My Delayed Postings

Sooo...I've lost my camera cable in the midst of major house construction. We've taken all of our floors out AND removed a wall AND torn down AND burned the remains of a garage. All the week before I hosted Thanksgiving for 12. Amidst all of this I have done a tremendous amount of cooking to share, including my TWD recipes. But I can't post my pictures. They will come as I continue to search. Look forward to:
Potato Leek Soup with crumbled bacon
Peanut butter coconut blondies
blueberry and cream cheese stuffed french toast
stuffed mushrooms
TWD Twofer pie (a real hit)
Our 22 lb turkey raised, killed and cooked by family
My Thanksgiving plate
Turkey Soup
Turkey and Sausage Jambalaya
Dorie's Chocolate Biscotti

Attack of Kugelholpf!!

I'm having a bad go of the TWD recipe's lately. The rugalesch looked oookay, but I wasn't that thrilled about them and I can't see spending money on ingredients and spending time in the kitchen on something I don't really really want to eat. So I let that one slide, but then when I saw Kugelhopf listed for this week, I knew that wasn't going to happen either....

I have memories of many many dry and tasteless experiences with this bread-cake that I don't want to return to. The mother of kids I used to tutor would stock up on this stuff around Christmas time and it seemed to hang out long past the new year. I had to pretend to like it on a constant basis. It irritates me that something that dares to look like cake can go and taste so awful. How dare it! I will not allow this wolf in sheep's clothing into my kitchen! Sorry....

Baked Alaska: A Sarah Palin Tribute

So I had read several suggestions for election night baking and cooking. My favorite suggestion was baked alaska. I have never eaten this, frankly, I've never even seen one in person. I've always wanted to have one of these and what better opportunity. This was my first attempt at making Merange. It was one of those things you have to have faith in. The moment you're about to call it quits, decide those white peaks are never going to appear, all of a sudden this white liquid undergoes a total physical change. And it's delicious. I wish I could say that my baked alaska's were great, but really, they were very difficult to put together and then in the frenzy of election night, I forgot them in the oven. We ended up eating ice cream soaked cookie and burnt marshmallow. But after all, what better tribute to Sarah Palin than a pretty looking disaster?

Cupcakes with Dorie

I am terrible at posting my Dorie experiments on time. I actually baked these on Tuesday but am only now posting. These stuck around the house for awhile. I think committing to eating a cupcake is a lot more difficult than grabbing an errant cookie or two. They were quite sophisticated. As Dorie says, not for kids!

Big News!

Biscotti

This is my favorite Dorie recipe so far. I've recently discovered that I love biscotti in the morning with my cup of coffee and have been buying pre packeged biscotti's at the store. I am psyched that I can now make killer biscotti at home and I hope to make it a weekly ritual.

These are lemon and I love them...

Apple Cider Traditions

I'm infamously stubborn about traditions. I am the one in my family that refuses to let anyone forget or get out of participating in the events that happen annually. Sometimes to the point of ridiculous. At 25 years old it might not be necessary to read Christmas stories aloud before bed on Christmas eve to my 24 year old brother, his 25 year old girlfriend and my 28 year old boyfriend and yet I persist.

One of the best traditions that I insist we continue is making apple cider at my aunt and uncle's house. Not only do I love apple cider, but their home is beautiful in the fall and loaded with apple trees. I also love the process of gathering apples, chopping, and pressing. The tradition started with my mom, brother and I some 20 years ago.