apples peaches pumpkin pie

Little Polish Diner Cleveland

2010-02-27T17:46:00.004-05:00

Since the new year, we have been somewhat skipping the bakery visits and having lunch Saturdays at some of Cleveland's classic restaurants. I have not posted as of yet, but will start today. These places are classics for a reason! Laura Taxel's book Cleveland's Ethnic Eats has been a wealth of information. along with word of mouth.

This afternoon we hit Little Polish Diner at 5772 Ridge Rd. in Parma. It is a very small, bright place with only about 8 tables. The special today was one of my favorites, Chicken Paprikas (with a side of cucumber salad), which I ordered and DH ordered the Polish Sampler (1 Large stuffed cabbage, smoked keilbasa with sauerkraut, 2 potato cheese pierogies and green beans).

The paprikas was very good, and came with spaetzle. The only thing keeping it from being better for me was that it came with white meat chicken and I prefer dark meat. For me, there was enough for 2 meals.

DH enjoyed his galumpki and the pierogies very much, but thought the keilbasa was a bit overcooked, but still tasty.

For more information, here is an article from the Parma Sun Post

Great Cleveland Bakery Hop- Tommy's Pastries

2009-11-21T10:56:00.007-05:00

My goodness- where does the time go?! I have been trying to behave myself in the sweet dept, so haven't baked much, since it's only me and husband. I have made this wonderful Apple Cake from the Culinate site quite a few times for different functions, it definitely a keeper.

Anyhoo, one thing we have been doing is visiting bakeries in the Cleveland (mostly west) area. My MIL bought me Laura Taxel's great Cleveland-centric book Ethnic Eats, and we are working our way through town looking for great places to snag some goodies. We have been to a few, but I realized I am never gonna keep these straight, so I better post!
First up, Tommy's Pastries 14205 Madison Ave., Cleveland, OH. The outside is nothing special; we park around the corner, cuz there was no space in front, and as soon as we rounded te corner, the smell we could smell the fresh baked bread. Inside there was one customer, conversing in Hungarian to the young counter clerk, who left with a giant bag full. While we waited for her to pick her items. we had time to choose.
I picked the cheese danish, DH the raspberry. They looked like they would be hard and somewhat heavy, but happily, they were very light, soft yet flaky. We bought some of the Hungarian white bread that was baking. It was so fresh from the oven, that it kept me warm on the ride home! I opened the bag so the steam wouldn't affect the crusty bread, and when we got home, I let it sit on the counter until it cooled.
We also picked a cheese biscuit and some cheese sticks- plain and with caraway. The biscuit we quickly shared in the car, light, flaky and soon gone. These would be great with a dinner, slightly warmed. The cheese sticks were excellent, especially the ones with caraway. These also would be great with soup or stew or a dinner. Or on their own as a snack.

Caramel Expresso Cheesecake Daring Bakers

2009-04-27T00:04:00.008-04:00

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. This cheesecake recipe is a very basic recipe, which allows for a million different variations. You can find Jenny here.
I haven't made a cheesecake in a few years- it's one of those things that I like, but hardly ever make. Could be the whopping calorie count!
(I wish the calories were as small as my pics-@#$%^!!- the looked fine on my camera settings. When I downloaded they were too big and insisted on being resized smaller. But they got fuzzy when I tried to make them bigger.Hence the funky looking pictures.)

My version is a pretzel crusted, expresso cheesecake, topped by creamy homemade caramel. The recipe was pretty easy.My water bath did not leak like some others warned. I have to say though that the batter is REALLY runny, (we were warned) but it does firm up nicely. My pretzel crust is good- I have made before in pretzel salad- but here it wasn't as crisp as I would have liked. Maybe because it's baked again with the creamy part on?
The basic recipe for the cheesecake is pretty neutral and could be adapted to savory recipes if you want to go that route. I added a double shot of expresso to mine, and if I hadn't topped with the caramel, the cheesy part alone is not very sweet.
To find out about Daring Bakers click here.

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

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

I used 2 cups crushed pretzel sticks, 1 stick butter, 3 TBL sugar instead. I prebaked for 10 min @400.

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

I added a double shot of expresso and cut back slightly on the cream.

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

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside. No prebaking necessary if using Abbey's graham crust.

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

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

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

Caramel:
2 sticks butter, 2 ¾ c. brown sugar, 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup light corn syrup, 1 pinch salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Spray (lightly) a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Heat to 240 for a soft caramel, 245 for a medium caramel, 250 for a firmer caramel that will hold its shape. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

White Chocolate Coconut Cookies

2009-03-12T20:04:00.008-04:00

When I was little, I was always happy when Easter would come, because my basket always contained lots of chocolate. The candy of my childhood was from a company called Faroh's- their chocolate is like no other. I think maybe there is only one store left in the Cleveland area. They have the most awesome Easter eggs, my mom would get me a giant milk chocolate one with a caramel nougat swirl center. Easter was also one of the few times I would get anything made of white chocolate, which I love.
Anyway, yesterday I made these cookies. The recipe is from Nestles. If you like white chocolate, this is a great recipe! As a matter of fact, this may be one of my all time favorites! The coconut flavor is not real strong, it just enhances the flavor of the chocolate. I skipped the nuts, only because I didn't feel like chopping any......

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted if desired
3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. (10 x 15 jelly roll pan if making bars)
COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels, coconut and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE for 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Daring Bakers Valentino

2009-02-28T12:39:00.008-05:00

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.
February’s challenge is a Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Valentino, inspired by Malaysia’s “most flamboyant food ambassador”, Chef Wan. Recipe comes from "Sweet Treats by Chef Wan."
Okay- now that I have the technicalities out of the way I can tell you that this was a super easy cake to make for a busy day! And also worth the effort (just follow directions exactly). I never would have thought that 3 little ingredients would produce such a tasty cake! I did only make 1/4 of the recipe as we are always watching our weight around here. I used a Nestle Dark Chocolatier bar that I had waiting in the drawer, and it made for a great taste. And I skipped the ice cream part and would top with a bourbon vanilla whipped cream.
I have been a proud member of Daring Bakers for a year now. This is such a awesome, talented, fun group and I have been encouraged to make things I would normally shy away from because they looked too difficult. You really don't need to be experienced to join- you will learn as you go- and you have the backup expertise of over 1000 bakers! Have a question? Just ask in in one of the forums and someone will soon be there to help you with the answer. For info about joining, stop by the Kitchen.
Visit our gracious hosts blogs - Wendy at A Charmed Life (Arizona) and Dharm at Dad - Baker and Chef (Malaysia)- for the entire recipe, including the ice cream. Visit more of the Daring Bakers blogroll for some fantastic looking cakes!

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Blackberry Cake

2009-02-22T15:13:00.007-05:00

At our previous house, we had planted a lot of fruit trees and berry bushes. I have to say, of all the fruit we had, by far the blackberries were the easiest to maintain. We had blackberries- both thorned and thornless varieties. The thorned bushes were slightly tart, but so evil to pick because of the thorns, I decided they were my husband's, so I wouldn't have to go near them. He liked them better anyway!
The thornless variety we had were sweeter and were much easier to pick. And for some reason the birds and the bees did not bother the blackberries like they did our other fruit.
The home we have now has pretty much all shade, so we do miss having our own fruit. So I haven't made this cake in awhile. But it is one of my husband's favorite cakes.
The icing seems to be an unusual choice given the cake, but the flavor it gives the spicy cake is just right!

West Virginia Blackberry Cake
2 C. sugar
1 C. softened butter
4 eggs
3 C. flour
1 t. each ground cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 C. buttermilk
1 1/2 C. fresh blackberries
Cream sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat eggs and add to creamed mixture, beating well.
Combine flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder; whisk well. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, in three additions each, beating until smooth. Fold in berries.
Pour batter into three greased and floured, 8-inch-round layer pans. Bake at 350°F. for 30 minutes, or until the top springs back when gently touched. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. Stack layers, filling and frosting with icing.

Icing
1 1/2 C. softened butter
1 1/2 lb. powdered sugar
2 t. vanilla
5 to 8 T. cold coffee

Combine ingredients and beat until smooth, adding coffee a little at a time to achieve a spreading consistency

True Delights-Product Sample

2009-01-28T20:40:00.003-05:00

Being a member of Foodbuzz has many rewards. I have received some great gifts from them for being a featured publisher and now my first product sample.
New to the market, Quaker True Delights are the next level of granola bars. With flavors like Honey roasted cashew mixed berry; Toasted coconut banana macadamia nut and Dark chocolate raspberry almond, you know your biting into something extra special.
These bars are a great low calorie snack, have no trans fat and are cholesterol free. My personal favorite is the Banana one.
Get your own free sample and then go check out all the great foodie info at Foodbuzz.

Great Giveaway!

2009-01-05T18:55:00.002-05:00

The awesome Rose at All About Cakes has a wonderful giveaway of a 200 pc cake decorating kit in honor of her 100th post. Check out her fabulous blog- you will find many great cakes recipes and tips from this professional cake decorator. Y'all know I can't resist making new cakes!

Cinnamon Almonds

2008-12-07T17:05:00.004-05:00

A few years ago, when the nearby Costco opened, they used to sell jars of Cinnamon Almonds that my husband went crazy for. For two years they would have them as a seasonal item around Christmas time.
Then, the unthinkable happened....the Christmas items came in and ...no cinnamon almonds. Every time we would go to Costco my dear husband would say "I'm feeling lucky," but we would look and there would be no nuts.
Then, last year the nut people started to bring a "road show" twice a year and sell their spiced nuts, albeit at a higher price and in smaller jar.
Last week, while looking for seasonal recipes, I came across one from AllRecipes that looked promising. So that being the basis, I tweaked it a little and baked us some Cinnamon Almonds. This recipe was really good, extremely easy and great for gift giving.

Cinnamon Almonds
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups whole almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon popcorn salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Foil and grease 2 10x15 inch jellyroll pans.
Lightly beat the egg white; add vanilla, and beat until almost stiff. Add the nuts, and stir until well coated. Mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the nuts. Toss to coat, and spread evenly on the prepared pans.
Bake for 1 1/2 hour in the preheated oven, stirring evry 20 min., until dry and toasted. Allow to cool, then store in airtight containers.

Daring Baker's Caramel Cake

2008-11-29T08:52:00.006-05:00

Daring Bakers recipe this month is Caramel Cake from Shuna Fish Lydon's blog Eggbeater.
Our hosts for the month - Dolores the host (http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com/) with co-hosts Alex (Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo: http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/), Jenny of Foray into Food (http://forayintofood.blogspot.com/). Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go (http://glutenagogo.blogspot.com/) will assist those who are alternative bakers.
Loved Loved Loved this cake! It is the perfect cake! Just the right amount of caramel in the cake and the icing, which is a Caramelized Butter Icing. Just thinking about it makes me drool!
The caramel syrup gave me a problem on the first batch, so that got dumped because I cooked it a tad too long and it burnt.
Hey! It said dark amber!!! Mine was a lil' too dark. Oh well, it was only sugar and water. Second try was fine!
Our extra challenge was to make Caramels with golden syrup. I used another recipe I have and will post that one another time. I couldn't help but drizzle caramel all over the cake!
All in all I will make this very dense cake again!

Foodie Blogroll Winner!

2008-11-16T20:56:00.003-05:00

Wow, despite my lack of blogging for the past few weeks (whoa! how time flies!) I am a winner in this weeks giveaway at the Foodie Blogroll! Thanks Jenn!

Here is a link to the contests page at the Foodie website. Browse around the rest of the site, too, and check out all the great happenings!

TTYL- I'm gonna go buy a lottery ticket.....

Blogging By Mail is Awesome!

2008-10-31T19:44:00.005-04:00

I have been waiting, watching the Happy Sorceress' blog Dispensing Happiness for the event Blogging by Mail to come around again. I had never participated before and it seemed like a fun thing to do. So sure enough I joined in this time and received a fantastic package of goodies from Betsy of Food4Five.
10 wonderful items sent from CA- here they are....
The Bread and Chocolate Cookbook by Fran Gage- can't wait to try some of the recipes! A fine addition to my collection of cookbooks!
ScharfenBergen Chocolate- 1 baking, 1 10th Anniversary bar! Oh my!
Michael Mischer Chocolate w/ cherries bar- An San Fran artisanal bar!
Dried Blenheim Apricots- I haven't had apricots this wonderful for a long time. I love them as an appetizer with a small piece of Saga blue cheese on top!
Raw pistachios! Can't wait to add these to my holiday baking!
Asian Pear& Ginger conserve from Eating with the Seasons. Crack that baby open!
A hemp grocery bag also from Eating with the Seasons. So light, it's going right in my purse.
A beautiful blue leaf pottery dish, fits right into my decor!
Finally Clove Soap from Hawaii. I want to take this soap to bed and stick it under my pillow!!! The smell is heavenly! When I opened the box, the scent hit me and oh, man, it's incredible! I am such a dork- I took the wrapping paper it was in with me to smell in the car since I had to run errands right after I opened my box!!! I wish they had scratch n sniff and I could share!
What a fun exchange! Thanks Betsy! And thanks to Stephanie, the Happy Sorceress, for hosting the event!
My box went to Dagmar in Sweden.

Daring Bakers Do Pizza!

2008-10-29T00:04:00.004-04:00

Dear blogger- quit reducing my pics.....
I was thrilled to find that the DB challenge this month was to make pizza. It's always a fun time waiting for the beginning of the month to see what surprise recipe the Daring Baker host of the month has in store for us.
Our host this month is Rosa over in Switzerland, host of Rosa's Yummy Yums. The recipe is “Pizza Napoletana” from Peter Reinhart's “The Bread Baker's Apprentice”. This is the first time I have baked a Reinhart recipe.
I have been looking for the perfect crust for years. One that is tender, but slighty chewy, and has a good yeasty taste. I haven't made pizza since last winter and now is a good time to get back into it.
And we were asked to really get into it and toss our pizzas like a real pizza maker.
So into my kitchen I go and mix my dough together the night before. Have I mentioned - I LOVE my Kitchen Aid??! The last time I made pizza, I was using a hand held mixer. The kitchenaid makes everything so much easier! Then into the fridge my dough went.
The next day came the real test. Forming the crust is always the hardest part for me.Usually I try to roll it out. But Rosa asked us to try to toss it with the knowledge that it will make it more tender. My dough seemed the right texture, so I floured up my hands and tried to toss like this. UH HUH..... I guess the key is getting the hands to move in a slightly rotating motion with the dough. It took a while, but by the 3rd try I was getting a little better at it. Still couldn't really toss it in the air though. I ended up kinda stretching/patting into the shape I wanted.
I made 3 pies this time and put half the dough in the freezer for another day.
One was tomato sauce w/cheese, one w/pepperoni, and mine was w/onion, mushrooms and black olives.
The sauce tasted sooo good on its own- baked on the pie- it lost the flavor. I will have to add a little more garlic, basil and parmesan next time, so I will post the sauce recipe when it is perfected. I will tell you the base was 1 small can of tomato paste and one 15 oz can of italian diced tomatoes. It was a great thick texture, so I will figure out the spices later.
The crust- well lets's just say I will keep looking. It certainly may be me, but it wasn't quite the taste I was looking for. The texture was not bad though.
You can find the recipe at Rosa's blog. You can connect to the Daring Bakers site by clicking their logo on the right.

Apple Cupcakes w/ Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

2008-10-16T21:26:00.005-04:00

Yes, I know! Judging from the title of this blog, an apple recipe is long overdue! So to honor the fall season I made these cupcakes. The cake is moist and has a great apple taste. The icing comes from this recipe. I have used it with other cakes and it is always a winner. (NOTE to Blogger- uhh whats up with the tiny pic??)

For the apple cake I used a DH yellow cake mix,used the ingredients on the box, added 2 lrg chopped apples, 1 pkg cheesecake pudding and a little extra oil. In place of the extra oil you could use 1/2 cup applesauce. In place of the liquid, you could use apple juice or even cider for a little extra tang. I also added about 1 tbl of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.

Enjoy the fall!

Operation Baking Gals 10th Mountain Team Roundup

2008-10-07T20:17:00.002-04:00

YAY! And a big thanks to all who participated.

We had a great show of support for our guy Richard of the 10^th Mountain Division. I want to send a sincere thank you to all of you! We sent our soldier so much love!

Here is a roundup of what my fabulous baking team sent ….. Please visit the web sites of my team members that have one! You will not be disappointed! Such talent!

Melissa M - Lost Nation, Iowa

http://www.sweetcakesonline.net/

Yummy Banana Bread!

Courtney L - molasses spice cookies and snickerdoodles!

Mary - San Francisco, CA

http://alpineberry.blogspot.com/

snickerdoodles, oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars, beef jerky, trail mix, instant oatmeal packets, tea bags and Jelly Belly jelly beans. http://alpineberry.blogspot.com/2008/09/giving-little-support.html

Ingrid - Winter Springs, FL

http://baseballbakingandbooks.blogspot.com/

Mint Brownies and S’mores Bars, gum and Gatorade packets

Greg - New York, NY

http://www.oatmealcookieguy.com/

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and coffee cake cookies, Halloween candy--Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids See his blog post here. http://oatmealcookie.typepad.com/the_oatmeal_cookie_blog/2008/09/baking-gals-round-iii-x2.html

Linda - San Diego, CA

Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies, peanut butter reese's pieces toffee chip cookies,
orange cranberry oatmeal cookies, crystal light raspberry lemonade, lemon heads,
sweet tarts, poppycock popcorn, small individual sized bags of freeze dried fruit, and
bags of 100 calorie pack cookies

Sandy - Jasper FL

Rice Krispy Treats, Chewy Cake and some Peppermint Candy.

I also mailed a newspaper from my area.

Patty Z - Westlake OH

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Joanne M - Westlake OH

Luscious Lemon Bars

Heather P - Brooklyn, NY

http://sherrytrifle-lovelycats.blogspot.com/

Snickerdoodles, Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies, and Butterfinger Squares, plus included some real American candy, such as Jolly Ranchers

Pam - Longview TX

http://www.macscakes.zoomshare.com/

Harvest Walnut cookies, chocolate chip cookies , lemon coolers, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal raisin, halloween candies--M&M's, butterscotch discs, peanut butter logs, mini chick-o-sticks, Ritz crackers with peanut butter filling, gum, Blistick lip balm and Corn Huskers hand lotion (fantastic for the really chapped hands).

Pam also was featured on her local TV station talking about OBG!

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?s=9093744

Janet A - Chicago IL

Nayeli H –

Chunky Vanilla cookies with white chocolate chips, chocolate chunky cookies with chocolate chips and a vanilla chocolate mix.

Mary –

http://www.shazaminthekitchen.blogspot.com/

Oatmeal sandwich cookies. and some Cowboy cookies

Dolores F –

http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com/

"Dorie Cookies"- the Whopper drops and Chocolate chip cookies

Marca D – Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Cookies!

Lucy M – Charlotte NC

Chocolate chip/toffee cookies, Chocolate chunk/cherry/pecan brownies,

Cupcakes, and chocolate mini-Bundt cakes

what I used instead of packing peanuts: Jello instant pudding mix singles (have you seen these? They’re fabulous!), small packs of nuts, etc.

Jennifer C – Bristol CT

Chocolate Chip cookies and Oatmeal cookies!

Lisa W – Williamsville, NY

Zucchini bread, chocolate chip, peanut butter and some other assorted goodies

Amy J – Knoxville, TN

http://picasaweb.google.com/amysdreamcakes

Snickerdoodles, and oatmeal/white chocolate/coconut/pecan cookies

Susan – Orange cookies, devil food cake cookies and chocolate chips cookies

Kraft easy mac and cheese and some peanut butter crackers

Fran Z – Oatmeal Scotchie Bars.

Again, thanks for helping out. Watch for round 4 at Operation Baking Gals. And if you are from Northern Ohio (or want to support a soldier in Ohio) please consider helping here.

Operation Baking - Northern Ohio

2008-10-06T14:45:00.005-04:00

I have received permission from Susan of OBG to branch out into a regular group here in Ohio. If you would like to bake for soldiers with Ohio connections please email me at Fran@ZimmUSA.com (putOBG in the subject line). We expect to ship at the end of each month

Please check out the website OH Bakes.

Cleveland Browns Bars

2008-09-18T14:28:00.003-04:00

Edit- I posted this on Sunday- but in the middle of Hurricane Ike so it didn't post. Sorry 'bout the crappy pics! (See last post about Ike)
Uhhh the Browns lost.... But the cookies were a winner!!!! Here is the post.....

I could have sworn I made this recipe from Jennifer of Bake or Break and posted on it a few months ago. I KNOW I made the cookies, but I guess I didn't post on it. Loved the recipe! Not many cookies feature cashews and teamed with butterscotch you can't lose! Even so, when I made the original recipe, I knew I would change it up a bit the next time I made it, because we love pecans!
Tonight is the famous football matchup- Cleveland Browns vs. PITTSburg Steelers. So in honor of my Browns, I have named my changed up recipe Cleveland Browns Bars. They are pretty dang delicious! The crust is like buttery shortbread; and the bscotch caramel- mmmmm!
Here's the play by play...

Cleveland Browns Bars (aka Butterscotch Pecan Bars)
1/2 pound (2 sticks, or 1 cup) butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 & 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
11 ounces butterscotch chips (I used Merckens Butterscotch Wafers this time)
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon
2 cups pecans (toasted lightly in the oven while the crust is baking)
dash salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9″x 13″ pan with parchment paper (line the pan’s width and length, creating a parchment “sling'). Spray parchment paper with cooking spray.
Using an mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and salt for 1 to 1 & 1/2 minutes. Decrease mixer speed to low and add the flour. Mix just until combined. Lightly press dough evenly into the prepared pan. Poke holes in the dough with a fork. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the crust is a golden color. Remove to wire rack to cool-pretty much completely.
In a saucepan over low heat, stir together butterscotch chips, corn syrup, and water. Stir until mixture comes to a simmer and butterscotch chips are melted. Pour over crust.
Sprinkle toasted pecans over the butterscotch. Bake for 5 minutes. Salt top very lightly. Cool completely on a wire rack. After cooling, remove from pan and use a very sharp knife to cut into bars.

GO BROWNS!

Hurricane Ike Visits OHIO!

2008-09-18T11:37:00.004-04:00

I'm not complaining, cuz we really don't have it anywhere near as bad as the folks in the great state of Texas.
But Ike was pretty wicked, even to Ohio. The storm hit Sunday at 7 PM and knocked down a large tree in our back yard that fell on our fence. Then a few minutes later, the front yard started exploding! Two trees in front and the telephone pole went across, blocking the street.
Our power should be on by next Sunday.
Edited to add- Friday morning- they started putting up the telephone/power pole at 1:45AM! and power was restored at 6AM. Our phone and internet were reconnected at 7pm (after much cajoling by me).

Operation Baking Gals Team 10th Mountain

2008-09-15T13:21:00.006-04:00

A few months ago, I had been talking with online friends about troops overseas, and wouldn't we love to be able to find a soldier and send him/her a goodie box, just as a show of support and thanks. Just a little morale boost and a taste of home. But we weren't sure how we would find the soldiers, not knowing any personally.
Just days later, I saw a post on the Daring Bakers website from Susan of She's Becoming DoughMessTic. She had just sent cookies to a soldier oversees, and because of the feedback, came up with a brilliant idea to find soldiers, then to invite the blogging community to bake for them and send the goodies directly to the soldiers. Is that fate, or what?! The effort is called Operation Baking Gals.
I immediately signed on and sent my package to a LT. aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. I know he was able to share his packages with many on the ship. And it was pretty easy! Ok -come next round, no question I would help out again! It's the least I can do to show my appreciation.
Susan's mission is growing by leaps and bounds. Bakers are signing up and soldiers names are coming in. This month, for Round 3, it's my turn to be a host.
So, Could YOU help me bake this time? Our soldier is Richard Martin and he is a member of the 10th Mountain Division- Army Light Infantry based out of Fort Drum NY. I have been told he has LOTS of soldiers he will be sharing with. I have been told these heroes could really use a morale boost - and an unexpected shipment of goodies could really be the ticket.
Will it bring them home? No it won't. But it will remind them of it...and that's a really positive thing in such a negative place. Capt. Ballard (our Round One soldier) told Susan in an email that "I just hope these ladies know that they are doing a good thing. Even if it is 'just' baking cookies...". These guys are protecting our rights, our liberty, our freedom. The least we can do in return is share a few homemade cookies with them. If you are up for helping me support this group of soldiers stationed in Iraq, please send an email to Fran@ZimmUSA.com. When I receive your email, I will respond with all the info you will need to ship to our guy Richard in Iraq.
We will all ship our boxes at the same time - Beginning the week of Sept. 27th. If you get a free special APO Military Flat Rate box from the Post Office, the shipping should be very low for 1 large box. (Approx $12.95 or less).
Please join the effort to support our troops!

Operation Baking Gals Round 3 Host!

2008-09-10T18:21:00.004-04:00

I will be hosting in Round 3 for a soldier (to be named)! We will each bake and send off our goodies the week of September 27. I hope you will join me in this effort to supply homebaked goods to our troops overseas.
Please email me at fran@zimmUSA.com (in the subject line type "I want on your team") and I will add you to the list of bakers. Please include your city and state in your email if you wish.
For more info on Operation Baking Gals click here.
Also,FYI- if you are planning to bake for this effort or to send anything to an APO or FPO address, USPS will send you free flat rate boxes that can be used to ship to military addresses at a reduced rate.
More info will be added as I receive it. Thanks!

Coconut Cupcakes

2008-09-08T21:18:00.003-04:00

Those little pillows are Coconut Cupcakes filled and topped with coconut cream. I used the wedding cake recipe and added coconut flavoring instead and made a Mock Whipped Topping and added coconut pudding to it. So dang good!

Wedding Cake

1 box white cake mix
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teas. salt
2 eggs or 4 egg whites
1 1/3cups water
2 Tbls. vegetable oil
1 cup (8oz carton) sour cream
1 teaspoon clear vanilla flavor

1 teaspoon almond extract ( I used coconut)

Mix all dry ingredients by hand using a whisk in a very large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Bake at 325 degrees until done (approx 10 min for cupcakes)

Mock Whipped Cream

3/4 c. milk
3 tbsp. flour
6 tbsp. butter
6 tbsp. shortening
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
(Added 1 box Coconut Cream pudding and another 3/4 c milk at the end to give coconut flavoring)
Cook milk and flour until thick. Make sure there are no lumps. Cool. Beat butter, shortening, and sugar for 4 minutes in a bowl. Add flour and milk mixture. Beat 4 minutes. Add vanilla and salt.

Top with coconut!

DC Visiting

2008-09-05T22:06:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, we visited our daughter in Arlington VA. The weekend was beautiful, we had a few really good meals and got to go to our favorite bakery there- Heidelberg Bakery . If you ever are in the area, be sure to stop, you will find just about anything you want there! This has to be one of the biggest bakeries I have been in. I had a cheese danish both days- so good! Be sure to visit their website and drool over all the items!

We also walked about 5 miles on the Mt Vernon Trail along the Potomac River on Saturday. Had to walk off those breakfast calories! The trail is very nice and we crossed the footbridge to Teddy Roosevelt Island and saw a few deer in the woods. It was a perfect day weather-wise!

Daring Baker's Do Eclairs

2008-08-31T19:41:00.000-04:00

I joined the Daring Baker's group this year to try and stretch my skills. I never would have dreamed of making eclairs on my own and was pretty skeptical when I saw the challenge for August, posted by our hosts, Meeta and Tony.
But learn new techniques is just what I have done here and I am just thrilled! The recipe comes from the book Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. Éclairs consist of 3 elements:
- Pâte à Choux, also known as Choux Pastry or Cream Puff Dough;
- Pastry Cream;
- Chocolate glaze
I halved the recipe, not wanting to be piggy about it, and piped the choux on the baking sheet in little fingers, planning to make mini eclairs.
I baked my pate`a choux according to the recipe, but got tied up on the phone and they baked a minute or 2 over. That somewhat spoiled my idea to pipe the cream directly inside, so I let them cool and cut them in half and spread the filling. Why I didn't pipe the filling on the halves, well, I don't know! Next time I will pipe to make them look so much neater.
I changed it up a bit by using suggestions from the Martha Stewart Baking Book and added a bit of whipped cream to my pastry cream for an eclair that was less heavy. I also made the original chocolate glaze, but made some with butterscotch glaze, knowing how my family loves bscotch!My eclairs tasted pretty dang good! If I ever venture this recipe again, I promise to be neater!!
You can find the original recipe at the hosts websites, listed above.

Cookies for the USS Abraham Lincoln

2008-08-28T23:15:00.008-04:00

Well I sent my cookies off the the USS Abraham Lincoln yesterday. I made Oatmeal Scotchie Bars, Chocolate Chip cookies and Peanut Butter Chip cookies. Hope they get there in one piece!

I used my trusty Food Saver vac and sucked most of the air out- but not enough to flatten the cookies- to keep them fresh. Then, super bubble wrapped!
Oatmeal Scotchies are, by far, my family's favorite cookie. I have always made them as a bar, using the recipe on the Nestle's Butterscotch Chip bag.
As part of Operation Baking Gals, I am on Steph's team and am sending cookies to Eric for distribution on the USS Abraham Lincoln. I am happy to be involved in showing our appreciation to our troops as they fight to protect freedom in the world.

Lemon-Up Cupcakes

2008-08-24T19:36:00.006-04:00

Browsing the cookbooks at BJ's last week I came across one which looked to have lots of great ideas in it. So I bought it. It is called Ultimate Cake Mix Book from Publications Unlimited. I was going to put a link to it, but couldn't find it easily online. There is another book with the same name by Betty Crocker. But this one is different.
Anyway, one of the recipes is called Lemon Up Cake, but it was actually made as a cupcake. I sorta followed the recipe, and I used a different icing. The same icing was used recently by my buddy Bunny. It is a wonderful Lemon Cream Cheese Icing from Epicurious. I changed it up a bit by using lemon extract instead of lemon zest and adding a bit of yellow food coloring for effect. I topped some with crushed Lemonheads.
The cupcakes baked up very nicely. I finally used my square cupcake pan for half the recipe. These were so delicious (baked and unbaked!!). Bowl licking good!
Lemon Cupcakes
I box Butter Recipe Golden Cake Mix
1 box lemon instant pudding
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake mix according to directions on box, adding the pudding and substituting the lemon juice for 1/4 c of the water. Beat according to the instructions on the box. Batter will be thick. Scoop into 24 cupcakes. (I use an ice cream scoop.)
Bake 18-23 minutes until light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool.
Ice as desired.

Have You Ever Been Kayaking??!

2008-08-13T22:06:00.007-04:00

Last Sunday, Mark and I took a course on kayaking. It was something I had wanted to do for awhile and I'm so glad we finally got to go. The class is offered by 41 North Coastal Kayaks. Our class was supposed to be held at the Emerald Necklace Marina in the Cleveland Metroparks, but due to the weather and the roughness on Lake Erie, it was held at LaDue Reservoir in Aurora.

There were 6 of us in the class, with 2 instructors. They supplied all the needed gear and the kayaks. Yep, we had class from 9am to 4pm! Here, from their website is the course description, "This full-day course introduces students to the fundamental skills necessary to safely enjoy the sport of sea kayaking. The emphasis is on on-water safety and use of proper technique in basic strokes. Students will also become proficient in a variety of techniques (both solo and assisted) for safe re-entry to your boat in the event of a capsize."

UhHUH! Well we did learn that and more, but I personally can't say I became proficient at getting back in the boat after it overturns. Gotta start doing guy pushups I guess. Mark had little trouble getting back into the kayak in deep water, but it took me awhile and I did need some help to hold the boat steady. Gonna have to practice!

We did have a lot of fun and loved being on the water. The instructors do everything they can to teach you the basics and you can tell they love what they are doing. I'm hoping we can go again on our own in the next week or so.

Bake for our Troops!!

2008-08-06T20:19:00.003-04:00

I am blogging to let you know of a great new baking group, started by Susan of Doughmesstic
called Operation Baking Gals.
The idea is to send homemade baked goods to our troops overseas. Here, in Susan's own words is the plan. "Operation Baking GALS will be supporting our troops every month, once a month, and instead of our soldiers getting deodorant and soap, they'll be getting the one thing they can't get from the canteen - Homemade goodies made with LOVE. We will be assigning a different soldier to certain sub-groups of bakers each month so that we spread the love, and that way, a homesick troop will have a package with HIS name on it, filled with goodies to share."
If you are inclined to help with baking and mailing to our guys and girls serving abroad, check out The Operation Baking Gals blog and read through for instructions.

Butterscotch Cupcakes

2008-08-03T20:07:00.004-04:00

My oldest daughter is such a butterscotch lover that when I made pecan pie she would beg me to put butterscotch chips on the bottom of the filling. When my girls were growing up I didn't have much spare time or interest in baking. Occasionally I would make a pie. It was only after they were done with college that I began to pick up this hobby. (Poor deprived children!) So when she came to visit last week, I knew I was gonna indulge her with some BScotch Cupcakes.

A few months ago I found Mercken's Butterscotch wafers at the cake store. I am now using them in most of my recipes that call for butterscotch chips (except for Oatmeal Scotchies). They have a less "fake" taste than the chips, that's the only way I could describe them. They are sooo good!

The Northern Ohio summer day was quite warm and we were having a busy time but these were really easy since I used a boxed cake mix (doctored up of course). Actually, I used a Cupcake mix. Some people complain and wonder why anyone would buy a cupcake mix when its the same thing as a cake mix. Well, the reason I like it is that it is HALF the size of a boxed cake mix, which means if I just can make a dozen instead of 2 dozen cupcakes.

Anyway, these were ButterScotch all the way- BS cake, BS icing and BS glaze. Here's the blueprint-
Cake- Make cake according to box recipe, but add almost 1 box instant sugar free butterscotch pudding plus 2 tablespoons applesauce.
Icing- Simple buttercream with a bit of the BS glaze added.
Glaze- Heat a small amount of heavy cream, remove from heat and add enough wafers to make an almost ganache like glaze. (I'd guess I used maybe 2-3 T of cream and probably 1/3 C of wafers.)

Oh yeah, I added pecans to some of the batter and topped these with pecans.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

2008-07-27T21:57:00.005-04:00

I made these Chocolate cupcakes with PB chips and topped with PB buttercream and a Reese's PB Cup for a library cakewalk tomorrow.

Since I (like most people) have precious little time to bake in the summer I started with a box of Duncan Hines Dark Choc Fudge cake mix made according to directions, but I added a single serving container of unsweetened applesauce to add moistness. This little tip works so well!

Here is the PB Buttercream recipe

2 1/2 sticks butter, softened 2/3 c. Crisco shortening 3 Tbs heavy cream 2 lbs powdered sugar (about 8 cups) About 1/4 cup Reese's PB Ice Cream Topping a little at a time

Cream together butter and shortening until smooth. Slowly add 2 T. topping and 3 tbs. heavy cream. Gradually add the powdered sugar and scrape down the bowl very well once it's all added. Slowly add topping a Tbs at a time until frosting reaches desired consistency.

Chocolate Cream Filled Cupcakes

2008-07-13T20:56:00.004-04:00

Back in the winter, I posted my Famous Chocolate Cake. And dang, it sure is good. I have been wanting to make the recipe into cupcakes for awhile. Last week I finally made them for work.

This week, since I had left over ganache, I made them again for some workers who are here tearing out our garage floor and part of the driveway and replacing it. (Quite a job!)
Always good to bribe the workers! They seemed really happy and surprised to get cuppies. Of course I was glad to make them!

You can find the recipe for the cake here. Below is the recipe for the filling.

Cream Filling
2 T shortening
2 T Butter
1 C 10x sugar
3 T Hersheys Dulce LeLeche Dessert topping
Milk- to thin
In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening together until smooth. Blend in confectioners' sugar. Gradually beat in topping. Beat until light and fluffy. Add milk as needed to desired consistency. Fill a pastry sleeve and pipe into cupcake.

Blueberry Banana Pancakes

2008-07-13T20:25:00.004-04:00

Some Sundays after church, Mark likes to make pancakes. Now, he is a standard no frills kind of guy, while I like to mix things up a bit. So he has his plain pancakes, and I usually add something to mine.
This morning he actually went wild and added fresh blueberries to his. Of course, I tossed a lil extra in mine- some cornmeal, a little bit of flax seed, a small amount of oats and a mashed banana.
Top with butter and maybe some syrup and dig in!!

Wretched Cakes

2008-07-07T17:55:00.002-04:00

Do you need a laugh??! Well - who doesn't? Check out this website Cake Wrecks. Each post just gets funnier. I especially like the girl/boy cake and the babies on carrots. Funny stuff.

DB Danish Redux

2008-07-04T19:46:00.004-04:00

I made my second danish braid today and it DID come out better than the first. I wasn't so anxious this time I guess. I took the dough from the freezer last night , and when thawed I formed my braid and filled it with this cream cheese filling -
12 oz cream cheese
1/3 cups sugar
1 egg
plus a little raspberry jelly down the middle. I let it rise in the fridge overnight and baked this morning. Much better the second time around!

Danish Braid a la Daring Bakers

2008-06-29T00:06:00.003-04:00

I'm going to start out by saying right off that baking with yeast is not my favorite thing to do. Oh I have made bread in a bread machine with no problem. But this recipe for the June challenge, chosen by our hosts, Kelly of Sass and Veracity and Ben of What's Cooking started out scary because you do not proof the yeast. And it appears to be a recipe that requires patience, of which I have none. This recipe calls for making a dough, laminated with a butter block. No, I have not had the pleasure before.
I made my danish on a Saturday and baked it for a Sunday breakfast. I made the dough recipe as written. It gave me a chance to try my mortar and pestle that my friend Kim picked up for me during an Ikea trip. I opened the cardamon pods and tried to crush the seeds but couldn't get them fine enough so I used my coffee grinder first and then used the mortar and pestle. I didn't have an orange left in my fridge like I thought, so I used water and orange extract instead of orange juice and zest. I had a little fun incorporating the butter into the dough, because it actually seemed to come together like it was supposed to! I did sneek little unbaked bits and it seemed tasty enough.
For my filling I used 8 oz of cream cheese, 1 egg and 1/2 cup sugar. Next time if I fill with cream cheese I will double the filling as it seemed not enough for our tastes.
I think I may have voodooed the dough into not rising to my satisfaction or maybe I was hasty and baked too soon. I also think my dough could have used more flavoring, but maybe more filling would help. I have the second slab of danish dough in my freezer to try again later. I'l try to be more patient!
Daring Bakers are such a fun group. Always something to learn and stretch our cooking skills. Anyway, you can find the long recipe at the hosts' blogs.

Berry Trifle

2008-06-22T20:36:00.005-04:00

I needed a quick dessert for a get together and had no time to bake. ACK! Well, I turned to a solution that many have done before me- a berry trifle.
I forgot I even had a trifle bowl, until I came across it recently while I was searching my cupboards for something else! It used to belong to my mother and I have never used it.
This dessert is light and fairly low in calories compared to others. Fresh berries are layered with angel food cake and sweetened whipped cream. (In my haste, I overbeat the whipped cream.) Calories can be cut further by using a low calorie whipped topping.

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

2008-06-17T20:15:00.004-04:00

My father in law is a big PUSD cake fan. So for Father's Day, I baked these cute little cupcakes for our cookout. They are great for a small taste!
My silicone cupcake pan worked great for this recipe. I used this recipe from Crazy Cupcake for the topping, but since I was also making 4 other kinds of cupcakes for the cookout, I used a boxed yellow cake for the cake part.
Sometimes I really think you can't tell it's from a box, depending on what recipe you are doing. Especially with this recipe, since the topping sinks into the cake somewhat.

My first "Wedding" Cake

2008-06-14T22:05:00.005-04:00

My friends, Barbara and Gary were married in a small ceremony at our church last week. We were having our Bible study tonight and it is the first one since their wedding so we had dinner at Gene's home. My contribution was the celebration cake!
I wish I would have taken a picture of the cut cake. I layered my Madagasgar Vanilla Bourbon buttercream inside with fresh strawberries, so it was very pretty. Apparently very tasty, too. All the men had 2 pieces each! :D I love it when that happens.
I used a new cake recipe that I found. It is a cake mix based recipe called White Almond Sour Cream Cake. You can find the recipe here. I used a new recipe for the buttercream icing also. All in all a perfect combination which I am certain I will use again and again. The cake is tasty and perfect in texture for a wedding cake. It can also be flavored differently if you wish. The icing is now my favorite to use for decorating- not too sweet, but just sweet enough with a light butter flavor.
Best Wishes to the newlyweds!

Golly Gee I've been Tagged!

2008-06-09T18:33:00.004-04:00

Tag- I'm it! ;)
I have been tagged for my first meme by Renee of Cafe NayNay! Dang, it has been many years since I've actually played tag and this version means when you are tagged you answer a few questions about yourself. It's a good way to learn a little about our fellow bloggers.

The rules: Each participant answers questions about himself. At the end of the post the participant tags 5 people. Their names are posted letting them know they’ve been tagged. They then have to read the participant’s blog. The tagged let’s the tagger know when he’s posted his answers. Here we go!

What was I doing ten years ago?
Hmm 10 years ago 1998.... oldest daughter was 15 and involved in travel softball and youngest was 13 and playing rec league softball, so we were sitting at lots of softball games! We lived in our previous house in the same town and I worked in the same place I do now.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
Laundry!
Call the cable company to fix my bill they screwed up.
Call my Dentist.
Plan a cake I have to make for a wedding party for some friends.
Plan our Father's Day picnic.

Five Snacks I enjoy:
Bugles
I LOVE greasy potato chips, but try not to eat them or keep them in my house.
Sour Cherry Jolly Ranchers
Heavily Buttered popcorn.
Utz Special Dark Pretzels (which, alas, I can not get where I live)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Sell our home, move to the mountains near a lake, travel, give some money to family and charity.

Places I have lived:
Northern Ohio
Asheville, NC
Henderson, NC

Jobs I have had:
I grew up working in my dad's grocery.
First real job was folding sheets in a hotel laundry.
Bank Teller
Retail Dept Store
Police Dept Records Clerk
Respiratory Therapist (til we moved in 1983 and the only hospital was 50 miles away- now there are so many opportunities in other venues.)
Insurance Mgr/Lasik Coordinator @ Optometrist's Office

I tag:
Michelle of Cleveland Foodie
Prudence of Glass Slipper Cakery
Pei Lin from Mrs Ergül in the Kitchen
Laura of LOR in the Kitchen
Bunny from Bunny's Warm Oven

Wilton Course 2 Finale- Banana Cupcakes

2008-05-29T20:12:00.006-04:00

Ha Ha Had to post my cake! It actually came out not looking TOO bad.
I baked a banana cake and had to use class buttercream to ice it. I was burned out on chocolate and decided to make banana, but Mark hates bananas so I made just a little cake to decorate. But I chose to make a 3 layer 4 inch cake and make cupcakes to take to work. Yes there are 4 inch cake pans. HeHe So cute. The cake is pictured above.
Anyway, Mark told me no one would eat nasty banana cupcakes. He thinks no one likes banana. Of course he was wrong. I iced the cupcakes with buttercream I made using the recipe from the Opera cake, but flavored with bourbon vanilla. Fantastic! I took a dozen cuppies to work and brought home the empty container! Everyone had more than one! The cupcake and the buttercream combo was really a winner. Here are the recipes.
Banana Cupcakes

1 (18.25 oz.) box yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 oz.) box instant banana pudding
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup mashed banana
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with papers.
2. In a large bowl combine cake mix and pudding mix. Stir together and create a well in the center.
3. Add eggs, banana, water and oil to the center. Use a mixer to combine. Scrape sides down, and mix for about four minutes on medium speed.
4. Pour batter into muffin tin, until about 2/3 filled with batter.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until tests done.

French Buttercream

2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
½ cup (60 grams) water
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¾ cups (7 ounces; 200 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
flavouring of your choice (a tablespoon of an extract, a few tablespoons of melted white chocolate, citrus zest, etc.) I used Madagasgar Bourbon Vanilla.
Combine the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds or extract in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225^◦F (124^◦C) on a candy or instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the syrup from the heat.While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk them until they are pale and foamy.

When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, reduce the mixer speed to low speed and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment.
Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the eggs are thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).While the egg mixture is beating, place the softened butter in a bowl and mash it with a spatula until you have a soft creamy mass. With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny. At this point add in your flavouring and beat for an additional minute or so.Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it’s set enough (firm enough) to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes). Note-This buttercream will not hold up well in warm weather.

Daring Bakers go to the Opera!

2008-05-28T09:00:00.002-04:00

A few months ago, in the wintertime, I was searching food blogs for something interesting to eat and stumbled upon a post of one of the Daring Bakers. The DB's started as "just a lovely group of ladies who enjoyed baking the same recipe together, as written, and then showing off our finished delights to each other and the rest of the "blogosphere"". ( It has expanded to include men and women from all over the world!) Hmm -I thought this sounded like a way to increase my baking skills and have fun at the same time. Right I was! But little did I know that all too soon I would get to actaully co-host the challenge for May as one of the "newbies". YYYYIpppppEEEEE!
So- this month's challenge is hosted by the the 2 founders of DB, Lis and Ivonne, along with myself and Shea (fellow lucky newbie!).

The Daring Bakers challenge for May is Opera Cake. Opera Cake traditionally is a joconde (cake) of Paris origin flavored with coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache. Our recipe uses light colors and flavors. After much back and forth, I chose to make a coconut version.
We decided to lighten up the cake to reflect partly the time of year, but also to honor those battling cancer for their perseverance. I have a good friend and former neighbor, Cheryl, who is dealing with what began as colon cancer, but has since advanced to other areas. Also, Barbara at Winos and Foodies for has impressed many with her courage.
At first glance, it looks like this recipe is gonna be another all day show. But actually, it was pretty easy! I broke it down into parts to make it even more simple. One night I made the syrup. No problems there, simple as boiling water! The next night I made the buttercream (coconut was my flavor of choice). I got kind of a late start do the the fact that I was putzing around and my butter was frozen. I got started cooking and set to beating my eggs.

Whoops, I let the syrup get slightly higher than 225 degrees. Oh well, keep on plugging through and SLOWLY pour the hot syrup into the egg mixture. All seemed well, except when I stopped beating I had some strings of egg on the whisk even though I was very careful to pour it down the side of the bowl. So I pull off the strings and continue on to step 5, but this is taking longer than 5 minutes, with no sign of cooling down. So I elect to give it some help.
I hold a bowl of ice under the mixer bowl for a few minutes and that works well to cool it down.
I add the butter and beat it in.
But then I tasted it. Holy moly- this has to be some of the tastiest buttercream I have ever had. Coconut buttercream crack!! Hope it lasts to put in the cake.
The next day, it's time to tackle the baking the joconde. Quite a lot of eggs to crack. My jelly roll pans are a tad small, 10x15, so I make a 4" springform with the extra batter. All goes well, and the cakes bake up quickly, a little longer than 7 minutes (check pan size) as the center took longer to set. I lay them on the counter to cool as stated in the recipe.
I had no real issues assembling the cake. I layered as the recipe stated, but added some coconut flakes on top of the second buttercream. But when it comes time to make the white chocolate glaze, I decide , due to my family's objections, to not glaze the cake as stated, except for my little round cake. I finished the top of my square cake with more buttercream. I added a little raspberry syrup on the plate for presentation.
The finished Opera cake is pretty tasty, I should have used a little more syrup brushed on the layers, but I was afraid it would be too soggy. The layers are impressive and look pretty when cut. Of course the buttercream is beyond fabulous.
If you would like a copy of the recipe, please email me- it is 7 pages long!

I'm Fixated here....Almond Buttercream plus more!

2008-05-25T16:06:00.006-04:00

Do I detect some obsession here? Another set of cupcakes???!! Hmm, I am getting so many ideas for new flavorings. Here are the ones I took to my church picnic today. They were getting snatched off the table as I was putting them on! Squueeeeeee!!!
First up, Chocolate CC with my Aunt Mary's Almond Cream Cheese Buttercream. This is Mark's all time favorite combination. The recipe is below.

Next- Chocolate- filled with Choc. Hazelnut Creme -topped with Hazelnut Creme. The filling was made by mixing Nutella with Rich's Bettercreme, about equal parts of both. For the icing, I added Torani Hazelnut Syrup to taste to the Bettercreme. OH so yummy!

Last the flowered one is Chocolate with Choc. Chips topped with Malted Creme. This icing is like CRACK!!! It's so simple. Just add Hershey's Whoppers Malted Syrup to Rich's Bettercreme. Addicting!!!

Almond Cream Cheese Buttercream

4 oz Cream Cheese Softened
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 box (1 lb) 10 x sugar (may need slightly less)
1 tsp pure almond extract
Beat cream cheese and butter together till well mixed, add sugar in small batches and keep beating until fluffy and well blended, add extract and beat 1 more minute. ENJOY!
This tastes really good on your favorite chocolate cake.

Flower Cupcakes

2008-05-23T20:07:00.005-04:00

I am on a serious cupcake buzz. I made these for Mother's Day a few weeks ago for my sister in law and mother in law. I found the decorating instructions here for flower cupcakes. I couldn't get the begonias to look right so I made all carnations. Very simple and fun!

I just used decorator's buttercream but the cake recipe is from Taste of Home.

Cupcakes for Carol

2008-05-11T21:03:00.004-04:00

Last Tuesday, I baked these beauties and took them to work for my coworker,Carol's, birthday (yes, another May BD!). This was the first time I had made cupcakes in a long while and now I've got THAT bug! These Wilton courses are making me fat! HeHe!
I used a doctored Duncan Hines mix, cuz Carol is kinda picky and well dang, it was her birthday so I gave her what she likes. The icing is the recipe from the back of the can of Ghirardelli premium baking cocoa. It's really a good recipe- Mark thinks it tastes like fudge.
Everyone at work ate more than 1, so I will take that as a compliment!!

Uncle John's Plant Farm

2008-05-09T18:44:00.004-04:00

My sister-in-law Marcia, just sent me a video where she was interviewed at their family business, Uncle John's Plant Farm. It really is a great place for plants or gifts- check out the video
of Marcia and get a great idea of what they have. Stop in if you are in the area (Olmsted Falls, OH-southwest of Cleveland).

Polenta with Parmesan

2008-05-04T18:17:00.008-04:00

A Blogging Event to highlight May being National Osteoporosis Awareness month is being hosted this month by Susan of FoodBlogga- I'm in. Yep, I, too, found out last year that I am at the beginning stages of bone loss.
I went for a bone scan because I had begun having joint pain and the technician kinda surprised me mid way thru the scan by questioning whether I had taken certain drugs or had a family history of the disease and was I sure. Now I am not really THAT old, I work out pretty much every day, and there is no history of broken bones by any of the older women in my family.I don't smoke or drink. So I was really very surprised to find I have osteopenia. Osteopenia is the term for low bone mass that is not yet bad enough to be called osteoporosis.

I have no real answers why I have advanced bone loss for my age. I blame it on the fact that I had virtually no calcium when I was growing up. I never had to drink milk, the only green vegetables I remember having was an iceberg lettuce salad every night- our vegetable drawer was filled with Hershey bars. No, really. I am not kidding! That's a story for another day...

Anyway, I urge all of you to learn all you can to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Exercise, get enough calcium and vitamin D, and talk to your doctor about your bones.

Here is my recipe to add more calcium today.

Polenta with Parmesan
1 cup stone ground cornmeal
3 cups water
dash salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup parmesan
1 clove garlic (or more) minced
1/2 tsp. oregano

Mix the cornmeal and milk in a bowl , Set aside. In a saucepan, bring water and salt to a rolling boil. Whisk in the contents of the bowl slowly, to prevent lumps. Add the garlic and oregano. Keep stirring to prevent sticking. When the polenta is very thick and coats the spoon, stir in the cheese and it is done. At this point you can serve it or you can pour it in an 8 inch square pyrex or other container and refrigerate. It can be sliced and reheated later by micro or baking or panfrying as the leftovers are great.
Tonight I served it warm and covered with my favorite spaghetti sauce as a side to grilled salmon and a salad of field greens and zucchini topped with balsamic vinegar.

Janet and Jim's B-Day Cake

2008-05-01T20:53:00.003-04:00

Oh, This was my first time decorating with roses! My co-workers Janet and Jim who have birthdays this week made me feel great by each taking pictures of the cake to show their families! (I should have skipped making the stems!)
It was fun making the roses, even though my icing was a little thinner than I needed. Now thatI am done with Wilton course 1, our class decided to take course 2 together! More fun to come.

Cheesecake POPS!!

2008-04-27T00:06:00.009-04:00

The Daring Bakers Challenge for April was Cheesecake Pops from the cookbook Sticky, Gooey, Messy, Chewy By Jill O'Connor, picked with care by our hosts, Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasm and Deborah – Taste and Tell. This is something I never would have thought of, but now I am a believer! They are just the right size!
The cheesecake itself was easy to make, made even easier by my brand spankin' new Kitchenaid Commercial 475 mixer! Yay! I never thought I needed one because my trusty Cuisianart 7 speed hand mixer has plowed through whatever I have asked of it. But the Kitchenaid was such a great deal, with an extra $35 off at Costco, that Mark talked me into it. So nice to not have to stop the mixer to add something.
Anyway, The cake was easy, but took much longer to bake, partly because I used a 9" springform because I didn't have a 10" pan and it is my deepest pan. Also, reading other posts prepared me for a longer bake. I baked for almost 1 1/2 hours, then cooled and refrigerated overnight. Rolling the balls was kinda messy. We all had fun with the balls- reminiscent of this great SNL skit. Mmmm, balls. Fun and games. And yes, my balls are mis-shapen. I ended up using an ice cream scoop and kinda shaping them. I guess I'll buy a smaller cookie scoop, since I'm sure I'd use it anyway. At the end I just cut some in random shapes, which worked real well, and sent them to the freezer to firm.

I used Mercken's milk chocolate wafers to coat some, and while I was at the cake store, I bought some Mercken's butterscotch, which I had never used before. I wasn't going to use them for this recipe, but Mark and Lacey are big bscotch fans so I decided to make a few butterscotch ones. Mark liked the butterscotch better, so I ended up making 1/2 of each flavor. (Note-blogger doesn't like that picture!!!)

The dipping went pretty well, but on the end of my first chocolate batch the chocolate started seizing, so maybe it was too hot, or maybe the cheesecake started to melt a little. I was working by the stove under the halogen lights, so for the rest of the batches I microwaved the chocolate or butterscotch and kept the balls in the freezer until I need more. After that adjustment, coating worked fine.

Mine are certainly not the prettiest- due entirely to my inpatience about anything- but they are really quite tasty!

Cheesecake Pops
Makes 30 – 40 Pops
5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)
Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional
Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.
When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.
Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.
Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.
Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.
By the way, if you haven't checked out the Daring Bakers, founded by Ivonne and Lis, visit our website for more info!

Hello Lover....

2008-04-25T22:58:00.002-04:00

Yes, I too have fallen. It took coaxing, but now I am hooked. I fear I will not be able to live without it. So, so wonderful. I look forward to our time spent together.

Butter Pecan Clown Cake

2008-04-24T19:25:00.005-04:00

I am taking a Wilton cake decorating class and as all good students do in Lesson 3, I made a clown cake. You can't see the whole cake here, but this picture is the top before it was totally done. I'm still in new blog mode and forget to take pictures. I added more balloons and balloons to the side.

The cake itself is from the Taste of Home website, but I cut the recipe in half which still made one pretty tall 9" layer, especially when I cut it in half and filled it with buttercream. The flavor was pretty good, not a real sweet cake, more like a nut cake, which went well with the sweet buttercream.

I used a different buttercream than the Wilton one, since I don't like the way it tastes. My recipe is below. You can find the cake recipe here.

BUTTERCREAM ICING (makes a medium consistency icing)

1 cup shortening

1 cup butter (salted or unsalted)- softened

1/3 cup hot water

1 Tbl powdered coffee creamer

1 tsp popcorn salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp butter extract

8 cups powdered sugar

Using a stand-up mixer, cream together the butter and shortening until nice and fluffy. Measure out the water in a standard measuring cup and dissolve the creamer, the salt in this water. Add the extracts to the cup. Stir well with a spoon.Turn your mixer speed to the lowest possible setting and add in the powdered sugar slowly. Alternate back and forth with the water mixture. Keep the mixer on low until all liquid and powdered sugar are combined. Once combined, turn the mixer up a notch and mix well. Approximately 2-3 minutes.

Not a Good Cake

2008-04-14T20:18:00.007-04:00

OHHH! Tomorrow, Tax Day, is Mark's birthday. His favorite is Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake with my Aunt Mary's Almond frosting. A hit every time.
Of course, as I am wont to do, I decided to make a cake from scratch. The only chocolate cake I ever made from scratch before is Famous Chocolate Cake. We loved the rich, moist cake, but I made it with ganache frosting and it was over the top sweet. So I guess I thought it would be too rich for the frosting and I would try another.
I decided to try Martha Stewart's Luscious Chocolate Cake. It baked up as planned and looked very pretty when iced. Mark couldn't wait until tomorrow to cut it, so tonight we had early b-day cake.
Gotta say, we were really disappointed. The cake itself is not a moist cake, but more like a bakery cake from the grocery store. Not at all what I wanted. Not a cake I will make again. Thinking 'bout pitching the whole thing and starting over!
I will however try my frosting with the famous choc. cake one day. And keep searching for the perfect chocolate cake for my icing.

Chicken in Mushroom Wine sauce

2008-04-06T17:41:00.004-04:00

I picked up a package of cut up chicken at the store and had lofty goals. I was gonna make cattiatore. Sometimes you think you are gonna make a dish and when it comes time to get down to business, you find that maybe you want something different. That's how it was today. I didn't want any tomato taste.
So, after looking at recipes for awhile and not finding anything that was exactly what I wanted to do, this it what I came up with. Pretty darn tasty!

Chicken in Red Wine Mushroom Sauce
1 Chicken cut into pieces, skin removed
(I used only Breasts, Thighs and Legs- freeze the rest for another time)
1 lg onion - sliced
1/2 to 3/4 lb fresh mixed variety mushrooms
1 cup dry red wine
1-2 cloves of garlic -minced
Seasoned salt to taste

In a large fry pan (or large heavy bottomed pot) I put about 1 T of bacon grease (or you could use the oil of choice). When the oil is hot, place the chicken in the pan to brown on both sides.

Meanwhile in a saucepan, place the wine and boil 15 or so min until reduced by at least 1/2.

While the wine is cooking, go back to the chicken and continue to cook on low/medium heat until chicken is golden and lightly browned. Add the onions and mushrooms to the pot, pushing to fill the spaces between the chicken and to cover the chicken. Add the garlic.
When the wine is reduced to your liking, pour it over the chicken and mushrooms. Continue to cook about 25 min more until chicken is cooked through and mushrooms and onion are soft.
I cooked until the sauce was very reduced.
Place chicken on a platter, top with the mushrooms and onion and serve.

Daring Bakers Make Dorie's Cake

2008-03-30T00:57:00.006-04:00

Wow! My first Daring Bakers challenge completed! I am proud to be a part of the group, now over 1,000 strong, started by Lis and Ivonne. Reading other blogs posting about these Daring Bakers got me interested in finding out more. So I signed up for the group and thought- what the heck- might as well start blogging instead of having someone else doing the work of posting about my exploits in the group. Which lead me to thinking that maybe blogging was a good idea also in the fact that I would have a record of what and when I made something to refer back to.
The challenge for March - picked by the host of the month, Morven - was Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake. It's a very pretty lemon cake layered with hot meringue buttercream frosting and raspberry jam. It is a visually beautiful cake. For some reason in the past, I have shied away from recipes that called for egg whites or yolks. Maybe its lack of time, for separating eggs is easy, but sometimes the recipes that call to do that step are a little more involved. But the cake itself was a cinch to make and is light and lightly lemony in flavor. The frosting is very rich and buttery. I took the cake to work, where our office of 6 left just a quarter of the cake to bring home.When I told Mark of the cake I was baking, he claimed that because he didn't like jelly donuts, he wouldn't like the raspberry part. (Hmm- took me 26 years to find that out!) The raspberry layer does make the cake a very appealing sight, with the contrast of the red against the white cake. But to make him happy, I used lemon curd in place of the raspberry, and the cake was very yummy with an extra lemon kick.I would use the cake recipe again in a heartbeat, but personally the frosting was not to my liking. Maybe it was the thought of the 3 sticks of butter in it, but I would have liked a lighter frosting. I may be in the minority, cuz at work they liked the play of the rich frosting and the lighter cake. I would like to try the hot meringue idea without all the butter.

PERFECT PARTY CAKE
Courtesy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours (page 250).

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

For the Cake
2 ½ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

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

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can view all the Daring Bakers' Party Cakes here.

Spaghetti Sauce w/Olives

2008-03-28T19:42:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago we went to one of out favorite Italian restaurants, Stino DaNapoli. I had Lasagna Alla Meridionale and Mark had Linguine Alla Posillipo. Mark especially liked his meal, the sauce in particular, so I thought I would try to see how close a version I could make myself. We both thought the sauce had the flavor of olives. I came pretty close, with maybe the only change would be pureeing the olives instead of a fine chop.

Spaghetti Sauce with Olives

2 Tbl. olive oil
1 1/4 cups mixed olives, pitted and finely minced (or pureed)
1 c. chopped onion
1 celery rib, chopped
2 T chopped garlic
1/4 t basil
1/8 t oregano
1/4 t garlic salt
1 lg can crushed tomatoes
1/4 tablespoon red pepper flakes, plus more if desired

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan. Add onion and celery, cook a few minutes then add garlic and olives (if minced-if you puree them add them later with the tomatoes). Cook a few minutes more then add the spices, then tomatoes and pepper flakes, then the salt. Bring to a low boil and turn heat down to simmer for a bout 15 minutes.

Impossible Bacon Pie

2008-03-26T19:18:00.004-04:00

This recipe has been one of my family's standards ever since the kids were little. Impossible pies were quite popular back in the 80's and with good reason. They are really quick and easy to make and it takes little effort to put a comforting meal on the table. The basis of the pies is Bisquick, but feel free to use your favorite baking mix. There are many "Impossible" recipes to choose from, some are main dish, some are dessert.
This is a good recipe for any meal of the day; we serve it mostly at dinner.

Impossible Bacon Pie
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 10 inch quiche pan or pie plate with cooking spray.

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
12 strips crisped bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup onion or green onion
Layer these 3 items in the pie plate.

1 cup Baking mix
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1/8 t salt
1/8 t pepper
Whisk these 5 items together in a bowl till well blended and pour over the ingredients in the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 35-43 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes, then serve.

Dorie's Peanut Butter Torte!

2008-03-23T17:15:00.005-04:00

We are going to Mark's sister Marcia's home for Easter Dinner. I am to bring a salad (yay!) and the dessert (yay again!). Since we will usually have so much food, I like to do a simple green salad, maybe with some cranberries, blue cheese and pecans optional, with a light viniagrette. That recipe is below.
But I am splurging on the dessert, and since I have in my possession Dorie Greenspan's wonderful book Baking: FromMy Home to Yours
I thought her recipe for Peanut Butter Torte sounded like a hit.
Note-It was well received , but VERY rich.

Here's the recipe...
Dorie's Peanut Butter Torte
heat oven to 350 deg. Butter a 9" springform pan and set aside on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Toss together in a small bowl-
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
2 t sugar
1/2 t instant expresso pwder or instant coffee - finely ground
1/2 t cinnamon
pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
14 to 1/2 c mini chocolate chips
Set this bowl aside. (this will be used in the filling)
Crust-
24 whole Oreo cookies- finely crumbled (I used food processer, or use blender)
1/2 stick (4T) melted butter
Put these 3 items in a small bowl and toss with a fork just until evenly moistened. Press the crumbs into and up the side of the springform pan. (Sides should go up about 2 inches.)
Place in freezer for 10 min. then bake at 350 for 10 min. Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack.
Filling-
2 c heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar plus 1 more cup (divided)
12 oz cream cheese at room temp.
1 1/2 c peanut butter- creamy or crunchy-but don't use natural
2 T milk
1/4 c chopped peanuts
In a large bowl, beat cream until med. peaks form, add 1/4 c. conf. sugar and beat until cream holds firm peaks. Scrape the cream in a bowl and refridgerate until needed.
In the same bowl (wipe out- no need to wash) beat the cream cheese and the 1 c. conf sugar on med. speed until satiny smooth.. Beat in the peanut butter, the 1/4 c chopped peanuts and the milk.
Using a large spatula, gently stir about one quater of the whipped cream to the pb mixture to lighten it up. Then, gingerly fold in the set aside bowl of nuts and spices andthe rest of the whipped cream.
Scape the mousse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight, cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.
Topping
4 oz fine chocolate (Dorie calls for bittersweet- I used Guittard milk choc.)
1/2 c cream (maybe a little less)
1/2 c peanuts, chopped or not
Melt the choc. in a bowl set over simmering water. Leave the bowl for about 3 min. Meanwhile, bring the cream to a boil, then pour cream over choc. and remove from heat. . Very gently stir together until ganache is completely blended and glossy. ( My ganache was a lil' too soft- I would use less cream next time.)
Pour over chilled tart, smooth with a metal spatula; top with 1/2 chopped nuts. and chill to set about 20 min. Run a hair dryer around sides of springform for a few seconds to release pan. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Here is the recipe for the viniagrette...
Salad w/HERB MUSTARD VINIAGRETTE and CARMELIZED PECANS

Herb-Mustard Vinaigrette:
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced shallot
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/3 cups mild flavored olive oil
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

My version- For the salad:
Your choice of lettuce (romaine is good)
Blue cheese
Dried Cranberries
Spicy Glazed Pecans (see below)

Spicy Glazed Pecans
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoons water
1/2 scant teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teas Worchester sauce
1 cup pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or use your favorite liner.

Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves; boil 2 minutes. Add pecans and stir until pecans are well coated with mixture, about 1 minute. Transfer pecans to prepared sheet, spreading evenly. Bake until the pecans are beginning to brown, anywhere from 11 to 13 minutes.

(Note- can be microwaved instead- omit the water- micro for 3-5 min stir every 30 sec.)

Transfer the cooked pecans to a parchment lined sheet and keep separate. Cool completely.

Store in airtight container

Winter Won't Leave

2008-03-22T16:30:00.004-04:00

We just received another 5-7 inches of snow again last night. It is Spring already!!! At least today is sunny.
I have decided I need to take a Wilton cake decorating class. I need all the help I can get in this regard. HaHa- I did want to go back to school, so this will be it!

Pi Day

2008-03-14T05:50:00.005-04:00

*****(oh crappy pic!)*****

Yep, you got that right- today is Pi Day. As in Math. In honor of my daughter Lindsay, who earned her BS in Mathematics, we shall have pie, which is especially fortunate since she is in town for the weekend!
This is a pie I have made for years, the filling is from an old cookbook, Betty Crockers' Good and Easy(1954). It is our family's favorite pecan pie- we don't care for the usual goo made with corn syrup. I use double the pecans that this recipe calls for.

Southern Pecan Chess Pie

1 unbaked pie crust for 10 inch pan
1 c brown sugar ( packed)
1/2 c superfine sugar
1 T flour
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 c butter, melted
1 c pecans

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together sugars and flour. Beat in thoroughly butter eggs, vanilla, milk. Fold in pecans. Pour into pastry lined pan. Bale for 40-50 min. Directions are to serve slightly warm, with whipped cream or plain. Mark likes to eat the pie best COLD.

Weekend Cookbook Challenge- Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

2008-03-12T15:19:00.007-04:00

My first challenge of any kind!!! Although it's not the weekend, I knew this challenge, Weekend Cookbook Challenge, was one to participate in. The theme, hosted by Lis of LaMiaCucina, is Crockpots, Dutch Ovens, and Pressure Cookers. I decided a long time ago, back when the kids were little, that the Crockpot is my friend. I love the idea of making good meals with seemingly little effort. I had planned on cooking up some pork today, but Mark made corned beef yesterday and I didn't want meat again tonight.
For Christmas, I got Lindsay and Lacey both The Taste of Home Baking Book. There is a postcard inside for a free subscription to the Taste of Home Magazine. The first mag came this week and Lacey and I decided that the Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers looked good. I used to make stuffed peppers often, but haven't in a long time.
As usual, I played with the recipe a bit. I used a 14 oz. can of fire roasted tomatoes instead of the fresh. Instead of both the beans, I used 1 can of Garbanzo Beans as we just had black beans recently. I eliminated the salt and added extra Parmesan and some mozzerella.
This is definitely something to keep in my repetoire. This seemed even easier than my usual recipe because you are only precooking the rice instead of rice and ground meat.

Crockpot Day

2008-03-09T15:19:00.006-04:00

The weather was so bad yesterday, over 14 inches of snow, that we decided to watch movies and basketball. Yeah Tarheels!!!
Anyway, it would have been a great day to bake, but my butt told me I'd better not. By the time I figured out I wanted something easy, I had not a whole lot of time to crockpot all day. So I pulled out 3 of my many crockpot cookbooks and started searching. I settled on one I hadn't used in awhile, Crock-It by Barbara Murray. It is really a very small, homey sort of cookbook. There are a few mexican recipes in it that have become staples, one for chicken enchiladas and one for a great red chili sauce. But what I ended up making wasn't so much a recipe from the book as inspired by several recipes and what I had in my kitchen. Here is what I ended up with - let's call it ...

Mexicali Crockpot

multigrain (or flour) tortillas
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans
1 can chopped green chilis
1 - 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes (drained with juice set aside)
1 pkg Perdue roasted chicken already cooked (2 cups)
8 oz bag shredded cheese (I use 2% cheese)
1 pkg taco seasoning
sour cream for topping

I layered 1 tortilla spread with some of the refried beans on the bottom. Layer some of all the ingredients on top of that, then repeat layers a few times. I poured the juice from the tomatoes (there wasn't much) on the top and topped with some more cheese.
I cooked on HIGH for about 4 hours. I'm sure it can be cooked instead all day on LOW if you so desire. Slice into all the layers and serve. We had 4 servings, but my crockpot was only a little more that half full. You can add more ingredients and layer more to serve more people.
Garnish with the sour cream.
I served this with a tossed salad of
avocado
cucumber
tomato
green onions
lemon pepper to taste.

Sweet Corn Muffins

2008-03-02T17:57:00.003-05:00

If you live in the Cleveland area, you may know Al "Bubba" Baker. Bubba used to play football wonderfully for the Cleveland Browns back in the 70's-early 80s. He owns a very popular restaurant in the western suburb of Avon, Bubba's Q. Bubba and his wife, Sabrina, are great people (Bubba is quite a character) and serve some fine barbeque.
One of the yummy things they serve is sweet cornbread muffins. Mark likes them so much, that I came up with a similar recipe.

Sweet Corn Muffins

1 cup flour
1 cup yellow corn meal (I prefer Aunt Jemina's)
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
4 tsp white sugar
4 tsp brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients together, add the liquids and mix until blended. Pour into muffin pans. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Makes 36 mini muffins.
This can be cooked as regular muffins or cornbread- adjust baking times accordingly.

Lake Erie Perch

2008-03-02T15:35:00.004-05:00

As I've said before, I love fresh Lake Erie Perch. When I was growing up, on Friday evenings during Lent I would walk to the Polish Club down the street from my dad's grocery and pick up a few fried perch dinners for my family. They included perch- fried to perfection, creamy in taste, some fries and cold cole slaw.

The fish fries crop up every year during Lent, but I hesitate, because as much as we love fried foods, it's to our benefit not to eat it. I have found that I get the same enjoyment from pan frying perch in just a little butter/olive oil mix. It really is the taste and texture of the fish itself that I love.

Peanut Butter Smoothie Pie

2008-02-24T20:43:00.007-05:00

I needed an easy dessert tonite and thought a peanut butter pie sounded good. But alas, someone (Lacey) ate the milk chocolate, and semi-sweet didn't sound right to me. So I decided to honor a favorite candy from days of olde- the Smoothie. It's a peanut butter cup that uses butterscotch instead of chocolate.
Yes, yes, I know. Chocolate and PB are the best. (You could swap out the butterscotch chips for 3 oz. of milk chocolate.) But this is really good, too! Tastes somewhat like a butterfinger. I cheated and used a prepared graham crust.

Peanut Butter Smoothie Pie

Use your favorite graham cracker or shortbread crust

3 oz. butterscotch chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Place butterscotch chips in a medium bowl. Place 1/2 cup cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Pour over chips, and set aside for 5 minutes to yield ganache. Whisk to combine. Set in ice bath until ganache is cool, whisking constantly. Once cool, remove from ice bath, and whisk until ganache is just thick enough to hold its shape; do not overbeat. Spread in the bottom of the prepared crust, and return to the refrigerator until set.

8oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Mix together until smooth.
Add
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup peanut butter
Mix until well blended.
Fold in
2 cups whipped cream lightly sweetened with sugar OR 1- 8 oz. container whipped topping

Spoon mixture over prepared pie. Top with crushed butterscotch chips. Chill until ready to serve.

Basa with Herb Citrus Vinagrette

2008-02-24T19:43:00.007-05:00

Yesterday and today again I made fish for dinner. Yesterday I wanted fresh lake perch which is so plentiful on Fridays around here during Lent, but everywhere has it deep fried. No denying, everything is better deep fried, but we know we should stay away from fats and oil. So I bought some lake perch myself and lightly floured and seasoned it and bake in the oven with a little olive oil at 450 degrees. Not bad, and it served as a good perch fix!

Today I made Basa, aka Vietnamese Catfish (so inexpensive) and used a light Herb Citrus Vinaigrette -pictured above-from Marie Simmons Fast and Fresh Cookbook. It really is easy and adds good flavor to the fish.

Basa w/Herb Citrus Vinaigrette

Olive oil to coat fish

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp orange zest

1 tsp. garlic finely chopped

1 Tbl fresh dill

1 Tbl fresh basil

1 Tbl italian parsley chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbl fresh lemon juice

2 Tbl cold water

1 Tbl sun dried tomatoes minced

salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix vinaigrette ingredients together. (You can do this while the fish is cooking.)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Very lightly coat fish with olive oil so it stays moist. Bake fish 6-10 mnutes until almost done. Remove from oven and pour vinaigrette evenly overeach piece of fish. Place back in hot oven for a few minutes. Remove from oven and serve. Do not overcook fish.

Note- Marie Simmons recipe uses halibut.

Pepperoni Roll and Rocky Ledge Bars

2008-02-17T13:03:00.009-05:00

Today appears to be "sweets- n- bread- use up supply" day. This morning we decided to skip the usual Sunday pancake routine that Mark is fond of lately, and I made Monkey Bread. I had cans of biscuits left since I was gonna make this again over the holidays, but never did.

Since the oven was hot, I picked Martha Stewart's recipe Rocky Ledge Bars to serve at a gathering this evening. Like the biscuits, I had leftover chocolate chips from Christmas to use up. The bars are okay, but I don't think I would make them again- no one was crazy about them. If I do make them I would put on the top marshmallows AFTER they bake, instead of before as the recipe states.

For dinner tonite I am making one of Mark's favorites, Pepperoni Roll. I have had the recipe since early in our marriage. The recipe was originally printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
I made one with regular pepperoni and one with turkey pepperoni. I use 2% cheese in both. The turkey pepperoni in not a bad substitute, but I think next time I will add chopped banana peppers, blotted in a paper towel, to give it the extra kick you lose from using the turkey.

Pepperoni Roll

1- 1 lb. loaf frozen bread dough
1 egg - beaten
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2- 3 ½ oz pkgs sliced pepperoni
2 cups shredded mozzarella
½ teas. Dried whole oregano

Thaw dough and let rise according to pkg directions. Divide dough in half. Set one portion aside.
Turn out remaining dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 10 inch circle (or rectangle). Combine egg and parmesan, stir well; spread half of egg mixture over circle leaving a ½ inch margin at edges. Layer half of pepperoni and mozzarella over egg mixture and sprinkle with half the oregano.
Roll up dough in jellyroll fashion. Seal edges and fold ends under. Transfer loaf, seam side down, to an ungreased baking sheet. (line with parchment and foil for easy cleanup.)
Repeat procedure with remaining ingredients.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Cut into slices to serve.
Yield 6-8 servings.

Famous Chocolate Cake

2008-02-10T15:42:00.005-05:00

I decided to jump on the train and make "the chocolate cake everyone is talking about" (says the Today Show). I have never made a chocolate cake (or ganache for that matter) from scratch and thought it was a good time to try.
The cake is fairly easy to make. It calls for 2- 10 inch pans, but since the ones I have are 9 inch, I poured the extra batter into my silicone cupcake pan. (I love silicone pans!) I placed the extra cakes on individual plates and topped with the ganache.
The cake is very moist and delicious and the ganache makes it special. It is quite a rich, sinful chocolate blast. All ready for our group tonite!

Double Chocolate Layer Cake recipe from Epicurious

For cake layers
3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate (I used scharffen berger and ghirardelli)
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
For ganache frosting
1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

Special equipment - two 10- by 2-inch round cake pans

Preparation
Make cake layers:Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax (parchment) paper and grease paper.
Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

Make frosting:Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.
Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency).
Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

Brussel Sprouts with Carmelized Tofu

2008-02-03T20:50:00.002-05:00

Oh what a time! I just decide to blog as a way to keep track of what I am cooking and my father-in-law Bill has a big health scare. He never had any problems major problems and has been pretty healthy so this was a surprise.
He went in for a CAT scan the Monday before last. At the scan they found he had a 10cm (4inch!) aortic aneurysm and immediately admitted him to the hospital. The next morning before the surgery they did a cardiac cath (they do this because a lot of aneurysm patients have heart problems- which he or his family have not had a history of) and found arteries 95% and 100% blocked. So they did a triple bypass 2 Tuesdays ago, he recovered for 2 days then did the 5 hour surgery for the aneurysm that Friday. Today my husband Mark and his mom took Bill to a nursing home just for rehab till he gets his strength back- then he gets to start cardiac rehab.
Bill is in for a big wake up- he loves to cook and eat. His specialty is potato pancakes. He loves pork. Whenever he goes out to eat he would ask the waitress for hard butter fresh from the fridge. We joked that his arteries were clogged with potatoes and butter.
Luckily it appears that he is on the road to recovery.
So of course now Mark has decided to try eating healthy. I have been gradually changing the way I cook over the last few years and our 2 daughters (Lindsay, 25, lives in DC, and Lacey, 22, lives at home and goes to grad school) have changed their habits as well. Today I made this recipe for Carmelized Tofu and Brussel Sprouts from the 101 Cookbooks blog. It was Mark's initiation to tofu. I added some cayenne pepper to the tofu for extra zing and used dried cilantro in a much smaller amount cuz we really don't care for it.
All in all a good meal -well received!

Caramelized Tofu Recipe adapted

7 ounces extra-firm tofu cut into thin 1-inch segments
a couple pinches of fine-grain sea salt
a couple splashes of olive or peanut oil2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 t dried cilantro
16 brussels sprouts, washed and cut into 1/8-inch wide ribbons
1/4 t cayenne

Cook the tofu strips in large hot skillet (or pot) with a bit of salt and a splash of oil. Saute until slightly golden, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and pecans, and cook for another minute. Stir in sugar. Cook for another couple of minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Scrape the tofu out onto a plate and set aside while you cook the brussels sprouts.
In the same pan (no need to wash), add a touch more oil, another pinch of salt, and dial the heat up to medium-high. When the pan is nice and hot stir in the shredded brussels sprouts. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring a couple times (but not too often) until you get some golden bits, and the rest of the sprouts are bright and delicious.

White Chocolate Island Brownies

2008-01-29T20:52:00.000-05:00

I fully intend to try new recipes, make old favorites and post pictures, but this last week has been too hectic to think about starting.
Plus I have to figure out how to get the pictures taken without my husband, Mark, thinking I have totally gone 'round the bend. I mentioned to him last week when I made these cookies -White Chip Island Blondies from the Nestles website-that I wanted to take a picture before they were all gone so I could post it on a my new blog to keep track of things and he looked at me like I just walked in the door with purple hair.
Anyway, the cookies were great.
And my mother in law was right- don't ask before you make a new recipe- just make it. I ran this recipe past Mark a few months ago and he wasn't thrilled. But this time I just made it without asking and he really DID like it. I figured he would- he likes everything in it.
So from now on that is my strategy- no asking!

White Chip Island Blondies

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1/2 cup toasted coconut

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.

COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels, nuts and coconut. Press into prepared baking pan.

BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Gorilla Bread

2008-01-19T18:51:00.000-05:00

I love to look for recipes - this stemming from my longtime addiction to cookbooks. Luckily for me and my wallet, my local library is just a block away. At the moment I have in my possession Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics which actually contains 2 cookbooks-The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady & Sons Too. I like some of her recipes for baked goods, but not so much for the entrees I've tried.
I guess the reason I like Paula is that she seems to take some shortcuts or quick changes, and sometimes we are all pressed for time but still wanna make something. I made her Gorilla Bread before Christmas one morning when everyone was home. The recipe says to put the cream cheese inside and wrap the roll around it- I found it even easier to just pry the flaky layers apart, slap the cream cheese on, put the rolls back together, then complete the recipe. I also cut back a little on the sugar and used pecans instead of walnuts. It was a good and quick (last minute) special breakfast when served with fresh fruit alongside.

Gorilla Bread Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.

On Probation

2008-01-14T21:34:00.001-05:00

Oh, I am so new to this, hence the probation part. Well actually - not to the cooking part so much, but totally new to blogging.

I grew up with Italian parents, but my mother was not much of a cook and rarely made any dessert or cookies, save for a prune whip. My Grandma did a little, but I had no interest. The few family recipes I have come from my Aunts.

But, I have through the years occasionally tried baking and lately find I am enjoying it more and more. Reading other baking blogs has really given me inspiration. I decided I may as well post also, only because I figured it would force me to bake a little more!

We shall see.....