Homemade Pop Tarts...Yes, really!

Yesterday my Mom told me, in confidence, that she had never tasted a Pop Tart.

What???

My Dad loves them - but only Brown Sugar & Cinnamon. The man does not eat fruit. He'll eat jelly by the jar, but fresh fruit - never. He says the smell of watermelon makes him gag. He used to scold us and threaten violence if my sister and I - God Forbid - chewed a piece of Watermelon gum in the same car as he. But that's beside the point.

Homemade Pop Tarts.

That was our challenge this month for "Pre Made Our Way", hosted by Natalie at Oven Love.

Of course, I waited until the very last minute...just now. They weren't the easiest thing in the world to make, I will admit - it's much easier to just pop open a box of the store bought - but the taste is not comparable. Not even close. These are softer. Tastier. Dessert worthy, even.

I made mine with Double Berry Amish Jam (strawberry & raspberry) and semisweet chocolate. I didn't ice them, only gave them a nice squeeze of chocolate syrup. Super Yum.

Here is my recipe for the dough. Have fun with it...fill them how you wish - you really can't go wrong! You could even omit the sugar and add a couple of herbs...fill this puppy with cheese and pepperoni? Doesn't that sound great?

Homemade Pop Tart Crust

1 1/2 cups flour

1 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Grated Lemon Zest

1/4 tsp. Lemon Juice

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup shortening

5 Tbsp. butter, softened

3-4 tbsp. cold water

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, zest and salt in a large bowl. Add shortening and butter and blend with pastry cutter (or your hands and a knife will work as well). Blend until coarse, with small bits of butter. Add lemon juice. Add water, 1 tbsp. at a time, dough forms a ball and can be rolled until .

2. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a square/rectangle until roughly 1/8 thick. Cut into rectangles, making sure to have even numbers.

3. Add filling of choice to dough (only half of them, the other half will be the tops), then cover with another piece of dough. Crimp edges with fork and fingers. Place on Parchment lined baking sheet or Silpat and bake for 7-9 minutes. Top with icing if desired.

A big thanks to Natalie for hosting such a fun event! Go check out her site for a roundup of all the participants starting tomorrow! If you have a minute, tell me...what's the best flavor of PopTarts? There are soooo many - what's your favorite?

Daring Bakers Challenge...Strudel

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. To give us bakers a little freedom, they requested that we make our strudels with any filling we wanted...so that left a lot of room to play! Go check out the Daring Bakers site for a look at all of the great variations out there - I have seen previews for some amazing ones!

Personally, I doubled the recipe for the dough so that I could play around with the fillings. My favorite was a random creation, born out of the fact that when I opened my freezer, a bag of last years blackberries fell out on the floor! I took that as kismet and cooked them down with a couple of Granny Smith Apples, sugar and butter, thickened the mix with some cornstarch and called it a day! Oops! Forgot to mention the addition of coconut shavings and a huge helping of sweetened cream cheese to this ever-so-tasty strudel...in a word - awesome. That filling would taste good on a leather shoe as my Aunt Sylvia would say...not that I intend to try it.

Strudel Dough

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague”

by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.
2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).
3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.
4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Blackberry Coconut Apple Filling

2 Granny Smith Apples, diced

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup blackberries

4 Tbsp. Butter

1 Tbsp. Cornstarch

1/4 cup Coconut flakes

Place all ingredients, except for coconut, in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce until thickened, about 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool before using. Coconut will be sprinkled on top.

Cream Cheese Filling

8 ounces softened cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

splash of Vanilla

Combine ingredients in small bowl.

Layer the cream cheese over the prepared strudel dough. Once Apple mixture has cooled, spoon it over the cream cheese. Sprinkle coconut on top of mixture. I added a spoonful or two of plain bread crumbs to the top as well - though I am not certain it is neccessary. I also brushed my rolled strudel with butter and sprinkled sanding sugar on top. Baking time was 30 minutes.

So what's your favorite filling? Seen any you MUST try? With over a thousand Daring Bakers, it's hard to get around to all of them, so I would love to hear the best you've seen! Want to play along with us? Visit the Daring Kitchen and get on the roster! It's an amazing group to bake with!

See you next time!

Tuesdays With Dorie...Chipster Topped Brownies

Oh, the Ooey Gooey Madness!

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, chosen by Beth of Suppilicious. Chocolate Chip Cookies are great. Brownies are great. But together? Is that really neccessary?

Yes. Yes it is.

These brownies would be my new favorite if they didn't dirty up so many freaking dishes. A pot to melt the chocolate and butter. Measuring spoons of all sizes. A bowl for the dry ingredients. Two - yes TWO- stand mixer bowls and beaters, and finally the pan and the extra baking sheet. Good lord, Dorie...you must have the pruniest dish hands in all of Paireeee.

I read through the P & Qs this week before baking and many people commented about the brownie part not getting done enough and the cookie part getting quite hard. Someone suggested baking the browines a bit while you made the chipster layer, so I did that. It took 20 minutes for me to get the cookie batter made, so that's how long my browines baked all nakedlike. I also read some comments about maybe putting the cookie layer on the bottom, but I didn't read about anyone actually trying that. Well, I did a test batch of cookie-on-bottom brownies and, well, I wouldn't recommend it. The cookies layer bubbled up and over and through the brownie layer, jumping right out of their little muffin cups. Tasted good as all get out, but U.G.L.Y. YouAin'tGotNoAlibiYouUgly. Just so you know.

Okay, so I made mine according to recipe, except I added a few chips to the batter and about half the walnuts, as that was all I had on hand. I threw in about every kind of chocolate in my stash - 99% Lindt Dark, SemiSweet Ghiradelli, and some Hesheys Milk Chocolate Chips, which resulted in a sweeter brownie, but super delicious. I baked it all up in my new Fat Daddio's square removeable bottom pan and it baken beautifully. I let it bake for an hour total, and than I yanked it out without even testing it for doneness. When I cut into it, it was super gooey, but held it's shape, so I consider that a win. I love gooey brownies. I served mine warm with vanilla ice cream and let me tell you - they were very well recieved at our impromptu Memorial Day Cookout. Seven of course loved them - so much, in fact, we had to distract him so that we could remove them from view. Then again, he dips grapes in ketchup, so he may not be the best judge.



Check out Beth's site for the recipe - it really is fantastic - and then pick up Dorie's Baking:From My Home to Yours. Registration is once again open to our fantastic group of weekly Dorie Bakers, and I know we'd all love to have you join us!



Next week? Cinnamon Squares. Do I dare? (Probably.)

Tomorrow? The May Daring Baker's Challenge! Stay tuned!
Oh - a Big Thanks to all of my new followers! Yes, I notice...and I appreciate all of you!

DoughMessTiCatered

Who would have thought that a year after I first started baking/cooking, I would have catered my first wedding? Sure, I have done a fewcatering jobs here and there- a few school functions, a Bank's Christmas Party - but a wedding? A wedding, to me, is a big deal. That someone would wntrust their big day to me is a compliment. Maybe it's just because I came in under their budget. Maybe they were desperate. Or maybe they thought I really could do a good job. I hope it's the latter.

This family found me via word of mouth - one of the school secretaries from a function I did one night mentioned me to a friend, one thing led to another and, well, I was hired. What started off as a small wedding, maybe 110 people, grew this week to 200. I was on vacation at the time I got this news, so maybe that's what helped me stay calm. What you don't realize is that I did this job alone. Only my husband helped. It was heavy hors d'oeuvres, but a nice menu, I think.

• Virginia Baked Ham on Honey Glazed Croissants
• Fire Roasted Red Pepper Roulades
• Rotisserie Chicken Salad in Puff Pastry
• Petite Chicken Quesadillas
• Bacon Cheddar Potato Salad
• Deluxe Fruit Tray
• Cheese & Cracker Assortment
• Vegetable Crudite

Wow, it was hard work. We also provided the Punch, Tea and Lemonade. Keeping the drinks full was more of a challenge than anything else - this crowd was thirsty! Everyone got a plate of our food, some took seconds before some of the guests got firsts - but I was smart enough to make sure I pre-made a plate for the Bride, the Groom, and the Bride's Parents. (Hello? They paid the bill, right?) I also made a couple of to-go boxes for the Newlyweds - they had a 7 hour drive to their honeymoon, and no one ever really gets to eat at their own wedding. I hope they enjoyed it!

So my next wedding? It's June 20th...and my husband has given his notice. He quit 5 minutes before we finished today. I don't think he likes the rush of it like I do, so it looks like my dear Mother will be stepping in to help with that one!

What do you think? Does it look professional enough? Is there something you have seen at a wedding or event that looked really nice that I could duplicate? I am certainly looking for fresh, new ideas, and I would LOVE your insight!

Have a great Holiday Weekend, everyone!

Tuesdays With Dorie...Mango Bread

As I write this post, the ocean is crashing outside my door, waves lapping the dunes at high tide. It is 10:30pm on Monday night, a loaf od mango bread baking away in my rented kitchen oven. My husband and my Dad are in front of me in the great room, watching back to back episodes of Axe Men, which must be a guy thing, as it's pretty much just a bunch of big trees and bleeped out expletives with a narrator that I think is trying to take over the voice world that Mike Rowe hasn't already conquered. (Good luck to you, mister, Mike is everywhere.) But what's the deal with this show? Ropes, trees, trucks, bleeping bleepity bleep dammityou'refired. Over and over. Whatever. Back to the bread.

Oh yeah, did I mention I am at the beach? The beach. Corolla, North Carolina to be more precise. I really didn't have any intention of making this weeks Tuesdays With Dorie Mango Bread, chosen by Kelly of Baking With the Boys, but since the weather here has been icky, I decided to give it a go anyway. Not a smart move in the wallet department, as I had to buy every.single.ingredient. Mangoes. Sugar, Flour. Eggs. Ginger. Brown Sugar. All of it. This loaf of bread cost me an estimated $31. Whoa. At least I get to take the remaining ingredients home in a few days, right?

The Harris Teeter is 14 minutes away. Seven and I drove down earlier this evening to pick up the neccessities for the bread, after Sue emailed me a scanned copy of the recipe- and a couple of others Tweeted me the online version (thanks Kayte, Dianne & Cathy) so that I could make it. Sadly, I did forget the cinnamon. So no cinnamon in my bread. I like it all right, cinnamon, but I doubt I really miss it. It isn't my favorite of all the spices. And raisins? Ahem. We all know how Susan feels about cooking raisins. So I subbed in some dried Tropical Fruits. Pineapple, Papaya, Coconut. I hope it works out.

I'll be honest and admit this to you now...I have never eaten or even tasted a Mango. I've had a Mango flavored Starburst, if that counts, but something tells me it doesn't. I wasn't even sure what to expect after peeling it. It's weird ya'll. The hard white thing in it? Can't it just be in one place? Why must it stretch all the way through haphazardly? And why must the meat of the fruit hang on to it so tightly? And why does it smell like a fruity Christmas Tree? It was messssy. I don't think I like mangoes. Pretty color, yes, but I can't say we are going to be BFFs or anything in the near future. Just guessing. Of course, I have yet to taste the bread, so keep reading. I may change my mind by the end of the post. So back to vacation talk.

No one will play Scrabble with me. Hello? I am on vacation. I was only on this stupid computer like, 17 times today. That's what? 1% of usual? And no one will play Scrabble with me when I ask them to. I need to use my MIND, people. Play With Me. It goes something like this...

Me: Hey Jon, will you play Scrabble with me?

Jon: No.

Me: Hey Jon, will you play Scrabble with me?

Jon: I can't spell.

Me: Hey Jon, will you play Scrabble with me?

Jon: I'm watching Axe Men. I'm learning something.

Me: Hey Jon, will you play Scrabble with me?

Jon: I may need to know this. (You may need to know how to fall a 600 foot tree in the Pacific Northwest and lift it via helicopter to an awaiting rig? I doubt that.)

Me: Hey Jon, will you play Scrabble with me?

Jon: Sorry, too intriguing.

Me: Hey Jon, will you play Scrabble with me?

Jon: Huh? Why? Just do your stupid post. (ouch, that hurt.)

Me: Hey Jon, will you play Scrabble with me?

Jon: Watching. The. Show.

Me: Hey Jon, will you play Scrabble with me?

Jon: Kitty, NO!

Me: ...(I hate you. Suckwad. Triple letter score.)

Sorry, boring, I know, but I, too, am bored. Our house of 12 is all asleep except for me and AxeAss now. Mango Bread has another hour to go. That's like 180 grand worth of logs and 2 dozen Bleepity Bleepers fired. I can hardly contain myself.

Me: Hey Jon, will you play Scrabble with me?

Jon: Haiku.

Me: ????? (He didn't say Haiku, did he? Maybe he said Hate You. Or Pie Cooed. That makes better sense.)

That bread smells good.

Okay...now it is morning. I took the bread out early last night - after 72 minutes. It seemed done. And it was. I would have ruined it had I left it in there for 90. That would have sucked. So as you can see, I took a couple of pictures...and then I ate a piece of the bread.

Not half bad. I don't think I would have liked the cinnamon addition, so I'm glad it was accidentally omitted. Nice, fruity - not too much ginger, like I was afraid of. Just pleasant. The dried fruits I added instead of raisins are good - I was afraid they might ruin it, but it's good.

Now I'm gonna see if I can't find a sucker to play Scrabble with me. Or prepare for my life as the wife of a logger in Oregon. Whichever.

Have a great week!

Will There Be Wireless with my Peace?

Who knows? I wonder if I should care.

It seems I have become a bit of a Twittering/Blogging addict. I love the interaction...not being able to just jump in the car and go visit someone every time the mood strikes (due to having to load up The Boy, get a diaper bag, etc, etc) makes the internet a great getaway.

But now I am headed on a REAL getaway...to the Outer Banks. We leave tonight. We go just about every year, and it's been quite a change now that we have Seven. What used to be sleepy days have become chasing Seven in the sand, pool, on the steps days. But I do that at home, too, so doing it at the beach will be a nicer view. He's grown so much from these pics taken last year, hasn't he?

My sister and her Hub have graciously paid for a ginormous Beachfront home in Corolla, NC. (hey, I paid last year.) So, Jon, Seven and I are going to be staying most of the week in the sun with our family. But will I have the internet? Oh geez, the website for the house doesn't say. Of course, life will go on outside of you, dear Internet, and your ability to answer any question I have at the push of a button. I can live without you, and your knowledge. I do not need to know the weather in Kenya everyday or the value of the dollar versus the Euro. Nor how much money Miley Cyrus made last weekend. I don't even need to know where Brangelina was last spotted. I don't. I really don't. I can read. Actual Books. Catch up on my 52 Books in 52 Weeks reading. In fact, I checked 5 novels out of the library just yesterday. So take that, Internet. Consider us on.a.break. And no, I won't take you back just because you made me a mixed tape to remind me of you while I am gone.

Get over yourself.

*I am with out question taking the iPhone. My hypocrisy goes but so far. So maybe we'll just be friends with privledges, dear Internet. Okay? It's just a week. I miss you already. Shhh.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Blogging for Babies...Lemon Pie Macarons

Have you ever thought, Man, I would really like to have a bite of Lemon Pie? Just a Bite. Not a whole piece, just... a bite. Well then, these macarons were made for you.

I think I am getting a little too brave for my own good when it comes to macaron making. Now that I have my system down (thanks to the ideas of Helen of Tartelette), I feel unstoppable. Plus, there's so little time, effort or money involved in making them, why not experiment? What's the worst that can happen? I'll be out a couple of bucks and 45 minutes? So worth it to try new things.

I had a couple of pieces of my TWDs Tartest Lemon Tart left over, and I knew just what I wanted to do with it. (that is, other than eat the whole thing by myself and blame it on the dogs) I thought - filling. For macarons. Lemony macarons. Lemon-ade macarons? Sure, why not? And wouldn't you know that I had some Countrytime Lemonade mix in the cabinet?

For a recipe, check out my post on Dreamsicle Macarons. Sub in 1 Tablespoon of Lemonade powder for the orange zest, and lemon extract for the orange extract. Of course, use yellow food coloring instead of the orange as well. No brainer there. Once they are baked, slather on some of that lemon tart filling. Little Baby Lemon Pies. Just perfect for Holly's Blogging for Babies Event.

What? You haven't heard of PheMOMenon's Blogging for Babies Event? Well, you have come to the right place. Holly, aka PheMOMenon, is the mother of a beautiful little boy, a boy about the same age as my son Seven. But for Holly and her family, baby Cole was born way too early. 7 1/2 weeks early. He had to stay hospitalized for quite some time, and even after he was released, he remained with Holly in quarantine at their home. So many families have similar situations, and the March of Dimes is there to help. On May 16, the Hanks Family will walk in support of the March of Dimes and their efforts to make the world a better place for babies. And it is Holly's mission to get more support. Blogging for Babies is what she hopes will raise awareness for the March of Dimes. You may remember the heartbreaking loss of Madeline Spohr last month. It as tragic in so many ways, and yet, over 20 thousand dollars was donated to the March of Dimes in her honor. This year, instead of asking you to sponsor her own family in their walk (which I did and you should,too) Holly is simply hoping that you will find a buck or two to give in honor of Maddie. You will find all of the details on the PheMomenon site by clicking here.

But Blogging for Babies? What exactly is it? What does it entail? In Holly's own words the rules are simple...

"Make something small - as in small in size or individual servings - sweet, savory, whatever - and post it - the entries are small, as in Little Wonders, like the babies and families they are meant to pay tribute too!"

My Little Wonder is Seven. He, too, was born early, about 2 1/2 weeks, but not considered premature...he was scheduled to be born early. And he was born beautiful, healthy, and perfect. We went home together, and spent a week getting to know each other. One week. One week after we brought him home, Seven seemed sick. He grunted, ached. He didn't cry about it, only grunted silently. He started a fever. I knew something was wrong. Luckily, so did my doctor. If I had waited to call the doctor even a few more hours I would be sitting here telling you a different story. Seven was hurriedly admitted to the hospital, hooked up to IVs, given a spinal tap.

For 3 agonizing days, Seven, Jon & I shared a little hospital room in the Pediatric Wing of the hospital, waiting to see what type of infection he had, if any. Just when we thought we could go home, (we were packed, even) we got the news that we would be staying another week. 10 days in a hospital with a sick child is excrutiating, so I can't imagine what it must be like to have to stay longer, waiting, wishing. I support the March of Dimes and all they do to help babies. I hope you will, too. Please visit Holly's site and help suport this wonderful cause.

As you know, Seven is a happy, healthy 20 month old now, and has only had a sniffle or two for a couple of days since our time in the Peds ward. We are truly lucky. Your support will help so many more families get as lucky as we are.

Thanks so much!

Wordless Wednesday...Recycling

I do understand the concept of Wordless Wednesday. I do. But I. don't. care.

I won this mixer on eBay. It is a 1950's KitchenAid. The bowl is Pyrex, and until I saw it up for auction, I had no idea that the bowls used to be glass. It had a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing major. I turned it on when it first came, and it worked. Sort of. After about 10 seconds, it started getting smelly. Hot smelly. Wires burning smelly. Ick.

Jon took it apart for me and immediately found the problem - busted ceramic conductor. After calls and emails to KitchenAid, sadly, this model 3-C had seen it's last spin...the part is no longer manufactured.

But it's so cute. So precious. Jon cleaned it all up and degreased it, then painted it the prettiest pale blue/green. So retro. It was too lovely to hide away, so I sat it out and thought about a way to repurpose it. Then it hit me...

Fish.

Meet Sir-Mix-Alot, the newest fish in our mixed up house.

I really think he likes it.

Tuesdays With Dorie...Tartest Lemon Tart

Welcome back, readers!

This week we are having Dorie Greenspan's Tartest Lemon Tart for our weekly foray into our Tuesdays With Dorie Bible - Baking:From My Home to Yours. Babette of Babette Feasts chose this springtime tart, and for me, it came at the perfect time. I needed something tasty and yet simple to take to a Mother's Day dinner, and this tart was just the ticket.

The name of it - Tartest Lemon Tart - while redundant, really does sum up the mouthful of flavor this pie offers. It is by far the puckeriest pie I have ever made, and I mean that as a true compliment. It was very similar in taste to the Lemon Bars we made last month for the Cookie Carnival, full of tang and complimented by a tasty almond base. Nothing like the Lemon Meringue Pie I imagined it to be - just so yummy and addictive in its rusticity and down home goodness.

The lemons for sale here in Pearisburg aren't what you would call great. Or even good. Or even edible. But it's where I live and you do whatcha have to do. So I did. Although I was supposed to just pull out the seeds from a lemon and a half, then throw all of the parts - peel and all - into the blender, my lemons had entirely too much pith. I didn't want a bitter taste in my lemon pie, so I zested 2 whole lemons and then threw the insides of the lemons in the blender. The rest of the peel went in the garbage where it belongs. I am so jealous of you bakers located in California or Florida where Meyer lemons (Who Lemons? We have Sunkist or No kist, that's the choice, take it or leave it.) are plentiful, and a variety of wonderful organically grown fruits appear at your local grocer. One of these days when I live there.... No scratch that. I will never live anywhere but here. I may as well buy stock in the local Food Lion. My hillbilly butt ain't movin' nowhere. (I miss you, you little red bananas and your accidental appearance that day at Food Lion. Perhaps you could accidentally send some Meyer Lemons this way, too?)

All in all, this pie was simple to put together, but my baking time was not the recipied 45 minutes. I had to leave mine in there for over an hour, and when I took it out, it was still a little shaky. It did set up just fine, and everyone who ate a piece really loved it.

Check back on Thursday for what I did with the leftovers...think Lemonade Macarons. Thursday. Here.

Yesterday was National Apron Day, and in honor of that, I am giving away one of four handmade aprons. Scroll on back to yesterdays post to Comment to Win! You get to pick your fave!

See you here tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday - new life breathed into an antique KitchenAid Mixer in the form of...a fish bowl? Yesireeeee. Only on DoughMessTic. Betcha Can't wait.

It's Wear an Apron Day!

Did you know that already?
Of course, every day at my house is Wear an Apron Day. I love them. It's an addiction.
I don't drink. (whaaaat?) I don't smoke. I don't spend my money at the dogtrack (anymore) and I don't have an problem with online shopping or QVC. But I do have a unnatural addiction to aprons. I want them. I need them. I have a wonderful mother who now makes them for me.

A week or two ago, we went shopping for a bunch of apron fabric. Of course, I want to keep all of them, but that's not really very economical, is it? So, why not let YOU reap the rewards of having my Mom sew?

Since today is Wear an Apron Day, I am going to be super nice. See these 4 aprons? Just choose one. Which one do you like? Which one would you like to win?

I will pick one winner at Random on Friday, May 15 - and announce it on Twitter.
Want one of these cool aprons and can't wait? Comment here. If you don't win it, you can buy it for a hugely discounted $26. First dibs though. Just tell me in the comment - I want to win this one, but if I don't, I get first dibs. That's all you gotta say. Better make sure you are following me on Twitter, too, so that you are ready when the winner is announced.

Sorry it's my own unshapely body in the pics - the aprons are way cuter than they appear on me. I LOVE the Retro one - the shape is perfect. But I also really, really like the others, especially the Oriental one. It's chic.

Oh - and if you see a stlye you like,but would rather it have a different fabric, she can do that. In fact CB, she has some killer Cupcake Fabric that made me think of you. It would be toooo cute made like the Retro Apron or the Grassy Black and White.

Okay, enough.
See you folks here tomorrow for Tuesdays With Dorie. It's Tarta-licios.

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and an especially nice Mother's Day. I know I did. Yesterday, Seven and I went to a Mother's Day Dinner with my Mom,which was really great because I got to see lots of my favorite women - my aunts Sue & Sylvia, and my cousins Lisa and Katie and her new baby girl. I also got to watch my son in action in the "play kitchen" - and realize that he is most definitely my son. Not so much because of his pretend kitchen play, but because of this one little thing...

There was a shelf in the oven of the pretend kitchen. Seven took it out, but couldn't figure out how on Earth to get it back in. I watched him, never saying anything. He refused to give up, just kept trying to shove it back in. Finally, after 5 or 6 minutes, he stood it on end right inside the oven door. It balanced there momentarily, long enough for him to do the "hands-off" test, tiptoe back...and quickly slam the door closed.

Oh yeah, that's my boy. Just like my pots and pan cabinet. God knows what will fall out of that if you aren't careful.

Today, Mother's Day, I got a beautiful card from Jon and Seven, as well as a couple of planters full of flowers for the garden. I also got my car washed and the patio stained. So... pretty sweet deal. We ate across the street at my grandparents house, which again, was nice. It's always nice to spend time with the family...or at least it is for me.

For my own Mom, Seven and I made her a watercolor butterfly out of paper cutouts of Sev's hands and feet - yes, we are poor...it's the thought that counts, right? And for the other grandmothers we made cards that Seven colored and had flowers made out of his handprint. So if you are ever as poor as us, or want a little project to do with your little one, this was pretty fun. Anyone can go to WalMart and buy a card, but it takes just a few minutes to sit down and get creative with your child to make something a little more special.

Again, I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day! Check back here tomorrow for another Giveaway - yep, another one...and this one is great!

You Want Pies WIth That? - Caramello Cheesecake

Our theme for the month of April was Family Favorites, chosen by previous winner Natalie at Oven Love. So I thought long and hard about it. Cheesecakes are my new favorite thing to make. God help me, I am a cheesecake addict. The sheer agony of having to wait 3 hours while one bakes and then comes to room temp is torture, but then it has to sit in the fridge for soooo long I nearly pee myself waiting for it to be cool enough to slice. But man, is it ever worth the wait.

With cheesecake in mind, I had two thoughts. One, my Mom loves Peppermint Patties and Junior Mints. Every year for Christmas, Dad would buy her some for her stocking. We didn't ask to share - we knew better. My second thought was this- my sister and I have always loved Caramello Bars. I think Jenn (that's her name) will agree with me that even if the size of the Caramello bar is questionable - for example, snack size, regular sized, movie sized, King Sized, or Baking Sized- well, if you sit down and eat the whole bar, as long as it was all contained in the same factory wrapper, it only counts as ONE Caramello Bar. That's the rule. And sorry, no, you can't share. Too messy to break one, you see...you'll just have to go get your own.

After a Tweet asking friends to help me decide, I was bombarded with Caramel Cheesecake requests. So that's what I made. The Mint will have to wait.

I went with another tri-level cheesecake, similar to the one I did for last month's Daring Baker Challenge. This time, I added about 4 ounces of melted chocolate to the base layer batter. It didn't get as dark as I would have like the last time I made it with 3 ounces, so I upped it an ounce. For the middle layer, I added one melted and stirred Jumbo Caramello Bar. For those of you wondering what a melted a stirred Jumbo Caramello Bar looks like - well, it isn't pleasant. It doesn't melt smoothly. It sticks to itself and doesn't like being stirred. It hangs on tightly to the spoon you are stirring it with and just spins aimlessly about the bowl, leaving a film behind. I added chopped walnuts to it (if you want to call it that) and threw it in the KitchenAid with about 1/3 of the cheesecake batter. Oh, it didn't like that very much. It moaned and groaned but finally started to separate from itself and mix in with the batter. The top layer was the regular cheesecake batter.

Once it baked off and cooled, I was pleasantly surprised to find 3 distinctly colored layers. To the top, I added 6 ounces of melted caramel and an ounce of chopped walnuts. I should have let the caramel get hotter - it didn't want to spread. At all. But I got it on there, and that's what counts. Finally, on top of that, I made a rich chocolate ganache to cover it.

I wish I had patience, but alas, I most certainly do not. I wanted to cut into it and photograph it before work today, even though I didn't pour the ganache on until 8:30 this morning. FYI - 30 minutes is not long enough for ganache to set up. Just saying.

The caramel layer on the very top? Delicious, but hell to cut through. It mangles the rest of the piece, screwing with the presentation. And the Caramello layer? That's some freaking good cheesecake, people. I would be happy just making a cheesecake out of that concoction.

So don't mind me. Or my sister. Same rule applies to a piece of cheesecake as the Caramello Bar rule: If you can cut a slice and it looks like a slice - it's a slice. 2 inches wide or 9, makes no difference. I won't tell you which size I ate for breakfast.

Now, please go check out the You Want Pies With That Family Traditions Pie Round Up starting tomorrow. And why not join us next month? We'd love to have you!