BAKE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO

Yogurt Chocolate Chip Scones

2010-08-25T23:30:00.004-05:00

When I think Scones I think of coffee and when I think of coffee I think of sharing conversation with girlfriends. Its as if the scones were calling out to me "Bake me for OCF." OCF is short for Officers Christian Fellowship. My friend Tree whos house we have the bible study at always has a fresh pot of coffee brewing and let me tell you, after a long day of chasing after an incredibly talented rolling infant, that is just what I need.

Girlfriend - check
Coffee - check
Scones - check!

Only problem was...I was out of soymilk and by that time I was not going to run to the store. Darn it! I wanted those scones! I had to improvise. Hmmm..yogurt...dairy. Milk...dairy. I'll take my chances. I've baked with yogurt before to make a marble quickbread and that turned out pretty tasty so it should be the same right? Here's hoping!

It turned out pretty good actually. The yogurt gave it a more chewy, cake-like mouthfeel than milk does but it was SO soft, you couldn't help but eat an entire one. Well, I couldn't help but eat an entire scone. lol. So if you want to give these yogurty scones a try let me know what you think.

YOGURT CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES

2 C A.P Flour
1/3 C granulated sugar
2 ts baking powder
1/8 ts salt
1/3 C butter, unsalted, diced and chilled
1 egg beaten
1 ts vanilla
1/2 C organic plain yogurt

1 C chocolate chips

granulated sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Grease a 9-inch cake pan

Combine all the dry ingredients (except the sugar for sprinkling) in a bowl and then cut the butter into the flour.

Combine the yogurt, egg and vanilla and ad to flour mixture and fold gently. Do not overwork.

Add in Chocolate chips

Pat into the cake pan and sprinkle granulated sugar on the top.

Cut into 8 wedges
Bake for 15-10 minutes

Seedy bread

2010-07-29T23:21:00.006-05:00

So in my previous post I had mentioned how I've been baking bread instead of buying bread from the grocery store. The breads that I had made thus far where all using white flour and all tended to be a little too dry for my liking. I'm not sure if it is the recipes or if its the white flour but I thought I would make my own recipe to see if I could fix the problem.
First off, I decided to make a healtheir bread using half wheat and half white flour for a nuttier taste as well. I didn't want it to be just some plain boring ole wheat bread, so I added flaxseed for added flavor and since I have IBS this helps my digestive system regulate better. I also put in some poppyseeds for a splash of color and I threw in 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce to see if it would help put moisture in the bread. Also, I've started using Agave nectar in some of my baking and to be honest, I love it SO much more than regular sugar! So I added some agave nectar for a hint of sweetness and to help preserve the bread a little longer. It came out really well and it is such a soft bread and I don't feel as bad eating more of it because it is made from wheat. ;-) I'm a carb girl that is for sure!

SEEDY WHEAT BREAD

(2 lb loaf)

1 1/2 C warm water
1 Tbs olive oil
3 TBs Agave nectar
1/2 ts salt
2 1/4 C Whole wheat flour
1 1/4 C A.P flour
1/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 Tbs flaxseed
1 1/2 Tbs poppyseeds
2 ts actie dry yeast

Put ingredients into bread machine in order listed. Oh so delicious!

Useless Bay Coffee

2010-07-22T15:09:00.002-05:00

The boys and I went up to Langley just south of Oak Harbor, about a 45 minute drive from our house to meet up with my mom and stepdad for breakfast while they were up in Seattle for an art show. From the second we drove down 2nd street in Langley, I noticed the amazing Useless Bay Coffee Company and that they also had live music and roasted their own coffee! I whispered to Brandon that I needed to check this place out after breakfast and wished that we had actually had breakfast there instead.
Since I am still nursing, I only drink decaf because I usually in all honesty drink about 5 cups in one sitting and I don't want to overload Benton on caffiene. lol. Anywhos I got their Organic Decaf Swiss Water blend and I seriously forgot how good coffee can just make me melt and make my morning THAT much more enjoyable. I wake up and look forward to after my workout when I can read my bible and enjoy my comforting cup(s) of coffee. :-) Emmm...it makes me get through my day that is for sure. I love starbucks but Useless Bay Coffee stumps them for sure. I can't wait until I can purchase their beans online because with the baby, it will be hard to drive 45 mintutes just to get coffee though Brandon and I have already decided to return to Langley and discover the precious little town some more when we get a chance when he's home again.

Until then, I wonder how long this bag will last me. Probably not for very long. Bummer!

nana smores cupcakes!

2010-07-22T00:51:00.002-05:00

Ever since Brandon got back from deployment, I've gotten my baking groove back. And I'm lovin it! Granted, I end up eating more of what I make than Brandon does. I don't know how he has so much self control! I'm like an eating machine. If its around, I'll eat it. I've actually started making bread again using my bread machine instead of going out and buying bread thats definitely not as tasty. I would rather not use the bread machine but with the little time I have hands free of baby, it just isn't doable. I guess its doable for a super mom and I haven't quite figured that part out just yet!

I've been wanting to make a smore type cupcakes for sometime now but I just didn't feel inspired to do it until this past week, plus having Brandon home helps because I am less prone to eat all of it. hahaha. Bananas are my favorite fruit and I love it in pretty much any baked goods, so in essence it would just make a cupcake THAT much better in my opinion! As soft and moist as cupcakes are already, the bananas definitely make it THAT much softer and that much more moist. The toppings of graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmellows and chocolate chips transports me to the backpacking trip Brandon and I did back in Georgia, minus the flood we were in, and the ticks, and the cold and wet shoes and socks and the sparse dry twigs to make a fire. So all in all, only the good part of a backpacking trip bundled in a little package. Ahh...delicious!

NANA SMORES CUPCAKES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius

Cupcakes

1 1/2 C All purpose flour
3/4 C Sugar
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda

1/4 ts salt
1/4 C melted butter (unsalted)
3 overripe bananas-mashed
2 large eggs

1/2 C Chocolate chips-semisweet

Buttercream Frosting

1 stick (1/2 C) of unsalted butter
1 lb confectioners sugar
1 Tbs milk

1. Combine all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips together in a large bowl, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients
2. In another bowl whisk together the melted and cooled butter, eggs and banana and pour into the well in the dry ingredients.

3. Gently fold together until just combined and add the chocolate chips and fold with a few more strokes.

4. Put cupcake liners into muffin tins and fill liners with batter evenly.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes and let cool on wire rack completely.

6. Beat butter till white and creamy with paddle attachment then add confectioners sugar and beat on lowest setting and add milk a little at a timel till it is the consistency you want for the frosting.

7. Dip cupcake into graham cracker crumbs and then decorate with mini marshmellows and chocolate chips.

8. Stuff it in your face! YUM!

Trip to P-Town

2010-06-19T22:08:00.006-05:00

It has been a long 3 months and I am so ready for my husband to come back from deployment. It is almost that day and I am falling off my seat excited to welcome him home! It will mark the official first time that I can actually say I deserve the title of Navy Wife. I didn't know how much I was capable of until I was on my own with a new baby and a overly demanding dog who is in all essence, a second baby.
I started the deployment with the mindset of staying at home and taking it all in stride by myself. I felt I would be a failure as a wife, a mom and a person in general if I were to go back home to our parents. I can't tell you how much I needed their help though and I am glad that I did go back to Portland for 2 weeks. It was the perfect amount of time. Not so long that I would totally be out of my regular routine but long enough so that I could get some much needed relaxation and shopping done!

The great thing about Portland is the amazing food they have there. You could not run out of tongue enticing deliciousness if you tried! One of my familys all time favorites is Vertiable Quandary for a relaxing weekend brunch! Ah heaven! It doesn't hurt that the coffee in Portland is irresistably perfect and Vertiable Quandary has the most amazing window looking out onto their outside seating. It is pure bliss and to enjoy it with my parents was amazing.

Having a baby gives me little time to go out and enjoy a quality cup of coffee and relax and just take in the beauty that God created. I usually slurp my mediocre homemade coffee as fast as I can in anticipation of Bentons next moment of need. Don't get me wrong, I love to enjoy home brewed coffee while I watch Regis and Kelly in the morning but sometimes it is not possible to fully enjoy the aroma, the flavor and the warmth of coffee without an arm around the baby. I love him though and wouldn't trade him in for a million cups of quality coffee! :-)

My mom and my stepdad

My mom took me to Uwajimaya, a japanese/asian grocery store and got me a red bean mochi. YUM! This is definitely something I wish I could make! But be aware, each one of these little babies has 270 calories! WHOOH! Good thing I split it with my mom!

Emmm...delicious!

Daring Tuiles

2009-01-29T21:11:00.003-05:00

What better to start the new year off than something totally different for the January Daring Bakers Challenge! Karen aka Baking Soda at Bake My Day! (from the Netherlands) and Zorra aka Kochtopf at 1x umrühren bitte (originally Swiss now in Spain) gave us this creative challenge.

I have worked with Tuile before in school but both times they were in combination with a jaconde cake base layer, more of a cake, less of a delicate cookie. So instead of using a stencil like I always had, I decided I would try it using my ever so unused pastry tips and bags that I brought for a competition at school. There were both pros and cons I found in using tips rather than a stencil. It was definitely more time consuming using tips because I piped my butterflies using lines. So basically I piped all the vanilla tuile batter first, leaving gaps for where I wanted the chocolate tuile batter to go. I hope that makes sense. What I found was that the details were definitely more delicate in a way, less uniform but more delicate and unique. The other problem I had with using the tips was that the tuile batter was not as thin as it needed to be in order to form it into shapes and such after baking. The very last picture shows a better view of the tuile shaped at an angle for the wings. I had fun with it for sure and as for the taste, I definitely didn't like the intense butter flavor. It left my mouth with an unwanted aftertaste.

“The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Recipe:Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)

Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes,

baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)

60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)

2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)

65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice

Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Fly away butterflies, Fly!

Gone Fishing

2009-01-13T19:30:00.006-05:00

It is way later than I had wanted to post this but this post is for the Brandon and Sean. Sean, Brandons younger brother was able to come visit us this past Christmas and despite the fact that Brandon had to fly and that Corpus isn't exactly the place to "be" they were able to get some brotherly bonding in. What better than to go ... FISHING!

We froze most of the fish cause they caught quite a few and I made fish and chips last night for Brandon. He said the batter was good, but the fish wasn't too great. It's weird, supposedly it is a tilapia but it was so crumbly and it kept breaking apart. Eh?

While Sean was here, we visited the USS Lexington and it was definitely alot cooler than I thought it would be but it was SOOOOOOOO dirty. Like there were so many stairs in this thing and they were mega steep with these nasty old ropes to hold on to while you go up and down them. Of course, I had to go and wear a skirt and high heels. Go figure.

Sean and Brandon. Are they pretending to read or actually reading???

Who really reads the information boards?

I hate taking pictures. Can you tell?

Sean and I. Ugh, I HATE pictures. hahahaha.

Brandon begged us to go and sit on this machine gun thingie but no one wanted to, so he had to.

Sean got arrested while on the boat.

and his accomplices...

Yeah... I guess we never grew up huh?

Don't ask me what we're standing in cause I still do not know.

I'm still puzzled as to how Sean fit into this thing.

Bling bling scones

2009-01-05T11:48:00.003-05:00

Growing up in New Zealand I enjoyed afternoon teatime with cucumber sandwiches and english scones with my cup of tea. Here, unless you make it yourself english scones are not heard of. So what does a girl do but try to find a good American scone recipe since I can't seem to find an english scone that I like. I don't really have an issue with american scones but that they are on the drier side and like everything not homemade, you never can tell what's inside.

So, I flipped through my "bread bible" book and found a scone recipe that didn't require me dragging my post-Christmas body to the grocery store. I made half with chocolate chips and half with blackberries. Have you guys noticed the price of blackberries?????? So although they are not million dollar berries, they are quite expensive for the number of berries you get. Aside from the price they were delicious but this is the last fattening recipe that I will be gobbling down myself. I'm going to try to bake healtheir in 2009!!!!!

FLAKEY SCONES - The Bread Bible

Rose Levy Beranbaum

Unsalted butter, cold - 1 C

All purpose unbleached flour - 4.5 C

Sugar - 1/2 C

Baking powder - 2ts

Baking soda - 1/2 ts

salt - 1/4 ts

heavy cream - 2 C

currants (I used chocolate chips and blackberries) - 1 C

Cut butter into 1 in cubes and place in freezer for 10 minutes
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add butter with fingertips until size of small walnuts. Stir in cream to just moisten flour into large clumps. Stir in chocolate chips and knead together. (For blackberries I added them when I shaped the dough)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F 30 minutes prior to baking and have baking stone inside oven as it preheats.
Flour top of dough and counter lightly and roll out into rectangle 1 in thick. I added a few blackberries on the dough now. Then fold dough like you would croissant dough. (Fold right side to the center and then the left side ontop) Repeat 2 more times adding blackberries everytime you roll out dough.
Cut the dough into triangles and place onto parchment time baking stone and bake for 15-20 minutes until edges begin to brown and tops are golden brown and firm enough when pressed lightly with a finger. Let cool.

Stuffed full of Christmas!

2008-12-29T15:44:00.005-05:00

It's been a looonnnng and exhausting month this December. The older we get and the more married couples that have entered our lives, we see ourselves attending more and more couples activities. It doesn't get as event oriented as December.

Ladies of VT-35: Me, Hye Sung, Megan, Andrea

VT-35 Squadron had a mandatory Christmas Party. Mandatory and Christmas together seems uninviting but because all of our good friends would be there it seemed less daunting. It actually turned out to be super fun and Brandon even won two free meals at a Mexican Restaurant.
Christmas morning baby Leben got to sniff the presents and was the first to open a present. He sure loves Christmas but he is still getting the hang of opening up the presents.
This picture of Leben should belong in a movie of some sort, perhaps one about the Mafia. He actually stole my candy cane I had sitting on the table and was shocked when he got caught.

This year I decided to test my craft skills. I really didn't have any craft skills to be honest. I'm not the perfect homemaker and I don't sew nor own a sewing machine but I found the sewing kit my mom gave me like 3 years ago and after a trip to Joanns fabrics, the stockings above popped out after a month.
I also decorated the stems of the wine glasses with frosted cranberries and a tiny ribbon. I didn't know what else to do with the extra cranberries I had.
My other crafty thing that I attempted to do was make a Christmas centerpiece for our dining table. Considering that I've never done this before, it turned out ok even though it was hard to wrap everything around everything else. But with my arms of steel, I managed. :-)
Here is the dinner table with the ham, double baked potatoes with scallions, onions, green peppers and cheese, and green bean casserole. Cye brought over the mac and cheese and a beautifully presented salad.

I made a selection of breads. From left to right I made soy dinner rolls and mini challahs and on the right normal butter dinner rolls.

When all was quite in the Adams household and all their guests had finally left, a baby Rotti fell asleep on the couch, wrapped in his favorite blanket of all.

It is done!

2008-12-09T17:03:00.002-05:00

There's not alot of beauty that can be found here in the Texas scenery. The palm trees are nice but knowing that roaches breed in them make them unappealing. The beach is beautiful if you can visually ignore the big oil barrels and trash washed up from Alabama. The one thing I have found that is amazingly beautiful is the rising and the setting of the sun. It's pretty breathtaking seeing the intensely different colors blending together. The day I took this picture was the day I finished my last final for my last class for my pastry degree! WHOOOHOOOO!!!!!! (dancing around in a circle)

So folks, I am officially done! As Neo from the Matrix would say "It is done." (DORK!) So what does all this new free time have instore for Val? Hmm...well I am working 5 days a week now but other than that I get to actually read "Persuasion." Though, you know how things go. You want to read and you want to do all these things when you have no time then when you finally have the time, you don't want to anymore. So is life.I've decided this year to make our own stockings and christmas cards. The first stocking that I conquered is for Leben our Rotti. I sewed those paws onto the material and I even handstitched them because unfortunately I am not a superhuman housewife and don't own a sewing machine nor do I want to own a sewing machine until maybe I am 70. Speaking of 70, I heard on the radio this morning that a couple in India who are in their 70's gave birth to their first child. It's amazing! I was amazed anyways but then amazement turned into 'uhhh.' I felt bad for the poor kid. I'm sure they'll be great parents but they can never run around with them and play soccer with them. By the time they're 10, whos to say their parents will be also? So how fair is it to the child?

Right now I am actually blogging in bed! Sweet! I also did a facial mask. That hasn't happened in like 2 years. Seriously folks. School, work, dog, and a family takes so much of your time. Now that school is over and I don't have to study anymore I can pay more attention to Brandon and Leben. I have felt like a terrible wife these past year and a half. Between school and work, it was hard to keep the house clean and make time for others. Brandon did so much to help around the house so now I am glad to say I can finally take care of him again. He's actually flying right now. He was suppose to get home around 3pm but it's 4:30pm and he's not back yet. It always scares me when he is flying. You just never know but I really don't have to worry because I know God listens to my prayers.

Okay really, I will talk about baking. I got my dirty little hands on a can of pumpkin. It's been sitting in my pantry for like 3 weeks. It's my own recipe and I really thought it was quite tasty! It's healthy too ;-)

Soy Flaxseed Pumpkin Bars

Recipe by Valerie Adams

1 C soyflexseed cereal
1 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 ts baking soda
1/2 ts nutmeg, ground
1/2 ts cloves, ground
1 ts cinnamon, ground
1/4 ts salt
1 C sugar
3/4 C canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1 ts vanilla extract

Preheat oven 350 Degrees F and line a 10 in square pan with parchment paper and oil the sides of the pan.
Combine the dry ingredients together
Mix the liquid ingredients together and add to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle some chocolate chips over the top if you would like
Bake 20-25 minutes or until done

Caramelicous

2008-11-29T15:25:00.000-05:00

Well well if it isn't that time of the month again! I swear this month has been cake after cake after cake so going into it I was not too thrilled. So with that, I thought I would make them into cupcakes and then I saw that alot of people had already done so. So I whipped out my mini cake pan and the rest was history.

This months challenge was from Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater with cohosts Chronicles of Culinary Curiosity , Blondie and Brownie, Foray into Food, and Gluten a go go

I was incredibly surprised at how dense the cake itself was. I did decrease the amount of sugar that the recipe called for because everyone had said that the cake was way too sweet. I think the cake was really tasty the day after. It was more moist and less dry. I LOVED the frosting. The taste of the browned butter was delicious! When I read the recipe it seemed so complicated but once I started, it just flowed. I really didn't taste alot of caramel in it, perhaps next time I would use all caramel syrup instead of granulated sugar in the cake recipe. I wonder if that would give it a more caramel taste?

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
Shuna Fish Lydon's recipe

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)

2 each eggs, at room temperatures

splash vanilla extract

2 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

1) Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

2) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth.

Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

3) Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase

speed.

4) Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl

again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

5) Sift flour and baking powder.Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry

ingredients.

6) When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry

ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called

the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high

proportion of liquid in the batter.}

7) Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is

uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan.

Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own

oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle

comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. Cake will keep for three days outside of

the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

1) In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture
feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush.
2) Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.When color is
achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is
very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.
3) Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers.
{Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}Note: For safety reasons, have
ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste
1) Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside
to cool.
2) Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk
attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to
take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth
and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated.
3) Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

Good Ole Kiwi Breakfast

2008-11-24T15:02:00.002-05:00

I often think back to the times when I was younger and crazy about rugby when I lived in New Zealand. It's funny that a 13 year old girl would wake up at 4am to walk over to her neighbors house to watch a game. That memory aways reminds me of vegemite. Aunty Gay used to make us toast with butter and vegemite while Uncle Vaughan and I watched the game.

I was walking around World Market after church with Brandon a week ago and saw the cutest tiniest vegemite jar ever! I hesitated to buy it but Brandon urged me to and for the past week I have been having vegemite on toast every single morning. lol. Am I sick of it yet? Nope but I sure am glad that Brandon has no interest in it. hahahaha.

My beautiful 5am breakfast before I head out to work

Oh! and can't forget the latte. ;-)

Pleeeassse no more!

2008-11-21T18:59:00.003-05:00

Shivering in the 40 degree F kitchen for 2 days, hovering over my undeniably insufficient cake whilst trying to make the best of it without bursting into tears that I know I would never get a medal for. Perhaps I was overconfident, or perhaps I had no chance to begin with since I was competing with cake decorating students or perhaps this is just not my area of specialty. I can't help but feel a little punched in the face and gut and beat down onto the ground with a baseball bat. All in all, I am SO glad this is over and I do not have to do another competition unless I want to.

My cherry blossoms that I made with gumpaste and painted with colored dust.

One side of my cake. It was a tough cake to manage. The yellow cake I had started to fall apart around the edges so the cake took forever to level and still it was not the most level cake. On top of that my buttercream icing made with all butter started to fall. After 6 hours of trying to ice and fix the darn thing, my friend helped with scrap it off and reice it with buttercream made from Crisco. I could not have done it without her. I was at my breaking point.

The judges told me the reason I didn't win anything is because my cake was not completely level, my branches were not delicate enough and my marzipan didn't cover the gaps as well as they should have between the bottom and top tiers. So all in all, a HUGE disappointment because I like to be the best at everything I put my heart into and when your results don't show your passion it really really hurts.My friend on the other hand got a medal. She did an amazing job. I can't say it enough. She presented a novelty cake of a sushi box. It was the most adorable cake ever. I told her I would eat her cake since I was hungry and sushi always sounds good. ;-)
A close up of the sushi box. The sushi rolls were really amazing. She made the rice out of rice krispies. She really deserved a medal for it.

Pinot Noir Party

2008-11-17T17:45:00.004-05:00

How I needed a Saturday off. Finally I got one and I took the chance to have Neil and Renae over since I didn't have to go to bed at 9pm and I wanted to see what they thought taste the best with my wine for my school project. I chose an Oregon wine because I miss it so much and what is more popular in Oregon than Pinot Noir? So I went on a quest and there is only one Oregon Pinot Noir in Corpus. So I definitely didn't have much of a choice but it actually turned out to be an amazing wine.

We first paired the Pinot with some medium-firm cheeses. I chose a camembert, a sharp Gouda and a Jalopeno Havarti. Since Renae is Gluten-Free, I picked up some Almond Rice crackers and they went really really well with the cheeses to my surprise.

I went to HEB and got 8 lamb loins. They were small, that's why I got 8. Leben definitely approved of the lamb loins. He is SO cute! He also approved of the camembert because I found him seated on the dining room chair and his nose deep into the camembert. hahahahaha.

I marinated the lamb loins in olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper and let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple hours. I then seared both sides lightly and finished it off in the oven till medium-rare.

I made a side of red potatoes tossed in olive oil, basil, garlic and salt and pepper and baked it until golden brown. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Since I don't eat Red Meat (though I was REALLY tempted) I baked some salmon with diced tomatoes, diced onions, garlic, oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper. It went really well with the cherry flavor of the wine. Oh So Good!I was sitting in the office typing up my powerpoint presentation for my wine project when all of a sudden a blast of basil aroma shot up my nose. I found Leben in the other room with a stem of basil (the best looking stem of the bunch) haning out the side of his mouth. I was angry but at the same time it was SO funny. Our friend Karl calls Leben the OC dog because he is SO snobby when it comes to lifestyle. He does not like to be outside for more than 10 minutes, he has a $200 bed, he sleeps on the couch, on our bed, he LOVES cottage cheese in his food and he is extremely picky about his dog food. He savors his rib bones when I boil them for him and he definitely knows his cheese. ;-) Almost 1 years old and he is the joy of our lives. I can't imagine life without him greeting us at the dog, nubbin wagging and all. He is the biggest baby that I have ever laid my eyes on yet he protects me so well. We love him with all our hearts and he is the biggest daddys little boy in the world.

Cake Fever

2008-11-06T20:57:00.002-05:00

This month must be cake month because I feel as though I am surrounded by cakes. This whole school salon competition is really starting to seem like a big deal. It's just weird to have competitions in something that to me is more of a passion than a need to win. I mean sure I want to be the best at what I do but having to be judged on it...it's creepy. I'm all for criticism to better my work, but it seems as though the grades are based on the judges preferences. For example, if they prefer that the cherry blossoms on my cake should be white instead of pink then I get graded down. So needless to say, it is a little stressful.

Today we practiced decorating for salon and there were a couple of things that I need to fix. I didn't add enough milk to my buttercream so it was a little uneasy to spread. My cake needs to be taller so I need to double the recipe. Other than that everything else seemed to go quite smoothly.

This is the simplified version of my salon cake that I have sketched up. I didn't have time today to do the whole marzipan border on the base of the cakes so I just did some royal icing designs. The cherry blossoms also are done in icing.

All in all it turned out decent. The car was a little too hot for the cake so the buttercream slid around a little bit and one of the blossoms fell off. I really need to get everything prepped before the day of the salon otherwise I will go crazy. I'm not joking either. I was told the judging takes at least 3 hours. What am I gonna do for 3 hours??????? That just does not sound like fun. Oh well...once in a life time right? Hopefully I walk away with at least a decent grade and an award (that's dreaming high).

curried sweet potato fries

2008-11-05T20:52:00.002-05:00

How I wish I could get my hungry little hands on some purple sweet potato. Emmm...when I was little, mom used to just poke a couple of holes in them with a fork and microwave them then in it goes into my belly! They were so delicious. Much sweeter and more intense in flavor than the usual sweet potato. I try and justify that if you bake a potato, it is healthier and sometimes a gal just NEEDS her fries. These are delicious baked in olive oil, curry powder and garlic powder. Toss it together and bake at 400 degrees F. Emmm yum yum!

Brandon has been doing night flights so basically when I get off work, he leaves for base to fly and I am stuck at home by myself. I have seen him for a total of hmm...15 minutes in the last 48 hours. It's tough and it's going to be tougher tomorrow when I get out of school at 1pm and have the rest of the ENTIRE day by myself. Usually, that would be something I look forward to if Brandon were home. So I have come up with an idea. I was watching the movie "The Jane Austin Book Club," last night and it really made me want to dive right into one of her books. So my plan for 'Val's day to herself,' is to go buy a jane austin book I haven't read before and have a book club of my own.

Oh! I unboxed my yoga dvd today after work cause I figured that it would help me with my insanely tense muscles and sore back and neck. Boy did it do wonders. I felt SO loose afterward, of course I am just a tense person and I can already feel the tension coming back. I totally need a professional massage - perhaps for my birthday??? hmmmmmm

Beach hike and pastry spree

2008-11-03T16:18:00.002-05:00

It still feels like summer in November. There is absolutely no feeling of fall here. No crunch leaves to step on and kick, no chill to wear my sweaters for and definitely no craving for hot apple cider which I LOVE during this time of year. It's not all bad though. You can't complain when you can hike along the beach during this time of the year.

If you like to trash hunt, this is the place to do it. The beaches here are littered! We found a HUGE oil tank!

We packed the puppies into Karls new SUV and they were so excited to be going to the beach together "best buds for life."
It's rolling to that time of the year - fall semester is almost out. 3 more classes left and we are preparing for our salon competition which is basically a competition judged according to the ACF standards. It's exciting but at the same time nerve wrecking. I want to do good but I'm such a novice with cakes, I really cannot guarantee the end product.

So today I went on a pastry shopping spree which I haven't done in like forever! I stocked up on cake supplies and some gum paste mix and I hope to become more comfortable working with it. What I have in mind is a 2 tier square cake with a red marzipan strip that covers both of the base of the cakes and branches of cherry blossums spreading around the cake. I got a bunch of pastry tips and disposal bags and some sprinkles for the pollen of the cherry blossums. SO cool! I love looking at pastry supplies but I tend to stay at those stores too long...and that ends in too much money being spent! I will keep you up to date about the progress! I will start on my gum paste cherry blossums tomorrow! YAY!

Passion is in the air

2008-10-29T16:21:00.003-05:00

We're rolling into that age group where all our friends are married. It's a scary thought actually, not marriage but that we're in the 25-30 age group in questionnaires. I feel old everytime I check that box. I literally hear my back crack and give way. In a way though, it is a great thing. Neither husband nor wife have to ask their friends "do you mind if my wife/husband comes too?" it is expected if not compulsory.

The last of our friends here in Corpus Christi just got hitched (lol). So there is absolutely no singleness around town. We were all unable to make it to their wedding because well the wives had work and the men had their planes to fly. So we all decided to be nice and surprise them with a "It's too late to turn back now," party. Kidding! We just wanted to show them we care. So we all got together at Dave and Andreas house for dinner last friday. Everyone brought a dish. Andrea said she was going to get a cake. I couldn't let that happen even though I was going to have a busy week with school and work. There was no way I could justify a store brought cake. Snobby? Yes.

It was only AFTER I had offered to make the wedding cake that I realised 'I have NEVER made a wedding cake before." When, am I going to have time to make this????? Anywhos, I made a mental sketch in my head. Something simple, something light blue. Out out popped this cake.

I baked 2 - 9" chiffon cakes and sliced each cake into 3 layers. Each layer recieved a generous helping of passion fruit syrup and a layer of ganache. I covered it marshmellow fondant and it was simple enough but this texas heat just made it 3 times more difficult than it needed to be. It stuck to everything! even though I kept smothering it with more powered sugar. You know, I was going to get those pretty pearl decorative balls. That was until I found out they were like $11-$14 for 40 of them. Then I said "Simple does it."

If you ever want to make a very moist, easy and tender cake I recommend the Chiffon cake. It keeps SO well and honestly, there was no need for the passionfruit syrup since the cake itself had no hint of dryness at. So definitely use this recipe if you ever want to bake a cake.

CHIFFON SPONGE CAKE - The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg

3/4 C vegetable oil

8 egg yo9lks

1 C water, room temp

1 tbs vanilla extract

14 oz cake flour

14 oz granulated sugar

4 ts baking powder

1 ts salt

8 egg whites

Line pans with parchment paper but don't grease the sides of pan
Whip vegetable oil and yolks together just to combine. Stir in water and vanilla extract
Sift cake flour, 1/3 sugar, baking powder and salt together. Stir into egg yolk mixture then whip on high for 1 minute. Set aside.
Whip whites to a foam and gradually add remaining sugar and whip to stiff peaks. Fold meringe into reserved batter. Divide between pans.
Bake 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes till cakes spring back when pressed lightly in center.
Invert and let cool on cooling rack.

Fit for a Princess

2008-10-24T15:01:00.004-05:00

I read the recipe over and over and over again and STILL I could not mentally picture this "princess cake" in my head. Our Advanced Pastry teacher gave Patti and I this recipe to do and I do not think I have ever been so exhausted after baking and decorating a cake before. It was none stop going from 8am-1pm. I think I almost passed out.

It is a basic sponge cake that is cut into 3 equal layers. The bottom and middle layers are brushed with simple syrup and the bottom layer is then covered with a strawberry jam (we didn't have any so we used raspberry jam). It is then topped with the middle sponge cake layer and then spread with a bavarian cream. The top layer is then put ontop the bavarian cream and a thin layer of whipped cream is spread around the sides of the cake and ontop.

Then we lined the inside of a bowl with plastic wrap and filled the bottom of the bowl with whipped cream, flipped the cake into the bowl ontop of the whipped cream and put it in the freezer to set up a little. Once that was taken care of we rolled out marzipan and covered the cake with it. We used royal icing and piped along the sides of the cake.

All in all though exhausting, the cake looked REALLY pretty. The people who did taste it though thought it was rather bland. I didn't taste it cause it was just too much cream in it and that would infact probably make my stomach curl up.

So if you are ever up for a challenge, let me know if you want the recipe. It is like 6 pages long. hahahaha.

chocolate tuile joconde cake with caramelized fig

2008-10-17T14:19:00.004-05:00

This is only my second time doing a practical midterm. The first was the challah bread I did for the breads class midterm. This time around it was for Advanced Pastries class and we basically could make anything we wanted but no cookies, pies or tarts. So I chose to combine a couple of recipes together. I used a Black Cocoa tuile paste, which is a really thick batter. So thick that you can scrape of some of the batter to make pretty designs. The Black cocoa which is now my favorite ingredient smells and tastes like an oreo cookie! It really was an accident on how I used the black cocoa. I actually was opting more for just regular cocoa powder but I saw this black cocoa in the pantry and I was like "Sweet. That would make an awesome contrast with the color of the joconde base." So after I put designs on the tuile batter I froze it whlie I prepared everything else. Next, I made the joconde base which is an almond cake batter. I poured that over the top of the frozen tuile paste and baked it off. Since it was such a thin layer of cake (1/8 in thick) I decided I should layer it ontop of each other inbetween chantilly cream. The caramelized figs I messed up on a little bit. The caramel didn't work well with me. It's suppose to have a long tail of caramel that hardens as it dries so that the fig has an extra long stem almost. It was a fun recipe and it look less time that I thought that it would.

All these recipes are from The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg

RIBBON-PATTERN DECORATED SPONGE SHEETS

Chocolate Tuile Decorating Paste 8 oz

Joconde Sponge Base ½ recipe
1. Spread chocolate tuile paste evenly over 1 full size silpat, covering them completely about 1/16th inch thick.
2. Remove half of the paste in straight, crosswise or diagonal lines along the length of the silpat with a decorating comb.
3. Lift silpat by edges out of the sheet pan and set on top of an inverted sheet pan and freeze till firm
4. Spread batter evenly over tuile batter and bake at 400-450 degrees F for 4 minutes or until sponge color changes slightly.
5. Dust flour lightly on top of sponge and invert onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper and buttered sides of pan.

CHOCOLATE TUILE DECORATING PASTE

Butter, unsalted, room temperature 4 oz
Powdered sugar, sifted 4 oz
Egg whites, room temperature ½ C
Vanilla extract ½ ts
Bread flour, sifted 3 oz
Unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted 1 ¼ oz

1. Sift cocoa powder and bread flour together
2. Sift powdered sugar and cream with butter in mixer with paddle attachment.
3. Add egg whites, 1-2 at a time. Scrape and evenly mix after each addition.
4. Add vanilla extract then the flour and cocoa powder mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix.

JOCONDE SPONGE BASE II
Blanched almonds, finely ground/almond meal 3 oz
Powdered sugar 2 oz
Bread flour 1 oz
Whole eggs 3
Egg yolk 1
Egg whites 2
Granulated sugar 1 oz
Melted unsalted butter 1 oz

1. Place almond meal, powdered sugar and bread flour into mixing bowl and mix in eggs with paddle attachment for 5 minutes on high. Scrape sides regularly.
2. Add egg yolks, till combined on medium speed. Set aside
3. Whip egg whites with sugar to hold a soft shape. (soft peak)
4. Fold half of egg whites into egg yolk mixture. Stir in melted butter and then fold in the rest of the egg whites. Spread out on top of Chocolate tuile decorated baking sheet.

CARAMEL DIPPED FIGS

Chianti wine 2 ½ C
Granulated sugar 2 oz
Figs, whole 15

1. Combine Chianti and granulated sugar in saucepan large enough to hold figs. Allow liquid to come to a boil and then lower heat to simmer and add figs.
2. Poach 5 minutes, remove figs with slotted spoon onto a baking sheet lined sheet pan.
3. Keep boiling poaching liquid till reduced to thick syrup. Let cool off heat.
4. Skewer each fig through the side and hold skewers at edge of counter with a heavy object so the figs and skewer stick out of the counter.
5. Line floor under figs with baking paper.
6. Dip each fig into caramelized liquid and place back securely on counter.
7. Let cool till caramel sets.
8. Snip off tail of caramel to desired length and remove each fig with latex gloved hand to prevent finger prints on the figs.

A Korean 1st birthday girl!

2008-10-14T18:46:00.003-05:00

Our wonderful friends we met when Brandon started his aeronautical masters degree in Dayton, OH had their baby girl a year ago. They invited us last weekend for their baby girl Graces' 1st birthday. It is the MOST important birthday for a child, a big deal in the Korean culture. Let's meet our contestants today!

Pat, Grace and Hye Sung sitting down at Graces mini table with layered fruits, cookies and cakes. Layering is important because it represents length of life. They're in their traditional dress right now. I thought Graces hat looked like a purse. It was TOO cute!
Grace trying to "boo" at the cake
This isn't only traditional in Korean culture but in the Chinese culture as well where you set out a number of items that represent the child's future infront of him/her and wait till she/he picks one up. The flute is for a future in music, money for riches, pen for intellectual and noodles for long life. She chose the flute! Hye Sung plays the flute.
OH! The other day in food prep was great! We were studying vegetables so I was excited since I don't eat bloody meat. :-b Anywhos there was a dish that one of the guys made that made me literally pass out on the floor cause I thought itw as so good. So here's the recipe. I changed it a little.

Pinto bean and vege bake

1/2 onion, small dice

1/2 green pepper, small dice

corn (frozen and thawed) 8 oz

16 oz can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained

chile pepper powder

salt and pepper to taste

shredded cheese (to top)

bread crumbs (to top)

Heat some olive oil in a saute pan and sweat the onion
Then add in chili pepper powder and cook for a minute
Add peppers and corn and cook till tender
Add pinto bean and season to taste
Top with shredded cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven to melt the cheese
Top with bread crumbs and broil till golden brown. SO GOOD

Side note: Adding poblano peppers (canned) makes it MORE tasty!

For some reason, I tend to attract female jerks to talk to me. You know how you first start class in a new year, in a new school, whatever the situation may be, you TRY to pick a table with people who you think you would fit in best with. Considering I'm older than most of the people in the culinary school, I decided why not go for the table of girls who range from freshmen to their 30's. Inevitably, I made "conversation" with this 30 year old. Now, after several weeks of sitting with the same people, you can't quite move to a different table once you find out you think they're crazy and childish. Our class is so small that the boys sit with boys and girls with girls. How stupid is that! SO there's no way for me to move without offending anyone.

Last week I went to class and I was extremely excited about the fact that I had made truffles the day before so here is the convo:

me: "Guess what? We made truffles yesterday!"
girl: "Shut up. No one cares." (she doesn't say it in a way where she hates you, but her tone definitely makes you think 'what???')
me: "Piff, you're just jealous cause you don't know how to make truffles."
*silence* --> Girl is nice to me the rest of the class

It's not that she's a mean person. She's VERY high school in her way of thinking and acting and speaking. Seriously, I had to resort to silly high school responses to make her realise she's not All that and a batch of frozen cookies; presliced.

A couple weeks ago I had mentioned to her that I was in a hurry to get to my bible study after I got off work and I only had 2 hours to make something sweet for the bible study. So I opted on making bread pudding which I have never done before nor tasted. I commented that I did not really like the taste of it. She told me "Why didn't you just make a pie?" In the 'you should have made something more elaborate' attitude. This coming from a women who does not work ontop of school. I have limited time with work, school, the gym, the puppy and a husband to have time daily to "bake a pie" in under 2 hours.

So I replied to her "I just didn't have the ingredients that I needed and the time it would take to make a pie from scratch."
Girl: "Why, you should have just gone to the store. You know they do have frozen pie crusts there."
I seriously almost blew up in anger. I AM A PASTRY STUDENT. WHY WOULD I BUY FROZEN STORE BROUGHT PIE CRUST?????????

SO glad I'm not her lab partner.

Sugar Coma!

2008-10-14T18:32:00.003-05:00

As a women, one cannot deny herself of silky, smooth, and delicate truffles at least once a month. I tend to eat it more than once a month, but lets keep that a secret ladies ;-) Beware, the following truffle pictures may put you into a sugar coma. Sometthing to the effect of this picture below:
We worked with chocolate last week in Advanced pastries. I am grasping the idea better and better the more I work with chocolate. We tempered also which is part of the process to realign the alpha and beta crystals in order to obtain chocolate that has a smoother, shinner, crispier and snappy texture and mouthfeel. It also increases the melting temperature so it doesn't melt as fast.
These truffles are made with a mocha paste ganache which is rolled and allowed to set. Then I dipped it in tempered chocolate to cover it for the shinny appearance. Just FYI. I did not grow the mint and blueberries. :-b

Carb OVERLOAD!

2008-10-07T17:44:00.003-05:00

Carbs. They are my world. I LOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEE making them and I LOVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEE eating them. This girl ain't goin on no carb diet. *snap fingers*

It's been a while since I've felt like baking at home since I bake 5 days out of the week at work and at school. It's hard to drag my sorry lazy butt into the kitchen and watch dough rise. Until...last week. I reminisced about the pizza and foccaccia we made back in Faulkners breads class. I dug into 'The Professional Pastry Chef' book by Bo Friberg and viola! This came out.

I love this recipe because unlike most other foccaccia recipes I've come across, this one literally pours a cup of olive oil ontop of the risen dough before baking so it makes it crispy on top and SOOOOO tender and soft on the inside. It's amazing!
Focaccia - 'The Professional Pastry Chef' by Bo Friberg

Sponge

1 1/2 oz fresh compressed yeast (3/4 oz dry active yeast)

3/4 C warm water

1 TBS granulated sugar

8 oz high-gluten flour

Dough

2 C warm water

3.4 C olive oil

3 oz granulated sugar

2 TBS salt

1 lb high gluten flour

14 oz bread flour

1/4 C olive oil

Topping

Herbed garlic oil (1 oz each fresh rosemary, fresh sage and fresh basil; 1 C olive oil heated, 2 heads garlic, roasted and pureed)

1 ts kosher salt

Procedure

Sponge: dissolve yeast in warm water, add sugar and high gluten flour, knead using dough hook for 5 minutes
Cover, let rise till sponge starts to fall
Dough: add warm water to sponge with olive oil, sugar, salt and high gluten flour. Knead with dough hook and add enough of bread flour for a soft, smooth, elastic dough
Form into ball on floured surface, cut X into dough and pull out to form a rought square. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
Coat bottom and sides of sheet pan with 1/4 C olive oil. Place dough in pan and with oiled hands stretch out dough to all sides of pan. Let rise till doubled.
Stretch dough again to cover entire pan and let rest for a couple minutes. Press fingertips into top to make dimples
Let rise till 1.5 times original size.
Spread herbed garlic oil over surface of dough and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Place in preheated oven at 475 degrees F then reduce to 375 degrees F when pan is placed into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes
Herbed Garlic oil: chop herbs finely and add to heated olive oil with garlic. Let stand for 1 hour.

As if the focaccia isn't enough carb for me, I decided a couple days later to make pizza. So I concocted a pizza sauce and it actually came out really tasty.

Val's Pizza Sauce

1 can of tomato puree
1 ts of dried Oregano
1 ts dried basil
2 heads garlic, chopped
Olive oil
1 1/2 TBS Brown sugar
pink of salt

Heat olive oil in pan. Add garlic and sautee till golden brown.
Add dried herbs and sautee till fragrant and add in puree.
Add in brown sugar and a pinch of salt and combine. Adjust salt and sugar to taste.

This is also the best pizza crust I have had in a long time. Like the Focaccia, the dough is crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Bo Friberg's Pizza dough 'The Professional Pastry Chef'

1/2 oz fresh yeast (1/4 oz dry active yeast)
3/4 C warm water
1 ts granulated sugar
2 TBS olive oil
1 ts salt
1 TBS honey
10 oz bread flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water and let dissolve
Mix in sugar, olive oil, salt and honey
Add flour and knead in mixer with dough hook till smooth and elastic, 10 minutes
Place dough in oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover and let rise till doubled in volume
Place in refrigerator covered for at least 2 hours. Return to room temperature before proceeding. (I didn't put it in the fridge. I used it right away)
Divide dough in half, and roll and stretch dough on floured surface into a 10-12 in circle.
Top as desired and baked at 450 degrees F.

Val's pizza topping of choice

muenster pepper jack cheese
Shredded colby jack cheese
Finely diced onions
Finely diced Tomato

Oh yeah, I ate the whole pizza. I would TOTALLY win a pizza eating contest!

What every neckline craves

2008-09-29T17:28:00.005-05:00

You may think all girls need diamonds, that is the plain truth but have you ever thought of how neglected your neck feels? With us bakers and cooks it's hard to wear anything nice on my hands in fear that it may be lost forever in the pool of spaghetti sauce or smashed in your mixer. So why not look pretty while we cook and bake with some beautiful necklaces from my sisters new venture Muntedkowhai.

Here's some pictures to make you click on that link

All her necklaces are crocheted by her crafty little hands
Look how flattering it is on the neckline
Here's some other designs
Tempted yet?

ohhh la la lavash!

2008-09-27T17:47:00.004-05:00

I am finally back in my game for the daring bakers challenges. My two month disappearance was due to readjusting to a new home and a new job and a new school. I'm glad to be back in the game. I will edit this post tomorrow when I have more time but for now, please enjoy the crackers with poppyseed and gaucamole and baba ganoush dips that I made along with the crackers. Yum...Oh!

The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread, by Peter Reinhart

Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

Procedure:

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (see http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bre … ong-Enough for a discription of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

7. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

This baba ganoush recipe above was given to me by a friend by in my pastry school in Alabama and I've been meaning to try it since he gave it to me umm...9 months ago. hahaha. Honestly, it's still in my fridge cause I didn't really like it. The weird thing is I LOVE eggplant. So I don't know what my problem is. I don't think I will share the recipe cause well, I threw it away.
This guacamole dip was actually taught to me by my sister and it's SO delicious. I like it plain without the Jalopenos and such. It's very simple to make. My sister got this recipe when she worked in Alaska at a fish plant from her Mexican friends. So this MUST be authentic right?????

Tiff's guacamole Dip

1 Avocado (ripe) deskinned and scoop out into a bowl
finely chopped onion (depends on how much onion you like. I usually add 1 TBS at the most)
juice of a lemon/lime wedge
finely chopped tomato (about 1 TBS or more. I prefer more)
1/2 clove chopped garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

There are only 2 steps: combine and mash with a fork till you get the consistency you like. I like smooth.

I think these lavash crackers tasted better the day after, or perhaps I just like left overs!

Fake Bake

2008-09-25T15:00:00.004-05:00

I have never really had any pet peeves in the food industry besides the usual chefs/line cooks who do drugs and smoke without washing their hands afterwards. This past week has brought with it a new pet peeve which I will call fake bake. It goes something like this:

Scenerio #1
"Hey! Last night I went all out and made dinner AND dessert! I grilled steaks and I made a pie!" said anonymous
"Oh really? Did you make it from scratch?" Friend of anonymous
"Well, no it was frozen." said anonymous
*raised eyebrow from me*
*thinks: so where did the 'made a pie,' come in?*

Scenerio #2
"hey guys, I thought I'd bring you in some croissants I made from work." Said I
"OH! You did make those. I forgot you worked at a bakery. First I thought 'there's NO way SHE made that!' hahahahaha. I made a pie!" said anonymous
"uh huh. And what pie did you bring?" said I
"Oh a Care-el-mel fruit pie. I baked it at 5pm, so it's still warm!" said Anonymous
"You made it from scratch?" Said another
"no, it's frozen." said anonymous
*laughing whole-heartedly inside. I thought 'the hardest part of that was opening the box.'*

I mean, I don't snub people who bring store brought pies. I know not everyone LOVES to bake but you know being cocky about the fact that you "made" and "baked" something when it clearly was store-brought drives me nuts. I don't know, to me that doesn't qualify as baking. That's just me though and perhaps my mind is skewed because I am a baker and nothing but made from scratch goods will do.

Well, now that I have that off my chest. Time to catch up on school. My new school is different and for the first 3 weeks I kept reminiscing about my friends back at Faulkner state and missing them to pieces and not enjoying the new friends and the new facility around me. Perhaps that is why I never wrote about my new school thus far.

This week really changed things. I started to enjoy the people around me, the laughter and the silliness. I must say though...I am UTTERLY sick of puff pastry. I work with it at work, and I have worked with it 3 other times in baking classes and once again I worked with it yesterday. With a good partner even diasters turn into fun, so here is our poached apple in puff pastry.

The kiwi are acting as the apples leaves and the strawberry...well it's just there for color.

NOW HERE'S MY SURPRISE THAT I'VE BEEN ITCHING TO SHARE!

It makes me this delicious drink and more.....

So of course Emiline was right! It is indeed an espresso machine! SCORE!!!!!
Check out Stud #2! (the title of Stud #1 will always go to Brandon)

"oh so shiny. Shiny and new, new!"

The first whole week that I got this, I kept dreaming of making all sorts of espresso drinks. I told my co-workers. Apparently, their looks said I am a freak. I guess their enthusiasm for food and drink may not be as high as mine. lol.

One last issue of importance. I LOVE heroes and was SO excited about the first episode of the new season. It makes me want to have powers too! If I were special, I would want to...have the power to wish for an appliance and it would magically appear. Yes, that is what my power will be.

The calm before the storm

2008-09-22T16:53:00.002-05:00

It was eerie how calm the sky was before Ikes predicted arrival. Thank goodness it never hit Corpus because seeing how devastated Galveston and Houston is, I think that my anxiety and need to leave was justified. I can't possibly imagine what they are going through but just thinking about us in that situation, I am very thankful cause I know God definitely watched over us. Thank you all for the kind words and prayers ;-)

Here's some pictures of the beach after the huge waves that hit our beach. Believe it or not the beach was FILLED with trash. I can't believe how much garbage we were walking in. I didn't want to think about it.
Minature waves compared to the 5 ft waves we got before and during the storm.
Leben and Brandon battling the heavy rain that felt like a million nails stabbing at you.
So in all the midst of the hurricane evacuation and Muffy leaving us, I totally blanked on the yummy piece of mooncake my mom sent me in the mail for chinese mooncake festival that was on September 14th. So I sat down with my little ball of a mooncake ...
savored it. :-D

I got a new toy 2 sundays ago. I love it. I will post more about as time will let me.

It makes me happy in the mornings and saves me mega bucks in the long run.

I miss you baby sister

2008-09-15T15:18:00.003-05:00

I stood by your bed last night... I came to have a peep.

I could see that you'd been crying, and you found it hard to sleep

I whined to you softly as you brushed away a tear,

"It's me. I haven't left you. I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here."

I was close to you at breakfast... I watched you pour your tea.

You were thinking of the many times your hands reached down to me.

I was with you at my grave today... you tend to it with such care.

I want to reassure you that I'm not lying there.
I walked you towards the house as you fumbled for the key.

I gently put my paw on you... I smiled and said, "its me."

You looked so very tired as you sank into a chair.

I tried so hard to let you know that I was sitting there.

It's wonderful for me to be so near you everyday,

To say to you with certainty, "I never went away."

You sat there very quietly, then smiled... I think you knew

That in the stillness of the evening I was very close to you.

And when the time is right for you to cross the brief divide,

I'll rush across to meet you and we'll stand there side by side.

I have so many things to show you! There's so much for you to see.

Be patient, live your journey out, then come home to be with me.

-Author Unknown

Obtained from this link

I try to be strong in face of losing something or someone. I keep things bottled up inside and try not to let it affect me. When you don't see the situation, when you are away from words and pictures and from the people who remind you of that loss it should make it easier. 15 years stick with you. How do you not breakdown at the sight of her picture?
She loved me even though I gave her ruddy haircuts one after the other during the summer times. Somehow she seemed to be able to pull it off and look even cuter

When she figured out that Brandon was to be a constant in my life, she decided it was time to let me know her discontent with me getting married and leaving and so she began to ignore me and love Brandon and right before we got married, she ignored the both of us and I have never been able to get her to come to me willingly after that.

Our last Christmas with the muffster, hiding under the pressies. We all miss you gingerbuckles. ;-)

IKES!!!!

2008-09-10T17:51:00.001-05:00

Hey all,

We are in the path of Hurricane Ike, so we are heading out and going to San Antonio with our puppy. Will see you all when we get home!

My Green Thumb

2008-09-08T16:55:00.005-05:00

This is what I have been doing the past month. Hiding in my house watching my basil grow. No, that would be creepy. You can say I have no green thumb at all and the reason this basil is growing is because Brandon waters it. I like to plant stuff, I just can't seem to ever get around to watering them. Hey! I'm a cook/baker, not a gardener. So I'll leave it to the pros, but I can for sure say that this is my very first pot o' herb.

I decided to make an almond basil pesto for dinner last night. Usually I add a BUNCH of garlic cloves and then I end up being the one on the treadmill dripping garlic sweat and having my next door treadmiller get off because I stink. Well, if they were a vampire, I would be safe. SO, I added only 1 clove of garlic and it was just right!
I pan-fried Brandon some chicken breasts and made potatoes O'brien - homestyle!
Here's another view of the plated dinner incase you were interested. Probably not, but you know. For myself, I substituted the chicken for a more green colored friend. BEANS!
I have been a daring baker slacker. School started, work started, life started again. I'll be glad when I'm done with school so I can come home from work and not have to do homework. Blah. That reminds me I should check out the daring bakers site to see what this months challenge is. I sure hope I can fit it in.

I heart Texas

2008-08-15T11:35:00.006-05:00

Wow, I am such a food blogging bum. It's been what over a month or more. It's hard to blog when you are using your neighbors wireless connection. (Shhh, I didn't say that). I don't understand why it takes the internet guy 2 weeks to come out and flip a switch. That would be a good job for someone with OCD. You'd get your internet in no time flat!

Anyways, our move to Corpus Christi TX from Milton, FL went really smoothly. It was a 13 hour trip which is good timing for a fully loaded 30 foot truck. So we got to our new house at 11:30pm. Needless to say we werent thinking right and thinking our driveway was long enough, persuaded Brandon that it would fit and we wouldn't have to park half way on the curb. Well...let's just say I'm keeping my trap shut from now on. We had to back out of the driveway obviously and alas the trailer with our car could not turn that sharply backwards and we had to unhook the trailer with the car then drive the trailer with the trailer back on on the truck. We had to take the highway because it's a loop of somesort and would bring us back to our house without having to do a bunch of turns on our street and wake up our beloved brand new neighbors. Yeah, so on the highway, the trailer locked up. The cop came to help. We got home at 2am. No power in the house. Cold, dark shower. That's all of that I want to live through again.

On the lighter side of things we got to go on a three day weekend trip to San Antonio! I LOVED IT! Here's Brandon and I at one of the many missions for tourists like us to look at.
Here's a much nicer mission. I think the nicest mission out of all the ones that we went to. Well, we only went to 2 others besides the Alamo. It got a little repetitive and boring and it was hot! OH! P.S I scored those shorts for $12 at Pacsun. Sweet!

And then here is our self photography skills.

Our luck for finding willing photographers was running out on our last day in San Antonio but we managed to get a lady and her family to take this one for us.

We also thought we'd waste some money and go to Ripleys believe it or not museum and the wax museum. Believe it or not - it was a total waste of money. Can you spot the ghost in the above ivory sculpture? (It's me trapped in the glass but not really)
At least I got to meet David Lettermen. I starred in his late night show. He didn't talk to me much. Infact he didn't even move. What kind of a host is that?
Brandon visited Oprah. She had downgraded her huge set to this two seater set. I thought she was doing well for herself.
Ah, here's the riverwalk in San Antonio, just where our hotel is. It was convient and pretty but since we aren't much of the drinking type, we didn't really rock it out on the riverwalk. Plus, never eat along the riverwalk - not good food.
Just another picture to bore you guys some more of us at the mission.

Brandon surprised me with a beautiful hotel 'Hotel Valencia' but had insisted all week long that we were staying at La Quinta. I am a total bathroom snob and have been since I was like 3 years old, so this was definitely a plus.
The room itself was fantastic! The blinds were made of broad wood. So nice and the King size bed was so comfy. The added fur draped over the bed was a rather nice touch too.
Here's Brandon next to the tallest man in the world. Looks like he needs to grow a little more.
This is what I will become if I keep food bloggin and not not exercising. Only this is a man and I don't think food blogging will turn me into a man - right?

The first week we arrived in Corpus, Brandon volunteered himself to help with the annual Navy Regatta and hence I was volunteered. So on Saturday and Sunday we got to race on sailboats! We got hooked up with a Captain and his catamaran which goes superfast. Well the saturday trip was a 3 hour long sail course. At the end of the race we were bookin it. We went like 18 mph. It was sweet.
We totally won on Saturday and here is our trophy and we won on Sundays race also!
Here's Brandon. He had to be in charge of the steering (I think it meant he was the skipper) on Sundays race. That is the rules.
Then theres me above trying to help.
I started work on Wednesday at a French Bakery in town and I am LOVIN it! It doesn't get much better than creating things I love to do at home. It's hardly like a job but it is cause I feel so inadequate right now. I gotta step up on my pate a choux piping skills. I get up at 4am to be at work by 6:30am and then I leave at 3pm. It's nice to be home before it gets dark. Now I can hang out with people in the evenings instead of being a tired hermit like I was when I worked in the restaurant industry back in FL. Never again - I hope.

I will post more as I bake more. School starts up on the 28th and hopefully it won't be too stressful. I miss you guys and I miss blogging about food so I will try hard to get back into it. Till next time - eat what you bake, I know I will. ;-)

Where's Val?

2008-07-02T16:26:00.003-05:00

Okay, okay before y'all (learning from the south pretty well now) beat me up and tell me I suck as a member of the Daring Bakers because I always post days after the "reveal," and that I just suck at updating my blog because it's been more than a month, I have a REALLY good excuse. Trust me. Before you panic, no I was not abducted by aliens and held hostage to bake them pastries and breads. Though if I were, I sure hope they pay well, better than what they do here.

Anyways, just so you know I did make the Daring Bakers challenge before the reveal date. 2 weeks before to be exact. It just happens that every reveal date happens to be on a day I have school or work or on a sunday when I am so tired from school and work that all I do is lay on my couch like a sac-o-potatoes. Lovely sight mind you. Well, it will not happen again (for another month and a half at least). Please hold your enthusiam while I tell you why.

I am now unemployeed (which is a good thing) because we are about to move to Corpus Christi, Texas. My husband Brandon selected P-3s about a month ago and since then life has been a rollercoaster. When I found out, I freaked out crying all over campus cause I still have 6 months of school left and that meant that I would be living with my husband for 6 months in this thing they call a town. That was not going to happen, so I did research and will be attending Del Mar College in Corpus and transferring the credits I still need back here to get my degree. Long story short, I would have to take 25% of Del Mars classes in order to get a degree from them and that would just be a waste of time and money. I only have 2 labs left, the rest of the classes I'm taking through Faulkner via distance Ed. Unfortunately for me Del Mar is only offering one of the labs I need in the Fall, so I won't be done completely till the Spring and I don't know the chances of them having the lab I need open in the Spring. So it's kinda still up in the air. Brandon was suppose to leave to report in Corpus early June and we are just so thankful for all the prayers because he was able to extend his leavage until the day after my finals.

So without further ado, I give to you Julys Daring Bakers challenge from Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What's Cooking?:

Above I made a chocoalte cream cheese filling and below a pear and brown sugar streusel filling.
DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast
½ cup whole milk (I used Plain Soy Milk)
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated (I opted out this cause Brandon does not like Orange zest)
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom (I used nutmeg)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ vanilla bean, split and scraped (I can't find this here)
2 large eggs, chilled
¼ cup fresh orange juice (I omitted this)
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
½ pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter ( I used Earth Balance)
¼ cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

BUTTER BLOCK
Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes
Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. (In school I learnt that if you are fast with turns, you can make 2 turns before refrigerating so it decreases the waiting time). Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Proofing and Baking
Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch
Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Last week in my 'Essentials of Breads' class we had our midterm practical. It was a restless night prior because we had always worked in groups to produce our breads so who is to say that one person had more of an effect on the outcome of the bread than someone else? I was doubting my abilities and the fact that there we had to share equipment made me THAT much more nervous. I am a very time-oriented person and to have to wait for equipment when I am ready for the next step would stress me out completely. So, I grabbed my own measuring Cups and digital scale. I got there early enough to put tabs on a mixing bowl and a good working oven. The race started and I was coming in in the middle time wise while we prepared the dough. I had a sponge so that took a little longer. We had to be prestine in our santitation, appearance, technique, mis en place, taste, uniformity and be able to answer questions about our bread. We were allowed to make any bread we had done in the class and I chose Challah. Mainly because I knew everyone would take the Italian breads route thinking that it would be the easiest but alas it is not. Plus I wanted to be able to consume my bread since it doesn't have butter or milk it was the choice to go with. I was third to scale and mould my dough. Each piece of dough had to be 1 # - 1# 4oz after baking and it usually loses 2 oz moisture in the oven. I was skeptical when I scaled my dough. Each only weight 1# 2 oz. If it lost more than 2 oz, I would down graded. I was first in the proof box and first in the oven. Thank goodness because after the 1st 3 people got out of the ovens, the ovens turned out us. We have deck ovens and the majority of the breads we made needed ice to be thrown in as we baked for a crispier crust. Well, one giant mistake, too much ice went in and leaked out of the oven, shutting down the pilots for the oven one by one all the way down and so most peoples breads did not bake right. My breads came out perfect. 1# 1 oz each. Chef loved it and said it was very well made and tasted great. Phew!
For our catering class we were divided into different catering groups and we had to have a theme. I came up with a cheese theme and my plate I presented was the dessert. It's a sweetened cream cheese filling wrapped in phyllo dough, baked and topped off with a blueberry sauce. I was REALLY surprised when several culinary students asked me "What's phyllo dough." I looked at them. They looked back. I thought 'are you serious?' The draining moment was when I realised that they were serious.
I also have a culinary sculpture class and we worked with chocolate sculpting and made this chocolate bunny. I tried to bring it home in 1 piece but after the 1 hour 30 minute drive, her ear had melted and she was humped over in her half chocolate egg shell.

I hope to update more regulary since I am happily unemployeed for a month. :-)

It ain't over till the fat lady sings!

2008-05-28T19:15:00.004-05:00

This month, we had the pleasure of a challenge from the founders of The Daring Bakers Lis and Ivvone and co-hosts Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie(http://applespeachespumpkinpie.blogspot.com/) and Shea of the blog Whiskful (http://whiskful.blogspot.com/).

Our mission: Opera Cake
Feelings immediately after reading the challenge: Exhaustion
Feelings after completing the challenge: Not as bad as when I did it in class
Feelings after 1st bite of challenge: *shudder*
Feelings after trying to make myself eat another piece: *shudder*

I am not sure why I do this to myself everytime I make something. Even if it's not to my liking or taste, I force myself to eat it. Possibly because we grew up not wasting what food was prepared for us. Afterall you know, all those starving children in China. *jokes*
Above is the Joconde sheet cakes separated by a vanilla buttercream. The joconde are moistened with simple syrup.
Now, here is the cake that has been covered by a white chocolate mousse and covered in a white chocolate glaze.
I also busted out some decorating skills, I also have nunchuck skills.
Surprisingly, it looks pretty good when cut and the buttercream actually worked for me this time, probably because I let it mix in the mixer till it was stiff. The other times, I was afraid I would curdle it for some reason so I always removed it before it was done and yeah...it was not good.
and there we have it folks, May challenge is complete. Here is the link to the recipe.

To be completely honest, if you couldn't tell by my entire entry, I did not much enjoy this Opera Cake, nor was it satisfying for the amount of calories I forced myself to eat. I can truly say that I hate buttercream, I'm not sure I like the joconde since I felt it was rather bland. The only part I did like was the white chocolate glaze, but that alone took me into a sugar coma. I have never been a fan of desserts such as this, no offense. It reminds me of petit fours and I just felt that the textures and the tastes were so different in each of the components to make up the Opera that it didn't quite blend together well for me. Perhaps I'm crazy, which is probably the case.

Carrot to try?

2008-05-13T22:40:00.004-05:00

It's surprising how long it took for me to make ANYTHING baked containing carrots ever since I made 200 some carrot cakes back in December at work. I've wanted to but the thought of what I went through; the batter splattered chef coat, carrot stained hands, pastry shortening up to my ears and the annoyance of having to take turns on the mixer and ovens when I had a deadline; made me quite unwilling to bake carrot muffins which I had craved since before December until now.

Finally, I was able to bring myself to making these carrot muffins and these are IBS safe, so good for you and better for your tummy! Enjoy!

CARROT MUFFINS - Valerie Adams

3 Medium sized carrots, peeled and grated
1/4 C apple sauce, natural
3/4 C oil
1 1/2 ts Vanilla extract
3/4 C eggbeaters
Mix wet ingredients together until complete combined

2 C flour, All Purpose
1 C granulated sugar
3/4 ts Baking Soda
1 1/2 ts Baking Powder
1/2 ts salt
1 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts nutmeg
Mix the dry ingredients together

Then fold wet ingredients into the dry.

Finally add:

1 C shredded coconut
1/2 C chopped and toasted pecans

Spray muffins pan with olive oil spray and then divide batter evenly between muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.

I hardly eat any "real" dinner, what most people would consider dinner cause sometimes I just can't stomach it with my IBS, but the other day I concocted something so yummy! Emmm! I had some leftover cooked penne pasta and here is my creation:

CHIPOTLE PORCINI PENNE - Valerie Adams

5-6 dried porcini mushrooms (hydrated in some warm water)
1/2 tomato cut into chunks
1/2 Vandalia onion, sliced thinnly
Chipotle pepper (dried, ground) to taste

Heat up some olive oil in a saute pan, and sautee onions till soft, then add in penne pasta, toss in tomatos and the porcini mushrooms (squeese out water).
Sautee and add some of the mushroom water for flavor and moisture. Add in the chipotle pepper to taste. Dish up!

Now, I just made myself hungry. I better make dinner - but what? Hmm....

Maybe it will fly?

2008-05-01T17:22:00.003-05:00

So, as an admirer of Ace of Cakes, I could not say that I am fan until I had tried my hand at making a cake myself. I can't say that it is a cake worthy of posting, but I had to. It's my very first fondant covered, shaped cake. In a sad way I'm proud of it, so I couldn't not post it. Right?

Strawberry Chocolate Cake - Valerie Adams

4 containers of Yo-Digestive Strawberry yogurt
1 C oil
4 ts Vanilla extract
(Mix liquid together)

2 1/2 C All Purpose flour
4 ts Baking powder
1/2 C cocoa powder
2 C powdered sugar
(Mix dry ingredients together and add liquid to the dry and mix till combined)

Pour into greased pan and bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes.

I then cut the cake into three equal strips

and brushed simple syrup onto each layer then adhered the layers with chocolate icing.

This is the plane after cutting and frosting.
Here's the end product with the marshmellow fondant. Please forgive the nooks and crannies you can see, but I've never worked with fondant before.
The other side
and lastly the front of the plane.

I think it was a little small of a cake to really put enough detail on it, so next time I will make a bigger one.

The past 2 weeks in review

2008-04-30T17:27:00.005-05:00

It is high time I had some time off. Spring semester has ended and now I have 2 weeks of nothing but work. Eh. I would rather have it the other way around. I don't know about anyone else but the work environment is SO important to me and well let's just say, my work environment is draining. None the less, I'm going to make myself enjoy the days that I do have off as wonderful as possible! So much has happened, yet what I have here is not anywhere near what I wish to show you all. Considering my absence since...well november when work and school got in the way of blogging. What has this world come to?????

I'll start this post off with a little humor. Can anyone tell me what this picture reminds you of?:

As Brandon puts it "It's like George from Seinfield when he posed on his velvet couch." Scary picture in my mind! Leben looks alot cuter though. He's now 5 months and weighing in at 52 lbs!

Here's a side that I made for dinner tonight (above). It's quite tasty and refreshing. I sliced up some cantaloupe and honeydew and sweet onions, tossed it with 2 TBS of simple syrup, about 1/4 C rice vinger (more or less depending on your tastes) and then tossed in some crumbled blue cheese. OOOHHH LALA! (I didn't really say that out loud, just in my head.)

Last monday was the last week of spring semester classes before finals, so we made bread sculptures out of salt dough and we were allowed to make anything we wanted, so I opted to go for the pig, then my friends said he needed an apple. So an apple I made. He got baked at 275 degrees F for ... forever till he dried out. Best class ever!

Oh, This is our collaboration. Kim made the hot dog and the bun, I made the weener dog head, hence hot dog. HAHAHAHA...okay it really wasn't that great of a joke, but it was late, and we had been there since 7:30am.

I also made some spanokopitas sometime ago. I love feta and spinach, so this was the perfect finger food. Emmm...cheesy. I used olive oil between the filo layers instead of the traditional butter and it crisped really well!

Ahhh...well sorry to say my dear dear readers. At least those who happened to stumble across my page, willingly or unwillingly. Never the less, the 80 degree weather here in Florida has caused the self destruction of my prized chocolate hat. It's life was taken away by the stabbage of the stand itself. Horrific! I fell on my hands and knees and cried "WHY? WHY OH WHY?"
Really though, I was just sad I didn't eat it before it melted and well...after weeks sitting there being free food to flies and what not, it didn't seem proper.

OH! The last day of class also revealed to us (the pastry students), that we were really ready for sugar work. As you can see, we cast sugar into this stainglass window. The boys made an evil angel but their manly hands caused the decapitation of the the angels head and the eventual collapse of her body onto the bench.

Well, that's a wrap! There's more to come. I made an olive oil rosemary bread the other day, but didn't copy the picture onto the computer and well...I'm just too lazy to do it right now. hahahahaha. So you'll have to wait! *suspense has been created*

Redneck Cheesecake lollipops!

2008-04-27T18:15:00.003-05:00

You know you live in a redneck town when:

the only thing you can find as stems for the cheesecake lollipops are toothpicks! SWEET!

That's what I'm looking for. hehehe.

The only real problem I had was that the toothpicks came out of the cheesecake lollipops, probably cause toothpicks SUCK at doing anything besides picking out food from between your teeth.
Other than that everything went really well. I dipped them in caramel, chocolate and white chocolate then covered them in either sprinkles, crushed oreos or coconut.
Our neighbors gobbled up the ones we gave them and Brandon also gobbled up most of them. Which is good. I had my fair share but they are only good for 3 days max. Then they start to taste more like the food in your refrigerator than anything else. Ew!

It must be magic, because Brandon had annouced his "need" of cheesecake the week I had planned to make these so it came right in the nick of time.

So come ye, come all, Elle – Feeding My Enthusiasms and Deborah – Taste and Tell

has challeneged us, and we have prevailed! GO DARING BAKERS, GO!

Cheesecake Pops - Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor
Makes 30 – 40 Pops
5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

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.

My..has anyone seen my hat?

2008-04-08T22:18:00.004-05:00

Does it ever feel like it takes you forever to get something done? Well, quite literally this blasted Baked Alaska has taken us 3 whole weeks to compile! I was pretty much ready to hit them against the wall by the end of Mondays class. It's like a huge paint ball, only yummy with homemade french ice cream and a gooey truffle surprise!

Then came the real challenge of the day. We are working with chocolate, so Chef decided it was time for us to make a hat and stand and base - ENTIRELY out of tempered chocolate! We sat there, jaws locked in open position. Drooling at the thought of all that chocolate, but mostly because we were dumb struck. Are we ready? How do we even start? Let's just say, after 4 hours of non-stop chocolate work, I came out with this.

'Please do not try on hat, ask for assistance'

Shake your bon bons!

2008-04-02T16:40:00.004-05:00

Monday class was a blast. We busted out a bunch of truffles, ugly truffles actually. We were literally covered in chocolate by the end of class. Luckily we had aprons on but somehow I managed to get chocolate all over my chef jacket sleeves. I must have short arms or something, yeah that's it.

I think those above look like malteses more than delicate truffles but the chocolate ball molds are filled with pureed raspberry & raspberry liquor then capped off with tempered chocoalte and dipped in tempered chocolate which gives it that sheen.

Now these are called splitters, which are basically toasted nuts rolled in a milk chocolate ganache. It looks like poop to me.
here are the cognac balls and Celibeth and I made. By the end of it, we were so fed up with not knowing what to do cause the recipe just plain sucked, that I was throwing them in the tempered chocolate just to get it done instead of delicately dipping them in. It's a cognac ganache ontop of marzipan and then dipped in tempered chocolate.
Now, I think these chocolate covered cherries turned out the best. I just want to eat that right up!
These "truffles" are made up of temepred chocolate discs set on patterened transfer sheets to get the stars stuck on them then inbetween two discs is a rum ganache.

Lastly these are coffee filled truffles.

Then night class we got to mess around with marzipan and made mini fruits! See if you can guess what's what!

OH! Yes, pastry students like to shake their bon bons in class and well...culinary students seem to like "other things" if you know what I mean.

It's my party, and I'll bake if I want to

2008-03-30T07:57:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I didn't have a party with the cake I baked but there was a get-together. Okay, so I wasn't at the get-together either, I was infact at work. Oh surprise, surprise! I gave the cake to my husband and told him specifically "PLEASE, take it away. Give it to your friends. Otherwise I will sit here and eat it all." Truth be told, I definitely would of.

On friday, I was just going to bake the cake off, and then frost it on Easter Sunday as our dessert but once the cake was baked, it seemed pointless to stick it in the freezer till Sunday. I was already half way there, I might as well finish it off. My version of the cake was an addition of poppyseeds and pomegranite juice. I tasted the pomegranite juice before adding it to the cake batter. Emm...not very tasty. More so, it dried my mouth out. ICK! It didn't add much flavor to the cake batter itself, so I thought:
POMEGRANITE SIMPLE SYRUP! Oh boy was it better when the cake was soaked with the pomegranite syrup.
Instead of a round cake, I decided on making a sheet cake. We always make 9-in cakes at school and it was just getting a little boring to say the least.

Starting the buttercream process above with the sugar and below with the melted chocolate. Go, go power mixer!
*drum roll please.......* I smothered the bottom layer with buttercream also. Brandon doesn't like fruit fillings/spreads etc so I just used the chocolate buttercream between the layers too. I had so much of it, why put it to waste.
One dumb thing I did was use the whisk to beat the buttercream. Please, don't ask me why. I should've known better. It didn't make the buttercream creamy but had little teeny butter chunks in it. Gross!

None the less, it turned out pretty I think. The pomegranite was overpowered by the chocolate buttercream, so perhaps next time I will stick to a lighter frosting, perhaps even fondant.

And so, this brings me to the recipe for Dories Perfect Party Cake hosted by Morven.

It's easter already?

2008-03-23T19:35:00.002-05:00

It must be the leap year cause Easter came flying around the corner and I waited till this week to buy Ham for Brandon, but they had plenty left, so I must not be the only one that suddenly got smacked in the face by easter.

I never really saw easter as a day for presents, so I totally didn't even get Brandon anything and I felt totally terrible. I had told him the other week that I have never had to find an easter basket. I mean, we got easter eggs but we didn't have to hunt for it. We woke up this morning and he turned over to me and said " You better go find your easter basket before we're late for church." I was SO excited and it took me like 20 minutes to find the thing. He hid it in the air filter place. Who would've thunk. I was excited! He knows that I keep candy for like a year before I touch it, so he got me lots of animal cookies and a box of goldfishes and colbie calliets CD which I have been wanting for the longest time. SO good. :-)

For dinner, I made a salad with avocado, provalone, green peppers, carrots and grape tomatos. It was refreshing for sure!
I also made a St. Joseph wreath from Saveur magazine
I minied it into 6 wreaths instead of one huge one. They were really good and of course I made substitutions. I used soymilk instead of milk, olive oil spread instead of butter. It turned out rather tasty. I didn't think it'd taste that good but it was delicious and filling.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!!!

2008-03-02T21:05:00.004-05:00

Folks, it is official, I'm a blogcrastinator. Not by choice mind you, so I hope you will let me slide again this month. I just didn't realise how busy life has gotten lately, I can't say I have had much time for myself, let alone for B and the pup. Quite sad actually and I feel sooooo drained. I don't know how working mothers do it. Props to them because all I have is a husband and a pup.

Oh! Back to the challenge for the DB's this month is held by none other than Mary and Sara. I present to you...FRENCH BREAD!!!!!!!
I was definitely skeptical at first since the recipe said to dissolve instant yeast in the warm water and I was not taught that in school, but I decided to try it anyways. I don't think it gave the max rise, and I was weary of the amount of salt that the recipe called for and in the end it was way too salty for my liking and believe you me, I LOVE sodium.
I made two baguettes and 1 round loaf (above). It was mini, so that was my favorite. I like things made in minature form...except I am deathly afraid of oompa loompas. I can't watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when they start dancing and singing. Leavage of the room is required.
I wasn't disappointed with the crumb and my husband loved the bread, so what can I say? :-)
Emmm...crunch. We were going to bring it to our bible study but after B took a bite, it was agreed upon that this baking adventure would stay a secret. ;-)

And here is the glorious recipe:

French Bread

(From Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume Two by Julia Child and Simone Beck)

Recipe Quantity:

3 - baguettes (24” x 2”) or

batards (16” x 3”) or

6 – short loaves,

ficelles, 12 – 16” x 2” or

3 – round loaves, boules, 7 – 8” in diameter or

12 – round or oval rolls, petits pains or

1 – large round or oval loaf, pain de menage or miche; pain

Time: 7 – 9 hours

Making French Bread:

Step 1: The Dough Mixture – le fraisage (or frasage)

1 cake (0.6 ounce) (20grams) fresh yeast or 1 package dry active yeast

1/3 cup (75ml) warm water, not over 100 degrees F/38C in a glass measure

3 1/2 cup (about 1 lb) (490 gr) all purpose flour, measured by scoopingdry measure cups into flour and sweeping off excess

2 1/4 tsp (12 gr) salt

1 1/4 cups (280 - 300ml) tepid water @ 70 – 74 degrees/21 - 23C

Stir the yeast in the 1/3 cup warm water and let liquefy completely while measuring flour into mixing bowl. When yeast has liquefied, pour it into the flour along with the salt and the rest of the water.Stir and cut the liquids into the flour with a rubber spatula, pressing firmly to form a dough and making sure that all the bits of flour and unmassed pieces are gathered in. Turn dough out onto kneading surface, scraping bowl clean. Dough will be soft and sticky.(Depending the humidity and temperature of your kitchen and the type of AP flour your use, you may need to add additional flour or water to the dough. To decide if this is necessary, we recommend stopping during the mixing process and push at your dough ball. If the dough is super sticky, add additional flour one handful at a time until the dough is slightly sticky and tacky but not dry. If the dough is dry and feels hard, add 1 Tbsp of water a time until the dough is soft and slightly sticky.)Turn dough out onto kneading surface, scraping bowl clean. Dough will be soft and sticky. Let the dough rest for 2 – 3 minutes while you wash and dry the bowl .

Step 2: Kneading – petrissageThe flour will have absorbed the liquid during this short rest, and the dough will have a little more cohesion for the kneading that is about to begin. Use one hand only for kneading and keep the other clean to hold a pastry scrapper, to dip out extra flour, to answer the telephone, and so forth. Your object in kneading is to render the dough perfectly smooth and to work it sufficiently so that all the gluten molecules are moistened and joined together into an interlocking web. You cannot see this happen, of course, but you can feel it because the dough will become elastic and will retract into shape when you push it out.Start kneading by lifting the near edge of the dough, using a pastry scraper or stiff wide spatula to help you if necessary, and flipping the dough over onto itself. Scrape dough off the surface and slap it down; lift edge and flip it over again, repeating the movement rapidly.In 2 -3 minutes the dough should have enough body so that you can give it a quick forward push with the heel of your hand as you flip it over. Continue to knead rapidly and vigorously in this way. If the dough remains too sticky, knead in a sprinkling of flour. The whole kneading process will take 5 – 10 minutes, depending on how expert you become.Shortly after this point, the dough should have developed enough elasticity so it draws back into shape when pushed, indicating the gluten molecules have united and are under tension like a thin web of rubber; the dough should also begin to clean itself off the kneading surface, although it will stick to your fingers if you hold a pinch of dough for more than a second or two.Let dough rest for 3 – 4 minutes. Knead by hand for a minute. The surface should now look smooth; the dough will be less sticky but will still remain soft. It is now ready for its first rise.

Step 3: First Rising – pointage premier temps (3-5 hours at around 70 degrees)

You now have approximately 3 cups of dough that is to rise to 3 1/2 times its original volume, or to about 10 1/2 cups. Wash and fill the mixing bowl with 10 1/2 cups of tepid water (70 – 80 degrees) and make a mark to indicate that level on the outside of the bowl. Note, that the bowl should have fairly upright sides; if they are too outward slanting, the dough will have difficulty in rising. Pour out the water, dry the bowl, and place the dough in it (Note: Very lightly grease the bowl with butter or kitchen spray as well to prevent the risen dough from sticking to the bowl).Slip the bowl into a large plastic bag or cover with plastic, and top with a folded bath towel. Set on a wooden surface, marble or stone are too cold. Or on a folded towel or pillow, and let rise free from drafts anyplace where the temperature is around 70 degrees. If the room is too hot, set bowl in water and keep renewing water to maintain around 70 degrees. Dough should take at least 3 – 4 hours to rise to 10 1/2 cups. If temperature is lower than 70 degrees, it will simply take longer.(Note: If your oven has an oven light, turn on the oven light when you start making the dough. By the time you are ready for the first rise, the temperature in your oven will be around 70 degrees. You can check with your oven thermometer. If you don’t have an oven light, you can turn the oven on to its lowest setting about 5 minutes before you begin your rise. Leave on for 1 – 5 minutes until the temperature is around 75- 80 degrees. Turn off oven, when you open the door to put the dough in to rise, your oven will be around 70 degrees. Another trick is to put your dough on top of your hot water heater. Place a folded towel on top of the hot water heater and let rise. Also a heating pad works well. Always lightly grease the plastic wrap or bowl cover so if the risen dough touches it, the dough won’t stick.)When fully risen, the dough will be humped into a slight dome, showing that the yeast is still active; it will be light and spongy when pressed. There will usually be some big bubbly blisters on the surface, and if you are using a glass bowl you will see bubbles through the glass.

Step 4: Deflating and Second Rising – rupture; pointage deuxieme temps (1 1/2 to 2 hours at around 70 degrees)The dough is now ready to be deflated, which will release the yeast engendered gases and redistribute the yeast cells so that the dough will rise again and continue the fermentation process.With a rubber spatula, dislodge dough from inside of bowl and turn out onto a lightly floured surface, scraping bowl clean. If dough seems damp and sweaty, sprinkle with a tablespoon of flour.Lightly flour the palms of your hands and flatten the dough firmly but not too roughly into a circle, deflating any gas bubbles by pinching them.Lift a corner of the near side and flip it down on the far side. Do the same with the left side, then the right side. Finally, lift the near side and tuck it just under the edge of the far side. The mass of dough will look like a rounded cushion.Slip the sides of your hands under the dough and return it to the bowl. Cover and let rise again, this time to not quite triple, but again until it is dome shaped and light and spongy when touched.(Note: You may need to lightly re-grease your bowl and plastic wrap for the second rise to prevent sticking)

Step 5: Cutting and resting dough before forming loavesLoosen dough all around inside of bowl and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Because of its two long rises, the dough will have much more body. If it seems damp and sweaty, sprinkle lightly with flour.Making clean, sure cuts with a large knife or a bench scraper, divide the dough into:3 equal pieces for long loaves (baguettes or batards) or small round loaves (boules only)5 – 6 equal pieces for long thin loaves (ficelles)10 – 12 equal pieces for small oval rolls (petits pains, tire-bouchons) or small round rolls (petits pains, champignons)2 equal pieces for medium round loaves (pain de menage or miche only)If you making one large round loaf (pain de menage, miche, or pain boulot), you will not cut the dough at all and just need to follow the directions below.After you have cut each piece, lift one end and flip it over onto the opposite end to fold the dough into two; place dough at far side of kneading surface. Cover loosely with a sheet of plastic and let rest for 5 minutes before forming. This relaxes the gluten enough for shaping but not long enough for dough to begin rising again.While the dough is resting, prepare the rising surface; smooth the canvas or linen towelling on a large tray or baking sheet, and rub flour thoroughly into the entire surface of the cloth to prevent the dough from sticking.

Step 6: Forming the loaves – la tourne; la mise en forme des patonsBecause French bread stands free in the oven and is not baked in a pan, it has to be formed in such a way that the tension of the coagulated gluten cloak on the surface will hold the dough in shape.For Long Loaves - The Batard: (Baguettes are typically much too long for home ovens but the shaping method is the same)After the 3 pieces of dough have rested 5 minutes, form one piece at a time, keeping the remaining ones covered.Working rapidly, turn the dough upside down on a lightly floured kneading surface and pat it firmly but not too roughly into an 8 to 10 inch oval with the lightly floured palms of your hands. Deflate any gas bubbles in the dough by pinching them.Fold the dough in half lengthwise by bringing the far edge down over the near edge.Being sure that the working surface is always lightly floured so the dough will not stick and tear, which would break the lightly coagulated gluten cloak that is being formed, seal the edges of the dough together, your hands extended, thumbs out at right angles and touching.Roll the dough a quarter turn forward so the seal is on top.Flatten the dough again into an oval with the palms of your hands.Press a trench along the central length of the oval with the side of one hand.Fold in half again lengthwise.This time seal the edges together with the heel of one hand, and roll the dough a quarter of a turn toward you so the seal is on the bottom.Now, by rolling the dough back and forth with the palms of your hands, you will lengthen it into a sausage shape. Start in the middle, placing your right palm on the dough, and your left palm on top of your right hand.Roll the dough forward and backward rapidly, gradually sliding your hands towards the two ends as the dough lengthens.Deflate any gas blisters on the surface by pinching them. Repeat the rolling movement rapidly several times until the dough is 16 inches long, or whatever length will fit on your baking sheet. During the extension rolls, keep circumference of dough as even as possible and try to start each roll with the sealed side of the dough down, twisting the rope of dough to straighten the line of seal as necessary. If seal disappears, as it sometimes does with all purpose flour, do not worry.Place the shaped piece of dough, sealed side up, at one end of the flour rubbed canvas, leaving a free end of canvas 3 to 4 inches wide. The top will crust slightly as the dough rises; it is turned over for baking so the soft, smooth underside will be uppermost.Pinch a ridge 2 1/2 to 3 inches high in the canvas to make a trough, and a place for the next piece. Cover dough with plastic while you are forming the rest of the loaves.After all the pieces of dough are in place, brace the two sides of the canvas with long rolling pins, baking sheets or books, if the dough seems very soft and wants to spread out. Cover the dough loosely with flour rubbed dish towel or canvas, and a sheet of plastic. Proceed immediately to the final rising, next step.(Note: Empty paper towel tubes and/or bottles of spices work well as braces as well.)For Long Thin Loaves – Ficelles: Follow the steps above but making thinner sausage shapes about 1/2 inch in diameter. When they have risen, slash as with the Batard.For Oval Rolls – Petits Pains, Tire-Bouchons: Form like batards, but you will probably not have to lengthen them at all after the two foldings and sealings. Place rolls on a floured canvas about 2 – 4” apart and cover with plastic to rise. When they have risen, make either 2 parallel slashes or a single slash going from one end to the other.For Small, Medium, or Large Round Loaves – Pain de Menage, Miches, Boules: The object here is to force the cloak of coagulated gluten to hold the ball of dough in shape: the first movement will make cushion; the second will seal and round the ball, establishing surface tension.Place the dough on a lightly floured surface.Lift the left side of the dough with the side of your left hand and bring it down almost to the right side.Scoop up the right side and push it back almost to the left side. Turn the dough a quarter turn clockwise and repeat the movement 8 – 10 times. The movement gradually smooths the bottom of the dough and establishes the necessary surface tension; think of the surface of the dough as if it were a fine sheet of rubber you were stretching in every direction.Turn the dough smooth side up and begin rotating it between the palms of your hands, tucking a bit of the dough under the ball as you rotate it. In a dozen turns you should have a neatly shaped ball with a little pucker of dough, le cle, underneath where all the edges have joined together.Place the dough pucker side up in a flour-rubbed canvas; seal the pucker by pinching with your fingers. Flour lightly, cover loosely and let rise to almost triple its size. After unmolding upside down on the baking sheet, slash with either a long central slash, two long central slashes that cross at right angles, or a semi-circular slash around half the circumference.For Small Round Rolls – Petits Pains, Champignons: The principles are the same here as for the preceding round loaves, but make the cushion shape with your fingers rather than the palms of your hands.For the second stage, during which the ball of dough is rotated smooth side up, roll it under the palm of one hand, using your thumb and little finger to push the edges of the dough underneath and to form the pucker, where the edges join together.Place the formed ball of dough pucker side up on the flour rubbed canvas and cover loosely while forming the rest. Space the balls 2 inches apart. When risen to almost triple its size, lift gently with lightly floured fingers and place pucker side down on baking sheet. Rolls are usually too small for a cross so make either one central slash or the semi-circular cut.For Large Oval Loaf – Pain Boulot: Follow the directions for the round loaves except instead of rotating between the balms of your hands and tucking to form a round loaf, continue to turn the dough from the right to the left, tucking a bit of each end under the oblong loaf. In a dozen turns you should have a neatly shaped oval with tow little puckers of dough, le cles, underneath where all the edges of have joined together.Place the dough pucker sides up in a flour-rubbed canvas; seal the puckers by pinching with your fingers. Flour lightly, cover loosely and let rise to almost triple its size. After unmolding upside down on the baking sheet, slash with parallel slashes going diagonally across the top starting from the upper left and going to the lower right.

Step 7: Final Rise – l’appret - 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours at around 70 degreesThe covered dough is now to rise until almost triple in volume; look carefully at its pre-risen size so that you will be able to judge correctly. It will be light and swollen when risen, but will still feel a little springy when pressed.It is important that the final rise take place where it is dry; if your kitchen is damp, hot, and steamy, let the bread rise in another room or dough will stick to the canvas and you will have difficulty getting it off and onto another baking sheet. It will turn into bread in the oven whatever happens, but you will have an easier time and a better loaf if you aim for ideal conditions.Preheat oven to 450 degrees about 30 minutes before estimated baking time.

Step 8: Unmolding risen dough onto baking sheet – le demoulage.(The key to unmolding without deflating your bread is slow and gentle!)The three pieces of risen dough are now to be unmolded from the canvas and arranged upside down on the baking sheet. The reason for this reversal is that the present top of the dough has crusted over during its rise; the smooth, soft underside should be uppermost in the oven so that the dough can expand and allow the loaf its final puff of volume. For the unmolding you will need a non-sticking intermediate surface such as a stiff piece of cardboard or plywood sprinkled with cornmeal or pulverized pasta.Remove rolling pins or braces. Place the long side of the board at one side of the dough; pull the edge of the canvas to flatten it; then raise and flip the dough softly upside down onto the board.Dough is now lying along one edge of the unmolding board: rest this edge on the right side of a lightly buttered baking sheet. Gently dislodge dough onto baking sheet, keeping same side of the dough uppermost: this is the soft smooth side, which was underneath while dough rose on canvas. If necessary run sides of hands lightly down the length of the dough to straighten it. Unmold the next piece of dough the same way, placing it to the left of the first, leaving a 3 inch space. Unmold the final piece near the left side of the sheet.

Step 9: Slashing top of the dough.

Step 10: Baking – about 25 minutes; oven preheated to 450 degrees (230 degrees C).As soon as the dough has been slashed, moisten the surface either by painting with a soft brush dipped in cold water, or with a fine spray atomizer, and slide the baking sheet onto rack in upper third of preheated oven. Rapidly paint or spray dough with cold water after 3 minutes, again in 3 minutes, and a final time 3 minutes later. Moistening the dough at this point helps the crust to brown and allows the yeast action to continue in the dough a little longer. The bread should be done in about 25 minutes; the crust will be crisp, and the bread will make a hollow sound when thumped.If you want the crust to shine, paint lightly with a brush dipped in cold water as soon as you slide the baking sheet out of oven.

Step 11: Cooling – 2 to 3 hours.Cool the bread on a rack or set it upright in a basket or large bowl so that air can circulate freely around each piece. Although bread is always exciting to eat fresh from the oven, it will have a much better taste when the inside is thoroughly cool and has composed itself.

I heart u!!!!

2008-02-04T21:39:00.000-05:00

Legs dangling off the high red stool, feet wriggling in satisfaction as I fork another bite of the deliciously sweet, creamy and delicately soft chocolate genoise into my mouth, cherishing most of all the brilliant lip staining red cherries. Apart from that and the dark mood lighting, that is what I remember of my favorite cake in the whole wide world when I was 5 years old. Black Forest Cake. I could care less that I was in a dessert parlor in the middle of a department store of a huge shopping mall. I'm sure my memories of the atmosphere and the decor is way off from what it really was back then, but its funny that there are certain things that a little girl remembers. So, when we were faced with making one of these fine cakes, I was both excited and fearful. Excited because it's one of those childhood things you know, but fearful because I can bake a cake for sure, I just....I just have never decorate one before. I don't ice cakes. I just don't. To me, it's like a big fat "YOU FAILED" if I can't ice it right the first time. It's intimidating. See, with breads (which is what I am good at), you use your hands and it directly influences the dough. You can feel it with your hands the progress, when you've kneaded enough to get the perfect gluten development. With cakes, you use tools. That metal icing spatula thingy. It's the middle man. It feels like going to confession and talking to the priest (the middle man) so you can talk to God. That's just not me. I go straight to the source. The spatula is like the priest, you never know what he's thinking. So ladies and gentlemen of the foodblogging world, I present to you my attempt at the beautiful Black Forest Cherry Torte:

I had no problem baking the cake, it's a rather delicate batter, a genoise. Though on the drier side, you moisten it with kirsch simple syrup inbetween the 3 layers which I had to cut freehand. I almost threw up. My heart was pounding as if I were about to jump out of a plane, seriously I am not even kidding. My hands were shaking so much, it felt like I had overdosed on caffiene. I did it though, it took like 5 minutes lol.
Above is the bottom layer which has on the outter edge kirsch flavored chantilly cream in medium peak piped. It was then filled with cherry filling.
I gently slid the middle layer ontop and piped the middle layer with more medium peak chantilly cream.
Finally the top layer went on and I plopped a load of soft peak chantilly cream on it and then smoothed it out. I'm anal. I like things perfect so it was hard to not try and make the top look perfectly smooth. If I overdid it it would have curdled into butter. I also lightly iced the sides of the cake just enough to make the chocolate shavings stick to the sides.
The next step was to use a serrated knife and lightly divide the cake into 12 pieces. Then with a 2 in cookie cutter we placed it in the middle of the cake and filled the inside with more chocolate shavings then we piped rosettes on each piece and topped each rosettes with a halved cherry.

Phew! It was nerve wrecking for sure but quite the challenge and a challenge well done to everyone in our class. It was definitely satisfying to be able to do and see the WHOLE process and that out of simple recipes, out pops this thing. It left us all wondering...we made this?

If anyone is interested in having me post the recipe, so you can make it for your Valentine please let me know ;-)

Lemon fallout

2008-01-29T13:39:00.000-05:00

I love lemons. I love them in my hot cup of good english tea, and I love them in my honey water when my throat is acting up. So, I would say that in general I love lemons - or so I thought.....

Our Daring Bakers Challenge this month was the Lemon Meringue Pie. I was pretty excited about it because the only other time I had made something similar as this was when I made the keylime pie and well, that didn't turn out the way I had wanted it to, so I was ready for this challenge. The only thing that made it a little less appealing was that I knew I would be the only one eating it. I knew Brandon wouldn't like the tartness of the lemons. It was funny watching him take a bite out of it thinking it would be more sweet than tart.
I must say the best part of the pie was the crust itself. I made a little adjustment with the amount of butter. I only added 1/2 C instead of the 3/4 C required in the recipe. I just like to lower my fat in everything and I didn't have any vegan butter on hand, so it only seemed fitting to reduce the amount, and honestly it came out nice and flaky all the same.
My mad crimping skills (not really) is shown above, prior to bakage.
I didn't really enjoy making the filling. I was kinda thinking it was more of a custard type filling since this is new to me, but it wasn't. It came out fine, and it didn't shrink and rip off the crust when it cooled and it set really well - or so I thought.
And the prettiest part of it all, the meringue topping, so nice and browned but I didn't really like the taste it of. It was like eating air, but crunchy air at the same time.I should have let it cool more before I cut into it but it was getting late and so I cut into it and it oozed. It was fine the next day and tasted even better than the day it was baked. I knew I was expecting tartness, but boy! was this filling eye twitching, lip smacking (not in a good way) tart!!! The next time I ate it I ended up scooping the majority of the filling and topping off and ate the crust! lol. I don't think I'll make this again and though our friend said that the tartness was typical of a lemon meringue pie but the filling was a little on the heavy side. It was a good challenge none the less, now I know what to expect. :-)

Lemon Meringue Pie

Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:

3/4 cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces (I used 1/2 C)

2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar

1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt

1/3 cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:

2 cups (475 mL) water

1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (120 mL) cornstarch

5 egg yolks, beaten

1/4 cup (60 mL) butter

3/4 cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:

5 egg whites, room temperature

1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar

1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt

1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract

3/4 cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

To Make the Crust:

Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt.Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of 1/8 inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

To Make the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

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

Springing Back

2008-01-21T19:21:00.000-05:00

My how the weeks fly by when you look back at it, huh? When you're in the day to day, it seems to drag on forever but at the same time you can't believe it when the weekend is here and you find that time has just passed you by and you haven't updated your blog. So here I am debating what to put on my blog with all the pictures that I have taken from school now that the Spring Semester has arrived.

My schedule is definitely better this semester in that I only go to school 2 days instead of three so that saves me 3 hours of driving time. Though, Monday is SO tough for me to get through. I have class at 7:30am so that means I get up at 4:30am to leave by 6am. My first class is Intro to Pastries and that runs till 1:30pm, sometimes 2pm and my 2nd class starts at 2pm till 9pm or later. That class is Advanced baking and we make desserts for the restaurant that is open on Monday nights. Then on Thursday I have class at 4pm - a 3 hour class on principles of hospitality. You think that it would fly by right? Not quite. Besides learning about the hospitality industry, I learn about the happenings in people life....oh...you know, generally about things I honestly don't care about. Like the fact that you have only ever traveled on British airways and that you have to travel with your luggage on the same plane. Wait...does that coincide with restaurant hospitality?

Our first week, in both labs we made cookies. I made enough cookies that day to last me for a life time and I don't think I will ever make these cookies on my own. For example, the bullseye above. I used to LOVE similar cookies like that when I was in New Zealand, but perhaps it was just the jam that we used, I didn't even taste it, I just smelled it and I mentally gagged and lost my appetite.
Last week we made lady fingers and surprisingly, I REALLY enjoyed these. They were simple to make and even more delicious than I had ever thought they would be. I have only ever tasted the store bought lady fingers, that I used at work for the tiramisu and needless to say those were like rock cookies or something. Well, as a matter of fact, lady fingers are in fact a sponge cake. That is news to me at least. Maybe I have been living in a cave.
In advanced baking, we made puff pastry, which honestly didn't take us that long. Only 2 1/2 hours. So we were lucky and got outta there by 6pm. I got out later cause I was the clean-up checklist lady. Thank goodness I got it that day because there is no way that we are going to get out early again in the semester for that class. The picture above and below are just store-brought puff pastry that we used to play around with while we were waiting for our real puff pastry to cool so we could do the trifold, simple turn and roll. We got those little balls out of the pastry below with a cookie cutter and sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.
This is actually two pieces of puff pastry that we stuck together with egg wash. Stefany and I wanted to put a cherry in it and then drizzle it with chocolate sauce but chef said we didn't need to do that. It was just to play with. Well, I thought that was a yummy invention. :-) hhehee.
My mom sent me this recipe for chinese scallion pancakes which is a savory bread. I need to change the recipe a bit because it wasn't as thin and flaky and soft as I wanted to be and it lacked any scallion flavor what-so-ever, and was pretty sodium deprived. So next time, I will have to use more scallions and salt I think and maybe get a softer flour. Hey, we still ate it all - so it must've have been that bad. :-b

Another Blog!

2008-01-10T13:04:00.000-05:00

Hi you guys. I'm not switching blogs at all just to let you know and I have no intention of leaving my love of food blogging (which seems stagnant at best). Just wanted to let you know of another blog I've started. http://www.lebenadams.blogspot.com

Portland yule log

2008-01-03T20:57:00.000-05:00

It must seem I have forgotten about this blog. Truly, I've been thinking about posting ever since Thanksgiving passed us by but it was impossible since work was SO busy up to the day we left for Portland, OR.

Brandon and I were missing home big time and we couldn't wait to get there - minus the 12 hours of flying and waiting at airports. Finally we got there and the first thing I did when I got home was hold dear ole muffy. She's so old, her legs are so skinny and I can feel her ribs. She did not want to be near me till the day before I left. Mom says it's because I left her for Brandon. She is a cutie.We stayed at my parents house for 3 nights I believe ( can't quite remember) but here we are christmas eve. We have our christmas dinner on christmas eve which works out quite nice since Brandons family has it on Christmas Day.
From Left to Right: My sister Tiff, my stepdad Jack, my momma, me (sportin Navy gear) and Brandon. As you can tell I was going for comfort. You have to have sweat pants to eat - alot.

The last day we were there, my family and I went to Vertible Quandry downtown for our traditional breakfast. For the first time in 2 years or more, I didn't order oatmeal. I ordered a spinach, mushroom and caramelized onion fritatta.

Brandon and I getting ready to leave for New Years Eve Dinner. I hardly wear my glasses but I was so tired from the plane rides that I couldn't face putting in my contacts.

Finally, I know the Daring Bakers probably think I totally forgot about the Yule Log but I didn't I swear!!!! I made it New Years Eve but while on vacation it is hard to have time to post. So my apologies and I promise I will do better. I am not sure why this happened but my mushrooms would not stand up on the stems, maybe I made the tops too big, so that didn't work well as you can see they lumped together into one big mass. My buttercream was runny and though I chilled it in the fridge and whipped it again, I have to conclude that it could only be due to the fact that I used olive oil spread instead of butter for the buttercream. I knew that it would probably happen but once in the fridge it hardened up quite well on the log. Honestly, I liked the buttercream more than I enjoyed the cake.

Yule Log

Plain Genoise:
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
3/4cup of sugar
1/2cup cake flour - spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off
1/4 cup cornstarch
One 10 x 15 inch jelly-roll pan that has been buttered and lined with parchment paper and then buttered again
1.Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
2.Half-fill a medium saucepan with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat so the water is simmering.
3.Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, salt and sugar together in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Place over the pan of simmering water and whisk gently until the mixture is just lukewarm, about 100 degrees if you have a thermometer (or test with your finger - it should be warm to the touch).
4.Attach the bowl to the mixer and, with the whisk attachment, whip on medium-high speed until the egg mixture is cooled (touch the outside of the bowl to tell) and tripled in volume. The egg foam will be thick and will form a slowly dissolving ribbon falling back onto the bowl of whipped eggs when the whisk is lifted.
5.While the eggs are whipping, stir together the flour and cornstarch.
6.Sift one-third of the flour mixture over the beaten eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour mixture, making sure to scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl on every pass through the batter to prevent the flour mixture from accumulating there and making lumps. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture and finally with the remainder.
7.Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
8.Bake the genoise for about 10 to 12 minutes. Make sure the cake doesn’t overbake and become too dry or it will not roll properly.
9.While the cake is baking, begin making the buttercream.
10.Once the cake is done (a tester will come out clean and if you press the cake lightly it will spring back), remove it from the oven and let it cool on a rack.

Chocolate Buttercream:
4 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
24 tablespoons (3 sticks or 1-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 C melted chocolate
2 tablespoons rum or brandy
1.Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl over simmering water and whisk gently until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are hot. 2.Attach the bowl to the mixer and whip with the whisk on medium speed until cooled. Switch to the paddle and beat in the softened butter and continue beating until the buttercream is smooth, add melted chocolate and rum.

Filling and frosting the log:
1.Run a sharp knife around the edges of the genoise to loosen it from the pan.
2.Turn the genoise layer over (unmolding it from the sheet pan onto a flat surface) and peel away the paper.
3.Carefully invert your genoise onto a fresh piece of parchment paper.
4.Spread with half the coffee buttercream (or whatever filling you’re using).
5.Use the parchment paper to help you roll the cake into a tight cylinder.
6.Transfer back to the baking sheet and refrigerate for several hours.
7.Unwrap the cake. Trim the ends on the diagonal, starting the cuts about 2 inches away from each end.
8.Position the larger cut piece on each log about 2/3 across the top.
9.Cover the log with the reserved buttercream, making sure to curve around the protruding stump.
10.Streak the buttercream with a fork or decorating comb to resemble bark.
11.Transfer the log to a platter and decorate with your mushrooms and whatever other decorations you’ve chosen.

Welcome to Milton, FL

2007-12-05T17:12:00.000-05:00

Finally!!!!! Finals are over! Now all I have to do is get through 2 weeks of long weeks of work then we are back to Oregon for the holidays! YIPPEEEE!! My mom and stepdad are in town. They got in last Saturday and I had the weekend off to study for finals, so Saturday night we decided to try 'Global Grill,' a tapas restaurant in downtown Pensacola, FL. I had never heard much of it and quite frankly, historic downtown ain't much unless you really look around, so I never even realised that it was on Palafox street. It's a good thing we ventured there, cause it was DELICIOUS! Yummy for my tummy!

My mom and stepdad at Global Grill
Brandon and I at Global Grill
Mom and I
So sunday morning I got up early before church to fix some muffins for my mom and stepdad and Brandon of course. I made two versions of the batter. I halved the batter and put chocolate chips in half and fresh cranberries in the other. The chocolate chip is above and the cranberries are below.
CHOCOLATE CHIP/CRANBERRY SOUR CREAM STREUSEL MUFFINS

2 Cups flour

3/4 C sugar

1 ts baking powder

1 ts baking soda

1/2 ts salt

1 C sour cream (non-fat)

1/4 C eggbeaters

1 ts vanillia extract

1 1/2 C cranberries (fresh), rolled in flour and sugar (sweetens and suspends fruit in batter)
or chocolate chips

1/4 C vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients together and mix wet ingredients together. Fold wet ingredients into dry and once incorporated add the cranberries or chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin tin and sprinkle cinnamon streusel on top (mix cinnamon and brown sugar together) and bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Mom cooked us a wonderfully yummy chinese meal Sunday night. Above is a jalopeno, onion and dried fish stirfry in oyster sauce, sweetened by a bit of brown sugar.

Another dish is a pork and vidalia onion dish. I picked out the onions and ate them since I don't eat meat.

And lastly, sweet and sour shrimp. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. That's all I can say. :-D

Last night, I was sick of studying so I made some magic cookie bars but changed it from the usual recipe.

MAGIC COOKIE BARS

BASE:

1 1/2 C ground graham crackers

1/2 C olive oil spread, melted

Mix together and press firmly into an ungreased 13 x 9 in glass pyrex pan

TOPPING:

1 - 14 oz can of condensed milk

1 C chocolate chips

1 C peanut butter chips

1/2 - 3/4 C shredded coconut

pour condensed milk evenly over cracker crumbs then sprinkle chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and shredded coconut over condensed milk. Then press down firmly with a fork and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Busy Bee

2007-11-29T21:51:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I've put up an actual post. I have been cooking, it's just been quite busy around here. Work has been wearing me down but it's getting better with each day that I work. We had a belated Thanksgiving last Saturday instead since I worked the day before, the day of and the day after thanksgiving. So by the time Saturday rolled around, I was so tired, I didn't want to start cooking for thanksgiving, but I got my lazy butt up and at it.

I've been having soup alot lately for dinner and I really enjoy that. It's getting chilly here, so when I get home it's so nice to just warm up some soup for dinner. Plus, I'm the only one who has soup, so it lasts for several days which means, I don't need to cook! YAY!
I know I haven't blogged about school lately, but we did pies for like 3 weeks straight, and by the time thanksgiving came, I was so tired of pies, I couldn't possibly say one more word about it. lol. Last week we made croissants and my group got the whole wheat croissants. We made some plain like the one below and we also stuffed some with a mixture of spinach, olive oil, pecirino (?) cheese. Did you know stuffed croissants are supposed to be straight, not curled at the tips like a normal croissants. Ahh...the secrets we learn here at school. :-)
I have more to come, but finals week is this coming week so I gotta work and study and probably won't be able to post until after finals. :-( So you guys have a good week!

HOT POTATO!

2007-11-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

This month has both been fast and slow at the same time. I can't believe it is almost December! My favorite month! :-D which also means that it is time to reveal Novembers Daring Bakers Challenge - completed I might add. This month hosted by Tanna from My Kitchen In Half Cups

Our wondrous recipe this month was : Tender Potato Bread
When I saw this, I had definite mixed feelings about this little gem (though little it was not). I have the most massive amount of passion for baking breads. It's what I live to do BUT! I have not had luck with potato in bread before. I've only tried one time, and that one time was enough to make me not want to do this again by my own will. So I was more than a little hesitant about it, but was amazed that I didn't need all that much flour to make it less sticky. I have to say though that I found this bread more enjoyable the day after it was baked.

We were allowed to put whatever toppings we wanted, so I went searching in my cupboard for anything I could use to make it more appealing. I made rolls in a 9 inch pan, topping it with mozzarella cheese and poppy seeds. I served this with some homemade vege soup I made.
Here it is pulled apart, yummy yummy yummy!!! Kinda drooling remembering how moist and tender the crumb was. :-D
I also made a cheddar and mozzarella potato loaf too. I guess I should've rolled it up a little tighter so that there isn't a crater inside my bread. lol. Now I know. It must've been good because my husband asked me to make it again ;-) Another mission down. This is a keeper!

Tender Potato Bread(from Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour & Tradition Around the World by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid; who also wrote Hot Sour Salty Sweet)

Ingredients:
-4 medium to large floury (baking) potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks.Tanna Note: For the beginner bread baker I suggest no more than 8 ounces of potato; for the more advanced no more than 16 ounces. The variety of potatoes you might want to use would include Idaho, Russet & Yukon gold, there are others.
-4 cups(950 ml) water reserve cooking water

-1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt

-2 teaspoons active dry yeast

-6 ½ cups to 8 ½ cups (1 kg to 1350g) unbleached all-purpose

-1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened1 cup (130g) whole wheat flour

Making the Dough (Directions will be for making by hand):
Put the potatoes and 4 cups water in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and cook, half covered, until the potatoes are very tender.
Drain the potatoes, SAVE THE POTATO WATER, and mash the potatoes well. Tanna Note: I have a food mill I will run my potatoes through to mash them.
Measure out 3 cups(750ml) of the reserved potato water. Add extra water if needed to make 3 cups. Place the water and mashed potatoes in the bowl you plan to mix the bread dough in. Let cool to lukewarm (70-80°F/21 - 29°C) – stir well before testing the temperature – it should feel barely warm to your hand. You should be able to submerge you hand in the mix and not be uncomfortable.
Add yeast to 2 cups all-purpose flour and whisk. Add yeast and flour to the cooled mashed potatoes & water and mix well. Allow to rest/sit 5 minutes.
Note about Adding Yeast: If using Active Dry Yeast or Fresh yeast, mix & stir yeast into cooled water and mashed potatoes & water and let stand 5 minutes. Then add 2 cups of flour to the yeast mix and allow to rest several minutes. If using Instant Dry Yeast, add yeast to 2 cups all-purpose flour and whisk. Add yeast and flour to the cooled mashed potatoes & water and mix well. Allow to rest/sit 5 minutes.
Sprinkle in the remaining 1 tablespoon salt and the softened butter; mix well. Add the 1 cup whole wheat flour, stir briefly.
Add 2 cups of the unbleached all-purpose flour and stir until all the flour has been incorporated.Tanna Note: At this point you have used 4 cups of the possible 8 ½ cups suggested by the recipe.
Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, incorporating flour as needed to prevent sticking. The dough will be very sticky to begin with, but as it takes up more flour from the kneading surface, it will become easier to handle; use a dough scraper to keep your surface clean. The kneaded dough will still be very soft. Place the dough in a large clean bowl or your rising container of choice, cover with plastic wrap or lid, and let rise about 2 hours or until doubled in volume.
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently several minutes. It will be moist and a little sticky.

Pescotti

2007-11-15T21:24:00.000-05:00

It's a pecan! It's a biscotti! NO! It's a Pescotti!!!!!!!

Actually it's really just a whole wheat pecan slice. It looks like a biscotti though doesn't it? This was really simple to make and just so so so so so so SO delicious. The best thing is, actually the amazing thing is that it contains NO butter at all. SCORE! and they're whole wheat.

They are just the right amount of sweetness and I think they are best fresh out of the oven because the outside is crisp and the inside is tender and soft and warm. They are good once they are cooled too. They have the same texture as a biscotti once they have hardened and cooled. I'm not a huge fan of pecans alone but when they are this finely ground and sweetened, it's really tasty. Next time I will add some cranberries in there. I bet that would go well together.

Whole Wheat Pecan Slices aka 'Pescotti'

1.5 C sugar

3 C pecans, finely ground

3/4 C whole wheat flour

1 ts cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 1/2 eggs ( I used eggbeaters)

1/2 ts vanillia

Mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix eggs with vanilla and pour into the dry ingredients. Combine together evenly and shape into 3 bars, flatten the top and place on greased baking sheet. Brush liberally with eggwash and bake 450 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Be careful to watch closely as they burn really fast once they start to brown. Cut when cool, but I prepare to cut them warm and eat them warm. Emmm...soft.

Here is an update on work. It is going well and I enjoy it when I'm engrossed in my work but like all new jobs, I sometimes do not know if I am overstepping my boundaries so there was lag time sometimes, and I can not stand that. So, I went over to the culinary prep and helped them. See, I'm one of those that don't mind working for long hours ONLY if I am constantly busy, and I mean constantly. I'd rather keep running on my toes all night long then have it be slow. I did get to make a tiramisu. Right now I'm doing alot more salad preps and dessert plating than really making desserts. I guess cause their main focus is not desserts. I feel as though I am stepping on the toes of the current girl who works the pantry station too. So, hopefully she'll warm up to me. Everyone is nice though and they are all friendly. It's just the shifts are seriously long and from the looks of things, breaks only come when you work a double shift. I didn't get home last friday till midnight and last saturday I got home at 11pm. 11pm doesnt seem late compared to midnight and I am no night person, believe me. Here's to another weekend of work. Cheers.

The Last of the Days off

2007-11-08T19:43:00.000-05:00

This post should've been up last weekend, but so much has been going on that time flew by and I hate hate hate hate HATE not updating my blog. It might continue this way though because I finally got a JOB!!!!! I have been looking for a place to do my internship for pastry school since the beginning of september. I cannot believe how hard it has been. I guess it makes sense considering this is not the best location for pastries, the consumer demands are different from what I would like to produce. Anyways, Chef Silivos from Skopelos called me this morning and offered me a job. So, I start tomorrow and work Saturday also starting at 3pm until we are closed. I'm excited but SO nervous! I am in the industry, I can't believe it! I also had an interview this afternoon with Nouveau Pastries in Milton which is like less than 10 minutes from my house and she was so much fun to talk to. She is going to call me for jobs when she needs me which is going to be good because after Christmas is the slow season here for Restaurants, so I'll need extra hours here and there to get my internship hours up! The only thing that I am afraid of is that I going to burn out too fast too soon with school and 2 jobs and trying to take care of things around the house. I am just SO grateful that God has provided this for me, because I have been stressing so much about this. YAY!!!!!!

Okay, sorry for the blabbling. I'll get to some food and then some fun! I have been googly eyed ever since I saw the Pumpkin Challah from Rosa's Yummy Yums. I finally got my lazy bum up and makin some bread. What I LOVE about this recipe is that it contains only oil, no butter or shortening or lard. Of course, I can't get enough of pumpkin either, so it was a win-win situation and a winner it was. It came out beautifully, and I couldn't stop eating it. Neither could Brandon. He usually isn't hungry ever, especially in the morning (I wish my stomach wasn't asking for food all the time - the bliss of being a women) but he hate it at like 9am before we went for our run. I was so surprised! This is definintely a keeper. Thanks Rosa!

Last saturday, Brady called us and asked us if we wanted a ride in his new boat! SCORE!!! The only time I'm a water person is if I'm in something that physically separates me from the water. I don't mind if I get splashed a little like on a jetski, but if I get thrown off by the driver, oh boy - you do not want to be near me. However, I did throw Brandon off. It was totally an accident though, I swear. I just like sharp turns :-D

There's Mr. B on the left and Brady on the right. I actually drove (? steered) the boat. It was fun but I was so afraid I was going to hit something, even though the bay was so open. I gave it back to the captain once we were about to go under a bridge. Yeah, not taking that risk! lol

Lookin good and ready to start the trip!

Does this not remind you of the dock from Dawsons Creek?
Ready to go under a bridge

Somebodys got it good in life huh? Their own gazebo on the waterfront. SWEEEEETTT!

One of the gorgious houses by the waterfront
A way too dark picture of downtown milton from the water

So, I really hope that I am able to get all my studying done for next weeks 2 tests I have. Luckily, we took our sanitiation test yesterday on a whim so we didn't have to go to class next wednesday. That's good cause then it'll be 3 exams I'd have to study for ontop of starting work and all! Phew! Well, I'll definitely update y'all (trying to sound like I'm from here) about my job experience!!!!!

SNAP! CRACKLE! CONFETTI!!!!

2007-11-01T18:14:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've had rice krispie treats in like almost a year. Sometimes you just crave simple things like that. At least I do. I know Brandon likes these and I also stumbled into some confetti sprinkles today at the commissary. I can't say I'm familiar with the commissary here in Milton yet. They have a unique way to stocking things and I find things were I don't think they would ever be. It's quite the challenge just to get the items on my grocery list - but I'm getting there. I better, I go there enough. lol. It's scary that I can spend a good hour and a half at the grocery store when I don't have very many "neccessities" to get. It's time I take for myself I suppose. Most people might think I am nuts but I feel myself and worry-free at the store. Oh, instead of butter I used earth balance so this is totally IBS safe. ;-)

I think I have a handle of how my camera works now. I can't believe there are so many options on a little camera.

Bobby Flay is going to be in Mobile, Al this Saturday. SO sad I'm not going. The tickets I believe are like $75. I've decided that I like Bobby Flay alot. When I first started watching his show, he scared me a little. He seemed really strict and almost unapproachable. That is until he started filming his show Bobby Flays Throwdown. I LOVE that show, and it shows such a fun side of him, a more approachable, friendly, and less intimidating person.

I'd like to meet him. Him, and Alton Brown! I learn so much from Alton. Gotta love him.

Well tomorrow, I am hoping to attempt making a Pumpkin Challah, a recipe from Rosa's Yummy Yums. Wish me like, it looks delicious, plus I gotta take advantage of this time of the year. It gives me more than an excuse to make anything and everything pumpkin. SWEET!

I DARE: Bostini Cream Pie October Challenge!

2007-10-29T07:36:00.000-05:00

YIPPEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO excited that I get to participate with all the wonderful daring bakers! I could not be more thankful, as this gives me the motivation, and a VERY good reason to make delicious food and expand my baking horizon.

This is my first challenge: Bostini Cream Pie

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

INGREDIENTS:

Custard:

3/4 cup whole milk ( I used soymilk)

2 3/4 tablespoons cornstarch

1 whole egg,

beaten 9 egg yolks,

beaten

3 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 vanilla bean (EDITED: vanilla extract is okay)

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

Chiffon Cake:

1 1/2 cups cake flour

3/4 cup superfine sugar

1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup beaten egg yolks (3 to 4 yolks)

3/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup egg whites (about 8 large)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze:

8 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate

8 ounces unsalted butter (I used earth balance)

INSTRUCTIONS:

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

To prepare the chiffon cakes: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray 8 molds with nonstick cooking spray. You may use 7-ounce custard cups, ovenproof wide mugs or even large foil cups. Whatever you use should be the same size as the custard cups. Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, zest and vanilla. Stir until smooth, but do not overbeat. Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the beaten whites into the orange batter. Fill the sprayed molds nearly to the top with the batter. Bake approximately 25 minutes, until the cakes bounce back when lightly pressed with your fingertip. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove the cakes from the molds. Cover the cakes to keep them moist.

To prepare the glaze: Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is just about to bubble. Remove from the heat; add the chocolate and stir to melt. Pour through a strainer and keep warm. To assemble: Cut a thin slice from the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake flat-side down on top of each custard. Cover the tops with warm chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.

This challenge REALLY scared me when I first looked at the recipe and the instructions. I've never EVER made custard in my life and from all the tempering horror stories that I have heard, I almost went numb. I thought 'Great, my first challenge from Mary of Alpineberry and I'm going to completely fail it.'

I have to say though, it turned out to be not as intimidating as I had thought and I had a bunch of fun making it. I was nervous though about how I would mould the custard so that it would stay in shape ( I just wanted it that way). So I lined mini loaf pans with aluminum foil and refrigerated it that way. Well, stupid me thought it would stay that way, but obviously it didn't so I stuck it in the freezer. It held its shape that way but it melts SO fast as you can tell from the pictures.

My favorite part though of the challenge was the chiffon cake. OH BOY! It was SO good. It was so moist and soft and the orange juice and zest stood out soooo well. I basically ate the cake by itself.

All in all, I had a blast with this challenge and can't wait for the next one! YAY! I promise better presentation and better picture taking skills (they really aren't very good. lol)

Till next challenge!

Beam me up Scottie!

2007-10-28T19:46:00.001-05:00

Brandons parents stopped in to see us on their way back to Oregon from their African Safari trip. It was really good to see them again. Just adds that excitement to the boring world of daily life, you know? Thankfully for me I was able to entertain since I don't have exams to study for and I did my homework at school. Knew that would pay off eventually ;-). Not so lucky for Brandon. His studying never ceases, poor guy. Though saturday he took us to see the planes he flies. They are adorable!!!!!

Like father like son. They make a good duo!

Here's mom climbing aboard

Some instrument thingies on what-you-ma-call-it panels.

A view of some of the planes that are tied down for the weekend.

A helicopter for transporting people and equipment. I may be wrong but I believe it can lift a hummer.
The front view of the transport helicopter. Massive thing!
Here's one for transportation of people only.
My attempt at being a "professional" photographer. Okay, you can laugh.
Thought I would surprise Brandon Saturday morning with a chocolate marble loaf. I tried not to be loud but that didn't work. I'm SO noisy in the kitchen.

I made this healthier also, and boy I'm glad I did cause it tastes good.

CHOCOLATE MARBLE LOAF

2 1/2 C flour

2 ts baking powder

1/4 ts salt

3/4 C sugar

1/2 C vege oil

4 squares bakers chocolate

1/2 C soymilk

1/4 C plain yoghurt

1/2 C eggbeaters

1 ts pure vanilla

Melt the chocolate squares with 1/4 C of the soymilk, stirring. When melted, set aside.

Mix together flour, salt, baking powder.

Mix together 1/4 C soymilk and the yogurt.

In mixer, cream oil and sugar. Then add flour mixture and yogurt mixture alternating, starting and ending with flour. When combined, add vanilla.

Pour into greased loaf pan and bake 325 degrees F for 55 minutes to an hour.

Pumpkin BOOcake hero

2007-10-26T17:45:00.000-05:00

Things have been going so fast here lately, that halloween kinda spooked up on us literally. Speaking of which, I won't even be at home to hand out candy to the kiddies cause I'll be at school that evening. I couldn't not do anything for halloween, so I thought I'd make some halloween pumpkin cupcakes and enter it into this months Cupcake Hero admissions. The ingredient is Cloves.

I thought I'd use the new black food coloring that is out, to make some cobwebs for the cupcakes and since I had canned pumpkin, I thought what the heck! I LOVE pumpkin. So it's been hard to resist not eating these, and resist I have not. ;-)
And yes, the black does stain your lips a little, so probably not a good idea to eat it right before you meet your date. lol. The texture of the cupcake is wonderful, it almost has a spring to it when you bite into it, and the smoothness of the frosting combines well with the cupcake texture. The crumb is soft but it does not crumble when you take a bite, so no messy crumbs. :-D I am a messy cupcake eater to be honest.

Pumpkin BOOcake

Mix together:

2 2/3 C flour

2 ts baking powder

2 ts baking soda

2 ts cinnamon

1/4 ts ground cloves

1/4 ts ground nutmeg

1 ts salt

In large bowl mix together:

1 can canned pumpkin

1 C sugar

1 C light brown sugar

1 C vegetable oil

1 C eggwhites (1/4 C at a time, mixing after each addition)

Mix dry into wet ingreidents:

In 3 additions and mix well
Pour into lined muffin tins

Bake:

350 degrees F for 25 minutes

Let cool before frosting

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz white chocolate chips

(melt in a double broiler and add to):

12 oz cream cheese whipped with 1/2 C of earth balance buttery sticks

Add whatever coloring your heart desires ;-)

gimme some pie!

2007-10-23T18:33:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't think I was going to even get to school today because again, there was a tornado warning, but it only ended up being a thunderstorm. I'm SO sick of this weather, plus it's getting cold. Florida, I loved here firstly because of the Navy, but secondly, because it is warm! Supposedly. Anyways, I got there safely and all. Thank goodness.

Todays lesson was part II of pies. That is fruit pies and cream pies. I'm not hot on cream pies so I was glad that we got apple pies. Unfortunately, we had to 6x the pie crust recipe, to make 2 homestyle apple pies, and 4 Mrs. Smith pies (industrial canned apple pies) and 1 apple steusel crumble pie. Yeah, lets just say lab took a good 3 1/2 hours. We got out 35 minutes after class was suppose to have ended and I didn't even eat any, cause well...the amount of butter in those crusts scared me.

My friends Danni, Kim, Pierre and Scott (I believe that's his name) made the butterscotch pie above. All the cream pies had to have a prebaked pie shell:

CLASSIC PIE CRUST(makes 2 9 inche pie crusts):

2 1/2 C all purpose flour

1 ts salt

3.5 oz butter

3.5 oz shortening

12 tbs ice water

Stir flour & salt in bowl. cut lard into 1/2 inch cubs; add to flour and with fingertips mix until pea sized fat remains in the flour.

Gradually add water, tossing flour/fat mixture with fingertills uill dough can be drawn into a ball.

Divide in half, flatten into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

TO PREBAKE SHELL FOR CREAM PIES: roll out and place 1 disk into a pie dish, then insert another pie dish ontop of the dough. Put it upside down and bake 400 F. Then remove top pan, dock the bottom of the pie crust and bake until golden brown right side up.

BUTTERSCOTCH CREAM PIE

3/4 C brown sugar

3 tbs flour

1 tbs cornstarch

1/4 ts salt

1 1/2 C milk

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 Tbs butter

1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, flour, cornstarch & salt in top of broiler. Mix with wooden spoon. Blend in milk gradually, then add egg yolks. Add butter

Place over boiling water with pan touching water. Stir constantly until thick & smooth (7 minutes). Scrape sides of pans as necessary.

Take off heat, add vanilla and stir till smooth. Pour hot filling into prebaked pie shell.

Here is a chocolate cream pie. Here you would melt 1.5 squares of chocolate into the milk in the double broiler and allow to cool. Instead of 3/4 C brown sugar, use granulated sugar.

My group made the Mrs Smith pie above, from canned apples - ew.

"MRS SMITHS APPLE PIE"

1 No. 10 Can sliced applies

2 lbs water ( we used the juice from the can and apple cider to equal 2 lbs)

1 lb sugar

1/4 oz salt

1/4 oz cinnamon

1/8 oz nutmeg

4 oz cornstarch

We drained the apples and kept the liquid.

Add apple cider to liquid to equal 1 qt.

Use 3 C of that liquid, mix with sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and bring to a boil in a pan.

In another bowl mix together cornstarch & 1 C of the liquid.

Slowly add the cornstarch mix to spice mixture constantly stirring.

Once thickened, pull off the heat and add the apples into the thickened liquid. Allow to cool before pouring into unbaked pie shell. Fill just to level and wet the sides of the bottom crust with water then put top crust over filling and flute the edges of the crust. Brush with milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, then 350 degrees F for another 20 minutes.

This is the homestlye apple pie which I personally think looks a whole lot better and I'm sure it tastes much better than the Mrs Smiths pie.

"HOMESTYLE APPLE PIE"(2 PIE)

3 lbs 14 oz apples
4 Tbs bread flour
1 1/2 C sugar
2 ts cinnamon
milk to brush top crust
2 packets turbinado sugar

This is simple, just mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon together and pour apples into flour mixture and coat apples. Then top apples high in the bottom unbaked pie crust. Spritz edges of bottom crust with water, and top with top pie crust. Cut top pie crust level to table to rid of excess pie crust that are overhanging. Then tuck the top crust edges underneath the bottom crust and flute edges. Brush with milk, top with turbinado sugar and make 3 vertical slits down the middle. Bake 400 degrees F for 20 minutes and 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. It will be done if the apples are soft when you stab your knife into it.

This is the streusel version of the apple pie. It looks pretty enough. We had extra streusel from last weeks class with the sour cream streusel muffins recipe.

Now we have 2 versions of the banana cream pie. The one above has the banana slices incorporated into the cream mixture it self while the one below has it on the top. I'm not really sure how they made this actually. I should probably figure that one out. lol.

There was a group that made a keylime pie but they used graham cracker crumbs that had been mixed with rancid cottonseed oil and they didn't notice it until everyone took a bite of it. Yuck! So glad I didn't eat it.

Lime away!

2007-10-21T21:24:00.000-05:00

I've noticed ever since I have been here in Florida, that the prominent dessert in every restaurant is the one, the only.....

KEY LIME PIE!!!!!!!

I had my doubts as to whether my tastebuds would accept this "key lime thing." I mean, the ingredients were so few, I wasn't sure it would turn into anything really. Turned it did though. I must say that I really LOVE the flavor. It's almost cheesecake like in consistency and taste. That tartness was fantastic, but I've always been for tartness. Brandon however, wasn't too thrilled about it, though he had said he would like to try it since he likes the keylime yogurt. lol. Well...now I have a huge pie in the fridge that I feel really badly for. So I suppose it's up to me to eat it ;-)

KEYLIME PIE

Graham Crust: 3 C graham cracker crumbs, mixed with 2-3 oz butter. Pat into pie dish. Bake 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes (may be less)

Pie filling:
24 oz condensed milk (I used low fat)
3/4 C freshly squeezed lime juice
2 eggs (I used 1 whole egg, and 1/4 C eggbeaters)

Mix condensed milk with beaten eggs, mix thorougly. Then add 3/4 C lime juice.
Combine, then pour into graham cracker crust. Bake at 325 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Refrigerate till ready to serve.

Traditionally, it is topped with a meringue topping so I thought I would be "traditional" rather than serving it with whipped cream. Yeah, I didn't like the meringue much. It was much better without any topping.

I found out this morning that the bakery I was going to work for isn't going to hire me now because the head pastry chef had a heart attack and there is no one to train me. So, naturally I was pretty devastated and when brandon left to study with Dermit, I just had to bake away the nerves. Getting back on track with my bible study helped the most though. I don't know why I stopped, but that is a goal of mine from now on, to get back on track with my bible study time. So back to baking. I needed to bake. Whenever something goes not "my" way, it is relaxing for me to bake. My mind just zones out completely from the world. I made mini banana loaves.

MINI BANANA LOAVES

3 bananas, mashed
1/4 C eggwhites, beaten
1/3 C total apple sauce & oil mixed together (half of each)
1/2 ts baking soda
1/4 ts salt
1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 C flour all purpose
Chopped up bakers chocolate (as much as your little heart desires :-D)

Mix the bananas with the eggwhites, then the oil & applesauce, the baking soda, the salt and the sugar. Mix thorougly to combine. Lastly, add the flour and mix till incorporated. Fold in chopped chocolate.

Pour into greased mini loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or till thorougly cooked and browned on top.

The last step: EAT!

Flour bag bread

2007-10-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

Studying all day really makes you want to bake. Well, it makes me want to bake. I wanted to make a keylime pie today but I had been driving all morning long back and forth running errands that the last place I wanted to go was to the grocery store. So I opted for the 'Cheesy Italian Oatmeal Pan Bread' from the back of the pillsbury flour bag. I know, I know. How adventerous of me right? Hey, it sounded good and honestly, it tastes pretty darn good too. So I present to you:

CHEESEY ITALIAN OATMEAL PAN BREAD - by pillsbury

2 C water

1 C rolled oats

3 tbs butter/margarine (I used earth balance)

4-5 C flour

1/4 C sugar

2 ts salt

1 T active dry yeast

1 large egg (I used 1/4 C eggbeaters)

1 C shredded mozzarella cheese

Boil water, stir in rolled oats & butter. Cool to 100-110 degrees F. Combine 1 1/2 C flour, sugar, salt & yeast in a large bowl, blend well. Add rolled oats mixture & egg. Blend at low speed in mixer until moistenened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. By hand, sir in 1 3/4- 2 1/2 C flour & cheese to form stiff dough.

Knead in 1/2-3/4 C flour on floured surface, until dough smooth & elastic, 5 minutes. Shape dough into ball; cover with large bowl. Let rest 15 minutes. Punch down dough; press into greased pan (13 x 9 inches). Using sharp knife (I used a pizza cutter), cut diagonal lines 1 1/2 in apart, cutting completely through dough. Repeat in opposite direction creating diamond pattern. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place, 45 minutes.

Heat to 375 degrees F. Uncover dough, redefine diamond pattern by cutting in an up and down motion through to the bottom of pan with sharp knife. Brush top with melted butter, bake 15 minutes, rebrush with butter and sprinkle with topping (I used a different one than the one on the bag). I sprinkled parmesean cheese, dried basil and dried parsley. Bake for another 15 minutes. YUMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYY!

Scones & the never ending pit that is my stomach

2007-10-18T22:27:00.000-05:00

I really don't know if it is just that I am a glutton, or that I work out, or that is just a girl thing that I am constantly hungry. I think I am just a glutton. lol. It does get quite annoying though, constantly eating, especially after dinner. I can not eat a thing till noon or 1pm (which I try not to do) but once 4pm hits my mouth is a machine and my stomach is a never ending pit. Really though, I am interested. Is it just me or are people out there as strange as I am?

This morning I left the house at 10am, after the news had lifted the tornado warning. I needed to go downtown to Pensacola to fill out paper work for employment at a bakery. I was 20 minutes into the drive and 20 more minutes till my destination when the radio annouced another tornado landing downtown pensacola. Then the rain poured, the thunder and lightening hit. I couldn't see a thing, my heart felt like it was on drugs and I was driving SOOOOOOOOOO slow. I was scared to death and had to keep driving over the bridge till I reached the first exit. I turned around and a 20 minute drive back home took around 40 minutes. It was crazy! I am hoping that the bakery is ok, because I really need that job and I had told him I was going in today for the paperwork. I called several times but I just got the machine and I know the tornado hit that area, so I just hope he understands that I couldn't make it.

I got home and had to do something with my nerves, so I baked. I made some healthy yogurt scones. Brandon HATES scones because they are so dry to him. So I figured it would be softer if I used yogurt and applesauce.

Pre-bakage: I made his with chocolate chips, and topped it with cinnamon-sugar. WHOOOOOHHHHH.
Pre-bakage: For me, I'm a cranberry nut and a poppyseed nut, so I combined them. It was the only logical thing to do.
20 minutes later VIOLA! Golden and ready to go into my stomach!!!
Brandon must have liked it cause he ate 3! (I ate 3 too, but spread it out through the day - me so bad!)

yogurt cranberry poppy seed scones

1 3/4 C flour

2/3 C whole wheat flour

1/2 C sugar

2 ts baking powder

1/2 ts baking soda

1/4 ts salt

2/3 C plain non-fat yogurt

3 tbs apple sauce

1/4 C eggbeaters

1 ts vanilla extract

1/3 C cranberries (dried)

1 T poppyseeds

Combine all the dry ingredients except cranberries and poppyseeds.

combine all wet ingredients and whisk to combine.

Add wet to dry ingredients, stir a little.

Transfer to floured surface and knead in cranberries & poppyseeds.

Pat into a circle, place on greased baking sheet. Cut into 8 wedges.

Bake 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.

For Chocolate chips variation: knead in chocolate chips instead of cranberries and poppyseeds. Before baking, spray with olive oil spray over top of scones and then sprinkle on cinnamon-sugar mixture.

KORNED!!!!!

2007-10-16T21:08:00.000-05:00

And corned we literally were. School today consisted of a midterm which I did not do as well on as the first one, and then making LOADS of cornbread. Man...

This is a pancetta and cheddar cheese cornbread. Didn't try it because I don't eat meat, and well butter just ain't for me.
This is a bacon, cheddar and scallion cornbread, but I'd like to know where the scallions disappeared to.

This is a new one for me - a wet cornbread. The cornmeal is cooked first with some creamed & sweet corn. Interesting. I bet it was good. I hear it's a bread pudding texture.
I tried this little gem "mexican cornbread." It was good, though the cumin was really strong but the cheddar cheese and canned green chilles made it taste really good.
Now, here's my favorite and the one we made (not my favorite because we made it) but because this is the typical cornbread you'll find in the west coast that I am so used to - sweet cornbread. I know it sounds gross to southerners but it is OH SO GOOD!

This cornbread had goat cheese added to it.The we threw in some uncornbread baked goods too like this sour cream muffin, which didn't look too appetizing. Most of the muffins fell apart when you touched it.

Here's a cranberry sour cream scone. The boys took a "dusting" of salt to mean "a handful", so it was more of a pretzel cranberry sour cream scone. yeahhhhh...
And lastely, a double chocolate chip scone. Honestly, seems like we always get double chocolate everything. I mean, I LOVE chocolate - I am female but I don't know...something more interesting maybe?

80's & the shrimp

2007-10-16T20:55:00.001-05:00

This weekend, we headed to Gulf shores (as if I'm not there enough for school) for their annual SHRIMP FEST!! I think it's like their hottest thing there, so I indeed had to go check it out, and the fact that I love shrimp simply had nothing to do with it. ;-) Knowing that in Alabama, anything fried goes. I knew I had a limited food selection but I did find a stall that grilled their shrimp. I guess I was too hungry to notice until after the fact that it wasn't all that great even though it had a banner saying "Best at the shrimp fest 2005 & 2006." Emm...clearly peoples tastebuds were fried by the time they reached that stall.

here's a picture of the arts and crafts part of the festival. It's actually really big. They occupied rows and rows of the closed of beach. Some really talented artists there, and many more not so talented - but then again, who am I to judge? There was a lady that made the most magnificent handmade handbags but I didn't want to blow $42 + on a purse. I know, I'm cheap.
People gathering by the west stage to listen to music.We all rocked out to some 80's hits played by guys dressed in poofy fake hair, black tights, pink tops. Ahhh...so are the songs I grew up listening to. It was SO much fun. We almost missed one of the last shuttles outta that place - and a 10 mile walk did not sound fun in flip flops and at 10pm. So we busted some moves to get to the shuttle.
We ate on the beach, I wasn't sure which picture looks cooler. I like this one because you can see the and but also the one below because it's dark.
The view of a part of the length of the festival from the beach.

Whale of a time

2007-10-12T20:22:00.000-05:00

It definitely has been long enough since I did a post. So sorry! Last week at school we made both a chocolate chip pie and a peanut butter pie - both of which I thought were horrible recipes, and taste wise horrible too. So I didn't bother to even post it. Was not impressed at all.

This week I learned something new. I never knew muffins were considered "quickbreads" for some reason or another, I had always associated quickbreads with loaf recipes (pumpkin loaf etc). So I felt rather dumb, but hey now I know right? We made a huge variety of muffins this week at school:

sour cream topping chocolate chocolate-chip muffin

(the group that made this decided to fill it with raspberry jam - I thought that was too busy because the recipe itself is loaded with so many ingredients)

Next was a plain coffee cake, I wasn't too impressed with the look of the final product, not sure if the recipe just wasn't good or if they didn't make it correctly.

These came out pretty good and everyone seemed to like it alot - chocolate chocolate chip muffins
Another group made an oil based plain blueberry muffin with turbinado sugar on the top.

This was the only one I tried since it was the only one made with oil and not butter. It lacked any flavor at all. I couldn't even taste the orange flavoring added into it and there was definitely no hint of blueberry flavor at all. It was rather disappointing.
My group made these sour cream blueberry muffins and not to toot my own horn but I think ours came out the best. I love a crunch top on a muffin, this was from the streusal we put on the top, and I love a big muffin top and we definitely got that because we filled out muffins to the top! Everyone loved it too.

Last weekend we headed down to Orlando for a trip to Seaworld. It was a long 6 hour drive but we made it safely. Here are some dolphins people were feeding. They are so cute and clever enough that they know who has food and who doesn't. They would splash you if they let your pet them and then you gave them nothing.
Here's another one playing around after they got fed.
Here I am after the horrific 1st ride on floridas fastest and longest rollercoaster. Boy was I freaked out. I HATE rollercoasters - aih the things you do for the man.
This is not a good picture of me, but the seal definitely makes up for it. ;-)
SHAMU!!! SHAMU!!!!! So so cute! I wish I could have touched Shamu.

The killer whale show. They splased us so much!! The whole entire 5 rows in the front were soaked. Thankfully we missed it by 1 row!
Here is Brandon and I at Timpanos restaurant. If you ever get to Orlando, this is the place to have amazing italian food. They make their pastas from scratch and you get extra refills on pasta for free!!! Another fantastic restaurant just down the road is Seasons 52, everything on their menu is 475 calories or less.

Fry Gal

2007-09-27T21:53:00.000-05:00

In this weeks edition of: Pastry School - food, fun and weirdos.

I wasn't super excited about this weeks lab. The majority of the recipes were doughnuts, and the only recipe that wasn't was a Chocolate Gulgelhopf, which I guess is a German coffee cake. It's special because it contains mashed potatoes, therefore it is a very soft and moist baked good. Thankfully that was the recipe my group and I wanted to do. I did not want to make doughnuts. I wasn't going to eat the gugelhopf either because it had quite a bit of butter in it. Either way, I must say it turned out quite nicely.

I present to you the Gulgelhopf. We were going around the lab just saying that word cause it's just that cool. The white stuff on top are ground almonds.
Doughnuts that the other group made. They didn't look half bad though they look like they were in the fryer a little longer than needed. It was told that our class made the best doughnuts ever, out of all the other past classes. I wouldn't know though.

It was actually really fun frying it. I helped my friend fry some and it was fun watching it expand so quickly. The unfried dough was so soft and delicate, I thought I was gonna deflate it!
These are plum fritters. Strange huh, I would have never thought that plums would make good fritters, but people said it tasted just like apple fritters. I'll take their word for it. They did look pretty good. It was hard to resist, but I did.

Now that we've talked about food and fun. It's onto the weirdos, or shall I say weirdo. I've written about him before, the one who had red "stuff" on his hands. Anyways, he's quite strange as we've already discussed. Recently, he comes into the classroom, with his Ipod nano or one of those ipod series (I can't keep track), on full blast. He struts to his desk on the balls of his feet, then he shuffles from side to side all the while on the balls of his feet, his greasy dandruffed hair swaying side to side. He chuckles as he sucks in air, sounding much like a girls chuckle/giggle. Don't get me wrong, he's a VERY nice person (besides the fact that he takes over everything in the lab and makes all the decisions. Thank goodness I am not in his group), but everything that he does seems to eat away at me. I swear I can feel my impatience getting the best of me. Blah. Other than that, everything else is quite normal. I got 106% on one exam and 101% on the other exam. I got a few questions wrong but because I got the extra credits right, I was more than 100%. I have NEVER gotten scores like that in my life, so I was overjoyed for sure!

Oh, I also waitressed monday night at the restaurant. Let's just say, there is a reason I am not in hospitality. It's not that I don't enjoy the company of people, I am just not good at making conversation with people I don't know, especially people that are snobby and think you should serve them on your hands and feet. Yeah, I'm gonna SO love it when I get to work in the back of house for the restaurant in the future semesters.

Anyways, Brandon has 3 weeks off, so we are heading off to Orlando, FL for the weekend tomorrow to visit Seaworld! I'm excited but driving so much back and forth from school and back makes driving less pleasant, though Brandon will be driving. I'll probably be passed out lol. I'll be back with pictures! Have a lovely weekend y'all! (oh the southern influence)

I heart the english

2007-09-25T17:47:00.000-05:00

I must admit that the english have probably the best foods ever. For example, english tea scones, baked beans on toast, vegemite, mince cheese pies (aawahaww drooooolllll), sausage rolls, even their chips are so much better. I remember going to the store for lunch at school and getting all those goodies. They have chicken flavored chips and though it may sound horrible, those the best flavored chips in the world, second to salt and vinegar of course. :-) OH! And those Monster chocolate chip cookies. Man, I am just making myself hungry thinking of all the foods I used to eat. I know I use to put chips in my vegemite sandwiches and that was blasted fantastic!

Anywhos, I was checking out Baking Delights blog, and came across her English Muffin recipe.
It looked so delicious on her blog, I just couldn't help myself but make me some of those. lol. I halved the recipe, making 8 muffins total which was more than what I thought I would get. I used soymilk + apple cider vinegar instead of buttermilk and used earth balance buttery sticks instead of butter. They were SO incredibly easy to make and despite my hesitation due to past english muffin attempts, the pictures were just so good that I knew it would work.

Now, how does one revert back to store brought english muffins after homemade ones?

Carbed out

2007-09-20T15:48:00.001-05:00

Well folks, this week was the last week of yeast raised breads. Next week we are moving onto doughnuts, which I am not really looking forward to. I just do not like doughnuts, though I am surprisingly happy we aren't doing breads anymore. I never thought I would be sick of eating bread, but I think I might be. At least for a few days.

We made so many varieties of breads this week! Man. I think my favorite might have been the Whole Wheat raisin loaf. I just adore raisins, golden raisins at that. They did overbake it a little and the bottom was a little burnt but other than that, it was wonderful.

Unfortunately, they did not add enough raisins in there, they were about 1/2 C short. It was a very moist, juicy texture, a firm yet soft crust and a very sweet flavor and subtle butter taste. The crumb is very even.
Another group made whole wheat hoagies. I have to admit they were rather tasty, and even though I do not like buttery tastes in my breads, it was well balanced out by the sweetness of the dough. It did hurt my tummy though cause there was quite a bit of butter in that recipe.
This is definitely a winner for use with a sub filled with turkey breast, vinegar and oil, swiss cheese, peppers and onions. YUmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Here is the bread that my group made. Oh we got an addition into our all girls group. Now we are +1 of the male species. I was pretty happy with the all girls group, and for some reason, he is really never there during the majority of the process. He vanishes, which is odd but okay with me. We only use him for strength when we can't lock in the 30 quart mixer into place.

LIGHT RYE BREAD

2 lbs 6.5 oz water

1 1/4 oz dry active yeast

1 lb 10.5 oz medium rye flour

3 lbs 5/5 oz high gluten flour

3/5 oz molasses

1 1/2 oz salt

4 oz malt/honey (used honey)

.75 oz caraway seeds

4 oz shortening

1) mix water and dry active yeast together.

2) Add in high gluten flour, molasses, salt, honey and caraway seeds. Mix on 1st speed for 2 minutes, stop mixer, add in medium rye flour and mix on 2nd speed for 6 minutes. Once dough picks up, add in shortening.

3) Place on dusted bench, cover and let rise 2 hours.

4) Scale into 1 lb 4 oz pieces of dough, roll into a ball, cover and let rest for 10 minutes to loosen the gluten in the dough.

5) Slap each place of dough onto the bench and roll and pinch towards you and seal the edges with the side of your hand.

6)place on parchment lined sheet pan, 3 to a pan and proof for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

7) Slash vertically down the middle, spritz with water and throw some ice into the 425 degree F oven, place sheet pans into oven, turn down oven to 400 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes.

I really love rye and this is a light rye recipe, so it's not as pungent as most other rye breads but I wish we had a darker rye to work with. I have frozen this because we just have so much bread in the house right now. lol. When I do come to use it, I think I'll do a grilled cheese with it. It'll taste SO good.

Here is some surprising news, or maybe it's just news to me. lol. Chef said that most marble ryes do not contain a dark and light rye dough. Rather it is just caramel coloring. How cheap does that feel?
You can either spiral it and make it into a know OR
Put the dough ontop of each other, roll it up and bake it like a loaf! I think this is prettier.

Nothing too exciting at school this week, though I did make it through my 2 exams. I don't want to say anything before I get my tests back, but it definitely isn't as stressful as the exams I took at Oregon State. Phew.

Cookies down with Jaundice

2007-09-16T16:54:00.000-05:00

Okay, I won't lie. I'm no photographer even if I have a great new camera. I'm not a photographer and I'm no manual reader either, so folks, I figured out that under digital macro option, there are lighting options too. I figured this one a day too late. So, I apologize in advance for the somewhat jaundice looking Neiman Marcus cookies. I made this not 100% out of want to eat the cookie, perhaps 99% but the 1% goes to the necesscity of needing a picture of these cookies for the baking class logbook (which is a hefty pain in the butt as it took me 6 hours to fill out log sheets for 15 recipes). So really, I made this because I needed for school - let's just go with that one. ;-b

These made a HUGE amount of cookies, and truly though I do love them, to me, they are basically an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, not worth $250 but I will say that these cookies do have the best texture, chewy, soft and crispy around the edges. Other than that, please come over and have cookies for free - I won't charge you $250. :-)

Chef said this recipe has been edited a little from the original one. I'm not sure what differences there are so I really can't say much on that but here's the recipe if you want it:

NEIMEN MARCUS'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES The All-American Cookie Book

2 C old-fashioned rolled oats
2 C all-purpose white flour
1 ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
1/2 ts salt
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened (I used earth balance buttery sticks)
3/4 C packed light brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
2 tbs light corn syrup
2 large eggs (I used eggbeaters)
2 ts vanilla extract
2 C semisweet chocolate morsels
1 - 3 1/2 oz bar top-quality milk chocolate, coarsely grated/finely chopped
1 C chopped walnuts/pecans (optional - I obmitted this)

Preheat oven 350 degrees F (Chef said to always preheat 25 degrees above the baking temp asked for due to the heat lost when you open the door, but reduce to actual temp once the item is in the oven and you close the door). Grease several baking sheets.

In food processor/blender, grind oats to fine powder. In large bowl, stir together oats, flour, baking powder, baking sode and salt; set asid. In another bowl, on medium speed, beat butter until light & fluffy. Add brown sugar, sugar, and corn syrup and beat till well blended and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla & beat until evenly incorporated. Beat in half of the flour, beat in chocolate morsels, grated chocolate, walnuts/pecans (if using) and remaining flour mixture until evenly incorporated. Let stand 5-10 minutes or until dough firms up slightly.

Divide dough into quarters and divide each quater into 5-6 portions. Shape into balls with lightly greased hands and place on baking sheets, 3 inches apart. Using hands, pat down balls to 1 inch thick.

Bake 9-12 minutes or until tinged with brown & just beginning to firm up in the centers for oist cookies. Remember to reverse the baking sheet for even browning. Transfer to wire rack after 3-4 minutes.

My husband is finished up API this next week still, so we're still in Pensacola FL for another week before we get to finally move back into our home in Milton, an hour away. For the weekends, we are up here in Milton, and quite honestly, having to go to the grocery store so many times in a week for 2 places we stay at, gets SO tiring & well boring. Don't get me wrong, I am still able to somehow roam the aisles for a good hour or more if left to my own demise. So frankly after church today, I did not want to go to the store and buy more stuff for lunch. So I made Brandon chocolate chip pancakes instead. He didn't mind much, though his eyes tend to be bigger than his stomach. I swear, my stomach is bigger than even his eyes. I can put down food like no other, and I do. lol. That's besides the point though. I made a mini pancake for me just to try. It's the upper right hand one in the picture. This is an IBS friendly recipe.

CHOCOLATE CHUNK WHEAT PANCAKES by Valerie Adams (moi)

1/2 C soy milk
2 ts apple cider vinegar
1/2 C all purpose unbleached flour
1/3 C whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 C egg beaters
1/2 ts vanilla extract
chocolate chunks

Mix soy milk and cider vinegar in a large bowl and stir well. Then add the rest of the ingredients and whisk till blended & not lumpy. Heat griddle and spray with olive oil spray, then ladle onto griddle. Spread chunks onto top of pancakes, then flip when it bubbles and cook the other side.

Pancakes say "Pour some syrup on me!"

Sometimes I just get the urge to bake. It's like restless leg syndrome only restless baking arm syndrome. I don't feel right if I do not bake at LEAST once a week. Sometimes it's really not enough. There's no oven in our hotel in Pensacola, so you can just image the nightmare it has been the past 2 plus months. The kitchen is my haven. I stress, I bake. I'm happy, I bake. I'm tired, I bake. I just...bake.

Anywhos, I've made this recipe before for the focaccia from Recipezaar This time I used rosemary in the dough, sprinkled it with parsely, parmesan cheese and mozzarella on top. It was goooooooood.

So, considering I've been studing for the 2 midterms coming up on tuesday and wednesday, I've been baking quite a bit. Wish me luck for my first round of exams! Yikes!

Italian doughboy

2007-09-13T17:34:00.000-05:00

This week, I was extremely excited about foundations of baking lab. The topic was crusty yeast breads - and we all know how much I love my carbs, and since they obviously don't contain any sort of butter or shortening at all. I was in heaven - well not literally but just about. PLUS, we got to choose our own groups this time, and this is the group we'll be sticking to for the rest of the semester. My group is awesome. It has stefany who is in all my classes almost, another girl named valerie and a lady name Selibeth. We are SO efficient, I almost passed out. While I wanted to make french bread, we got assigned Italian bread instead and I was disappointed because the italian breads that I have ever tried has always been rather nothing special. That changed in 2 hours.

We used the straight dough method as I had described in the yeast rolls post.

ITALIAN BREAD

water - 4lbs

dry active yeast - 1 1/4 oz

bread flour - 7 lbs 8 oz

salt - 3 oz

When we had finished using the straigh dough method, we floured our wooden bench, and let it rest for an hour before punching it down and letting it rest again for another half an hour (covered during rising times). Then we scaled it into 1 lb loaves I believe ( I have to check on that again), we got 4 loaves of bread on each pan, and we ended up with 3 pans. We flattened each 1 lb piece of dough and from the top corners, rolled and pinched the whole way down to the end seam. Seal the ends by pressing with the side of your palm, set on semolina dusted baking sheets, 4 to a sheet.

Let loaves proof until double in size.

Score on left side of each loaf and place a piece of string that has been soaked in water in the score (this prevents the slash from closing up during baking).
Immediately put in oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or more, until there is at least what looks like a half inch layer of crust.
(I had no idea that italian breads were supposed to have such a thick crust until that day)

Emm....YUM! GIMME GIMME GIMME!!!

We also made Grissini - italian breadsticks, and honestly the grissinis I've had prior to this was all soggy and not crispy so basically quite nasty, so I wasn't excited about it until I tasted this!!! We could add any herbs and cheeses or ingredients we wanted, so I went for rosemary and romano cheese. I'm drooling right now.

1 3/4 ts active dry yeast
1 tbs honey/malt syrup
1 1/4 C warm water
2 tbs olive oil, more for brushing dough
3 3/4 C all purpose unbleached flour
1 1/2 ts salt
2 oz romano cheese
1/4 C dried rosemary

stir yeast, honey into water (warm 110F) and let sit for 10 minutes.
Mix in 2 tbs oil with paddle attachment in mixter, add flour and salt and mix until dough comes together. Change to a dough hook & knead for 3 minutes on low speed.

Finish kneading on a floured bench for 45 seconds.

Then knead in romano cheese and rosemary. Pat into 14 x 4 in rectangle.

Let rest for an hour, covered on floured bench

With pizza cutter, cut dough in half lengthwise, then cut the other way into 1/4 in strips.

Take the ends of each strip and stretch strip till very thin and long. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. You can brush with more olive oil and sprinkle with salt but we thought it was salty enough without the added salt.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Next weeks session: Rye breads. I can't wait!!!!!!

I'm So gonna try to make The nieman marcus's chocolate chip cookies this weekend. I must.

Destin-ation

2007-09-09T22:03:00.001-05:00

This was the best weekend we've had in quite a while since Brandon and I have both been busy studying for school. My midterm for next week got rescheduled and Brandon actually didn't have a test to study for so we slept in, then did abs and arms before eating some breakfast and heading out to Destin beach an hour and 20 minutes away. We thought Pensacola beach was pretty...man it does not even compare to Destin Beach. Crystal clear water, warm to the touch, cooling in the heat and wonderous white sand between my toes. We had just planned on hitting the beach & walking on it.

So we walked along the beach for a good hour or so...
Met some seagulls waiting for fish...
and found a mall just down the street a ways....oh how blissful!!!! Actual stores!!!!!!! You can see a cupcake beach stand there but I did not visit it cause I decided to get a grilled feta, tomato & caramelized onion on rye bread for lunch. Brandon went to Johnny rockets but it wasn't good. You can see the sharper image that we hit earlier & finally found something we wanted to use our gift certificate on, from a year ago from our wedding. lol. yes, we will get you sweet sweet ice cream maker...you are ours!
This would make a good painting when I get some more time.

It so happens we strolled upon Williams & Sonoma and it just so happens that I needed a chefs knife and a paring knife for school in a weeks time. It was so meant to be.
My new set of knives. The top all purpose one I got last christmas from Brandon, the one in the middle is my new 8 in chefs knife and an offset paring knife. I LOVE SHUN, more the wustoff. (not sure if that's the right spelling).
A resort as you cross the bridge into Destin
A beach house, how would I LOVE to live in that!! SWEET!
Yes, this shall be our future home. hehehehe...in a million years perhaps.

Well, here's to a new week at school tomorrow! We'll see what misadventures awaits me in foundations of baking.