Popsicles and Sandy Feet

Kid's Thumprint Cookies- The Very Last Tuesdays with Dorie Recipe and Goodbye from me!

2011-12-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

I made these kid's thumbprints to celebrate the last week of Tuesdays with Dorie. TWD is/was a baking blog started by the wonderful blogger, Laurie Woodward. She decided to bake a different recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book Baking every single week until she baked through the entire thing. I joined later in 2008 and have made almost every single recipe in the whole book. I have met wonderful people both online and in person and really improved my baking skills. I am so happy I participate in this group and am grateful to Dorie Greenspan for writing a book that added so much joy to my kitchen and my family/friends. This week, I decided to actually bake and post in the same week. (I filled them with Sarabeth's strawberry jam and loved the combo of the sweet jam and crunchy nuts. It is a testament to the strength of the book that the last recipe chosen was as good as the first.) I have been a lazy blogger recently and have been cooking the books but not photographing them or writing them up. I am so busy now with my regular non-blogging life that I will continue with French Fridays with Dorie (where we cook through Around my French Table) and Baking with Julia (where will bake through this book, starting in February of 2012) but won't be blogging about it publicly anymore. I look forward to following all of the other bloggers online and learning even more skills as I follow along silently at home. As Laurie always says to us on the Tuesdays with Dorie web site, "Bake on!" Hugs to all!!!!!

Virtual Cookie Exchange Day- Heartland Turtle Bars

2011-12-04T06:57:00.000-05:00

I made Heartland Turtle Bars from Baked Explorations to celebrate Virtual Cookie Exchange Day. Diane, of Di's Kitchen Notebook. This recipe is a take on the turtle candy- a chocolate/caramel/nut confection that is oh-so-messy but good. These bars have an oatmeal shortbread crust and crumb topping and taste great at room temperature, warm and gooey, or cold from the fridge. I am having one right now, in fact. Click here to see all the cookies and get great ideas for the holidays. Diane, Thanks so much for putting this together for us! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, or Kwanzaa, may your season be sweet and filled with treats!

Happy National Bundt Day! Enjoy some Lithuanian Coffee Cake to Celebrate

2011-11-15T14:02:00.004-05:00

Happy National Bundt Cake Day to you and yours!

I am a big fan of Mary and her blog, The Food Librarian. This month, she baked a different bundt every single day for 30 days, ending today, November 15th, which is National Bundt Cake Day. I am tired just reading the entries, and wish I lived closer to her so I could snack on all the leftovers.

I made a Lithuanian Coffee Cake, made famous at a local vegetarian eatery called Claire's Corner Copia. This is a traditional coffee cake made with cinnamon, raisins, walnuts, and ground coffee. The moisture comes from low-fat sour cream and it has a nice, tight crumb. I made two 6 inch bundts to facilitate easier sharing and sprinkled it with powdered sugar instead of the buttercream frosting that the recipe calls for. Here is the recipe if you want to try it yourself. If you decide to celebrate along with me and make a bundt, submit the information to Mary here and she will send you a super cool pin commemorating the occasion.

If you want to read the story behind the Lithuanian Coffee Cake, check it out here.

Happy Bundt Making to all! I am already excited for Bundt Month in 2012!!!!

TWD: Bittersweet Brownies and Alsatian Apple Tart

2011-11-15T09:50:00.004-05:00

I guess I am more of an eater than a blogger. I made both of the treats selected for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie posting but didn't photograph either one of them. Oops. I know we enjoyed them and ate them quickly but I wish I had charged the batteries in my camera. I made the bittersweet brownies with Callebaut chocolate and added some toasted marshmallows to the chopped walnuts. Visit the Lovely Leslie of Lethally Delicious for the entire recipe. Leslie was lucky and got to make these brownies with Nancy of The Dog eats the Crumbs. I love it when bloggers meet in real life and I wish I had been there too!

Next, Jessica of cookbookhabit chose the Alsatian Apple Tart. In this recipe, I loved how the filling was creamy and custard-like. I will make this again and again. Visit Jessica's blog for the entire recipe and actual photos.

Blog a Loaf: Sono Bakery's Classic White Bread- a cautionary tale

2011-10-16T10:14:00.004-04:00

See this beautiful homemade white bread? This is The SONO Baking Company Cookbook's Classic White Bread Recipe. I made this for Diane's Post a Loaf Day. It has a mild sweet taste and is nice for sandwiches or as toast. While the ingredients are simple (water, yeast, flour, nonfat dry milk, sugar, salt, butter), the techinique is a little bit involved. Make the dough. Let it rise. Punch it down. Let it rise. Fill the loaf pan. Let it rise. Bake it. While I was making this recipe, I was also making Heidi Swanson's cabbage soup and Baked Sweet and Salty Caramel Brownies. (No, I will not add links or give you the whole recipes. Buy the books- it is worth the money for those recipes alone.) I was having trouble paying attention and I forgot the most important step at the end. "Preheat to 500 degrees. Place the loaf on a baking sheet, place the baking sheet in the oven and IMMEDIATELY REDUCE THE OVEN TEMPERTATURE TO 375." Oops.
This blurry picture taken by my kindergartener shows the top of the loaf when you leave it at 500 for the first twenty minutes. Oops. The inside of the bread was great, but the top was a little bit burnt and scary. Oh well. I guess I learned my lesson: Do not bake/cook three different things at once and read all of the instructions thoroughly before jumping into the shower! I look forward to reading everyone else's "Loaf" posts. I wonder if meatloaf or quick breads will be represented. I would bet a lot money that mine is the only burnt loaf in the bunch!

TWD: Apple Nut Muffin Cake

2011-10-04T08:03:00.003-04:00

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is the Apple Nut Muffin Cake. Take all the ingredients of a fall muffin (chopped apples, nuts, raisins) and dump the whole batter into an 8 by 8 pan instead of muffin tins. I liked the flavor of the almond extract mixed with fresh fruit and nuts. This recipe was exceptionally easy because the stick of butter is melted and cooled (i.e. no waiting for the butter to come to room temp) and the ingredients are hand mixed in a bowl so there is no mixer to clean. This is the perfect post-apple picking snack. We had nibbles for breakfast and afternoon snacks. Visit Katrina's blog, Baking and Boys, for the entire recipe. I really enjoy Katrina's blog because she often writes about the joys of cooking for and feeding her sons, which is near and dear to my heart.

FFWD: Deconstructed BLT and Eggs

2011-09-30T00:01:00.001-04:00

Deconstructed BLT is this week's French Fridays with Dorie selection. Take the best of the BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato) and add croutons fried in bacon fat and hard boiled eggs. Toss in a simple vinaigrette and you have the perfect meal. The recipe recommends a swipe of mayo on top of each egg. I served the salad plain in the bowl and let me dinner guests add their own mayo to taste. I love the salty bacon with the creamy egg and crisp, almost bitter greens. It is a great combo- filling, varied texture and color and perfect for this weird end of summer meets early fall weather we have been having recently. Warning: croutons fried in bacon fat are extremely addictive. You might experience trouble eating one and walking away. You might be unable to eat ordinary croutons anymore. You have been warned.

TWD: Take Two- Flip Over Plum Cake

2011-09-27T00:01:00.003-04:00

After I ate the first batch of plums and decided to make peach cake and peach jam, I bought another batch so I could try again. Flip Over Plum cake, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, makes a great after school snack. One of my sons used his new sandwich wrapper as both a placemat and napkin.
The Flip Over Plum Cake was a great pick. I love using so many fresh, ripe plums in one fell swoop. This recipe came together in a unique way. A stick of butter is melted into the bottom of the pan and then the raw batter is poured right on top. Finally, the chopped plums get poured right on top. The batter bakes up and around the plums so they "flip over" and wind up on the bottom of the cake. The butter sizzles when it mixes with the batter and that helps to create a crispy, buttery crust. I think that the flavor of plum with almond extract was a great combination. I ate this for breakfast, lunch, and dessert and I look forward to seeing everyone else's take on it.

TWD goes rogue- Peach Basil Cake and Peach Pear Jam

2011-09-27T00:01:00.002-04:00

I intended to make the Flip Over Plum Cake for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie. I looked at the recipe and even went to buy plums. I bought the ingredients. I tried to follow directions. It wasn't my fault. But, then, the plums looked so tempting that I just ate them one after another after another after my long run and suddenly there were none left for a cake. There were, however, several peaches from Bishops Orchard sitting forlornly on my counter. I decided to make a TWD rewind recipe and chose the Peach, Lemon Zest, and Basil coffee cake. I love this recipe. I could eat peaches every day until they aren't in season anymore and these did not disappoint. (I got a funny newsletter last week from the direcctor of my CSA saying that peaches were the only thing that CSA farmers could pass distribute and never receive complaints about.) I would recommend this coffee cake creation to anyone who has extra peaches or is looking for a way to spice up coffee hour. Next time, I might slice the peaches thinly and lay them on their sides to make it easier to cut and eat.
I had a few more ripe peaches and pears on the counter so I decided to make Martha Stewart's freezer jam. (I have four and six year old sons who tend to pick more fruit than we can eat in a week.) This was a great jam recipe- easy to assemble, not overly sweet, and lets the flavor of the fruit shine through. The recipe made five Ball 8 ounce freezer jars and one bigger tupperware full of jam. If you often make jam, try these new containers. They are great for sharing with friends and family and much cheaper than the traditional glass jars. Try this recipe for yourself if you have extra peaches in the house. I used a four to one peach/pear ratio and the flavor was perfect.

FFWD: Honey-Spiced Madeleines

2011-09-23T00:01:00.000-04:00

Honey-Spiced Madeleines are this week's French Fridays with Dorie delight. They are gently spiced with orange zest, vanilla, honey, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. They smell as great as they taste. If you want to see the entire recipe, check out this post or buy the book. If you want tips on making perfectly humped madeleines, check out this recent post on the topic by Dorie Greenspan.

TWD: Salt and Pepper Cocoa Shortbread Cookies

2011-09-19T07:14:00.005-04:00

I love fall. I love apple picking, pumpkin selection, and country fairs. I love jeans with wool sweaters and outdoor sporting events. I love caramel apple cider and non-frizzing hair. And I love baking in an environment where my oven's heat doesn't turn me into a hot, sweaty mess.
This week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection is Cocoa Salt and Pepper Shortbread. I know, it sounds strange, but stay with me. I used Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa Powder from King Arthur which gave them a rich, dark color and nice flavor. I also added the optional egg wash and sprinkle of fleur de sel/fresh ground pepper to the top for a little extra interest. The cookies were different and I mean that in the best way possible. They start out as an ordinary chocolate flavored shortbread cookie but the salt and pepper mixes with the cocoa flavor to make a great contrast in flavor at the end of each bite. I really enjoyed these and hope everyone else did too. Check out Tia of Buttercream Barbie for the entire recipe and lots of other great content.

French Fridays with Dorie- three for one this week...

2011-09-16T00:01:00.001-04:00

I made three different French Fridays with Dorie recipes this week. First, I made up a batch of the corn soup and got to use up fresh corn from my CSA basket. I added three optional toppings (spicy pepper, roasted corn and bacon lardons) and loved the contrast between the creamy soup and the crunchy toppings.
I also made the Creamy Cheesy Garlicky Rice with Spinach dish. It was all of those things and more- easy to assemble and fun to eat. I used fresh spinach that I wilted on the stovetop but next time I might sub in frozen, thawed, chopped spinach to save a step and save some dishes.
Fianlly, I made Cinnamon Crunch Chicken. Take ordinary chicken breasts and saute them in a mix of olive oil and butter. Add a sauce made up of LU cinnamon cookies and creme fraiche. This was uber-delicious and a big hit with the shorter members of my household. I look forward to catching up with everyone else's posts now that the hurricane cleanup is officially over in my house!

TWD: Classic Brownies

2011-09-13T00:01:00.000-04:00

This week, Tuesdays with Dorie goes old school and tackles the classic brownie. Anne of Anne Strawberry chose this delicious treat. I confess I have made it several times before and it was one of the first recipes that made me swear off boxed mixes for life.

These brownies are rich and fudgey and can be customized with nuts, m&m's, flaked coconut, crystallized ginger, or whatever your favorite mix-in might be. I made them with toasted chopped walnuts and alternated between snacking on them at room temperature with cold milk and frozen over ice cream. I know that some people like their brownies cakey and others prefer them with a more fudge-like consistency, but just like friends and music, I have room for a lot of different brownies in my heart. I photographed the brownies at three different sizes: 1- a kid-sized after kindergarten snack, 2- the size Dorie recommends to get her recommended number of servings from the recipe, or 3- the size I like to enjoy. And yes, after the photograph was eaten, I had to sample all three of them. Click here for the entire recipe and thanks to Anne Strawberry for a reason to eat brownies this week.

TWD: Chocolate Spice Quickies

2011-09-06T00:01:00.001-04:00

We survived Irene! Although we had no power/water for five days, no one was hurt and we all survived relatively unscathed. Things went from fun/adventurous/campout to cranky/whiny/scared kids in about 48 hours. It is now Day 8 Post Storm and we just got our tv/phone/internet back. Hopefully I will have the other broken appliances fixed soon and life will return to normal. I feel sadness for those who have lost their lives and homes to this storm and keep everyone in my thoughts and prayers.
Chocolate Spice Quickies, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, were the perfect cookie to weather the hurricane weather. They were easy to prepare during my pre-storm preparations and lasted for several days in tupperware while we ate by candlelight. I used a Chocolove Coffee Crunch bar in my cookies and it gave them a little extra texture and flavor. (Lesson Learned: do not give four year old coffee items late at night. They will bounce off the walls and you will regret your choices.) If you want the full recipe, visit Jessica of My Baking Heart for the full recipe.

TWD: Cornmeal and Fruit Loaf

2011-08-30T08:13:00.000-04:00

In the category of "better late than never," I made cornmeal loaf for Tuesdays with Dorie this week. I used dried apricots as my dried fruit and loved every moist, delicious bite. I love the texture of cornmeal in baked goods and it was perfect for either a lazy breakfast or afternoon snack. Visit Caitlin of Engineer Baker for the entire recipe. Caitlin's blog is one of my very favorites- I love to see her take on recipes and her take on the world.

FFWD: Cafe Pleyel Burger

2011-08-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

A burger with capers, cornichons, and parmesan cheese? Oui, if it is for French Fridays with Dorie. This was delicious- moist, flavorful, and so different. We loved it and will enjoy it again and again. Merci.

TWD: Brioche- Rewind- Take Two- Sticky Buns

2011-08-23T00:01:00.003-04:00

I used half of my brioche dough to make this Tuesdays with Dorie rewind recipe. Rolling out the dough for Brioche dough based pecan sticky buns. See below: here are the buns waiting to rise in the baking dish...
Here is what they look like after they rise....
Here are the buns after they bake up nice and puffy and golden brown...
Here are the bunds flipped over right before you dig in....
Be careful when they first come out of the oven because flipping the pan over is a messy and dangerous job. The hot, sticky caramel will burn the roof of your mouth, but it is oh-so worth it. I think I will make these once a year...they are too dangerous to have in the house more often than that.

TWD: Brioche- take one- Brioche Loaves

2011-08-23T00:01:00.002-04:00

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is Brioche Loaves. I made the full batch of brioche dough (which makes two loaves) and used half for a loaf and half for a rewind of the pecan sticky buns. Yeast dough is not as scary or intimidating as it used to be-it just requires the baker to stick close to home in order to get all the slapping/punching of the dough done at appropriate intervals. I wound up setting the timer on the microwave so I wouldn't get lost in my everyday life and forget the dough.
I liked the bread warm with this butter and Christine Ferber jam. The leftovers are perfect for brioche french toast or a cool take on a turkey/cheese/chutney sandwich.

FFWD: Eggplant Caviar

2011-08-19T00:01:00.001-04:00

Eggplant Caviar is a fancy pants way of saying Roasted Eggplant Dip. I used eggplant from my CSA basket and made it twice- once with yellow onions and once with red onions. I liked it both ways but thought that the yellow onions might a little milder and a better crowd pleaser. I just found a new recipe I could eat every day between 4pm and 7pm during the "I am hungry but there is no dinner in sight" time of the evening. Thanks to French Fridays with Dorie for a another great pick.

TWD: Tropical Crumble

2011-08-16T00:01:00.003-04:00

Tropical Crumble (this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection) elevates the traditional crumble top with banana and mango chunks underneath for a sneaky, delicious, taste of a tropical island in your dessert. We enjoyed this with friends and lots of whipped cream. A big thank you to Gaye of Laws of the Kitchen for this fabulous pick. Visit her blog for the entire recipe.

FFWD: Salmon in a Jar/Potatoes in a Jar

2011-08-12T05:45:00.006-04:00

Salmon in a Jar and Potatoes in a Jar, this week's French Fridays with Dorie, is the perfect summer meal when you would rather be looking at this....
(The Sunflower Maze at Lyman Orchards.) Dorie Greenspan says that salmon in a jar is "straddling a space between gravlax and tartare" and she is right. Take raw fish and rub it with a blend of sugar and salt. The next day, put it in a jar with olive oil, carrots, onions, and seasonings. That is it. Seriously easy stuff. The potatoes in a jar is equally easy but just requires the cook to boil the potatoes till fork tender before assembling the jar. Wait about 6 hours and then you are ready to end the day with a light and perfect summery meal. I love knowing that I have a great dinner at the end of a long summer day and seeing the jars in the fridge made me happy each time I opened the door. The only thing I will do differently next time is to make a double batch so I can bring lucky friends and family their own jar to enjoy.

TWD: Carrot Spice Muffins

2011-08-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

Three Things I Adore:

1. This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for Carrot Spice Muffins. They are gently spicy, a little bit healthy, and moist- perfect for breakfast or a quick snack. I used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour.

2. Nancy- hostess for this week and author of The Dogs eat the Crumbs. Go to her blog for the entire recipe and other wonderful bloggie content. I particularly love her ice cream related posts.

3. Carrot Spice Muffins baked in Reynolds Stay Brite monkey themed paper. No, I am not a paid sponsor and the Reynolds people have no idea who I am, I just like learning new tricky ways to get my young sons to eat vaguely healthy things.

Simple Slow-Roased Tomatoes

2011-08-05T00:01:00.000-04:00

This week, French Fridays with Dorie offers us a chance to take ordinary grape tomatoes and make them better and an opportunity to take great tomatoes and make them sublime. By roasting them with a little olive oil and herbs, at a low temperature, for several hours, the flavors are condensed and the humble tomato becomes somehow sweeter and more substantial. I make oven roasted tomatoes and usually use this recipe, but now I will have two to choose from too. We ate them in an omelette with goat cheese, over a green salad, and strewn over grilled flank steak. I look forward to trying them in more variations when I make them again.

TWD: Cocoa Almond Meringues

2011-08-02T00:01:00.001-04:00

Cocoa Almond Meringues. Light, surprisingly chocolatey, and easy to make. I know they don't look like much, but they are pretty special. Several years of baking with the TWD ladies has gotten me to the point where making meringues no longer makes my palms sweat with terror. Thanks to Mike of Ugly Food Dude for a new favorite.

FFWD: Citrus-Berry Terrine

2011-07-29T06:11:00.003-04:00

This week's French Fridays with Dorie is a citrus-berry terrine. Take tons of fresh, seasonal fruit and pull it all together with some homemade orange gelatin. This dish was light, refreshing, and oh-so-french. It was a great dessert to enjoy during the summer heat wave. I think I used a little too much fruit because I had trouble cutting my terrine into neat/perfect slices but it tasted great anyway.