Use it or lose it or

I’m sure I’m not the only one who buys fruit and then forgets to eat it. We’ve been on this big fruit kick and actually starting buying fruit from Costco. Surprisingly, the quality there is better than the grocery store close to my house. The drawback is a dozen apricots are hard to eat before they go soft. I had about 10 apricots that were on the cusp of going bad and decided I’d make a quick dessert to use them up. This yummy cherry and apricot crisp takes about 5 minutes to prepare and another 20 to bake. Even better… its pretty healthy! My type of dessert!

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August 7, 2009 | Filed Under Bakery, Sweet Tooth

14 Critiques

Asian Chicken Salad

Geez, I feel like its been a month since I’ve blogged… oh wait, it HAS been a month. Well, I’ve been busy… lots of good things going on. I finally made the decision to leave my job as a commercial lines insurance agent to work with my husband full time as the Studio Manager. In case you’re new to my blog, and/or missed all of my past shameless plugs… he’s a fabulous photographer. I’m excited and just a tad scared of this new adventure I’m embarking on. However, one of the things I’m really looking forward to is having more time for my blog. I feel like I’ve treated my poor blog like a red headed stepchild lately and I’m sorry!

On to the food… The past month or two, Stephan and I decided to concentrate on eating healthy. Well we always eat pretty healthy, but we’ve avoided the sweets… that’s also part of the reason I’ve been so quiet on the blog… Who wants to see grilled fish with steamed veggies… again? Yeah, I didn’t think so! LOL! This salad is definitely blogworthy! Its stupid easy and quick to prepare and lastly… very yummy!
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July 20, 2009 | Filed Under Asian, Chicken, Dinner

12 Critiques

I Pita the Fool

I’ll admit it, I’m a fan of Mr. T. I used to watch the A-Team as a kid… anyone else? Hmmm… I think I just showed my age. For a short time used I even used the “Mr. T” voice on my GPS. However, I got tired of him calling me a fool if I missed a turn. Its all fun and games until you really start to feel like one! lol!

Anyway, I had some free time last week and decided I was in the mood the bake. After thumbing through my cookbooks, came across this recipe for pita bread. Since I had all of the ingredients on hand, pita it was! This was my first time making it, and I even impressed myself. Who know pitas were so easy to make and yet SO complicated looking! It really is fascinating how you can put a thin, flat piece of dough on a hot surface and it will balloon and turn into a beautiful pita. The best part is the dough is good in the fridge for up to a week. This means you can have fresh pita at your whimsy… Now THAT is good stuff, my friends!

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June 11, 2009 | Filed Under Bakery, Vegetarian

17 Critiques

Hoe Cake

No, this is not a sweet little nickname my husband has for me. It is the actual name of these corn flecked pancakes. Since corn has been so abundant here, I’ve been buying it every time I’m at the grocery store. I came across this recipe and knew I had to try it. The original recipe called for blackberries, but they were $4.99 for a 1/2 pint… raspberries were half that price. So raspberry it is! :-P

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June 5, 2009 | Filed Under Breakfast

11 Critiques

How ’bout them apples?

So it is time for the Daring Bakers to reveal the tasty treat for the month. I almost didn’t do it this month as we photographed 7 weddings, and one of them was my big brother’s. Here are some pics of my bro’s wedding that my fabulous photographer husband took for anyone out there interested! I now owe hubby a weekly batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies for the next few months. He’s quite the bargainer!

Luckily, I had a few free hours and a well stocked pantry to make the challenge. I just happened to have all of the ingredients required to make this apple strudel. Oh other than fresh breadcrumbs… I used panko and don’t think that was the right choice. Still turned out tasty, however. I also used almonds, as I always have them on hand. The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

As usual with all of my Daring Bakers challenges, I don’t include the recipe. They are just too darn long and I am too OCD to just copy and paste it into my blog. It wouldn’t look like the rest of my recipes, and that is sadly upsetting to someone anal retentive like yours truly. You can find the full recipe at one of the host’s blogs above. You can also see all of my past Daring Baker Posts here. I served it with Creme Anglaise (Vanilla Sauce.)
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May 27, 2009 | Filed Under Bakery, Daring Bakers, Sweet Tooth

21 Critiques

Mawwiage is what bwings us towgethew

That is a Princess Bride quote for those who think my spell check is not working…

It’s been too long since my last post… I’ve been busy as usual. My brother and his longtime love got married this past weekend at a fabulous little boutique hotel, The Water Street Hotel in Apalachicola, FL. I spent almost a week up in Tallahassee with the family before the wedding, a nice relaxing vacation for me. It was a real treat for me to be a guest at a wedding and not photographing it like we do every weekend. I did make their cake, which I will share photos of soon, and Stephan did the photography. I haven’t seen the wedding pictures yet, as Stephan keeps them under wraps until he’s ready to unveil. Unfortunately, I fear that he got a picture of me doing “the ugly cry” when my bro and mom were dancing. Gosh darn it!

These cookies really have nothing to do with the post… I made them a few weeks ago and have yet to blog them. I purchased a big ass bag of almonds at Costco and will be including almonds in everything I cook for the next few months. I love almonds, so that will be just fine for me! These cookies are very similar to the snowball cookies, but I think have a better flavor since they contain almonds instead of pecans. They are very easy and quick to prepare… my kind of cookie!

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May 16, 2009 | Filed Under Bakery, Sweet Tooth

8 Critiques

Bulls Eye!

The daring baker challenge this month was cheesecake. We were given total creative freedom in this challenge, which I love! The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I ended up using a slightly different recipe, as I prefer to add sour cream instead of heavy cream to my cheesecake. Also, I wanted to make the bulls eye design that results from two different colored batters. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic before I cut into it… duh! But it still looks really cool with the layers. Lastly, I always bake my cheesecake at a low temperature (325 degrees) in a waterbath. I detest overcooked cheesecake!

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April 27, 2009 | Filed Under Bakery, Daring Bakers, Sweet Tooth

43 Critiques

Making Curds and Whey

I’ve always been a lover of cheese… every kind of cheese. From the stinky stuff in French restaurants to the most mild mozzarella. I found this recipe recently to make cheese at home and knew I had to try it. I didn’t even know you could make cheese at home with such simple ingredients. All you need for this recipe is buttermilk, milk and salt, no chemicals, rennet or anything else. I used organic whole milk, but you can also make it with 1% or 2%. So easy and amazingly delicious. To fancy it up, I browned the cheese in a dry non-stick pan and it made a perfect appetizer. It is also just as yummy eaten plain.

The recipe said salt was an optional item , but I think it is really necessary. I only added a generous pinch of fleur de sel and it was extremely bland before brining. It was fine after brining, but the exterior is definitely saltier than the interior when you brine. The texture is similar to Queso Blanco. It has a nice bite and mild flavor. Next time I’m going to experiment with some smoked sea salt and maybe even herbs. It was so easy, I see myself making fresh cheese at home on a regular basis.

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April 23, 2009 | Filed Under Vegetarian

9 Critiques

Blondies Have More Fun

Its been a long time since I’ve made blondies. Years and years. I don’t understand why, though. They are SO easy and so tasty. Even more, my hubby loves the simplicity of them. Believe it or not, he doesn’t like the fancy cookies I make, and begs me to make “regular” cookies. So I’ve vowed to make more blondies in the future. The original recipe called for macadamia nuts, but my grocery store only carried salted macadamia nuts. Way too salty for a cookie, even when rinsed. Been there, done that. I found unsalted cashews and am so happy I did. They were a great flavor in the cookie… just as good as macadamia nuts. So you can use either one in the recipe.

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April 15, 2009 | Filed Under Bakery, Sweet Tooth

11 Critiques

Bacon and Eggs

I love Pasta Alla Carbonara. It is one of my favorite things to eat when I’m in a good Italian Restaurant. When we were in Rome last year, I had Carbonara almost every day. I had try all of the different restaurant’s versions! Research purposes, you know?? I’ve noticed many people who make Carbonara add cream and make it almost like an Alfredo. Not me… Eggs and cheese are the only thickening agent I use, along with pasta water. I’ve found that adding a couple egg yolks in addition to the whole eggs makes for a creamier sauce.

Another thing I’ve found (by trial and error) are to toss the egg mixture and hot pasta in a metal bowl instead of the pasta pot. You’re less likely to end up with scrambled egg carbonara, which is not good. I think the pasta is hot enough to cook the eggs, but if you freak out about slightly cooked eggs, do your mixing in the pasta pot. However, be prepared for bits of completely cooked egg. Lastly, I add peas, which makes me feel better, like I added a bit of green healthiness to a rich dish. If you don’t like peas, by all means, leave them out. Also, I cheaped out at the grocery store and bought low sodium bacon instead of the pancetta. Either one will work, but the pancetta has a better flavor.

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