Oct.
31

Lemon Muffins – and a new award

Posted by Em at: 12:30 pm | 5 Comments

With all the craziness going on in our house last couple of weeks, I definitely fell behind in my blogging.  That always makes me feel bad.  But baking always makes me feel good – and now that the work in the living and dining room is complete, the stuff is no longer all over my kitchen (and instead back where it belongs!!) I can bake again!!!  YAY!!!!!!!  And one of the very first things I baked was a recipe I’ve been holding onto for quite some time.  It’s for lemon bread but I didn’t have the patience to wait while a loaf bakes up.  Nope, too impatient for this instant-gratification kinda gal ;-)  Instead, I modified the recipe and made them into muffins… mini muffins (even quicker, dontcha know! LOL) and they tasted great.  While they may not be the big old granddaddy-sized muffins I’d hoped for they were plenty tasty and made my coworkers happy.  One even commented “hey, think about layin off the MINI part” hahahah :) 

I’ve always loved hardwood floors.  Not sure why since I certainly didn’t have them growing up.  But starting with the very first home I purchased, I’ve always had hardwoods. When I moved back to California 5 years ago the home I bought had carpeting.  Pretty much wall-to-wall carpeting… it was practically everywhere but the kitchen, laundry room and bathroom.  I didn’t hate it, but I never liked it.  It was fine, it was okay and it was beige.  Not a bad color but all of the wall colors are some shade of brown so the beige carpeting always seemed, boring, safe, and just “ok”.

Try as I might, I never could “relax” when we ate in the dining room.  What can I say… people are human and spills happen but when it did happen it just got my nerves all jangly.  DH being the wonderful guy he is never worried about it, he’d just grab a can of SpotShot and clean it up.  But after 5 years I decided it was time to get rid of the carpeting and let my jangled nerves have a rest :)  The carpeting was being removed from the dining room and we were having hardwood floors installed – yay!  But then I got to thinking… since they’re a single large space, why not do the living room as well since that’s where we dance and a wood floor is soooooo much better than carpeting when it comes to dancing.  The hubs and I are ballroom dancers – Swing, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, Tango, Rumba, Waltz… and a little bit of Samba. Nothing fancy like on Dancing With The Stars but we can hold our own quite well when we’re out on the floor and believe it or not I think Hubs likes it more than I do :) We take both group lessons (twice a week) and private instruction (once a week) so having hardwood floors is great for practicing at home.  

Getting the actual floors done wasn’t that bad… three days of actual work (by a contractor-friend)… but it was the moving of all the furniture into the family room… and taking all the stuff out of the china cabinet… and then cleaning up all the dust (have I ever mentioned that I have a serious aversion to dust?  OMG serious aversion!)… and then moving the furniture back… and putting all the stuff back into the cabinets.   Holy Cow – It felt never ending.  But it did end… finally… at long last everything is back in its proper order.  Instead of beige carpet we now have Malaysian Cherry hardwood floors.  Rather than worry about people spilling on the beige carpet I can obsess over how much dust the wood floors show.  Ack!  It’s always something :)

While I was enduring the trials -&- tribulations of my flooring adventures, my little blog won another award :) This one is the Kreativ Blogger award and comes from Matt of Matt’s Kitchen.  It’s always such a nice feeling to know that not only do other people take the time to read your blog but they enjoy it enough to feel it “award” worthy.  If you’ve never visited Matt’s blog, please do.  I love his writing style which makes me feel like I know him even though we’ve never met or talked.  This award comes with a few rules about posting some information about yourself (things you did before, things you do now, things you want to do… etc) and I’m gonna work on those and get it posted very very soon.  I just didn’t want to delay my public acknowledgment of Matt’s gracious award any longer.  I’m truly flattered and will take care of my end of the award just as soon as I can!!

 

Lemon Muffins

Adapted from Williams Sonoma

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • Juice and zest of one medium lemon 

For the lemon glaze: 

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 5 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 tsp. milk

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Spray muffin tins w/baking spray.

In a bowl, stir and toss together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture along with the milk, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat until blended and smooth, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. 

Meanwhile, make the lemon glaze: In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, milk and lemon juice. Set aside, stirring occasionally.

Remove the muffins from the oven and transfer the pan to a wire rack. Cool for 5 minutes then remove the muffins to the rack and cool for another 5 minutes. Place a sheet of aluminum foil or waxed paper under the rack :)  Drizzle the lemon glaze over the muffins and cool completely (if you can wait that long – didn’t happen for me! LOL).

Enjoy!!

 

Posted in lemon, muffins, recipes | 5 Comments »

Oct.
29

We’re nearing the end of the month and that can only mean one thing… no no no, not “time to pay the mortgage/rent” (though it’s probably time for that too! LOL)… it’s time to reveal the Daring Bakers challenge!!! This one was certainly a little different since people usually associate cakes and pastries with “baking”.  But think about it… all sorts of things are baked, cakes, cookies, pies, bread, crackers, potatoes, chicken… the list goes on and on.  Savory or sweet we Daring Bakers are up for anything!!  Our challenge for October? Pizza and toppings – in a word… yum!

The host for this month was Rosa of the blog Rosa’s Yummy Yums and the recipe choice was pizza dough.  I’ve made pizza many times at home and it’s always a big hit with the family so I was really looking forward to making this recipe.  This being a Daring Bakers challenge, I knew the stakes were going to be high.  Gourmet foodies abound in this group and I wanted to create pizzas worthy of such standards… toppings that were unusual or noteworthy.  But… reality came back to into play when I recalled my family isn’t into high-end, unusual, noteworthy pizza toppings.  My family likes it best when the pizza is topped with pepperoni and cheese – lots and lots of cheese.  So that’s what I made – a traditional pepperoni and cheese pizza cuz, well, yanno, sometimes ya gotta let go of lofty aspirations and just be who ya are ;-)

We were supposed to toss the pizza… like real pizzaiolas in Italy… and get pictures of it.  But, try as I might, it was not about to happen for me.  You see, making the dough from this recipe is a two day process and when day #2 rolled around, DH and the kids were out and about doing their thing.  I planned it that way so I’d have some peace and quiet and not have people underfoot trying to distract me (laugh at me?) trying to toss my pizza dough.  I thought that was a fantastic plan.  The only problem was… d’oh!… I had no one to snap the photos! LOL.  But it was actually a good thing because I’m sure I looked rather ridiculous doing it :)  But no worries, the crust came out fine.  I didn’t want a cracker-thin, crispy crust so I tried to leave the dough as thick as I could… and on the edges I made a very concerted effort to fold / roll the crust over sufficiently so that it would be more like having something to hold on to.  I stacked and rolled and folded that dough over and over again to get it how I wanted it… and I think I succeeded!   My family came home and smelled a delicious home made pizza baking in the oven and boy were they excited.  But then again, it was pizza and that’s all it takes :)

If you’d like the recipe, it can be found on Rosa’s blog.  Please take a moment and check out the pizza’s created by the rest of the Daring Bakers - while I can’t guarantee it, I bet they have pictures of successful dough tossing :)

 

Have a delicious day!

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Posted in daring bakers, food | 13 Comments »

Oct.
24

Drunken Cherry Scones

Posted by Em at: 1:07 pm | 6 Comments

 

In the spirit of “keepin it real” I’m just gonna put it right out there for ya…. I’m looking for a little sympathy today.  We’re having some work done on the first level of our house and it’s just got everything discumbobulated right now. We had to clear everything out of the living room and dining room… the furniture was moved to the family room, my “studio” (haha yeah, good one! LOL) was disassembled and moved to the guest bedroom… and everything that was in my china cabinet and curio cabinet is sitting all over the kitchen. The stovetop has the china, the countertops have some of the glassware and the rest is on the kitchen table. O-M-G.  The living room… the dining room… the family room… and worst of all the kitchen… all out of commission.  It’s been painful and very hard on my psyche as I’m unable to cook or bake… or photograph. It’s unfortunate I made these scones about a week ago because I’d surely LOVE to have some right now. These are really good… and of course, the addition of a wee bit of alcohol (optional, of course) doesn’t hurt a bit ;-) The batter is so tasty that I had to stop myself from eating it. This recipe is extremely versatile… use your choice of fruit… and your choice of alcohol… omit either one… omit both… as I like to say “do whatcha like”… but do make these :)

Before March of this year I’d never tried a scone. But just a single one had me hooked… hooked I tell ya! Now, I eat them all the time, mostly because I bake them so often. More complex in texture and taste than either a biscuit or a muffin, done right, a scone melts in your mouth and makes your tummy happy :) I had some dried cherries in the pantry, and we usually have Amaretto on hand so that’s the combination I made since cherry and almond flavors really appeal to me. But use your imagination, be creative! Maybe peaches and brandy, pineapple and Grand Marnier (orange) or whatever you like. You can omit the fruit entirely or use nuts instead. The base recipe is noteworthy all on it’s own so don’t feel like you have to dress them up because most certainly you do not. 

  

Drunken Cherry Scones

Adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup cream
1 egg
Handful dried cherries
Enough Amaretto to just cover the cherries

Preparation
Put the cherries in a small bowl and pour in the Amaretto so that the cherries are soaking. Let them sit for about 5-10 minutes to soften.  Come back and using either a muddler or end of a wooden spoon or similar utensil, kind of mash down the cherries just enough to open them up allowing more of the Amaretto to be absorbed. Let this sit for about 30 minutes.  Pour the cream into a measuring cup that is larger than 1cup size.  Add the cherry/Amaretto mixture and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 375°F
Line cookie sheet either with silicone baking mat or parchment paper

Directions
In a food processor combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar then pulse a couple of times to mix well. Add in butter and shortening and combine for about 15 seconds or until you have a pebbly mixture. In a separate bowl, combine cream mixture with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients and mix just until combined (don’t over mix but your cherries should be pretty well broken down and incorporated into the dough).  Spoon or scoop the dough into rough balls and place on cookie sheet.  Use a wet finger to smooth “peaked” areas.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

 

These come together quickly and easily. They’re tender, slightly sweet, moist and delicious.  Great with tea or for breakfast or as an anytime snack.   The work on our house should be completed this weekend so with any luck I’ll be back to baking soon :)


Enjoy!

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Posted in almond, alton brown, fruit, scones | 6 Comments »

Oct.
21

Pumpkin Muffins – TwD

Posted by Em at: 7:01 am | 13 Comments

 

Once again it’s Tuesday and we’re baking with Dorie.   Being that we’re nearing the end of October and the big pumpkin day (that’s Halloween in the US) it’s only fitting this week’s recipe would be pumpkin muffins. YAY! 

This week’s TwD host was Kelly of Barbaric Gulp and I’m glad she picked the Pumpkin Muffin recipe. Dorie full-on raves about these and truth be told I think they’re great but, sorry, not THAT great.  The way Dorie does it calls for topping these with raw sunflower seeds which sounded really unappealing to me so obviously I omitted that.  After baking, they looked a little bit “blah” so I decided to drizzle on a glaze of powdered sugar & milk.  That gave them a touch of extra sweetness as well as an interesting visual appeal.  The use of Golden raisins is wonderful in this recipe… and as a little something different I soaked mine in dark Rum for about an hour before adding them to the recipe :)  Did it add any flavor?  I dunno but it sure made me feel good to do it! LOL :)

When I was looking for a garnish to add to this week’s photos, I felt a little bored with the usual mint sprig and instead chose a few flowers and greenery from a bouquet of flowers DH and the kids had given me “just because”.  The colors are gorgeous and I’m glad I used them in the photos :)

I love pumpkin!!  I loved these muffins!!  And my DH who isn’t even a big fan of pumpkin?  He loved these muffins too and they were a really really big hit with my co-workers. So if you’re a pumpkin lover… or merely on the fence about it… give these muffins a try.  They’re soooooooo good :)  If you’d like the recipe, check out our host Kelly’s site (or better yet… buy Dorie’s book and start baking!!).  Please take a moment to check out the others who bake Tuesdays with Dorie.  Remember, if you’re considering joining, memberships are only being accepted thru the end of the month :)  

Have a delicious day!

 
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Posted in Dorie Greenspan, Tuesdays with Dorie, muffins, pumpkin, recipes | 13 Comments »

Oct.
18

Donuts

Posted by Em at: 3:35 pm | 19 Comments

I came across this recipe/idea/concept while watching some show on The Food Network. I honestly can’t remember which one since it was several months ago.  The episode itself wasn’t all that great… individual segments on different chefs showing how to create their signature dishes.  I can’t recall the featured chefs nor what they created… but I do remember the last one was Giada De Laurentiis and her recipe for Italian Donuts.  Since I started baking last December, I’ve tried all sorts of things… cakes, pies, cookies, custards, curds, trifles, muffins, foccacia, dinner rolls, even bagels – - – but I’d never tried making donuts.  The way Giada showed it was so ridiculously easy I knew eventually I’d get around to it… and I did.  If you’ve never done this before you’ll be blown away by how simple it is to make donuts right at home.

 

For this, the secret weapon is a tube of prepared pizza dough that you can buy right in the refrigerated section of your local grocery store.  Oh don’t go gettin’ all “purist” on me now sayin’ that you don’t like buying “prepared dough” for this reason or that.  No worries!  If you really want to go make your own dough – go for it!  But that will take this recipe from quick -&- easy into “involved -&- time consuming” and sometimes you just wanna go the quick -&- easy route :)

Roll the dough out to about a half-inch thickness and use two cookie cutters… one to make the larger circle and the other to make the smaller “hole” in the center.  I didn’t have two cookie cutters so I used one biscuit cutter and one small circle cutter that was in a Linzer cookie “kit” that I’ve had forever but never opened (one day, mark my words, I will try making Linzer cookies… honest… I will… but that day is just not today… and tomorrow doesn’t look good either LOL!).  Take the scraps and re-roll them to cut out more donuts but think about saving those cut out holes because all by themselves they can be donut-holes which are always a big hit!

Fry those babies up in hot oil, drain well on paper towels or a cooling rack.  These fry up very quickly… keep an eye on them because all it really takes is about 45 seconds on each side before they’re sufficiently done.  Don’t make the mistake I did at first… I was way over-cooking them to the point of being brown.  Nope, nuh-uhn, don’t do that…. they’re overdone at that point and will be “tough” which is not how you want a donut to be.  Just fry them until puffy and light golden brown… that’ll keep them light and airy and make ‘em melt in your mouth!!

While they’re still warm, roll in a mixture of cinnamon sugar… or powdered sugar… or a glaze made from powdered sugar and milk… or dip in melted chocolate… add crushed peanuts… or rainbow sprinkles… or chocolate sprinkles.  Have fun… do whatcha like! 


Donuts 


Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis


Ingredients
1 13.8oz tube Pillsbury pizza crust
Vegetable or Canola oil, for deep-frying
Cinnamon sugar mixture or powdered sugar


Directions
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out doughnut rounds. Using a floured 1-inch cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the center of each doughnut. Gather the dough scraps and reroll. Cut out more doughnuts.  You can also take the center hole cut-outs and fry them up as donut holes!

Pour the oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375° F. Working in batches, fry the doughnuts until they puff but are still pale, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool slightly. While the doughnuts are still warm, generously coat each with the cinnamon sugar mixture or powdered sugar.  

Alternatively, combine powdered sugar and a small amount of milk to create a glaze (the amount of milk will depend on how thick or thin you wish the glaze to be but add the milk in small amounts, by tablespoon and mix thoroughly to determine consistency before adding the next tablespoon).  For glazed donuts, coat each in the mixture.  Another option is to only dip the top of the donut in the mixture, set the donut upright and top the glaze with sprinkles or nuts.  

You can even melt some chocolate, coat each donut or dip just the tops and sprinkle on crushed nuts.  There are so many options, let your creativity flow!!! 

These really were a big hit with my family.  I’m not sure who liked them more… the hubs or the kids…. or maybe me! LOL

Have a delicious day!!

Posted in Giada De Laurentiis, breakfast, cinnamon, recipes | 19 Comments »

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