Tip!

Quick Munchie tip:

1 large bag popcorn, butter free kind

1/3 cup butter, melted

Heaping 1/3 packed brown sugar

In small pot combine butter and sugar on med-high for 3-4 mins stirring constantly. Place popcorn in large bowl, drizzle with butter/sugar mixture and stir like hell. Evenly space out on parchment covered baking sheet and let cool.

Enjoy!

It's a strudel the world we live in.

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

So, it's been a month since my last post. Which is sad, awfully sad, considering I've cooked up a bunch since then. There was the banana-peanut butter loaf, the chicken and barley soup, the thin crust pancetta and mozzarella pizza, the creamiest pasta salad, and wake-me-up coffee muffins(which I did record and will post, later).

Anyways, it all comes down to this months DB. I ditched the apples because I had pears galore, what can I say, when there's a sale, I go crazy. I've also really been meaning to use David Lebovitz recipe for candied ginger, and this seemed like the appropriate venue. 

The result? Tasty as hell the first day, okay the second, and not even worth eating the third. So, needless to say it went in the compost and it wasn't until the third day when I could bring it to my knitting group, or not bring it as it went. I have to take advantage of my weekends for cooking, I'm a busy girl! Also, my camera batteries died during our wonderful photoshoot, and I'm left with one 'candid' out of oven shot.

Cheese please

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I've done it, completed my first Daring Baker Challenge. Okay, okay, so I'm two days late posting, first time's never perfect, right? My days have been filled with cramming as much history of design into my head as possible. So much that, I can firmly say this cheesecake in honest. There are no underlaying steel tubes, or 79 screws holding it together, and it is indeed greatly comprised of cream cheese. 

I chose to do a very Spring inspired cake, keeping away from anything heavy or rich. I added 2 1/2 tablespoons of rosewater to the mix, the zest of two blood oranges, and the juice of one. I opted to keep the vanilla out, even though I know it's staple in almost all baking. Besides these few modifications I kept everything else the same, including a graham cracker crust!

I toped it with a simple icing with the zest and juice of one blood orange, and a few sugar bits of zest. I originally had the idea to place candied orange rind on, but when I got studying, and came into my kitchen full to the brim with smoke only to find my rinds burnt to a pot I think I'm going to throw away.

I can't vouch for it's taste yet, but the batter was rather good, and the icing, sweet and fresh. I'll let you know how a gaggle of fashion students respond to it.

Can you phrase that in terms of Epicness?

I often  find myself thinking of ways to improve upon everyday foods, trying to take everything awesome and smash it up into one. I'm pretty sure it's the same logic behind the Turducken. Take 3 delicious meats smash 'em into each other and roast. However, they are times where it goes too far, like taking said Turducken and covering it in Bacon. I mean, I love bacon, but.. really? I don't like to think about all that fat soaking into the bird, and can't imagine it tasting any good. It's an Epic food fail, similar to my stuffing experiment. Bread good, bacon good, sausage good, brussel sprouts good, cheese good, broth good, mix 'em up: NOT GOOD.

My recently acquired spring form pan has got me thinking off all the new things I could make, besides cheesecake, and I think I've found my Epic winner. A dolce de leche cheesecake with a carmel toping that is then followed by a croquembouche. The only real problem I can see with this is that one, or hopefully more than one, would have to eat said topping before digging into the cheesecake, and most would say this in no problem at all. 

Hopefully I'll get a chance in the future to make this Epic creation, and that it wont turn out to be an Epic Fail. 

Hiatus

Ah! I suck at blogging. I've been cooking, yes I have, still need to eat after-all.

More importantly I've not been taking pictures of what I make, I usually remember after my first few bites, which doesn't make for the best photo. Anyways, I've made a few things I can vouch for.

I was invited to a party on Valentines day, which turned out to be a cleverly named 'Love's a gamble' poker night, and I thought this was the perfect excuse to delve into the many bookmarked baked goodies that are pilling up. I decided upon the cheesecake brownies at David Lebovitz. Anyways, they turned out rather lip smacking, and were polished off accordingly. 

Also notable, the maple-balsamic pork I made last night. The flavor was quite nice, home style, no frills. You can also find that one over here. And it's incredibly easy for all those with cooking fear. 

I promise something good will come... soonish.

It's reading week after-all.

As guilt-free-as-they-get cookies

My mother's mother is an amazing baker, and as much as I hate saying it, I owe some of my skills to her. As a kid she taught me our family favorite, Ginger Snaps, which were kept in full bounty inside that cow cookie jar (and yes, it 'moo'd' when you opened the lid). Now, although the cow cookie jar is no longer living, I still do break out my tattered recipe and fill the kitchen with sweet ginger spice. So, you can imagine how excited I was when I saw a recipe for non-fat gingersnaps on David Lebovitz. And although they don't have quite the same flavor, I think ditching my grandma's 1/2lb of shortening had some effect. 

You can find that chewy and tasty cookie here.

Cupcake?

I haven't had time to make anything exciting, (As I don't think re-heating dinner counts), so I leave you with a link.

Go all weak-kneed over these delights, cupcakes!

I've got a few bookmarked!