Where's Val?

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. :-)

Carrot to try?

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....

It's easter already?

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!

Pescotti

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

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!!!!

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!

Beam me up Scottie!

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

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 ;-)

Flour bag bread

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

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.

I heart the english

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?

Cookies down with Jaundice

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

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.