Sett aside.

2. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, and sautee until soft, fragrant, and caramelized. Add about spice mixture and toss until coated.

3. Brush dough with olive oil. Spread onion mixture evenly over the top, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake as directed above for focaccia.

This made for a nice twist on your basic dinner roll or focaccia bread. It's definitely possible I will make it again (which is saying something since I rarely make the same recipe twice!!).

Grilled Salmon with Roasted Corn Relish

2007-11-17T20:03:00.000-05:00

It's been a while, but I've started to find ways to manage my Paxil withdrawal symptoms, and things are slowly becoming "normal" again. Which means it's time for cooking and blogging about cooking.

Several days ago, I made Grilled Salmon with Roasted Corn Relish.

Psycling and I both really enjoyed this meal, and I made only a few modifications to the recipe. To spice things up a bit, I added a little bit of chili powder and cayenne pepper to the spice rub for the salmon. It wasn't enough to make it spicy, but it added a little extra depth to the flavor of the fish.

As for the relish, it was almost more of a salad, with a suggested serving size of 3/4 c. per person to go with the fish. It's definitely enough to serve as a side vegetable for the meal. It was good, though I thought the Anaheim peppers were a little too spicy for me (Psycling though it was just right). I think if I make this again, I will use a slightly milder pepper, maybe a poblano. However, if you you don't like spicy foods, or want to tone it down for kids, green bell peppers would also work just as well. And you can't go wrong with extra cilantro!

Finally, though the recipe could be made completely on a grill pan (as called for in the recipe), but I'm a big fan of using a real grill whenever possible. So we lit up our grill outside, and I love the added smokiness it added to both the fish and the corn. I'm thinking that next time, I'll char the peppers on the grill as well instead of using the broiler. I think the extra smokiness would be a good addition to the relish.

All-in-all, this was a very good, and fairly quick and easy weeknight meal. One I would make again (if I ever made the same meal more than once).

Getting Personal

2007-11-12T21:52:00.001-05:00

I've been debating whether or not I would even write this post, but decided to go ahead with it. Who knows, it might actually be of help to some of you out in blog land.

For the past 7 1/2 years, I have been taking the anti-depressant Paxil (generic: Paroxoine). Paxil is one of the SSRI (Selective Seretonin Reuptake Inhibitors) class anti-depressants, similar to Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, and others. Seretonin is a nerotransmitter that aids in regulating mood, as well as other things. The SSRIs essentially work by preventing a neuron from reabsorbing seretonin it releassd into a synapse before the receiving cell has a chance to catch it.

I initially began taking Paxil when I was diagnosed with severe depression in college. While I could go into the details of the events in my life that triggered it, what seems most important now is that I am in a happy, content, stable time in my life, and I don't want to have to rely on a drug to keep me that way. So I decided it is time to try to go off the meds.

Unfortunately, Paxil is the SSRIs known to have the worst withdrawal symptoms of this class of drug, due to its extremely short half-life. Since going off the drug 10 days ago, I have developed what is often referred to as the Paxil Withdrawal Flu. I am dizzy and nauseous and experiencing with many Paxil users have dubbed the "whoosh" effect. Essentially, if I move or turn my head (or even just move my eyes), it's like the world kind of moves in slow motion and it takes a moment for it to catch up and allow me to focus again. I have waves of tingly-ness that wash over my body, but are concentrated in my face and fingers that feels rather like a mild electric current. I'm hyper-sensitive to any sort of motion, and bright light worsens my constant headache. I've even had a couple of mild anxiety attacks, something that is attributed 100% to going off the meds. I also have a hard time concentrating, focusing, even carrying on a coherent conversation (or writing a coherent blog post). And did I mention how exhausted I am? Needless to say, it's not pleasant.

There are some upsides here (and being a glass-half-full kind of person, I feel the need to point them out). First, despite what I wrote in my last paragraph, my symptoms are fairly mild compared to what many people experience. After reading about what others have experienced at QuitPaxil and PaxilProgress I have realized that it could be much worse. So far, I am at least able to function in my normal daily routine (even if I feel like crap while doing it). I can still walk the dog, go to work, make dinner, run errands, and all the other stuff that is necessary in life. Second, I've found things that help alleviate symptoms a bit. Deep breathing, taking a few minutes to just close my eyes, and...knitting! And cooking! It's wonderful! The two things I love doing most help! They provide just enough mental and physical distraction to keep the symptoms at bay. Even if once dinner is made, I feel too nauseous to eat it (tonight Psycling had the West Indian Vegetable Curry I made while I had Raisin Bran), just making it helped me feel better for the time I was doing it. So I'm finding it's also the perfect time to teach myself a new knitting technique, and I've cast on for an entrelac blanket. And third, I'm staying focused on the fact that while it sucks big time now, putting up with this for a few weeks is all I need to do to not have to take the Paxil ever again. This is the big motivator for me. It is the light at the end of the tunnel.

You may ask why I bothered to write this all out. First, it helps me just to get it out, to let people know what's going on in my life (after all, that's what a blog is for, right?). But also, when I was on the meds, I was never shy about it. There is such a stigma in our society (still) about people on psychoactive medication, and so much of it is due to ignorance. So by living my life as a productive member of society who just happened to be on anti-depressants, I hope that I broke down a few of those stereotypes about mental illness. I have offered myself as a resource to people who have been going through depression, answering questions as honestly as I could.

But the flip side about being open to being on the meds is being open about what it's like to go off them. When I first started taking this drug, NO ONE told me that it could be addictive, that going off the drug would be so difficult, what all the side effects were and how it could affect so many aspects of my life. If they had, I probably would have asked to know about alternatives, drugs that might be more "user friendly" so to speak. I find myself angry at the doctor who prescribed this for me for not telling me, and for leaving me to go through this. So, for those of you who have read this, I charge you to take control of your health care. If a doctor wants to prescribe a drug like this, ASK QUESTIONS! Do the research (If you google Paxil, on the first page you find a link to lawsuits related to the drug. If you refine the search by clicking on the "warnings" button that google gives you, you get many hits on Paxil lawsuits and warnings about addiction). I don't want to be one of the angry anti-paxil ranters that can be found be found all over the internet. But I do want to put my story out there. Maybe it will be able to prevent someone from going through what I am. Maybe it will just help others who are going through it know that they aren't alone. Maybe it will encourage someone to ask the questions that I didn't. Or maybe, the sole purpose is the catharsis that this type of venting provided for me.

So, if you've noticed a slow down in my blogging recently, now you know why.

Thankful Thursdays: Fall Edition

2007-11-08T21:05:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for:

Fall: As you already know, I love fall. It puts me in such a good mood to see all the colors on the trees. I took these pictures on my way into work this morning. Since my commute is all surface streets and not on the highway, I wind through some gorgeous neighborhoods. Having such amazing scenery on my drive in to work is quite relaxing. I'm trying to enjoy it while I can, because soon enough, all the pretty colors will drain from the leaves, the trees will be bare, and fall will have turned into winter.

Friends and Family: My mom works not too far away from where I work, so I try to have lunch with her about once a week. We are always joined by her friend B, and occasionally other women from her office as well. Today we went to one of our favorite lunch spots, and followed it up with a post-lunch pick-me-up from Starbuck's. It's always great fun to chat with these other women and enjoy the camaraderie of a shared meal. Besides, she'll be retiring at the end of the year, so I imagine our lunching together will be less frequent after the new year.

This Little Guy: As I was leaving work today, I saw this little guy sitting under a tree, feasting on the pile of nuts in front of him. He was kind enough to stay there for about 60-90 seconds and let me photograph him (though unfortunately, crappy camera means crappy pictures). It was very cute to see him pick up one of the nuts in his cute little paws and start nibbling on it. I work on the quad at a local university, and lately, I've been seeing little guys like this scampering around, stashing their nuts for the upcoming winter. After watching this little guy for a while, he finally decided it was time to move on; he picked up two nuts and stuffed them in his mouth, the scampered off to find his other squirrel friends. I'm an animal lover, and being able to share a moment in this little squirrel's life was very heartening.

Yay for fall!

2007-11-04T21:13:00.000-05:00

Fall is my favorite season. I love the brisk weather, breaking out the sweaters, the gorgeous colors of the leaves, getting to wear my hats.
In addition to all that great stuff, I love the flavors of fall as well. This weekend, I made one of my favorite fall meals, Curried Winter Squash Soup with Sweet Spices.

I discovered this recipe in an unlikely place. Shortly after I graduated from college, I bought a new computer from Gateway. As often happens when you buy a computer, there was lots of random software that they bundled with the computer. Most of it was of no interest to me, but when I looked through the CDs that they gave me, there was one that caught my eye. It was called MasterCook Deluxe from Sierra Home. It was a recipe software that came loaded with TONS or recipes. This soup was one of them. I've tried several of the recipes from this software and they have all be really good, but this one is a favorite in our household. It's one Psycling and I both look forward once we notice a chill in the air and we see winter squash come into season.

For this dinner, I served the soup with a salad of mixed greens with apple slices, pecans, and dried cranberries, dressed with a basic vinaigrette from one of my favorite cookbooks. It made for a great fall dinner!

Curried Winter Squash Soup with Sweet Spices

1 medium Butternut squash
olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. curry powder
2 medium apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 quart chicken stock
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
White pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, brush the outside with olive oil, and place cut-side-down, on a cookie sheet. Bake until tender, 30-45 minutes
3. While squash is baking, chop the onions and applies. When the squash is done, remove it to cool.
4. Melt the butter in a heavy soup pot. Add the onion and cook until softened but not brown. Add curry powder and cook, stirring one minute more. Add the apple. Scoop out pieces of squash and stir them into the pot. Add thyme, salt, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the solids to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth, adding liquid to promote circulation. Return to the pot, add cream, and bring back to a boil and remove from heat. Add salt and white pepper to taste, and serve.

Cook's Notes: I added a bit of sage to this recipe, and I've found that it deepens the flavor nicely. Also, this soup can be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, and it still takes wonderful (I've tried it). Finally, this soup is really good served with whole wheat pita wedges for dipping.

So, as we head into November, enjoy the beautiful leaves, brisk weather, and sweaters. And at the end of the day, warm up with this wonderful soup that has become one of my favorite comfort foods!

A Halloween Post

2007-10-31T20:17:00.001-04:00

There are so many Halloweeny things to blog about, I don't really know where to begin! I guess with the appetizer :-)

The Happy Sorceress hosts virtual cocktail parties every month. I made this appetizer for the October Halloween Party, but because life ran away with me this month, I never got around to blogging about it. Basically, the idea is to make a hors d'ouevre for the virtual cocktail party, based on the theme of the month, then blog about it. The Cocktail party happens when the Happy Sorceress rounds up all the entries and posts them on her blog. For the Halloween Party, I wanted to think of something that was Halloweeny, but didn't involve pumpkin. Somehow, I thought about vampires and fangs and this super easy yet delish appetizer was born.

Goat Cheese & Garlic Pitas with Marinara

Marinara sauce of your choice (I used a version of this)
1 4 oz log of goat cheese
1/2 head of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 pitas

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Drizzle garlic with olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, and roast at 425 for about 30-45 minutes, until soft and fragrant
3. Place goat cheese in a small bowl and squeeze garlic pulp into it. Season with salt and pepper and mix until garlic is well incorporated into the cheese
4. Spread goat cheese mixture on pitas and toast in oven for about 4-6 minutes.

To serve, cut pitas into triangular pieces and arrange on a tray surrounding bowl of marinara. Dip the wedges in the sauce and enjoy!

Now on to dinner. I wanted to make a dinner in the spirit of Halloween, but given how busy I've been recently, it had to be 1.) easy and 2.) not require a trip to the grocery store. I came across this pumpkin soup. Since I had everything on hand, I decided to go for it.

As I was browsing soup recipes, I saw one that garnished with popcorn and fresh sage, so I decided I would steal that idea for a more festive presentation. The soup was good, but if I make it again, I will add more spice to it.

I also did a Halloween Goodie Tray for the grad students in Psycling's lab.

I made tarantula cookies and spiderweb cookies (though I used this cookie recipe). Then there were caramel popcorn balls, pumpkin spice bread (with a few modifications), and sugar cookies decorated as ghosts, pumpkins, and bats. Of course there was a bowl of candy, because is it really Halloween without a big bowl of assorted candy? Psycling said this weeks food was a big hit, and that everyone loved the fun of the Halloween goodies. The empty trays at the end of the day are also a good sign.

And, being the dog-lover that I am, I couldn't let Halloween go by without making a treat for Thea!

Pumpkin Dog treats

1 1/2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
1 c. regular flour (plus lots of extra for kneading and rolling)
1 c. powdered milk
1 egg
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. vegetable broth
3/4 c. canned pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. It will be kind of gooey and pasty. Add flour and mix until mixture forms a shaggy dough. Dump out onto floured surface and roll out to about 1/4" - 1/2" thick (depending on the size of your cookie cutter). Cut out treats and arrange on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, or until firm. Reduce oven temperature to 225 degrees and leave cookies in for 1-2 hours to dry out and crisp up.

Of all the Halloween treats I make, these are Thea's favorites!!

So that's my Halloween round up. I've been spending lots of time in the kitchen getting all this stuff ready, so I'm looking forward to some nice relaxing evenings the rest of the week.

I hope all of you had wonderful and spooky Halloweens!

Daring Bakers Cocktail Hour

2007-10-28T20:53:00.000-04:00

I really enjoyed this month's Daring Baker's Challenge, mainly because I learned so much from it. This month, Mary at Alpineberry hosted the challenge, and the recipe was a Bostini Cream Pie, one of her favorite desserts from a local Bay Area restaurant. The recipe is a nice vanilla custard topped with an orange chiffon cake and finished off with a wonderful chocolate glaze. While there were a few modifications allowed (we could alter the flavoring of the chiffon cake as long as it was light colored and did not affect the coloring of the cake), we could get as creative as we wanted with presentation. I decided that Bostini Martini had a nice ring to it, and thought that martini glasses would make for a wonderful presenation!

This dessert was an all day affair. I started by baking the cake:

Since I knew I would be serving the cake in martini glasses, I decided that rather than baking the cakes in molds, I would bake it in a regular cake pan and cut circles to fit the martini glass. I thought everything was going very well...until I took the cake out of the oven! I noticed that my cake had two distinct layers: A wonderful light fluffy layer on top and a dense rubbery layer on the bottom. I tried again, and the same thing happened! However, I was able to separate the good layer from the rubber layer and come up with enough cake to make my desserts, and when I served them later that night, no one was any the wiser :-)

Next up was the custard:

Fortunately, I had much better luck with the custard. I followed the recipe as written, and it came out perfectly. Then it was time to assemble.

I filled each martini glass with custard, added my de-rubbered cake circles, and topped with glaze...

I added a little orange garnish and...Voila! I had a wonderful Bostini Martini!

Epilogue: After consulting the wonderful DBs, I came to the conclusion that my rubber layer was a result of not correctly folding in the egg whites. So, I did a little research and tried again, and my chiffon cake turned out perfectly!

So...now it's time for the recipe:

Bostini Cream Pie
(from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni and Scala's Bistro)
Makes 8 generous servings

INGREDIENTS:

Custard

3/4 cup whole milk
2 3/4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 whole egg, beaten
9 egg yolks, beaten
3 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean (EDITED: vanilla extract is okay)
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

Chiffon Cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup beaten egg yolks (3 to 4 yolks)
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup egg whites (about 8 large)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze

8 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate
8 ounces unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

To prepare the custard:

Combine the milk and cornstarch in a bowl; blend until smooth. Whisk in the whole egg and yolks, beating until smooth. Combine the cream, vanilla bean and sugar in a saucepan and carefully bring to a boil. When the mixture just boils, whisk a ladleful into the egg mixture to temper it, then whisk this back into the cream mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the custard and pour into 8 large custard cups. Refrigerate to chill.

To prepare the chiffon cakes:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray 8 molds with nonstick cooking spray. You may use 7-ounce custard cups, ovenproof wide mugs or even large foil cups. Whatever you use should be the same size as the custard cups.

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, zest and vanilla. Stir until smooth, but do not overbeat.

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the beaten whites into the orange batter. Fill the sprayed molds nearly to the top with the batter.

Bake approximately 25 minutes, until the cakes bounce back when lightly pressed with your fingertip. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove the cakes from the molds. Cover the cakes to keep them moist.

To prepare the glaze:

Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is just about to bubble. Remove from the heat; add the chocolate and stir to melt. Pour through a strainer and keep warm.

To assemble:

Cut a thin slice from the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake flat-side down on top of each custard. Cover the tops with warm chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.

And, don't forget to check out what the other daring bakers did with this month's challenge.

Cheers!

Thankful Thursdays

2007-10-25T21:17:00.000-04:00

So, I haven't been keeping up with Thankful Thursdays the way I'd like...but better to do it occasionally than not at all, right?

Today I am thankful for:

Five wonderful years with Psycling! The past five years have been wonderful, and I can't imagine having spent them with anyone else. We have had romantic vacations, spontaneous adventures, gourmet meals, frozen pizza, crazy fun dates, and Fridays cuddled together on the couch. Every second we're together is wonderful just because we're together. I'm looking forward to the many years we have before us, the adventures life has in store for us, and seeing where the path takes us as we wander through life hand in hand.

The opportunity to be involved with The Visit at work. We were encouraged to volunteer as much as possible to help make The Visit the success that it was. It meant several long days, but having the opportunity to hear the Dalai Lama speak three times over the course of two days was wonderful. He was insightful, funny, profound, and simple all at once. He truly is an amazing human being who radiates peace and compassion. I was left with many things to ponder, and inspired to try to live a life of loving kindness and compassion.

Ok, so this is Thea's Halloween costume, but I really do think she's a SuperDog! When I'm not feeling well, she curls up next to me and rests her head on my leg. Every night, she falls asleep at our feet. And every day, she greets me with kisses and tail wags. She's great with all the other dogs in the neighborhood, and very adaptable all around. All that matters to her is being with her people, and as long as Psycling and I are around, she's happy. She's a great companion for us, and makes are life so much more fulfilled and happy.

So those are the things I'm feeling thankful for today. Though I apologize for the lack of blogging recently...between working a lot, cooking a lot, wonderful celebrations, and the cold that's knocked me out the past few days, I haven't quite been up to it. But more to come, I promise!

The First Five of Many to Come

2007-10-20T20:49:00.000-04:00

This weekend Psycling and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. We decided to celebrate by "re-creating" our wedding night. We started the evening by having dinner at the restaurant where we had our wedding reception. It's an antebellum southern mansion that was transplanted to Atlanta, and has been renovated and become a wonderful restaurant and event venue. Though they are primarily known for their events, which are held downstairs, there are a few small rooms upstairs that serve as a dining room for dinner customers. I tried to be a good food blogger and remember to take pictures, but I was only half successful.

We started with a baked brie appetizer with pita wedges, apple slices, and drizzled with a strawberry sauce.

Next, Psycing had a mixed green salad with raspberry vinnaigrette, and I had an iceberg wedge salad with blue cheese dressing and bacon. I forgot to take pictures before we dug in. Ooops!

My entree was a crab meat stuffed grouper with hollandaise sauce,

while Psycling had the lamb.

They brought us a special anniversary dessert of a chocolate mousse torte sort of thing that was super-delicious. But I forgot to take a picture of that too...

After a fabulous dinner, we went to the Westin Peachtree Plaza downtown, which is the hotel where we spent our wedding night. This is what I found when we got back to the room:

The next morning, this was our breakfast:

And this was the view from our room:

The evening was as magical and perfect as our wedding night. Psycing and I had a wonderful time enjoying time together and conversation and reveling in our joy at growing together and sharing our life and love. We look forward to many many more years together!

Taste & Create II

2007-10-17T19:51:00.000-04:00

When I started blogging, I never imagined how wonderful, fun, and creative the food blogging world could be. Nicole at For the Love of Food has decided to host a monthly food blogging event called "Taste & Create." For this event, two different food bloggers are paired up with each other. They each pick a recipe from the other's blog, cook it, eat it, and then blog about it. For this Taste & Create event, I was paired up with Val from More Than Burnt Toast. She has lots of yummy looking recipes to choose from, and Psycling and I browsed through them together. It was difficult to pick just one. But, after some browsing, the recipe that jumped out at me was the Spiced Chicken Skewers with Raita. Psycling and I both LOVE Indian food, but I don't have much experience making it, so this was a fun experiment. I was also excited about finding a recipe that would allow me to use the Iranian Saffron that my mom brought back for me when she went to Turkey last year. :-)

Psycling and I both really enjoyed this recipe. I served the skewers over rice with a side of spinach sauteed with ginger, garlic, and coriander. The yogurt marinade kept the chicken quite moist, and was wonderfully spiced. And the Raita sauce (not pictured) was the perfect complement to the skewers! Psycling and I both mixed together the meat and veggies from the skewer with the rice and raita to make a delicious (though admitedly not photogenic) mixture.

This is definitely a dish I would make again, though it is a bit time and labor intensive. Because the meat and veggies need to marinate overnight, I had to prepare that one night, in addition to that night's dinner (better menu planning on my part might have avoided that problem). But, one bite, and we realized that it was worth it the time and effort. It's a meal I would not hesitate to serve to guests.

Here's Val's recipe. Give it a try sometime!

Spiced Chicken Skewers with Raita
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 T peeled fresh ginger, grated
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
1/4 tsp saffron threads, crushed
1/8 tsp ground cloves
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium red onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks
cooking spray
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

To prepare kebabs, combine the first 12 ingredients through to red bell pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag, seal and marinate in refrigerator overnight, turning bag occasionally.
Prepare grill.
Remove chicken from bag and discard marinade. Thread chicken, onion and bell peppers alternately on each of 8 (12-inch) bamboo skewers (having soaked them immersed in water for hours). Coat kebabs with cooking spray, and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Place kebabs on a grill rack coated with cooking spray or oil. Grill 25 minutes or until chicken is done, turning occasionally. Remove from grill, keep warm.

Raita
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/3 cup diced seeded tomato
1/4 cup cuhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifcumber, peeled, seeded, grated and squeezed dry
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
1 T minced jalapeno pepper
1 T chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt

Combine 1/2 cup yogurt with remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Serve with kebabs.
Serves 8

Surf over to Val's blog and check out her yummy recipes. And while you're there, check out her take on my chicken breasts with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.

Kitchen Math

2007-10-15T12:37:00.000-04:00

I'm hoping that a time will come when I will be able to make my living through my cooking. Probably won't be any time soon, but it's still a goal I have. One way I would love to do this is teaching children's cooking classes aimed at reinforcing the basic skills learned in school. This month's Daring Bakers Challenge provided a great example of a cooking math lesson (and no, I will not be giving any clues about this month's challenge in this post...you'll just have to wait until 10/29 to find out about it).

The recipe called for 2 3/4 Tbs. of cornstarch. I'm not sure about you, but I don't have a 1/4 Tbs. measure. So how to get the precise amount? Eyeballing it just wouldn't do.

So, I pulled out my handy-dandy kitchen scale, placed a small ramekin on it and zeroed it out. Then, I measured out my tablespoon of cornstarch.

I then weighed my tablespoon of cornstarch. Apparently, 1 Tbs. of cornstarch is 8 g.

Then I used math, algebra even, to figure out how much 2 3/4 Tbs. of cornstarch would weigh. Apparently, the answer is 22 g. This is when I hope I did the math right so the entire blogging world doesn't see that I'm an idiot. :-) But since the recipe worked, I think I'm ok.

I then weight out my 22 g of cornstarch and went on with my baking :-)

I love it that there are so many things you can teach (and learn) through cooking. Math is a very obvious one. But science and chemistry are important. And reading. You have to be able to read to follow a recipe and. And I like the idea of using food to learn about other cultures. I can see myself teaching geography and culture through food. Understanding the cuisines of the world and why they are what they are. There's so much there. And by using food and cooking to teach these lessons to kids, you are able to open their eyes to new things, and help them build a skill that will serve them well the rest of their lives. I know my kids (when the time comes) will do lots of learning in the kitchen with me.

Pizza Pizza Pizza

2007-10-07T21:54:00.000-04:00

My mom's birthday is coming up. Because I love cooking for the people I love, I invited her to dinner, along with my dad and my brother. In trying to formulate a menu that wouldn't involve too many added ingredients, I decided to make pita pizzas.

I made a pizza with roasted garlic and eggplant with fresh mozzarella, one with fennel, goat cheese and oranges, (both recipes found here), and one with roasted figs and prosciutto with aged provolone and a balsamic reduction.

The fig pizza was very yummy. I don't even really like red meat, and I liked this. Roasting the figs brought out the sweetness that was so well complemented by the saltiness of the prosciutto. The aged provolone had a nice but understated bite to it that really tied everything together nicely, and the balsamic reduction add a depth of flavor that took this pizza from good to amazing! Of course, it also meant we had appetizers made out of the pizza left overs: a blob of goat cheese on top of a roasted fig and wrapped in a paper-thin slice of prosciutto. Of the three, this was Psycling's favorite pizza.

Pita Pizza with Roasted Figs, Prosciutto, and Balsamic Reduction
(Makes 2 pizzas)
7-10 figs, quartered
2 pocketless pitas
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 oz. aged provolone, shaved (a pecorino or good parmesan would also work here)
1/4 c. thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
1-2 Tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Place quartered figs (cut side up) in roasting pan, and roast at 425 for abot 12 minutes, until juicy.
3. Brush pitas with 1 Tbs. each of olive oil. Sprinkle heavily with shaved cheese. Sprinkle about 1 Tbs. of chopped prosciutto over each pita. Arrange figs (cut side up) on pita, and sprinkle with remaining prosciutto. Sprinkle with herbs.
4. Heat balsamic vinegar in small saucepan. Boil until reduced to about 1/4 c. Drizzle 2 Tbs. of reduction over each pizza.
5. Bake pizzas at 425F for about 8-10 minutes.

As for our dessert...well, you'll just have to wait until the October Darin Bakers post on the 29th.

Thankful Thursdays

2007-10-04T19:09:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about gratefulness since reading an article in Reader's Digest on scientific studies that have been done on the power of taking time to count your blessings. The article talks about the results of a study using three groups of people: one group kept a daily record of things they were thankful for; one group was asked to focus on the negative things that happened; and the third control group did nothing at all. The study found that members of the group that focused on being thankful was happier, more optimistic, healthier, and more likely to help others.

Some college girlfriends and I have a Yahoo group that we use to keep in touch. Since graduating, the group has grown, and I've become friends with with several women I've never met. I've deepened friendships with friends I've had for years. It's a wonderful and inspiring group of women to be able to count as my friends. Sometime a few years ago, someone decided to send a post outlining things they were thankful for. Before long, our "Monday Thanks" became a regular topic. It's faded in frequency a bit, recently, and it's not always on Monday anymore, but every once in a while, one of us will send an email with Thanks.

I love Monday Thanks. Not only is it a great way to keep up with what's going on in each other's lives, but the sense of thankfulness and optimism is contagious. I found it impossible to read other ladies' lists of thanks and not start to mentally make my own list of things I am thankful for. Another wonderful thing about our Monday thanks is that many of the most profound and poignant offers of thanks came during times of trouble. It was a way to keep life in perspective.

We all live busy lives, sometimes wondering how we even find time to eat or breathe or just remember to say "I love you" to the important people in our lives. I don't want to live a life that's too busy and stressful to recognize all the blessings I have, all the things I have to be thankful for. So I hope to have one post a week that will be about the good things in life. And just like the Monday Thanks emails did for me, I hope that reading my list of thanks will inspire you to look at your own life and see all there is to be thankful for.

So without further ado, today I am thankful for:

1. Puppy Kisses: Every day when I get home from work, I am greeted by 95 lbs. of energetic, tail-wagging excitement. If Thea is at the park outside, all I have to do is call her name, and she comes running at full speed to give me lots of love and kisses. In fact, if I take the trash out, when I walk back in the door, I'm greeted like a long-lost friend who has been gone way too long!

2. Phone calls from far-away friends. HLG was my college roommate, and one of the best friends a person could have. We always have so much fun together. She's the one who taught me to knit and how to eat crabs. She is the embodiment of fun and adventure, and lives life to its fullest more than almost anyone else I know. She's in vet school now at Virginia Tech, which meas we don't get to see each other or talk to each other nearly enough. So a phone call from H can always brighten my day.

3. The Office: I love this show! It never fails to make me laugh hysterically. The cast is amazing and the writing top notch. I can't wait to head upstairs and watch it tonight. Silly, I know, but it makes me happy!

Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2007-10-03T21:41:00.000-04:00

I love having dinner guests. It gives me an excuse to go all-out and cook meals way beyond what we would normally have for dinner. So when Psycling said that he wanted to invite a friend for dinner so they could talk shop, I was all for it. I've been wanting to blog about my Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken breasts, and this was the perfect opportunity to make it! I have to admit, it was really good, and the Zinfandel Psycling chose to have with it was the perfect complement!

This was one of my first original recipes. I came up with it when I went to visit a friend in Boston. She had just moved into her condo and had limited things in the kitchen. I wanted to make her dinner to thank her for hosting me, and looked around her kitchen to see what inspired me. After a quick trip to the grocery store, this is what came together. It's gone through several iterations and revisions since that first time, and I've finally gotten it to a version I'm happy with.

Goat Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts
(Serves 4)
1/2 head garlic
4 oz log of goat cheese
2 Tbs. minced sun-dried tomatoes
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil (divided)
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. marjoram
salt & pepper to taste
1 small onion
1 red bell pepper
2-3 Tbs. olive oil
4 chicken breasts
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
Several strands of kitchen twine or toothpicks for holding rolls together.

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Drizzle garlic with a little bit of olive oil and wrap in foil. Roast at 425 for 45 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Allow to cool then separate cloves.
3. While garlic is roasting, chop onion and red bell pepper, and place in a small roasting pan. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. of basil and toss together.
4. Combine goat cheese, tomatoes, oregano, remaining 3/4 tsp. basil, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper. Add garlic when ready, and mix together until smooth.
5. Chop onion and red bell pepper, and place in a small roasting pan. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp. of basil and toss.

6. Place chicken breasts between layers of heavy duty plastic wrap, and use meat mallet or small pan to pound breasts to about 1/4" thickness. Spread 1/4 of the goat cheese mixture on each breast. Roll up chicken breasts (as seen on the right) and use kitchen twine or toothpicks to hold together.
7. Heat 1-2 Tbs. olive oil in a medium to large skillet. While oil is heating, place pan of vegetables in 425F degree oven. Place chicken rolls in skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes, rotating rolls until browned all over. Remove chicken from skillet and place over vegetables in roasting pan. Cook until chicken is cooked through (about 25 minutes), and thermometer inserted into thickest portion reads at least 155F.
8. Remove vegetables from pan, and toss together with balsamic vinegar.

To serve, place chicken roll on plate, remove kitchen twine or toothpick, and top with about 1/4 c. of vegetable mixture.

Add a green salad and some Italian Bread, and you have a wonderful meal!

A few notes about this recipe: I usually use the oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, but you can also use the dried ones. Just be sure to reconstitute them by soaking in hot water for about 30 minutes before adding them to the goat cheese. I also find that my hands tend to be the best kitchen tool for mixing the goat cheese. It makes it much easier to really ensure that everything gets mixed together well.

I have made this recipe now several times, and it never fails to get rave reviews.

We finished the meal with a fabulous, rich, flourless Chocolate Cake, but you'll just have to check back later to get that recipe.

Everything Tastes Better on a Grill

2007-10-01T20:15:00.000-04:00

This year we finally got the grill we've been talking about getting for the past several years. Something about getting volunteered to host a cook-out forces you into it...not that we're complaining, because we LOVE our grill. We love it so much, I kinda wonder how we got along so long with out it. And now that we're moving toward fall and it's not so frickin' hot down here, grilling is even more enjoyable. This weekend, I got inspired and made a grilled dinner for us. It was one of those "use up stuff in the fridge" dinners, and I was really pleased with it!

The chicken was great and the vegetables were done perfectly. I marinated the chicken and veggies in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and some fresh herbs before throwing them on the grill. The rice was something that just kind of happened as I cooked it. This was such a great meal, I wanted to share it with you!

Combine the following in each of two zip-top plastic bags:
3-4 Tbs. olive oil
2 cloves crushed garlic
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2-3 Tbs. of fresh chopped herbs (I used oregano, thyme, and basil)

In bag one, add two chicken breasts and toss to coat.
In bag two, add the following:
2 small zucchini,halved
1 small summer squash, halved
1 onion cut into 3/4" - 1" slices

Toss to coat. Let these bags of marinade sit and work their magic while you go get the grill started and warmed (about 25-30 minutes). While grill is warming, start on the rice pilaf.

Once grill is warmed, cook chicken and vegetables until done. For chicken, juices should run clear and internal temperature should reach at least 155 degrees, F. Grill veggies until tender and slightly charred.

Chop grilled veggies and toss them together. To serve, place chicken breast atop a bed of the rice pilaf and sever the tossed veggies on the side.

Rice Pilaf:

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white rice
1 cup water
2 Tbs. pine nuts, toasted
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley.
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

In a medium sauce pan, sauté shallots in oil until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and sauté another 30-45 seconds. Add rice, and stir until rice is coated in oil and slightly toasted. Add water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Simmer rice until all water is absorbed and rice is tender. In a bowl, toss rice with pine nuts, parsely, and lemon juice.

Happy Grilling!

I Feel Daring

2007-09-29T20:21:00.000-04:00

Today, I make my debut as a Daring Baker. The Daring Bakers (or DBs as we are known) are a wonderful group of food bloggers who all bake the same recipe each month. This recipe remains a secret until we all blog about it on the same day. This month, the secret recipe was Cinnamon Buns and/or Sticky Buns from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

When I signed up to become a DB, I had to agree to the rules of the club. One of these rules (the one that will be hardest for me to stick to) is that recipes must be followed exactly as written, with no substitutions or variations allowed, unless an allergy or other health concern exists. However, I was eased in to the DB world with a secret recipe where we were actually encouraged to try variations with the spices in the cinnamon rolls or sticky buns.

Being somewhat of an over-achiever, I decided I needed to try both cinnamon rolls and sticky buns. I made one batch of cinnamon rolls exactly as written, with no variations. They were very good. I also made a variation of the cinnamon roll, which came out even better!

For these cinnamon rolls, I added some cardamom to the cinnamon sugar mixture for the rolls. I also experimented with the white fondant glaze for these rolls. I made two different glazes that I think actually worked quite well together. For half of the glaze, I added a couple of drops of almond extract, and some orange extract. For the second glaze, I dissolved instant espresso powder in some warm milk and used that milk to make the glaze. I drizzled both on the cardamom rolls. They were delicious! My dad claimed that they were the best rolls he'd ever had. He also said they tasted "like christmas." I think he was picking up on the cardamom and orange.

Variations:
1 Tbs. cardamom added to the cinnamon sugar mixture
1-2 drops almond extract and 1/2 - 1 teaspoon orange extract added to half the fondant
1 Tablespoon espresso powder dissolved in the milk used to make the other half of the fondant

Here are my cardamom-cinnamon rolls, as a log, before proofing, and after proofing.

While these came out really well, I think next time, I will use a little more cardamom, and a little less almond.

Next up, the sticky buns. My inspiration for this variation on the sticky buns was apple pie, one of Psycling's favorite things.

I added nutmeg, ginger, and all spice to the cinnamon sugar spice mixture, and rather than raisins, I used chopped dried apple pieces in the caramel glaze. I think they came out quite well, though there are a few things I might do differently next time. I think I would add a little more ginger to the spice mixture, and experiment with adding about a tablespoon of apple juice concentrate to the caramel glaze, to see if it would amplify the apple flavor. But even without that these were very good sticky buns! They got rave reviews at the office!

Here are the sticky buns, before proofing, after proofing, and just out of the oven!

Now that I have you drooling with these pictures, here is the recipe.

Cinnamon buns and sticky buns from Peter Reinhart´s The Bread Baker´s Apprentice

DAYS TO MAKE: 1
15 minutes mixing; 3 1/2 hours fermentation, shaping and proofing; 20 to 40 minutes baking.
Yield: Makes 8 to 12 large or 12 to 16 smaller cinnamon or sticky buns

Ingredients:

6 1/2 tablespoons (3.25 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 tablespoons (2.75 ounces) shortening or unsalted butter or margarine
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon lemon extract OR 1 teaspoon grated zest of 1 lemon
3 1/2 cups (16 ounces) unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast*
1 1/8 to 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature OR 3 tablespoons powdered milk (DMS) and 1 cup water
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (6 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar plus 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, or any other spices you want to use, cardamom, ginger, allspice, etc.)
White fondant glaze for cinnamon buns or caramel glaze for sticky buns (at the end of the recipe.)
Walnuts, pecans, or other nuts (for sticky buns.)
Raisins or other dried fruit, such as dried cranberries or dried cherries (for sticky buns, optional.)

*Instant yeast contains about 25% more living cells per spoonful than active dry yeast, regardless of the brand. Instant yeast is also called rapid-rise or fast-rising.

1. Cream together the sugar, salt, and shortening or butter on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a large metal spoon and mixing bowl and do it by hand); if you are using powdered milk, cream the milk with the sugar, and add the water with the flour and yeast. Whip in the egg and lemon extract/zest until smooth. Then add the flour, yeast, and milk. Mix on low speed (or stir by hand) until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes (or knead by hand for 12 to 15 minutes), or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. You may have to add a little flour or water while mixing to achieve this texture. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

2. Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

3. Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Proceed as follows for shaping the buns:
(A) Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top with flour to keep it from sticking to the pin. Roll it into a rectangle about 2/3 inch thick and 14 inches wide by 12 inches long for larger buns, or 18 inches wide by 9 inches long for smaller buns. Don´t roll out the dough too thin, or the finished buns will be tough and chewy rather than soft and plump.
(B)Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the surface of the dough and
(C) roll the dough up into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon-sugar spiral as you roll. With the seam side down, cut the dough into 8 to 12 pieces each about 1 3/4 inches thick for larger buns, or 12 to 16 pieces each 1 1/4 inch thick for smaller buns.)

4. For cinnamon buns, line 1 or more sheet pans with baking parchment. Place the buns approximately 1/2 inch apart so that they aren´t touching but are close to one another.

For sticky buns, coat the bottom of 1 or more baking dishes or baking pans with sides at least 1 1/2 inches high with a 1/4 inch layer of the caramel glaze. Sprinkle on the nuts and raisins (if you are using raisins or dried fruit.) You do not need a lot of nuts and raisins, only a sprinkling. Lay the pieces of dough on top of the caramel glaze, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag.

5. Proof at room temperature for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into one another and have nearly doubled in size. You may also retard the shaped buns in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, pulling the pans out of the refrigerator 3 to 4 hours before baking to allow the dough to proof.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) with the oven rack in the middle shelf for cinnamon buns but on the lowest shelf for sticky buns.

7. Bake the cinnamon buns for 20 to 30 minutes or the sticky buns 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. If you are baking sticky buns, remember that they are really upside down (regular cinnamon buns are baked right side up), so the heat has to penetrate through the pan and into the glaze to caramelize it. The tops will become the bottoms, so they may appear dark and done, but the real key is whether the underside is fully baked. It takes practice to know just when to pull the buns out of the oven.

8. For cinnamon buns, cool the buns in the pan for about 10 minutes and then streak white fondant glaze across the tops, while the buns are warm but not too hot. Remove the buns from the pans and place them on a cooling rack. Wait for at least 20 minutes before serving. For the sticky buns, cool the buns in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes and then remove them by flipping them over into another pan. Carefully scoop any run-off glaze back over the buns with a spatula. Wait at least 20 minutes before serving.

White fondant glaze for cinnamon buns

Cinnamon buns are usually topped with a thick white glaze called fondant. There are many ways to make fondant glaze, but here is a delicious and simple version, enlivened by the addition of citrus flavor, either lemon or orange. You can also substitute vanilla extract or rum extract, or simply make the glaze without any flavorings.

Sift 4 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon or orange extract and 6 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of warm milk, briskly whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk slowly and only as much as is needed to make a thick, smooth paste.

When the buns have cooled but are still warm, streak the glaze over them by dipping the tines of a fork or a whisk into the glaze and waving the fork or whisk over the tops. Or, form the streaks by dipping your fingers in the glaze and letting it drip off as you wave them over the tops of the buns. (Remember to wear latex gloves.)

Caramel glaze for sticky buns

Caramel glaze is essentially some combination of sugar and fat, cooked until it caramelizes. The trick is catching it just when the sugar melts and lightly caramelizes to a golden amber. Then it will cool to a soft, creamy caramel. If you wait too long and the glaze turns dark brown, it will cool to a hard, crack-your-teeth consistency. Most sticky bun glazes contain other ingredients to influence flavor and texture, such as corn syrup to keep the sugar from crystallizing and flavor extracts or oils, such as vanilla or lemon. This version makes the best sticky bun glaze of any I´ve tried. It was developed by my wife, Susan, for Brother Juniper´s Cafe in Forestville, California.
NOTE: you can substitute the corn syrup for any neutral flavor syrup, like cane syrup or gold syrup.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature.

2. Cream together for 2 minutes on high speed with the paddle attachment. Add 1/2 cup corn syrup and 1 teaspoon lemon, orange or vanilla extract. Continue to cream for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

3. Use as much of this as you need to cover the bottom of the pan with a 1/4-inch layer. Refrigerate and save any excess for future use; it will keep for months in a sealed container.

These are extremely time and labor intensive, but well worth it!

Fulfilled

2007-09-26T20:14:00.000-04:00

There are very few things in life that make me happier than providing a delicious and nutritious meal for Psycling and I to enjoy together. Tonight, our Spiced Salmon with Roasted Red Pepper and Tomatillo sauce and a broccoli bake fit that bill. I have been making an effort to ensure we have a good vegetable side with our dinners (some days I'm more successful than others). For a while, I just made a basic green salad every day, but I was starting to get bored with that. So I decided I would just pick up some fresh veggies that looked good and were in season when I was at the Farmer's market, and then figure out something to do with them. This week, I picked up some nice looking broccoli. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, about five minutes of searching was about all I needed to find the inspiration for this yummy side dish.

Broccoli Parmesan Bake
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
1/4 c. bread crumbs
3 Tbs. grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 Tsp. dried oregano

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Steam Broccoli until crisp-tender, just a couple of minutes. Place in small casserole dish.
3. Mix together bread crumbs, cheese, and oregano. Sprinkle over top of broccoli. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, or until crumbs start to brown.

I had some left over fresh oregano that I chopped up and sprinkled on top for a garnish.

After making this, I had some leftover bread crumb mixture. I put it in the fridge, and I have a hunch it will make it's way onto some chicken for dinner later this week.

I apologize for the lack of pictures...it's amazing how life can run away with you. But I hope for a WIP post soon with lots of photos to make up for the sad lack of visual stimulation recently.

Famous First Sock

2007-09-22T21:00:00.001-04:00

My first sock (and I) are on the Yarn Harlot's blog. Look for the September 21 entry entitled "Atlanta Charm." You'll see me holding my sock with the traveling green sock. Pretty cool, huh? Meanwhile, I'm making good progress on said sock...there should be a more in-depth post coming soon :-)

September Cupcake Hero Challenge

2007-09-20T19:27:00.000-04:00

Quirky Cupcake has decided to hold a monthly Cupcake Hero Challenge. Here's how it works: "Each month a theme ingredient will be named. The theme ingredient will need to be used in either the cupcake, the frosting, the filling or all of the above if you choose." The theme ingredient for September is limes. As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to try to re-create keylime pie in cupcake format. Ok, so I didn't want to juice all those tiny key limes, so I used regular limes, but still think I did a pretty good job.

I used Magnolia's vanilla cupcake recipe, with a keylime mascarpone filling and a meringue icing. When you got all three components in one bite, it really did taste like keylime pie! I served these at a dinner party, and they were a huge hit! When I took them into the office, they disappeared quickly. One of my coworkers even went so far as to tell me it was the best cupcake she'd ever eaten. She later bought some from me for a surprise baby shower.

Key Lime Cupcakes
For Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
4. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before filling and icing.

For Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 cup mascarpone cheese (about 1/2 pound)
2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat cream cheese with sugar, zest, and lime juice until smooth. Beat in mascarpone. When mascarpone is fully incorporated, beat in cream, and allow to whip for another 30 seconds to a minute to lighten the filling.
Fill cooled cupcakes with your preferred filling method. I prefer to use a pastry bag to pipe the filling in through the bottom of the cupcake.

For Meringue Icing:
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup large egg whites -- (about 3)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a 3 cup saucepan, combine the water and 2/3 cup sugar. Place over low heat to dissolve the sugar, then increase the heat to medium high and boil, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 235 degrees. (Wash down any sugar crystals slinging to the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in cold water.)
2. Near the end of the boiling time, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add the 2 tablespoons sugar, and continue to whip until the whites are stiff but not dry. With the mixer running, pour the syrup onto the whipped whites.
3. Continue to whip on medium speed, about 3 minutes more. Mixture will thicken, cool and form glossy, stiff peaks. Add the vanilla. Cool to room temperature, about 8-10 minutes, then frost cupcakes right away.

This recipe worked really well. It's a cupcake that manages to be both light and rich at the same time. The tanginess of the lime paired with the sweetness of the vanilla cupcake and meringue frosting are a match made in heaven!

An Evening with the Yarn Harlot

2007-09-19T22:20:00.000-04:00

Today, The Yarn Harlot ventured out of Canada and into the American South. A wonderful local yarn store sponsored her visit. After a long day at work, and not nearly as much knitting time lately as I would like, it was great to join several hundred fellow knitters for an evening of yarn, needles, and laughter. Stephanie had as laughing all evening as she warned us of the hazards of CHOKE (Cultural Hatred of Knitters Everywhere), and came prepared with several lists of ways to wear down the CHOKErs of the world. I even got to hold the sock.

I brought my first sock (a WIP I have yet to blog about), and she admired it. She knew as soon as I showed it to her that it was Socks that Rock in the Monsoon colorway. Kinda scary. But it was a great evening. It was amazing to be amidst other knitters, to be in a group that is so diverse and accepting, to see so much knitting in public, and to spend an evening laughing and losing track of time. The evening only reinforced my belief that knitters are the most open, accepting, friendly, helpful community out there. I'm both proud and humbled to be a part of such a group...if that's possible.

This will definitely be an evening to remember!

Seraphim is ready to fly!

2007-09-18T22:48:00.000-04:00

So here it is, my first FO of the blog! The Canyon Angel Seraphm Shawl is done and blocked! Just in time for the cooler weather.

Pattern: This is the Seraphim pattern from Miriam Felton.
Yarn: Malabrigo lace weight, double stranded, Sealing Wax colorway.
Needles: Addi Turbos size 5, 25" circulars
Modifications: I didn't make any modifications though there are a few unintentional "design features." But they are so minor that it would be hard to spot them, even if you were looking for them.

I love the lace detail on this shawl! Once I got the hang of it, it was a very easy pattern. It made for a great introduction to lace knitting. There is just enough interest to keep your brain intrigued, but nothing too complex and complicated.

I've loved kintting this shawl. I'm going to miss having it on the needles. But I love having such a wonderful FO to show off!

Recharging my Batteries

2007-09-16T22:04:00.000-04:00

Life has been very crazy in the Whisks & Needles household. Knitting has been done, torn out, redone, blocked and there are projects in all stages of un-finish. I have been spending record time in the kitchen, trying to tweak and pefect recipes, feed Psycling and myself, and make sure the grad students at Georgia Tech have their weekly goody tray. With all this, keeping up with a puppy in heat, doing the regular "real job," I guess it's not surprising that I feel like I am always on the go, and never really have the time to rest and recharge.

This evening, after spending all day in the kitchen (literally, all day...I started baking around 9, and didn't finish til after 5), the last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner. So I called my dad and told him that if he could supply dinner, we'd supply dessert (the fruits of my all-day baking). He agreed, and a couple of hours later, my dad and brother were over, along with Moe, my brother's dog, and there was pasta cooking on the stove and salmon fillets going on the grill. As we sat down to dinner, I felt compelled to take pictures. Not necessarily because everything was plated to gourmet presentation standards, or because it was an unusual or complex meal. But because sitting down to a home cooked meal with my family reminded me of what is really important.

We had sliced heirloom tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and sprinkled with fresh ground salt and pepper. Dad picked up a roastd garlic ciabatta bread from the store, which we dipped in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and grated parmesan. We had a pasta salad with grilled salmon and fresh basil tossed with a lemon vinaigrette. And we enjoyed all of this with a nice crisp Pino Grigio that went very well with the salmon and pasta. It was a wonderful meal shared with loved ones, laughing, telling stories and jokes, and generally enjoying each other's company. Even Moe got in on the action! I realized as I enjoyed this homecooked meal that it was exactly what I needed to help recharge my batteries and rejuvenate me. Though still exhausted and ready to collapse at bedtime, I was content. I felt more centered than I have in a while. I felt ready to close the weekend and head into a new week. And really, what better way is there to end a weekend than to share it with the people (and dogs) most important to you?

Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs

2007-09-12T18:44:00.000-04:00

DR of Tech Chefs requested my Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs recipe, so here it is.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs
1 quart size basket of fresh figs
1 4oz log of goat cheese
1 1/2 - 2 Tbs. honey (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg

1. Remove stem ends of figs, and slice in half vertically. Using the tip of a knife, scrape a small indentation in the center of the fig half. As you can see, it doesn't need to be a huge hole, just big enough to provide a place for the cheese to rest.

2. Place a small piece of goat cheese in the hole. You're not trying to pack it in, just use the hole as a "resting place" for the cheese as it fills the fig.

3. Once all figs are stuffed, arrange them on a tray or platter and drizzle lightly with honey. You can see I go for a very thin stream of honey that I drizzle over the figs. They shouldn't be overly sweet. Ideally, the honey should merely be a complement to the natural sweetness of a ripe fig.

Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg and serve!

This dish makes a very stunning appetizer, and it will be sure to wow any guests you prepare it for.

Tech Chefs: A History

2007-09-10T21:11:00.000-04:00

When Psycling started grad school a couple of years ago, we met some other grad students who shared our interest in cooking and eating good food. We decided to start a little cooking club, and called it "Tech Chefs" since the primary members were students at Georgia Tech and their significant others. We get together once a month to prepare and enjoy a great meal.

The size of the group can vary, but as you can see, it can get quite large!

Here's how it works: Each month, there is an Executive Chef(s). The Executive Chef is in charge of planning the meal...setting the menu, doing the grocery shopping, and figuring out the logistics of the evening. The second saturday of every month, we get together to carry out the Executive Chef's vision. We all share the cost of groceries, and it is also the Executive Chef's job to ensure the cost never goes above our set limit of $20/head. So far, this budget has never proven to be a problem, even with wine included. Over the past two years we have had some wonderful meals!

We have had crepes, pizzas and pie, Mexican Food, Turkish Food, wine tastings, traditional English food (pictured here), European tapas, and lots of other stuff. We've never had a bad meal!

This weekend, we kicked off year three of tech chefs. It was a small group, but a fabulous meal, as always. Psycling and I served as Executive Chefs. We did a wine tasting of wines picked up during the summer travels of our members. It was fun to research the wine, and try to plan a meal around it. While we can both appreciate a good wine, we found it can be difficult to try to plan a meal around wine (rather than pick a wine to go with the meal). But I think we did a pretty good job.

We started with an appetizer of goat cheese stuffed figs, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg.

It paired quite nicely with our 2006 Sauvignon Blanc from Hart Vineyards. Our main course was a salad of watercress and cherry tomatoes, topped with zesty crutons and shaved parmesan cheese.

This salad, along with our Spinach manicotti with spicy sausage sauce paired very well the the Church Mouse Pinot Noir from Church and State Wines. It was a derivation of the Spinach Caneloni in the Classic Pasta at Home Cookbook from Williams Sonoma. We used manicotti, because apparently, it is impossible to get Caneloni in Atlanta. Who'd have thought that would be such a difficult thing to find? Also, the original recipe called for a regular spicy red sauce, but having read that this particular wine did well with meat and spicy red sauces, we decided that adding the spicy Italian Sausage to the sauce would work well. It did! There was nothing left at the end of the meal!!

For dessert, we had take one of my work-in-progress creation for the September Cupcake Hero challenge. But you'll hear more about that later.

All in all, it was a great evening of cooking, food, and good company.

Whisks And Needles FAQs

2007-09-06T08:29:00.001-04:00

Question: Have you always liked to cook?
Answer: No. When I was going through adolescence, I shunned anything that was stereotypically a "woman's job." Cooking, sewing, cleaning, mending...I had a very limited and mistaken notion that feminism meant shunning the "woman's world" to live in the "man's world." As you can probably see by this blog, I have grown out of that phase and come to realize that true feminism is about making choices. It's about doing what I choose to do, and not what I have to do or am expected to do. This realization coincided with my discovery that I enjoy cooking, playing around in the kitchen, and sharing my creations with others.

Question: I've noticed most of your recipes are vegetarian. Do you eat meat?
Answer: I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't eat a lot of meat. I've never liked read meat (which includes pork), and so I stopped eating it about 15 years ago. Though I'm not strict about it...if there's some sausage here or bacon there, it usually doesn't bother me. Beef is the one exception...I really don't like it. But because my reason for not eating red meat is a taste preference, I don't cook with it. While I do cook with poultry and seafood, I find that the world of vegetables seems to offer much more variety, and for that reason, most of my creations tend to be vegetarian.

Question: So where do you get your ideas?
Answer: I just cook a lot. I've found that the more I cook and try new recipes, I begin to understand what flavors and textures work together. I become more bold in putting things together myself. However, there are several places that I tend to draw my inspiration:

I have been getting Cooking Light for over 5 years now, and I love it. It's where I get most of my "every day" cooking recipes. What I love about this magazine is that rather than lots of "low fat" shttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifubstitutions, the recipes focus on healthy ingredients and variety. I look forward to getting my new issue every month, and Psycling will attest to the fact that (other than a few staples) I rarely cook anything more than once. We've hardly repeated a recipe since we've been together (and we're going on five years this fall). But why repeat things when I get a new magazine filled with great ideas every month? I also love the Gourmet and Food and Wine magazines.

There are also certain cookbooks that I could not do without:

Back Left is The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg. It's really more of a text book and a cook book and really lays out the fundamentals of the techniques and theory of baking and pastry arts. I've learned so much from it. Back center is The Professional Chef from the Culinary Institute of America. Another text book, it is a great resource for good, solid, basic recipes, and a wealth of knowledge about preparation of different foods, and many different cooking techniques. Back right has the Complete Seasonal Cookbook representing my Williams-Sonoma cookbooks. I have never been disappointed by a Williams-Sonoma recipe. In the front we have more general cookbooks. I think How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is a must have for every home chef. Bittman covers many different cooking techniques and understanding of different foods, and demonstrates how a few different changes to a single "recipe" can lead to vastly different, but still yummy dishes. It makes variety in home cooking easy and approachable. And finally, we have Pie by Ken Haedrich. If a recipe for a pie exists, you will find it here. And Ken Haedrich breaks down the fundamentals of what makes a good pie, namely the crust. There are lots of tips, and I have learned almost everything I know about pie baking form this book...quite a feat since I grew up under the influence of lots of Mennonite and Pennsylvania Dutch cooking (where pie is a staple of the diet).

So there you have it. How I came to discover my love of cooking, and the influences that have shaped it along the way.

Good Night :-)

Back In Business

2007-09-03T21:01:00.000-04:00

Time for knitting, blogging, and just-for-the-heck-of-it cooking has been scarce around here recently. School is back in session, and thanks to Psycling, Sara's Kitchen has been busier than ever making goody trays for hungry grad students.

This tray has marble pound cake, mango ginger pound cake, blueberry muffins, banana muffins, snickerdoodles, and double chocolate meringues. I make a tray of assorted goodies (similar to this) for a weekly seminar for grad students and faculty of Psycling's research group. This week, though, I am also making muffins and biscuits for a breakfast meeting for Wednesday.

It makes me really happy to see my business doing well, but I'm staying very busy. It means knitting time is significantly reduced. But despite that, the Seraphim is coming along very well, and I hope to have it bound off within the next few days. I love how well the lace work pattern is coming out:

Almost everyday, I show it to Psycling and say "look how pretty it is." He indulges me, and acknowledges that it is very pretty. Once it's off the needles and blocked, I'll take lots of great pics for you!

I like hats!

2007-08-30T21:27:00.000-04:00

I like hats. I think they are highly under rated these days. It used to be that hats were a necessary fashion accessory. Now, with the exception of the plethora of baseball caps out there, no one ever wears hats. I have my own nice collection of hats. Some are silly, some are fun, some are functional, and I wear them all!

(Note: closet shelf not usually this neat)

I wore the black bowler hat (which has a little shamrock pin on the side) through out college. It kind of became my trademark. When I'm feeling a little spunky, I wear it to work :-) I got the cowboy hat in Albuqurque, NM when I was going for a horseback ride along the Rio Grande and decided I needed something to really look the part. And with my love of Disney, I guess it's no surprise that I have several hats from Disney World. The Cheshire Cat hat brought lots of smiles when I wore it to work on Halloween. And of course, when you have the kind of blond, fair, freckled complexion that I do, it's necessary to have hats to keep the sun off my face...at least, that's how I justify it to Psycling when I go buy yet another hat.

So, with my love of hats, it is probably not surprising that I quickly learned to knit in the round so I could knit my own. I learned how to make hats by knitting with a group of women from church, as we knit hats for the homeless men that stay at the church night shelter. I knit and donated several hats to that program last year. Of course, this was before I started blogging and phtographing my FOs.

These are some of the hats that didn't quite get turned in on time for last years hat drive. They will still be donated to chartiy. I'll probably take them to be collected when I go see the Yarn Harlot in mid-September.

Of course, I had to knit a few hats for my own collection as well. I decided a while back that I needed to use up some of the yarn in my stash, and didn't buy any new yarn for a while. I had some great warm, soft, fuzzy black yarn just calling to be made into a hat. Well, turned out I had enough for two hats!

First, I introduce le Beret!

I'd give you the specs, but I'm afraid I don't remember what the yarn was, and the pattern was something I found online somewhere...but I really like it. It's warm, and I think it has some great personality to it. I'm looking forward to the couple of days we have down here in Hotlanta when it might actually be cool enough to wear it.

When I finished the Beret, and realized I still had quite a bit of yarn left, I cast on for my Wylie Hat.

I call it my Wylie cat because Wylie is the name of my black kitty, pictured here. Can't you tell how happy he was to be part of this photo shoot? Anyway, again, I don't remember the yarn, but the pattern is the Kittyville Hat from Stitch 'n Bitch by Debbie Stoller.

I already have a few new hat ideas rolling around in my head, but I might not be able to share them til after Christmas...I don't want to ruin anyone's surprise.

Chocoholic's Paradise

2007-08-24T10:20:00.003-04:00

I recently discovered a wonderful recipe for Chocoholics everywhere. I decided to make it for a picnic, and I was not disappointed!

While getting the chocolate ready for the frosting on the chocolate malt cake, I noticed that there were recipes inside the Ghirardelli chocolate wrappers. I would highly encourage you to go out and buy 2 bars of semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate and a bag of bittersweet chocolate chips and try the recipe on the inside of the wrapper.

Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Cookies
2 4-oz bars Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate baking bars, broken into 1" pieces
3/4 c. brown sugar, packed
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. flour
1 c. Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
2 c. walnuts, chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Melt Semi-sweet chocolate according to melting instructions. Stir in sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, stir flour with baking powder. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, mixing well. Fold in chocoalte chips and nuts.
4. Drop by 1/4 c. onto ingreased baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Cool 1 minute on baking sheet; remove to wire cooling rack.

This recipe makes a rich, dense, chewy, fudgy cookie. Almost brownie-like. Definitely great for chocoholics like Psycling and me.

Cooks Notes: I made these smaller than the 1/4 c. drops than suggested. I also made a double batch...one with nuts, one without. They were both good! We also discovered that these cookies are even better the second day! And I recommend enjoying them with a tall glass of milk!

Some Cooking FAQs

2007-08-24T10:20:00.001-04:00

Question: Have you always liked to cook?
Answer: No. When I was going through adolescence, I shunned anything that was stereotypically a "woman's job." Cooking, sewing, cleaning, mending...I had a very limited and mistaken notion that feminism meant shunning the "woman's world" to live in the "man's world." As you can probably see by this blog, I have grown out of that phase and come to realize that true feminism is about making choices. It's about doing what I choose to do, and not what I have to do or am expected to do. This realization coincided with my discovery that I enjoy cooking, playing around in the kitchen, and sharing my creations with others.

Question: I've noticed most of your recipes are vegetarian. Do you eat meat?
Answer: I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't eat a lot of meat. I've never liked read meat (which includes pork), and so I stopped eating it about 15 years ago. Though I'm not strict about it...if there's some sausage here or bacon there, it usually doesn't bother me. Beef is the one exception...I really don't like it. But because my reason for not eating red meat is a taste preference, I don't cook with it. While I do cook with poultry and seafood, I find that the world of vegetables seems to offer much more variety, and for that reason, most of my creations tend to be vegetarian.

Question: So where do you get your ideas?
Answer: I just cook a lot. I've found that the more I cook and try new recipes, I begin to understand what flavors and textures work together. I become more bold in putting things together myself. However, there are several places that I tend to draw my inspiration:

I have been getting Cooking Light for over 5 years now, and I love it. It's where I get most of my "every day" cooking recipes. What I love about this magazine is that rather than lots of "low fat" shttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifubstitutions, the recipes focus on healthy ingredients and variety. I look forward to getting my new issue every month, and Psycling will attest to the fact that (other than a few staples) I rarely cook anything more than once. We've hardly repeated a recipe since we've been together (and we're going on five years this fall). But why repeat things when I get a new magazine filled with great ideas every month? I also love the Gourmet and Food and Wine magazines.

There are also certain cookbooks that I could not do without:
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Back Left is The Professional Pastry Chef
by Bo Friberg. It's really more of a text book and a cook book and really lays out the fundamentals of the techniques and theory of baking and pastry arts. I've learned so much from it. Back center is The Professional Chef from the Culinary Institute of America. Another text book, it is a great resource for good, solid, basic recipes, and a wealth of knowledge about preparation of different foods, and many different cooking techniques. Back right has the Complete Seasonal Cookbook representing my Williams-Sonoma cookbooks. I have never been disappointed by a Williams-Sonoma recipe. In the front we have more general cookbooks. I think How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is a must have for every home chef. Bittman covers many different cooking techniques and understanding of different foods, and demonstrates how a few different changes to a single "recipe" can lead to vastly different, but still yummy dishes. It makes variety in home cooking easy and approachable. And finally, we have Pie by Ken Haedrich. If a recipe for a pie exists, you will find it here. And Ken Haedrich breaks down the fundamentals of what makes a good pie, namely the crust. There are lots of tips, and I have learned almost everything I know about pie baking form this book...quite a feat since I grew up under the influence of lots of Mennonite and Pennsylvania Dutch cooking (where pie is a staple of the diet).

So there you have it. How I came to discover my love of cooking, and the influences that have shaped it along the way.

Good Night :-)

Made a difference for that one

2007-08-24T10:19:00.000-04:00

A fraternity brother of mine (yes, I said fraternity...it's a co-ed fraternity) is a pediatric surgeon with the United States Air Force. After his first deployment as a medic in Iraq, his wife (also a fraternity brother) compiled his letters and emails home and published them in a book, chronicling his experience and those of his fellow soldiers and patients. It is a moving account of the honor, professionalism, and compassion of our soldiers and medics, doing their best to make a positive difference. Further more, procedes from sales of the book are donated to Fisher House, a non-profit that provides the means for military families to be together while a soldier is undergoing medical treatment. To read more about Chris and his experience as a medic in Iraq, check out this article from a recent addition to the Brown Alumni Magazine.

Chris is now preparing for his second deployment to Iraq. He will be posting his letters home on his blog. I encourage you to check it out. And send prayers, good thoughts, comforting vibes or whatever it is you believe in to Chris, and his family.

Chris, be safe!

Oricchetti with Spinach and Roasted Red Peppers

2007-08-22T20:56:00.000-04:00

The idea for this recipe came to me as I was drifting off to sleep one night. The first time I made it, there wasn't quite enough spinach. So I tweaked it a bit, and this iteration is better. It's still a rough draft, though, so if you try it out, definitely let me know how it goes.

Oricchetti with Spinach and Roasted Red Peppers
1/2 lb. uncooked Oricchetti Pasta
1 large bunch spinach, roughly chopped
1 1/2 c. onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced (I use one of my favorite kitchen gadgets)
1/3 c. roasted red peppers, chopped (about one large)
2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
3 Tbs. white wine
1 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbs. Olive oil
2 tsp. white balsamic vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 Tbs. pine nuts, toasted
1 1/2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, set aside, and keep warm.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onions in 1-2 tsp. olive oil until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 30 seconds. Add spinach, and saute until wilted. Add roasted red peppers, Italian seasoning, and wine. Cook until liquid is mostly gone. Toss in lemon juice and cook another minute.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss together pasta, spinach mixture, olive oil mixture, and pine nuts. Stir in 1 oz of grated Parmesan cheese. Serve sprinkled with remaining Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4-6 as a main course, 6-8 as a side dish.

Cooks Notes: White balsamic vinegar is slightly less pungent than regular. However, it can also be harder to find. I use it in the recipe partly for the slightly more subtle flavor, but mostly for the visual aesthetic. It doesn't discolor the pasta like regular balsamic would. However, if you don't want to buy white balsamic just for one recipe, regular balsamic would work just as well, though I would use maybe 1-1/2 tsp. instead of the full 2 tsp.

Psycling and I both really enjoyed this dinner, and it will definitely become a regular in my dinner repertoire.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

2007-08-21T21:43:00.001-04:00

I have to say, it's a good thing I'm loving knitting this Seraphim shawl, because with all the ripping back and re-knitting I'm doing, if I didn't love this project, I'd probably go nuts. I was just starting chart 3 (the LAST one before the edge chart) when I noticed that somewhere along the way, my lace pattern got off. Irreparably off. Several rows back. So I had to rip back. And rip back some more. It was rather dejecting, knowing that Friday night, I was knitting up row one of Chart 3, and by Sunday night, I was still moving backwards on chart 2. By Monday night, I was finally able to start moving forward again...but I still have another 4-5 rows to go before I'm back where I was on Friday. I've been set back almost a week. And for something that I should have been able to catch. I'm at a point in the pattern where you can very easily see what it's supposed to be doing. If I had been paying attention to what I was doing, I would have seen this mistake when it happened, taken a few minutes to fix it, and been on my way. But, since I wasn't watching and thinking as I was knitting, I'm set back a week.

Of course, I say I had to rip back. "Had to" is a very interesting phrase. This mistake was very subtle, one that I had to search for to find the cause of so I'd know how far back to rip. One that probably no one else would notice, and certainly not the recipient of the shawl. But, therein lies the Perfectionist's Curse. I would know. And because of that, I couldn't, in good conscience, let it go. I HAD...TO...FIX...IT. In my eyes, it was horrendous, disfigured in a phantom-of-the-opera kind of way. I tried to let it go...I really did. But that Type A that I try to keep lying dormant reared it's ugly head. So I had to rip.

I may be a Type-A perfectionist, but I'm also an optimist. And there are a few silver linings here. One, I was already starting to mourn for the finishing of the shawl. I'm having such a great time knitting it, that I was already starting to realize that I would feel a loss when I finished. Guess I just pushed that day back by a week. Two, I'm learning. My technique is getting much better. I'm much more comfortable with the pattern and with lace knitting in general. I'm learning what to look for, and how to catch mistakes before they happen...something that could play an important role in not losing another week to unknitting. Three, two steps forward and one step back is still a net gain, right? I am making progress, it's just slower than I thought. It gives me more time to appreciate my malabrigo and addis and gorgeous colorway, and the challenge that is this shawl. I'm happiest when my brain is engaged, and she's definitely keeping it working. And finally, I've gotten a much needed knitting attitude adjustment. I got cocky and over confident and complacent in my Seraphim knitting. And that's what led to the mistake in the first place. The Seraphim has put me back in my place...and I think we will both be better off because of it.

Pure Indulgence

2007-08-19T21:16:00.001-04:00

I've been wanting to make a cake for a while...I've been itching to pull out my tool box and play. I've also been quite intrigued by a recipe I saw in the March 2007 issue of Food and Wine magazine for a Malt Ball cake. Well, it took almost six months, but I finally made the cake that I've been thinking about. Well, it was worth the wait!! A dense rich malt cake wrapped in a whipped ganache icing that can be described as nothing short of heavenly decadence.

The cake uses three 8" cake pans, which means that when all is said and done, this makes for one tall cake! And the ganache frosting is rich enough that even this hardcore chocoholic had a hard time finishing it. My parents joined us for dinner, and my dad claimed it was one of the best pieces of cake he's had in a long time...worth of the top shelf at Cafe Intermezzo.

If you're looking for a cake to impress, this is it.

Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup instant malted milk powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups ice cold water
4 large egg whites, room temperature
Frosting and Garnish
10 ounces quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
10 ounces quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 cups unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch chunks, softened
malted milk balls, for garnish

1. CAKE: Preheat the oven to 325. Butter and flour three 8 inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk the flours with the malt powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter with the shortening until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the dry ingredients in 3 batches at low speed, alternating with the ice water, occasionally scraping down the side of the bowl.
3. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites at medium high speed until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Divide the batter between the pans, spreading it evenly and bake the cakes for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert them onto a rack and let cool completely. Peel off the parchment.
4. FROSTING: Place the chocolate in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil, then remove from the heat. Add the corn syrup; immediately pour the mixture over the chocolate. Let stand for 2-3 minutes until the chocolate has melted, then whisk until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
5. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk. Gradually beat in the butter at medium speed, a few chunks at a time and beat until thoroughly incorporated between additions. The frosting should be smooth and silky. Refrigerate the frosting just until it is thick enough to hold its shape, 10-15 minutes.
6. Place one cake layer on a serving platter and spread 1 1/4 cups of the frosting over the top in an even layer. Repeat to form 2 more layers. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the side of the cake and refrigerate briefly until firm. Frost the side with the remaining frosting. Garnish the cake with malted milk balls and refrigerate briefly to firm up the frosting before serving.
7. The cake and be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Bring to room temperature to serve

Whisks & Needles

Trick Or Treat Bag

A Late DB Torte

Daring Bakers: Milan Cookies

Happy Birthday Munchkin!

A Bakewell Success

Changing Expectations (Or Better Late than Never)

Delicious Simplicity

I *Heart* Chocolate

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Southern Saute

LIVESTRONG: A Taste of Yellow -- The Book

Daring Bakers December 2008: Murphy's Law Edition

Daring Bakers: Mmmmm...Caramel

Black Bean and Butternut Squash "Lasagna"

Menu Planning Monday -- 10/10/08

Menu Planning Monday

I'm Alive! With a Recipe!

A 9/11 Remembrance: Baking a Little Love into the World

Daring Bakers: Better Late than Never

CSA Bounty

The Dinner A'Fare

He's Here!

Me as a Flickr Mosaic

Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Squash

Oprea, anyone?

Memorial Day Cook-Out

On Reading

Another fluff post...but it's fun :-)

The Daring Bakers Play with Cheesecake

Callie & Wylie need new homes...Can you help?

Party Time with the Daring Bakers

A Real Challenge

Hot & Spicy

Mmmm...Croissants!

Breakfast for Dinner: Stuffed French Toast

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Pie!

Breaking Radio Silence

Proof That I Do Knit

The Better-Late-Than-Never Thanksgiving Post

Daring Bakers: Thanksgiving Edition

Grilled Salmon with Roasted Corn Relish

Getting Personal

Thankful Thursdays: Fall Edition

Yay for fall!

A Halloween Post

Daring Bakers Cocktail Hour

Thankful Thursdays

The First Five of Many to Come

Taste & Create II

Kitchen Math

Pizza Pizza Pizza

Thankful Thursdays

Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Everything Tastes Better on a Grill

I Feel Daring

Fulfilled

Famous First Sock

September Cupcake Hero Challenge

An Evening with the Yarn Harlot

Seraphim is ready to fly!

Recharging my Batteries

Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs

Tech Chefs: A History

Whisks And Needles FAQs

Back In Business

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Chocoholic's Paradise

Some Cooking FAQs

Made a difference for that one

Oricchetti with Spinach and Roasted Red Peppers

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Pure Indulgence

I Heart Chocolate