Orange item of the week

I was subbing when I saw one of the kids with this pencil.  I knew it HAD to be an orange item.....

A few of my favorite things....

So far this Christmas season, I have made 756 cookies.  No time for blogging, sleeping or shopping.  I work and bake.  My thumbs are burning from using the ice cream scoop so many times.  I thought I would take a little bit of a break and present a wonderfully thematic meal for you all.

Here is the warm up of door bells, sleigh bells....

And then the main dish:

Schnitzel with noodles.

And for dessert?

Crisp Apple Strudel.

 And because it is me, my favorite favorite thing? 

Whiskers on kittens :)

Orange item of the week.

I am in cookie hell right now, baking for every event or person my parents can think of....so I was thrilled when Stanley pitched in and helped me find/pick an orange item.  He really is awesome.  So here is Stanley and a bag of carrots he was sitting on/next to.

Orange Walnut Bars

I got this jewel of a recipe form the King Arthur Baking Sheet.  Not only are these bars delish, but they are soooo easy.  Easy as in make them, pop them in th the oven and catch up in the Real Housewives of Atlanta.  Or Beverly Hills.  The other great thing is that they have the oddest list of ingredients, so if you are running low on things, these are your friend.  I made them first with pecans, and they turned out great.  Joann asked for them for Thanksgiving, so I used almonds instead, anaphylactic shock can be such a downer.  Because of the high sugar content, they are chewy and the orange in the glaze makes them bright.  There is a glaze that is put on warm, as in you don't have to wait for them to cool to ice them.  Tasty and you can still get some sleep....brilliant.



Grease a 9x13 pan, and preheat oven to 350
Bars:
4 cupr or a 1 pound bag of brown sugar
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
4 eggs
1 cup chopped nuts, either walnuts, pecans or almonds all chopped
1 t vanilla extract

Mix flour, sugar salt.  Add he eggs and vanilla, and beat for a minute,  pour into your pan.  Bake for 30 minutes, until they pull from the edges.

For the glaze:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
3 T melted butter
3 T orange juice
I add the zest too, but it is your choice really...

Stir the ingredients together until smooth.  Pour over the top oft he bars while warm.  Be sure to run a knife around the edges of the pan when you go to cut them.

Chem class

I passed chem class by 3 points in high school so you can imagine my shock when I was asked to sub for it.

ugly sweater race

Me after a blistering 3.1 miles in 53 minutes. 

Last Sunday, I competed my first 5k ever! I raced (OK, walked) through Hartford for the Ugly Sweater Run.  The event is held for Toys for Tots and is a ton of fun.  At the two mile marker there was a hot chocolate aid station and free beer at the end.  All runners received a hat a moustache for their efforts.  And did I mention drinks at the end?

Before ..yes my sweater was ugly.

Orange item of the week

So, thrtr I was running around Granby High School like a lunatic, when I finally found the right class room....and this was on the whiteboard.

Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns

I made these buns for thanksgiving, and they were a hit.  They are easy to make, but hard to explain.  When I first told my mother about them, I described them as cinnamon buns but with cheddar.  My mother then said they sounded gross, and that she did not want cinnamon and cheddar.  I explained that there is no cinnamon, it is just the shape.  This conversation went on for ten minutes with me saying, no, there is no cinnamon, it is just the shape.  Frustration does not cover it.  I got this recipe from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook.

That being said, these are quick and easy to make.  And super yum.  I am thinking of other things to put in them.

Dough:
3 c flour
1 t salt
Few grinds black pepper
1 T sugar
2 1/4 t instant yeast
1 c milk
4 T melted butter, cooled and 1 T for brushing

Filling:
1/2 c grated white onion ( you can do this in the cuisinart, if you grate it by hand, be sure to not leave your mouth open, you will have onion breath.)
1 1/2 c cheddar cheese
2 t fresh dill
1/4 t salt
Black pepper

To make the dough, place yeast in milk, and wait for it to dissolve.  Mix together dry ingredients with the paddle attachment.  Add melted butter and yeast mixture.  You should get a shaggy ball.  Switch tot he dough hook, and kneed for 6 minutes.  There should be a smooth and elastic ball.  Place dough in an oiled bowl and let rise for 2 hours,  or overnight on the fridge.  If you use the fridge, let the dough return to. Room temperature before continue working.

Place dough on a well floured counter and roll it into a 12x 16" rectangle.  Mix the filling ingredients, and spread them over the rectangle leaving a half inch boarder.  Roll the rectangle into a log and then cut 1" buns.

I used a 9x13 baking dish, but you can use 2 8" rounds,  place buns so there is room for them to grow.  Brush the tops with butter.  Let rise for 2 hours, they should double in size.  Preheat your oven to 350.

Bake the buns for 20-25 minutes.  The will expand and touch each other.

Mosaic Biscotti

This recipe made a mountain of biscotti that were delish.  I got it from the Dolce Italiano cookbook.  These are the biscotti from an earlier post, and here sit he recipe as promised.


3 1/2 cups flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks, plus one egg white for glaze
2 cups sugar, plus 1 1/2 T for glaze
2 t vanilla
12 oz, semisweet to bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 c skinned or  unskinned hazelnuts
2 cups whole unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped

In a medium bowl whisk dry ingredients together

Place eggs and sugar in a mixer and mix on medium speed until thick and pale, about two minutes.  Add in vanilla extract, then add the dry ingredients.  Then add chocolate and nuts.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease two baking sheets.  Divide dough into five portions.  Flour a cutting board and form dough into five logs, 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 10 inches long.  In a bowl beat egg until frothy and using a pastry brush glaze each log and then sprinkle with 1 t sugar.

Bake logs until they are light golden brown and firm to the touch, and beginning to crack slightly, 20-25 minutes.  Allow logs to cool on baking sheets until they are cool to the touch, about 40 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees.

With a sharp, serrated knife slice the biscotti on the bias, 1/4" thick.  Return them to the oven for 20 minutes, until they are dry and crisp.  Cool on the baking sheets.

Mountains of Biscotti

I was a baking fool today, making bread sticks, cheese rolls and a freaking mountain of biscotti.  First off, my friend Jen made biscotti and it made me kinda jealous.  I am also reading Percy Jackson, Son of Neptune.  I feel like all campers at the camp start the day with espresso and biscotti before going on quests and fighting monsters.

thanksgiving baking

Here is the stack of cookbooks I am going to need tonight as I start my baking.  Stupid pilgrims.

Orange Item of the Week

Getting ready for Thanksgiving.  To be honest, it is not my favorite holiday.  I should not complain, I convinced my mother to make latkes and eggs instead of a turkey.  Anyway, in an effort to relax this holiday, I discovered Scotchy schotch Scotch ice cream.  Joann and I am in love.  And if we could serve big bowls of Ben and Jerry's we would.  The butterscotch swirls are....orange.

Orange cardamom cookies

I heard the f word today.  No not that one, or even fish.  Flurries.  It is going to snow tomorrow.  Well, flurry.  I am not ready for this.  But tradition has it, when it first snows, I make something with cardamom.  It makes me feel close to my NYC roots.  These came from my King Arthur Baking Sheet, Xmas cookie edition.  Light and flavorful, I think I am in love.  Joann is too.  There is an orange glaze for these, but I felt like it made them too sweet and the confectioner's sugar can be cloying.  Joann spooned on the glaze and shoved a few cookies in. I am in a rush to get to yoga, so I did not do as many batches as I should.  Instead I fit too many on a sheet and they baked together.  My cookies are ugly.  I know,  no need to whisper behind my back.

Dough
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t soda
1 1/2 t cardamom
1/4 t salt
3/4 cup or 1 1/ sticks butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
Zest from two small oranges (I used only one large, it was fine.)
2T orange juice
2 large eggs, at room temp

Glaze
1 c confectioners' sugar
2 T orange juice

Preheat oven to 350, and grease two cookie sheets
Whisk dry ingredients together except for the sugar.  Add the butter and sugar and zest to a mixer and mix until smooth.  Add the orange juice and eggs and mix until combined.  On low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until combined,

Use a 1 1/4" cookie scoop and ace balls about 2" apart on cookie sheet.  These suckers spread, so the mounds of uncooked dough should be smallish,  you get about 30 cookies from this recipe.  Flatten them out with your hand before placing in hour oven.  Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until golden brown on edges and they are set.  Remove from the oven and let them cool for about five minutes on the sheet.  When you can remove them without breaking them, it is a good time to pry them off the sheet.

While the cookies are cooling, prepare the glaze.  Brush over cookies and allow to harden before storing.

Orange item of the week.

Here is one of the ghosts I made for Halloween.  They are more orange in person. Because my birthday is five days after Halloween I get to keep the lights on a few extra days.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

This cutie little cupcake was insanely easy.  I had to make bread, soup and dessert for my mother to bring to a coworker (her husband is getting chemo) so I sadly had to cut a few corners.  I used an Ina mix.  Judge me people.  But, I then jazzed it up with a mummy kit from target (on sale!). For four bucks you get the white bandage gumny stuff and eyes.  Super cute and super easy.

Orange Item of the Week

Sometimes, you just can't find an orange item when you need one.

rosemary baguette

As part of my whole recent Barnes and Noble splurge, my m
Joann got The Bread and Soup Cookbook.  It should be called A Damn Treasure Trove of Yumminess.  Guess it does not roll off the young as easily.  I made a root vegetable chowder and a free form hearth bread that my family loved.  So, last night, date night, as in my father takes my mother out drinking and they leave me home, I decided to make the cauliflower and cheddar soup with a rosemary baguette.  This lovely loaf is made in the cuisinart.  I could not believe how easy it was.  I forgot the rosemary, and it was still amazing, and they say to spray the loaf before it goes in.  I could not find a spray bottle, so I just put water in a preheated cookie sheet right after I popped hither loaf in.

Rosemary Baguette

3 cups bread flour
1 package or 1 scant tablespoon of active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (as hot as your tap will go)
1 1/2 t salt
2 T fresh rosemary leaves

In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 c bread flour, yeast and water.  Stir until smooth.  Set mixture aside until it begins to proof and bubble, about 10 minutes.  (Because my parents refuse to turn on the heat, I placed mine next to the stove while I was making the soup.)

In a food processor, combine remaining flour, and salt and pulse to blend.  Add e proofed dough to he bowl and process until the dough ball spins around about 25 times.  This can be a challenge to count.

Turn the dough (it will be fairly soft) out onto a floured work surface .  Invert a bowl over the dough and let rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.  I greased my bowl with Pam, it was a good move.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475.

Dust 2 baking sheets with flour.  Divide dough into two logs about 19"-20" long.  Place loaves diagonally on baking sheet.  Using a knife, slash the log about 5 or 6 times.  To be honest, my logs were gnarly, but it was fine.  Spray generously with water.  Bake each loaf, one at a time for 20 minutes, until golden.

Apple Spice Snaking Cake

My mother got a discount this week from Barnes and Noble and treated me to a cookbook shopping excursion.  I got a ton devoted to bread baking, but I found one from the Flour Bakery in Boston.  I have to be honest, Boston annoys me.  The thing is I am not a New Englander at heart.  In fact after living here for about 23 years total, I would be more than happy to get out of dodge and never look back.  It is nothing specific about boston, it is more of a reminder of how far i am fron home in NYC.  These are a few of my issues.
     So, about New Englanders.  They are a different breed.  In spite of cold winters they try to never put on the heat.  And once they do the thermostats never go above 65 degrees.  They never call in sick, and if they do call an ambulance.  Whatever they have can not be cured by you or asperine.  It is going to take an elite team of German doctors to take care of their illness.  And lastly, they are not aggressive spicers.  In fact, they are cheap with them.  (Frugal people, another trait of the New Englander.) So, when I made this cake I  made all 1/4 teaspoons a full teaspoon except for the cloves.   This is the updated version.   And seriously, I was right.  Spices are good.  I am fairly sure I a right about Boston too.

1 cup AP flour
3/4 c cake flour
1 1/2 baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t ginger
1/8 t cloves
1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c butter at room temperature
2 eggs
4 cups (about 3) Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and diced
1/2 c raisins (I had golden, so I used those.)
1 c pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 10" round cake pan.

Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Add butter and sugar in mixer, and beat until light and fluffy.  Then add the eggs one a time until incorporated.  Scape down bowl.  Add the dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated.  Add apples.  The batter will be stiff and you might thnk there are too many apples.  It should look like that.  Add raisins and pecans.  Then scrape the batter into the pan.  Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the cake feels firm in the middle when you press down.  Cool on a wire rack.  Flip over on a ate when cool , then invert again, so the cake is right side up.  Add little powdered sugar.

orange item of the week

Joann decided I needed to be a substitute teacher, since I have student loans and a sephora addiction to maintain I agreed.  I was expecting hyper badly behaved kids, nights of drinking and crying and a room full of women midday eating yogurt and talking about their kids.  What I did not expect was taking care of Flower.  She was quiet and lived through the day, which really is all I can ask for.

redemption

Last weekend, I discovered the hard way that apple cider and apple cider vinegar are not the same.  OK, I kinda knew.  I was making soup while tired and my mom was making capanata.  When it came time to add the cider, joann was asking about sherry vinegar.  At this point there was some sort of neurological malfunction and cider became cider vinegar.  Clearly, it was a disaster.  So today, while alone and well rested I made multi grain bread. It is slightly misshapen, but I am a proud mama.  We have yet to cut it, but if nothing else she is pretty.

Orange item of the week

My friend Jen came to East Granby for far too few days between moving from Brazil to Zurich for her husband's work.  I got to meet her husband and dog and catch up.  Oh, and I had to watch a college football game and yell "Roll Tide.". I have no idea why, but it was fun.  Here is a very reddish orange...a bloody Mary like what I used to order for brunch when Jen and I both lived in NYC.

the bunt of a joke.

I know, i know I have not bern updating.  It is not my fault.  Joann has decided to start her own little baking sweat shop with me as her only worker.  Every week i have like three things to bake along with food shopping, chores and cat related pursuits.  Sigh...So, I tried a new way of greasing my Bundt, and it released like magic.  But the flour and butter i used made these odd ridges on my cake.  SO i thought, i'll go to Williams Sanoma and see what they have to say.  Apparently you can not use pam with nonstick pans.  The woman was all "Well, i tell everyone when they buy o e.". i was all "Thanks lady, I did not get it from you."  Modesty and compassion?  Not her strong suits.   I am not sure if i am going to need a new bundt pan or not.  I have to use this special bakers' joy type spray and then find out what happens.  Here are a few pics of my butter ridges.

Orange item if the week

It is nearing Halloween season.  This is our first Halloween related orange item.  It is a high holy day here and how exciting that it is closer.

no kneed white bread

I thought when my mother went back to school I would have free time.  NO.  Joann has thwarted my attempts at relaxation and I have been Baking up a storm.  I made this amazing bread from king Arthur flour and it was not only easy but wonderful.  I included a link to their blog, because really, I can not explain it better.  For three days my family got fresh warm bread upon walking into the house.  Now they expect it.  No good deed goes unpunished.




http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2009/12/01/the-crunchiest-crackliest-chewiest-lightest-easiest-bread-youll-ever-bake/

when bundts attack

I am a busy little beaver here at cornelius manor.  First off, I have put my mother on the school bus to work.  And we have been getting ready for various visitors and an impending trip from my dear friend jen.  So, when joann subtly asked me to to whip up a bundt for her (look I got all the ingredients for you!) I rolled my eyes and got started.  The truth is, there are a few things that seem to trip me up in baking: keeping cheesecakes from cracking and getting bundts out of the damn pan.  I spray those things like there is no tomorrow, I wait for them to cool and pull away from the sides and I go after them with a butter knife in manner that would make most criminal psychiatrists raise their eyebrows.  Still they stick.  So, I am going to conduct an experiment to see if there is a better way than Pam for cake release.

Here is the Pam cake:

Next up will be a butter and floor method.  Wish me luck.

Watermelon Salad

It is nearing the end of summer, and frankly I am kinda ready.  I miss my sweaters, jeans and chucks.  I also have an affinity for fall foods, soups and breads.   However, one culinary bright spot is this watermelon salad.  I made it often, but never took a picture.  It is delish, easy and bright.  I often ate this when my parents were having something i deemed gross, which is serval times a week. I did not even mind because I could chow down on what sounds like the oddest grouping of ingredients ever.  If it is not as hell outside this salad is a life saver, cool and refreshing.  You can also hollow out a watermelon and stick everything back in, making an deceptively impressive salad for guests.

So here it is... I did not always do the red onions, I am not a huge fan of raw onions, but still amazing.

3/4 cup of red onions, thinly sliced red onion
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 1/2 quarts seeded cubed watermelon
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup pitted black olives (ok, I left these out too, did I mention I am a picky eater?)
1 cup cresh mint
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Place the onions in a bowl and add lime juice (this sort of mellows them out.). Let sit for 10 minutes
Add watermelon, feta, mint, olives and toss.  Drizzle olive oil on top and stir again.

Orange item of the week

This week Olivia is modeling the orange item.  My mother knit this while watching Top Chef with me.  It is a cute pumpkin hat and proof the Livi wishes she were orange.

Orange Item of the Week

I have not done one of these in a while.  To be honest, this one is more red than orange, but Stanley is colorblind.  Let's all agree to lie to him.  AND there are touches of orange.  Really.  This one comes from a window display at Lion Brand yarns.  This knitted octopus took up the whole window.  And if you look in e upper left hand corner there is a knit mermaid.  All very cool, and very NYC.

Oatmeal Cookies

I suddenly realized I put up the recipe for fat raisins, but forgot the cookies that went with them.  Oops!  So here are President Clinton's favorite oatmeal cookies.  They are so good, that my father has yet to make a Clinton joke while eating them.  A miraculous feet indeed.  As it turns out, William Jefferson Clinton is allergic to chocolate.  No wonder he is a sex addict.  If I could not have the great pleasure of chocolate in my life, I too might go off the rails.  This recipe comes from Baking by the Yard, by Sherry Yard the pastry chef at Spago.  (Filed under baking, Rick white people, nonNYC). 

President Clinton's Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
7 ounces softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups fat raisins 

Sift flour and baking soda and set aside
In the bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter until it is lemony yellow, about 2 minutes.  Scrape down sides of the bowl, and add sugar, brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Continue creaming the mixture on high speed until it is lump free, abut two minutes.  Again, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beat at low speed for 15-30 seconds.  

On low speed, add the sifted flour mixture, beating until all of the flour is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and on low speed add the oats and raisins.  

Divide the dough in half and create a log on wax paper, about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long.  (Do this with both halves.). Wrap up in wax paper and pop it in the fridge for a minimum of an hour.  You can keep it in the fridge for three days, or in the freezer for 1 month.  

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease cookie sheets or cover with parchment paper.  Slice off 1/2 inch rounds from the logs and space the cookies 2 inches apart.  Bake for 12 minutes and rotate cookie sheets.  Then bake for another 5-8 minutes.  Because I have a convection oven, I did not rotate the sheets.  

When done, remove from oven and side parchment onto work surface to cool. 

Big Gay Ice Cream

So, while I was home I got to go to a new ice cream place.  It is called Big Gay Ice Cream.  No really, that is its name.  There are rainbows on the door and unicorns on the windows.  Their thing is normal soft serve with cool toppings.  I got a cococone.  It is chocolate soft serve with curries coconut flakes.  It was delish!  The curried flakes are amazing.  The next time you are in the village check it out!

Blueberry Hand Pies

My mother picked up some blueberries from the green market.  Apparently it was imperative that I make something that night.  She wanted muffins, but I wanted to crack open my hand pie molds.  Than after using them, I wanted to no ever see them again.  There is a knack to the hand pie mold, and I do not have it.  So, I experimented with other shapes.  Joann kinda turned her nose up at these, but after tasting, she was a believer.  Better the next day, these are blueberry heaven.  

Oh, and bake these on a rimmed baking sheet and NOT a cookie sheet.  They run and make a blue gelatinous mess!

• 
  
• Buttery Pie Crust (click for recipe)
• All-purpose flour (for dusting)
• 2 cups blueberries (about 10 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large egg, whisked with 1 teaspoon water
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 375°.Roll out dough on a floured surface to a 15x12-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 rectangles.
• Toss blueberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Brush edges of rectangles with water; mound some blueberries in center of each. Fold dough over, and press edges to seal. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with raw sugar. Cut slits in tops.
• Bake hand pies, rotating sheet halfway through, until juices are bubbling and pastry is golden brown, 35–40 minutes (juices will run onto parchment). Transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

What.the.hell.is.this?

Here I am on public transportation  in a dark picture looking perturbed.  WHY?  Look at the sticker.  The sticker that I got form the met.  The met where I used to get cute metal tags whenever I visited.  Metal tags that I have been collecting for years.  They are "cheaper."  Really people?  We need to fix the economy before more tragedies occur.

Ricotta Pound Cake

I got some wonderful fresh ricotta at the farmer's market.  I had no idea what to do with it....so I dipped into my new stash of cookbooks.  This one comes from Dolce Italiano written by Gina DePalma, pastry chef of Babbo.  This was one delish cake.  It gets better with age.  The first time I whipped this up, it baked over the sides of the pan and burned onto the oven.  The house filled with smoke, the alarm went off and needless to say, my parents were pissed.  So, the next day, after I peeled all of the baked on burned cake from the oven, I tried again.  I filled one large loaf pan, and then one small.  Consider this fair warning.  Your family DOES NOT like the piercing sound of the smoke alarm.

1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup softened Unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 vanilla bean, but I used vanilla past.  Way easier and better to store.
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9" loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, sift cake four, baking powder, salt and set aside.  With the paddle attachment of the mixer cream butter, ricotta and sugar for two minutes.  Butter should be light.  Beat in eggs one at a time, and scrape down bowl after each addition.  Split the vanilla bean with a knife and scape the seeds out.  Or just add the vanilla paste.  Add the vanilla.  On low speed add the dry ingredients and beat batter for 30 seconds.  Pour batter into pan and smooth top.  Be sure to not overfill the pan, learn from me.  Whack it on the counter to get out any air pockets.  Bake the cake for 15 minutes at 350.  Then turn the pan 180 degrees, lower the temperature to 325 and continue to bake until the cake springs back and the sides pull from the sides of the pan.  Gina says 25 minutes, it was more like 40 for me.  Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack.  You can dust it with confectioners sugar, but I did whipped cream and strawberries.

HOME

I have not posted in a while.  I seem to have developed an acute addiction to candy crush.  Seriously, is it normal to be on level 153? Mi kind of knew the answer before I asked the question.....AND I finally got back home to NYC for a week.  It has been a year, and I definitely needed th recharging.  My friends are all doing well and New York continues to be amazing.  I have some food posts I need to do, and I discovered a typo in my my magic frosting recipe.  I promise to take care of these things soon, but I thought I would do a few on my trip first.  Oh, and Stanley has been nagging me to do an orange item of the week so I need to get on that.

But first, here are some crazy unflattering pictures of me, my chin and my auntie DeeDee in front of the Jefferson Market Library and community garden.  My mother has assured me that the angle is bad and it is not the true size of my chin.  If she is wrong, lie to me people.

Stanley, the REAL miss USA

As we all now know Miss CT won the Miss USA pageant.  I think we can all agree that the real winner should have been Stanley.  He could have brought some dignity back to Connecticut while showing all those pagent girls how it is done.  Stan's platform would include napping, organic foods and animal rights.  Don't believe me?  Here he is in a turquoise speedo.  He would have gotten a perfect score.

Fat Raisins

I got this next one from Baking by the Yard, by Sherry Yard.  She is the pastry chef at Spago.  These raisins are the base for her oatmeal cookies.... More on these later.  You get about a cup of raisins when all done, and you can use dried apricots or cherries.

1 c golden or red flame raisins
1/2 c dry white wine
2 T fresh OJ
1 T dark rum
2 T sugar

 Combine everything in a small heavy saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring all the while.  Lower the heat to a bare simmer, and poach for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and cover the pan with plastic wrap, it sounds odd but it works.  Cool to room temperature.  You can store these in the fridge for two weeks.

Fat Apricots, everything stays the same.
Fat Cherries, use red wine or port for the white wine, everything else is the same.

Mocha Chocolate Chip cookies

Joann got a new cookbook for me, Cooking with Julia.  Who is cooking with Julia you might ask? Why it is none other than Dorie Greenspan.  She is a woman after my own heart.  She feels that she was truly born in the wrong location...the US.  Instead she should have been born in Paris.  I can relate to Dorie.  She also has a penchant for scarves.  You can catch Dorie as a sometimes guest judge on Top Chef Masters.  Frankly, she is rather intimidating and has a hardcore attitude.  She seems so friendly in her cookbooks.  I think she has made more than one chef cry on the show.  For my version of these cookies, I used darker chocolate, I thought it would hold up to the espresso powder better.  I thought these were great, they are Chewy. Joann who enjoys a cookie that crunches like gravel, only liked them, not loved.

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes four dozen

2 c flour
3 T instant espresso coffee powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 sticks of butter cut into chunks, mine was room temperature
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 large eggs (again, mine were room temperature)
1 t vanilla extract
1 pound of chocolate chips, either dark, milk or white.  Or a combination.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, coffee powder, together, set aside

Put the butter in a mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until it lightens in color (about two minutes for room temperature butter) add white sugar and beat for 30 seconds.  Add brown sugar and beat for 30 seconds.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition.  The mixture should be light and fluffy, if not beat for another  minute.  Add vanilla. And beat until blended.

Turn mixer the mixer on low speed and add dry ingredients.  Mix only until they are incorporated.   Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for a few hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350.  I used two cookie trays that have an air cavity built in.  Dorie says if you do not have heavy cookie trays double up.  This book was published in the early 90's before the air pillow type trays were the norm.  If you have those, I say you are golden.  Line with parchment paper, or grease.  These spread, so leave room, but use a heaping tablespoon of dough.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Dorie swaps her cookie sheets while baking, I don't because of the wonders of convection ovens.

Lemon Cake

I got this recipe from that amazing food resource, People Magazine.  There I was waiting for my mother at her hair dresser, going through old issues and found this recipe from Top Chef  winner Kristen Kish.  So I totally made a diversion "Look, a bear!" And tore the page out.  This cake has several of the "it" ingredients of the moment:lemon, olive oil and coconut.  To be honest, I am not really sure it needs the coconut.  I had some baking issues with my oven, but for the most part it came out well.

Lemon olive oil cake

1 c cake flour
1c all purpose flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 1/2 c sugar
Zest of two lemons
1 1/2 c whole milk
1 1/2 c olive oil
3/4 c sweetened coconut, lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a 9x13
In a bowl, combine flues, baking soda, powder and salt
In a mixer, whisk eggs, sugar, until it forms a ribbon.  Stir in zest, milk and olive oil until combined.
Fold in dry ingredients and coconut.  Pour into pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Little Apricot Cakes

These were delish and from this month's Bon Appetit magazine.  The name does not lie, these suckers are tiny.  But, they are great after a large meal when you want something small.  I did not have the raw sugar in my house, so I went without, they were still fine.  I accidentally overbaked mine slightly, but if you put something dry in plastic bags, it kind of comes back.  Conversely, if you want to keep something crisp, tins are the way to go.  This recipe was part of a a whole picnic set up.  Seriously, when was the last time you had a picnic?  That's what I thought.

Little Apicot Cakes

1 cup flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4t salt
6T butter at room temperature
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 t vanilla extract
1/3 c whole milk
2 apricots cut into wedges
2 T raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350.
Line Muffen tins with paper liners, or coat with spray.  Follow your heart.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about two minutes.  Add egg lemon zest and vanilla and beat until combined.
With mixer on low, add dry ingredients in 3 additions with milk for two additions.  Begin and end with dry ingredients.  Divide batter amoung 12 baking cups, they will be 1/3 full. Don't panic, they are supposed to look like that, smooth tops.  Top with apricots and raw sugar. 

Bake until goldena nd atester comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.  Cool in pan for five and then flip out until cool completely. 

Zuccini Cake

I got this one off of David Lebovitz's site, living the sweet life in Paris.  To be honest, David is kind of a hero of mine.  He escaped Connecticut and is now living in the City of Light giving culinary tours and writing cook books.  I like to think of him as a role model.  Especially the whole escaping from Connecticut part.  everyone who tried this cake LOVED it.  And it was actually pretty.  Normally when I use bundt cake pans I have sticking issues, but not this time.  Use a light colored (aka cheap) olive oil to avoid bitterness.  I placed the cake on a wore rack on top of a cookie sheet to glaze.  My mother scraped all of the glaze off of the cookie sheet and piled it on her slices.  NOT dignified, but delicious.

For the cake:

• 1 cup (135g) almonds, pecans, or walnuts, toasted (I cheated and just used Bob's almond meal.) 
• 2 cups (280g) flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 3/4 (350g) cups sugar
• 1 cup (250ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups (300g) finely grated zucchini

For the lemon glaze:
1/4 cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
1 cup (140g) powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease a 10 cup (2.5l) bundt or tube cake pan* with non-stick spray or butter, dust with flour, then tap out any excess.
2. Pulse the nuts in a food processor until finely chopped.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, 1 3/4 cup (350g) sugar, and olive oil for 3 minutes on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Stop and scrape down the sides of the mixer, then add the vanilla.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the mixer bowl to make sure everything is mixed in well, then beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.
6. Stir in the chopped nuts and zucchini.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, smooth the top, then bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake has begun to pull away from the sides of the pan.
8. During the last few minutes of the cake baking, make the glaze by whisking together the lemon juice, 1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar, and powdered sugar.
9. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then carefully invert it onto a cooling rack. Brush the glaze over the cake with a pastry brush and let the cake cool completely.
Storage: The cake can be wrapped (or put under a cake dome) and will keep for a few days. You can freeze the unglazed cake. However to apply the glaze, you’ll need to defrost the cake then warm it so the glaze will adhere properly.

Milk Chocolate Brownies

Over the weekend I was in a unique position.... I could freely bake whatever I wanted.  The house was freezing and I had to use the oven.  Most of the time I am baking for some one or something, or a request.  This weekend I got to bake the sweet taste of freedom.  So, I made something I would like, milk chocolate brownies.  I am the only person over the age of ten who prefers milk chocolate to dark, so dammit people, I was going to make something sweet for me.  This one comes out of the Tate Bakery cookbook (filed under rich white people under the Cornelius headings.). They came out fantastic, chewy and chocolatey.  They got even better the next day.  It was pure selfish baking joy.

Milk Chocolate Brownies

8T butter
9oz milk chocolate, chopped
1/2 c sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
3/4c flour
1T natural cocoa powder
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9" square pan (I used an 8, and it was fine.)

Kathleen King of Tates does the next part in a sauce pan, but really, people, a microwave is easier.  I nuked the butter until it was melted, the add the chocolate and let it sit for a few to melt.  I had to put mine in for 10 seconds to get all of the chocolate melted, but way easier than a double boiler.  Then let the mixture cool slightly.

Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla to the chocolate and mix well.  Add the flour, cocoa and salt, and stir again.  Spread this into the pan.

Bake for about 20 minutes, a toothpick will come out with moist crumbs.  Cool on a wire rack.

Brown Butter Pistachio Financiers

I have not posted a baking post recently, for some odd reason nothing has been turning out.  I made bead that would not bake, it was in the oven for an hour and a half and it was still raw.  I Mae lime quotes from my mom, and they were not right either.  They were supposed to be in tart pans, which I did not have.  I figured out the area of the tart pans and then put the recipe in a corresponding rectangular pan.  Did NOT work.  Oy.  So, I needed to make something simple to redeem myself.  I found this recipe in Food and Wine, created by Top Chef winner Kristen Kish.  Finally something came out.  LALALA!  This makes 36 financiers, I got 18...... Not sure why.  I made these with pistachio meal, but I think they would also work with almond flour.  Probably, like, a half cup to two thirds.  Listen to your heart on the measurement.....

7 oz butter
1 c flour
3/4 c light brown sugar
4 large egg whites
3 T sugar
1/4 t almond extract
1 c toasted Unsalted pistachios, ground
1/2 c cake flour
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 400

Pam 36 mini muffin cups.

Place the seven ounces of butter in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat.  Shake the the pan periodically until the solids at the bottom turn brown.

Place in bowl and let cool.

Add brown sugar, white sugar, egg whites and almond extract to the cooled butter.  Wisk together.  Fold in the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 15 minutes.  They should rise, but be soft in the center.  Take them out and flip onto a wire rack.  Then my mother will show up and eat them.

orange item of the week

This week's orange item is a headband I got when I went to Hair at the Mill.  I showed my mom this picture and she assures me my nose is NOT this big.  If it is, lie to me.  So Stanley felt the need to step in and model this week.  As you can see he is on top of a lovely Big Buddha handbag next to a pile of magazines he knocked off of the coffee table.  He looks way better in my headband than me.  And models better.  Perfection like his can be intimidating.

Face Mask Monday

Every Monday I do a face mask.  I like to think it makes me look younger.  In reality it makes me have a calm moment every week.  This one is the Bliss Spa's Rubberizing Mask.  It comes with a powder that you mix yourself.  After my skin feels refreshed, renewed and happy.  Here I am with bea.  She too has decided that every Monday she will be masking it.  LOVE her so much!

Orange item of the week

This orange item is kinda cool.  It is an orange skull bracelet.  Also....Bea has one, clearly this makes it cooler.