Císte agus Milseáin

New Year's Day Doughnuts

2012-01-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

I think I will start a New Year's Day tradition, homemade baked doughnuts for breakfast.

I purchased a Wilton doughnut pan at Thanksgiving and have just gotten around to trying it out. It worked out really well! The doughnuts were soft, warm and delicious! The pan comes with a simple recipe for both the batter and the glaze. I recommend using a piping bag to fill the tray.

Don't they look yummy? The recipe makes one dozen. They didn't last the day.

So this is why I haven't been posting much.

2011-12-23T14:58:00.001-08:00

Frankly, the smell of baked goods made me feel pretty nauseous for a while and I was exhausted most of the time. Now that I'm in the second trimester, I'm feeling better. Still not in the mood for sweets at all.

Happy Holidays!

Cinnamon Crown Cake

2011-12-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, my mother-in-law and father-in-law gave me a great recipe book (linked in my last post) and a Nordic Ware bundt pan. For some reason, I use it mostly in autumn. Autumn makes me think of cinnamon and coffee cakes, I guess.

I just started a new job in October and decided to bring a treat in for my training group. I made the Cinnamon Crown cake.

It is a beautiful cake that stays moist and has a delicate flavor. Perfect for breakfast or dessert. It calls for applesauce and I was lucky enough to have made homemade applesauce for the first time this year. I froze a large quantity of it and was able to use it in the recipe.

It has a lovely contrast of color when you slice it. Sadly, I didn't not get any photographs of the inside before it was gone. To say the least, it was well received and there was nothing left to bring home!

Next week I'm going to try making baked doughnuts for the first time. I bought myself a doughnut pan the week of Thanksgiving when I was buying new muffin pans for the cloverleaf rolls for our holiday dinner.

For now, I'm off to ice a cake and then maybe a nap. A nap sounds wonderful.

Apple Streusel Cake

2011-11-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

I told you that I had a few posts up my sleeve! Here is the first, apple streusel cake. In September, if you recall, I went apple picking with my friend Mary. I picked a half bushel of apples. I made 4 pans of apple crisp, crock pot apple sauce (which I used in my next blog post) and then when we were sick of the apple crisp, I made this cake.

It was so, so, so delicious! Unbelievably wonderful. My husband loved every bite of it.

It is similar to a coffee cake but with warm soft apples in the middle. The cake stays moist for days. I like to butter my bundt pan and then coat it in a dusting of granulated sugar instead of flour. It gives the cake the slightest crust on the outside which is a wonderful contrast to the soft apples inside. Most recipes say to butter and flour the pan. I like that the sugar melts to the cake, but also allows it to slip from the pan beautifully. Just look at it! Perfection!

It is lovely warm from the oven or at room temperature the next day. Great for breakfast or dessert and is a great fall cake.

Yum! The recipe is from the Bundt Classics Cookbook by Nordic Ware. It was a gift from my husband's parents and has had nothing but great recipes (see my next post for another one I sampled)!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it today!

My apologies!

2011-11-21T06:02:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry for my absence as of late. I started a new job a month ago and we found out 6 week ago that we're pregnant. I've had all the normal experiences of pregnancy except morning sickness, thankfully. So, with that said, I've been exhausted after 8 hours of training, walking our dog Dougal and making dinner.

I have two recipes to write for you and I will try to do that this week as I have some time off!

Apple crisp.

2011-10-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about being back home is the season of Autumn. It is another beautiful rainy autumn day here. I know, I know, it sounds odd, but after living in the desert for almost eight years, I'm happy to see the rain. This morning I woke up to the sound of it pouring. What a wonderful sound!

A couple of weeks ago I went apple picking with my dear friend, Mary. It was a rainy day but that didn't stop us from grabbing a red wagon and heading out in to the orchard. I picked a half bushel and arrived home trying to decide what to do with all these baking apples (Cortland). I made slow cooker applesauce (only to find out my husband doesn't like applesauce). I made several apple crisp (because I found out my husband is crazy about apple crisp). Lastly, I made a cake (which will be the next blog post).

For some reason, I forgot my camera that day. The orchard was wet from the rain and nearly vacant. There was a little bit of fog in the non-orchard trees and a little dog named Mr. Spot that followed us for awhile. Next time, I'll remember the camera.

I made the applesauce the next morning, letting it simmer in the slow cooker for eight hours, filling the house with one of my favorite autumn scents. Later in the day I started on the apple crisp, which is incredibly simple. Four large apples, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, oats and brown sugar. Wonderful straight from the oven.

I can't wait to carve pumpkins and roast pumpkin seeds! September, October and November are my favorite months each year. Next week, we'll take a drive up north to see the foliage.

Next up: Apple Streusel Cake

Pavlova!

2011-09-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

I was watching Barefoot Contessa on Food Network the other day. She was making a mixed berry pavlova and it looked incredible and light. I made it yesterday. One word: divine.

I used her recipe, here. Her instructions are always clear, which makes whipping this up a breeze. I think it would be perfect for a summer treat or a ladies tea. Since we seem to be having an Indian summer here in New England this week, I thought it would be perfect... and it was!

I did not modify the pavlova itself in any way, but I did not make the triple raspberry sauce. I used blueberries, strawberries and raspberries and mixed them with Splenda, allowing the mix to sit overnight, refrigerated. It created a light syrup on its own.

This dessert melts in your mouth. The sweetness of the berries and the slight crunch of the meringue with the cloud of whipped cream is wonderful. I love the lightness of it.

The recipe is very easy, I promise!

If you try it out, let me know! I'd love to hear what everyone thought of it. This is the first time I've made or eaten pavlova and I will definitely make it again.

Next up: Apple Crisp!

I'm home!

2011-09-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

We're finally settled in to our new east coast home, happily. I haven't started back to work yet, but I have an interview next week. T started his new job on Tuesday.

I used to say that I didn't think I could stay home all day. Even if I won the lottery, I would work, but after having been home all week, I've changed my mind. I've gotten so much done and am so relaxed. As soon as I get everything accomplished on my list: living room curtains hung, cleaning, dog walking and the gym; I'll get back to baking up a storm.

This weekend I'm throwing a birthday/welcome to the east coast party for T. I'll be making seven layer bars and his favorite birthday cake (yellow with chocolate icing). We'll be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs on T's birthday gift. Nothing fancy, but it should be fun!

It will be great to see my friends that I've been 2700 miles away from for the bast 7 1/2 years.

In other news... it never ceases to amaze me all the things you find you need when you move into a new place. I've been living in my own place (with or without roommates/family) since I was 17 and still, we didn't have things we needed. We have less cupboard space here than we anticipated. I have to say though, I would have missed out on this sweet pie safe if we'd had enough cupboards.

One last picture, of my pup, Dougal, on his cross country ride. He usually doesn't like car rides, which is a rarity in dogs. He did amazingly well! Look at him, so chill. Having him in my life has made all the difference. I can't imagine a day without his fuzzy face. Please check out the new page for adoptable pets!

Disappointment

2011-08-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you try a recipe that looks and reads as if it will be amazing. You read the recipe several times, carefully select the best ingredients and put in the effort to follow the recipe meticulously only to find that it's terrible.

This is one of those disappointing moments. This is that recipe. I'm not going to post the recipe. I want to work with it an improve it.

As you know, we live in Arizona, currently (we move two weeks from today! YIPPEE!). It's HOT. Not your normal summer, I need to get to the beach or a pool hot. This is hell... or what one imagines hell to feel like. It's 110 degrees or more most days, if it drops below that, everyone thinks it's a cold front, even when it is still 109 degrees. The pool is NOT refreshing, it's like an hot tub without the bubbles. There is not escaping the scorching sun when you step outside because most trees don't grow tall enough here to provide any real shade. Breathing causes you to break out in a sweat. I use SPF 70 sunblock every day, multiple times a day and still somehow have a bit of a tan. GROSS.

I was excited about this recipe, frozen = cool and peanut butter... well, I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER!

I carefully followed the instructions, creaming ingredients...

Whipping cream...

Combining the two concoctions and delicately placing them in a prepared Oreo cookie crust.

Placing it all in the freezer and patiently waiting the hours that it took to freeze...

I melted peanut butter and chocolate to drizzle on the top. It looked amazing!

It tasted like a salt lick and barely any peanut butter flavor. Disgusting really. I was, to say the least, disappointed.

We had to throw it out. It was inedible.

So, sometimes, recipes are not all they're cracked up to be. I will tweak this a bit and maybe try it again... or maybe I won't. It sounds like a nice idea, but perhaps I'll stick with pies that actually have to be baked!

In other news, last day of work is this coming Friday! Woo! On the move the Sunday after that! Can't wait to get back to the east coast. I'm looking forward to lots of cool weather baking and Autumn.

I hate and love summer.

2011-08-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

Summer is wonderful for fresh produce and grilling and getting my skin to stop being quite so translucent. Unfortunately for B in AZ and, more surprisingly, for me in NY, summer is just too hot for baking. Every time I turn on the oven I find myself praying to be delivered from hell. I live in an attic apartment with my husband (who, during the summer, seems to run disappointingly hot) and if we don't have our one window AC running, I could practically cook a loaf of bread by simply mixing the dough and leaving it in a pan for a couple of hours. The midwest gave us a heat wave a few weeks ago and it's just now starting to cool enough to think about baking. I'm dying to do custard again; it just tasted so good and it's a great chilled dessert. But I've had peaches in the fridge and I've hidden the gingersnaps from the hubby and as much as I'm craving custard, I know what's next.

Peach pie with a gingersnap crust, only days away.

Stuff and nonsense.

2011-07-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't been baking much. There is so much to do and to be honest, it's hotter than hell here. We're in the height of monsoon season and we had a haboob last week! It was massive! (I'm not explaining, you'll just have to Google that one!)

I gave my notice at work on Monday. That felt amazing. Seriously amazing. Four more weeks of work and then I am done.
We have to go through our spare bedroom this weekend. It's time to sort through the things we own and determine what is really necessary. It's amazing how quickly we accumulate things.
I need to download some Neil Gaiman and Kurt Vonnegut books for my Kindle. It looks like we have five solid days of driving back east, so I'll be needing some entertainment.
We need some new tunes for the ol' iPods. (Recommendations welcome!)
Packing. Oh holy crap. I hate this part. I hate having my life segregated in to label boxes and chucked all over the place.
Address changes, turning services off, turning services on.
Keeping the doggie calm. I have to make sure he's ok with the move. He's a sensitive boy. I have a feeling I'll be riding in the back seat with him most of the journey.

I guess that sums up the next six weeks or so. We are so excited... beyond excited really.

A new chapter and lots of adventure!

More big news!

2011-07-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

We've been approved on the place we put a deposit on! Woohoo, we have an address!!! I also had a brief preliminary interview this morning with a full phone interview on Friday. If I make it past the phone interview I may need to fly home for an in office interview on Tuesday. Eep, that will be pricey! The start date would be while we are driving cross country.

Fingers crossed that it all works out!

Big news!

2011-07-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

On the baking front there is nothing new to report. It is far to hot (117 degrees F just the other day) to turn on the oven in our wee kitchen. I've mostly made no bake recipes like coconut cream pie.

I'd like to introduce you all to my friend Lisa. She has just started a blog called Kissin' Frogz about her misadventures in trying to find a date and dating. It is charming and funny, a great read over all. It often makes me laugh as well as making me appreciate being married! Follow her and show her some love!

Our big news is that we have plans to move east on 20. August 2011. We've sent a deposit on a place to live and are just waiting to hear if we've been approved. We've given notice that we're moving to our current rental company (No, shockingly, we don't live in a house, but a two bedroom apartment we've outgrown. We just couldn't commit to living here.) Two weeks from today, we'll give notice one month notice at work (as such, I'm not sharing this post on Facebook or Twitter).

It should be five fun filled days of the three of us in the car driving 2,700 miles. Our dog, Dougal, hates riding in the car and cries most of the time. I'm currently researching ways to make him more comfortable.

We're very excited and scared but feel is the best thing for us. We'll arrive just in time for autumn! I can't wait for a white Christmas. New England, here we come!

~B

An Spéice Brown Bread

2011-06-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

After much searching on the internet for the bread that I loved so much and enjoyed daily in Ireland, I e-mailed our favorite bed and breakfast, An Spéice, asking for the recipe. Mrs. Hannafin happily obliged, e-mailing me with the recipe.

A few notes on recipes from other countries:

Be sure to convert the temperature. This recipe calls for 220 degrees, but that is in Celsius. I baked this at about 430 degrees Fahrenheit.
Measuring... I use a scale. The recipe uses ounces, but as we know, 8 ounces of liquid can be quite a different amount than 8 ounces of flour. I can not stress enough the importance of a good kitchen scale. I am lucky that our friend, S, gave a wonderful scale as a wedding gift. I use it so often that I don't know how I got along without one before.
Patience. I am baking this bread for the second time this morning. I made some miscalculations, though slight, that really botched up the first round last night. Try, try again! We'll have nice warm fresh from the oven bread for breakfast this morning. Who can complain about that.
Proper equipment - If the recipe calls for a specific pan or tool, use it. It can make a world of difference in your results.

This bread is not a traditional batter or dough. Yeast is not used and it is quite a bit runnier than a banana bread batter. It calls for 1.5 liters of buttermilk. That's a lot of liquid. When I made it last night, I thought surely I'd made a mistake (I did actually, but not in the making of the batter, but in oven temperature and placement of the rack, for which there were not instructions). I recommend the lowest level for the rack and watching the bread in the last 15 minutes to be sure the top doesn't burn. If it's browning to much, place aluminum foil over the top. The recipe is simple once you properly convert it.

This bread is everything I loved about Ireland. It's warm and inviting, sweet and lovely. It has soft texture and amazingly buttery flavor. It is incredible warm with jam or room temperature with a thick soup or stew. It goes with almost any meal. I especially love it with Guinness and beef stew or lamb stew.

After what was to be a relaxing four day weekend for us turned out to be anything but relaxing, it is so nice to sit down with a cup of Barry's Irish tea and a couple of slices of this bread with some black raspberry jam and relax.

One day we will go back to Ireland (just the other night we were telling friends that we would love to live there). One day I will have this bread there, again.

For now, I will make this a family tradition. Saturday and Sunday mornings it will be on our breakfast table with jam.

It's that time of year again!

2011-06-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

Yep, time for the charity bake sale at work. I spent all day yesterday baking, taste testing and packing my items. I pared it down a bit from previous years. I made seven layer bars (they're always a big seller), mini coconut cream pies with graham cracker crusts, cranberry cheesecake bars and lemon blossoms. This last item is new for me.

T's father made them and brought them to Maine last year for pre and post wedding gatherings. They were so delicious and lemony. They reminded me of glazed cake doughnut wholes. He sent me this recipe from Paula Deen. I thought this was a family recipe, made from scratch, but it's not. It uses cake and pudding mix. I prefer recipes that don't use mixes. They are delicious though and if you're in a bit of a hurry, they don't take too long to make. The recipe makes about five dozen. Great for a big family picnic or fourth of July party!

I had today off from work, so I dropped off the goodies for the bake sale this morning. I hope everything sold well and money was raised for St. Vincent de Paul Charity.

Up next? This weekend I'm going to make the bread I've been raving about because my flour came in Tuesday!

Banoffee Pie!

2011-06-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

We had this delicious pie our last night in Galway. It is a banana and toffee pie that can be made with either a graham cracker crust or a regular pie crust. I decided to use a basic graham cracker crust. I found the filling recipe at A Beautiful Mess. The filling was the right flavor but consistency wise a bit off from what we had. It should be creamier. Next time, I think I will try making this recipe, from Saveur.com.

I think this is a great summer recipe because it requires no oven time and it is served cold. I love cold desserts in the summer! It is rich, so a small piece will satisfy and not leave you with that heavy feeling in your tummy.

In other news... I finally was able to get the recipe for the bread I've been pining over that we had in Ireland. I e-mailed the bed and breakfast owner that we stayed with in Dingle, An Spéice. She was kind enough to e-mail me the recipe and I've ordered the required flours from King Arthur Flour. I should be receiving my order this week! We are going to have this bread all weekend! Yum!

Ballymaloe Brown Bread... still not the right bread.

2011-05-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

I am still in search of the bread we had in Ireland every morning. Considering that every where we went served it with every meal, you wouldn't think it would be so hard to find a recipe. I tried the recipe for Ballymaloe Brown Bread for epicurious.com. While delicious, it's not the right bread. I will make it again though. It's simple, only requiring one rise and no kneading. It has a nice crust and was fantastic warm with some nice Kerrygold Irish butter.

This recipe calls for just 5 ingredients; molasses, whole wheat flour, yeast, salt and water. It's that simple.

Warm water and yeast.

Molasses, water and yeast starting to foam.

Into the pan...

Under a towel for one rise.

In other news, I bought myself a little tea pot. It's not a kettle. You heat the water before you put it in. You leave the teabag in it, allowing it to steep. Every time I had tea in Ireland (is this getting old yet?) it was served this way and for some reason seemed to taste better than any tea I've ever had. A teaspoon of sugar, bit of milk and you're in for a treat!

Wee little almond cakes

2011-05-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a ridiculously awful two weeks at work. I left on Friday feeling frustrated and tired and looking forward to a day off. On my way through the mall, I passed Williams-Sonoma and decided that today was the day. I was going to go in there, pay more than I probably should, and leave with the NordicWare Teacake pan I had been coveting for ages. If I was coming back to work on Sunday, I was coming back full of tiny, tiny cakes.

The pan came with a recipe that I gladly used, this being my first time making itty bitty cakes. I'll own up: I overfilled the wells, something I'm prone to doing. My muffins often come out abnormally large. Owning up again: I used the almond adaptation of the recipe, which adds almond extract along with the vanilla, but in order to not be under-almonded, I cut 1/3 c. of the flour and used 1/3 c. almond meal instead. They still came out pretty!

The recipe also included directions for an egg white and confectioners sugar glaze/icing but I figured that since I'm already deviating, why not go farther? I love apricot with almond so I made a little apricot glaze and dipped my little cakes in headfirst.

There are few better ways to wrap up a bad day than with apricot glazed almond teacakes and a cup of Sleepytime Vanilla.

Fluffy Pink Bunny Cake

2011-05-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure that my ridiculousness knows no bounds. Just because something is made to look ridiculous, though, is no reason that it shouldn't also be delicious. Case in point, the Fluffy Pink Bunny cake.

Cakes covered in dyed coconut are usually Betty Crocker boxed mixes coated in canned frosting, right? Well, as I [sometimes] say, go big or go home. This is a devil's food cake from The Art and Soul of Baking, a brilliant wedding gift from B. I started with a heart-shaped pan for the face.
Then I cut ears from a round.
It's lovingly topped with Swiss meringue buttercream. This was a birthday cake for a friend and when I found out that he loves peanut butter, I used the Nutella adaptation but with peanut butter instead. I swear, it tasted like a Butterfinger Blizzard from Dairy Queen.
Dying the coconut was fun and a little bit scary. It's easy to overdo red food coloring but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
Two chocolate chips for eyes, a little extra peanut buttercream for the insides of the ears and the nose. After all these layers of flavor, how did it turn out? Like a Mounds bar made with peanuts.

Ireland and the search for the right Irish brown bread.

2011-05-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write about our honeymoon, but between adjusting to the time change on the way back and our normal schedule kicking my butt the past week, I was too exhausted. I've been craving Irish brown bread, which we ate daily, since we've returned home. I have a loaf of it in the oven as I type (smells wonderful), so I figured, "What better time to reminisce?"

We flew out on 15 April to Dublin, Ireland, landing in Dublin at 8:00 AM on 16 April. We were told try to sleep on the flight and not to sleep when we got to our first bed and breakfast. The World Irish Dance Championship was taking place the same week we were there, so our flight was full of teenagers competing in the championship. Needless to say, they were excited and we didn't get much sleep because they didn't sleep. We landed, retrieved our luggage and rental car and head off to our first stop, Cornerville Bed and Breakfast in Howth, about twenty minutes outside of Dublin. After quick showers we took the train in to Dublin to tour Trinity College (fortunately, our guide was hilarious) and see the Book of Kells. The campus is beautiful and the Book of Kells is amazing. You can only view the four pages on display, but the art work is stunning. We met up with a friend from Dublin for dinner and our first pints of Guinness in Ireland (it tastes so much better there). After dinner we headed back to Howth and went to bed early. We were exhausted.

Driving on the opposite side of the car and the road took some getting used to.

Trinity College

The next morning we woke early to a wonderful breakfast with brown bread and tea. I don't know if I'll go back to drinking coffee. After we packed up and loaded the car, we headed to Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry, Bray, Co Wicklow. We had a wonderful lunch there overlooking the Italian garden and enjoyed a cream scone for dessert. We walked the grounds on a self guided tour from which the views of the Wicklow Mountain were gorgeous. From there we drove to Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny, toured the castle and grounds. Then on to Ballinure, Cashel, Co. Tipperary and for a one night stay at Derrynaflan House. They make their own cheese and yogurt (delicious!).

Powerscourt

Kilkenny Castle

Derrynaflan House

We started our third day touring the Rock of Cashel and Hore Abbey, Cashel, Co. Tipperary. St. Patrick visited the Rock of Cashel and the tour was very informative, accompanied by beautiful views. We walked to the abbey which was a mile or so down the hill. I bought some Irish wool yarn and then we drove to Ballyferriter West, Dingle, Co. Kerry and spent two nights at An Speice. We really loved Dingle. The major town is cute, but the area we were in is a little more remote. Ballyferriter really only consists of 3 pubs, a hotel/bar/restaurant and a school. We walked most places. We spent a day driving the Slea Head Drive; going to Gallarus Oratory, Kilmalkedar Church (we saw ruins with ogham!), Reask Monastic Site and Dunbeg Fort.We stopped at the cafe at Louis Mulcahy Pottery for tea and the chocolate biscuit cake I mentioned here.

Rock of Cashel

Rock of Cashel from Hore Abbey

A postcard from Rock of Cashel showing the chapel (it was behind scaffolding).

Ballyferriter West, Dingle

Gallarus Oratory

Kilmalkeder Church and Burial Grounds

Ogham!

Reask Monastic Site

Slea Head Drive views.

On our fifth day, we drove to the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare. It was rainy and quite foggy when we arrived, but beautiful nonetheless. In the past you could walk out on the cliffs, but due to so many deaths, they've closed off the path. The wind can be strong and has blown people off into the sea. We spent that night in Doolin at Harbour View bed and breakfast. We went to dinner at a great pub called McGaan's, talked to the owner most of the night and listened to traditional music played by local musicians.We had wanted to take a ferry while in Doolin to view the Cliffs of Moher from the ocean, but it was foggy and rainy in the morning causing their first tour to be at 4:00 PM, too late in the day for our plans.

Like I said, rain and fog.

Stunning nonetheless.

Happy honeymooners!

McGann's

With the ferry ride in Doolin now not being a possibility, we headed north to Galway. We spent two nights at Kilbrack House. We went in to Galway the first day to shop a bit and had dinner at The Dáil Bar. We briefly met up with a friend of mine to say hello. The next day we took a ferry to Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands. We took a mini-bus tour of the island and hiked up to Dún Aengus Fort. I'd really wanted to rent bicycles but it was pouring rain when we got there, though our day had started out sunny. I wouldn't have traded a sunny day for anything as our tour driver, Mr. O'Toole, was so charming and funny. He knew every inch of this island and every inhabitant. We saw seals laying on the beach and what he called leprechaun cottages. This location was my favorite part of the trip. I love the Aran Islands and I told T that I would like to retire there someday. The have a gaelic language summer school!

Spanish Arch, Galway

The Dáil Bar

Inis Mór

Dún Aengus Fort (scanned postcard)

On our eigth day, we headed back to Dublin stopping at Trim Castle, Trim, Co. Meath, Hill of Tara; Teamhair na Rí, "Hill of the King", Co. Meath and Newgrange and Knowth, Bru na Boinne, Co. Meath. Trim Castle was really neat and we loved walking around the grounds. It is on the River Boyne, very picturesque. The views from the Hill of Tara were amazing and something about that site gave me chills. Sometimes you go to places you've never been and they seem so familiar. When heading to Newgrange we had some issues finding our way to the visitors center. We had a GPS the entire trip and it had worked pretty well, but when we went to Newgrange, instead of directing us to the visitors center (where you purchase tickets and take a shuttle to the site) it took us directly to the Newgrange passage tomb. You're not allowed to park there and just walk up to it. We left, drove around in circles trying to find the visitors center and finally asked where it was. By the time we got to it, Newgrange was sold out and we could only see Knowth. I think Knowth is the better of the two because they discovered more at that site than at Newgrange. T said he was expecting to see the Teletubbies at any moment. We finally made it back to Howth, where we stayed at the same bed and breakfast we had stayed our first night. We decided to have a nice honeymoon dinner at King Sitric Fish Restaurant. We had seen it on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. It was wonderful and the service was amazing.

Trim Castle

Hill of Tara (first picture is a scanned postcard)

Knowth

Newgrange (scanned postcard)

On Easter Sunday,our last full day in Ireland, we took the train from Howth into Dublin and took a hop on hop off bus around the city. We were told it was the best way to hear about the history and the easiest way to get to Guinness Storehouse and Kilmainham Gaol. The Guinness Storehouse was amazing and a bit like a pilgrimage for me. I was so impressed that my husband liked Guinness while we were in Ireland. He hates it here at home. Admittedly, it does taste different and is so much better in Ireland. Kilmainham Gaol had a memorial for those executed for the 1916 Easter Uprising, so that was pretty eerie but also amazing. I had read so much about these men and women and to see where some of them spent their last days really brought their fight for freedom home.

The birthplace of Oscar Wilde

Christchurch Cathedral

St. Patrick's

Guinness Storehouse

Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced jail)

Jospeh Plunkett's cell

Grace Gifford (Joseph Plunkett's wife) read more about it here.

Inside Grace Gifford's cell (she was an art student and painted this).

Eamon De Valera's cell.

Our last dinner in Ireland at The Bloody Stream in Howth.

We flew home the next day. We took about 900 photographs total. It was beautiful and we only had rain on 2 days (in the morning), which was very lucky. I can not wait to return.

So, let's talk about this brown bread. The recipe I tried, is just wheat Irish soda bread and not what I have been raving about. The brown bread I had in Ireland was more of a yeast bread, a little more dense and moist than a soda bread. So while the recipe I made tonight was fine, it is not what I wanted. I've been searching all night and think I may have found it! It may be referred to as Ballymaloe Brown Bread. I'm going to try to make it soon and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

2011-05-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

While we were in Ireland, I tried every dessert I could get my hands on that I'd never seen here. Chocolate biscuit cake was one of those.

We were driving the Slea Head Drive and had been told to stop and see the pottery at Louis Mulcahy. Amazing pottery and they happened to have a little cafe. I'd fallen hard for Irish tea, so we decided to stay for tea. When ordering I spotted this cake and asked what it was. I was told it was chocolate biscuit cake which is made with digestive biscuits. T and I were familiar with these as we often pick up the chocolate coated McVities in the British/Irish section of the grocery. The idea of these in cake form thrilled me (it's the little things in life). So we asked for a slice. In a word: amazing.

When we got home, I searched online for a recipe. It read through a few, but the only one that was like what we had eaten was this one on Epicuriou s. You see, it's not actually cake, it's simply a chocolate mixture used to coat digestive biscuits, then they are placed in a cake mold, chilled and then coated with melted chocolate. No actual cake involved. A small slice with tea is a perfect afternoon treat. It's rich and wonderful. Melts in your mouth wonderful, with a bit of crunch for texture.

Eight ounces of plain digestive biscuits coated with a mixture of chocolate, sugar, butter and egg that has been melted and combined in a double boiler. Place in a cake pan, refrigerate for a few hours.

Once firm, remove from the pan and coat with melted chocolate. Refrigerate again and voila!

I let it sit on the counter while brewing my tea just to soften it enough to make it easy to eat with a fork. Delicious and simple!

The Helga Cake from the book...

2011-04-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

... My Life from Scratch: A Sweet Journey of Starting Over, One Cake at a Time. This is one of my favorite books and I know I've mentioned it a bunch of times, but I urge you to get it. Her story telling is great, her detailed instruction is wonderful and the art work done by her husband is lovely. Also, if you ever get stuck, she puts tutorials on her blog!

This cake is made with pecan meal instead of flour, so it's gluten free. It's a rich warm flavor and wonderful with the bittersweet chocolate butter cream. I made it for a friend's birthday and it was fairly easy (the expert instructions made it simple).

It's a nice light cake and the icing is almost fudge-y. Delicious!

Now, I'm going to try making a chocolate biscuit cake. We had a slice with tea when we were in Dingle, Ireland and I fell in love with it.

... and we're back!

2011-04-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the lack of updates my beloved ~~eleven~~ thirteen readers (welcome)! I was in Ireland and it was amazing. I've been dreaming of going to Ireland my whole life, imagining it over and over. It was better than my dreams.

I'll get back to baking and posting soon!

Eclairs

2011-04-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bloggers and bakers just came out with a new (and her first) cook book; Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes & Other Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Sugar. I was so excited to get this in the mail from Amazon last week. I decided to make the eclairs.

I'll be honest, they did not come out perfectly. I think I made a mistake some where along the line with the pâte à choux. It should have more of a paste consistency and mine came out too runny. I was able to thicken it up, but it didn't come out with the proper eclair shell consistency, close, but no cigar. I think it may have been too hot today. I will try the again when we return from our honey moon! The pastry cream is perfection and instead of following the recipe as in the book, pumpkin eclairs, I went with the traditional flavor, plain pastry cream and chocolate on top.

Although the shells consistency isn't as light an airy as it should be, the flavor is correct. I have high hopes for my next attempt and admit I was a little intimidated this time around. This is one of my favorite pastries, so I think I was nervous. I'll be more confident next time knowing that this was not a complete disaster!

Any way, everyone should by the book, great recipes and the pictures are gorgeous!

B

Chunky Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.

2011-03-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

Say that ten times fast! This was adapted from my Nestle Toll House Cookie cookbook. I didn't use Nestle products in the recipe and I added oatmeal for texture. With the peanut butter and butter, these cookies were pretty slippery, the oatmeal gave them balance. I also left out the chopped peanuts.

I like the hint of cinnamon and the brown sugar, gives them a warm flavor.

I LOVE these chocolate chips. I'm not sure that "meltier" is actually a word, but they are that and then some. When ever I see the Pillsbury or Nestle cookie advertisements, they break the cookie in half when it is still warm and you see the gooey chocolate chips separating... that doesn't actually happen with Nestle Toll House morsels. Nope. These though, oh my yes, it sure does, even when they've cooled a bit. Now that makes your mouth water.

Yum! Yum! Yum! (By the way, Adrienne, some of these are headed your way!)
*I just realized I made these (minus the oatmeal) in 2009. Sheesh, I need to keep better track of this stuff!

B

St. Patrick's Potluck

2011-03-21T15:38:00.001-07:00

So I hosted a little dinner party in my apartment on Saturday. As Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, we had a clear and delicious theme for the potluck spread. Being the hostess, I went overboard.

I started with my now-famous Guinness corned beef. There are two bottles of Guinness Extra Stout poured in the crock pot over this along with a can of beef broth. It's cooked on low for eight hours and falls apart under the fork.I also made simmered cabbage. Most people aren't impressed with cabbage but I think it's because people cook it lazily. I like to cook mine in beef broth with butter, olive oil, and white cooking wine. It adds a lot of extra flavor.
I cooked a little of the cabbage in butter first and combined it with Thursday's potatoes and corned beef, some shredded cheddar, and wrapped the mixture up in egg roll wrappers, deep frying them to a delicious golden brown. Voila, Irish egg rolls!
And to cap it off, I made black and tan chocolate mousse. The dark portion is a Guinness and bittersweet chocolate mousse and it's topped with a mixture of white chocolate (or, as my Aunt Joan insists, "almond bark, there's no such thing as white chocolate!") and whipped cream. The prep uses so many dishes that my husband will now have to clean but they're so rich and so worth it.
One couple brought champ, a fantastic buttery mix of mashed potatoes and scallions served with extra butter. Nothing makes me happier than extra butter. The other couple brought a great Irish soda bread, Scottish shortbread (made with dark brown sugar, giving the cookies a molasses-y flavor), and Irish cream chocolate cheesecake. One friend brought some green beans with almonds and kale instead of her boyfriend. I love nights with good food and good company.

Irish Soda Bread

2011-03-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I made soda bread to go with dinner tonight (a delicious pot roast with roots vegetables and homemade gravy).

This is a super easy recipe and comes together quickly. I used 3 1/2 c. of flour, 1 tsp. of baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 1/2 c. of buttermilk. Shape the dough into a 6-7 inch diameter circle of dough, cut a cross in the top and bake for 35 minutes @ 425 degrees and done!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Baby shower cupcakes!

2011-03-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

I had a cupcake order this morning. Three dozen cup cakes for a baby shower. I made one dozen lemon filled with lemon cured and iced with Swiss meringue butter cream, one dozen chocolate filled with raspberry and iced with chocolate butter cream and once dozen vanilla butter iced with butter cream. I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

I found really cute cupcake wrappers at Fancy Flours that perfectly matched the mom-to-be's nursery colors. I purchased a cupcake stand from Cupcake Tree and trimmed it with ribbon to match the colors. My husband sampled the extra cupcakes I had and said they were delicious. I'm partial to the lemon ones, but then again, Swiss meringue is my favorite icing. With two and a half pounds of butter, you can't go wrong. Delicious!

Chocolate and lemon, followed by vanilla.

Aren't the wrappers darling?

We'll be off to Ireland in just five weeks for our honeymoon. I'm planning to bake something to celebrate St. Patrick's Day next week and will hopefully have time to make a couple more new things before we depart.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day.

2011-02-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

My husband calls this the made up Hallmark holiday.

It's true that St. Valentine's Day has little to do with love, affection and little diapered cupids floating about and is about Christian martyrs.

Still, I enjoy the reminder to take special care to show love and affection everyday and to do a little something special. Sometimes the days get hectic and blur. Time passes and we can forget how truly fortunate we are to have the people we have in our lives and that we are lucky to be able to love.

Every year, I make this cake for my husband for Valentine's Day. It's a simple yellow cake with chocolate butter cream. It is his favorite. This small token makes him smile and for me, that is the best thing in the world.

Starlight Yellow Cake from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook - Everything Your Need to Know To Cook

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening (I used butter flavored Crisco)
1 1/4 cups of milk (I recommend whole milk)
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (I used kosher salt)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottoms and side of your chosen cake pan(s). I also use powdered sugar (it melts into the cake instead of sticking like flour, leaving streaks) and parchment paper cut to fit the bottom of the pan). I used 2 9x 1 1/2 inch cake pans, baking the cakes for 30-35 minutes (depending on your oven).

Beat all the ingredients with a electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes scraping the bowl occasionally. Pour into pan(s).

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook - Everything Your Need to Know To Cook

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup baking cocoa, unsweetened
2 to 3 tablespoons of milk (whole milk)

Mix sugar, butter, vanilla and cocoa together. Stir in milk until smooth and spreadable. I double this recipe because I love frosting on cake, the more the better! The recipe says it's enough to frost and fill a 9 inch layer cake, but I find it's not enough to cover.

Happy Valentine's Day!
~Beth

Zucchini bread.

2011-02-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

What do you do when you realize that you bought two zucchinis and haven't any plans to cook them any time soon? You search your favorite websites/blogs for a zucchini bread recipe.

I went with the recipe on Smitten Kitchen and opted to make the batter into muffins because I do not currently have a non-stick bread pan and my glass bread pans have let me down recently.

The recipe was easy to follow and I liked the option of adding chocolate chips. I'm of the mind that chocolate makes everything better (although in this instance, my husband and I disagree).

I grated the two zucchini that were hiding out in my fridge. I love my food processor. It makes everything easy and somehow, more fun.

Our seasoning, cinnamon, nutmeg,salt, baking powder and soda.

I added the flour pecans and bittersweet chocolate chips.

Now, the wet ingredients join the party, vanilla, oil, eggs, sugar and the grated zucchini.

I used Valentine's Day* muffin liners to be festive. Also, there seems to be a never ending supply of them. I wish you could just buy 24 liners and not have so many left over.

Mmmmm! My kitchen smells delicious. I love the specks of the spices you can see in the muffin.

Voila! Just look at that melty chocolate and the bits of zucchini!

*When I was a kid, I thought the holiday was called Valentime's Day, because it happened once a year and it was time for it in February. I see that my misspelling lead me to flawed logic yet I still think it every year.

~Beth

Peanut butter chocolate chip pound cake.

2011-01-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

I love trying new recipes. On a weekend night, with work early the next morning, I especially love a new recipe with only six ingredients that I happen to always have in the kitchen cupboards.

I found this recipe on Piece of Cake: Freshly Baked Stories, Recipes and Photos. I altered it a bit, using full size bittersweet chocolate chips that I had on hand. I love bittersweet chocolate with anything. This cake comes out moist and delicious. It does not have a strong peanut butter flavor, just a hint that makes you crave another piece.

Your ingredients; butter, sugar, peanut butter, eggs, flour and chocolate chips. That's it.

One of my favorite sights and smells is butter and sugar creamed together until light and fluffy.

Double egg yoke! It's supposed to be good luck or something...

My favorite chocolate chips.

Ready for the oven.

I like to cut the cake when it's hot (pound cake can handle it) and see all the melted chocolate inside.

I baked this last night and the whole house smell delicious twenty four hours later. I love having a home that smells of baked goods. I'm off to make this now for dinner guests we're having tomorrow night.

~Beth

Bridget: Irish Cream Cookies

2011-01-24T13:25:00.000-08:00

Hi! I'm Bridget and I'm here to share my adventures in baking. On Saturday night, my husband requested cookies. Ready and willing to comply, I started to dig for recipes. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration: "Are there Irish cream cookies?" After some googling, I found that there were and after a few minor tweaks to the recipe I settled down to make them.

All my favorite recipes start with at least one stick of butter. This one started with two.

We rang in the New Year with Irish cream and A&W root beer and we could certainly spare a cup of it for rich, delicious cookies.

The butter and sugar get creamed together and after the eggs are added, the Irish cream is poured in.

With the flour added, it started looking like cookie dough. It took all the willpower I had to keep from eating the dough. Well, willpower and disapproving looks from the man on the couch behind me.

Ignoring the instructions, I took small handfuls of dough, rolled them between my hands, then rolled them in sugar mixed with a liberal dash of unsweetened cocoa powder.

Then I pressed them between my palms and lay them on the baking sheet. Less than ten minutes and 350 degrees later....

This is definitely a cookie I'll make again. They were cakey and rich, the flavor of the Irish cream really shining through. Next time, though, I'm going to try rolling them out 1/4 inch thick, cutting them into circles, and sandwiching them with chocolate buttercream.

To the new year!

2011-01-16T18:26:00.000-08:00

Hello! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays! I certainly did as well as my ten day vacation. I did not enjoy returning to my day job though. One day... this will be my day job, one day.

I haven't baked anything new this year, but I was given the pasta making attachments for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer for Christmas. eeeeeee! I've made fettuccine and ravioli so far. YUM! (Pictures below.)

I've been thinking about my resolution for 2011. Reaching 53 new baking recipes was a wonderful goal last year but it greatly inhibited my health goals for the year as well. Once I'd found my wedding dress, I needed to maintain my weight at the mid-point of my goal to avoid alterations. Now that the wedding has passed, I need to focus on completing my weight loss goal. With that said, I will continue to strive to make new recipes and hone my baking skills, but I'm going to make a change to this blog to share the work. I'm adding a second writer!

Everyone, welcome Bridget! She is a dear friend and a fantastic writer and a cook/baker in her own right. Be sure to check out her blog, A One Woman Book Club.

Happy Holidays and Recipe # 52 - Pfeffernüsse

2010-12-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

I did it! Fifty-two new recipes in 2010... well technically fifty-three. Woooooooooo gooooo me!

I'm pretty excited about this one. My husband's family is of German/Scandinavian decent and I wanted to make a holiday cookie this year that reflected that. Luckily for me, my favorite blogger posted many cookie recipes for December, one of which was Pfeffernüsse. It's a spice cookie that is like all the wonderful scents of the holidays made edible. I was also excited to use cardamom for the first time. This cookie is easy to make and I liked that I could make the dough a day ahead to spread out my holiday baking.The recipe can be found here: Confections of a (Closet) Master Baker.

I also tried a fifty-third recipe, as I mentioned above. Hershey Kiss peanut butter cups from the Hershey's Recipe Collection.

So, what's in store for next year. I'm not sure yet. I have a lot of baking to finish before the holidays and then 10 days off from work! T's mom and I are going to make caramel rolls from scratch, his grandmother's recipe, and she's going to teach me how to make sandbakkels. The I'll relax. A lot.

Once I'm relaxed, I'll get back to you!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Recipe #51 - Sweetheart Chocolate Mousse

2010-12-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

Hello! It's a lazy Sunday in our house. We took the pooch for a walk, then walked to the grocery. I decided I wanted a decadent dessert to finish off the weekend. My thought was that it would almost take away the sting of having to go back to work tomorrow. Just nine business days of work and then I have a wonderful ten calendar days off to finish the year! Woo!

This is a great stay home date night dessert. Simple to whip up and the chocolate hearts are a nice touch. I found this recipe in Hershey's Recipe Collection. I like this book. It's got some great recipes that are not time consuming but are delicious. I think it would be a good book for baking with children too.

I've never worked with gelatin, but this was very simple and keeps the mousse stiff.

The gelatin dissolved and waiting to be added to the cream, sugar, cocoa and vanilla mixture below.

Mix until stiff then add the gelatin/water mixture. Blend well.

I melted bittersweet chocolate to pipe hearts on to wax paper. A few minutes in the freezer solidifies them.

So rich and delicious! mmmm! I'll have to let you know if it makes heading back to work tomorrow less painful.

Recipe #50 - Rugelach

2010-12-10T20:33:00.000-08:00

Recipe number fifty. Can you believe it? It's been such an eventful year AND I've baked 50 new recipes that I've never made before. Just two to go! Go me!

This recipe came from my favorite blog, Confections of a (Closet) Master Baker. I'm sure I've mention Mr. Bullock-Prado's blog before. If you're not following it, you should be. Her writing is fantastic and her instruction just as wonderful. On her blog, she is celebrating Cookiemas, which I must wholeheartedly endorse. It's better than any holiday ever. EVER!

So with that, I give you rugelach.The only deviation from the provided recipe I took was in the jelly/jam flavors. One of my favorite places in the world is Stonewall Kitchen. They are based out of Maine but have expanded all over New England and Maryland. I made the rugelach with their Cinnamon Apple Jelly and pistachios and then also with their Wild Maine Blueberry Jam (we gave little jars of this as part of our welcome gift for our out of town wedding guests).

I love rugelach. In New England, you could always find it in the bakery section of the grocery store. Here? Not so much. I was excited to make this as it reminded me a bit of home. Much to my pleasant surprise, this was quite unlike the rugelach I'd had before. It smells amazing when baking. It almost melts in your mouth, soft and delicious. I made them on Wednesday night, between my husband and my friends at work, they are all gone. The recipe makes 36! They are indeed a delicious treat and so pretty when arrange on a plate. Unfortunately, the plate didn't stay filled long enough for me to snap a photo!

Recipe # 49 - Brickle Bundt Cake

2010-12-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Hey! The computer is back! We picked it up on Thursday and man, did I miss it!

So, moving on, this morning I baked a Brickle Bundt cake for T's brother's birthday. Pretty simple recipe. It's something his brother had mentioned a couple of times. Their mom used to make and T's brother really liked it, so I thought I'd try it out to surprise him!

Yum! This is a really tasty cake. I love the way the toffee bits melted inside.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

Our computer is on the fritz. Apparently, the fan needs to be replaced. It was making a terrible clicky clunky sound. I took off the covering, vacuumed the fan, put the covering back on. The clicky clunky sound was gone, but now it was loudly whirring. Whirr. WHIrr. WHIRR!!!!

So it's been shipped off for repair. Best Buy can't replace fans. They don't even sell them, they informed us and then asked if we backed up everything (we did, of course, being so wise). Bon Voyage little one.

We miss you.

Honestly, trying to respond to e-mails, track on Weight Watchers and respond on Facebook is challenging on my wee little smart phone. Fortunately, I can access Weight Watchers from work. Nothing else, though. Boo.

Any who... we're preparing for the annual Thanksgiving gorging, in which we are grateful for... Tums. I'm making cloverleaf rolls , apple pie and garlic mashed potatoes. Tim will be roasting the turkey, making the stuffing from scratch and gravy. We'll be traveling to his brother's house to celebrate with his middle brother and my sister.

I love this time of year. Perhaps because it was my mother's favorite holiday and she always seemed so happy (she would have been 56 years old today). Today I am grateful for the ten short years I had her in my life and for the memories I have of her untainted by my teenage angst years. Every time I bake an apple pie I think of her. Tonight I'll be making my pie crust and peeling and slicing apples. Tomorrow I will assemble the pie and bake it. I love the aroma of a pie baking in the oven. It always transports me to our first house and my mother in the kitchen around Thanksgiving. She did not bake often, but she did bake one pie for Thanksgiving and to this day, apple pie is my favorite. Thanks Mom!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Recipe #48 - Chunky chocolate chip Reese's Pieces peanut butter cookies!

2010-11-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

My husband loves cookies. I love him. So when he asks me to bake cookies at 8:00 at night, I can't help myself.

I have never made peanut butter cookies and technically speaking, I still haven't made a traditional peanut butter cookie. I adapted this recipe to my liking from the Nestle Toll House Best Loved Recipes cookbook.

I didn't have any nuts in the house but I did have Reese's Pieces, my favorite, so I tossed them into the mix.

These cookies are butter, rich and amazing! I've had to hide them so I stop eating them. I used bittersweet chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. I like the richer flavor they give and, if I'm honest, I tell myself there are health benefits to boot! I may be fooling myself, but these cookies are good for the soul and that alone is enough of a benefit for us!

Recipes # 47 - feta, roasted red pepper and basil muffins

2010-11-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from The Art and Soul of Baking, which I've mentioned a bunch of times this year. This book, has without fail, the best recipes and instructions in it. I've never had a recipe go awry. Everything has been delicious and come out beautifully. My husband has great taste in cookbooks!

I love that this is a savory muffin. I bought a basil plant for my kitchen window and this is the first recipe I've used it for. The smell of freshly cut basil is intoxicating and wonderful.

I love that the recipe uses low fat buttermilk. It keeps the muffins moist.

We served them with a nice fresh vegetable pasta dish. Perfect compliment!

Recipe #46 - Persimmon cookies

2010-11-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine and I decided that we would try out a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets and split the basket because so much produce comes in one basket. The first week we tried it we received persimmons. I'd never heard of them and had no idea what to do with one. After a bit of searching I found a cookie recipe.

When I peeled them, they smelled lightly of pumpkin. The recipe calls for nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. The cookies have a nice autumnal flavor to them. They were easy to make and a big hit at work.

I don't know that I'd purposely by persimmons, but this was a fun experiment with a new produce item.

Seven more recipes to go...

2010-11-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

Yep, seven recipes and I will have completed my New Year's resolution.

I've been thinking about what to do with this blog after that. I have seven "followers" but no comments. I know I started this blog for my self, to track my progress with baking, but a blog really isn't a blog without readers, is it? As such, I'm considering scrapping it.

I look at all the baking blogs that I read and some of them are so engaging. When reading, I almost want to be friends with the author. I admire their style and ability to make their entries both education and entertaining. I don't know that I have the writing skills to achieve that. I wonder what their first year of blogging was like. Does it take time to build a base of readers? Perhaps I should find a blogging for dummies type book.

It's also a bit of an internal struggle... I'm very private, yet want to share. I want readers, but I worry about those overly critical mean comments that I see on some blogs.

Any how, I've made some persimmon cookies that I write about later this week.

Recipe # 45 - Blueberry buttermilk waffles!

2010-10-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

I bought the most gorgeous plump blueberries at the grocery yesterday. I could have saved them to nibble on or toss in my greek yogurt for breakfast. I could have, but did I? NO!

I woke up this morning craving blueberry waffles. Walking D, all I could think of were the plump little berries bursting with juice and how great they would taste with the new syrup I bought from Stonewall Kitchen yesterday.

I decided to try a new waffle recipe and I substituted buttermilk for the regular milk because I had some in the refrigerator that needed to be used. They waffles were fluffy and really good, but I might add a bit more salt next time around.

I love the smell and sound of the blueberries baking in the waffle iron. They hiss and pop a bit and the smell is beautiful. If we decide and can have children, I hope these smells remind them of home when they grow up.

Recipes #43 and #44!

2010-10-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!!! This is one of my favorite holidays. Not so much for the dressing up and trick or treating but for the the Celtic holiday of Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween). It's about honoring the dead, celebrating the harvest and the end of summer. From my Irish calendar, "Samhain is Irish for "summer's end" and marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The festival celebrates nature's cycle of death and renewal, a time to acknowledge the beginning and ending of all things in life and nature." Admittedly, I also enjoy the macabre parts as well. I loved dressing up as a kid, being someone else for an entire night, walking around seeing all the jack o' lanterns lit and the way everyone decorated their yards.

In honor of Autumn and the harvest I made pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with cream cheese icing on Thursday. I took them in to work to celebrate Halloween!

These cupcakes are moist and flavorful. I used bittersweet chocolate chips which provided a nice balance to the cream cheese icing.

Click below for more!

Tonight I carved a pumpkin and baked the seeds! I baked them coated with garlic, crushed red pepper, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I used a recipe I found on foodnetwork.com for Hilda's Roasted Pumpkin Seeds by Emeril Lagasse. They have a bit of a kick to them! Yum!

I hope everyone enjoys a safe and happy Samhain!

Recipe #42 - Cornbread

2010-10-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

I'm not feeling well so I thought chili and cornbread would fix me right up. Apparently not, as I've been sick for three days now and I made it on Sunday.

I used an Alton Brown recipe for the cornbread. I liked the creamed corn because once in a while a little kernel would pop in your mouth. It had a nice texture. I recommend dropping the temperature about 25 degrees or the bread will be dry, since it keeps baking in the skillet after you remove it from the oven. I also made a chili recipe from Food Network. Super easy to make and delicious.

Click below for pictures!

Recipe #40 Creme Brulee

2010-10-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

We're back! The wedding was amazing, the whole day was AMAZING! So much fun! We've been married two weeks now and love it.

Admittedly, I was itching to bake on our honeymoon and the minute we got home I made some sugar cut out cookies with the lobster and scallop cookie cutters I received as a wedding gift.

We also received a culinary torch and creme brulee dishes as a wedding gift. Naturally, I made creme brulee this weekend. It is one of my favorite desserts, but sadly I've only had truly great creme brulee once. I've tried it at many restaurants and based on how mediocre some of them had been, I was a bit intimidated about making it. I figured if a restaurant can't get it right, it must be difficult to make.

Not true!

I found an Alton Brown recipe. I love his recipes, they always work just as they should. More...

Above, cream and vanilla bean. Below, vanilla sugar and six egg yolks (I made a yummy omelet with the egg whites this morning).

Alton Brown's recipe for Creme Brulee! Thanks Alton!

Egg yolks and vanilla sugar whisked together.

Into a 325 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.

In to the fridge to cool for at least two hours. This is a time intensive recipe. You whip it together in about 30 minutes but wait 45 minutes for the backing process, two hours for the cooling and then 30 minutes at room temperature before the torch is used.

Yay! My first use of my new culinary torch from Crate and Barrel. I love it! I wish the flame had shown in the photos. I loved the smell of the sugar melting and the crackling sound it made.

Crack! Perfection.

Just look at that crust!

So creamy! This is the perfect dessert!

Back to wedded bliss! ;)

Two week haitus.

2010-09-11T12:51:00.001-07:00

aaaaaaaaaaand we're off!

Recipe #39 - Whoopie Pies

2010-09-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

So... holy moly... two weeks from today, we get married! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Ahem.

This week I was able to meet a long time pal and co-worker from my company's East Coast office. She brought me a wedding gift,Whoopie Pies : Dozens of Mix 'em, Match 'em, Eat 'em Up Recipes. She is so very thoughtful and I am very grateful! So in honor of this lovely token, I made the classic whoopie pie with butter cream filling. They are wonderful, chocolaty and decadent! Thank goodness I'll be giving them all away!

Recipe #38 - Macarons

2010-08-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest. These little heavenly cookies intimidate me. They're beautiful, often made with bright hues and gorgeous fillings. They look like edible perfection. I, on the other hand... I'm messy in the kitchen. You can often find me with flower in my hair and something caked to my shirt as I've forgotten, yet again to don my apron.

I'd read that macarons are difficult, temperamental little creations. You need a delicate hand and over folding can ruin the cookie. I was terrified. Then I said, "You know what... I can do this, I will do this."

I did it! eeeeeeeeeeeee! I DID IT! They aren't quite as pretty. As all the pictures I've seen. I didn't toy with coloring. I just wanted to get them to work. You bake them in two stages and after the first bake I looked at them and said, "*expletive* I messed these up!" I put them in for the second bake and what to my wondering eyes did appear? *gasp* They worked! I did it! I'm a baking genius! Ok... let's not go that far, but I was really excited! (Sidebar: Prior to the second bake I try to describe to T what they should look like. His response, "So... like little hamburgers?" This is why I'm marrying him, because he never fails to make me laugh... not just giggle, but a full belly laugh.)

I didn't add any flavoring as I like the mild almond flavor they have. I filled them with a simply chocolate butter cream. I'll experiment more in the future with fun flavors (Tartelette has a recipe for Creme Brulle macarons, yum! This is also where I found the recipe I used: Macarons, from Claudia Flemming's The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern.).

So here are some pictures:

After the first bake, I was nervous.

Then after the second bake they looked pretty good, not perfect, but pretty good. I'll need more practice but the texture was correct.

Biscotti night, recipes #36 and #37

2010-08-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

Last night my friends Kirstin and Stacy came over for a girls night. Kirstin is my personal trainer and has been helping me get in shape for the wedding. I thought it would be nice to "train" her on what I do well since she has been so gracious to train me these past months.

Admittedly, although I feel stronger, I don't know that I look any more in shape. I had hoped to lose a considerable amount of weight before our wedding, but the scale hasn't budged more than a couple of pounds. My existing clothes fit better but I haven't moved into a smaller size. On the one hand this is fine, because my dress fits perfectly and won't require alterations. On the other, wedding photographs last forever...

Yet, I have decided to view this, not as a failure to reach my weight loss goal but as a success in maintaining my weight during a stressful life event. This alone is amazing as I'm an emotional eater. Secondly, my arms are now stronger to hold my soon to be husband and my heart is healthier so that I may live a long life with him. For this I am truly grateful.

Kirstin wanted to learn how to make biscotti. I turned to my two favorite baking blogs for recipes. These women give great instruction and wonderful dialogue on their experience with the recipe. I highly suggest you read their blogs.

Recipe #36 for the year came from Shauna at Piece of Cake: Freshly Baked Stories, Recipes and Photos. We adapted the Triple Chocolate-Pecan Biscotti (which she adapted from The Craft of Baking) a wee bit as I only had a 1/4 of pecans but 3/4 cup of almonds, so we mixed them together. They were delicious and crunchy. Fantastic with my Sunday morning cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee, yum!

Recipe #37 came from Brown Eyed Baker for Cranberry-White Chocolate Almond Biscotti which she adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. These are wonderful and perfect with a nice cup of Barry's Irish Tea. I used turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top as I prefer the texture and size of the granules.

After the biscotti cooled I packaged them up in little treat bags. These would make great gifts with some gourmet coffee or fancy teas. I won't be giving mine away as T and I have already eaten half of them! No wonder my weight hasn't budged!

Just three weeks until we head to Maine for our wedding (four weeks! eeeee!). We're so excited!

Just 15 recipes to go to reach my goal of 52 new recipes this year!

Recipe #35 - Peach cobbler

2010-08-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

I was visiting my friend, Carrie, this weekend. We spent most of the weekend in Solvang, CA, wine tasting and relaxing. It was wonderful. On Sunday we headed back to her place. She has a peach tree in her yard with dozens of ripe beautiful peaches. I made her a peach cobbler with them. It's a very simply recipe that I found from Paula Deen on the Food Network site. It came out beautifully and was delicious. The peaches almost melt in your mouth and the crust is delicately sweet.

It made me so happy to bake something for her. The peaches gave off an incredible aroma while baking and made the house warm. Fantastic weekend with a fantastic friend and fantastic peaches!

Pictures...

Recipe #33 and #34 - Parmesan Herb Popovers and Herb Crusted Pork Loin

2010-08-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

Every few Sundays we try to have T's two brothers over for dinner and this was one of those Sundays. On these Sundays I like to bake something for dessert or a bread to go with dinner. I'm really enjoying having family dinners at our home. We didn't have a lot of family dinners at our own house growing up after my mother passed away when I was ten years old. It's been nice to have this experience now and to really feel like a part of something that I feel I've missed out of for many years.

I chose Parmesan Herb popovers from The Art and Soul of Baking, yet again (Bridget, I hope you're enjoying the book!). This is my go to book to learn to bake anything. I have not had a recipe fail yet.

In addition to this new family tradition we are beginning, I've also started a cooking goal along with my baking goals for the year. A co-worker and I have decided to choose a protein each week and then find one recipe that we'll both make with it.

This week we chose pork and this recipe from Melissa d'Arabian of Food Network. T and I made garlic mashed potatoes, which I boiled in vegetable bullion with two or three cloves of garlic and grilled asparagus as sides. Dinner was delicious and we are so full!

The popovers were incredibly easy to make, taking all of five minutes to mix together and took about 30 minutes to bake, so about 40 minutes total time to complete. They have a wonderful savory flavor and don't need butter or anything extra. They were the perfect compliment to this meal. They would also be fantastic with breakfast. A popover pan is not required (admittedly, I now want one to see what they'll look like) as a muffin pan will do.

Recipes #31 and #32

2010-07-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

My sister came up for the weekend so we could go to her dress fitting for her bridesmaid dress. Just 54 days until our wedding, T and I are so excited!

I woke early on Saturday to whip up orange cranberry scones for breakfast. They filled the house with a wonderful aroma with the fresh brewed coffee. Simple enough to make and so lovely to savor.

Later that evening, T was headed to a poker game with his friends. I always make something for him to take along. He always acts embarrassed, stating he's the only one that arrives with baked goods, but I know he and the guys love it. I decided to try out peanut butter cup rice krispies treats, that I saw on one of my favorite blogs, Brown Eyed Baker (both of the recipes in today's post are from there). I've mentioned Michelle's beautiful blog before, so if you're not following her, get on it!

They are amazing and should probably be illegal in all fifty states. T won his poker game and it was unanimously decided by all the guys that these are the most addictive treats ever. Pictures below!

Just twenty recipes more to reach my goal for 2010!

Orange cranberry scones with sliced oranges and coffee.

Reese's peanut butter cup rice krispies treats.

Leave the oven light on. Recipes #29 and #30.

2010-07-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have a confession. I love to watch every thing I bake through the oven door window with the oven light on. I'm obsessed. I can't help it. It amazes me to watch something from start to finish. I would be crushed if we didn't have an oven window, because obviously I can't open the oven door every two minutes, it would ruin the process. I feel like the rise of the bread or cake or the browning of the crust is air in my lungs or the beating of my heart. I feel thrilled to see each item becoming what I hoped it would. T is the only one who witnesses my gestures of joy and goofiness.

In person, I'd like to think I'm fairly reserved with my emotions. I used to be less reserved but experiences have made me feel that at most times it's best to not wear one's heart on one's sleeve. If I like you, I bake for you, I feed you.

Tonight we're having new friends over to visit and we're making them dinner. I decided I would make Cloverleaf dinner rolls from my favorite baking cook book, The Art and Soul of Baking and a Fresh Apple and Toffee Tart from Hershey's Recipe Collection, a gift from T's parents for our wedding shower, that I've yet to try a recipe out of.

Recipe # 29 - Cloverleaf dinner rolls.

First the yeast, sugar and water sit for ten minutes until foamy.
Then add the flour, potato and salt and knead with your dough hook.
The we proof! The dough must rise and double in size.
Voila!
Then it sits in the fridge overnight.
Three ounces per roll, split it to one ounce balls. Then placed together to form a cloverleaf.

Second proofing, they'll double in size again.
Then into the oven! They smell amazing and wonderful. I want to bake bread every day of my life!
Oh my! They're taunting me.
Hot from the oven with sweet cream butter. Delicious and homey.
Recipe # 30 - Fresh Apple and Toffee Tart
Granny Smith apples.
Dougal loves the peels.
Apples, sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch... it's a Hershey's recipe, normally I don't like to use cornstarch.
Heath toffee bits get pressed into the crust.
Apples layered on top.
Fold the crust over the edge of the apples.
More toffee bits and I sprinkled Turbinado sugar around the edge of the crust.
I had some apple mixture left over so I placed it in a ramekin, sprinkled it with toffee bits and put it in the convection over for twenty minutes.
Delicious!
The finished tart! I'll service this after dinner tonight with vanilla bean ice cream and fresh whipped cream.

What to do. What to do.

2010-07-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

It's guys night out, so T is at a baseball game with his friends. Although I had options for going out, I decided to stay in because life has been hectic every weekend for the past month and is only going to get more hectic.

I'm feeling antsy though. I should be relaxing on the couch with a glass of wine, a movie and my pup. I've finished all the errands and chores for the weekend, leaving tomorrow wide open.

I'm antsy to bake.

It always seems to calm my nerves.

I have so much on my mind. Our wedding is in seventy days. I keep wondering if we're doing enough. Should I have centerpieces? I don't want them really... they'll get in the way of the giant bowl in the center of the table for lobster, clam and mussel shells. Should I have favors, even though I decided to make a donation to The Arizona Human Society instead? Should we have a brunch on Sunday for our out of town guests? So much to think about...

So tonight, instead of thinking I shall bake Starry Starry Night cookies from Gesine Bullock-Prado's book, My Life From Scratch: A Sweet Journey of Starting Over, One Cake at a Time. You should pick it up, it's a great read. Charming, funny and wonderful. Her macaroons are fantastic.

Edit: 10:30 PM

This is not a recipe to start in the evening as it takes the batter about an hour to firm up in the fridge, minimum and then another hour once scooped in the freezer. I was not able to find a melon baller sized cookie scoop, so my version is much larger than the demo video above. They also needed to bake 13-15 minutes. They smell wonderful and taste even better. By the way, this is recipe #28!

Cake decorating equipment and storage.

2010-06-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

I've accumulated quite a bit of cake decorating equipment. We don't live in a very big space and trying to store is all is difficult at best.

Then I saw this!

The Stanley Fat Max! It's perfect! The bottom compartment holds my fondant rolling pin, silicone mat, cake boards, buckets of fondant and gum paste. The second compartment is sectioned to hold my fondant and cookie cutters, foam shaping pieces, cupcake papers and little items that could easily be misplaced. The top compartment has two sections, the bottom holds my pastry/icing bags, rulers, scissors and smaller rolling pins and the top holds all my food coloring bottles, icing tips (there are over 50) and shaping tools, exacto knives, paint brushes, vanilla pen/brush. It's incredible. Everything but my turntable fit! It closes up to easily be wheeled into our spare room closet, tucked out of the way until I need it. The way in which it expands when opened leaves my table clear for use and my tools with in reach right next to me.

Ah! It's so nice to be organized!

Recipe #27 - Coffee Cake

2010-06-27T20:30:00.001-07:00

I know I said I was going to cut back on the baking until after the wedding, but I can't help myself. It's my stress relief and one of my favorite ways to spend the weekend. Also, I received this little beauty from T's parents as a bridal shower gift... so now I have no choice but to keep baking to test it out!

I woke up at 6:30, walked the pooch, baked the apple pie and decided to make a coffee cake for breakfast to surprise T. The streusel filling and topping, brown sugar, cinnamon, unsweetened cocoa and toasted pecans is amazing. I love the look and smell of butter and sugar creamed together, it's a beautiful thing. The cake has sour cream in it which makes it so moist and wonderful. Just look at that vein of streusel! YUM!

Apple pie.

2010-06-26T23:16:00.001-07:00

What is it about apple pie that is so soothing and comforting?

After a lovely night out we came home to take out the dog and I to start an apple pie for baking in the morning.

Standing in the comfort of my cozy (ie; small) kitchen peeling and slicing apples, occasionally sneaking bits to the dog, I felt content. Thinking of my mother who slipped me pieces of apple before gently placing them in the pie crust waiting to cradle them, wishing for the crisp cool November days back east and the smell of apples baking in a warm oven.

I know I will have sweet dreams tonight.

I know I have it good.

Recipe #26 - Cranberry white chocolate chip cookies.

2010-06-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

It's charity bake sale time again at work! I've made one new recipe, the cranberry white chocolate chip cookies and two favorites that were requested, mini coconut cream pies and seven layer bars.

I look forward to the bake sale each year. It's fun to package everything up and deliver it to be sold for a good cause. The proceeds are used to buy food for the local food bank. I always put a B on my boxes.

Guinness chocolate cake, again.

2010-06-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

I've made this cake a bunch of times. I made this particular cake for my bridal shower tomorrow. I'm carrying blue hydrangeas at our wedding and our wedding cake will be covered in chocolate fondant.

It's a Guinness chocolate cake, Jameson ganache and Baileys butter cream icing covered with dark chocolate fondant and decorated with gum paste hydrangeas that I made. Not too bad first my first try at them!

Recipe #25 - Blueberry cake.

2010-06-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

This is a very old recipe from a grandma. I'll post it sometime later as an edit. Too sleepy now.

Recipe #24 - Marble cake!

2010-06-03T19:08:00.001-07:00

Gah! Not much to say here. Life is super busy! Three and a half months until the wedding! eeeeeeeeeee!

Monster cookies, one word, yum!

2010-05-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

This cookies are worth the time and effort. I read about them on Piece of Cake: Freshly Baked Stories, Recipes and Photos. I love Shauna's blog. Her entries are wonderful written and the recipes she posts have wonderful details, tidbits and her writing style makes me want to try each recipe. This recipe did not disappoint. Check out her blog!

Banana pecan pancakes.

2010-05-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

Just because. mmm!

Orange Cookies!

2010-05-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

I made these for T. We had his dad send us the recipe for his paternal grandmother's orange cookies and I used an orange from my friend's grandmother's orange tree. They're grandma cookies! Great with a nice cup of tea.

Blackberry raspberry pie.

2010-04-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

My friends birthday is tomorrow and he loves Marie Callender's Razzleberry Pie. After looking at the main ingredients, blackberries and raspberries, I searched for a recipe and decided to make the pie from scratch. I found a great recipe at Epicurious. The pie smells incredible and I hope my friend will be thrilled. We're serving it warmed with vanilla bean ice cream.

The Art and Soul of Baking - Sur La Table - Chocolate Chip cookies.

2010-04-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Yummy! I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and a handful of butterscotch chips. Soft and wonderful!

Oh! I almost forgot, I had a chocolate soufflé with the girls last week. We also tried a Grand Marnier soufflé. Both were absolutely amazing (but pricey, $17.00 a piece). Breaking the top and pouring crème anglaise in gave off a wonderful aroma and they melted on the tongue. I can't wait to try making one again with traditional ingredients.

Chocolate soufflé.

2010-04-17T21:28:00.001-07:00

I tried this recipe from Weight Watchers.com. As we know I'm trying to get in shape and lose weight before our wedding. The soufflé baked beautifully and from what I can tell was the correct consistency... but it had no flavor at all. My thought is that this is just one of the baked items that you can not cut back on calories. It called for light butter, fat free cream and far less sugar than a typical chocolate soufflé.

Having never had a soufflé, I can't be sure if this is normal... but I am having soufflés with the girls on Tuesday at the four star Wright's at the Biltmore. We shall see. They are known in this area for their soufflés.

Chocolate dipped coconut macaroons from Weight Watchers.

2010-03-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge fan of coconut but these are really good and only 50 calories each!

mmmmmbreakfast!

2010-03-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

I love Sunday mornings, I also love cheese. Voila! Broccoli cheddar quiche it is!

NCAA games = me baking more.

2010-03-20T14:07:00.001-07:00

I'm not a fan of basketball, especially on television. Honestly, it's the sound of the squeaking sneakers.

I decided to bake a bit today and tomorrow while T watches the games.

Today I made Millionaire's shortbread, a recipe I found on this fantastic blog, Piece of Cake: Freshly Baked Stories, Recipes and Photos. The author, Shauna, always has wonderful recipes and photographs. Her writing style is lovely and I always laugh while reading her latest posts. You can get the recipe from the link. Below are some photographs. It's a delicious dessert. I actually made it for T to take to his friend's house to have while watching today's games.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig (Happy St. Patrick's Day)!

2010-03-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day I tried a new recipe for Shepard's pie. I found this one on the Weight Watcher's website. It's wonderful and satisfying, you wouldn't know it's low fat or low calorie at all. It's made with lean ground turkey. It's wonderful!

Whew! What a week and a birthday.

2010-03-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

This week at work has been stressful. Ugh.

Nothing makes me feel better than baking. I wanted to whip something up quickly and was thumbing through one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks and came upon a recipe for Triple Chocolate Brownie Thins. The are rich but not heavy and one is just enough!

Monday was my birthday. I am so lucky to have the people I do in my life. I am incredible grateful for their generosity. T's parents sent me an extra mixer bowl for my KitchenAid Professional 600 Series six quart mixer as well as a scraper blade paddle attachment. They also sent me nine ramekins! eeeeee! I'm so excited to use them!

T gave me this beauty. Am I lucky or what? I've been snapping away and actually have a shoot this Saturday! I'm excited to get back at it!

Happy baking!

Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies.

2010-02-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

I needed to whip up something quick tonight because we are having a dinner guest. I had everything for chocolate chip cookies. When I really thought about it, I couldn't remember ever making plain chocolate chip cookies. I've always thrown in something else to jazz them up. Tonight I decided to make chocolate chip pan cookies (the extra baking time gave me time to finish up things for dinner and general tidying around the house).

Yummy! Why haven't I made these before? So simple and delicious! (Recipe from Toll House.)

Valentine's Day baking spree.

2010-02-15T15:07:00.001-08:00

On Valentine's Day morning, I wanted to surprise T with pancakes and bacon. As often as I bake and have made waffles from scratch, I've never made pancakes from scratch. I admit, I just use Bisquick. I awoke to realize that we were out! eep!

I'm a smart girl, so I pulled out my very first cookbook, Betty Crocker Cookbook, Everything You Need to Know to Cook, 8th Edition. I have to say, they are the best pancakes I've ever had. Light and fluffy... usually pancakes sit like a brick in my tummy.

We spent the day outside and made this delicious lasagna from Ina Garten for dinner. It's so good. I've been nibbling at it all day.

Today I made cupcakes to take to work. They are Orange Glow Chiffon Cupcakes with butter cream icing. The cake recipe is from one of the cookbooks I received for Christmas and have mentioned before, Rose's Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum. It's a light spongy cake and the orange flavor is wonderful.

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Super Bowl Sunday treats!

2010-02-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

Baked onion rings from Weight Watchers - Hit The Spot cookbook. Yum!

Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake from one of my favorite blogs, Piece of Cake: Freshly Baked Stories, Recipes and Photos. Great blog and a great recipe (that she adapted from Buttercake Bakery and the Los Angeles Times)!

Snickerdoodles.

2010-02-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

I actually made these the first week of the year, but they were eaten so quickly that I didn't get a change to snap a photograph. I made them again tonight because I love how light they are and how they make the whole house smell delicious.

Macaroni and cheese, please!

2010-01-28T19:57:00.001-08:00

I came upon this recipe at Brown Eyed Baker, one of my favorite food blogs. She provides great recipes and instructions as well as beautiful photographs.

This recipe was pretty easy to make and left us with lots of leftovers, which is great when there is a busy work week ahead. I love the combination of Gruyère and cheddar cheeses. I wasn't able to find cremini mushrooms so I substituted baby bellas.

Double recipe weekend!

2010-01-23T20:06:00.000-08:00

We decided that this weekend we would bake together. I made a chocolate silk pie this morning and for dinner T and I made a homemade herbed chicken pot pie. Both recipes from The Art and Soul of Baking.

The chicken pot pie is the perfect comfort food. Melts in your mouth and warms you up. The fresh chopped herbs are incredible. These may be my new favorite savory baking recipe.

This chocolate silk pie is amazing. Wonderfully rich and satisfying. It is so smooth and delicious.

That's three recipes out of that book so far. They've all been incredible. I can't wait until next week to try another!

Chocolate Tweed Angel Food Cake

2010-01-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

Recipe number three for the year, chocolate tweed angel food cake with chocolate tweed whipped cream icing from the book Rose's Heavenly Cakes.

I made it to T's dad's birthday. It was very good and enjoyed by all. I found the directions to be well written and the recipe pretty easy. The cake is cut into three layers and filled with the whipped cream icing. Wonderfully light and the sweetness is tempered by the semi-sweet chocolate.

I'm really looking forward to the coming year of baking! 247 days until the wedding, 49 recipes to go!

The holidays are over.

2010-01-07T15:51:00.000-08:00

Over the holidays, I baked many a cookie. For Christmas I received 6 new baking pans and two new baking cook books, Rose's Heavenly Cakes and The Art and Soul of Baking. This lead me to my New Year's resolution to bake one new recipe a week.

So far I've baked snickerdoodle cookies and today I made cinnamon chip muffins. My co-workers are going to love me . While I've made this resolution, I've also resolved to lose weight for our upcoming wedding in September. All proceeds of resolution one go to work to help me achieve resolution two!

The muffins are cooling as I type and I'm about to make a nice gooey glaze for them. mmm!

Edit! Muffins are done! T already ate two and I had one. They are super tasty.

Christmas cookies!

2009-12-16T21:20:00.000-08:00

I'm exhausted. Two nights of baking 7 different types of cookies! Tonight I packaged them for gift giving and tomorrow they will be hand delivered.

My favorite to make this year were the cut out cookies pictured below. A basic sugar cookie recipe with royal icing, sprinkled sugar and some with coconut. Festive!

Happy Holidays!

Golden Velvet Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing.

2009-12-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

I decided to modify my red velvet cake recipe (without the chocolate or the food coloring). I substituted 2 oz. of water for the 2 oz. of food coloring. I'm pleased with the result!

Red velvet cupcakes.

2009-11-28T20:08:00.000-08:00

I have an entire carton of buttermilk of which I needed a 1/2 cup for mashed potatoes and a 1/2 cup for buttermilk biscuits. I decided to use some of it for red velvet cupcakes. Tomorrow I'll make buttermilk waffles to use the rest.

This icing is amazing. I found it on the Confetti Cakes blog (I love her work). I did not use her recipe for red velvet cake but an old family recipe that I prefer.

Pies, pies and more pies!

2009-11-27T16:49:00.000-08:00

I really need to keep this up more. I started out so hot and heavy... but we've been busy and with good reason.

I did bake a few pies for Thanksgiving as I had orders! They all came out great and had great reviews. (One apple, two pumpkin, one of which was fat free!) I'm exciting for the next one, coconut cream!

What I'm really looking forward to though is holiday cookies! Last year I baked seven layer bars, cranberry cheesecake bars, pecan pie bars, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, seven layer cookies and peanut butter bars. This year I want to try more traditional holiday cookies and I bought new sugar cookie cut outs. I'm really excited to use some new decorating techniques I've learned!

On to the pie pictures!

I treated myself to a new Kitchen Aid 5 speed hand held mixer for little baking projects!

Bundt Cake

2009-11-04T18:21:00.000-08:00

I've been itching to bake a cake over the past couple weeks, but between wedding planning, working out (wedding dress related) and work, I've been too tired.

Tonight I made a chocolate chip Bundt cake with a chocolate glaze. I had some butterscotch chips left over from some seven layer bars I made last week, so I tossed them in. Yum!

I love Autumn!

2009-10-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while. Getting engaged, vacation and now wedding planning has kept me pretty well occupied.

Today I baked my first apple pie of the season AND got to use my pie bird for the first time, yay! (Isn't he cute!?) I'm also including a picture of a breakfast cupcake I made last week. It's pancake batter with chopped up crisp bacon mixed in, baked in a cupcake paper, "iced" with maple whipped cream. Yum!

My sister's birthday cake/gum paste cherry blossoms.

2009-09-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Butter cake, dark chocolate ganache filling, vanilla butter cream icing, gum paste cherry blossoms, Satin Ice dark chocolate fondant for the branch.

2 Cakes and cupcakes!

2009-09-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

First, a German chocolate cake for T. His favorite, for his birthday, today.

A cake for my friend Jackie for her daughter's 13th birthday. Vanilla butter cake with chocolate mousse filling and marshmallow fondant.

Finally, vanilla butter cake with butter cream icing and fondant Tiffany style box cupcake toppers for Jackie, a surprise for her birthday tomorrow.

Potato-Bacon Torte

2009-09-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Brown Eyed Baker, last week. Michelle posted a recipe she'd made after having seen Melissa D'Arabian's new show, Ten Dollar Dinners, on my favorite channel, Food Network. I decided to try the recipe tonight. The only word that comes to mind is, YUM!

Recipe here!

Banana muffins or how I'm addicted to baking and can't even make it a week without baking something....

2009-09-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

Whew... long title. I bought these adorable muffin top baking cups and had an itch to bake last night. This resulted in banana muffins with a butter flour and sugar crumble on top.

My first tiered cake!

2009-08-27T20:29:00.001-07:00

I'm really happy with how this turned out. As such, I've posted many pictures. (I apologize, I'm not sure how to do a "cut" on here, yet.) Butter cake, 4 layers each tier, filled alternately with vanilla butter cream and whipped ganache.

Carrie's Birthday Cake

2009-08-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

Guinness chocolate layer cake filled with Bailey's flavored chocolate ganache, iced with Bailey's flavored butter cream icing. An Irish Car Bomb cake. mmm!

4x3 cake pictures, finally.

2009-08-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

A simple vanilla butter cake with butter cream icing and royal icing Easter lilies. Just a quick cake for a dinner with our friend, Shari. I should have placed it next to something larger for scale. Ah well, it was nummy!

Cake pan love.

2009-08-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

I love Fat Daddios cake pans. LOVE.

I bought a 4x3 square pan for an up coming order. I tested it out on Friday. Adorable.

I'll post a picture of the quick little birthday cake I whipped up, tomorrow.

http://www.fatdaddios.com/