In life, in breath, in being: lady baker aspirations

Showing posts with label lady baker aspirations. Show all posts

Orange Cranberry Scones

Like many food lovers who find inspiration in the world wide web, I am constantly drooling over the pictures and recipes over at 101cookbooks. I saw her recipe for Orange and Oat scones and made them promptly. Typically, I'm a no-knead type of breadmaker, but after the delicious Rosemary Walnut bread I made on Tuesday that was traditionally made (you know, kneading, punching and messy flour face), I think I might balance my love for "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" cookbook and true breadmaking...

The scones were beautiful in their conception, not so beautiful in their completion. My lovely KitchenAid mixer made it simple, but seriously they would not cook through. I ended up baking them an additional 15 minutes. I'm sure it was the whipping cream that I poured over them last minute - oh what wonderful calorie-laden goodness. Find the recipe here. I chopped up dried cranberries instead of currants, added extra zest and chopped oranges to mine, as well as the fore mentioned whipping cream. (Reminiscent of Kate's glorious ginger scones...now that is a recipe that I need!)

On a Sabbath note, there was a wonderful article by Shane Claiborne in esquire that Tim posted. A good reminder, a good message. Check it out here.

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Yes to Heavenly Goodness, or Walnut Rosemary Bread

The November issue of Cooking Light had my mouth watering before I even turned the pages. The first recipe in the Editor's Notes for Walnut Rosemary Bread had me at hello. I made it tonight, in preparation for a few ladies who are coming over tomorrow night. JJ and I enjoyed its first steamy slices, pungent with woodsy rosemary, all while hinting at sweet walnut goodness. It was soft, chewy, and light. I'm not sure if its meant for apple butter or to eat with stew; I think both perhaps. Find the recipe here, in all of its glory.

It was quite the messy experience of kneading. I was a doughy-flour-handed monster. Did I do something wrong? I mean, the bread turned out, but it seemed like quite a wet messy 10 minutes of kneading... even with the extra cup of flour I added! Regardless, it was really wonderful. I felt like I was becoming the lady baker that I aspire to in my head. I'm wondering if my love for no-knead bread making has stolen the joy of kneading from me. It was really wonderful. Making and Eating.

JJ was crying in the picture before this. It was that beautiful. I love late night eating parties with the neighbors! I feel like JJ and I could easily have been besties with Julia and/or Julie.

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Overnight French Toast | Blessed Day

Today is a beautiful Sabbath, cold and snowy. Special love is in my heart for Andrew and Natalie, some favorite Provo-friends who are engaged as of yesterday, as well as Lance Loveday and Leslie Doll. I definitely cried this morning at church when Lance announced that the he's found the girl of his dreams and she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. Love spoken is beautiful.

I made my favorite breakfast for my favorite man, inspired by Aunt P, and attempted without a recipe by me. How many of you have I made this for?

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

Day old loaf of french bread
6 eggs and a few egg whites
1 cup berries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 package of low-fat cream cheese
1 cup low-fat milk

Grease a 9x11 casserole dish. Tear up half of the bread into small pieces bread and make a layer that covers the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle blueberries or raspberries on top of bread. Cut up cream cheese into small pieces and sprinkle over bread. Cover with the rest of the bread. Combine 6 eggs and a few egg whites, a cup (or so) of low fat milk and a splash of cream for good taste. Add a dash of vanilla extract. Mix together well and pour over the bread. Sprinkle a few more berries, cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, take the dish out of the fridge 30 minutes before baking, and allow to come to room temperature. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the middle is firm. Serve with blueberry syrup and enjoy!

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Conundrum: 101Cookbooks or Joy of Cooking

I am attempting to make madeleines for a very special someone for a "50 Years of Living" celebration this Friday evening. These cookie-like cakes are French favorites, and their buttery-lemon goodness is the perfect companion to afternoon tea, grumpy mornings, melted chocolates, and any other eating opportunity, I'm sure. I've been waiting for special opportunity to make these, after receiving a special Williams Sanoma Madeleine baking pan for my birthday last year (thanks Becky!).

The conundrum is this: my beautiful turquoise 1964 Joy of Cooking has a recipe for Madelines that involves a double boiler and a full 1/4 cup of additional sugar. The 101Cookbooks recipe utilizes a stand mixer, has less ingredients, and includes pictures.

Present or past? Simple or more involved? It seems that true baking requires a certain level of knowledge and a bit of complication...

I could use a recipe that has been used by generations of bakers who turn pages with flour-dusted hands, simple aprons and have original Pyrex bowels for the double boiler. Or a recipe from the trendy website bookmarked by foodies, writers, and photographers alike?

Due to my recent late-night cooking mishaps and the fact that my brain has been moving in slow motion for the last hour, I chose the simpler version in the hopes that I won't mess it up. The recipe on 101 Cookbooks is presented by the fabulous Heidi Swanson. (Does she have my dream job? Yes in fact, she does. I love you HS... my initial twin.) However, the beauty of the cover, the smell of its musty pages, as well as the wonderfully complicated instructions of the Joy of Cooking, will be enticing me with its 848 pages of recipes over the next while.

I will let you know, dear 9 readers, how they go over at my beautiful mother's birthday party.

Now, I have to go re-clean the kitchen that Asher so wonderfully cleaned for me this afternoon.

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Eggs Everywhere

These beautiful, multicolored eggs, along with 13 others that were delivered this week, inspired me to cook with eggs. Believe me, had I any chocolate chips in the house, I would've baked. But I didn't have the guts to do the whole double boiler thing. Anyway, I ended up making two different kinds of egg salads tonight. Actually, I started off by making guacamole. But I didn't have any tortilla chips. And for whatever reason, hard boiled eggs seemed like the most logical next thing to make.

I really want some brownies.

Anyway, I made one egg salad with cucumbers , celery, dijon mustard and a little milk, as I was avoiding mayo (not to mention I didn't have any - resourceful!). Atop a toasted english muffin, it was fresh and snacky and all that I needed this egg experiment to be. I mixed the second bath with with avos, cilantro, tomatoes and a healthy dash of salt and pepper. I put this in a pita, due to the chip shortage. Insert bad decision here. Opened a can of coke zero. Egg salad and coke zero do not go together. I couldn't finish my taste test at this point. It was probably tasted okay. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't look very appetizing, so I'll spare you.

So I cleaned up my mess (and cleaned the kitchen for the second time in three hours) am sitting on the couch, and still wishing I had made brownies instead.

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Best Ever Banana Bread

We played hooky from church this morning, which was gloriously relaxing and momentarily tinted by guilt. But that quickly was a thought dismissed after I decided to make banana bread. This was my first time using my KitchenAid stand mixer and my umpteenth time baking from my "Southern Living Homestyle Cooking" cookbook, generously given to me by a wonderful Moore baker and a true Southern belle.

Enjoy!

2 1/4 all-purpose flour

1 T plus 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

3/4 c firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 c sugar

1 1/2 t ground cinnamon

1 1/4 c mashed ripe banana

1/3 c milk

3 T vegetable oil (in a bind I've used mild olive oil and the worst it did was make the loaf darker)

1 large egg

1 t white vinegar

Opt: 1 c macadamia nuts, chopped.

Combine ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine banana, milk, oil, egg and vinegar; beat with a wire whisk until blended. Add to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened.

Spoon batter into a greased 9x5 loafpan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

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A good night, a good year

Asher is separating our laundry out on our kitchen floor. This is wonderful because it signifies a milestone in our new home: our washer and dryer are hooked up! He is a wonderful man. And my Dad is wonderful for spending the evening hooking it up with him.

I am reading on the couch, thoroughly enjoying "Julie & Julie". (book review coming soon, I'm sure...) However, the fact that I just ruined a batch of chocolate chip cookies for the second time this month is not deterring me in my culinary adventures. Although it does make me feel that a baker such as this is not worthy of a KitchenAid stand mixer.

My furnace is working, my pantry is not empty, my upcoming week is filling up with friends. 2009 is looking good.

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A pie to rival all pies

As a first time piemaker, I was quite excited to present my Cranberry Pear pie for our Christmas feast. There is a small (okay large) part of me that wants to be a lady baker, similar to Maggie Gyllenhaal in Stranger than Fiction. This is the first inkling of hope that I have for my dreams to come true.

I combined a recipe from Mary Englebreit's "Sweet Treats" cookbook and a Martha recipe. Premade pillsbury crust, frozen cranberries, dried cranberries and sliced pears, filled with sugar and spiced with ginger, it was simple and delicious dessert.

In life, in breath, in being