on a happy note

My mixer died just around the Thanksgiving holiday. I was able to borrow my mothers Kitchen Aid for the season but knew I was going to have to give it back soon. Christmas day I was given by my SWEET husband a brand new BOSCH mixer! I was so shocked, I cried. I am very spoiled and I love it.

My first thing to make was baguette bread! It went well though it was a small batch so I had to tweak it to make it work in the mixer! Will be posting more on it later.

It has been too long....

There is much to say about food in these the holiday weeks, however I must stop for a moment and say something. Life is a precious gift from God. Please love your family and friends, take time with them to let them know. You never know when it will be the last time you see them.


I know 2 people who have passed on unexpectedly. They were both extremely young. So take a moment and go hug your kids, love your spouse and call your parents. Tell them how much you love them.

BOMB!

I am on the warpath to find a recipe for a dense thick chewy brownie. I have a local cafe here in town that I go to and LOVE the brownies there. I know they use very special chocolate and though I myself am a chocolate lover I still hold the belief that I can in fact make a brownie like theirs without the spendy chocolate! After my failed attempts to take my cake like brownie recipe and tweak it for a dense brownie I found my self searching the net for a new recipe. Yesterday I came across a site that went through ALL the trouble to differentiate between the three brownie types, cakey, chewy, or fudgy I thought that since they had so much info I would look at the recipe. Well one of the things I know is that melted chocolate instead of powdered cocoa seems to make a denser brownie so when I saw this site had melted chocolate I thought....YAH! I was missing an ingredient so I zoomed to the store to buy my unsweetened chocolate and began immediately. I was so excited that I could almost feel my teeth sinking into the moist decadence! As I popped the pan into the oven I felt confident that I had indeed found my recipe. I waited. And WAITED. Then the prescribed time had passed and I opened the door to a blissful smell. As I took them out however I noticed they didn't look as I expected they would. No matter, they would be SURE to taste divine. WRONG! WRONG wrong. REALLY wrong. I wish I could describe for you the texture/taste. They were both SO off that I cant even eat them. Disappointment reigns! BUT despite the epic failure, I will try again and I will conquer! It may take a few more tries but that's the fun of it!!!

Sugar Cookies

This recipe is seriously the best ever for rolled sugar cookies, THEN you dip them in melted white chocolate and think you are eating at the heavenly feast! The dough is easy to work with!

1 Pound butter~ thats why they taste so good
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugar til light and fluffy. Add eggs one at  a time incorporating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. On low speed, mix in flour til well combined. On a well floured surface roll out a third of the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out cookies and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 min till cookies are baked through and edges are slightly browned. Cool on a wire rack and then dip in warm melted white chocolate and food coloring that is oil based. Carolyn's Cake is the best in town for these supplies!

Cranberry Almond Granola

I have an amazing Granola recipe. Its just the perfect amount of water and oil, though I do play with it! Today I am going to add roasted almonds and dried cranberries.

12 cups oats
1 1/2 cups wheat germ or flaxseed or both
2-4  cups nuts or fruit or both
2 cups brown sugar
1-1 1/2 cups oil
2/3 cup water
1T salt
2 T vanilla


Mix your dry ingredients together and mix your wet ones, then mix both together and bake at 350 for 30 min. Stirring the mix at 10 min intervals!

I am adding my fruit and nuts after its baked because I dont want to over bake them! Enjoy!

Truffles

These are the truffles I made for the party and they were so amazing! Think I will go enjoy one now! 

Truffles:

8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream 

2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons alcohol (Cognac, brandy, Grand Marnier, kirsch, rum, bourbon, or Kahlua to name a few) (optional)

Different Coatings for Truffles:

Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder

Confectioners Sugar (Icing or Powdered)

Toasted and Chopped Nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts)

Toasted Coconut

Shaved Chocolate

For Truffles:  Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside.  Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil.  Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth.  If desired, add the liqueur. Cover and place in the refrigerator until the truffle mixture is firm (this will take several hours or overnight). Place your coatings for the truffles on a plate. Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator. With your hands, or else a melon baller or small spoon form the chocolate into round or mis-shaped bite-sized balls. Immediately roll the truffle in the coating and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or tray. Cover and place in the refrigerator until firm. Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months. Bring to room temperature before serving. Makes 30 small truffles.

exhausted...

I have been CRAZY busy for this first part of December! We celebrated my oldest daughters 14th birthday! Seriously cant believe that she is that old when I myself am only 21! Normally I am a frustrated baker come round birthday time. I LOVE baking and some of my family members want things like Ice-cream cake. I could get creative and MAKE the ice cream and thus feel more fulfilled but at the prices of cream these days may as well just buy a cow for all the cream it takes to make. Kyla wanted Cream Cheese ball and while that is a step up from ice cream it still isn't as fulfilling as I would like. THIS year however her birthday fell on a weekend where I had to have 3 parties in 3 days (1 party for Kyla and 1 for Chris and Kyla and one Sower reunion party) and HAD make alllllllll the desserts! HAD to....well ok I didn't HAVE to I wanted to. Glutton for punishment I may be, but I LOVE to bake. Here is a list of all I made this week alone....not including dinners.

90+ Truffles (my BEST ever!)
67 Sugar cookies (think cookie bouquet with white chocolate frosting)
Coconut cake (2)
7 layer bars
Cream Cheese Ball
Chocolate Cake

So I guess it boils down to one realllly exhausted Kyrsi! A WHOLE lot of leftovers too because that's not something I am good at. I overdo it and figure it will be ok, I can give it to the neighbors all except the pan of 7 layer bars which I single-handedly devoured.  Not feeling much like making those again soon!

Will post recipes soon!

Bread......

My son told me today that he wants me to teach him how to cook and bake! JOY OF JOYS! How cool is that?!? So today he asked what was for dinner and when I told him Nana was bringing Clam Chowder he seemed a little disappointed, then I offered to let him help make the Honey Oatmeal bread. He said yes and other than my directing him on the hows he made the bread all by himself! I am so proud!


Maybe someday he will be a world famous chef or bread baker!

Lentil Stew

Lentils

Beef Broth

Onion

Garlic

Bacon~fried

Grated Carrot

Barley



Bring all ingredients to a boil then simmer til lentils are tender!  I don't use amounts couldn't tell you any if I had a gun to me head! I just throw it all in there! Makes for an easy dinner. If ya want you can add a splash or two of red wine~it adds a nice flavor!

Watch out they POP!

     So I am busy making all kinds of goodness for Thanksgiving. This morning I started out making homemade cranberry sauce. I don't like that canned crap! OOPS...I said crap on a blog! Well that's what it is...crap! I rarely ever eat cranberry sauce because it tastes like a can! So I was on one of my favorite blogs and the gal was making sauce AND it was super easy so I thought...I can do that. I bought my 2 bags of  cranberries and got a bottle of POM juice...THAT stuff is expensive! I got it anyways because all I am doing is desserts and I figure I can splurge on some juice! Well she said to put the juice and cranberries and sugar in a pan and started it to boil. I kept hearing the weirdest sound. I FINALLY figured out that the cranberries were splitting from the heat but they POP when they split. Kinda cool actually. It was like my sauce was Rice Krispies!


I also make a Pumpkin Streusel pie, Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting and now am going to make PUMPKIN ROLLS!


I am very Thankful for this holiday and my family and my friends! Have a great weekend!

Its been another while...

BUSY, thats was last week was! Spent every day from Thursday to Sunday with our dear friends. Then I needed to recoup.

Today I am back at it. I have felt lead to sell scones via good ole FB! (code for facebook) and donate the earnings to a family in our church who are raising support to go to Africa. SO I had a few orders this week and 3 more for next! YAY!! I am happiest when I use my baking to bless others. It fulfills me.

Today I also made 2 batches of Pecan Chocolate-chip Biscotti. I was only going to make one and then "accidently"  put 3 eggs into the batter instead of 2~oops! So I am pulling those out of the oven now.

Next week I shall be making Cranberry Sauce and Honey Wheat Black bread and ALL the desserts for T~day!!! We will be celebrating my dad's 60th birthday and I have a few special things up my sleeves for that! Think dense Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting.....OHHH to die for!

Also making a pie...I do not care for pumpkin pie but know its tradition for Thanksgiving so am contemplating a twist. If I must make that which I detest I will make it more likable!

Company....its whats for dinner!

So today I find that we are having out of town unexpected company. NOW this may throw some into a tizzy but me? I just roll with it. YAH RIGHT. Me and my control issues had a hay day with this. What am I gonna make?


I thought about it for a second and decided to make a dish I made just last week. The name? Uhh well, its kinda embarrassing. I mean its does not have fancy words in the name like bachemel sauce or crepe or fondue or anything with a REALLY fancy name. Its called "Easiest~Ever Beef and Wine Casserole" REALLY???? I mean come ON, they should have come up with a better name than that! But seriously it IS the easiest ever. The taste? Well its really amazing.

So you take beef, onions, WINE (who wouldn't love that) beef broth, flour and bread crumbs (what???) and dump it ALL in and bake at 300 for 3-6 hours. UH....YES I will make this a regular rotation!

I am also making the best EVER bread (my words) Here is the link and when they say shaggy its true its shaggy. Seriously never heard that about a bread dough before but tis true.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/honey-wheat-black-bread-recipe


You simply must try it. Warm with a pat of butter, oh with a TON of butter, after all my friend does say that bread is simply the mode for getting the butter to thy mouth! This bread could stand alone.

And then I will make glazed carrots from my garden and a salad....because we all know what I am REALLY after....



DESSERT! Ok seriously the very very VERY best Cheesecake I have ever had. Pumpkin...ahh sweet pumpkin. I did however change the crust and used. Anna ginger thins (available at Costco in BULK) So here is this recipe.


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/pumpkin-cheesecake-with-bourbon-spiked-cream-recipe/index.html
Trust me, this is so worth the effort. I also think you could half the recipe and be just fine!

crepes, and scones, and missions trips

Last night I made savory crepes! Chicken and mushroom with a cream sauce over the top. I bought organic chicken from Costco and sauteed up some mushrooms with garlic and then some purple onions. Mixed all that together and  kept it warm in the oven while I made the crepes. THEN I made a bechamel sauce and added a package of cream cheese to it. Then I made the crepes and it was incredible!

So today I was convicted to do something  completely out of the ordinary. During devotions with my kids, I felt a calling to give away my next two scones sale earning to our family friends for their missions trip. So I posted on FB that any money made will be donated to them.

Here is a link to their blog, we had met them just when Tejan was going home the first time, and then he stayed and then we were impacted as a family. Neat family, special kid that Tejan is!

http://goinstosierraleone.blogspot.com/


So if you would like some scones, hit me up. Help them out!

Pumpkin Roll!

As promised I am sharing with you my famous family recipe!

History first:
Chris and I made this recipe the very first Thanksgiving we spent together. I think there have been a few years that we didn't make it together but it has been at our Thanksgiving table every year since the beginning.


Pumpkin Roll:

Ingredients

• Pumpkin Roll:
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 cup sifted flour
• Filling:
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 2 cups powder sugar
• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese softened 

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan with waxed paper. Set aside.
• Beat eggs on high for 5 minutes, then add rest of the ingredients in order. Fill jelly roll pan with batter and then bake for 15 min. While baking take a clean dish towel (same size as jelly roll pan) and sprinkle liberally with powder sugar. When the cake is finished, take out of the oven and while it is still warm invert onto the powdered sugar lined towel. Roll up the cake starting with the small side. Let cool and then refrigerate overnight.
• In the morning make the filling. In your mixer cream butter and cream cheese together. Then add the sugar and whip cream.
• Next un-roll the pumpkin cake and remove the wax paper. Then spread the filling over the inside part of the roll. Next re-roll the pumpkin roll. Refrigerate for a few hours. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve and enjoy. Yield: serves 15 or 2 if you are really selfish! :)
  
  

  Notes: 

  This pumpkin roll has taken the place of pumpkin pie in our family. One roll is never enough, I usually make 2!

GOODNESS!

I promised you all my secret Pumpkin Roll recipe.....I just realized how close Tday is!!!

I will post it later today!!!!

Butternut Squash

It has to be my favorite squash of ALL time. I love the flavor. I usually slice it and sprinkle with salt and pepper and then pour whip cream over the top and sprinkle with parm cheese and then bake til tender. I love that, very fattening but VERY good!

Alas you can only serve that dish once or maybe 2 times close together before it gets old. As good as it is it still gets old. SO today I have decided to branch out and try something new. I am going to incorporate my over abundance of carrots and make a soup! I am trying to decide if I will use fresh ginger or not. I will post the outcome tonight!!

I hate Carrot Cake

I do. I don't know why but I do. Its just gross. When I think cake...I think soft dense goodness. NOT vegetables and fruit! Alas my friends have a mission to get me to like carrot cake.

Tonight I was telling one of them about these muffins...
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/carrot-apple-nut-muffins-zmrz10zgri.aspx

and after she looked at them she said...uh Kyrsi? Thats like a carrot cake. Put cream cheese on it and call it carrot cake!


I think they may just MAYBE getting closer to the goal!

I make these for breakfast when we run out of milk which happened today!

Try these YUMMY muffins and I HIGHLY recommend using fresh ginger...its just a perfect fit!

Easy dinner...Mexican style

Start with dry black beans, rinsed and picked over. Ok so I just put that in there...they ALWAYS say to pick over the beans....I have never found anything but beans in my beans but I guess one can never be too careful. So when you have them picked over pop them into your crock pot and add some chicken broth. Then add some cumin and some chili powder and some red pepper and onion and garlic. If ya wanna get fancy you could add lime juice at the end. I cook them on high and add more broth or chicken broth as the beans absorb the moisture. At the end of the day when they are nice and soft, mash them and grate some cheese over the top. Make some rice and serve with chips, tomatoes, olives, avocado, sour cream and salsa! Easy cheap dinner!!

November.....

2 months left to get my new year's goal in...YIKES! Ok wishing I had thought that one through....not in the mood just yet to make croissants!

Today I am attempting Peanut Ginger Chicken! I love my recipe so far~looks pretty easy!

http://www.nibbledish.com/people/Jaylene/recipes/peanut-ginger-chicken

Next week in honor of my promise I will post that pumpkin roll recipe!

Last week I was craving Red Lobster biscuits so I looked up a  recipe and made them...needless to say they were a total hit! I did change the milk out for buttermilk which made them even more flaky and it seemed to be just perfect!

Here is that link as well!

http://purplefoodie.com/cheddar-cheese-biscuits/'


I think I like the purplefoodie site...it looks rather cool!

Crepes......

So I know it seems odd that with all the baking and cooking I do that I have never made crepes. I never have. No reason really, just never have. My sister in law makes the best crepes ever and over Mothers day I watched how it was done and thought...I should try that sometime. THEN for my birthday a friend gave me Lyngonberry sauce from IKEA. That was back in August. So this week I decided I was going to try crepes. GUESS WHAT? They are incredibly easy to make! I served them with cream cheese filling and lyngonberry sauce. It was amazing. Then my sweet husband came up with about a MILLION ideas for serving them with sweet and savory fillings. The only bummer is they dont last long. :) Think I will be making these again and again!!

Its been a while...

Needless to say I have been baking BUT haven't been posting! Things I have made lately.....Artisan Bread, Pumpkin Bread,  Pumpkin Scones, Spaghetti from tomatoes in the garden, and other things as well.

The weather has finally turned cool enough to get really serious about making goal this year!!!! Cant believe it take 3 days to make this wonderful croissant~and I know that if they are good they will be gone in one day, sad to think that all that work will be eaten in ONE day, but its worth the challenge. Probably not something I shall make again but at least I can say I did it.


One thing I have never made.....Crepes! I think I am going to try that this weekend! I have an amazing jar of lingon berry sauce my friend gave me and I am going to make a cream cheese filling and poor that over the top!!! Should be a wonderful Saturday morning breakfast!!!!

Pumpking heaven....

So last night I was looking at all my favorite blogs when all of a sudden I came across this one for these muffins......

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/10/18/pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins-pecan-streusel/


I know I just KNOW I heard angels singing....


You can be sure I will be making these SOON. In fact I would have made them today but a friend called and I didn't have 2 hours to freeze the cream cheese SO

I am making Pumpkin Snickerdoodles...THIS time however I am not using the baking POWDER which makes them cakey I am using SODA and am hoping for different results!

Cookies and Soup

So the other day I made Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and I saved some of the dough for another day. Today happened to be that day.

I also made home made Creamy Tomato Soup.

I peeled the tomatoes and pureed them in my yet STILL living food processor!! I thought I had killed it with Pumpkin the other day but alas it LIVES! Then I sauteed onions and garlic in EVOO and added chicken broth. Then I blended that and put that back on the stove and put all of it through the strainer. Next I added basil and salt and celery salt. Let this boil for a while and then I added cream. Tonight we will enjoy a toasted cheese and tomato soup made~truly home made.  

New Year resolution...

I am in prep mode for my resolution to make home made croissants! I have been thinking about it. Yup that is as far as I have gotten. You see my kitchen is one of the warmest places in my house therefore I need to do this when the weather is super cold. We are almost there. It will take almost 3-4 days to create these and I hope to do well.

Mushroom Lasagna

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/10/mushroom-lasagna/



I made this last night and twas a hit. I made my own version and added fresh baby spinach to the recipe!

Secret Recipes

I have in my possession a few secret recipes that I will share a few of.....One in particular is the famous Pumpkin Roll......



I will share that one closer to Thanksgiving as it is a MUST HAVE in our family. We all like it better than pumpkin pie....GASP! Its true.

Pumpkin and Wild Rice Soup

I chose to make pumpkin soup and although I liked it~it was a bit grainy for me. The wild rice made it MUCH better! I think next time I will add in more cream. Also would have been good with cumin!


1 pureed pumpkin.

1 box of organic chkn broth.

1 1/2 c cooked wild rice

splash of 1/2 and 1/2

celery salt

coriander


Puree the roasted pumpkin and then add chicken broth and cook wild rice. Add in the other ingredients and simmer for 30-60 min.

Serve with Artisan Bread!!!

OCTOBER

Marks the month of the PUMPKIN....

soup

bars

bread

scones

pancakes

waffles

muffins

cookies

AND

pumpkin roll....that one family recipe that will live forever!

Vacation

Pardon my absence.....I was at the beach!



Today I bought a pumpkin and made Pumpkin and Wild Rice Soup, and Artisan Bread. It was rainy this A.M. and so it was a perfect soup day! I baked the pumpkin and pureed it~mind you I almost lost my food processor~which caused a minor panic. Alas all is well it is working again. Then I added chicken broth wild rice and coriander and some celery salt...simmered that for a while and added a splash of cream and served it for dinner! 

Garden style

The other day I picked all my tomatoes, but didn't have time to do anything with them, SO I left them. Then they just started to turn. I chopped them up and made the MOST amazing spaghetti sauce. I added some garlic, basil and onion and olive oil. No recipe just what sounded good at the time. THEN I didn't have time to process it into jars so i stuck it in the fridge. TODAY was crazy so I pulled out the sauce, oven roasted some garlic and zucchini and added it to the sauce, cooked up some pasta and wha~la~DINNER!!!!

Baking up a little

Something something!!!!!

Apple....

   Apple Cinnamon Scones....was going to make them this morning but then I received a text from my sweet husband last night saying to save them because he was making french toast! WHO could resist that? French toast is my FAVORITE breakfast treat!

    I ended up making our homemade syrup. Did you know you can make syrup? At a FRACTION of the cost of store bought? MIND you it isn't the real deal maple stuff that comes from the tree...BUT its tastes WAY better than that popular butter brand~you all know what I am talking about! I started making it because well lets face it, High Fructose Corn Syrup is in that store bought brand, and I wont do it. I am tellin ya that stuff is from the devil himself! I try my very hardest not to buy that stuff so I started making it. The first time I did my husband poo pooed the idea, thinking there was NO WAY it could taste as good. To his surprise he liked it SO much he now lets me know in advance when we will need it! :) The only downfall I have discovered is that homemade syrup does not last. I am afraid you cant make it with all the poison...ahem....preservatives like the store bought kind. You can look up recipes and try them out, but I just add in equal portions of white and brown sugar and a bit o butter and some water enough to make it the consistency we like! I add a dash of maple flavoring after its boiled!

creating

....this blog should be more about our life round here than about baking because this week I haven't baked anything!

Ok well I did make a chocolate zucchini cake that is to die for on Saturday....

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/PrintRecipeOld?RID=R1545


BUT this week has been fix the tile in the bath upstairs week! We, and I do mean we because my STELLAR husband has done MOST of the intensive labor, took of the plastic tile and scrapped all the old glue off. Today my dad came over and helped Chris put up concrete wall and now we are tapping it and getting ready for me to tile tomorrow!!!


here is a pic of it all finished!!

Busy

Dear blog,

Please dont be mad at me if I fail to post much in September. I am sure I will be baking and cooking, however life is chaos this month.

I have jury duty.

Starting a counseling class

Samuel comes to live with us.

Kyla goes to DC

We go to Cannon Beach

Homeschooling

BoyScouts

life.....

Baked Oatmeal

So I have this amazing recipe for Baked Oatmeal! It really does taste good. Late last night I realized as I was heading to bed that I forgot to make the oatmeal so it could sit all night. I ran upstairs and made it but it was so late and I was fuzzy from lack of sleep that I forgot the SUGAR! HOW in the world a sugar addict like me could forget is beyond me, but I did. Amazingly enough it still turned out we just had to sprinkle it on top!

Mostly I bake....

BUT tonight, I couldn't resist the beef carne at the store tonight instead of hamburger for Taco Salad! I marinaded it in spice and lemon then cooked it on the stove and WHA~LAA! It was amazing! http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/taqueria-style-tacos---carne-asada/Detail.aspx

Dice, Slice, Thrice FINALE

Last night I hosted the best of the trilogy at my house! YUP I am even gonna brag about it cuz it was Mediterranean night! IT ROCKED! We had hummus, tzatiki, med dip, med chicken stew with couscous, bulgar salad, rosemary skewers and LAST but not LEAST, lemon phylo pastry cups! TO DIE FOR!

Tonight we had leftovers and my mouth is a blaze of garlic fire! Then I spent tonight in the kitchen prepping scones for my scone sale tomorrow! I made lemon and chocolate chocolate chip!

I think I will do this once a month! September will be Peach and Apple Cinnamon. October will be Orange Chocolate Chip, and Pumpkin. December will have Cranberry White Chocolate and Chocolate Peppermint!

BUZY!

Today I spent most of my day in the kitchen. I made artisan bread for bruschetta, cookies, granola, bruschetta, chicken for dinner and a salad.

NOW mind you it was a busy day cleaning too, because I am teaching a cooking class tomorrow. So as I was cleaning out my pantry I found tapioca and decided to make some of that too as I have an abundance of fresh milk this week. I am a distracted person so naturally as I am in the kitchen I can become quite distracted and would you believe I had forgotten that I had been baking all day?!? SO as I was prepping to make the tapioca pudding I was cleaning up a space and then looked around and said "WHAT am I doing?!?" SO I chose not to make the tapioca today, though I will probably do so tomorrow or Wednesday!

Here is some of what kept me busy today!

I know I know....

I have posted about biscotti before. HOWEVER I must post again. I mean really, this is a wonderful treat that I think I shall make at LEAST once a month. The most wonderful thing about THIS particular recipe is that it has no butter. Therefor you can feel good about eating it right?? I made the horrid mistake of mentioning that this was a fat free version of biscotti and was immediately corrected~chocolate has fat in it as well as nuts. Alas I didn't think you could count the chocolate fat as fat because well chocolate is CHOCOLATE. I should tell you that although this recipe is easy and mostly fat free, it is harder to work with because of that. You will want to grease the pan before unless you like a bottomless biscotti. DONT ask me how I know that :)

There is something so delightful about this cookie that is so hard you must dunk it in order to bite it. I am quite certain that I shall find another biscotti recipe to try but so far I only have tried this one because I love it so much!

Lets talk bread....

WHY?!? Because it is the most basic of foods and the most diverse of foods! Bread can be anything from a sandwich loaf you buy and the store and put peanut butter and jelly on OR it can be a wonderfully hand crafted art some people pay hundreds of dollars for! Bread is not basic when it comes to making or baking. There are quick breads and sweet and savory breads, there are yeast breads and those come in every form as well.


Today I am going to talk about making Artisan Bread. Its simple easy and ANYONE can do it. Me, I make bread all the time so for me it seems easy and natural and well why wouldn't you make it? I have discovered that making bread can be intimidating! I have a dear neighbor who lent me her book on how to make artisan bread. So I tried it out and sho' nuff it was SO easy! You make up the dough, which is really more like a batter then you let it raise and put it in the oven to rise. Then you take it out and punch it down and put it in the refrigerator! You can keep the dough for up to 2 weeks and word on the street is that the longer you leave it the more tangy tasting it is. I wouldn't know because I end up making the bread almost immediately! WHO can resist a warm loaf of bread fresh from the oven.

Speaking of ovens....I would love to have a brick oven  for bread....someday perhaps!

Tomorrow's agenda....

BREAD!

Chocolate Covered Hi Hats

Making cupcakes for a certain birthday girl. My baby turned 10 this week and it has made me a blubbery mess! Alas I am going to make it! Now off I go to bake up some cupcakes in honor of this monumental birthday!!

To bake or NOT to bake.....

I was baking today, but in a different sense. I deviate a bit from our normal topic of me in the kitchen to me...in the OUTDOORS!

We spent the day in Wallace Id. Now you may ask, WHY would someone want to go to Wallace? LET me tell you! OH PLEASE, let me tell you. 2 months ago I was reading my friends' blog and saw the most beautiful pictures from a hike they had gone on. I was captivated. I immediately scoured her site and discovered that it was the Pulaski trail they were on. Next I searched the I-net and discovered the official tourism site for Id. where I decided that maybe Id. should be toured a bit more than I think. Elated I then told my family we would be going to Id. on the Pulaski trail soon. I waited patiently as I could for Chris to have a day off of work and school. 

TODAY was the day! I woke up early and got to see my friends precious 8 lb. 12oz. baby boy. Then I drove to Taste Cafe and met my other friend for a quick goodbye coffee. THEN I drove home picked up Chris and the kids and we took off for alluring ID!!!

When we arrived in Wallace I found the quaintest town and decided IF we don't happen to find the trail head I would be JUST as happy to spend the day at the town. Alas, after a bit, we did find the trail head!
We headed off down the trail, or should I say UP! What a wonderful BEAUTIFUL hike. If you think you have nothing to do for a day I encourage you, I implore you GO to Wallace and take this wonderful hike. Our 3 kids did a wonderful job! They walked the way up and RAN the whole way back! I believe we made it back in 35-40 min.

All the way to the cave there are mile markers and plaques telling the story of Ed Pulaski. What a wonderful story and great hike. Not going to tell you the story here, you must go read for yourself!

After the hike~2 miles in and 2 miles out~ we were all starving. We chose to go to dinner here:

The food at this restaurant is WELL worth the drive alone! Some of the best BBQ I have ever eaten in my life. Then we walked down to the Antique Mall and spent an hour or so there looking at all the fun wears! So many things to look at. There is even a Tea Shoppe in the store! Will go back for Tea there for SURE!

Next we splurged and ate Icecream at:

All in all it was one of the best days ever! Each of our kids had a wonderful day and so did we! I highly recommend you go!

Canning

Tis the season and today I am canning beans! God saw fit to make my Yarden very fruitful this year so I am canning~next up will be tomatoes, well actually will be PIZZA SAUCE!!!!

Last week I canned raspberry jam, which takes an incredible amount of fruit to make. I took the slaves, eh ahem, I mean kids to Greenbluff and we picked TONS of berries. We managed to pick enough for 6 pints of jam!!!

Looking forward to more canning later this summer and fall! 

Scones, scones and MORE scones

This weeks endeavor took us  to green bluff where I proceeded to purchase WAY too much fruit! But really who could have TOO many raspberries? THOSE are Gods fruit and well deserving of ANY amount you have funds to purchase. There for I have made tons of scones this week.

Orange Currant

Raspberry

and last but not least will make tomorrow morning

Chocolate Cherry!! YUMMY!!!

BreAd BREAD BrEaD!!!!

I love bread! Its my favorite! I could eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner. I am on a mission. I went to the library and found so many wonderful books and even a BIBLE, on bread!! I shall be creating and learning all about bread!

Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova!

Alas its cooler now and I long to be in the kitchen. I long to create and make something delicious! I created Pavlova, one of the world greatest know foods to mankind! Though the recipe I have is in the metric system and quite a pain to convert its the only one I use! There is something about biting into a crisp piece of chocolate goodness to find the inner layer gooey and addictive!  I layer whip cream and berries whichever I am in the mood for. Today being strawberry!

Again I feel complete and at peace with the world.

slump

I have been in a slump as of late. Last weekend I went camping with some good friends and outside the day to day normal making dinner for the fam, I have not been in the mood to cook or bake.  OK somebody get the thermometer~something MUST be wrong with me. Am I sick?? No, probably a bit blue as there is so much going on in my life right now. HOWEVER today I did it, I pulled out the muffin tin and made my infamous Buttermilk muffins so now I feel better! Tomorrow I shall make "Meaghan" bread in honor of my friend who is even now in the throughs of labor! I hope she has this baby soon as she has been laboring since 11pm LAST night!

All will be well again, I am enjoying the sunshine!!!!

Strawberry Bellinis

 Discovered the most amazing drink of all. Champagne and strawberry puree! Though I have also discovered that it really needs to be a light sweet Champagne in order to enjoy this drink. You can find them in the chilled section! 

Mothers day French Toast

Mothers Day this year dawned beautifully and I got to spend it in my favorite place! My kitchen! We actually I went to my moms' kitchen but really who cares I was in a kitchen!!

I made for our family the best French Toast! I started with an artisan loaf of bread that I made only I added sugar to it to make it sweet! after I had that baked up I sliced it up and spread cream cheese on each side to seal it. Then I spread peaches all over it. I used canned because we are not in fresh season for real peaches. Next I mixed together an egg mix with cinnamon in it as well as vanilla
Lastly I added nuts over the top and baked it at 375 till it was perfect, bout 30 min.

THEN I topped with a homemade Burbon Spiked Maple Peach sauce! OH MY! It was oh so delightful!

Cream Puffs and Pound Cake

Our international student wants to learn how to cook so being who I am we jumped in 2 feet first and I taught her something I have always wanted to learn.

We made cream puffs. Ok well she made them and I supervised. She is a natural, besides they are SO easy to make. I did manage to be the one to fill them and THAT was a total treat. I was able to use my decorator and I loved finding the holes in the puff and piping in the sweetened cream~they were so delightful I will make them again.

Today I have company coming for dinner, I am marinating some chicken in a wonderful sauce that I created and I love it!! Will be making Lemon Pound Cake for after dinner~I have a recipe that is SO enticing I must share it when I have more time.

Berry Cobbler

If you dont know by now, then you should. I like to bake! I also like to create and improvise. I was to the west side and visited my dear friend Ellen who likes to bake almost as much as I do! I snagged some AMAZING recipes from her kitchen while I was there.

So I did forget to grab her recipe for a to-die-for berry cobbler she made. SO I did what I do best and improvised! I used a bag of blueberries and a bag of mixed berries then added some sugar and some corn starch. Then I topped it with a mix of flour, butter, brown sugar, oats and almonds. Served it with ice cream and was in pure heaven!

Pulled Pork

Tonight we are having Pulled Pork, with Peppers! Sounds so delightful and very easy to  make to boot!


1 Pork Roast

1-2 Bell Peppers any type

1-2 Cups Beef Broth

1/2 Red Onion

Saute the onion and peppers together then braise the pork in the drippings and put all together in a crock pot and let sit all day!

Bagels

Bagels are one of the most amazing food groups there are. I have made them by hand before but had been putting it off because while easy they do have a time factor. The time it takes to make bagels is a while but welllll worth it in the end. I have not had a bagel from a store or a shoppe that I enjoy more than a home made bagel!

Today I put off putting off making bagels! I made 2 batches in fact and made at last count 48 though I suspect it may have been more. I put my beloved flaxseed in the second batch of bagels and look forward to those ones the most!

I think the most time consuming part is where you have to boil the bagels in water. If you do not you will not get the yummy chewy texture. And THAT is why we eat bagels!

SWEET SUCESS!!!!

French Bread 2

I think this batch will turn out nicely. So far it has risen and is in loaves waiting to rise and bake.

French Bread 1=FAIL

So I didn't even make it to the rising stage before I threw this first batch out. It seems when you dont follow a recipe it can make for disaster at times. I am sure I will wake up tomorrow with dough oozing out of the garbage and onto my floor! I had read about letting your flour and water rest and not worrying about kneeding it and thought I would give it a try HOWEVER I think you need to add a different kind of yeast to that because when I added yeast in water to this mix it just got all sloshy and goopy.

Second french bread in the resting stage now. This time I have mixed all ingredients and am letting it rest for the gluten strands to form. I plan on letting it rise, putting it in the fridge, and then trying the baking tomorrow.

French Bread

Trying my hand at french bread today. Actually I am making it up as I go along. Reading through many different recipes I have discovered there are 101 ways to make a loaf of french bread! So I am going to try a few different ones out and see what I like best. Never tried it before. One thing I have learned and I think I will do is to spray or brush the loaf with water as it goes into the oven. This makes the crust crispy and that is the part of the bread I like most. I have also discovered that the less flour and more water you used the softer the bread will be. I thought it was the other way around for many years. Currently I am letting the flour and water rest so the gluten strands start to form.

I am also thinking about getting my own wheat grinder as I have seen that many of the flours take out the nutrients and then add in other nutrients. Not so happy with that idea.

Will update on the bread.

Dice, Slice, Thrice

So I have teamed up with 2 friends and am going to be doing a cooking class~I am so very excited!

Our first night is Italian and I am in charge of bread and desserts! Oh, my oh! MY! So happy. I will keep secret for now what I am preparing but it will be delightful!

Tomorrow I am going to make French Bread! So happy! I have never made it before but I am looking forward to trying it!!

Orange Flaxseed Muffins

It's not that I haven't been in the kitchen, on the contrary I have! I am only TOO busy to post much. Along with that I haven't made anything that seems worthy to post about. I did make Chicken Alfredo last night with home made noodles and that was great.

On now to what I discovered today. I made the most amazing muffins ever in my life! They were crispy on the outside but moist on the inside and the paper did NOT stick to the muffin taking half away with it when peeled!!! Quite possibly the worlds best muffin. I think I have eaten about 5 today!

I will post the link HOWEVER I always tweak my recipes so for this one I added Flaxseed and did not add berries since I have none.

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4801288819953351563


SO there ya have it people the worlds BEST ever muffin. I will most likely use the recipe as a base and add what I want such as almonds, coconut, apples etc!

Strawberry Puree and Cream Cheese

We had our pastor and wife over for dessert and I made a fruit platter as they are not eating dessert for lent. I made a cream cheese dip to dip the fruit but I added some strawberry puree I had in the freezer. I can tell you that this will be my new favorite! It was so delicious! The fruit was fresh and the dip was very flavorful! 

I shall be making this again for our family soon. Quite healthy and wonderful!

Baking

Its been a crazy busy week and most all I have done is bake scones, biscotti, bread, and the like! Soon I will be creative in my kitchen!

Down and Out and Up and At'em!

So last week I contracted a severe ear infection and sinus infection that left me weak and tired and generally not feeling like baking! GASP! My oldest daughter even made dinner for me! I was a total wreck. Alas the evil crud is almost gone and with it my energy levels have come back albeit somewhat diminished!

Monday I made up for lost time by baking bread, brownies, biscotti, and granola! Then today I made cookies and a very yummy bowtie pasta dish!

UP next...Biscotti!

Putting on the docket Croissants because unless I force myself to say I am going to do it I am afraid I will back out. Lets just be honest here. Its not like they are a one day kind of bread. NO the amazing little things take 3 WHOLE days to make. Really, who has time for that? EVEN me who stays home. Lets just be reallllly honest here. I am intimidated. Yes I admit it I am. To think that a simple fluffy crispy tasty bread could take upwards of 3 days to make is a bit much even for me! When I could make a batch of biscotti and eat the whole batch by myself its scary to think I could do that with croissants and they are made with TONS of butter. Heart attack here I come. Maybe I should get back in the habit of walking every morning first??

Next week or the next you can expect me to be posting about croissants!



Hold me to it!

Tzatziki

So I went out with some friends the other night and had my first taste of Tzatziki! There was SO much garlic in it that it tasted spicy...YUM! Of course now I will smell like garlic for a week! The next night which happened to be Valentines I was craving Tzatziki so badly that I made it for dinner. I made that and my man made Hummus and we ate with greek olives and Na'an bread.

Tzatziki is SO easy to make. All that is in it is sour cream, low-fat yogurt, cucumber and about 400 cloves of garlic! OK so not really 400 but it  calls for between 4-10! THAT'S some kinda garlic flavor, but OH so worth it! This is SO good I ate it again today for lunch. My kids even like this stuff. You should try it! Lots of different recipes and most call for Greek yogurt of which I had none and the restraunt told me what was in theirs and it was sour cream so I am assuming that its possible that they used the sour cream instead of the greek yogurt. I just used one cup sour cream and one cup yogurt!

Pavlova

We was invited to a Valentines party! How fun! We were asked to bring an appetizer or dessert. I brought both though for the appetizer I just brought Boursin cheese and wheat thins! Boursin cheese is my all time favorite cheese for spreading! Try some you will LOVE it!

For my dessert I made Pavlova! OHHHH Yum. It is this wonderful crispy chocolaty goodness! It has a layer of chocolate then a layer of whipped cream and then topped with raspberries or strawberries! It was a wonderful night spent with friends!

LOVE=Biscotti

I have never tried to make Biscotti. I know what you are thinking..WHY ever not? Me the scone queen? NOT make biscoti? Truth be told I never liked it. It seemed silly to bake up something so hard you have to dip it in coffee to soften it just to be able to consume it. Last Christmas my dear sweet neighbor came to play cribbage with us and brought over a treat for us. Biscotti from Costco. Of course you cant turn down someones kindness therefore I gingerly bit into said biscotti and was pleasantly surprised my teeth did not fall off!

Incidentally I looked up biscotti on Wikipedia. This is what I found:

The word "biscotti" (pronounced /bɪˈskɒti/, Italian pronunciation: [bisˈkɔtti]) in Italian is the plural form of biscotto and applies to any type of biscuit (in the UK sense of a very dry, hard cookie or cracker).

Thus began the inkling in my heart to try my hand a such a feat. Of course a year goes by and still I do nothing but TODAY, I just made up my mind to do it. I had the almonds and the vanilla which both are of upmost importance to the success of biscotti. Remind me another day to speak to the use of vanilla!

I used a simple recipe found of Joyofbaking.com. OH MY! How in the world did I make it SO long without having made this simple yet easy dessert? I shall never know. I can see biscotti, TONS of biscotti in my future. Much like a scone recipe it begs to be altered and played with. I shall!

I love biscotti!

Bread Baking Class

Last night I hosted my first ever Bread Baking Class. I had to limit the size so I scheduled 2 classes and made 5 spots available. I taught the basics of bread baking and the how to and why. It was SO much fun. I had a great group of people who asked TONS of questions. My next class is scheduled for next Friday night and I cant wait to teach them as well.

I decided that because bread can be a little bit time consuming to have the class show up with one bread halfway through the process like they do on food network! I showed them first what a mound of dough already risen looked like and then how to shape it into 2 loaves. Then I started the other bread process and when it was time to rise I baked the first loaves. It went smoothly! 

I made Honey Oatmeal Bread and 7 Grain bread. Both breads rose and did wonderfully. We ate both loaves of the Honey Oatmeal Bread and relaxed and really enjoyed the time. 

I am now considering teaching a class at my kids' school. They go once a week to a program and they go to all different kinds of classes. I think it would be neat to pass along the tradition.

Perogies are in!!!

 

I have been blessed with my husbands family recipe for Perogies and tonight I made them with a friend! I must say that if I had made them alone, I would probably still be making them! They are quite a handful to make!  Perogies are a polish goodness, that has a delicate sour cream dough filled with potato, cheese, and onions. They can also be filled with a prune filling, but I didn't attempt that !  This was tonights dinner of choice and though they are not a complicated recipe by any means they take time. The dough smells quite heavenly and is such fun to work with! I will try this again but will be sure to have lots of helping hand in the kitchen! Thanks Kelly for the help and time!!

180

Thats the number of cookies my daughter and I made for the YFC outreach dinner we did! The dinner was a smashing success and the kids LOVED Kyla's cookies. She was so encouraged her first words were...when can we do that again. Whose kids want to outreach like that?

I realize this is not my typical post for food but it is food related and an encouragement....even the smallest things can cheer a person.

NEXT UP????

Home made Perogies. They are home made polish pasta that are filled with either a plumb filling or a potato and onion filling. Mine will be the latter and I shall tell of our success!

February=bread baking classes

I have had so many people ask me to teach them to bake bread that I am going to do 2 classes to start. One on a Tuesday night and one on a Friday night! I am excited to teach something I love to do! I look forward to sharing with others how easy it is to bake bread! Looking forward to passing on the tradition!

Almond Chocolate Raspberry Scones

    My dear friend has inspired me today by baking a pie she made up and put in the freezer. I was originally planning on making an enriched bread dough today but my plan was not what my heart wanted to create! Besides I busied myself earlier today cleaning out my mothers pantry while she is away on a cruise. OH to be so lucky and see the hot sun, though I can not complain as this winter has been the mildest I have seen in years. I digress. So while cleaning out the said pantry I discovered some wonderful almonds and had wanted to make biscotti but upon having no vanilla I decided against such an option. I decided though I made scones yesterday for the kids on their first day of the new semester that I would indeed make scones yet again.
   Scones are a serious subject. Not to be taken lightly.  I have baked a great many scones in my day and have used a great many recipe! The ingredients for scones varies greatly among bakers. I have a few different favorites but my old standby scone recipe that I will use till I die calls for NO eggs and the secret ingredient is buttermilk! I love baking with buttermilk. I have found that because of its acidity it works to make the dough rise just a bit more and make it flaky due to the high fat content! I even bought Bavarian buttermilk once that had an even higher fat content than that of the regular lowfat buttermilk option!
    So I am currently baking up the moist delicious scones and put in 1/2-3/4 cup of cocoa and some slivered almonds and some frozen raspberries. I can not wait to try one!

BLAH!

Have made tons of things, bread manicotti and such. Just not been in a really good baking mood. My new bread baking books came in and I am going over them in anticipation of my next great bake!! I am thinking of making an enriched bread from one of my books from the library!! Will post on that in a few days!

Salty

SO when you make the caramel sauce for the brownies you need to make sure you dont over salt!  I just ate a very salty carmely gooey brownie and besides the ultra salty flavor it was good!

Brownies

I have a brownie recipe that I make all the time. Its tradition, its easy and it will do when I am wanting to make a staple snack food! Today, after I cleaned my moms spice cupboard for her while she is away of vacation, I decided to use the cocoa she has and make brownies. I watched Food Network last night and one of the desserts on there was a salted brownie. I am going to make a caramel sauce to accompany my brownie pan. I also made the brownies much more dense today instead of the traditional cake like texture they are normally.

Hopefully they are as delightful as I imagine them!!

Pulled Beef Crockpot Style

Making BBQ sandwiches can be difficult, you need to find a good recipe! Cooks Country Kitchen magazine has a remarkable recipe that is wonderful. Actually I have found lots of wonderful recipes in there!!! I have my beef marinating for tonights dinner and have made hamburger buns to go along. I must make some beans or another side dish to accompany the wonderful main!!

I have discovered that I HATE store bought bread. Especially that bread that white and made with high fructose corn syrup. Somehow the smell of a loaf of bread or hamburger buns has become offensive to my delicate nose! I am not sure how it happened, but I have found myself taking as much bread off my sandwiches when I am elsewhere. I make  my own and have since found how easy it is and I am sure MUCH more inexpensive!

Chocolate Pudding Cake

I made Chocolate Pudding Cake last night~I just needed the chocolate. I was in such a rush too because I made homemade bread, hamburger buns and fish for dinner. SO needless to say I was tired and rushed to get it all done. I just wanted to sit down and enjoy some chocolate for pete sake! Can you say hormonal? Its not that bad really, I simply am craving chocolate. I sit here eating cake for breakfast and lunch, but I digress. The cake, get back to the cake. I have a recipe that calls for  a 9x9 square pan but instead I used a rectangle one. It worked just as well. The cake turned out just fine but a tad, JUST a bit dry. My oven is a gift to me and I love it however being that it is not professional grade it does have a quirk! If I use the convection oven choice it will tend to get one side more done than the other. It works well if half way through I turn my baked good around. Like I said it works well WHEN I remember to turn it around. Last night I didn't which is WHY it turned out a tad bit dry. NO problem I served the outside edge to the kids while I enjoyed the chocolate gooey middle!!

Artisan Bread

Today I made Artisan Bread. I put a clove of garlic and some rosemary in the batter. I think adding a little UMPH to the dough is a good idea. The recipe I have comes from the book called "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a day" They call for 3 cups of water and 6 1/2 cups of flour however I do not have a bowl big enough to fit in my fridge so I cut it in half and the recipe makes 2 loves for my family of 5. One I shall use in a few days and another in a few days after that. I think the bread becomes better the longer you let it sit. I didn't have time to let the dough rise for the 2+ hours that it called for so after one hour I punched it down and stuck it in the fridge.

Kyrsi's Cream Cheese ICING!

Against popular belief on the internet there are two kinds of garnishes for a cake. One is called frosting, typically known as a dense thick gooey mess. The other is referred to as an ICING. It is this wonderful thin goodness I wish to share with you all today. I chose to make a spice cake for my sons birthday to go along with the Ice Cream Cake he insisted upon rather than any cake I would make him. THEREFOR I made said spice cake and proceeded to try to find a thin cream cheese icing to go over the top of my bundt cake I had made. If I had wanted a thick gooey buttery cream cheese frosting then I would have been set. There were hundreds of wonderful recipes for just such an occasion. So I decided I would make my own. I have since decided the world need to have this recipe in case they too want to make a wonderful thin icing with cream cheese in it! It CAN be done!!

Start with a block of cream cheese (8ozs) in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Turn stove on to medium low. Then add a bit of whole milk (I recommend Spokane Family Farm) and some powdered sugar to taste. Here comes the difficult part. You must whisk the milk and cream cheese until your arm falls off! If you do not you will get an icing that has lumps of cream cheese and WHO wants that...its like a bad cheese cake~GAG!!! When your arm falls off and you have whisked to a pure blissful mixture of cream cheese, milk and powdered sugar you are then ready to ICE your cake!

Enjoy the wonderful hard work you have accomplished and enjoy a slice of heaven!!