She's Becoming DoughMessTic

Doughmesstic means Being Prepared

2010-10-29T23:10:00.003-04:00

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boudreaux's Butt Paste. All opinions are 100% mine.

How many times has your child gotten sick in the middle of the night, and there you are with nothing on hand to give them? No medicine. No juice. No anything that’s going to help??
I’d like to say that’s never been me.
But, this year I decided to be prepared, and I feel really relieved about it, to tell you the truth.
I took myself to Wal-Mart, and stocked what Seven and I have dubbed – The Yucky Basket. The Yucky Basket is just a little plastic container we picked up in the storage section. It has a lid (to help prevent little hands from gaining access, even though it will be kept stored away, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.) And it is packed to the gills.

The first thing we bought for it was a pack of Pedialyte Singles. The singles are great because they look just like juice boxes, and have a long shelf life. Another great feature is that while they are nicely flavored, they are also colorless. (I think all of us can appreciate that!) The best thing though, is that they have substantially lower amounts of sugar than juice and soda or sports drinks. Did you know that too much sugar can actually make diarrhea worse? I didn’t…but I do now. Pedialyte is specially formulated to quickly replace lost fluids and electrolytes due to diarrhea and vomiting so your child can rehydrate quickly and feel better fast. I like that. Of course, I have spoken with Seven’s pediatrician about using Pedialyte, and you should always talk to your own doctor before giving your child similar products. They know best.
Pedialyte Singles were in our Wal-Mart near the baby food and diapers. For a pack of four, it was a little over $5, but I used this $1.50 coupon. Feel free to click it and print a copy for yourself!

The next thing we bought was Children’s Tylenol for Cough and Cold. Luckily, Seven has always been a real trooper when it comes to taking his medicine. In fact, he will come to ME now and ask for it, telling me his nose needs it. Do other kids do this? We also tossed in some Children’s Benadryl. Our favorite nurse informed us that it is nearly impossible to overdose on Benadryl. I was worried about that, so I asked. The pediatrician agreed. Of course, follow the recommended guidelines, and administer as directed or by what your doctor recommends. It’s a great product to keep around – even for things such as bee stings, which we had JUST YESTERDAY.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boudreaux's Butt Paste. All opinions are 100% mine.
I picked up a few fun Band-Aids to add to the Yucky Basket, as well as some Chap Stick…and then we moved on to the Boudreaux's Butt Paste . If your kid has never had diaper rash – you are one lucky Momma. Seven used to get it often, as he has no problem whatsoever sitting around in a dirty diaper. And not telling me. Ever. So, Boudreaux’s was a godsend.
One day several years ago, well before Seven was born, I saw Boudreaux’s on Oprah. They explained that it was formulated by a pharmacist, and doctors in the town would tell young mothers to head over to the pharmacy and get some of his special Butt Paste. I thought it sounded so typical! Very Mayberry. And now it’s EVERYWHERE. And for good reason – it’s fantastic. It goes on smooth, not gross and gunky. It also wipes off easily, and that’s a plus. It also has very little smell. Just – creamy. Just about every friend we have that is a parent recommended it to us, as well as our doctor in the hospital when he was born. Lucky for us, we had gotten a large tube at our baby shower, and we even have a bit of it left. But I wanted a smaller tube – it comes in a travel size! – to add to the basket. Perfect. Now diarrhea diapers will be a little easier to deal with – less diaper rash.
Head on over to the Boudreaux’s Webpage for a FREE SAMPLE and more information on it…I can’t recommend it enough!

The last few things we put in the basket were more treats than anything. Because it’s no fun at all to be sick, I thought it would be nice to kind of have a reward for having to sit around on the couch and snuggle. So, we picked up a cool coloring book and some crayons. We also snagged a new DVD with a variety of cartoons on it (Seven chose it – i would have picked Where the Red Fern Grows but nooooo.) And with the addition of a few packs of saltine crackers, our basket was complete!
Now everything is put away and ready to go. No middle of the night surprises for us.
What do YOU keep in YOUR Yucky Basket? Do you have one? Did I overlook something?
Until next time – have a great weekend! And keep those Trick-or-Treaters SAFE!!

**Disclaimer – I was compensated for my time by Collective Bias, but the review and opinions are my own.

It’s Good to Have Friends

2010-03-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

I hope you have a LOT of them.

Not just because it’s nice to have people to share things with, but, well, because it’s REALLY nice to have people to share things with!

This is the BIG Giveaway I have been hinting at for weeks…not ONE KitchenAid 5 Quart Stand Mixer…but TWO. Want to know how to win??

Of course you do…. Just head over to the NEW site to get all the details! www.doughmesstic.com

head on over to the NEW Site…and a Giveaway!

2010-02-23T22:30:00.002-05:00

I knew I would have to lure you there someway, and what better way than a GIVEAWAY?
No? Then how about TWO Giveaways?? Le Creuset all around!!

UPDATE!! Kinks, people. KINKS! Right this second, www.doughmesstic.com is in the midst of a redirect. If you are getting a weird screen, try www.doughmesstic.NET - Hopefully the .com version will be up and running within the hour! Sorry!

Check it out!! www.doughmesstic.com

Brown butter chewy chocolate chip cookies

2010-02-22T00:15:00.001-05:00

Howdy everyone!

Here’s the post where I invite you over to my new site…the one that will, within the next few days, be the site that comes up when you type in www.doughmesstic.com.

I’m excited about it, but also nervous about the transition…I don’t want to lose anyone!

So, here’s a look at the cookies I just posted over there, as well as a link to the site. Take a look! There are still a few kinks to work out, namely the “recipe” links as I am trying to make that as nice as possible but it’s taking a LOT of time!

Anything else you’d like to see there? Let me know!

And the WInner Is…

2010-02-20T12:01:00.001-05:00

Wow…while I fell short of The Pioneer Woman’s 12000 Comments on HER Le Creuset giveaway, this is my largest amount of comments to date! After combining the valid comments from the main post and adding them to the Winter Olympics post, I had well over 600 entries! So, thank you all VERY MUCH for playing along. The more entries I get, the more I am able to do giveaways…so keep coming back as often as you can!

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for…The Winner.

Congratulations Amber V.C. who commented : “And now I am your fan on Facebook, I’ll be a stalker for sure!” Next step for you? Email me at susan AT doughmesstic.com to claim your prizes!

Now, everyone else, please don’t run away…I have a favor to ask. I am in the process of setting up a new website (Wordpress versus the Blogger account I currently have.) It is still in the works, but really close to being finished. Of course, there are kinks, but please try to overlook those and tell me this:

What’s missing that you would like to see? What kinds of things are on other websites that you really enjoy?

I am trying to make this new site a pleasant place to be, and who better to consult than my readers? So please, take a moment to visit it, then come back HERE to comment. The comment section there does work, but it’s still in the works and I would feel more comfortable knowing I get your feedback for sure.

Here is the link to the new site for now: NEW DOUGHMESSTIC SITE

To reward you for your efforts, everyone who visits & comments will get 5 entries into my next giveaway…which will take place on the NEW site and I promise, it’s going to be a GREAT one! And on the same token, if, while you are there, you sign up to recieve the new RSS feed, you’ll get ANOTHER 5 entries! That’s TEN chances to win a FAB prize before it’s even announced!

Thank again everyone for playing my games – I am so glad to have you as readers!

Have a great weekend!

I was this close to being a Winter Olympian. Except it was summer. And I mix things up sometimes. Okay, well, a lot.

2010-02-19T11:38:00.000-05:00

Have you been watching the Winter Olympics?

I have.

Well, some of it. Okay, like 20 minutes. (Okay, the highlight reels.)

Is it just me, or are the Winter Olympics kind of like the ugly stepsister of the “Real Olympics”? Very few people actually get all hyped up about the Winter Olympics like they do for the Summer Olympics. Not saying it’s fair, folks, I’m just making an observation. Is it because more than half of the world remains unexposed to these wintery sports? Probably. In fact, I couldn’t play hockey if I wanted to. First off, no ice rink. Second, who’d play with me? Third, I’m not positive there are even rules to hockey. I pretty sure you just skate around as fast as you can, the ref blows a whistle from time to time, and then you shove an opponent into the wall for gettin’ up in your business.

I love hockey.

But there are other winter sports I have no access to. Speed Skating. Ice dancing. Luge. Bobsledding. Oh, and that sport where you get on skis, go straight down a roller coaster ramp, and then launch youreslf 300 feet in the air so that you can do flips. I’ve never even SEEN a ramp like that. Ever. And on that same token, how does one discover that they are perfect for that sport? You can’t just jump up there and go for it, can you? Same with luge. Where do you practice freaking luge? Have you ever been out riding around in the lower 48 states and seen a luge course? Do you discover one day during a huge snow storm that you’re pretty darned awesome at riding your Walmart Snow Bullet in the park and decide it’s time to look for a place to hone your skills? And who, pray tell, decided it was a good idea to strap themselves onto a miniature death trap, no padding, and launch themselves down an ice covered ditch at 90 miles per hour? That’s insane... and I’m pretty sure it’s illegal, too.

For that matter, who thought of MOST of these Winter Olympic sports? Most all of them simply involve avoiding death. Did you see the women downhill skiers? It’s a wonder they didn’t break legs and arms and heads with all that falling down they did. It was heartbreaking to watch. But, I am glad Christie Brinkley won. (yes, I now know that she isn’t Christie Brinkley. She just played Christie Brinkley on the cover of Sports Illustrated.) She looked really cute with her husband and Americans rock.

So anyway, these sports. I am thinking it’s kind of not fair. For example, Shawn White. Great athlete, no question. But half pipe. In the Olympics. Why is that an Olympic Sport any more than riding a skateboard in a half pipe? Are skateboarders doomed to the X Games? Why can’t skateboarders like Tony Hawk be in the Summer Olympics? What’s the difference? Is it because there are only about 7 different sports in the Winter Games and they’ll take anything remotely wintery? Why, yes, yes it is.

Take curling, for example.

Ice + Stones+ Sweeping = Sport. If you haven’t seen it, let me sum it up for you. Someone wearing spandex pushes a big round rock in a straight line. More people in Spandex take brooms and clean the ice in front of the stone at the speed of light. The Stone stops at the end on some kind of dart board. The end. Can you imagine how clean the kitchen floors of those athletes must be? Of course, the cleanliness is probably limited to a straight line from the fridge to the table, but still. I bet you could eat off that line. Maybe they do eat off that line. Maybe that’s how they practice.

Now, if you’ve been on the net at all since the start of the Games, you’ve no doubt seen pictures of the pregnant Canadian Curler.

Pregnant+Ice+Stones+Sweeping= SPORT. Still a sport.

Herein lies where I missed my calling.

When I was 8 months pregnant, I decided we NEEDED a patio on the back of our house. A really big one. With stone walls. So I made Jon build it. And he did, with the help of a few friends. He jackhammered out the old sidewalk, he used a skidsteer to level the area, he put in the rebar, he smoothed the concrete, he sealed it. Really nice work.

And I would have helped, but hello? I was pregnant. And it was July and really hot. So, when it came time for the stone walls to be built around it, I was the moral support. And the sweeper. As Jon would move the stones from one place to another (some were well over 50 pounds each and I would discover they MUST be moved for one reason or another) and then fill them in with tiny little stones & mortar, I would sweep out the loose stones. But then I got tired of sweeping, and it was way nicer to sit in the lawn chair and eat popsicles. So see?

Pregnant+Ice+Stones+Sweeping= SPORT. Pretty much the exact same thing. I missed my calling. Unless the popsicles make it a summer sport, in which case I guess I’m screwed when it comes to the Winter Olympics.

Oh yeah, and I am too fat to don a hockey outfit. Those things are just not flattering. Talk about adding 10 pounds.

So, later folks. I’m off to Walmart to upgrade to a better sled and see if Tony Hawk wants to come with me.

Look out 2014.

chocolate mousse cheesecake

2010-02-17T11:25:00.001-05:00

I do still know how to bake.

Perhaps you thought I had given up on it, considering it’s been a while since you saw me make anything other than a cookie. I DO still know how to bake.

Take this cheesecake, for example. Oh how I wish I could show you the inside of it, but it was an order for a restaurant, and alas, I don’t think the owner would have understood my desire to photograph all of my food. My husband barely understands it, but after nearly two years, he’s getting used to the fact that dinner must wait until the pictures are taken. I’m sure it’s not something he ever considered when he said the ol’ “’til death do us part” speech, but, you learn to live with things, I guess. At least he gets fed.

For those of you who must have a graham cracker crust to enjoy a cheesecake, you’ll be out of your element here. This is a cake, not a pie. Cheesecake can be either, or a great combination of both. In fact, I’m not sure which it officially is: cake or pie? Because I like to answer my own questions, this one is a cake. A CAKE.

The bottom layer is all cheesecake. Tall, thick, creamy goodness. You’ll make this layer in a regular cake pan, not a springform. I find it much easier to deal with, as you don’t need to wrap it in aluminum, there is no water getting into it because of leaky aluminum. Just nice, perfectly baked cheesecake. Once it has cooled in the fridge for several hours, you can just shake it right out of the pan, easy as that.

Now it the time to get out the springform. Take the newly released cheesecake and place it in the center of the springform pan. Pile it full of this rich, decadent chocolate mousse. Make sure you get it down the sides of the cheesecake, too, all the way to the bottom. Pile it high, to the top of your pan if you have enough of it. Now freeze it. Yep, just toss it in the freezer for a couple of hours.

While it’s chilling, make some chocolate ganache and have it ready and waiting. You can even hurry the ganache along by placing it in the freezer for about 15 minutes (no more) if you want…just make sure it is thick and cool (not warm and not frozen). Then, when you pull the frozen mousse cheesecake out of the freezer, you’ll have an easy time of icing it with the ganache. The point of freezing the cake is so that the ganache will stick to it easily and without incident. It will help to start in the center and work the ganache out and then down over the sides. Yes, it’s a little more difficult than icing with buttercream, but it’s really not tough. Hey, if I can do it, anyone can.

The decorations are up to you! For me, I went grand. I dipped a few strawberries in some of my extra ganache, then placed them on top. Then I bagged some of the ganache, zapped it for 5 seconds in the microwave, and piped swirls all over the top. Finally, I piped a chocolate fudge border around the bottom to neaten it up, although you could easily add some powdered sugar to you left over ganache and whip it to make a nice icing thick enough to make a border with. Or you could leave it plain. Or you could make a few chocolate curls/shavings (like I did for the top out of dark & white chocolate)…the options are endless.

Final piece of advice – make sure this cake is very cool before trying to cut it. I used floss to cut nice, clean pieces, but you could use a thin sharp knife as well.

Or, just sit down with a fork and dig in.

Either way.

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

1- 9'” Baked & Cooled Cheesecake – See recipe here

Chocolate Mousse Recipe

1 Tablespoon Unflavored Gelatin
2 Tablespoons Cold water
8 ounces Dark Chocolate Chips or Chunks, melted & cooled
2 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons Vanilla

Add gelatin to cold water in heatproof bowl and allow to thicken, around 1 minute. Place thickened gelatin in microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then return to microwae for additional 20 seconds. Remove and allow to cool.

Whip the cream on high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add in sugar and vanilla. Then add in cooled gelatin. Do not overbeat.

Add in chocolate and mix until all white streaks are gone. Chocolate should be room temperature, not cool. If it is too cool, the chocolate will flake when it comes in contact with the cold cream.

Chill mousse until ready to spread onto your cheesecake.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup Dark Chocolate Chunks or Chips
Heat cream almost to scald. Remove from heat.
Add chocolate and whisk to blend. Allow to cool before using.

Thanks for stopping by! And if you haven’t already, you should enter to win the fabulous Julia Child & Le Creuset Giveaway I announced yesterday! You can’t win if you don’t play!

oooh la la

2010-02-16T16:04:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: This contest has ENDED. Thanks everyone for playing!

I was doing so well.

I was. Julia Child and I were bosom buddies, cooking things up for 3 hours at a time.

Yep, you heard me right. Three Hours. That’s a lot of time to hover over the oven. Not that the meals weren’t totally worth it…they were! But with all this crazy cakery bakery I have going on these days, we’re lucky to have Velveeta Shell’s & Cheese for dinner.

I could do it, though. A recipe every other week or so, alongside Mrs. Child. And I think I will. I’ll do it! And to inspire me into getting it done, and to inspire YOU to come back and keep me in check, I am hosting a very Francais Giveaway. Lucky you!

Check out this loot…

This is a sweeeeet prize pack, valued at over $300! Don’t you want it? (I do, I do!)

To win this fantastic array of goodies, you need to do the following (other than living in the lower 48 States, sorry Alaska, Hawaii & Intl’s):

First entry - you MUST be a follower on Twitter. There’s no room for discussion. Just leave a comment saying you follow me, and what your Twitter Handle is. New Followers, same thing. Just say I now follow you, tell me your handle. If you can’t follow me on Twitter, I am sorry, but that is how I will be announcing the winner. No need to bother with the extra entries, they won’t count.

Second entry – Retweet my giveaway, then leave another comment saying you did so.

Third entry – Become a Fan on Facebook. If you are already, thanks! If you aren’t, I want you to be! Just make sure to leave a third comment saying you are a FAN. You can click here to become a Facebook Fan of DoughMessTic.

That’s it this time, folks. Three chances to win.

I hope you use them all, and GOOD LUCK!

*Prizes are courtesy of She’s Becoming DoughMessTic and are not sponsored in any way. Thanks!

Happy Valentine’s Day

2010-02-14T11:48:00.001-05:00

Last night I convinced Jon and Seven to help me make more Valentine Cookies. I had baked them off earlier in the day from leftover sugar cookie and gingerbread dough I had in the freezer, so all that we had to do is color up the icing and set to work.

When I asked Seven what he wanted to make them (meaning, what color)…his idea? “I wanna make ‘em gone.” And he did. He ate the cookies as Jon & I decorated them.

Poor Jon has very little patience with the art of royal icing. He managed 3 1/2 cookies before calling it quits and surrendering to Seven’s “tent fortress” that’s been set up in our foyer all weekend. So that left me to finish them. But honestly? I love it. I find it relaxing and exciting at the same time.

I hope you will take some time today to spend with the ones you love, maybe making cookies together, maybe watching a movie (Couple’s Retreat is super cute if you need a recommendation), or just playing together in a tent made of chairs and sheets. Give love and be loved today!

For the Gingerbread Cookie Recipe, Click Here.
For Sugar Cookies, Click Here.
And for Royal Icing Recipe, Click Here.

valentine cookies

2010-02-11T11:48:00.001-05:00

I’ve never really been a Valentine’s type of girl. And until this very moment, I didn’t know why. Now I do.

You see, when I was in High School (our High School actually started in 7th grade, so I was 12/13 at the time) they did this humiliating money maker. “Buy your Sweetheart a Rose.” You did the buying in the Hall from some smug upperclassmen that were way cuter than you who obviously knew YOU weren’t getting a rose and probably laughed behind your back. And then have it delivered in front of all of your classmates on Valentine’s Day.

I never had a sweetheart.

Or, if I did, it was never at Valentine’s Day.

So imagine you are sitting in 7th period on The Day watching all of your friends and enemies getting flower after flower while you just keep your head down and try not to let it get to you. Sure, you’ll cry on the back seat of the bus all the way home, but, well, that’s to be expected.

Damned fundraisers.

But now, I have been with Jon for the past 17 Valentine’s Days and I should be over my aversion to the holiday. I should relish in a good steak dinner and a box of chocolates. But truth be told, I don’t really even like those heart shaped boxes of candy. It never fails I get the one piece that tastes like chocolate covered burnt gum on my first try and then it spoils my appetite for the rest of them. Is it just me?

This year, I intend to remedy my distaste for the ol’ VD. You see, I’ve already made these pretty little sugar cookies, and now I’m in the mood for a little luvin’. Maybe after I deliver all of my cake orders I’ll actually go out to dinner. With my husband? Sure, why not. And maybe he’ll show up with a rose. And maybe that beyaatchie girl who got her boobs way earlier than I did will be alone at the next table and see me with my flowers and my good looking husband and she’ll think back to the day she giggled behind my 7th grade back when I was left flowerless.

We all have our turn.

I’m still waiting on the boobs, though.

I’ve given you the recipe for the sugar cookies before, in this post, and it’s my go to recipe. But I’ve never given you any real tips for making them look more professional.

First of all, after you have made the dough and allowed it to chill in the fridge for an hour or so, you need to divide it and roll it between 2 pieces of parchment paper to the thickness you want. I usually go for about 1/3 of an inch.

Then place the rolled out dough in the freezer for a couple of hours. Remove it one sheet at a time, and peel all of the parchment off. Yes, from both sides. You can replace the frozen dough onto one of the sheets, but make sure it isn’t stuck on there. You’ll thank me for that tip later. Also make sure your oven is preheated and ready to go.

Cut out your cookies and place them on a SilPat or parchment lined baking sheet. If you’ve been kinda slow with the cutting out,you can return the cut out cookies to the freezer for a bit, or, if you were quicker, slide them on into the oven. Watch them closely. They will be done when the edges just start to brown. It will depend entirely on how large your cookies are.

Lately, I have been using this recipe on the Sweetopia site for royal icing. It is SO easy to work with! I water it down just a bit for my lines and writing consistancy, and then even more for flooding. For a tutorial on Royal Icing, you should really head over to Sweetopia – I have learned so much from her posts and her cookies are gorgeous!

Hope this helps! And Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope you get a rose. But if you don’t, I promise not to laugh.

altered reality

2010-02-09T17:05:00.001-05:00

When I was growing up, reality shows weren’t the craze they are now. We lived in the country, which meant no cable. For YEARS, we had 3 stations…ABC, NBC, & CBS. We did get to watch PBS at my grandmother’s every afternoon after getting off the school bus, but just a quarter mile up the road at my house? No PBS.

So, reality television was pretty much Sesame Street. Oh, and the Cosby Show.

But then after I went to college, it seems the reality show craze really set in. For me it started with The Real World. Then Road Rules. Then Temptation Island.

This was reality? Uh-oh. In realityland, 20 year olds were cool as hell, even with whacked out hair. Even if they were named Puck. Even if they swapped bed buddies from week to week after hot-tub fiascos. My reality did not compare. I would think - Obviously, I am FAT. And I have too many sexual morals. And I have a job. And I don’t have an RV. Life SUCKS.

So, I went on a diet. And I played a lot of Spin The Bottle. And I went camping. Hell, I even kissed a girl.

That was a really long weekend.

Luckily, now America is beyond bored and every other television show is a “reality show.” Soap operas used to rule the airwaves, but now there are only a couple left. And poor Marlena has probably used up at least 8 of her 9 lives if I had to guess. Poor lady. If it’s not Stefano it’s the Devil. I stopped watching in 1993 when she was possessed and started levitating. Of course, they kept tricking her into believing her husband wasn’t her husband even though he looked like him, or her husband looked like a stranger or the guy who so obviously used to be the bartender in town. She just rolls with the punches.

But back to reality shows. Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes, Jon & Kate, Those Little People..everyone has their own show. They are all okay. But you know what feels good?

Watching Hoarders and The Biggest Loser.

If your husband gives you grief about the pile of laundry growing out of the basket, or complains about the 5 dishes in the sink? Plop his ass down in front of a Hoarders marathon. You can be all –“See honey? At least a GOAT didn’t eat off the side of our house. At least I don’t sleep on a portable potty chair that I tie myself in to every night in the middle of the kitchen because there is not one other square foot to sit down in this entire abode. At least our bathroom floor hasn’t been eaten away by a 3 inch layer of feces. See how good you have it?”

And then? Go make yourself a cheesecake in your clean kitchen. Eat it in front of the TV, and be sure to turn on The Biggest Loser. Nothing like eating 2900 calories as you watch 400 pounders huff and puff on the treadmill while Jillian Michaels screams at them. She can’t even SEE you! Go on, eat up! Sure, you’ll be all “I can’t believe I am eating cheesecake and watching the Biggest Loser!” But heck, we all do it. Some of us are just willing to admit it.

Not me, of course, but some of us. I wouldn’t consider such a thing. I’m a Cosby.

a sweetheart of a giveaway

2010-02-07T22:51:00.001-05:00

Look out, loverlys.

This week, I can assure you that you’ll be seeing tons of red, pink, X’s and O’s. Chocolate and hearts and plenty of I Love You’s floating around the food blogs. heck, even I will be in on it.

But what says I Love You more than a Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron 2 Quart Heart Shaped Casserole? For FREE?

Nothing.

Chocolates will be eaten, Valentines will be misplaced, but this casserole? It will love you forever, and then some. It will warm your soups thoroughly, clean up quickly, and never talk back. It has a lifetime warranty…so unlike love.

So, as my Valentine’s Gift to you, my loyal readers, I am offering this pretty little baby up. (Yes, me…no one else! The folks at Le Creuset don’t even know who I am!) As long as you live in the 48 Whatchacallit States (sorry Internationals, Alaska & Hawaii), you can win. There’s just ONE thing you have to do…Follow me on Networked Blogs. See that box over there on the right hand sidebar? Click it, Follow me, leave me a comment saying you do. That’s it!

For one additional way to win, you can “Friend Me” on Facebook (Susan Whetzel), follow me on Google Friend Connect, or Follow Me on Twitter (I am @doughmesstic). Once you follow me, come on back here and comment AGAIN.

What the heck – here’s ONE more way to win. Tweet a link to this post, or put it in your Facebook Status. Don’t forget to come back here and comment again! Now you have THREE chances!

Just because I am being nosey…what are YOUR ideas for Valentine’s Day? Please don’t say CakePops. I can’t take another cakepop today. Anything else?? :0)

UPDATE: Giveaway is OVER!

Congrats to Stef B aka SleepinMamaWakeUp! You won with your Code ValenMINE comment! Please get me your address and info by Saturday, or I’m throwing this baby back up for grabs!

is there an app for that?

2010-02-05T00:56:00.001-05:00

I have an iPhone. To say that I love it is an understatement. It is so much more than a phone. It is practically a living creature in my life. I bought it, I gave it Apps, it treats me well. I hope it doesn’t get any diseases that need time away from Mommy.

Last month I downloaded a learning game for Seven. The Zoo Friends Matching Game or something like that. It was free. I imagined Sev wouldn’t have a clue what to do with it, as it’s pretty much a digital version of that cardboard Memory Game. But honestly, I showed him ONCE how to make a match, and he was off and running.

Dumbest thing I ever did, folks. That child at age 2 can flip through my iPhone faster than you can say Facebook. He can solve the 20 card Match Game in one minute flat. He can call my father or anyone else in my contact list on his own, and does so when I am not looking. He sends bizarre text messages to strangers. He loves the iPod feature. In his 2 year old world, here are the best loved Apps:

Match Game (aka Match Game)
Giraffe Game (aka Preschool Playground) His favorite of the “games” on this App? The picture taking setting “Photo Safari”. Different backgrounds, like a dessert, a waterfall, a room, the beach. You shuffle through items to add the the locale and then you can snap a picture of it, which is then placed in your actual Photo Library. His favorite thing to add to a picture? Shrubs. He LOVES the word shrubbery. (Get your mind out of the gutter.) And now? I have umpteen photos of his wild ass safari adventures, with couches on the seashore, coffee, zebras, flamingos and, umm, shrubbery.
Scream Game (aka The Impossible Quiz) He just likes to get wrong answers and hear the screaming.
Recipe Game (aka All Recipes) – He never loses, everyone’s a winner here.
Cheese Game (aka the Digital Camera) – Hence…Cheese!
Bucket Game (aka Paper Football) – Basically you just keep tossing a paper football into a trashcan. Mind numbing.
Deer game (Some kind of Deer Hunting game. He’s a good shot.)
Music Game (aka the iPod) He has his favorites out of my 400 songs, and knows how to find them on his own. Absolute faves? Galway Girl by Steve Earle, Cheater Cheater by Joey & Rory, All the Single Ladies by Beyonce, and anything at all by P!nk. Nothing like hearing your toddler sing about a “white trash ho.” Fantastic.

Now, those are HIS favorite Apps. Me? I love being able to get my mail, anywhere, anytime. I also like the Facebook updates and my Tweetdeck. Heck, I am even IN an iPhone App – Strawberries. I have a recipe in there for Devils Food layer cake. But as of yet, I don’t think they have developed the Apps I need.

Kiting App - (aka The App that shuffles money from one checking account to another until you can get to one of the banks to deposit some actual cash in it so that the electric company doesn’t turn off your lights.)

Coupon-Less App (aka the App that allows you to scan in the barcode from your Sunday Circular coupons and saves them there until you go to the store, then the cashier just downloads all of them from your phone)

The SweetJesusHelpMe App (aka the App that senses your frustration with a gabbing weirdo who WillNotShutUp and is creeping you out and you KNOW you could get away from if ONLY someone would just call. Maybe it could read your heart rate or something, and ring a little more loudly than usual.)

The Delivery App (aka The App that calls Food Lion to let them know you are out of milk, or sugar, or Toaster Strudel, and they send someone right up with it, your credit card being on file. And you get to stay in your pajamas.)

The Clapp (aka the App that can read from one touch whether or not it is safe to go to bed with that hottie at the bar. Gonorrhea? The HIV? Herpes? Find out before you put out. ) No, this is NOT an App I need, but wow, what a concept for all you single folk out there.

So…if YOU could develop an App, what would YOU want? Who knows, maybe Apple is reading…

cake snapshot

2010-02-04T16:54:00.001-05:00

It’s been forever since I posted any pictures of cakes I have done for clients. Over a month! Yes, I am still doing them…more than ever! In fact, I have done so many, that I haven’t even been able to photograph all of them. That bums me out, too, because some of them were really pretty!

So, here’s a look at a few of my cakes. Hope you like them!

And since I am on the subject of cakes, guess what? I am teaching a Cake Decorating Class later this month! Yep, ME! It’s an Intro to Cake Decorating. Basically, it’s the kind of class I wish I had been taught YEARS ago…How to make yummy buttercream – REAL buttercream, not the all Crisco deal that most cake classes adhere to. Then, how to pipe borders, make a few flowers, how to write and not make it look horrible, and then a glimpse into the world of fondant. Everything you need to know in order to be able to go home and make a cake that you can be proud of.

I’ve even lined up a repeat class for next month, as well as a fondant course, SO, if you are in the area, please send me an email of you are interested and I will get you the official info. I’d LOVE to have some of my readers there!

Until next time folks, keep safe and warm, and beware the next winter storm!!

i weep for the future. and this post.

2010-02-02T10:30:00.001-05:00

I’m not that old.

I haven’t even had my 20 year High School reunion yet, so don’t chalk this post up to some old lady sitting around in a rockin’ chair, a pot of soup on the stove, knitting underwear and spouting off about how much different it was in the olden days.

I’m NOT old.

But apparently, lots can change in just a few years. Take all this snow, for example. Yes, we have had a ton of it this winter already. Gobs. Not denying that. But you know what? Once the snow has been pushed from off the road and it’s safe to go to Best Buy and PetsMart? Your kids can probably go to school. Heck, if those crunky weirdo kids with all the metal in their faces can drive their own shiny non-4 wheel drive sportscars to Hardees for breakfast – school should be in session. In fact, maybe we could hire those same kids to go around picking up all the other kids and taking them to school.

Back in my day, it took a helluvalot more to get school called off. A LOT. We may have had 3 days a year, maybe? And I caught the bus on a mountain. Our driver had chains on the tires. And if there were kids that the buses couldn’t get to? THOSE kids were excused, but still had to make up the missed work. The rest of us had to go. Damn lucky Mountain Kids.

Now? I’m scared to even guess how many snow days have been spent this school year alone. Just a sec…I have an insider in the school system I can call. Let me be accurate.

10 missed so far.

3 days they let out early.

3 days they came in late.

And it’s only February 2nd. The “slick days” haven’t even gotten here yet.

What does this mean?

It means your kids are sitting at home (or they are at Hardee’s with crap in their face), or maybe even at the Mall, though I’m not sure kids do that anymore. Maybe I’m older than I thought. But anyway, they are sitting around somewhere, on their cell phone, texting or MySpace-ing or FaceBooking, misspelling every other word, like, LOL. Can they even type? (I mean, without using only their thumbs?)

When I was in high school, we wrote notes. (I know! We used pens and everything!) It was an art form, really. We would spend 5 minutes just folding those notes in clever and beautiful ways. We would draw on them. We would decorate them. They were special. I have a box full of these notes in my attic. I even have a scrapbook of love notes Jon & I wrote each other when we first started dating. Today’s lovebirds?

Whudup? Luv ya.

CUL8R?

K.

Wow, that’s romantic. Better save that one. But wait, there’s more! Let me just stick the phone down my pants, snap a pic and send it to you. There! That’s more like it! We’re in LOVE!

Oh. My. God. Thank sweet Jesus I grew up in the era of film cameras. No WAY would I have ever taken a picture of my junk. That would mean some stranger at the film store would see it when they developed it. Of course, my Dad owned the film store, so that would have been double disgusting. But still, no. We wouldn’t have done that. These kids must either be bored or be morons. Besides, don’t they only date for 22 days and then break up? What’s gonna stop Romeo from forwarding that picture of Juliet’s shrubbery to the rest of the chess club?

Just. Say. No. Do NOT photograph your business unless you are planning on going into the world of adult film. Your chance at becoming Miss America? Nil. And Nip/Tuck is in it’s last season, so I doubt very seriously you’ll be getting a walk on role.

But, back to the snow days. Is the snow really that much more drastic than it was 15 years ago? I don’t think so. Is it lawsuits preventing the school systems from running the buses? We had alternate bus routes back then. What was wrong with that? And now with our technology? The kids that are stuck at home could be learning online. I know, I know, I am opening up a new can of worms here. What about the kids who can’t afford a computer? What about this, what about that? Guess what? Life’s not fair. Better to learn that in school before heading off into the real world. So instead of alternate bus routes and online classes? All the kids stay home and learn NOTHING.

These kids need to be in school. The teachers also need to be in school. They could be working on lesson plans, or cleaning up their rooms, or desks, or planning extra curricular activities. They could have a big meeting and discuss alternate bus routes and figure out where in God’s name the meat in the “beef burritos” actually comes from. Perhaps if that South Carolina Teen America chick hadn’t missed an average of 9 school days per year she’d know more about “The Iraq” and why the South African’s can’t help the US Americans find things on a map.

Just THINK for a second. If she had been asked a question about texting or Forever 21, and NAILED the answer (obviously), she could be the current Miss America, a symbol of American Girl Perfection. And she’d still be as dumb as a bag of her hair and possibly engaged to Mario Lopez if she could convince him to move from The California to The South Carolina State, that is, if she could find it on the map. If only she hadn’t missed school for all those snow days.

And while I am sure that all the youngin’s are loving all this time off, as well as the teachers who are getting paid to stay at home, if it keeps up? Well, ya’ll are looking at year round school. That means NO SUMMER VACATION. Pick your battles. Do you think that the Japanese take off for snow days? I don’t. And thank goodness for that! We need someone with the smarts to keep building our cell phones and computers. How else are we gonna take pictures of our privates?

ROFLMAO.

droolry box…cah-rack that whisk

2010-02-01T00:24:00.001-05:00

I’m a sucker for whisks.

In the summer, I love going to yard sales. While my main target is great toys and kids clothes, I always check the tables for quality kitchenware – especially whisks. Perhaps it’s their utilitarian nature. Perhaps it’s their timeless charm. Whatever it is, I devour them. I have a container on my counter devoted to them, and it runneth over. Yet I Must. Have. More. And these? Well, these really float my boat.

Kuhn Rikon is a fabulous company with fabulous product. I have a few of their whisks, and each one is top notch. What I love about three of the ones featured here is their silicone coating. Super easy to clean, and best of all, gentle on your non-stick pans and heat resistant. Win-Win. Plus? Look at those colors! And styles! Don’t you just want one of each? ( I do, I do!) Sweet thing about that is that each of them are listed in Amazon’s 4-for-3 Promo. So, pick out 4 of your faves, only pay for 3 of them! Sweeeeeet!

I couldn’t help but throw some cute baker-y things out there for you stylewise as well. Aren’t these little goodies adorable? I’ll take one of each, please!

Kuhn Rikon Silicone Butterfly Whisk 10-Inch
Kuhn Rikon 10-Inch Silicone Frog Whisk with Stainless Handle
Kuhn Rikon 10-Inch Silicone Tornado Whisk with Stainless Handle
Kuhn Rikon Palm Spring Whisk
Sterling Silver Baker's Necklace, by The Bumbling Bird on Etsy
Sterling Silver Wire Whisk Necklace, by ExoDesign on Etsy
Purple Whisk Notecards, by FierceMally on Etsy

Thanks for the Droolry Box recommendations everyone! Have a great week!

happy birthday to me

2010-01-28T10:42:00.001-05:00

You know the best part about making your own birthday cake?

Well, there are two things, actually. First, you get to make it exactly like you want it, full of all your favorite things. Second, you can eat it before your birthday if you want to, because it’s YOUR cake. No that I did that or anything. (Yes, I did. I ate a piece last night. I couldn’t tolerate the suspense.)

So, see? There are benefits to being a cake baker.

For my cake, I didn’t go uber fancy with the decorations. I went pure taste factor. Think a bottom layer of Double Devils Food Cake, a layer of milk chocolate ganache, a 3 inch thick layer of vanilla bean cheesecake (YUM), another layer of ganache, more Devils food, followed by Scharffenberger Mousse, more cake, more mousse, more cake, then frosted in whipped fudge icing. I piped a bit of whipped cream on the top, then made chocolate curls to toss on it.

Seriously folks, this cake is every bit of 9 inches tall. And tastewise? It is quite possibly the best cake I have ever made. Or anyone else has ever made. Ever. Of course, I would have to charge $70 for a cake this size with this much going on in it (it took 2 days to make), but if I were someone who wanted a to-die-for cake? This is worth every single penny.

Today I am celebrating by first having lunch with my best friend Nicole, then getting my hair cut (finally!) and then taking myself to see The Lovely Bones. After that? I switch to Anniversary Mode. Yep, I got married on my birthday. Ten years ago today, to be exact. I couldn’t have married a better man…in fact, I don’t think one exists. (Happy Anniversary, Kit. I love you.)

So, Jon and I will be going out to eat, possibly with my folks and Seven,or possibly on our own. That’s a really full day for someone like me. Someone who rarely leaves the house unless it’s for eggs or flour. Wish me luck!

I’ll leave you with the sweetest chocolate covered rendition of Happy Birthday To You I’ve ever heard…and until next time, have a great day everyone!

droolry box…cookbooks

2010-01-27T00:18:00.001-05:00

Before I started this transformation into FoodBlog World, I used to have more money. I used to have a job. I used to be able to shop. And on occasion, when I would shop, I would be at TJ Maxx and I would pick up a cookbook. Not one that I intended to actually COOK from, mind you…it would be a book with a pretty cover. One that I could sit beside my clean stovetop, in a new cookbook stand, with beautiful color pages open as if I might actually USE it. You know, for company.

Yep.

I did that. For the first 5 years we lived in our own house, I had an Italian cookbook called – umm, Italian, sitting out, open, never used. Finally I got tired of cleaning around it and shoving it full of take-out menus so I put it away into that crazy cabinet above the fridge. Yeah, you know the one. The one where things go to die. The things you don’t really want to part with but don’t feel like looking at, either. I think I put my dignity up there a few years back.

I bet your thinking-wow, she put take out menus in her cookbook? She’s weird. But you see, I don’t like things on my fridge. Like magnets. Or magnets holding up pictures. Or magnets holding up notes, or lists, or funny articles or take out menus or ultrasound images of when I was my sister and I was pregnant with my first child 7 years ago and have even moved since then, Jennifer*. I like to stash things and yet maintain that my house is clean because Hello? The fridge is clean.

But I digress.

Now, I am pretty much a snob about the cookbooks I buy. I research the heck out of them – follow along with people on Twitter who bake or cook from them, read reviews, snoop on the author’s own blog. And to be honest, in this day and age, you don’t really even need to BUY a cookbook, as there are more than enough recipes online to keep you in chicken stock and buttercream until you keel over. But I love them. And they are convienient. I don’t print off the recipes I find online, I actually handwrite them onto recipe cards. Sometimes, I don’t even do that…I just try to make the dish as I go, sneaking peeks at the computer as best I can along the way. So, cookbooks are really USED here at my house. Poor Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook looks like it’s been through hell, half covered in butter (her fault) and chocolate (also her fault). But I love it, and that’s the way a cookbook should look if it’s a good one.

I decided to do a Droolry Box full of cookbooks because these are ones I have had my eye on for ages now. No, I don’t own any of them, nor do I currently have the funds to, nor are any of the authors in cahoots with me. I just want them. Maybe one day, if I’m a a good girl. (Don’t hold your breath, folks. I’m rarely that good and most of you know it.)

Ad Hoc at Home - by Thomas Keller
Desserts by the Yard: From Brooklyn to Beverly Hills: Recipes from the Sweetest Life Ever - by Sherry Yard
Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes- by David Lebovitz (not out yet, pre-order!)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl-by Ree Drummond
Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook: 50 To-Die-For Recipes for New York-Style Cheesecake (Juniors)
Paris Patisseries: History, Shops, Recipes – by Pierre Herme

What cookbook is YOUR favorite? Did I miss one? Tell me, please!

*Jennifer is yes, my sister. And I may or may not be correct in that the ultrasound is of her 7 year old. It may be of her 6 year old. Or, she may have taken it down in the last couple of months. She’s got bigger fish to fry though at this point. Three boys and a husband and an Atkin’s diet running rampant since the new year. Just stash the ultrasound if it’s still there. I have a spare cookbook you can put it in if need be. :0) (Love ya, Jenn!)

it’s MY birthday week and I can talk about anything I want to. even brett favre and taco bell.

2010-01-25T10:39:00.001-05:00

My birthday is this week.

It doesn’t make me special, it just happens to be a week where my age officially gets older. Personally, I don’t need a number to remind me of that.

My hips do enough of that for me. They hurt, people. I keep reinjuring a muscle in there when I slip on all this ice, or a trip over one of our dogs, or fall over a child sized bulldozer. And that doesn’t even mention the bones in there. They ache. From carrying a baby for 9 months? I don’t know. It seems they are worse now. But I’ll stop whining about that and move on to some more important topics.

Like Brett Favre.

Lord, is that man hot. And he can play football like nobody’s business. I was sad that the game last night went down like it did – I wanted him to win that Superbowl ring and quiet all of his doubters. Not that they shouldn’t be quiet already, he was in the playoffs and led his team to incredible victories this season. Anyone think he’ll come back for another year? I imagine if you asked him that question about an hour after last night’s game, he’d say no. But give him a few months. He seems to regroup and mellow out when he goes back home and plays with those High School boys. Back home where the game is pure. I understand why he keeps coming back. He LOVES the game. It’s obvious. I don’t think it’s the money. He could commentate and make good money without getting his head knocked off every 42 seconds. I truly think he is scared of who he will be without the feel of the ball in his hand, his eyes peeled on his go-to receiver, the roar of the fans, the rush of a touchdown.

I wish I needed something that badly.

I mean sure, I love making cheesecake. But if I’m going to have to deal with 300 pound men attacking me, trying to crush my knees and neck in the process? Umm, I’ll just watch folks on TV make cheesecake.

Since this post already makes very little sense, let’s just talk about Taco Bell for a minute.

I have a little beef about Taco Bell. The latest commercial. The one where the guy goes in and wants to order from the chick in the back because she gave him an “Inside Deal.” Well, I have been to Taco Bell. Number one, there are no skinny hot chicks wearing clean uniforms in a Taco Bell. Number Two, there are definitely not TWO hot chicks wearing clean uniforms in a Taco Bell. Number three, no one is going to smile at you like that.

But here’s the thing. You are lying to yourself if you have never, ever thought – man, I could go for some Taco Bell. Sure, you know what you are in for. Greasy, poorly made tacos filled with questionable meat product. And you also know that you might as well just open the wrappers, find a toilet, and flush the suckers. Cut out the middleman and save yourself the aching bowels. But, you eat it anyway. I think it’s a way to keep yourself real. That way, when you’ve had a dinner FAIL, you can always think – Hey, it isn’t as bad as the Taco Bell I had last week. And I don’t have diarrhea, so, that’s a bonus. But then 6 months later, the memory of the horrifying bathroom experience you had after eating your MexiMelts and Chimichangas fades and you get that urge again.

Maybe that’s what happens to Brett. He forgets about the hits, the aching bones, the concussions. He feels the electricity of the fans, the field, the team. He smells the new uniform. He just has to have it.

And I, for one, hope to see him out there again. Just not after he’s eaten a Gordita Grande.

chocolate Chip Giants

2010-01-20T21:50:00.001-05:00

One of the things I LOVE about traveling is the inspiration. I get inspired by so many things – be it a piece of furniture, jewelry, a delicious plate of gnocchi, or even a giant cookie.

On our trip to New York last week, we met up with some friends who joined us for a long day of eating, drinking, shopping, drinking, and eating. It was on this jaunt that we passed a cookie shop, and something about it, humble as it was, lured me in. Stacks of plate sized cookies in a simple window, nothing fancy, spoke to me and my belly. And let me just tell you, that was one freaking good cookie.

So, I set about to try and make a version of it myself. Giant cookies are a little more difficult, because 1, you need them to cook long enough to get done, but not so long that they burn on the outside, and 2, the length of time required in the oven can cause major spreadage. Not good. Therefore, adjustments need to be made.

While my cookies were awesome, and perfect with a tall glass of milk, they were not quite as good as that cookie in the city. Maybe it was the time and place of the original, or maybe my amount of butter was lacking. There will certainly be a next time for this recipe, and I am sharing it with you because I know it works, it tastes great, and darn it, sometimes you just need a giant cookie and don’t want to wait for me to come up with an alternate recipe. (And it isn’t lying when you come home and tell you husband that you only had ONE cookie that day. That’s a bonus.)

Chocolate Chip Giants

2 cups plus All Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp. Self Rising Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/3 tsp. salt
1 1/2 sticks somewhat melted butter (12 Tbsp)
1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 Vanilla Bean, scraped (I prefer Beanilla Vanilla Beans)
2 cups mixed chocolate chips (I used semisweet chunks & milk chocolate chips)
Sea Salt (to top)

Preheat oven to 325. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.

In small bowl combine Flour, Baking Soda, and salt.

In mixing bowl, cream butter and vanilla with sugars until fluffy. Add eggs until combined. Add dry on low speed, mixing only until combined. Stir in Chocolate chips.

Scoop out the dough with your fingers, making sure that the tops of the cookies are jagged. leave about 3 inches between cookies. Sprinkle tops with a little bit of sea salt. I got 6 cookies per large tray.

Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating pan at 10 minutes. Remove at 20 minutes and leave on pan to cool. Enjoy!

Now, some more good news! In my last Droolry Box, I featured some recipe cards from OneCanoeTwo. Well, since that post, I was contacted by the artists and they are letting me give away one of their limited edition handprinted 2010 calendars! Isn’t it gorgeous? I wish I could keep it for myself, but I won’t…I’ll share! All you need to do to win is visit their site, then let me know what, if anything, is the most drool-worthy to YOU. Just leave me a comment! If you’d like more chances to win…

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the post where i talk about new york city, martha stewart, and her hateful brat daughter

2010-01-18T22:56:00.001-05:00

I bet you thought I was going to say something unpleasant about The Martha, didn’t you? I can’t imagine what might have led you to think that.

Did you know that I was going back to the Martha Show last week? I did. I went. I wasn’t sure what to expect, considering the way I left things last time. But there I was, invited to go back and be a part of a “special show” about bloggers. I’m just going to go ahead and start my little rant now, if you don’t mind. This show wasn’t special. It wasn’t even that much about bloggers. Let me explain.

When I was told about the show, I had high hopes that a blogger or two I knew would be highlighted. You know, out of a gozillion bloggers on the internet, to be a selected group of around 160 is kind of awesome. And thanks to Twitter, I knew that several of the people I tweet with were also going to be in attendance, and we were all pretty stoked about it. Seriously, it’s an honor to even be considered worthy, right? Yes, it is. And when we got to the queue outside the studios on Thursday morning, I was a little thrilled to see that the staff was approaching each of us to ask about our blogs, and did we have anything to share with Martha, and wow, thanks for coming. It was encouraging. The Martha wants to know about US. Bloggers. Finally, the world is going to see what kind of people we are and that we aren’t all introverted freaks of nature. (Not saying ME, because that sums me up pretty well.) But anyway, we get inside, we think there may be a shot that something we have to say may end up broadcast for the nation to see. Except, well, we were about to be disappointed for thinking that.

Things are different this time at the show. For starters, we weren’t reminded nearly enough to use the bathroom. 4 times, I think? Not enough. We were also not offered a meal, albeit from a truck parked outside last time, it was still offered. Not this time. We were also ushered in to the studio in a more timely fashion this go round, as they wanted us all to make sure we could get online and be ready to live tweet/live blog the show. I got online fairly easily. I saw faces I recognized…Kamran, the 17 year old “Sophisticated Gourmet”. Jennifer of In Jennie’s Kitchen. Tami of Running With Tweezers. Jennifer of Savor The Thyme. Cool to see in person the folks you’ve only known through the internet. But I digress. The show starts right on time. Martha makes her entrance, all 7 feet of her, in highwater khaki britches and a pair of stripper shoes. The heels were at least 7 inches. At least. She rocked them, really. Jon (the Hub o’mine) started tweeting that it looked like Big M was a little too big for her sweater. I punched him and made a mean face, but he was actually right. Not that I have any room whatsoever to talk. I saw a picture of me that Kamran took from the studio, and wow, FatAssaTriChinAsaurus. Not even sharing the link to the photo with you folks.

Okay, so Statue Martha starts the show with Pim, the “blogger” from Thailand who makes Pad Thai with her. Pim is the “Queen of the Food Bloggers”? Who said? I mean, yes, I have heard of her, but Queen? Maybe the Pioneer Woman could be Queen. Wait. Is this a monarchy? I prefer a democracy. We should get to vote. Pim can not be the Queen. There. I said it. So, anyway, we get a copy of Pim’s book. Perhaps it is supposed to be the Code of Conduct for her constituents. Beat’s me, she ain’t my queen. Not much in it held my interest. Moving on…

Brian Williams was supposed to be the headliner of the show. I saw his picture in the promos. I can’t say what happened here, but maybe he was called away to Haiti, where more important things than yarn adorned cards were being addressed. Not sure how that’s possible. But nonetheless, he was not there. Guess who filled in for him?

Alexis freaking Stewart. As in, Martha’s daughter. I don’t keep up with the gossip columns like I used to, but I know there used to be (and still appears to be) bad blood between this Mommy Daughter combo. Alexis and her buddy Jennifer have a radio show and a blog. They are the “Whatever Girls.” I am not good at remembering quotes, but I like to pretend like I am, so, you can quote me on this. I’m pretty darned close to verbatim…

Martha: Alexis, I think your blogs are so great. But you don’t update very often. People want to hear more from you.

Alexis:…….

Martha: They want to know more about you. Like how you blocked traffic for umpteen hours to move your gigantanormous midcentury modern sofas into your apartment.

Alexis: (glare)

Martha: So, you should blog more.

Alexis:…(huff) Well, I actually have to WORK 2 hours a day. I would rather live my life than update the blog more than every couple of weeks.

Martha: Okay, wellll. So, Jennifer! You play the recorder!

Jennifer proceeds to play Let’s Get Physical on the recorder. Not kidding. She rocked it. She saved the segment.

Martha: So, Alexis, what blogs do you read?

Alexis: I don’t. Blogs are stupid.

And so on, and so on. Way to make bloggers look like rockstars, beeyatch.

When their segment was over, Martha hugged the buddy, Alexis clearly positioned herself anywhere she could to be as far away from mommy as possible.

Now, I took the whole “I actually have to WORK two hours a day” as a stab against her Mom. Not sure how or why, as it is obvious that Martha works her fool ass off. Multiple shows, radio, magazines, endorsements and product lines. She sounded like a whiny, ungrateful snot. If Martha hadn’t made herself the magnate she is, Alexis would have to have given up being a lesbian and hoped for an old wrinkly sugar daddy to keep her in expensive pantyhose. Get a grip, Alexis. Without Martha, you’d just be a bitch and not a rich bitch. Such a fine line between Old Navy and Prada, huh?

So, I follow along with all of the other Bloggers who are live tweeting. So many are saying – Oh, isn’t Alexis snarky? – not, oh, isn’t Alexis a snarly snotwagon Beeyatch. Perhaps they were being polite. She didn’t come across as snarky to me. Spoiled. Bitter. Hateful. Irritated. Ingrate…any of those seemed more fitting. So I tweeted what I felt. The Martha and Company will see it, for sure. At least I was being honest. And unless I come up with a cure for fallen souffles and foolproof buttercream roses, there’s little chance I will ever be asked back to the Martha Show.

The next two to three segments were shite. One “blogger” was an annoying asskisser who tried to turn himself into the male(ish) version of Julie WhatsHerFace by blogging his way through one of Martha’s cookbooks. They decorated a cake together and made bloggers look like dumbasses. Mister? You won’t be getting a book deal. I’m not even sure he made it out of the studio by himself. But at least he was a hair more adept than the next guy, who I really paid so little attention to it’s like a fleeting bad smell on the highway. I think they were using yarn to decorate paper. A dude. Decorating paper. With yarn. I saw a big gift basket come out full of yarn-y stuff and he clapped. Oh, fork me. When is this show going to get real? It’s supposed to be about BLOGGERS. Meanwhile, Jon, The Hub, is still tweeting nasty things and mocking the shemale in front of him “for wearing his grandmother’s pearls” to the Martha Show. Hello? Of course he is. It’s dress up day, Jon.

Next up, the one audience member who gets attention. Another MarthaStalker. “Hire Me Martha” gets a 30 second intro, and gets promised a tour of the facility. I don’t know if she got “hired” or not, because I am too disenchanted to even go read on her blog whether she did or not. Not because I am jealous, or because her blog doesn’t rock, because it might. In fact, I applaud her for her creativity. Smart move. But the show was to be about bloggers, I thought. Not Martha Stalkers. Not ass kissers.

And every single audience member is lying if they say they weren’t expecting some kind of swag. I mean , it was a “Special Show”, right? Not your normal show. This was a show that many of us drove or flew to for that very reason. Special. And we got? Pim’s book. That is all. No Netbook. No new laptop. No iPhone, no Blackberry. Not even a calculator or a chocolate bar. No Trapper Keeper. Nada. Hell, I would have been pleased with a coupon for her cookware at Macy’s, for crying out loud. But it was like, well, this show is full of sucky people so I’m not even gonna give them the lotion samples and airplane peanuts that I give out to the other shows.

Now I sound spoiled, too. Gag. Sorry about that. I just expected more. Not more as in gifts, but more as in more. More about blogging. Blogging is so important to me, and to the people I know who took time off of work, left their families, and came to the show. It was a letdown.

The shoes though? Not a letdown. Yves St. Laurent. On sale, Martha said. She actually threw her LEG up on the counter for everyone to gawk at. She even said they were the kind of shoes that were great for leaving on. We all know what that means, except for well, my own Mom, and no Mom, I am not explaining it. Google it. Try starting with FMP’s.

So, all in all I did have a nice time at Martha. It wasn’t what I had hoped, but I did get to meet a few bloggers, I got a hug from one of the Martha employees who remembered me from last time, and I made a few contacts that will hopefully appear here on the DoughMessTic site as sponsors in the near future. I have a new respect for Big M, thanks to the shoes, and thanks to the way her daughter treated her. Rotten. No Mom should have to deal with that. In the future though, should I GET invited back, it’ll have to be to be ON the show, not in the audience. I’ve been there, done that. It’s someone else’s turn.

Back to being an introverted freak of nature. But only for a bit. You see, I’ve decided to leave the house and try my hand at substitute teaching.

Now, if I could just get over that whole distaste of children thing.

Droolry Box…classic beauty

2010-01-18T12:57:00.001-05:00

I promise you, I will be back here tomorrow with my New York City/Martha Show post. Really! I’ve just got to get my act together, get some work done after a 5 day vacation, and put on my snarky face for you. Believe it or not, I will NOT be bashing The Martha. Her daughter, though? Well, that’s another story. Until then, I give you a beautiful Droolry Box to help fill your Monday.

From the top left:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child. This is the box set of both books, which I so wish I had. I have the first one, but the second goes in to breads more, and I want her secrets! Pick it up now on Amazon for a great discount…
Letterpress Recipe Cards/Dividers and Box by One CanoeTwo on Etsy. Isn’t that cute? So stylish and retro. I want, I want!
IceMilk Aprons. LOVE IceMilk Aprons! Love Ashley, the creator, too! So sweet and bubbly, and so kindhearted. I got to meet her last week at the Martha Show before she headed back to Atlanta. I was lucky enough to get one of her aprons with my initial on it this Christmas. Talk about premium quality and attention to detail. Just gorgeous.
All-Clad Copper Cookware. As if.
Ceramic Egg Crate. You can find these at Anthropologie, Amazon, Crate & Barrel, etc. This one is from Amazon, and I just love the looks of it. Not only great for duh, eggs, but you could keep jewelry in it, too. That would look so cute on your dresser, don’t you think?

Seen something out there you think needs to be in my Droolry Box? Are you a crafter/artisan that thinks I may like what you do? Let me know what it is – I am always on the look out! See you tomorrow!

aspic. there's a reason no one makes it anymore.

2010-01-15T01:00:00.002-05:00

Hey kids!
I'm still on vacation, but here is a dooooozie for ya.
Jayne. As in, Jayne, The Barefoot Kitchen Witch.

I met Jayne on our trip up north. Yes, I know what she looks like, and, no, I'm not telling. She's done a marvelous job of keeping herself well hidden! She's so funny, so dedicated - and such a real kitchen she has!! I have pegboard envy, I do!!

I'd like to tell you that you are going to run right out and make her upcoming recipe, but well, ummm...let me just say it now.

Jayne? I told you so.

And now, I give you our guest blogger. Enjoy!! Thanks Jayne!

Attempting Aspic

Last week, in a moment of apparent weakness or desperation, Susan asked if I'd write a guest post for her this week. I asked if she'd been feverish lately, and when she said no, really, she was fine, she really was, I agreed to do it. I asked if there was anything in particular she'd like me to write about, and she said - and I quote - "Write about anything."

Ohhh, Susan, you are regretting those words now, I'm sure.

For those of you who have no idea who I am - and no, I'm not a wacky relative taking advantage of blogging nepotism - I'm Jayne, and my main blog is Barefoot Kitchen Witch. Like Susan, I write about food and my family, among other things, I'm a member of Tuesdays with Dorie, and unknown to Susan, I have an evil streak a mile wide.

Not long ago, Susan wrote a post about making creme brulee, and said some pretty harsh things about flan ("congealed old milk"), and so initially I wanted to do a post about flan. Just 'cuz. But I thought that would be kind of silly, since she'd just written about creme brulee and I had already recently written about flan. Enough with the egg custard stuff. She'd also mentioned, in the same paragraph of this post I'm talking about, that the only thing more hideous than flan would be aspic. "Aspic is like a big, fat mistake....Who thinks of crap like that?"

And it is for that reason that I decided to try my hand at making aspic.

Now, to make an aspic you need some sort of stock, to begin with. Beef, fish, chicken, pork, vegetable, or veal. Different animals' bones produce different amounts of gelatin, so it's sometimes necessary to add additional gelatin to create a successful aspic. Veal, I've read, provides a lot of gelatin, but I don't happen to have any. I have a few varieties of chicken stock, some fish stock, clam broth, and crab stock, at the moment. Oh, and beef stock, too. I really should keep a list.

Anyway, I decided to go with the crab stock. It's very flavorful stuff, because when we cooked the crabs that produced this stock, we used all sorts of seasonings, including some Old Bay. And as far as what to put IN the aspic (because what's the point of aspic if you can't suspend stuff in it?), I went with shrimp and vegetables, because, again, that's what I've got on hand.

So, first thing - how do you make aspic? I purposely avoided Julia Child's books, because, well, I was being lazy, and her recipes are so detailed you need a GPS to follow them. I googled "aspic recipe" and found one on AllSands.com. I haven't tested this recipe, and in fact, as I type this, I haven't even finished making my aspic - it's chilling in the fridge. So I won't even have an opinion about it until I've taken a picture of the final product. Exciting, huh?

Per the recipe, I needed the following basic ingredients:

4 cups of well-seasoned stock - check!

2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin - check!

3 room temperature egg whites - check!

I thawed two 2-cup bags of crab stock in separate pots, and then, even though it doesn't say to at this stage of the game in the recipe, I strained the liquid, just in case any teeny tiny crab bits remained from when I froze it.

Next, as directed, I sprinkled, the gelatin over one 2-cup portion of the stock. You have to "bloom" gelatin before you can use it, and to do this you simply sprinkle the gelatin over some cold liquid - in this case, the stock - and let it sit for 5 minutes. During that five minutes, the dry gelatin particles absorb some of the liquid and soften. That's blooming. Simple stuff, right?

While the gelatin bloomed, I separated my eggs and set the yolks aside for something else. (Maybe a flan...) Then I whisked the whites until they were frothy, as directed, and whisked the whites in with the other 2-cup portion of the stock.

By the way - and off topic a bit - I've been seeing this commercial on TV for an egg-cracking contraption, and I'm just curious, does anyone out there own one of these? The way the commercial plays, you'd think we're all a bunch of incompetent ninnies with regard to egg crackage. My five-year-old daughter can successfully crack and even separate eggs with less angst than the miserable folks in this commercial. I have not once had to pick shell out of anything I've cooked. Why do these commercials have to tell us we're helpless? It's just an egg! Do we really need one more gadget? Hands work just fine! Really!

Okay, tiny rant over.

After the gelatin bloomed, I whisked the egg white and stock mixture into the gelatin and stock mixture and then heated the whole thing on medium high until it boiled. I was supposed to stir constantly, but I didn't. Why stir at all? And what's with the egg whites, anyway?

Well, I'll tell you. The egg whites are there to attract any remaining proteins floating around in the stock. The whites act like...well, okay, try this analogy - you know when you have something packed in styrofoam? Like, oh, the Christmas village houses you finally got around to packing up last night? And you know how those tiny styrofoam balls break loose and, through the magic of static electricity, they stick to your fingers and clothes and you have to stand in the wake of a jet plane just to get them to STOP STICKING ALREADY!! - you know that? Well, the egg whites are like you, and all the tiny bits of protein are the styrofoam. And in this instance, that's...to quote Martha...a good thing. And the stirring helps keep those tiny bits of protein moving around, so they're more likely to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the egg whites. Fewer tiny proteins = clearer aspic.

Egg whites, incidentally, are also used for this purpose sometimes in beer and wine making. Just thought I'd share that.

Anyway, you want to boil the stock mixture until, according to the recipe, "a dense foam appears." This foam is the egg whites and the proteins. At this point you remove the stock from the stove and let it cool. The foam will stay foamy - it won't dissolve back into the liquid - yay! And when it's cooled (but not too cool, because you don't want the gelatin to set up yet) you strain it to get rid of those ucky proteins once and for all. I used a very fine mesh strainer and a tight-weave cotton tea towel that I dampened first. I think that's sort of what the article means by "cup towel."

And just to keep this as up to the minute as possible, I just took my cooling stock out of the fridge, and sure enough, the foam is all huddled together in a big frothy mass, and the rest of the stock looks pretty clear. I'm going to strain it now - I'll be right back.

~~~

I'm back. I actually let the stock get too cold - it started to set, so I'm warming it just for a moment on the stove, just enough so I can strain it. I am notorious for trying to multitask too many things at a time, and this is what happens. My aspic starts to set. Will I ever learn?

I got out 5 ramekins and brushed the bottoms of them lightly with oil. Then I ladled a little of the aspic into the ramekins and put them in the fridge to set. Twenty minutes later, I added two pieces of cooked shrimp arranged in the shape of a heart and some tiny bits of roasted red pepper, cut in heart shaped pieces, as garnish. A bit more aspic, then back into the fridge. One more addition of roasted red pepper and the last of the aspic, and back into the fridge until serving time.

My first victim was Alex. I'd dropped Julia off at a birthday party, and Bill had a faculty meeting, so it was just the two of us. I took one ramekin from the fridge, ran a knife around the edge of the aspic and warmed the ramekin in some hot water for a minute or so. Then I inverted a plate on the ramekin and flipped it over. I lifted the ramekin gingerly, hoping it would come out okay, and tilted it slightly, because that seems to help in situations like this.

Moments later, my shrimp in aspic slid out onto the plate, minus the first layer of aspic, which slid right off the shrimp and onto the side of the plate with a cloudy, gelatinous shiver. No matter, it still looked pretty enough without that layer, so I tossed that into the sink and proceeded with my garnishing. I took a few pictures, and then I summoned the boy.

"Alex!" I called. "Come here and try this!"

I did my best to sound enthusiastic. It would have helped if I had a plate of chocolate chip cookies instead of the aspic, but hey, life's tough, kid. Sometimes you have to eat a little aspic.

Well, sometimes you do. And sometimes, you will do anything within your power NOT to eat it. Which is what my handsome little son did. He ran. He ducked. He sidestepped. He laughed at my offer to pay him a dollar if he had a taste, saying "I have plenty of dollars, Mom, I don't need it." I begged. I cajoled. I pleaded. All to no avail.

"But, Alex," I said, ridiculously hopeful, "this is for my website (I meant Susan's, but that would have taken too much explaining) - I have to let people know what you think!"

"Tell them I think I don't want to try it," he told me.

"You like jello, right?" I said brightly.

"No." he said.

"Well, this is better!" I'm so lame.

Finally, by wearing him down, or appealing to his sense of pity, I got Alex to agree to one itsy bitsy little taste. He said he would touch a bit of the aspic with his tongue. I held out the spoon, which contained a bit of shrimp and a bit of aspic, and he - brave soul - touched the aspic portion with about a square half milimeter's worth of his filiform papilae (the bumps on the tongue). And then he made a horrible face and ran from the room in a terror-stricken, zig-zag pattern.

Duly noted.

Bill arrived home a little later, after Alex had recovered. I switched back to my happy homemaker persona and asked "Care for some shrimp in aspic?" He looked at me dubiously, then looked cautiously around the room as thought the shrimp in aspic were hiding in the cupboards, ready to jump out at him. "Ohhhhkaaaaayyyy...." he agreed. I quickly plated up another of my concoctions - this time that first layer of aspic stayed put - and handed him a spoon.

He looked at the cloudy blob and looked at me with an expression very similar to Alex's look earlier. Then, bravely, because he has taken that "for better or for worse" part seriously all these years, he spooned up one of the shrimp, greyish aspic clinging to it, and put it in his mouth.

Then he spun around and ran to the garbage can and...well...eliminated the aspic as best he could.

"That's F***ing horrible!" he said. "I don't think I ever want to eat that again."

Two down.

I had hopes for Julia. She eats fish eyes, after all. Granted, seven o'clock in the morning isn't optimum aspic-eating time, but fortunately she doesn't care about stuff like that. I unmolded yet another of my concoctions and told her what it was. She was worried more about the little bits of red pepper. "Are they spicy?" "Oh, no! They're the sweet kind." I asked if she wanted to try a bite of the shrimp first. She nodded, and added "Just a little bite." No problem. With the spoon, I cut one off about a third of one of the shrimp and scooped up a bit of the aspic. She ate that without a hitch, and then, when I asked her how it was...

She nodded, and gave it two thumbs up.

No, really, she did. Honest.

And then, when I asked her if she wanted the rest, she nodded and then...her head changed direction...and she was shaking it from side to side. "Mom," she said sadly. "I hate to tell you this...but...I don't like it."

Okay. I surrender. Aspic was a big FAIL in our house. I don't even know if I liked it or not. I think I wanted to like it...and I was pleased that I was kind of successful, though the aspic isn't as clear as it should be. I liked my little two shrimp in the shape of a heart design, and the little tiny roasted red pepper hearts.

But.

Okay, unless someone actually hires me to do so, I won't be making this again. Probably. Although there is a part of me that really wants to get it PERFECT, just once. Even if that perfectly clear aspic ends up in the trash. Or on the stove - the flavor wasn't horrible...it was our own crab stock, after all. It was just...well, it was very weird to eat very cold crab stock, but it might taste better as a hot soup. But then..it wouldn't be an aspic.

Okay, Susan. With regard to aspic, you win.

I should have done the flan post.

My flan rocks.

Petti al Mascarpone, by Paula of Bell'alimento

2010-01-14T02:29:00.002-05:00

Good Day, lucky readers! Today you are blessed with a post by my friend Paula of Bell'Alimento - a wonderful Italian Cookie! She's always whipping up something that makes me long for a vacation to my favorite home away from home...Italy! Treat her nice, maybe she'll come back sometime! Thanks Paula!

I bet you're wondering where Susan is? Lucky girl is off in NYC (New Yawk C-tay) Sorry couldn't resist, living it up with Martha (yes that Martha) so I'm filling in just for the day while she's gone. I kinda feel like Jay Leno when he was subbing for Johnny. But, fear not, she'll be back shortly with a hilarious update I'm sure! I know I can't wait to hear all about it.

In case you're wondering, I'm Paula from bell'alimento & the evah so fabulous Susan just created an ah-mazing Chocolate Truffle Brownie recipe for me & now I'm happily returning the favor! If you're not familiar with me, I am mad about Italian food ; that's what I do over on my little spot on the web! One of the many things Sus & I have in common is our LOVE for all things Italian.

Since she created such a dee-vine dessert for me, I thought it only fitting to create an entrée for you! This is a chicken dish that everyone in my family lurves (& hopefully everyone in yours will now too)! It's Petti al Mascarpone or bettah known as {Chicken Breasts stuffed with Mascarpone Cheese} Mascarpone is simply Italian Cream Cheese and it's like no other! It's not your regular Philly Cream Cheese. Don't worry though, it's easily found in most groceries. This dish makes a beautiful meal (especially if you slice it into little spirals)! & hello is it filling. The chicken breasts are stuffed with Prosciutto (ah, glorious Prosciutto), sautéed Mushrooms & Mascarpone! They look so fancy, they'll think you slaved in the kitchen, but I won't tell! I have seen this dish with the Prosciutto wrapped around the outside as well, but I like mine on on the inside.

You might even want to whip up a batch of those Chocolate Truffle Brownies for dessert. ; ) Just sayin'...

Buon Appetito & thanks so much for letting me stop by!

Petti al Mascarpone

What you'll need:

4-6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - Butterflied

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 16oz package Mushrooms - Sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic - gently crushed

1 handful of fresh flat leaf Italian Parsley - Roughly Chopped

4-6 pieces of Prosciutto

1 8oz container of Mascarpone - room temperature

Salt & Pepper

Additional Items: Toothpicks, Saran Wrap, Aluminum Foil & Cooking Spray

What to do:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray a roasting pan (large enough for all of your pieces of chicken to fit comfortably - you don't want to crowd them, use two pans if necessary) with cooking spray & set aside. Squeeze the lemon juice onto the sliced mushrooms & toss well. Heat butter into a medium sauté pan over medium heat. When melted, add the crushed garlic & cook until garlic is golden (to flavor the butter). REMOVE garlic & discard. Increase heat to med-high & add the mushrooms & parsley & cook for approx 6-8 minutes until mushrooms have released their water and cooked down. Stir often. When finished, season with s/p, remove from heat & set aside & allow them to cool. (SAVE HALF of your mushrooms to garnish the dish with, the other HALF will be used to stuff the chicken breasts)

WHILE mushrooms are cooking, take your butterflied pieces of chicken, season them with s/p & place a piece of saran wrap on top of your chicken breasts & pound them out with a mallet. Once they're nice and even (to your desired thickness) it's time to assemble: To each chicken breasts: add a piece of prosciutto, place equal amounts of mascarpone onto each chicken breast & then top with equal amounts of cooled mushroom mixture. Fold the chicken over itself & secure with toothpicks. Continue until all pieces are assembled.

Place the chicken onto your roasting pan. Cover your pan with foil & cook for approx 25-35 minutes (I like mine a little thicker so they naturally take longer to cook). Cooking time will depend on the thickness of your chicken breasts. Check them for 20 minutes and continue checking every 5 mins after until done. If you're unsure, cut a piece in half to check doneness. Right before chicken is complete gently re-heat the reserved mushrooms, adding a smidge of butter just until warmed through.

To serve, remove toothpicks, slice chicken in half or into equal slices, plate & top with the reserved mushrooms (& more Parsley if you desire) & serve immediately. Would be fab served with some Risotto.

Baci e' Buon Appetito!

Fresh Raspberry Almond truffles

2010-01-12T23:18:00.001-05:00

You guys are so lucky.

Why, you ask? Well, I will tell you why.

For the next few days, a 3 of my very favorite Foodie Bloggers (2 of which I have met, one I fully intend to meet someday!!) will be Guest Posting here on my DoughMessTic site! That means really good stuff for you, and, well, time off for me! Yay!

First up is Carrie of Fields of Cake. I met Carrie when we went to Maine last October, and I am SO glad I did! She’s a handful, folks, but I know you will just LOVE her like I do!

So, without further ado, heeeere’s Carrie! Enjoy!

How lucky am I that my awesome bloggy friend asked me to guest blog here? When she DID ask me my mind was racing….WHAT was I going to blog about??? It is one thing to keep up your own blog...If you swear or misspell or say something weird, it’s all on you. On someone else’s blog, you have the responsibility to be a good girl. Awww shucks!

So to start off how about I introduce myself? My name is Carrie Fields. I run the blog Fields of Cake and Other Good Stuff. It is essentially a blog about my sweet, sweet journey as a baker and new sorta business owner. I say sorta because 1. I work out of my home, and 2. I am a great baker, NOT a great business woman…but I am learning. I am in the process of putting together a cookbook proposal. It is SCARY! But I will do it. I know I can! I have 3 boys, 16, 14, and 5 and a Navy husband. We currently live in Brunswick, Maine but will be moving soon…where you ask? I don’t know. The joys of Navy life!

So that is me in a nut shell…I know…BORRRRRING! Gimme a recipe woman! Ok! Ok!

This Valentine’s Day I have compiled a list of yummy treats to make so I can help people veer away from boring, mediocre drugstore chocolates and flowers. I compiled a list on my blog and am selling them and shipping most out to those poor people in need. One thing I don’t feel safe shipping is the Fresh Raspberry Almond Truffles. I have decided to share this recipe with you. How nice am I??? So without further yakity yak I give you some pretty pictures and a yummy recipe adapted from one I found on epicurious.com.

Fresh Raspberry Almond Truffles

7 ounces dark chocolate (highest quality you can afford) chopped into small pieces
¼ cup heavy cream
Pinch salt
1 ½ Tbsp Chambord (or other raspberry liqueur)
½ pint fresh raspberries
¼ cup or so almond paste

Place chocolate in heat proof bowl and set aside.

In small saucepan heat cream and salt to a hot simmer (not boiling), pour over chocolate and shake the bowl a bit to settle the chocolate. Allow it to sit for a few minutes then stir gently with a spatula until smooth and silky. Add the liqueur and stir to incorporate.

Stuff each of your beautiful plump red raspberries with a bit of almond paste (I found it easiest to shape the paste into a cone then place in the raspberry that way)

Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper (hee hee, I just typed baking sheep…sorry, had to share) and get out a fork.

Place a few stuffed raspberries into the chocolate and cover completely in the yummy, silky chocolate. Use the fork to fish them out one at a time, tap the fork on the side of the bowl to get excess chocolate off and shimmy the raspberry onto the prepared baking sheep…(hee hee) Repeat this until they are all cozy in their new chocolate suits then allow them to chill for a while then re-dip them.

That’s it! It’s just that easy!!

I hope you enjoyed my time with you! I know I did.

Be good sweet readers, but not too good….that’s boring!

a little chocolate truffle teasing

2010-01-11T00:45:00.000-05:00

See these brownies? Don’t they just beg to be eaten? (Trust me, they do!)

I made these brownies using my favorite go-to candies of decadence: Lindt’s Lindor Truffles. You see, my good friend Paula, the force behind Bell’Alimento, petitioned me to do a guest spot on her fabulous site. I am honored that she thought of me, so I wanted something seriously delicious for her readers. I know this fits the bill!

Head on over to Paula’s site for the recipe, and be sure to stick around for awhile – her Italian cooking is mouth watering!!

Have a great weekend!

droolry box…beyond the sea

2010-01-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

What is it about this Caribbean teal color that makes me drool? Everything.

This week, with the exception of the Le Creuset set, the Droolry Box is surprisingly inexpensive. Nothing is over $50, and some are under $20. Now, if only I had any money at all!

From the top left:

Cashmere & Wool Scarf, from That Funky Boutique on Etsy

I know, I am a scarf nut. But cashmere? Yum.

Handmade Personalized Silk Passport Covers, by Bridget Davies on Etsy

We travel a lot, and LOVE our passports. While I don’t see Jon wrapping his in silk, well, mine deserves that luxury. Our passports actually expired last month, and they were practically full. Does anyone know if they return them to us when we renew? I would hate not to get it back – so many memories in there.

Mason Jar Wall Vase, from Post Road Vintage on Etsy

I LOVE blue Mason Jars. Love them. I have gobs of them in my kitchen already, and adding this piece to my wall, well, is kind of a must. I can just picture my beautiful wooden spoon collection in them. (that means I need to buy a beautiful wooden spoon collection.) Folks, at her prices, this is a steal. These jars tend to sell for over $10 each on their own, but with a piece of painted trim and the pipe straps, well, it’s cheaper just to let her make it for you then trying to make it yourself. And it gets better – she’s giving DoughMessTic readers 10% for the next 7 days, just enter 10OFF in the comments & she’ll refund it to you. She’s also got a giveaway going on at her blog – www.postroadvintage.com – Check it out!

Brassy Blue Scarf, from Brassy Apple

Don’t be jealous, I OWN this. And I LOVE it. Beyond chic. And the price? $11.99. You need one in about every color she has. You’ll get a ton of use out of it – winter, spring, fall – even the summer. It isn’t heavy, it’s just SNAZZY. I also got word that she has released her pattern for sale, so you may need to check that out if you are Sewing Machine inclined (alas, I am not. Yet.)

Le Creuset 9-Piece Cookware Set

$399. Le Creuset. 9 pieces. Caribbean. Drool.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

classic crème brulee, a la Julia Child

2010-01-07T11:45:00.001-05:00

My sister is a huge fan of anything Crème Brulee. We were on a cruise once, and the dessert options included a Grand Marnier Crème Brulee. She nearly birthed a chicken on the spot. Me? I can take it or leave it, as I am not all that in to custardy desserts. Especially flan. Gag. I can’t take that consistency. It’s like congealed old milk. And speaking of congealed, what’s with the obsession in Julia Child’s cookbooks with aspics? Aspic is like a big, fat mistake…definitely not something I would make on purpose. I’ve never been sitting around thinking, Hmmm. I have a few whole fish with eyeballs still, and you know what? I think I’ll just boil down some fish bones and spare parts, make some Jell-O out of it, and suspend those dead suckers right in the middle of it. Nahhhhsty. Who thinks of crap like that?

But back to crème brulee. I thought I could take it or leave it. But that was before I made the crème brulee from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Dear Lord. I only made one change…yes, just one! Instead of using vanilla extract, I used one whole vanilla bean – another Tongan from Beanilla – and steeped it in the heavy cream while it cooked. I topped the cooled custards with brown sugar (instead of white, which melts more smoothly to give you that flat shell you are used to) and it offered a nice, sweet addition after I hit it with the torch. The little almost burned spots? Imagine toasted marshmallows, followed by a taste of the best vanilla ice cream you’ve ever had. That’s the best I can do to describe it!

I’m not sure why, after all this time, I hadn’t made crème brulee. Honestly, I had never even read the recipe entirely, or I would have known how easy it really is. Whoudda thunk it? Doesn’t “crème brulee” just sound all fussy and complicated? Let me demystify it for you…it’s not. A few egg yolks, some whipping crème, a little sugar – that’s it. If you can temper eggs, you’ve got this one. (Trust me, you can temper eggs if I can.) Give it a try, I know you’ll be thrilled!

Classic Crème Brulee

adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child

4 egg yolks
5 tablespoons white sugar ( I use Domino)
1 teaspoon Cornstarch
1 3/4 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Vanilla Bean (I prefer Beanilla Vanilla Beans)
Brown or White Sugar for Candy Topping

In stand mixer or with hand mixer, beat egg yolks with the 5 Tablespoons of sugar about 3 minutes, until ribbon forms. Then beat in the cornstarch for another minute.

In medium saucepan over medium-low heat, bring heavy cream and scraped vanilla bean (you can even throw the whole pod in there as well) to a boil.

Slowly, very slowly, a few drops at a time, add the boiling cream to the egg mixture to temper the eggs while the mixer is running on LOW. This prevents the eggs from cooking. Continue to add the cream until it is all incorporated. Remove the vanilla pod – just throw it away.

Return the mixture to the saucepan over moderate heat, watching very closely, and never allow it to simmer. Stir constantly. The sauce will thicken as it cooks – but do not let it get above 170 on your candy thermometer. It should be thick enough to coat the back of your spoon.

Pour into shallow bowls and refrigerate for several hours. Sprinkle with sugar and use your torch to crystallize it, or, alternatively, place in a preheated broiler for about 5 minutes. Top with fresh fruit if you like. (The strawberry was wonderful!)

Now, I have some good news for all of you with Beanilla Envy. The prices they offer are already great, but, if you order and type in DOUGHMESSTIC in the coupon code field, you’ll get an extra 5% off your purchase. i really can’t tell you how much I love the quality of their product – it has made a lot of difference in my baking flavorwise!

Have a great day! (and try to stay warm! What’s going on with all this COLD everywhere? Don’t say winter…it’s been winter before without all this frigidity!) See you next time!

down home chicken & dumplings

2010-01-05T00:25:00.001-05:00

Or is it dumplin’s? I never actually say the g, so I guess it must be dumplin’s. No matter how you say it though, it’s good.

It’s been so freaking cold lately(what’s with that?), so I wanted something that would stick to our bones, and this recipe really fits the bill. I first got it from another Virginia gal, Beth, and loved it so much I have made it countless times over the past month. Jon loves it, and anytime I can make him happy foodwise, I feel like I have succeeded as a wifeypoo.

I, being the person who can’t leave anything alone, have adapted Beth’s recipe into my own, meaning, anything that required extra steps, regardless of how easy those steps were, I omitted. I’m lazy like that. But you know what? This dinner is beyond yummy, so thick and delicious, I doubt you miss those extra steps. It is certainly very adaptable – any spices you like? Just throw ‘em on in there. Here in the South, we don’t get all riled up about things like that.

Down Home Chicken & Dumplin’s

2-3 lbs Uncooked Chicken (I used Bone-in Breasts)
2 1/2 quarts water
10 Tbsp. Butter
Salt & Pepper to taste (lots of pepper)
Oregano, to taste
2 Bay Leaves
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 cup milk
4 cups Self Rising Flour
1/2 cup Shortening
Baby Carrots & Peas, if desired

Cook the chicken in salted and seasoned water with the chopped onion until chicken is done. There is no harm in leaving it to simmer for as long as you want, the longer, the more tender it becomes. When you begin to make your dumplings, pull the chicken out to a cutting board so that it can cool. Go ahead and add your butter, peas & carrots now so that they can be cooking.

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the shortening using a pastry blender. it comes together very easily. Add about 1 1/2 cups of your chicken stock, straight out of the pot, and stir to combine. The dough will still seems pretty dry, but that’s okay. Dump it out on your counter and knead it a bit until it all comes together. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out thinly, to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick (I prefer to smoosh them pretty thin – it’s just the way we like them here.) then use a knife or a pizza roller to cut the dough into strips. Any size will do, but mine are typically 1 1/2 inches across by 3-4 inches long. Add the dumplings and milk to your boiling stock, and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. While they are cooking, chop up your chicken into bit sized pieces. Add it back in at any point, it’s up to you. It is best to keep a lid on the boiling dumplings so that they steam – the outcome is better. I filled my pot so full though that it caused overflow, so just be careful! When ready, spoon out and enjoy!

I make mine in a enameled cast iron pot, which I LOVE. I’ve made them in both the larger Calphalon Pot and the smaller 5.5 quart Martha Stewart Pot. Both do amazing jobs, and I can’t believe I went so long without owning one of these things! I told Jon it is now my goal to have every piece of enameled Cast Iron cookery there is I love it so much!

In case you don’t have any, and you can’t pony up and purchase the exclusive Le Creuset (me either!) here are great options…on SALE!! One is the 6 quart from Lodge, which several people say they have and LOVE. The other is a Cuisinart, 7 quart. I love this size! It’s just over $129, and if you use the coupon code by clicking the Cooking.com button, you’ll save $15. Nice! Cooking.com also has the smaller 5.5 quart Cuisinart pot for sale at $84.99…so there’s some food for thought! You may also want to check out Macys.com, as they did have a huge sale on the Martha Stewart line – think the 5.5 quart for under $45. That’s less than half price!

Oh – see my picture of cookbooks and cookery there? My loverly made that shelf for me yesterday. It is in my kitchen, in a little alcove above one of the doors. Perfection! Now I have somewhere for all those oversized pots and cookbook collection. Thanks Kit!

scharffen berger chocolate adventure recipe contest

2010-01-03T01:10:00.001-05:00

What a mouthful.

A few months ago I found out about the Chocolate Adventure Recipe Contest, and thanks to some fine Twittering, I scored a great gift package of Scharffen Berger Chocolates to help out in my quest to come up with the most unusual and decadent “adventure” recipe. For those of you who wondering what the “adventure” is all about, let me explain.

Scharffen Berger has a yearly contest that challenges the entrant to use a variety of “Adventure” Ingredients. This year, we had to use at least one (but preferably more) of the following items: (I used the ones that are RED)

Fresh mint (any varietal)
Crystallized ginger
Pandan leaf
Banana leaf
Sumac
Raw honey
Cacao nibs
Fresh or whole dried chili pepper
Malbec
Peanut butter
Black-eyed peas
Rice flour
Papaya
Cumin
Paprika (any varietal)
Smoked sea salt

So, as you can see, pretty adventurous. Keeping in that frame of mind, I thought out of the box…chocolate is typically a dessert. But I like to eat dessert first! So, why not make a chocolate salad? I made a delicious chocolate vinaigrette using some wonderful Peach Balsamic Vinegar I purchased on our trip to New England. I also made some Brownie Croutons, because, well, because any excuse to eat brownies is a good excuse.

This is certainly not a recipe you should expectt to find on many menus, but…I can see it appearing on a fancy schmancy menu somewhere. You know the type, where a table of well heeled businessmen and their wives are having dinner, and one of the slinky sized 2 ladies sees it. Oh, Look, Dahling. A Chocolate Salad. How divine. I think I’ll have that…I’m really not all that hungry. Meanwhile, she’s screaming inside Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate! but hoping the others are impressed by her desire to eat only a salad.

Anyway, I am in it for the Prizes. So, as long as only myself and 3 other people enter, I stand a chance. Here is what’s up for grabs:

PRIZES

TWO GRAND PRIZES

$10,000 for the winning recipe in both the Sweet and Savory categories as well as a delectable, custom selection of Scharffen Berger® chocolates. The recipes will be featured on chocolateadventurecontest.com, ScharffenBerger.com and TuttiFoodie.com.

TWO SECOND PLACE PRIZES

Winners receive a signed copy of Demolition Desserts by Elizabeth Falkner, Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich, and The Essence of Chocolate, by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg as well as a delectable, custom selection of Scharffen Berger® chocolates. The recipes will be featured on chocolateadventurecontest.com, ScharffenBerger.com and TuttiFoodie.com.

Sounds good, huh? Well…wish me luck!

Chocolate Mint & Field Green Salad

with Chocolate Peach Vinaigrette & Brownie Croutons

For Salad
12 ounces Mixed Field Greens
25-30 fresh Chocolate Mint Leaves
Chocolate Peach Vinaigrette
Fresh Peaches, cut into small pieces
Brownie Croutons

For Chocolate Peach Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons Sugar
1/4 cup Chocolate Syrup* (Recipe to Follow)
1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds
1/2 teaspoon Poppy Seeds
pinch Paprika
pinch Salt
1/8 cup Olive Oil
1/8 cup Balsamic Peach Vinaigrette
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

To Prepare the Chocolate Peach Vinaigrette:
Combine all ingredients and stir by hand.

For Chocolate Syrup
1/2 cup Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
Pinch salt
1/3 tsp vanilla

To Prepare Chocolate Syrup:
Mix the water and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat until cocoa is dissolved. Add the sugar, and continue to stir. Boil for about 3 minutes over medium heat, then add the salt and the vanilla (or other flavoring). Let cool. Pour into a sterilized glass jar, and keep stored in the refrigerator. Keeps for several months. Yields two cups.

For Brownie Croutons
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 cup Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
pinch Smoked Sea Salt
5 Tablespoons Unwaxed Rice Flour
1/2 cup 62% Scharffen Berger Baking Chips, chopped

Prepare the Brownie Croutons:
Preheat Oven to 350F.
Prepare 9" Square Baking Pan.
Combine melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat well with whisk. Add in dry ingredients, with exception of chocolate chips and crystallized ginger.
Once mixed, sprinkle in Chocolate & crystallized ginger and combine.
Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until brownies are set.
When cool, allow to sit out at room temp for 24 hours.
Cut into small, thin pieces (approx. 1 inch square by 1/3 inch thick). Coat with melted butter by tossing in a mixing bowl.
Bake in 375F Oven for 20 minutes, or until crispy.

To Prepare Salad:
Combine field greens and fresh mint in each bowl. Sprinkle with peaches & Brownie croutons. Apply Vinaigrette. For a special occasion, this would be fantastic served in Chocolate Bowls.

droolry box…soft winter chic

2010-01-02T00:35:00.001-05:00

Droolry Box is a new feature I am adding to the DoughMessTic site. I find myself lost online sometimes, “windows” shopping I guess you could call it, and I often forget what it was I spent all that time drooling over. Thus, the Droolry Box was born. I hope to feature some of the things I have found each week in a single post much like this one.

I hope you’ll enjoy it!

From the top:

Crochet & Felt Scarf, from BigFrozenMelon on Etsy

White Paws, by Saralagace on Etsy

Brown and Eggshell Cloche, by YellowField7 on Etsy

Ruffle Wrap, by ArtLab on Etsy

These are all so beautiful – but after grouping them I had no idea I was so into Vintage Modern. Guess I am! Take me out of pajamas and who knows what I would be dressed in. Anyway, the hat is a real extravagance…$370. I could never come up with cash like that for a hat, but, this is Droolry Box, and it made me drool.

I love the mittens. Love. (I need these, right?) And you need them, too, I bet. Lucky for you I just heard from Sara herself and now through end of January, you can pick them up with Free Shipping when you enter "Drool ships for free" in message to seller area. (shipping refunded through Paypal after transaction is completed.) Good price for the quality factor in my opinion, and so freaking adorable. Also, the Scarf at top? MUST HAVE. Damn, I wish I knew how to knit. Or felt. or sew. Or had money enough to just buy it! It’s gorgeous!!

If there is something out there that YOU have seen – anything at all from anywhere at all– that you think I may be interested in taking a look at, please email me!

Have a great weekend, folks!

crispy vanilla bean waffles

2010-01-01T01:15:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2010 holds great things for all of us, and I especially hope you will continue reading here this year! I intend to make a few changes here over the next few months – upgrades, more posts, additional features..things I hope you will enjoy. I am excited about them all and anxious to get your input. Until then, let’s start this year off right with a fabulous waffle recipe!

Most of us will have a super long weekend this week…which means you have time to make and enjoy these foolproof waffles. Seriously – Foolproof. I know this because I am not a very good waffler. (Is that a word?) It’s been ages since I drug out the waffle iron to even attempt it. It never failed that I would either burn or undercook them, no matter what. And the ones that looked fantastic? They ended up stuck to the iron. Does this happen to you?

Well, today I made a new recipe. Come to think of it, I had never really “made” a recipe for waffles. The last time I used my old crappy waffle iron was before I attempted the “doughmesstic” thing, so, I most certainly used a box. But not today!! Thanks to the tweet from @carolineadobo last night, I was put onto a crispy waffle recipe that was made using yeast instead of baking powder or soda. I love yeast, but yeast does not typically love it here. Lately though, this new bag of yeast and I have been getting along fabulously, so I decided to give it a go. I made a few changes to the recipe she recommended (which can be found here at The Crispy Waffle) and had round after round of successful, tasty, perfectly textured waffles with Jon & Seven this morning! Do keep in mind that these are a “plan ahead” treat as they need to have overnight to rise in your fridge, so take 5 minutes and whip them up before you head to bed.

These waffles, to me, get the “perfect” label thanks to their crispy outside and soft buttery insides. Top them with your favorite syrup, whipped cream, chocolate – go for it!

Crispy Vanilla Bean Waffles

makes 10 - 6 inch waffles

Ingredients
2 cups plus 2 Tbsps flour
1-1/2 tsp instant yeast
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
2 cups warm milk
2 eggs
1 vanilla bean, scraped (I prefer Beanilla Vanilla Beans)
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

The night before:

Combine the warm milk, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, melt the butter and scrape the vanilla bean in preparation for the rest of the batter.
Combine the flour and salt and add to the yeast mixture after the 10 minute wait is up.
Whisk the vanilla with the 2 eggs, then add to the batter. Combine, but do not over beat.
Cover batter and refrigerate overnight.
Just before cooking, stir batter to deflate it.
Use cooking spray or a silicon brush dipped in melted butter to prepare your waffle iron (I even added a little bit of sugar to my melted butter when readying the waffle iron – yummy!).
Prepare the waffles according to your manufacturer’s suggestions. Enjoy!

I was fortunate enough to be using my brand new Oster Flip Waffle Iron to make my waffles – thanks to my sister who braved the Black Friday Sales – and I can not tell you how thrilled I am with it! It is pretty much a human sized version of the ones found in hotel breakfast areas, where you load it up, flip it, wait for the light & voila! The Oster has a green light function that alerts you when the iron is hot enough to add the batter, then once you flip it, there is another green light that will alert you when the waffle is done. No guesswork, no peeking (and thus ruining your steamed goodness), no problems! You can get the same model I have at Amazon, and it is worth every penny - at $39. I, on the other hand, had to only pay $10. My sister’s a keeper!! God love her and those Black Friday Sales! Thanks Jenn!

One thing that I loved about these waffles was the intensity of the vanilla flavor. I am thrilled to be working with Beanilla, and was overwhelmed by their generous offer to supply me with top quality vanilla products. For this recipe, I used a bean from Tonga – a real rarity – and Beanilla is the ONLY online seller of Tongan Beans.

Because of Tonga's rich fertile soil, organically grown Vanilla Beans from this region are superior, with flavor and aromatic qualities that make these beans a splendid treat. Tonga vanilla beans are frequently used by gourmet chocolate makers because the flavor extremely bold, pronounced, and unique. This type of vanilla will stand up to the fullest flavored deserts. Tonga only produces 144 tons of Vanilla Beans annually. Therefore, these beans are a rare and highly sought after vanilla bean.

The quality of Beanilla – whether these Tongan, their Madagascar, Tahitian, Indian or even their own Beanilla Beans is unparalleled. And the pricing! Compared to your local grocer dolling out subpar old beans for $5 a pop, you can pick up first quality beans for a fraction of that. Please take a moment to check them out – I have been impressed and I think you will be too!

Until next time…Happy New Year!

The Daring bakers Make…Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-27T20:33:00.001-05:00

That’s right…from scratch. Not those “ready to decorate” deals you pick up at Walmart, but REAL gingerbread houses.

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

I chose to use the Scandinavian recipe, just because it was more similar to what I was used to making. i had the help of the two main men in my life – Jon, the Husband, and Seven, The Boy. Seven mainly wanted to eat everything before turning it into a house…Jon, on the otherhand, was very meticulous and was into building the structure more so than the decor. We used gumdrops, Skittles, candy canes, M&Ms, and that crazy smelling gum they used to make in the 80’s as the roof tile. (Gee, I wish I could remember what it’s called, but I recognized the packaging immediately the other day when I was at WalMart so I knew I had to pick some up for this particular purpose. It looks so nice!

For any of you out there so inclined to make your OWN gingerbread house, here is the recipe!

Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga)
from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas

1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]
1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ cup boiling water
5 cups all-purpose flour [875g]

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour. Mix to make a stiff dough. If necessary add more water, a tablespoon at a time. Chill 2 hours or overnight.

2. Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front walls, gabled walls, chimney and door out of cardboard.

3. Roll the dough out on a large, ungreased baking sheet and place the patterns on the dough. Mark off the various pieces with a knife, but leave the pieces in place.

(I rolled my gingerbread thin, about 1/8 inch thick between two pieces of parchment, which I then froze before cutting into shapes. I rerolled any extras, then re-froze and cut into decorative pieces or cookies.)

4. Preheat the oven to 375'F (190'C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. After baking, again place the pattern on top of the gingerbread and trim the shapes, cutting the edges with a straight-edged knife. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

Royal Icing:

1 large egg white
3 cups (330g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon almond extract

Beat all ingredients until smooth, adding the powdered sugar gradually to get the desired consistency. Pipe on pieces and allow to dry before assembling. If you aren't using it all at once you can keep it in a small bowl, loosely covered with a damp towel for a few hours until ready to use. You may have to beat it slightly to get it an even consistency if the top sets up a bit. Piped on the house, this will set up hard over time.

Well, that’s the end of my first full year as a Daring Baker! This year, I challenged myself by making the following Daring Baker recipes:

Macarons
Vols au Vent
Mallow Cookies (The copycat cookie challenge)
Strudel (2 kinds!)
Cheesecake (chocolate almond cheesecake)
Lasagne, from scratch
Chocolate Valentino
and of course, the Gingerbread House!

the most perfect cinnamon rolls

2009-12-24T17:37:00.001-05:00

When I went to Maine on our trip a couple of months ago, I was thrilled to meet Carrie, the gal behind Fields of Cake. Sadly, I showed up with a box of Dunkin Donuts. Those things are everywhere up there! Jon explained that apparently, when you get your driver’s license up north, you also get a Dunkin Donuts franchise. What’s that about? Personally, I can’t get into the cakey type of doughnut. I’m a Krispy Kreme girl all the way. Yeasty doughnuts are where it’s at.

But I digress. Carrie. Right. She had made us some cinnamon rolls, and they were beyond fabulous. Beyond. And HUGE! What is it about gigantic things that are so fantastic? (Or tiny things for that matter?) The intense flavor in these rolls was out of this world, so when I returned home, I begged her for the recipe…but she had already been kind enough to share it with the world on her blog!

I made it just as she did the first time. But then I got brave and changed it up a little. Still, utter deliciousness! So, if you are looking for the most scrumptious breakfast treat for tomorrow morning (or any morning!) give either my recipe or hers a shot! You won’t be sorry!

Cinnamon Rolls

1/2 cup warm water
4 1/2 tsp. dry yeast
4 Tbsp. sugar
3 1/2 oz. pkg. Jell-O Brand Cheesecake Pudding Mix
1 Vanilla Bean, Split & Scraped (I prefer Beanilla Vanilla Beans)
2 cups cold whole milk
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cardamom
1 teaspoon orange zest
6 1/2 cups flour

For filling:

1 cup very soft butter
2 cups dark brown sugar
3 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Cardamom
1 Teaspoon ground Ginger

1. Mix water, yeast, and sugar together until yeast and sugar are dissolved. Set aside.

2. In a bowl of stand mixer, prepare the pudding according to package directions.

3. Add melted butter, vanilla, eggs and salt; mix to blend well.

4. Add yeast mixture and blend well.

5. Gradually add flour and cardamom; transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough until smooth.

6. Place in a greased bowl; cover and let rise until doubled.

7. Punch down dough and let rise again.

8. Roll out on a floured surface to about 2 feet by 16 inches. Take 1 cup soft butter and spread over surface.

9. In a bowl mix 2 cups brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger & cardamom, then sprinkle over the top. Roll up tightly. Don’t be afraid to tug on the dough, it is very stretchy and the more “rolls” you get the better!

10. Put a notch every 1 1/2 – 2 inches. Cut with thread or a sharp knife.

11. Place cinnamon rolls on lightly greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart; lightly press each roll down. **at this point you can cover and freeze them for a rainy day!

12. Cover and let rise to almost double again.

13. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes.

14. Remove when they start to turn golden - don't over-bake. Frost warm rolls with a cream cheese frosting. Makes about 18-20 large Cinnamon Rolls. (As a side note, adding orange zest to your cream cheese icing is a delicious idea!)

Have great Christmas everyone. Be safe, be happy, be loved!

Baked Potato Soup

2009-12-21T22:04:00.001-05:00

My husband Jon likes to cook. Not bake, mind you…Cook. He loves to grill, but now that grilling season is over, you can often find him in my kitchen (yes, I said MY kitchen) making Deer Chili, spaghetti or soup. His recent kick is Potato Soup, and he’s becoming quite the little Tater Soup Gourmand.

I came home from work the other day to find a huge pot of his latest creation ready to eat, which I have to admit, is really nice. Not nice enough for me to have dinner on the table every evening when HE gets home, but really nice nonetheless. So nice, in fact, that I took pictures of it. And am devoting an entire post Just. To. Him.

Oh, and guess what else I am devoting Just to Him? A ticket. To The Martha Show! That’s right, Mr. & Mrs. DoughMessTic will be heading to New York for yet another Martha Show! This time the theme is “Bloggers” – and I am beyond thrilled that I was chosen to attend! (Yes, even though I wrote that snarky post last time!) I am mainly thrilled because I will have the opportunity to meet some of my favorite Twitter/Blogging pals – like Jennifer Perillo, Jennifer of Savor The Thyme, & Ashley of IceMilk Aprons (who, by the way, was kind enough to barter with me this Christmas!) So, wow! To be included in this round up is just…well, wow. And I am taking Jon. And he’s a manly man. Not all that into Martha, I would say. Or twittering. Or, well, things that I do. But it’s around the time of our 10 year wedding anniversary, and New York is as good a place as any to celebrate, right? So, thanks Honey, for the soup. Yum.

PS…I get your swag. Just FYI. I will fight you for it.

“The Husband’s” Baked Potato Soup

1 pound Bacon3 LBS (half) peeled Red Potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 Minced Yellow Onion
1 Very Finely Minced Bell Pepper
1 Minced Garlic Clove
2 tsp Salt
3/4 tsp Black Pepper
2 cans Chicken Broth
2 cans Cream of Chicken
1 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary
1 1/2 tsp Hot Sauce
1/2 cup Sour Cream
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup Cheddar Cheese

1. Cook the bacon in a large frying pan until crispy. Remove the bacon and set it aside.

2. Drain the bacon grease but leave about a little in the frying pan.

3. Add the onions, garlic and bell pepper to the grease and sauté on medium high heat for about 4 minutes.

4. Add 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper and sauté for 3 more minutes.

5. While sautéing, pour chicken stock, 2 cans of cream of chicken (and 2 cans of water)into a large pot and turn the heat on medium.

6. Add half of the cooked bacon, the rosemary, & all of the sautéed ingredients to the stock pot.

7. Add 1 1/2 tsp hot sauce and potatoes to the stock and simmer for around an hour, stirring occasionally.

8. Turn off the heat and add 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream & 1/2 cup sour cream.

9. Add salt to taste.

10. Add cheddar to soup if desired, garnish with remaining bacon.

Let me apologize for forgetting to make a little announcement. A WINNERS Announcement! I didn’t reveal the winner of the Muvee Reveal Giveaway! According to Mr. RANDOM.org, our winner is #19 – and that looks like Bethie! Bethie – get me your info, you won!!

Gingerbread cookies

2009-12-19T21:54:00.001-05:00

Growing up, we didn’t make gingerbread cookies. In fact, until last year, I had never even tasted gingerbread cookies. Not that we were treatless at Christmas, we just didn’t do gingerbread.

My Mom would make those cookies – sugar cookies, I guess? – that you put in a tube and pressed out through plates to make holiday shapes. Dad loved those – we would sprinkle colored sanding sugars on them. To me, the dough was way better than the baked cookie. I am a dough kinda gal – I don’t really like hard foods. Store bought cookies? Not my thing. Come to think of it, it’s weird. I would never bake cookies here at home then bag them up and let them sit around for a month or so before eating them…and that’s precisely what you get from packages cookies. Well, except for Oreos. I have no intention of making my own Oreos. Have you tried the holiday minty Oreos? Yum. They taste like a gooier version of Thin Mints, and that equals delish. I crushed some up in the food processor and added it to a mousse filling for a birthday cake last week, and that was SO GOOD.

But back to gingerbread. When I went up to New York to the Martha Show last month, my friend Gail, aka The Tough Cookie, brought me a gingerbread cookie shaped like a piece of pie. It was beyond tasty. So, I begged her for her recipe and she kindly surrendered. But me being me? I changed it up a little and made it mine. It is so easy to put together, perhaps the easiest cookie dough I have ever made. And it’s quick, and it involves very little hands on time.

Gingerbread Cookies

makes 5-6 dozen cookies

5 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 teaspoon baking soda
20 tablespoons salted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
3-4 tablespoons milk

1. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda at low speed until combined, add butter and mix at medium-low speed until mixture for about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and gradually add molasses and milk until dough is evenly moistened then ncrease speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined.

2. Scrape dough onto work surface; divide in thirds. Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll 1/8-inch thick between two large sheets of parchment paper. Leaving dough sandwiched between parchment layers, stack on cookie sheet and freeze until firm, 20-30 minutes. Dough can be left in the freezer if contained in plastic freezer bags for up to a month.

3. When ready to use, preheat oven to 325. Wait until oven is to temperature before getting dough from freezer. Use cookie cutters to make desired shapes, and carefully transfer cookies to lined baking sheet or SilPat. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Do not overbake or cookies will be too hard. (But still okay for making a gingerbread house!)

4. When cookies have cooled, decorate with royal icing, if desired.

Here are a few things that would make this process a little easier on you!

oh, cakes

2009-12-17T22:10:00.001-05:00

Here is the reason you have seen so little of me.

DoughMessTiCakes.

And me being me? I can’t say no to a single order, even if they do all come at once.

So, this week, thus far, I have made:

A First Birthday Cake for a friend (one of my many Commune Roommates), who’s son is gorgeous. She wanted blues, circles, and Black Labs.

The top layer is the Smash Cake, plain vanilla with French Vanilla Icing. The main level was delish, and unusual – 2 layers of Devils Food Cake and one Tall layer of Milk Chocolate Cake, filled with milk chocolate mousse, chocolate syrup and Cool Mint Oreo Crumbs. Yum. Tastes like Christmas.

Also made a Matchbox Cake for a 12 Year Old. Pulled sugar creek, fondant bridges, stones, pylons, grass crushed Oreos – you name it, this cake had it. The clients seemed very pleased!

A Shoebox Cake (no shoe!) for a Shoe Shopaholic. Milk Chocolate Cake filled with whipped cheesecake, Chocolate bourbon Caramel and chocolate mousse. The lid is made of Rice Krispy Treats and covered in fondant. Hand drawn shoe image based on a picture the client provided. Tissue paper made of gumpaste – my first time using gumpaste! i hand painted the tissue paper with opal luster dust – prettier in person, in the picture it looks a little muddy.

And finally, the Bikini Cake for a man’s birthday. ordered by his wife. I wasn’t sure if she would let him actually cut it. her mouth gaped open. She was at a loss for words. Not sure what she expected, but she said “it’s so much better than what I thought it would be!” And ordered a different cake for February on the spot. Yay! The flavor on this one was Mudslide – chocolate/coffee, whipped cream – covered in fondant. All edible, even the belly ring!

Now I am going to rest. For few hours. Next up is Gingerbread orders!

busy busy

2009-12-13T22:14:00.001-05:00

I haven’t posted any of my recent cakes, and this week I have 5 more due…so it’s been BUSY! I thought since so many of you seem to get a little kick out of seeing them, I would post a few.

A Modern Art Cake with Pulled Sugar Flames, A Basketball Jersey featuring the boys name & age, A simple square with pulled sugar, A chocolate ganache covered cake with fondant guitar, A Martini Glass Cake for a 21st Birthday, and a Snoopy Cake.

Have a great week everyone!

rocky road brownies

2009-12-12T00:04:00.001-05:00

I struggled with what to title this post.

Should I have said “Rocky Road Brownies & a Video of My 2 Year Old Making Them” – or “Rocky Road Brownies & a Video of My 2 Year Old Making Them so that I can review a great cookbook by a friend of mine” or even “Rocky Road Brownies & a Video of My 2 Year Old Making Them so that I can review a great cookbook by a friend of mine as well as review a great home movie making product?”

You see why I went with the simpler of those choices.

I have had a copy of Marye Audet’s The Everything Cookies & Brownies Cookbook for over a month now (thanks to Marye, who was kind enough to give me a copy) and although nearly every single recipe sounded too good to be true, I haven’t had the time to make a single thing. Until today, that is. Today, Seven and I set out to make her recipe for Rocky Road Brownies. Believe it or not, I’ve never made a batch of Rocky Road brownies before, so I was a little excited for this one!

In case you a re wondering how they turned out, well, just look at the pictures.Yum. Pure chocolate, people. Get some milk or ice cream, ‘cause you’re gonna need it. We took Marye’s advice and added extra chocolate to the batter, and it is full on chocolate coma here at the DoughMessTic household. The brownies portion is soft and chewy, a little fudgy – just the way I like my brownies. The marshmallows and nuts on top are just the right amount of sticky and crunchy. Overall – an outstanding recipe! Give it a try, or better yet, buy her book! There are hundreds of recipes in here, all of them well written and well thought out…she didn’t overlook a single thing! I love how she has offered up little helpful hints throughout, like how to tell if chocolate is bad, when and why not to substitute butter in a recipe, what to use in place of milk in a recipe. Very helpful stuff to a gal like me!

I’ve included the recipe for you here…in this movie, featuring The Boy. While he’s no Emeril, he may in fact be the next Food Network Star. The ideas this child has!

Seven Makes Brownies

The movie was made using clips from my little digital camera, nothing fancy. I uploaded them onto my computer and used my Muvee Reveal program to make it into what you see here. I originally got a copy of Muvee when I bought my last laptop, and it was pre-installed. I loved that program! You can take your video clips as well as stills and combine them with music to make the coolest videos! I didn’t add any fun special effects or music to Seven’s video as it didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to do that – but trust me – there are so many choices that come with this program! You can clip your videos, tell the program where to focus on your photos, even add captions, crazy effects and voice overs if you want.

The kind folks at Muvee have generously offered to give one of my readers a copy of their new software – Muvee Reveal…a $79.95 Value! Please just visit their site to see all of the great features, then come back here and tell me what you like most about it or what movie YOU would make if you win!

For an extra entry, visit the Muvee Facebook Fan page, then return and leave another comment, or follow them on Twitter at @muvee…they are a great company to work with and follow!

Need one more chance? I’m looking for new followers to my Networked Blogs site…so, if you already follow me there (see the right-hand sidebar) or start following me now, leave a third comment for another chance to win!

Winner will be chosen at Random on December 14 at noon (EST)…

Good Luck!

Oh, No, I didn’t forget!! The winner of the KitchenAid Giveaway!!

Looks like the earlybird got the Big Candy Apple Worm this time, folks…#9!! Kitchenwhipper! Congratulations! Please get me your mailing info so that we can get you your prize!

And big THANK YOU to everyone who entered to win…maybe we can do it again sometime! (Umm, You go first!)

vanilla bean cheesecake

2009-12-10T22:22:00.001-05:00

Have you ever spent an entire day cleaning your house, decorating it all jazzy for the Holidays, and then, at 11 that night thought – ya know, it sure is clean in here…I should go ahead and make a cheesecake. Besides, Nip/Tuck is on again for the second time in 2 hours and this time I don’t have to pay attention to all of the boring surgery parts.

No?

Okay, so maybe it’s just me.

Yesterday was that day for me. It started out like any other day…wake up around 8:30, feed the Boy, get us a little bit dressed (okay, this wasn’t the norm, we had to go pick up a friend from the service station and take him to work, and as of YET, I haven’t gone out in public in my jammies. Yet. So we got dressed about 6 hours earlier than usual. Don’t judge me.) But I digress. Right. Normal day progressing, except it’s Christmas. And unlike the plans I had to do all the decorating the day after Thanksgiving, none of it was done. So I set about to remedy that. Things were going along pretty smooth, too. I put up the first three rows of the 9 foot Christmas tree Mom lent me (that’s another story in itself – we usually get a real tree, but this year in an effort to save cash I borrowed the one my parents kept in storage.) It was at Row Three that I put Seven down for his nap and got the bright idea to start putting the little white lights on as I went, because hello? That would be smart. So, I trudge to the attic and pull down all of the nicely put away lights from last year. The ones that worked a mere 11 months ago. And I plugged them in.

It went downhill from there.

Of the 8 sets of lights we had, 3 worked. Damn the lights! Seriously, I think the manufacturers intend for the lights to work but one season. Clever move, Light Makers. I appreciate that. So now, mid tree, I have to go to the Rite Aid to get more lights. And Sev is sleeping. Luckily, my 10 year old dog sitter was outside and I bribed her to sit in the kitchen and listen for him while I went the 2 blocks away to stock up on more lights. Crisis averted, I was back with 3 more sets of lights in 5 minutes. And the dog sitter went back to playing Barbie or whatever she does with her time. I don’t think she has her own cell phone yet, so I assume it’s dolls or Ouija Boards or something along those lines. What’s with kids that age having their own cell phones anyway? Why would they need one? Aren’t they always going to be with an adult? I see 5 and 6 year olds with them all the time. All. The. Time. It’s insanity, folks. Think back to when YOU were a kid. Did YOU need a phone of your own? How much time did you even spend on the house phone? And aren’t these kids lucky that in this day and age there is unlimited long distance? God help, I was one of those girls who always had a boyfriend in another school district which meant ridiculous phone bills. Sorry Mom and Dad. And my first cellphone? I was 18 and in college. It had 50 minutes a month of calls, no free long distance. My how things have changed.

Back to the tree. Old lights go on, 9 more rows of limbs go on, all the new lights go on, and…whoops…I’m out of lights and have 3 more rows left. I’d like to tell you I handled it well. I would like to tell you I loaded the awakened Seven into the car and drove back to Rite Aid and got more. But I didn’t. The top quarter of my tree is lightless. I’d had it. In fact, I’d had it in such a finite way that I attacked my other Christmas Tree (we have 3). Why? Well, I leave the living room tree decorated year round. I just wrap it up in plastic and carry the little 5 foot baby to the basement and wait for it to be December again. I had brought it up from the basement last week and set it up, and to my dismay, some of the lights no longer glowed. Oh well, I thought, it’s fine. No biggie. But when I looked at it yesterday after the giant light debacle? None of the lights were lit. None. So, I calmly approached the tree. And I kicked the hell out of it.

The lights came back on. Lucky for them.

Cheesecake. Right. I decided I wanted cheesecake. And cheesecake was made. At 11. You should make it, too. This one is creamy and light, not chewy, not ricotta. Just smooth and whippy and full of flavor. Add to it anything you like – we just had ours with homemade caramel and chocolate ganache. Yum. Oh yeah, I don’t dig crust. So I didn’t make one. You can if you want – it’s your cake!

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

4 - 8-ounce packages cream cheese at room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 split Vanilla Bean, scraped

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease or butter a 9-inch springform pan. Wrap the pan in heavy duty aluminum foil so that it is waterproof.

2. Place one 8-ounce package of the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy, about 3 minutes, then beat in the remaining 3 packages of cream cheese.

3. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat in the remaining 1 1/4 cups of the sugar, then beat in the vanilla, salt, vanilla, sour cream and heavy cream. Blend in the eggs and the yolk, one at a time, beating the bating only until completely blended. Be careful not to overmix the batter.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place the springform pan in a large shallow pan containing hot water that comes about halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake the cheesecake until the top is lightly browned, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Allow to cool in the oven with the door propped open.

5. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it's completely cold, at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove the sides of the springform pan.

There’s still time to get your name in the hat for the 90th Anniversary KitchenAid Mixer..so go enter! Contest ends at midnight Friday! Good luck!

wintery macarons

2009-12-10T00:34:00.001-05:00

So, this whole thing with the bartering. Have I even mentioned it here, or just on Twitter? Well, I like to repeat myself, so you’re getting the scoop yet again.

I am bartering this year. For stuff. Christmas presents and such, you know. So I started shouting on Twitter – who wants to trade? And I got lots of responses! It seems that it isn’t just ME trying to be a little frugal this year. Now, I don’t want to say WHO I traded with or what FOR exactly, because hello? The stuff is for gifts. Giiifts. (Okay, maybe a few things are for me, but I, too, will be experiencing the Holidays. So, Yay me.) But, I’m talking toys. Apparel. Ornaments. Food. More food. Good stuff. And what did I have to do in return?

Bake my fool ass off, that’s what.

I bartered out gingerbread cookies and so many macarons that if I don’t see another cookie until 2010, that’s fine by me.

This go ‘round, I made two different flavor combos. The first was Hot Cocoa, the second was Candy Cane. i thought they fit the Holidays. Yummy, too. But here’s the deal…they didn’t turn out quite as perfect as I would have liked. Yes, still cute as a button and taste great, but I like mine to be perfectly flat. These all had the little “kiss” on top – small, but still there. The reason? I doubled the recipe. I just don’t think that’s a good idea – the batter doesn’t seem to get wet enough. I’ve done this once or twice before and gotten the same “kissy top” result…therefore – do as I say, not as I do. Don’t double the recipe. Just make 2 separate batches if you want umpteen dozen of these suckers. They do make nice gifts, especially if you package them up nicely.

Now…recipe time. The Hot Cocoa Macs are simply chocolate shells (which I posted ages ago) filled with Marshmallow Fluff. I mean, really – what goes better with hot cocoa than marshmallow? No brainer there. But here is a recipe for the Candy Cane Macs. Sorry for the blah picture qualities – it was rainy all day and by the time I could take a picture? Night was falling. Oh well – you get the drift.

Candy Cane Macarons

2 ounces almonds
1 cup Confectioners Sugar
2 Egg Whites, Room Temperature
5 Tbsp. Superfine Sugar
1/4 tsp. Peppermint Extract
3-4 drops red food coloring
1 Tbsp. Meringue Powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/4 to 1/2-inch) ready. Grind together the powdered sugar and almonds in a food processor until finely chopped. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, add in the granulated sugar a little at a time, until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes. If you can turn the bowl upside down and the meringue stays put, you've got it. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. Before dumping in the second half of the dry ingredients, add the meringue powder, peppermint, and food coloring. Stir quickly and gently, then add remaining dry ingredients. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you're alone). Pipe the batter on the prepared baking sheets in 1-inch circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch or more (3 cm) apart. Rap the baking sheet a few times on the counter to flatten the macarons. Place an empty baking sheet on the lower oven rack, then place the macarons in the upper third of the oven. Bake them for 10-13 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet. Macarons that are not being baked (waiting their turn on the counter) are fine, and can be left out unbaked for a half hour or more.

For filling, make an simple white chocolate ganache (1/2 cup heavy cream, brought to a simmer, then poured over 1/2 cup white chocolate chips. Stir after 30 seconds) and add crushed candy canes to it. Fill and enjoy!

Just in case you haven’t yet entered to win the fancy 90th Anniversary Edition KitchenAid from my last post – go do it now! And, even if you did enter already – here’s another chance to win…see the Networked Blogs link on my right hand side bar? Join me, then comment on the Giveaway post. This is SEPARATE than “friending” me on FB, it’s a whole other entry! Now, go join, go comment!

Good luck!

a gift. yes, to you.

2009-12-07T19:12:00.001-05:00

So. Christmas is the time for giving. And now, I get to give to you, my readers. I love getting comments, emails, feedback, and as a way of saying “THANKS! Ya’ll ROCK!” I am giving away a sweet little gift.

The 90th Anniversary

KitchenAid Stand Mixer.

Whaaaaaa?

Yes, really. I don’t even have this bad boy myself, but I roll like that. You matter more. (okay, I kinda choked a little there. But I do mean it, for what it’s worth.)

Look at this thing! Look what it has to offer!

All-metal 10-speed stand mixer with powerful 325-watt motor

Direct-drive transmission; 67-point planetary mixing action

9-cup flour capacity; tilt-back head; multipurpose attachment hub

5-quart glass bowl, flat beater, dough hook, and wire whip included

It;s Candy Apple Red. Candy Apple. Sweeeeet.

So, what do you have to do to win?

First, you need to live in the US. But only in the 48 states that actually touch. Sorry Alaska. Sorry Hawaii. Shipping’s huge. So, Continental US readers only, please.

Second…leave me a comment. Tell me what you like most about my blog. Is it the recipes? The stories? The Mommy stuff? The behind the scenes look at my life? These answers certainly matter this time – I’m looking at a site redesign for the new year based on this feedback. So, don’t say I really like the color. That doesn’t help. Much.

If you want more chances to win, here’s how…

1.Follow me on Twitter, then Tweet this giveaway. Make sure you come back here and comment, letting me know you now follow (or already do) and that you tweeted. That counts as ONE, not one each. Just one.

2. Become my friend on Facebook, and then tell all your FaceBooky Friends that you entered to win this fabulous machine and give them the link. Again, this counts as ONE, just make sure to return here and leave an additional comment.

3. Post about this giveaway on your own site with a link to this post. Return. Comment. Rinse, repeat. You get the picture.

So – that’s one, two, three, FOUR chances to get your name in the hat for a chance to win this Be YOOO tiful mixer. Even if YOU don’t need it (are you kidding?) I bet you have someone on your Christmas Wish List that would Lurve it. Lurrrrve.

And don’t say I never gave you anything.

Giveaway ends at midnight on Friday, December 11. GO!

traveling with the family

2009-12-06T19:43:00.001-05:00

Maybe you are like my family. Maybe all families are like mine during the holidays…traveling. Do you get to stay at home all those days you have off, or are you loaded up on a 5 hour trek across two states to visit family? Do you feel like you need a break from your break when you get back? I know I do…traveling is tough. And now that we have Seven, it’s even tougher. The child thinks his girlfriend is Taylor Swift. Not that she isn’t pretty, or rich, or ever-so-humble, I just think maybe she’s a little old for him. And hearing her on an iPod loop for 4 hours can be a little exhausting if you get my drift. But even with all that teenage angst going on, I still know that Seven is safe and sound in his Eddie Bauer Car Seat. You should have seen our local police officer (all 250 pounds of him) wedged up in the back of our truck on his knees making sure it was properly installed. I wish I had thought to take a photo. I do. It was priceless.

With the holiday season moving into full swing, families across the country are in the car and on the go. Whether you’re driving across the country to visit family or across town to holiday shop, it is important that your child passengers are riding safely and that child safety seats are used correctly.

AAA estimated that 30 million people travelled this Thanksgiving holiday alone , and for many this is just the beginning of the holiday hustle and bustle. Now is the time to utilize the Child Car Safety tools provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ad Council to learn more about proper car seat use and installation. You will find informative resources that include instructional videos.

Have child passenger safety questions that you need answered before you travel over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s? NHTSA is always available to answer your questions online through Facebook and Twitter.

No matter where you are going this year, please be safe. And have a very happy holiday season! Oh, and Officer Gautier, thanks for putting in our carseat. You rock.

Christmas Wish Lists

2009-12-04T15:26:00.001-05:00

It seems that so many bloggers are making holiday wish lists this year, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity! The holidays are, to me, more about giving than receiving, but hey – if you are determined to buy me something? Look no further! Here’s what I want! But, to keep it from being ALL ABOUT ME I have set up a couple of Wish Lists, designed for the different types of Foodies I seem to know. So, whether you are a seasoned Food Blogger with all of the staples on hand already, or you are a newbie just setting up your kitchen – here’s a Wish List for you that you can hand deliver to everyone who wants to know “What do YOU want this year?”!! Today I will wish for the new guys, and tomorrow…the more seasoned foodies. Enjoy!

For the Newbie

(or, things I wish someone had told me I needed before I learned the hard way.)

The KitchenAid Stand Mixer

I have the 5 quart Professional Lift Bowl Mixer. I love it. Most of the mixers you see on special (like on Black Friday, etc) are the smaller Artisan Series, around 3 1/2 quarts. They are fine if you don’t intend to use them for everything. The 5 quart is a great size for me, as it makes larger amounts of buttercream, it’s heavier duty and will tackle full amounts of dough. The other night I made a dozen giant cinnamon buns in mine, and it was just the right size for the recipe. The smaller Artisan would not have been able to handle it. So, what to do? The choice is really up to you. Many times you can find a special on Amazon or KitchenAid that will land you the higher capacity model for a price not too far off of the smaller model. And, if you are lucky enough to have a “price is no object” mentality – the 90th Edition Model with Glass Bowl is gorgeous, or, I also LOVE the Copper finish. It’s pretty in pictures, but in person – a real knock out. I wish I could justify having a 3rd mixer in the house!! By the way, there are REBATES to be had on these mixers, so buy now and save!

The KitchenAid Hand Mixer

On Monday, KitchenAid had a special on their 9 speed hand mixers. Now, you may be asking – why do you need a Stand Mixer AND a Hand Mixer? For me, it’s about convenience. I use the hand mixer for whipping up small amount of whipped cream, mousse, fillings, etc. And I ALWAYS use it for whipping egg whites for my macarons. I just feel like I have more control over it. So, this particular mixer. I ordered mine on Monday, and can you believe it got here Wednesday? And you’ll be glad to know that it is not only heavy duty, it’s light weight, and comes with both beaters AND a whisk attachment. And get this – major quiet. My old cheapy got the job done, but it was loud and heavy. This mixer is like an angel compared to that old dinosaur. Oh yeah, it’s pink, too. But that’s beside the point. It comes in a ton of colors! While it isn’t as cheap as it was on Monday, it’s still a STEAL at $49, as it is regularly $89. Check it out here!

The SilPat

If you ever intend to bake a single thing in your oven – you want this. Cookies, macarons, you name it – the SilPat assures NO STICKING. It’s like magic. I have the cookie sheet size and LOVE it. It may seem a little steep for a piece of silicon to line a pan with, but think of all the money you will save on buying parchment paper! Like, 4 boxes of parchment PAYS for this piece of genius!

Ateco 14 Piece Cake Decorating Set with Cake Pan

Now, you may not be into cakes like I am, but hold up. This set will get used for way more things than just cake. For example, using piping bags and star tips will get you that fancy looking cupcake icing that you see on all the blogs. Or, using a piping bag with a plain tip will pipe you some perfect macarons. Those Pumpkin Bits that everyone raves about? Yep, use a small star tip and pipe out the little cookies, then fill them cleanly with a plain bag. Cream Puffs and Eclairs? Forget trying to make them without a piping bag. You’ll get a ton of use out of this set, and who knows? You may even take up cake decorating after all. (And, it’s on a big sale, plus it’s part of the Amazon 4 for 3 Promo I love so much.)

A Digital Scale

Having a digital scale in the kitchen was never something I thought I’d need.

I was wrong. If you troll as many food blogs as I do, you come across a lot of bloggers who use the metric system. So, having a digital scale that converts for you is a godsend. But it’s more than that…when you get right down to it, a scale measures out ingredients accurately, versus the ol’ scoop and level method. If you are trying to make a tricky recipe, it’s best to have the exact amount you need – and a scale will do that for you. I can’t tell you how often I use mine – daily? Really, I use it a lot. And hey, it’s half price right now. You can’t beat that!

Cookbooks

Most of my Foodie Friends already have this one, but Dorie Greenspan’s Baking:From My Home to Yours is like the Bible. Every recipe (save for the things I find disgusting no matter who makes them) is spot on. World Peace Cookies? Tall and Creamy Cheesecake? Heaven. You need this book. Plus, Dorie is the kindest person! I can’t tell you how many times I have had to email or Twitter her to ask for advice and she always delivers!

Karen Demasco’s The Craft of Baking is right up there with Dorie’s book. I was lucky enough to have been given a copy when I went to the Martha Show, and although I have only made one recipe out of the book, I can’t even tell you how many I WANT to make. I rarely find a cookbook that lures me in like that…this one is a real keeper!

Artisan Bread in 5 as well as Healthy Bread in 5 are both fantastic and would be excellent gifts for any Foodie or Non-Foodie. Failproof bread? And it’s easy? Oh yeah, gimme some of that. Zoe Francois, one of the authors, is also very helpful and has talked me through some bread issues along the way…so support her! Its rare to find such good people out there!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. If you are a food blogger, you know who Ree is. Snarky, cute, silly. I don’t have this book yet, but oooh, I want it. Even though I am so jealous of her it makes me crazy. You know the cookbook has to be good – she feeds hungry ranchers with those recipes! I’ll leave it at that.

In a day or two I will post the things that I think every seasoned Foodie will want this year…so stay tuned! In the meantime, what is YOUR favorite kitchen Must-have?? Maybe I don’t know about it! Maybe I NEED it! :0)

the gift that will warm their hearts

2009-12-03T23:49:00.001-05:00

I don’t know about you, but Christmas for me has gotten a bit…stressful. It seems so many of us, myself included, are finding it hard to justify high price tag gifts this year with such a strain on our pocketbooks. In fact, most of my friends and family have implemented a “Let’s just give ornaments this year” approach, which I am thankful for, and really do love in all honesty. I get a thrill out of re-opening ornaments every year, when I can spend a few minutes to remember who each ornament was from, when and why they gave it, etc. It’s special. And every year, I intend to actually write out a list of each of those special ornaments, detailing who they were from, but I have yet to do that. This year. Really. I will. (I hope.) I know one day, I’ll have so many that I won’t be able to remember. And what if something were to happen to me in the mean time? How would Seven know which things I treasured the most? Which ones reminded me of my happiest days? I think I owe him that. I really want him to know, so that one day they can be his treasures.

But that being said, there are a few people you feel the need to actually give a gift to, be it your child’s teacher, a special aunt, your hairdresser or mailman. And lots of money isn’t exactly what you might have had in mind. Solution? These jars.

Although they are little bit time consuming to make, they really are worth the effort. And your end product is a special gift from YOU. Someday after the holidays, the recipient will be sitting at home after dinner, maybe even watching it snow, and feel the urge to make a cup of the delicious hot cocoa you gave them. Or one Saturday, they’ll whip up a batch of your famous chocolate chip cookies. And they’ll think about you. Isn’t that the spirit of giving?

I was recently contacted by the folks at Domino and C&H Sugar, and they asked me to make a little something from their website . They were even kind enough to help me out with some of the expense with a $20 gift card (nice, huh?). After perusing their site, I knew these Gift Jars were what I wanted to make. I love the way each layer looks against the other (and if you must know, it does make me a little sad to think about them all getting mixed up later). Typically these jars are made using canning jars, but I had a few suction lidded jars that I thought might look nice. With a few squares of Holiday fabric and a couple of $1 Walmart ornaments, I was able to make both of these gifts for under $15 total. Obviously the more you make, the lower the cost ratio goes, but if you are making 4 of the same recipe, you could easily keep the cost down to $5-$7 each.

I decided to make my own Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe for one jar, and the C&H recipe for Hot Cocoa. I added some marshmallows and chocolate chips to it to make it extra yummy, so I hope the person who gets it loves it!

So, do you have any project ideas for thoughtful, crafty and not-to-spendy gifts? I would love to hear them!

german chocolate pie

2009-12-02T15:10:00.001-05:00

It’s been a while since I have posted a recipe, so I thought I should maybe help you out with your upcoming Holiday Baking To-Do List. This pie is a cinch to make, tastes fantastic (sooo chocolately!) and looks pretty, too! Isn’t that everything you want with a holiday dessert?

German Chocolate Pie

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups coconut (reserve a bit for decoration)
1/2 cup pecans or mixed nuts
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons constarch
2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch teaspoon salt
12 oz. evaporated milk
chocolate syrup for garnish
fully baked pie shell, from scratch of store bought

Directions

Mix coconut and nuts & set aside.
Put remaining ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
Pour into pie shell.
Sprinkle with coconut and nuts.
Bake at 375* for 45-50 minutes.
When cooled, top with reserved coconut (I used some large flakes) and chocolate syrup.

Since I have been listing great deals for the other days of December, I thought it might be nice to leave you with a couple of nice Wish List Items you could pick up for yourself, another Foodie friend, or have your other half (we both know he’s probably not the “better” half, just the Other Half) pick up for you for Christmas. Just try this:

“Oh, honey, look! DoughMessTic has this awesome pie plate. She says it rocks and makes pie baking so much easier. I bet if I had a pie pan just like that, I would bake pies for you all. the. time. I bet I would. But, well, it would feel wrong to buy it for myself…maybe next year.”

And then leave this webpage up. Maybe he’ll click it.
And if THAT doesn’t work, sneak his credit card out of his wallet while he’s taking a shower, and just buy it yourself. You deserve it.

The pie above I baked in a Fat Daddio’s removable bottom tart pan. I LOVE that pan. It is high quality, easy to clean, and extra tall so that you can make big, fat pies. I lined the bottom with parchment, and it slipped right out, nice and clean. (No, Fat Daddio’s did NOT pay me to say that…though I wish they would.)

I have also used and LOVE the Pie Plate from Emile Henry. Yes, it's a little bit pricy, but it is fabulous and really makes a statement when you take it to a party. Plus, you can leave it out on your counter or in an open faced cabinet because it looks so nice. I have it in yellow, 12 inch, as I won it last year during The Kitchn Pie Bake Off. Now I want these little guys, too - aren't they precious?

By the way, many of these type of items are available at Amazon with the 4 for 3 promotion...meaning, by 4, pay for 3. So stock up!!

Thanks for stopping by!

More Holiday Shopping Deals!

2009-12-01T17:17:00.000-05:00

Today, December 1st, you can pick up TWO subscriptions for your favorite Foodie for one HUGELY discounted price! $19.95 will buy you a year of Food & Wine as well as Sunset! This saves well over 80%, plus, there is a guarantee! If you don't like it, you can cancel at ANY TIME, for ANY REASON, and get a full refund. Yes, really. Just click the image below!

And go ahead and pick up a subscription for me, too? Thanks!

Quick! Get yours RIGHT NOW!

2009-11-30T10:17:00.000-05:00

Seriously, hurry.

Click this link to Shop the KitchenAid Store.

Why?

Because, for TODAY ONLY - they are offering either the Pink or the Empire Red 9 Speed Handmixer - normally $89 - for a mere $39.

$39!!

I just bought the pink. Merry Christmas to ME.

Tell me which one you got. Okay?

butterscotch cream pie

2009-11-25T23:50:00.001-05:00

Imagine sitting in the studio audience of the Martha Stewart Show, watching Martha and her special guest chef making a buttercream pie on the overhead monitors (as you can’t actually SEE them due to the umpteen cameras in the way), and you kind of forget where you are. You forget that you are there, live, and they really are in the room with you. So when they are stirring the batch of caramel, and you can smell it? Very confusing. You are all –what’s that aroma? It’s delicious! This is better than surround sound! It’s, it’s…Smellivision! And you vow that very minute, when I get home, I am so making that Butterscotch Cream Pie. Even though you hate to temper eggs. Or make pie crust. Or stand up. You know, things like that.

So anyway, amidst my orders for all of the Thanksgiving goodies I have been making for clients, I snuck in a couple of hours on Tuesday to finally make that pie. Sure, I could have made my own gingersnaps. I could have…but time was short and I already had a bag of very yummy gingersnaps just begging to be crushed. So I cheated. Sue me. It’s not like I went out and purchased a readymade crust. I still had to mix it and press it and bake it. Judge me if you must.

The crust wasn’t what it was about for me anyway…it was all about that filling. I wanted that smell in my house. And I got it! It came together quite easily, although I did make a stumble along the way. Here’s the part where you should really pay attention to me – when it says “add the cream slowly” – ummm, do that. If you dump it all in at once, the caramel freaks out and seizes, becoming one with the whisk, clinging to it for dear life. You’ll think – Oh God, I ruined it! – but hang in there. The caramel will melt back into the cream. Just go with it. See my pictures? It turned out just fine, and you won’t have to cry or curse or have a tantrum or call The Martha a douche now that you know. Not that I did any of those things, I’m just being hypothetical.

You are seeing photos of my naked pie, as I have yet to dress it up with a nice, thick meringue. The original recipe calls for unsweetened whipped cream, but since the pie filling calls for 5 eggs yolks, I just so happened have 5 eggs whites on hand. I will add the meringue just before heading to our Thanksgiving dinner, as I don’t like the weeping that can happen to meringue pies. I expect deliciousness! See the vanilla seeds in the spoonful of filling that I had to keep out of the pie as a taste test? So gorgeous…so silky smooth. Full of flavor too. I was lucky enough to have farm raised chicken eggs to use, and to me, you just can’t beat how rich and creamy those egg yolks are. But, no matter where you get your eggs, this pie is destined to be a real winner, whether you make it today to cart off to a family filled Thanksgiving, or this weekend when all of the desserts you had are gone and you really need something to go with that turkey sandwich. Try it. You’ll like it! And until then, have yourself a great holiday. Be safe. Be loved. Be thankful. And most importantly, be out of my sister’s way at Kohl’s on Friday morning at 4am. Consider yourself warned.

Butterscotch Cream Pie

from Karen Demasco’s The Craft of Baking on Martha Stewart.com

Ingredients

Makes 1 9-inch pie

3/4 cup sugar
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out, bean and seeds reserved
2 1/2 cups heavy cream, split
2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Gingersnap Crust
1/2 cup chopped Honeycomb Brittle

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch until pale in color; set aside. *NOTE-add sugar to eggs first! Then you can add the cornstarch. Otherwise – clump city)
Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and the vanilla bean and seeds in a medium saucepan. Stir until sugar is completely damp. Heat mixture over high heat until sugar becomes a yellow-golden caramel, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Slowly whisk in 1 cup cream, being careful to avoid splatters, then stir in milk.
Return caramel mixture to stove and bring to a boil; remove from heat. Pour one third of the caramel mixture into the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking to combine. Whisk egg mixture into caramel mixture until well combined. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until custard thickens, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat; whisk in salt and butter.
Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; pour into prepared pie crust. Transfer pie plate to a wire rack and let filling cool completely. Transfer pie to refrigerator and chill until cold, about 1 hour.
Top with whipped cream & brittle, as in the original recipe, or, top with meringue. (use the reserved 1 1/2 cups heavy cream to make the whipped cream if that’s the route you choose to take.)

50th Anniversary Cake

2009-11-23T11:45:00.000-05:00

Here is a look at the 3 tiered stacked cake I made for a 50th anniversary party. The flowers were the choice of the client. Sorry for the bad picture quality, it was so dark in there!

Bottom layer was Lemon cake with blueberry cream filling, Middle Layer was Devils Food cake with chocolate mousse, caramel & Snickers filling, top layer was Almond with Almond buttercream.

Need a good read?
You may want to check out my update on 52 Books in 52 Weeks...

Have a great week!

because I can

2009-11-19T00:25:00.001-05:00

I rarely, if ever, get negative comments on my blog. I mean, really? Who feels the need to be nasty to a Foodie/Mommy Blogger? Aren’t we about the most socially backward people on the planet? (Okay, maybe it’s just me, but I somehow doubt it.)

Anyway, this commenter. I thought about just letting it go. And I will. But I want to address something first.

I am not trying to save the world one pizza at a time.

I write letters. If a company has let me down, be it a faulty razor that cut my husband’s head in the shower, a pitiful KFC buffet that had no chicken on it, a rock in my child’s Pepperidge Farm Goldfish…I write the company. And each of the times I have written, giving these companies a chance to make things right before I just open up and rant about it on my blog. It wouldn’t be fair to complain without giving them a chance…Mistakes Happen. I should know, as I make them all the time. The reason you heard about Pizza Hut? I gave them a chance. I wrote them. I waited. And you saw the customer service that ensued, which I found unacceptable. It was at that point I took it to another level. I could care less about a burned up pizza. It was the principal of the matter. So sure, I could focus on finding better things to do with my “free time.” We all could. So, Annie, if you are reading this (which you say you aren’t), perhaps your free time will be better spent over at the Greenpeace Website, and you can adopt a whale or Just Say No to Tuna or whatever the latest rage is. I don’t have free time. And if I do, I’m probably watching DVR’ed episodes of Glee or making phone calls to my congressman about greasy food in my neighborhood. (No, really, it’s Glee.)

So, I’ve said my peace. As much as I don’t want to run people away from my site, I also know I can’t please all the people all the time. And with my recent string of snarky posts, I am finding that there are LOTS of you who really appreciate the tell it like it is approach. Honestly, that’s the way I really am…it’s just taken me a while to open up here on the blog. You may be seeing more and more of it. I like sarcasm. I like dry humor. I hope you do too…’cause I think it’s here to stay.

Now that that’s out of the way, I just want to apologize for the upcoming lack of foodie posts. I have a big function on Thursday, followed by another big function on Saturday, which will take up practically all of my “free time” between now and Sunday. (the local eateries all all breathing a sigh of relief, I’m sure.) I have that Butterscotch Cream Pie on the horizon, the pie from the Martha Show, but hell if I can squeeze it in anytime soon. But I promise – you’ll have it here, modified recipe and all, in plenty of time for Thanksgiving. Until then, here’s a look at the past few cakes I’ve done. A couple of plain ones, a couple of unusual ones. Hope you enjoy!

This is the cake I did for my friend Adam’s birthday. It is chocolate cake (4 layers) filled with a rich chocolate mousse and homemade Grand Marnier caramel. I iced it with chocolate cheesecake whipped buttercream, and used chocolate transfer sheets to make the chocolate decorations on it.

These two cakes are both tri-layer cakes. One was vanilla buttercream, the other was lemon buttercream. Pretty straightforward stuff.

This one was so much fun, and really big! The shark is made out of Rice Krispy Treats covered in fondant, which I handpainted (even the inside of his mouth) with food coloring and moonstone luster dust. The icing is cheesecake buttercream, tinted aqua and had gradations of teal throughout. The waves I made by pulling sugar, which looked much cooler in person. You can kind of see the tail coming out the back of the cake – it was so neat! The birthday boy was pleased, and so was his family (the grandmother even emailed me to thank me) which is the best part!

Time for an Update

2009-11-17T23:05:00.001-05:00

Maybe you are wondering about Pizza Hut. Are you? Did you wonder if they tried to reach out to me? I’m just a measly little blogger after all…why would a huge corporation like Pizza Hut care what Susan Whetzel has to say?

I’ll tell you why. Social Networking.

In the old days (you know, circa 1992, pre-in home internet, pre-Twitter, pre-Facebook) if you had an unpleasant experience somewhere, you told your friends. All 5 of them. And maybe they told someone else somewhere down the road. You may have been able to reach 17 people with your displeasure. But oh no, not today, folks.

If you are like me, and have a big mouth blog, the blog alone can reach thousands. That Pizza Hut Post I wrote? It got over 4000 views alone. I posted it on Facebook, which conjured up some interest…but the kicker was Twitter. Based on my best math skills, thanks to my original Tweet and then the subsequent Re-Tweets, my Pizza Hut experience went out to just over 100 THOUSAND Twitters. That is HUGE. So thank you all, those of you who read, who commented, and especially, those who Re-Tweeted my message – something big happened here.

First thing that happened? Pizza hut kindly asked me to remain calm and please refrain from my outrage on the Twitter Front. “We are working very hard to remedy the situation.” They requested my name. My address. My phone number. I got a call from the Pizza Hut Headquarters, who in turn had my local higher-ups call me.

So I am napping, when I get this call from the owner of the area 36 Pizza Huts. Same owner as when I used to work there. He is very cordial, even comments that he remembers my name. True? I don’t know. Maybe. I was a super employee. (Yeah, right. I did show up for every shift, though, so maybe that counts for something.) He made some small talk, asked me about Seven’s Name, yada yada yada. He has the DM on conference call with us, who says very little. That’s okay…I hurt his feelings. So I take back the lazy part of my rant…I was mad. I had a right to be mad, and the letter I received led me to believe that he was an idiot.

I turns out that the illegible, horribly written note was not actually from HIM. He says he wanted the store manager to step up and do some work, realize that there are consequences to their actions. He says he should have proofread the letter. That the manager of that store seems like a smart gal, but this has opened his eyes. All well and good – what’s done is done.

So I think everything is over. I got my call, I got an apology. I anxiously await my NEW letter in the mail. But while I am in New York, putting on makeup in my hotel room, I get another call. From the DM. More apologies, but needs my address again. Okay. Fine.

Then again, on the way to the Martha Show while I am in the Taxi.

Then again, this time a message (because I don’t answer), telling me that he was wrong about the Two Fer Tuesday Special. It’s different than he thought. What. Ever. At this point, I DON’T CARE. I’m over it. I’m going to stop Tweeting…leave me be, please. I just want to enjoy walking around Times Square and eat my freaking Junior’s Cheesecake.

So I get my typed letter in the mail, complete with letterhead and coupons for 2 free pizzas. Only one misspelling, but I’ll give him a break – it was a difficult word. Hooray! – it’s over! But it isn’t. It’s way bigger than just me.

As of Saturday, my Pizza Hut is now offering ANY Pizza, ANY Size, ANY Toppings for $10. 10 Bucks! Complete with a letter from the Manager guaranteeing satisfaction. To “Make our community aware that we are here and do things Right.” UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR. Whoaaa.

Power to the people, ya’ll. We did something good.

Now I can get a pizza at the right price and my satisfaction is guaranteed. And I’ll do it! I’ll order! But you can bet your sweet ass I’m not ordering it in my own name. Not for a good, lonnnng time.

Enjoy your cheap pizza, locals!

You can thank me later.

new York state of mind(s)

2009-11-14T03:02:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but you see, I have been away.

To The MARTHA Show.

As in THE Martha. You know who she is. We all love to hate her, we all hate to love her. It’s the truth, and you know it. It’s just that no one really wants to admit it. We are all, men and women alike, jealous as hell of that woman. She’s like Andy Dufrain in The Shawshank Redemption – she was rich, had an unfortunate vacation in a place we do not discuss, then crawled through the crap to come out clean and richer on the other side. Except Andy crawled through half a mile of sewer, and Martha just had to wear a prison poncho knitted with a couple of shivs. Well, I am here today to say it out loud. No fear. Okay, maybe a little bit of fear.
Being invited to come to the show was a real treat. There are what? Half a billion people in America? And they ask ME to bring a pie? That’s pretty amazing. Probably a mistake, but amazing nonetheless. So the real prize is that I was asked to come. Now that that has been said, I’m going to release the inner Angel and Demon and let them both speak. The Hate to Love’r and the Love to Hate’r, both on display. I’ll let each one speak as they want, often in the same sentence. You’ll know who’s who.

This could get ugly.

So. We show up to the studio in Chelsea, not knowing at all what to expect. It is of course, clean and very…pastel. Crisp. It is a big B because once you are inside, there is apparently some iron magnetic substance from the future lining the brick as your iPhone is rendered absolutely useless, and you are one of the many snappy dressers sitting in a holding pattern until being shuttled off to the set. You may purchase many of Martha’s medium quality products at full or above MSRP prices, so feel free to do that and forgo your child’s tuition or braces. God knows everyone needs a $60 hoodie with a pastel patch on the sleeve to wear while sprinkling $20 worth of Martha glitter on Christmas cards you’ll never really make. It’s almost like buying a timeshare. You want to check the prices on Amazon, or maybe have your sister back home go in Halvsies on that Glitter Kit and tote bag, but damn if the Twitter won’t work and you can’t write on her FaceBook wall either. Total Suckage. So you pretty much just sit there and shake.

About the time you are considering leaving because it is awfully hard to breathe without use of Tweetdeck, the little headset folks come to give you your 32nd reminder to USE THE BATHROOM NOW OR ELSE and then you get the Happy Man Billy to instruct you on how to clap, how to say yum, how to giggle speech. Good thing, too, because the pressure? It’s disconcerting.

It was in this stuffy holding pattern recession free shopping room that I first noticed HER. Little old lady, feeble, hunched over, sweet as a newborn kitten, mewing to her younger counterpart two rows up from us. How sweet. She has a cookbook. With her picture on it. Ah Shiz…the crew all know her by name. She is smiling at them, I never hear her utter a sound higher than her kitten mew. I think perhaps she may need some kind of IV drip to make into into the show. Precious, really. Poor little thing. She is the Martha Charity Case. This Martha is a smart lady. This is going to be Shiv Poncho Martha’s finest moment.

Now it s time to go upstairs, finally, after waiting around for over an hour. First impression? Holy nuts. We walk into the set and right away we are bombarded with the gravity of a Martha Stewart Pie Competition…there are 170 pies, all laid out on two gigantic farm tables set beneath some pretty fall trees and a not handmade handmade Country Pie Bake Off Sign, straight out of The Long Hot Summer except without Paul Newman. Our seats are fantastic…second row off the floor. Should have been great. Not a bad seat in the house. However, with 8 cameras, a boom, 42 assistants and enough McCoy Pottery to feed a third world country, there was also no good seat in the house. (Let me add one stipulation to that…the Stage Manager. It was fine if he was in the way. Sexy McDenim pants and his army hat had the backside of a NFL quarterback.)

So we are waiting. In our seats. Do not move from your seats. Ever. That’s a no-no. And turn off your cameras and phones and pacemakers, as these will upset the Martha. she is coming. (no, she isn’t. Yes she is. No, she isn’t.) Then YAY! CLAP! Here she cooooomes! STOP CLAPPING NOW. (Okay? Is it just me? This woman is drunk…AND she has “I just needed a little nap” hair in the back. But that’s okay. The back doesn’t get Air Time.)

Our 4 esteemed judges are introduced, then one of them, Karen DeMasco, pastry chef at Robert DeNiro’s restaurant gets in the kitchen with The Martha and they set about to making a Butterscotch Pie. Don’t test the caramel with your finger, Martha tells us (well, bloody hell, M, it’s 300 degrees, that’s a given.) or you’ll end up with scars all over your hands just. like. her. (Why did it take her so many times to figure that out? I think she has no Pavlovian responses.) It is also at this point, Big M tells us, for no reason whatsoever, that she was in her office floor doing yoga positions before the show. However, I may have mis-heard that, and she MAY have said Jaeger positions. Does Jaeger even come in a keg? Hmmm. That could explain the hair thing. I won’t tell you what my sister called it. It’s not a nice word to say out loud.

Anyway, the rest of the show proceeds at an almost wormhole in time pace, and the judges continue eating a bite or two of each and every one of the 170 pies. (Hey! That’s cheating! They are picking up the pies and looking underneath to see who made them! Something is smelling fishy in Chelsea and it ain’t the yoga positions if you get my drift. Something’s brewing…) By the way, the Martha is eating her fool ass off over there. Double dipping. It’s NOT a good thing. But anyway.

Then there is a segment where 5 pies are brought to the table to be discussed.

Fork, fork, forkity fork. Martha makes a small racial comment to a little Asian girl in the front row, suggesting that her Apple Pie was probably very difficult to transport all the way from…Asia. Dear Lord. That girl lived in Queens and took the Subway to the studio. Her apples came from Whole Foods. God knows, there are NO ASIAN LOOKING AMERICANS in AMERICA. They all come here from ASIA. On a plane. With Fuji apple pies. That little clip may be edited. You’d see me in that one, as I was in view behind Miss Fuji Queens. Orange sweater, scarf, blondish and fat. You’ll see.

Then she asks for Marjorie. Who is Marjorie?? asks the Martha.

I swear, there is the sound of someone pulling the string on her Chatty Cathy Doll and all of a sudden, IV Drip Granny from the waiting room is 4 feet 8 inches of No Doze and Red Bull, squealing about how much she loves candy and toffee and Pecan Pie and Crisco. It was perhaps the scariest thing I have witnessed in New York to date. The rest of us, well, we were holding back giggles, as Happy Man Billy hadn’t told us we were allowed to laugh, and besides, he was too busy not peeing in his pants himself to tell us what to do. The whole staff was in complete Sweet Jesus Mode. “Where did that woman COME from??” they wondered? She was on her death bed 5 minutes ago! And then, her Chatty Cathy string runs out and back down she sits, meow, meow, meoooow.

Was it any surprise that in segment 7, our final segment, that Grandma Methuselah was declared the winner? Um, no. Come to find out, she’s been on The Tonight Show several times. Rosie. Conan. Numerous radio shows. And that’s just the Talkies, people. God knows what all she did back in the days before motion pictures.You see, according to her website where she promotes her cookbook, she has won over 2500 Ribbons for her pies. Twenty. Five. Hundred. Let me explain to you the gravity of that.

That is one pie PER WEEK, EVERY WEEK, for 50 years. But you see, there aren’t county and state fairs every week of the year. So, perhaps she enters 10 contests a summer, during fair season. That would be A LOT. That would put this dear old lady at just about 250 years old. There may even be pictures of her in Lascaux. (Google it, folks, it’s a funny reference that only makes sense if your parents spent a small fortune on your Art History degree.)

She looks pretty good for her age. See for yourself on Monday, when you are first introduced. Then see her again on Tuesday, when she and The Martha make her Pecan Toffee Pie. I’m not saying it was rigged. I’m not saying the woman was pre-determined. I bet she can make a mean pie. She might even be the person who invented pie for all I know. I haven’t made 1% of the amount of pies that she has. I am also not immortal, nor do I have a long elastic string hanging out of my Spanx that needs pulling every so often to wind me back up, but I hope to one day. Yes, one day, that could be me.

Seriously though, we had no real Martha time. Kind of a let down, as the show ran so late that she had to run off to her Radio Show (or to the liquor cabinet or both). Normally, they say, you get to ask her a few questions. Not that I had anything to ask. She’s kind of frightening with that perfect posture and 6 foot tall stance. She’s a giant, I tell you. Really quite a presence. With presents! We each were given DeMasco’s cookbook, a nice Pyrex Pie server carrying case, and a cool pie crust cutty outty thingy. Oooh, and Chocolate. And 3 kinds of hand lotion, because hello? That makes sense.

By the way, both my sister and I are itching to make the Butterscotch Pie that was featured on the show. It smelled like heaven! Unfortunately for her, it is an Ice Box Pie, and she has no Ice Box. She does however have an X-Box, but getting an entire pie in that thing is going to take some effort… And who knows if it will even set once she DOES get it in there.

I feel sure there are lots of things I am leaving out. Oooh, like the time when we had to do a retake because Sexy McDenim Manager told Big M that she should just “read what it says on the Teleprompter, it sounds better,” and Big M nearly went postal. Yeah, that was cool. And the…Pomegranate Pie Lady. Dear Lord, please, for the sake of that poor woman, let them edit that out. But because I am NOT National Television, just in case they DO edit it out, here’s the run down.

We were told the WINNER. We were even told the 4 runners up. Everyone else? The other 165 Pies? We had no clue where we stood on a scale of 1 to 10. All except Pom Pie.

“Who made the Pomegranate Pie?” asks the Martha.
A little hand goes up.
“It would have been delicious, but it was RUNNY. Not Good.”
Damnation. A little head hangs. “I’m sorry.”
“Yes, not good.”

Oh. My. Lord. This woman was called out by the Martha. And made a fool of. Poor thing. She should chat with Grandma Yoda. I bet she’d know what went wrong. I mean, she did bring Pomegranates to America when she came over from Gondwana. She. Would. Know.
And that, my friends, is the true story of the day I went to The Martha Show. I bet I’m never asked back.
Stay tuned for more about my Big Apple trip and the meeting of fellow blogger Martha of CherrySpoon and my new buddy Gail, The Tough Cookie. It was one heck of a good time. Also, stay tuned for a Pizza Hut Update. It just keeps getting better. Until then, have a great weekend!!

truffle surprise mini cakes

2009-11-09T22:36:00.001-05:00

This weekend, although swamped (yay!) with cake orders, I needed to pull together a yummy dessert to take to a friends house. We’re talking just a couple of hours of leeway, so there was no time for digging through recipes…but I wanted something decadent and memorable. We don’t always have time for complicated around here, and I imagine we aren’t the only ones who face the dreaded time crunch every so often.

So, I resorted to Betty Crocker. She’s my little box buddy. I pulled out a box of Devils Food cake and went to work on it. Don’t worry, I made my own adjustments and additions, and because I am feeling nice, I’ll give you the recipe at the end of the post.

I poured the prepared batter into my paper brioche cups (you could certainly use cupcake liners) and then baked them off until barely done. Once I could handle them, I cut out a piece from the top about halfway into the cake, and pushed half of a Lindt Lindor Truffle inside. Some were White Chocolate, some Dark, some Milk, but each cake got half of a truffle. You never knew which flavor you were going to get until you bit into it…so, Surprise! What a great reason to keep eating them! (Sorry – I am getting ahead of myself, but I do that a lot, don’t I?) After I put the truffle inside, I replaced the cake top that I had cut out and stuck the prepared cakes back into the still warm oven for a couple of minutes just to let it melt in a bit.

For icing, I winged it. But oh, what a wing! I melted down 2 of each type of truffle in the microwave and allowed it to cool a little. In the meantime, I beat 2 sticks of butter until well creamed and soft, added about 1/3 cup of heavy cream and beat for another 5 minutes, then poured in the melted truffles and beat it again for about 5 minutes. After that was all mixed, I added 2 Tablespoons of Godiva Liqueur, a teaspoon of vanilla, and about a cup of powdered sugar and allowed that to beat for another 5 minutes. i tasted as I went, and you should too, just to get the rich flavor that you want. I was going for kind of whippy and light, with a hint of rich, expensive undertones, if that makes any sense. It worked!

I piped this icing on top of the cakes, in horrible fashion, as I was in a hurry and my good piping tip was recently ruined in our garbage disposal by an unnamed two year old that lives in my house. Then I drizzled warm chocolate ganache over them for a nice little effect.

Verdict? These were awesome. The cake was just the right amount of cakiness, the truffles were perfectly gooey. The icing I could eat with a spoon, and have, if you must know the truth. I would make these again in a heartbeat. So, give it a shot if you are wanting to impress but haven’t got time for both baking and a nice hot shower. Sometimes, something’s gotta give. (That means, make these and go to your friend’s house clean, okay?)

Truffle Surprise Mini Cakes

For the cakes:

1 Box Betty Crocker Devils Food Cake
1 Stick melted Butter
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup water
3 eggs
1 Box cheesecake pudding

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all ingredients and beat for 2 minutes. Pour into paper brioche cups or cupcake liners. bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove from oven.

*At this point, you will add 1/2 Lindor Truffle to the inside of each cake, then return to still warm (but off) oven for 2 minutes. Top with the above Truffle Icing once cooled, and drizzle with warm chocolate ganache or, if in a pinch, chocolate syrup.

On a side note, I had a special order for a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer charm from my Etsy Shop. I love it so much I made one for myself, too – cute, huh? I love having it on my keychain! Let me know if you need one too! (Hey – it’s under $5!)

Have a great week, everyone…I’m in the kitchen today making my Martha Stewart Competition Pie, and leaving for New York on Wednesday …so wish me luck!

oh, pizza hut, you shouldn’t have. really. i mean that.

2009-11-07T15:30:00.001-05:00

In case you are a blogger, like myself, you probably realize that weekends do not really have great traffic. It’s a fact of life…people have more time to play on the internet when someone is paying them to be doing something else. Something important, like designing a building. Or keeping dangerous criminals behind bars. Or curing the H-one, N-one, which I affectionately have termed the “Honey Noney” (get it? Hunny Nunny? H1N1? Whatever. I think it’s funny and that’s all that matters here, anyway.)

So, back to traffic. Most bloggers save their really great posts for Monday or Tuesday. I do that if I have something good. I see it all the time, so I don’t really feel too bad about it. Blogging is an actual job to many people, myself included, and we gotta get our money somewhere. But today, dear readers, you are in for a real treat. No, it isn’t exactly food related, but it does, in fact, involve food.

Bad food.

I used to work at Pizza Hut. I did! It was my first “real job” and I was glad to have it. (On a side note, that’s how I met Jon. He started working there in Delivery the same week I started. Kismet, or some crap like that, I guess. Lucky for him I only had 3 current boyfriends and he had a really great butt.) Anyway, I was a waitress, and to be a gal in high school, the money was pretty good. Back then, in our town, Pizza Hut was IT. As in, the place to be. Friday nights, after home football games? You couldn’t even get in the door. We rocked that Pizza Hut and man, were times ever good. I mean, except for the part that we worked at Pizza Hut.

So, over the years, other restaurants moved into our little town. Pizza Plus did some damage. Queens did some more. Don’t even get me started on the Chinese or TWO Mexican places. Imagine, if you will, a Ghosttown Pizza Hut. A newly remodeled, cute little Hut that managed to get it’s Beer taken away because of poor management (and a slew of drugs running through the back but that’s another story) and no one to eat there.

Jon and I had our fill of The Hut during the years we were employees. It’s fine if YOU are the one making the food…not so fine if you are relying on someone earning minimum wage to make it for you. Just saying. Think before you complain, people, your food is in the hands of underpaid teenagers who still hate authority and they just want to play the jukebox with your Children’s Network quarter donations when you finally leave. How I forget this I do not know…and one Tuesday Night, in a lapse of good judgment, I phoned in an order.

Tuesdays are called 2 Fer Tuesdays. Back in the day, it used to mean Buy One, Get One FREE. Not anymore. It’s Buy a Large at an insane price, get a medium with one crappy topping for free. But hell, I was already on the phone with the girl, so I went with it. My order?

One Large PAN Meat Lovers
Free Medium Pan Extra Cheese

Total? I don’t know. A lot.

So I picked up the food when they told me to and carried it back to my folks place.

In the boxes? A Thin Meat Lovers with very little meat, and a burned up THIN Sort of Cheese Pizza that Seven carried around with his greasy little fingers smacking on furniture because he couldn’t bite through it. Nor could I, mind you, but I spared the sofa.

So I call the next day, after I had cooled off a bit.

“Um, I can’t refund you any money…your bad pizza was your Free One”

Hmmm. Oookkkaay, then.

That manager didn’t know I had a big mouth blog. That manager also didn’t know I knew how to contact the Pizza Hut Headquarters. Oh,I did. I went there. Over a pizza.

So, 6 weeks later I get a letter in the mail. This letter. From the District Manager, who, by the way, was the same District Manager in 1992. I bet he’s still fat and lazy.

As you can see, no Pizza Hut letterhead, just a piece of white paper. And Handwritten even. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy day to WRITE me a letter, Mr. Manager. Wow.

In case you have a hard time reading the picture, let me type it up for you, grammar and all, misspellings and all, as well as my play-by-play…

Mrs. Tough, (really, that’s what is says. Mrs. Tough. Guess he was thinking about my pizza.)

I apoligize for the problen with the pizza hut in Pearisburg. I have spoke with the crew in Peaisbug & they understand where they went wrong. I agion apoligez and I hope not to loose you (loose me? really?) as the valuble coustoner you am.

Thank you, H W.

And that’s it. He kindly supplied me with a coupon for a free Medium One Topping pizza, which I have yet to redeem. Lucky for me (yay!) it’s only good in THIS Pizza Hut District. I may opt to just eat the coupon with a little bit of grease on it. I know I can bite though THAT. And it won’t be laced with the Hunny Nunny, either. I think.

Thanks, Pizza Hut. Really.

You just gave me something to post on a weekend.

buttercream millennium falcon cake

2009-11-06T12:50:00.001-05:00

The fact that I, Susan Whetzel, am giving a tutorial on a cake blows my mind.

The fact that it is a Millennium Falcon cake is even more mind blowing. I’ve never even watched Star Wars.

If you are here looking for a true replica, to scale, with working parts and lights and robots, you’ve come to the wrong place. You should try Ace of Cakes for that, but expect to pay several thousand dollars. Did you know that to even order a cake, no matter what the size, their fees start at one THOUSAND dollars? Wowza.

This cake, to keep it inexpensive for my client, was made entirely of buttercream. The only piece of fondant on it is the little gun on top. It is not to scale. It is not exact. It is based on the Millennium Falcon. And according to my Twitter Friends (thanks, y’all!) it is a success.

To start making this cake, you’ll need to bake a 12 inch round. This one was chocolate. Once baked and cooled, remove it from the pan. Here it gets a little scary – you need to cut it. Just take a serrated knife and trim, following the picture guides.

Now, before securing the extra pieces with icing to hold them on, you will need to divide the MAIN CAKE in half horizontally. On your cake board, place a little bit of your buttercream to hold the cake securely. Place one layer of you cake on the cake board. Now fill in with your extra cake pieces to shape the Falcon. Use the buttercream to get them to stick. Don’t worry about making it perfect, it will be fine once iced. You just want it to have the right shape. Now, dam the edges of your Main Cake. If not using a filling, you can skip the dam and just do an entire layer of buttercream at this point. I filled mine with a thick layer of chocolate mousse and candy bars, so I needed the protection of the buttercream dam.

Now, carefully put the top layer of your main cake on. Phase one complete!

Now you need to ice it. If you aren’t careful, you’re going to get lots of crumbs in it. So be careful! It is best to pipe on a thick layer of buttercream to the entire cake – more icing than you will need is better. You can always scrape the extra off as you go, but if you start with too little, you’re taking a rick of pulling the cake into it. You don’t want that! So, pipe on the icing, then with a small offset spatula, go to work smoothing the surface down. Try to make a hump in the center front and also on the side arm, but it isn’t imperative, I don’t think. Make sure to reserve some extra icing for your piping! You’ll need enough to keep white and then some to tint gray & black. Once it’s iced, chill it for a little bit, it will make it easier on you. While it is chilling, prepare a little bit of black icing, and a little bit of gray. Place each one in a piping bag fitted with a 2 or 3 tip. You’ll also need a bag of the white icing fitted with a 2 or 3 as well. Take the cake out, and get to piping! I won’t step by step you through the piping process, but I will offer you a few notes…

The most prominent features are what makes this looks like a Millennium Falcon. The 6 circles on the back. The big circle in the center. The radiating lines that come off of the center. I used lots of tiny little lines and dots to fill in the rest, as you can see. For mine, I used amber colored sprinkles to dirty it up a bit (It’s been flying through space, after all, and I don’t know if the Stormtroopers are all that much into cleanliness.) I also used RedHots and red jimmies for the few red areas on the center portion and where they appear around the back. I scattered some silver dragees just to add a little more dimension. The sides of this cake? Just a little bit of line and dot piping. I was not at all accurate, nor did I attempt to be. I think it is the shape and the prominent details that make this recognizable. Be prepared to spend at least a couple of hours just piping details, especially if you haven’t done much decorating. Don’t go overboard, though! This particular cake isn’t about perfection!

If anyone has any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to email me. I had so many people holding my hand over the past few months, that it’s time for me to pay it forward!

Have a great weekend everyone!

this post is about books. weird books, mostly.

2009-11-05T14:23:00.000-05:00

Sorry kids, but you wont be finding a recipe here today.

I have issues.

But I need to do a book review so that you know I have been keeping up with my goal of 52 Books in 52 Weeks. Before I delve into the book I just finished, I want to let you in on a little secret, just in case you didn’t know it.

Some books suck.

Just because you can put a pen to paper does NOT mean you have a voice that needs to be heard. What blows my mind even more is that some books of suckage actually get through several editors and publishers and really become a novel. In Print. For Sale. And then some dumbass, hugely unaware (or a freak of nature themselves) purchases said book. I rant, I rant. But here’s the exact book situation I mention…

In 2002, Jon and I went on another looong excursion. First to Venice, then through Tuscany, then to Paris, where we caught a plane to Kenya and stayed a couple of weeks. Both of us were sick in Italy. Jon had it first, then I did. It was bitter cold in the middle of January, so not very condusive to getting well. Anyway, we ended up staying at this B&B located in the outerwalls of Lucignano. The room was fantastic. Our bed was gigantic and piled full of the heaviest blankets ever to be crafted in the 13th century. We had a dining area, a little kitchen, the works, you see, but our televison got one partially English station – MTV. The only song ever played on it was Nicole Kidman and Robbie Williams singing that old Sinatra song. At least I think Sinatra sang it. “and if we go someplace to dance I know that there’s a chance you won’t be leaving with me.…something stupid, like I love you…” Sinatra??

Moving on…There were books in the room. Left behind by other travelers, I imagine. I left all of the novels I had read thus far in the trip, and I picked up one to work on. It looked like it had been perused several times, so I started reading.

Hmm. Weird.

Not like, I bet that man will end up being the bad guys brother weird, or ooh, her hair is realllly pink weird, but HORSE weird. And by horse weird I mean there were horses in this book that were masquerading as humans. Clothing. Driving. Talking. I kid you not. Once I figured out that the main character had backaches from driving and walking because she was a freaking HORSE, I put the stupid thing down. Like, 60 pages into the crapass book! I never put books down. Ever. But this one really made me mad. Can you tell??

I’m thinking the book was British. I can’t even determine how to Google it because the whole premise is just so…so…asinine. Horsenine? But if you ever run across it? Keep on running.

I did pick up a great book one time in Thailand. It was used, and i bought it from a vendor on the side on a little passageway in Koh Phi Phi. The name of it was Go. Again, British. I would LOVE to have a copy of it again, but I managed to destroy my copy in the, um, ocean. It happens. It’s about a guy who makes off with a crapload of his boss’s money and travels around. He meets up with a guy and screws him over, and also girl in Japan or Hong Kong who is working as a call girl/escort…and there’s a catch at the end about a photo and a cow…I know, bizarre sounding but it was a great read. I am just hoping one of my UK readers will be Oh Hey! I know that book! And find it for me. I can’t seem to locate it anywhere at all. I just know it was called Go. Help?

Okay. Enough memory lane. I just finished reading Lakeshore Christmas by Susan Wiggs, thanks to the folks at MotherTalk. It’s just been released, and I was into it in a big way. I found the characters to be well developed and likable, albeit somewhat predictable.

The premise involves a “she doesn’t know she’s cute” librarian who is about to lose her library and a has been child star there to assist her with the town Christmas Pageant. Not your likely pairing, but it works. Throughout the story we are introduced to several local townspeople, all with stories of their own. It was such an easy read, and this is the perfect time of year to get a copy. Foodies – you’ll like this feature…They had a cookie exchange in the book, and in the back, you’ll find several great recipes for cookies inspired by the characters. I have yet to try any of them, but so many sound yummy! You can pick up a copy of the book here…I hope you’ll enjoy it!

By the way, I wrote a book once. I never quite finished it, but still, it was like, 200 or so pages. Anyone interested in reading a digital copy? (that is, if I can locate it again?) it about a girl who mistakenly ends up with a LOT of cash and has to hide out in Italy. There’s new love, old love, guns, art…it’s full of, well, words. Let me know. I’ll email it to you!

Baking with tots…trick or treat brownies

2009-11-03T23:32:00.001-05:00

I am a mother.

Not a great one, mind you, but I am still a mom. I also tend to get annoyed when my little boy, only two years old, is underfoot when I am in the kitchen trying to bake. It seems no matter which corner of the kitchen I am in, he’s right there. Right. There. Normally, I fuss, and shoo him back to the living room, where toys abound and Yo Gabba Gabba is blaring, but he inevitably ends up back underfoot. I know I can’t be the only one that this happens to. You, too?

Even though I had cake orders to work on on Monday, I changed up my attitude. Why not let him help? My cake was baked and was cooling, the icing was made and ready whenever I was. So I had a little downtime. Here’s our conversation. (Yes, I talk to him as if he is an adult, learning a new language, never baby talk. I will repeat whatever I need to say as many times as he needs to hear it, and I will also ask him to repeat anything I don’t understand instead of prompting him. I think it has reaaalllly expanded his vocabulary. Just saying. No, I am not an expert…this has just worked for US.)

“Seven? Do you want to make Daddy something to eat?

“Uh huh.Yeeees.”

“What do you want to make your Daddy?”

“Brownies. Biiiig brownies.”

“Brownies? Okay. Cakey or gooey?”

“Gooey! And Candy!”

The child is a genius, I tell you. He probably didn’t mean for us to cut up lots of his Halloween candy bars, but that’s what we did. What a fantastic way to get rid of that bucket full of sin! Seriously?…Genius.

For our recipe, I simply used a brownie recipe that I knew was pretty fudgy on it’s own, but added in lots of chocolate syrup and reduced the amount of water. You could always use a box mix if you wanted and get the same effect – it’s all about being together with your child.

The very first thing I did was put him in a little blue cowboy apron Mom made. Too cute! He wanted me to wear an apron, too, which I of course did, as I am rarely in the kitchen without one. Then I let him pick out the spoon he wanted to use. He really seemed to get a kick out of being allowed to use “Mommy Spoons”…and I was happy to oblige.

I measured out our needed ingredients, as well as cracked the eggs (which he thought was hilarious for some reason and cackled), but I let him mix all of it himself. He poured each of the ingredients into the mixing bowl, and he stirred the entire batch up on his own. I did incorporate what little bits he missed, but he really did a great job on his own. Oh, and the syrup? He loved squeezing in the syrup. You’d have thought I hung the moon.

Once mixed, I opened up several of the trick or treat candy bars – a couple of Twix, some 3 Musketeers, some Hershey Bars – whatever looked good – then chopped it up. The Little Man scooped most of it into the bowl (some didn’t make it past his mouth) and then we stirred again.

I let him spray the loaf pan, and then I poured the batter in. I let him push the buttons to set the timer – 1 hour and 10 minutes, he licked the spoon a lot, and then we went off to nap.

As soon as he woke up, his first question was “Where Daddy’s Brownies? I lick ‘em.” And he told everyone that we encountered that afternoon that he made brownies. And that he licked the spoon.

To be honest, I didn’t realize that he was that adept. I imagined a huge mess, and a fight on my hands each step of the way. So I was thrilled to see how well he did and how much he got into it. It was a great way for us to spend time together, and I am so glad I took the time to try.

Believe it or not, I have a few memories of my very early childhood…some as early as 18 months old. And I wonder, will Seven have similar memory retention? If so, do I really want his memory to be of me being aggravated and short with him for being a toddler? Or, will he remember our time together making Daddy Brownies?

I really hope it’s the brownies. I’m going to keep working on that.

I hope if nothing else, this post has encouraged you to take a time out and try baking with your little one. Yes, I know it’s a bit of a hassle, but it really does mean so much. They want to be LIKE YOU. How long will that last? How many other people do you know that look up to you that much? Please give it a shot…I think you’ll be glad you did.

Do you have special things you do with your toddler in the kitchen? If so, I would love to know. Please share! Oh yeah…If you want a toddler apron, tell me! We have lots of cute fabrics and the kids look so precious in them! If anyone is interested, I will list a couple in my Etsy Shop. Say the word!

Trick Or Treat Brownies

Ingredients

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
pinch salt
1/4 cup Chocolate Syrup
6-8 Snack Sized Candy Bars

Preheat oven to 325F.

Melt Chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

In a bowl, mix together sugar, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until well combined

Add flour, salt, chocolate syrup and chocolate mixture and blend well.

Chop up candy bars and add to mixture.

Pour into prepared (greased) loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. These are very gooey brownies, but the edges will be thick and set and the center, though gooey, will hold it’s shape when cut. Brownies are done when the batter no longer wiggles when shaken. It is better to pull a little early versus leaving them in too long. Enjoy!

Winners Announcement, hooray!

2009-11-02T21:01:00.000-05:00

So...you've been wondering who the winner of my last couple of giveaways are, have you?
Well, wait no more.

The winner of the Tablespoon.com giveaway was...Nutmeg Nanny! Congratulations!

And the winner of the fabulous Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day was...Pink Stripes! A big congrats to you, too!

Ladies, please click the link on my sidebar to email me your full name and address so that we can get you those prizes!

Thanks to everyone for entering, and stay tunes - I have more giveaways coming shortly!

A Weekend of Cakes

2009-11-01T22:52:00.001-05:00

Did everyone have a great Halloween weekend? I hope so! I imagine most of you are trolling the net today, trying to find recipes that you can use to rid yourselves of about 14 pounds of random candy. I just told Jon that I will have to make some brownies and dump in all these candy bars – it’s crazy!

Our weekend has been pretty jam packed. On Friday it was Jon’s Birthday, so we had a little Italian dinner party for about 12 people, and turned it into a beer tasting as well. So much fun! I, personally, am not a drinker. Not that I am anti-drinking, mind you, it’s just that alcohol is not something I enjoy the taste of. But while we were in Vermont earlier in October, I picked up a few Woodchuck Hard Ciders. These are awesome! Think Asti Spumante mixed with apples or pears. So tasty, and not like beer at all. Try it sometime – I really think you may like it!

Moving on…Cakes. Since I made a chocolate genoise last weekend for my man, I went with his other cake favorite this time…Pumpkin and Cream Cheese. So, to follow up a dinner of Chicken Tortellini and Gnocchi Sorrentina, we had big helpings of pumpkin cake. The next day, Halloween, we were expected at my folks house for a little birthday celebration for my nephew, Nate, who shares Jon’s birthday. I stayed up late on Friday nite finishing Nate’s cake – a 4 layer Red Velvet cake, topped with a big square of the Pumpkin Cake to make the clown’s body. While it wasn’t perfect, it was cute…and something I may try to make again in the future. Right now, everything is a bit of a learning experience when it comes to the 3D aspects, but I am really enjoying it!

On Sunday, I had another cake order due. The details were pretty much left up to me, as the client requested only that the cake be chocolate, the icing be cream cheese buttercream, and that it have a soccer theme. So, I went with a 3 layer Devils Food and cream cheese buttercream tinted light blue, and dressed it up with fondant grass and fondant soccer balls. I hope the birthday boy liked it!

On Monday I will be baking another cake order, this time for a little girl who “likes purple, pink, hearts and stars.” It, too, is a small cake, a square, and to be quite honest, I haven’t figured out quite what I want to do yet. Any thoughts you’d like to share before I get started? I’d love opinions! (yes, really!)

Until next time, have a great Monday!

pinch me. yes, really.

2009-10-29T09:42:00.001-04:00

A little over a year ago, the Good Year Blimp flew directly over my house. I joked to everyone in my family that it was because of my blog. Back then, I was just starting to get a few followers and I was getting about 2000 hits a week. Man, was I ever excited! Just to put me in my place though, my husband commented that Martha hadn’t emailed me yet. As in THE Martha. Well, no, of course she hadn’t. I’m a nobody.

So, imagine you are in my kitchen last week, (hopefully you are cleaning my cabinets or vacuuming while you are here, but that’s beside the point) and you see an unusual email address pop up on my computer. Hmmm, you say.

Hmmm, indeed.

It’s The Martha. Well, not exactly Martha Martha, but a representative from her show. “We found your blog, and Martha wants to have a show all about pies. Want to come to New York and bring a pie for a competition on the show?”

Well, Hell no. I quickly responded.

JOKING! I of course said sure! How awesome is THAT? But New York is awfully far. Like, 10 hours. And I am a nervous person in general. Putting a hillbilly like me in a city like New York all by my lonesome could be detrimental to my well being. So what to do?

I email asking for a little help. Could I get another ticket or two, you know, for friends? (Seriously, who asks Martha Stewart things like this? You are supposed to just accept your good fortune and go on with yourself, not ASK for anything.) And would you believe I get a PHONE CALL? From the freaking Martha Stewart Show??

Of course, she says. The tickets are yours.

So, in two weeks, I am making the trek to the Big Apple with a Big Apple Pie in tow, along with my sister, Jennifer, who decided she, too, will be making an apple pie. For the record, if she wins anything, I am taking it. Fair’s Fair as Billie Jean would say. I want the scooter.

Not only will Jennifer be with me, but so will a couple of my Blogging/Twitter friends! I got in touch with Gail, the Tough Cookie (@THEToughCookie on Twitter) and Carrie from Fields of Cake (naturally!) and they are joining me, too! Can’t you see it? US, in New York, at Martha?

I’m so excited, you have no idea. Just to be able to hang out with all these gals is a treat in and of itself, but to be hanging out together at the Martha Show? Well, like I said…Pinch Me.

Squuuueeeee!

Well, that’s the news. Now I have to figure out how to lose 37 pounds in 14 days, JUST IN CASE the camera should swing my way. Wish me luck.

pumpkin brioche gets all decked out

2009-10-28T00:16:00.000-04:00

Remember all the rage on the blogs and Twitter when Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day came out? Well, they’ve done it again…this time with Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I was thrilled to be contacted by my friend Zoë François, co-author of the books, to do a review of the new book. I mean – me? What a treat to even be asked!

Here’s where it got tricky on me though. Healthy isn’t actually a common word in our vocabulary 'round here. Bread is also pretty tricky, too…as I Kill Yeast. I kill it. Dead. Cold house or something, but yeast is fairly suicidal in my presence. I really wanted to do her book justice, though…she trusted ME to review it. So, after flipping through the pages several times, I landed on Pumpkin Pie Brioche. Yum. Doesn’t the name just sound delicious? As I am still becoming DoughMessTic, I had yet to make brioche…and for those of you as new as I am, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. Brioche is just a fancy word for really nice bread.

The Pumpkin Pie Brioche adventure almost failed before I even started, as in my town, my small, one grocery store and a WalMart town, White Whole Wheat Flour isn’t available. Nor is vital wheat gluten (VWG), whatever that even is. Eek. But you know what? Zoe said to go on and use my All Purpose Flour. She didn’t tell me exactly how much, but I gave it a good guess. You see, All Purpose Flour has enough gluten of it’s own to make the bread work without adding the VWG, and at the same time, it isn’t as heavy of a flour as the Whole Wheat. That means I had to adjust the amount of All Purpose Flour UP to accommodate the wetness. So I did.

Another thing I had to adjust was the oil. I didn’t have enough, and darn it, I wasn’t about to go to the store again after having JUST gone for eggs. So I used part melted butter and part oil. Oh yeah…honey. I don’t dig honey. Instead, I used the same amount of light corn syrup for the honey. Yeah, yeah, I know…I was doing everything in my power to completely ruin this recipe. Even I knew it had bread fail written all over it.

But you’d be wrong, and so would I. This recipe survived my manipulations. It survived my cold kitchen. It survived ME. It was gorgeous to work with! I think that’s the true test of a great recipe…if you can mangle it up the way I did and it still succeeds with flying colors, well, you’ve got one hell of a recipe there. I can’t wait to make it again, but I made so much of it on round one that it’s still sitting in my fridge waiting on me to make something else with it. This go round, I made these…

Pumpkin & Chocolate Toffee Cinnamon Buns with Caramel Cream Cheese Icing.

Try to say that out loud and not drool into your keyboard. I dare you.

I pulled out about half of my Pumpkin Pie Brioche and patted it down with some flour, then rolled it out into a rectangle. Then I softened some butter and spread it on top, sprinkled on a good helping of brown sugar and cinnamon then followed that with lots of chocolate chips and toffee bits. Then I rolled it up and pinched the seam. I sliced the rolls about an inch and a half thick and placed them in my paper brioche cups, and sprinkled on a little more toffee before sliding them in to a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Once I pulled them out, I topped them with a healthy dose of sweetened cream cheese icing and a drizzle of homemade caramel and chocolate syrup. Good God…talk about a treat. The flavors complimented each other in ways you can’t even fathom…so I recommend you make some yourself! If you need precise amounts or more detailed instructions on the filling or toppings, please email me…I’ll be happy to clue you in! Until then, here is the Pumpkin Pie Brioche recipe from the book Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day!

Pumpkin Pie Brioche
from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, makes two 2 pound loaves

3 cups white whole wheat flour (I used 3 1/2 cups AP Flour)
4 1/2 cups unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used this amount, too)
1 1/2 Tbsps granulated yeast, or 2 packets
1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
2 Tbsps Vital Wheat Gluten
1 tsp Cinnamon*
1/2 tsp Ginger*
1/2 tsp Nutmeg*
1/4 tsp All Spice *(*I cheated and just used 2 tsps Pumpkin Pie Spice)
1 1/4 cups Lukewarm water
4 large eggs
1/2 cup Honey (I used Light Corn Syrup
3/4 cup Neutral flavored oil or melted butter (I combined the two)
1 3/4 cups Pumpkin Puree or one 15 oz can of Pumpkin Puree
Egg wash (I omitted as I was making buns)
Raw Sugar for sprinkling on top (Again, I omitted)

Mixing & Storing the Dough:
Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt, VWG & spices in 5 quart bowl or lidded (not airtight) food container.
Combine the liquid ingredients with the pumpkin puree and mix them with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14 cup food processor (with dough attachment), or heavy duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you are not using a machine.
The dough will be loose, but it will firm up when chilled. Don’t try to use it without chilling it for at least 2 hours. You may notice lumps in the dough, but they will disappear in your finished products.
Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
Refrigerate the dough in a lidded (but not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. Beyond that, the dough stores well in the freezer for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze it in 2 pound portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use, then allow usual rest/rise times.
On Baking Day:
Grease a brioche pan or an 8 1/2x 4 1/2 inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound piece of dough. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. Place ball in the prepared pan and allow to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 1 hour 45 minutes. (Note: I baked mine in mini brioche paper cups and only allowed them to rise in the oven as the temperature got up to 350. Big cheat, but it worked.)
Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350F with a rack placed in the center of the oven. If you are not using a stone in the oven, a 5 minute preheat is adequate.
Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the loaf’s top with egg wash, then sprinkle with raw sugar.
Bake near the center of the oven for approximately 45 to 50 mintes. Brioche will not form a hard, crackling crust. The loaf is done when it is medium brown and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time.
Remove the brioche from the pan and allow it to cool on a rack before slicing or eating.

Now, while I fully recommend you BUY this fabulous book (because hello? It really is pretty revolutionary in the world of bread baking) I am lucky enough to have permission to GIVE one of you a copy! That’s right…Zoë has generously donated a copy for me to give one DoughMessTic reader! Just leave me a comment here to be entered to win. Want more chances? Okay…

Tweet a link to this post, then come back and tell me you did it.
Want another chance? Mention this post on your OWN site, and again, return here and tell me in another comment.
Need more chances? Fine. Click over there on the Google Friend Connect and then Comment about it!

That’s like, 4 chances to win per person! Good Luck! I will announce a random winner on November 2nd…so get on it! Thanks Zoë for the great book!!

Daring Bakers October challenge…macarons

2009-10-27T00:00:00.002-04:00

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Boy was I relieved to see macarons as our challenge this month! I really like making them, and though I have tried a few different recipes, I pretty much stick to the tried and true method I have been using since I found success. If it weren’t for the brilliant instructions and advice of Helen, of Tartelette, I may still be stuck back at square one. Helen has wonderful ideas and suggestions, and any time I need assistance, she’s always there…that helps so much.

For this months challenge, I made all chocolate shells, but filled them with 3 different fillings. Some were “snickery” – filled with homemade caramel, chopped peanuts, and chocolate ganache. So tasty! I love the peanuty flavor. Some were Chocolate Mint – filled with chocolate ganache and chopped Junior Mint Candies. Lastly, some were Almond Joy – filled with coconut, and coconut infused chocolate ganache.

Just for fun I made a montage of some of my previous Macaron Flavors…I love making them and see no signs of stopping. In fact, I love making them so much that I have added them to my Etsy Store, and have sold several dozen in only a week. Hooray!

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week…and stay tuned for my Wednesday post. I have a great recipe and fantastic giveaway!! See you tomorrow!

Chocolate genoise with chocolate mousse

2009-10-26T09:50:00.001-04:00

What a mouthful. Literally and figuratively.

I made this cake on Saturday to celebrate Jon’s birthday with his parents who were in visiting. I only had from about 2:30 in the afternoon until dinner time to get it made, and I was thrilled with how quickly it came together, despite the somewhat daunting recipe. Carrie (yes, Carrie from Fields of Cake again) hooked me up with this recipe after my distress post looking for a similar type of cake…so thanks again, Carrie!

While it was certainly delicious and chocolate chocolate chocolate, it may have been a little too much. I think if I make it again (I will) I will use more milk chocolate. This time, I used mostly all dark chocolate, as it’s what I had on hand. Milk chocolate may be the way to go. As you can see in the pictures, I did a top layer of sweetened whipped cream on top of the mousse just to lighten it up a bit. It really was a pretty cake, and very impressive to look at. I can see it being made in a couple of 6 inch rounds and stacked super tall – now THAT would be an attention getter. Next time.

Chocolate Genoise Mousse Cake

adapted from a Godiva recipe

Chocolate Genoise:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Mousse:
9 oz. Chocolate, coarsely chopped(I used mix of dark & milk)
1/4 cup Godiva Liqueur
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
Ganache:
7 oz. Dark Chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream

Whipped Cream Topping:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream

Make the chocolate genoise:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter bottom of 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, baking powder and salt.
Beat whole eggs, egg yolks, oil, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla in bowl until tripled in volume, using electric mixer at medium-high speed. Add flour all at once, folding until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. (NOTE: I was bad at following directions. Be SURE to beat those eggs until they are tripled, and only mix in the flour until JUST combined. otherwise, you will have a dense cake instead of the fluffy one you want…although the dense cake is still delicious.)
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Make the milk chocolate mousse:

Place chocolate in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium (50% power) for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds more or until chocolate is softened. Stir until smooth. Add Godiva Liqueur, oil and vanilla, stirring to combine. Cool to room temperature.
Beat heavy cream in bowl until soft peaks form, using electric mixer at medium-high speed. Gently fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture.

Assemble the cake:

Loosen genoise from pan, using a knife. Remove side of springform pan. Carefully remove paper. Cut cake horizontally into two equal layers. Place one layer cut side up in bottom of springform pan. Spread half of the mousse on cake. Place top layer on mousse and spread with remaining mousse. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until mousse is set.

Make the Whipped Cream:

Beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form, then add vanilla and confectioner’s sugar and continue to beat until fluffy. Add to top of the cake with piping bag if you have one.

Make the ganache:
Place chocolate, corn syrup and vanilla in bowl. Heat heavy cream in saucepan over medium heat to a simmer. Pour over chocolate mixture. Let stand 30 seconds. Stir until smooth and let cool. Once cool, ice the sides of the cake. Using a piping bag, drizzle lines and swirls on the top of the cake for decoration.

Will I ever catch up?

2009-10-22T19:06:00.003-04:00

So...I just looked at my 52 Books in 52 Weeks status. Oh my. We have but 10 weeks left in the year (gasp!) and I have a whopping 16 books left to read. I guess I should be proud of myself for actually reading 36 books so far this year, because really, that's pretty good. But I'm not giving up yet. No, not yet. I can do it...even if I have to read a book a day between Christmas and New Years Eve.

I recently got a copy of Eileen Goudge's newest novel "Once in a Blue Moon" from the folks at the One2One Network to review. Once I finally had a minute to pick it up, I couldn't seem to put it back down. Don't you love books like that? It wasn't that I could relate to the tumultuous lifestyles contained in the book, or that I knew what it felt like to have everything good in my life at risk, but it was written in such a way that I understood, and felt the tension as well as the characters. Very well done.

Many times when I am reading a book, I tend to picture Hollywood's film adaptation of the book and try to imagine who I would cast. Richard Gere? Are you hearing me? You would make the ideal Randall Craig. Ideal. So silky and gorgeous, I couldn't think of anyone else when reading about him. The rest of the cast I rounded out with George and Izzy from Grey's Anatomy, along with Jennifer Aniston as Lindsay. Sorry if that's who you will now have to picture, but that's just me. I do that kind of thing. But who wouldn’t want to read a book picturing all of those fab actors? Do yourself a favor and pick it up for yourself…it’s available at Amazon by clicking the picture above. Oh, you don't want tot pay for it? Good news - I have a copy to give away, along with one of her other titles! Click here for details.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I spent most of my day today making a Birthday Cake for a teenage girl. Not just any old cake, a Purse Cake. My first ever Purse Cake. It's a surprise for her from her Dad & new Step-Mom (hi John & Lisa!) and I am delivering it to her at lunch tomorrow at her High School. The cake is lemon with white chocolate and lemon buttercream, and blueberry filling. I hope she'll like it!

On another note, this weekend Jon's folks are coming in to stay with us because Jon's birthday is next week. That means - another cake. Unlike Seven's birthday, I intend to only make 2 birthday cakes for Jon, not three. So, does anyone have a great idea for a cake I can make him? it needs to only serve about 6-8, so it doesn't need to be huge. He loves pumpkin pie, but he's not a huge cake fan...this one may be tough. His favorite cake of all time we had on a cruise. It was a very rich, almost brownie like base, topped with chocolate mousse and then a chocolate ganache, I think. Something along those lines. He'd be thrilled with something like that - does anyone have a recipe for that?? Help?

Cupcakes, all grown up

2009-10-18T13:26:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we were invited to a party to watch football and eat turkey. A group of 20 Hokie fans, ready for great food and a great ballgame. Little did we know we’d be watching the Georgia Tech team eat turkey as well. It were UGLY, folks. Let’s move on from that.

I decided to contribute dessert, but time and budget were tight. As you know, I am still involved in the Eat on $30 Challenge, so whatever I made needed to fit in that allowance. I think I succeeded.

A few months ago, I ordered some cute baking cups from Bake It Pretty (love that shop!) that I hadn’t found a good use for. You see, I wanted the dessert to not only taste good, but look good, too. Cupcakes, as we all know, taste fantastic, and they are perfect for parties because they are already portioned. But they look, well, kiddie. These brown baking cups remedied that. So I made a box mix Devils Food Cake ($1.00) and filled each of the baking cups a little over half full. No cupcake tin required, these little guys stand on their own. The box mix makes about 25 of them.

Once they were baked, I let them cool a little while I made a Chocolate Cheesecake Buttercream (Cost? About $3.00) . One day I will post the recipe for you – it’s one I adapted from Carrie at Fields of Cake. It’s so whippy and delicious, and entirely too easy to be a good thing. Plus, it holds up so well to piping, I imagine you could even pipe roses and other flowers from it instead of the crappy old Crisco icing. I need to try that for you to make sure.

Before I iced them, I filled them full of Chocolate Bourbon Caramel, another gift from Carrie. When I visited her a couple of weeks ago, she gave me a jar of this deliciousness. Chock full of Bourbon, it really warms your tummy. I thought it was the perfect thing to compliment this cake, and made it stand out from your average picnic cupcake. Then I piped on the buttercream and then topped it all off with the homemade Kahlua Caramel that I made a week or two ago.

Verdict? Yum. So rich and creamy, you can get over it being a box mix. So pretty you can get over it being a cupcake. Give it a try if you need something quick and painless, but I’ll warn you – they are hard to stop eating.

Here’s the recipe for Carrie’s Chocolate Bourbon Caramel…I don’t want you to be without it!

Chocolate Bourbon Caramel

by Carrie Fields, of Fields of Cake

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water – 3 Tbsp.
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 tbsp fine sea salt
3 Tbsp Bourbon
3 ounces excellent quality dark chocolate
1/4 cup excellent quality sifted cocoa powder

Equipment

2 or 3 quart, heavy-bottomed pot
candy thermometer
whisk

Step 1: Prep
Get all of your ingredients out and measure everything ahead of time, as the process goes quickly and it will make things run smooth for you. Cut the butter into Tablespoon sized pieces, it will help.

Step 2: Caramelize the sugars
In the pot, mix the sugar, salt, corn syrup, and water over low heat with a whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved. Raise heat to high then cover the pot and allow to boil for 2 minutes. Remove lid and boil mixture up to about 300° F. Remove from heat and swirl the pot gently. You’ll notice the mixture start to darken a bit. (It may be easier for you to watch the color to decide when to remove from the heat. Watch it closely, as it will burn easily. You want tot color to be amber, maybe a little darker, as the residual heat will keep cooking it for a bit.)

Step 3: Incorporate the fats
Drop the butter pieces into the pot and whisk until the butter is incorporated. Next, pour in the cream and again, whisk until blended. Note: The butter and cream both have water, so they will cause the pot to bubble up and release very hot steam. Make sure to wear an oven mitt to protect your hands and forearms. Now mix in the bourbon and whisk until blended. Then add the chocolates and whisk again (like crazy!) until blended. Allow to cool.

At room temperature, the caramel will be pourable and gooey. When refrigerated, it becomes the consistency of the caramel found in a Twix bar. Enjoy!

Day Six of the Eat on $30 Challenge saw us spending about $2 on Breakfast for Seven, $5 on Lunch for the 3 of us (Frozen Pizza and Kool Aid) and a total of about $5 for our contribution to the dinner party. Total spent - $12.00

doughmessticrafting

2009-10-17T12:57:00.001-04:00

Let me clarify…Not Rafting. Crafting. But I thought 2 c’s looked like one c too many.

So, crafting. I’ve been trying to add things to my Etsy Shop, other than Custom Cookies. I added French Macarons, which, yes, are still cookies…and I am very eager for someone to order a batch. I priced them cheap compared to what you can buy them for in a bakery (if you can even find a bakery on your neck of the woods that sells them) – so, maybe I’ll get a sale or two from them pretty soon.

I also started making little Charms. You could wear them on a necklace or bracelet, but my original thought was as a cellphone charm. I see lots of folks personalizing their phones these days. Personally, I made one for my Keychain. There’s really a lot of things you could do with them though! One gal ordered 10 of them from me yesterday for her Mini-Christmas Tree…what a cool idea! Here’s what they look like…if you want some, head over to my Etsy Shop for details, or email me and we’ll work something out!

I also need to summarize yesterday, Day 5, of the Eat on $30 Challenge.

Leftover Potato Soup all around for lunch and dinner. Seven had a yogurt and Eggo for breakfast, and Milk. No one paid for anything to drink, namely because we were out of drinks and water was acceptable versus driving to the store. Total Spent?

Less than $1.00.

She's Becoming DoughMessTic

Doughmesstic means Being Prepared

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head on over to the NEW Site…and a Giveaway!

Brown butter chewy chocolate chip cookies

And the WInner Is…

I was *this* close to being a Winter Olympian. Except it was summer. And I mix things up sometimes. Okay, well, a lot.

chocolate mousse cheesecake

Dark Chocolate Ganache

oooh la la

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is there an app for that?

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PRIZES

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Quick! Get yours RIGHT NOW!

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50th Anniversary Cake

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buttercream millennium falcon cake

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pinch me. yes, really.

pumpkin brioche gets all decked out

Daring Bakers October challenge…macarons

Chocolate genoise with chocolate mousse

Will I ever catch up?

Cupcakes, all grown up

doughmessticrafting

I was this close to being a Winter Olympian. Except it was summer. And I mix things up sometimes. Okay, well, a lot.