tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25342214982986991292024-02-19T10:52:09.070-06:00Secret ServerWould you like to see my whine list?snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-38034606036622244252009-10-25T15:50:00.003-05:002009-10-25T16:10:33.434-05:00Sweet Potato Biscuits, TWDI have never really gotten the hang of making biscuits. Or basically anything that requires cutting the butter and flour together. I remember my mother-in-law trying to teach me how to cut butter and flour for pie crusts using a knife and fork. Maybe it isn't just the butter thing. I worked in a fast food restaurant for awhile as a biscuit maker. They had a mix I would pour in a giant bowl and all I had to do was add buttermilk and mix and cut. Even those were not turning out right and rather than demanding some retraining, I quit. (That was also with a three month old baby and getting up at 4:00 a.m. to go make the biscuits. Maybe that is why I quit.)<br /><br />I felt a little intimidated by this week's Tuesdays with Dori recipe, Sweet Potato Biscuits, chosen by Erin at <a href="http://prudencepennywise.blogspot.com/2009/10/sweet-puh-tayter-hostess-thats-me.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Prudence Pennywise</span></a>. It actually was a very easy recipe and I did a decent job getting the butter cut in. It may have been too floury still, but next time I am going to try grating the butter in and see if that helps. I mashed canned sweet potatoes with a fork and left them a little lumpy. I really liked the little sweet potato bits in the biscuits. These were really delicious and simple. I think mine did not rise much because I scraped baking powder out of the bottom of the can. It was pretty old.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsHLQUxJD9CroXasqgIFPno0SK5HsmAbRv3yDpnAc_7VFuLBDxRIjKLkVI2OqpgvK7gDhm_uGSGwWy3jSZkMxQbFfplRwKBGV8vEkHtqg4AnHZNvuqMFXiJS1-56Zz8UabXsCvDw0ePY/s1600-h/S+P+biscuits.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsHLQUxJD9CroXasqgIFPno0SK5HsmAbRv3yDpnAc_7VFuLBDxRIjKLkVI2OqpgvK7gDhm_uGSGwWy3jSZkMxQbFfplRwKBGV8vEkHtqg4AnHZNvuqMFXiJS1-56Zz8UabXsCvDw0ePY/s320/S+P+biscuits.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396646376901812882" /></a> <br /><br />I am going to get some new baking powder, grate the butter, and try these again soon. You can get the recipe on <a href="http://prudencepennywise.blogspot.com/2009/10/sweet-puh-tayter-hostess-thats-me.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Prudence Pennywise</span></a> or on page 26 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From My Home to Yours</span>, by Dorie Greenspan.snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-22919421463624706762009-10-05T21:16:00.006-05:002009-10-05T21:44:08.460-05:00Two Tuesdays with Dorie<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-jT01yYJZ1fUGvtSzMsBbN0aR5iLaOdS4FCpqV5F-Ryf2A13EpsIya43OomkRKCDohOD3X3LY4jsnw7cbY6OyLUaMSngX9p83YLrYzeXVaPhlo0j-3Nxh-CgBbMhz9GEgIOfoDrpoG0/s1600-h/pudding+with+berries.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-jT01yYJZ1fUGvtSzMsBbN0aR5iLaOdS4FCpqV5F-Ryf2A13EpsIya43OomkRKCDohOD3X3LY4jsnw7cbY6OyLUaMSngX9p83YLrYzeXVaPhlo0j-3Nxh-CgBbMhz9GEgIOfoDrpoG0/s320/pudding+with+berries.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389311746243368642" /></a><br /><br />I have been trying to get caught up on my Tuesdays with Dorie baking. I have actually only missed one recipe since I joined in January, the chocolate souffle. But my baking and posting has been late for many other recipes. Last week, I finally made the Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart, chosen by Carla of <a href="http://chocolatemoosey.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Chocolate Moosey</span></a>, on Thursday. We had a ...situation...in our house and I didn't use my kitchen for several days. My brother knew we weren't using our kitchen and invited us over for dinner the day our situation was resolved. I decided to try to whip this tart up really quickly, and I did! I threw the dough in the food processor, pressed it in the pan, put it in the freezer, ran a kid on an errand, called home to have the other kid preheat the oven, came back and baked it while microwaving cream for both the caramel and the ganache and just threw this baby together to be chilled during dinner. The ganache was still a little runny, but I thought it was really great and even better the next day when it had set up nicely.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4CtjXRWF2GoEPIJTtT5EH23WyUX2oEOWJ9ia9LxX5FQswtZ_V0rhGrE7VOvvkrKxcMCZzN_bd1lQDVKsfcWRqsOcZI0IB81xsrcOXg_NlNcbEHigxThMTYg3oK4LreBRXHp21xc1jIj4/s1600-h/chocolate+caramel+crunch+tart+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4CtjXRWF2GoEPIJTtT5EH23WyUX2oEOWJ9ia9LxX5FQswtZ_V0rhGrE7VOvvkrKxcMCZzN_bd1lQDVKsfcWRqsOcZI0IB81xsrcOXg_NlNcbEHigxThMTYg3oK4LreBRXHp21xc1jIj4/s320/chocolate+caramel+crunch+tart+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389308488401161426" /></a><br /><br />This week, I also made some super speedy split level pudding this afternoon and I am going to get my post posted today...on TUESDAY, god willing. I got called to substitute teach today and had a marching thing to do this evening. I came home from school, read P & Q, and decided to use Romaine's suggestion of using the microwave again. I had leftover ganache from last week's tart and made the vanilla pudding in the microwave. It was so simple. I also took someone else's suggestion of putting it in wine glasses to see the split levels. So thank you fellow TWDers whom I don't have time to link to for the great ideas! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejO2OVlU9QSMDZSwcJNUXigHxV0lxtJCGez5ne36o4pOJQZQ9UhH2MPqNodX8qrT_jBmEjgPg7QcMzgZYe9EHtOl6np1SUpjMBlyZcwC-LywOybt7saLtguyUJZJcXYm6nfxlVbedXVQ/s1600-h/pudding+on+the+counter.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 142px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejO2OVlU9QSMDZSwcJNUXigHxV0lxtJCGez5ne36o4pOJQZQ9UhH2MPqNodX8qrT_jBmEjgPg7QcMzgZYe9EHtOl6np1SUpjMBlyZcwC-LywOybt7saLtguyUJZJcXYm6nfxlVbedXVQ/s320/pudding+on+the+counter.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389311400050226738" /></a> <br /><br />And thanks to Garrett of <a href="http://theflavorofvanilla.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Flavor of Vanill</span>a</a> for this week's pick, which can be found on pages 384- 385 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From My Home to Yours</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pVT8qN6yg0qWBy5UnVDDRKtYktuENbMexgdKcbc1V8h2eI-Omh8UFdYTDssvX-251HmkFBdmksQ4yCwrH4hbNBhsmspXIezH-lY2GOikz-LfX_mIdovNtoEMx03mioPsulhd3PhvfVE/s1600-h/pudding+done.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 274px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pVT8qN6yg0qWBy5UnVDDRKtYktuENbMexgdKcbc1V8h2eI-Omh8UFdYTDssvX-251HmkFBdmksQ4yCwrH4hbNBhsmspXIezH-lY2GOikz-LfX_mIdovNtoEMx03mioPsulhd3PhvfVE/s320/pudding+done.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389311586266343042" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-45322247447821242262009-09-23T09:12:00.003-05:002009-09-23T09:22:10.616-05:00Cottage Cheese Pufflets; TWDOr as we called them, just "Pufflets" (so cute). I knew that my family would not like them (probably not even try them) if I called them anything with cottage cheese in the title. Jaques, of <a href="http://daisylanecakes.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Daisy Lane Cakes</span></a>, picked this interesting recipe, found on pages 148 and 149 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From My Home to Yours</span>.<br /><br />The cottage cheese is pureed in the dough, giving it a nice tanginess. I wish I had strained the cottage cheese, due to the stickiness of the dough. I know problems could have been overcome by repeated chilling, but I was too impatient and just kind of scooped and mangled some when I needed to. I also wish I had put more preserves in the middles. I think I will make these again soon. My family really liked them and I know I can do them better.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0IIUb3oXWng8_UU9bevrqHuKIQH0yKzMIwNtYaLjzNYOVd6Ap9ZQi_S9zYa_eLNWajK9UCHreGI1jOF0lpGpqY4Dq_k2PPVdeDXdP4wkz9D7mdlM2CpSQB0YF7oOyqRbWJTwb-rajAM/s1600-h/pufflets+done.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0IIUb3oXWng8_UU9bevrqHuKIQH0yKzMIwNtYaLjzNYOVd6Ap9ZQi_S9zYa_eLNWajK9UCHreGI1jOF0lpGpqY4Dq_k2PPVdeDXdP4wkz9D7mdlM2CpSQB0YF7oOyqRbWJTwb-rajAM/s320/pufflets+done.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384667699796988130" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-40868308850915747512009-09-19T18:47:00.005-05:002009-09-20T13:55:37.767-05:00Flaky Apple Turnovers: TWDApples mean fall. Fall means back to school. Back to school means I am super busy, especially this year. I have just started substitute teaching. For so many years,my main job has been caring for my kids and my grandma. I have worked slinging drinks a few nights a week. It feels so weird to have a real job.<br /><br />I am excited and loving it though. My grandma's sister is helping me take care of her. This is a huge help, but it is also a huge stress because her sister isn't as able to care for her as I had hoped. My life is a whirlwind right now.<br /><br />This week, I did make the apple turnovers. The dough gave me fits. I don't know what I did but it was a big crumbly mess. Well, I do know one thing I did, not cut the butter fine enough. I was afraid of overworking it I guess. But when it came to rolling it out, I may have overworked it a bit as I tortured it (and myself) with a marble rolling pin. I hated working with this dough. When the option came in the recipe to gather the scraps to re-chill and re-roll to make more, I quickly and emphatically gathered the scraps and threw them in the trash.<br /><br />All in all though, I guess it was kind of like childbirth; the pain was forgotten once I had that delicious little turnover. I think I undercooked mine a bit (unlike childbirth with my late, 10 and 11 lb. babies). They turned out tasting better than I thought they would after fighting with the dough.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiys_l_03uAu89VV537ZTRZrycC6WOdHBre_OXwzgna7l9Gs5vlGGD_tholyWLm1Q-tDUNarYkPYnCsIo5i9vuq2_r4z_kZwr8r4LucO8qnJPsDWlD_W1RbnRzrj4xB_-oah3bcBuaes3s/s1600-h/apple+turnover+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiys_l_03uAu89VV537ZTRZrycC6WOdHBre_OXwzgna7l9Gs5vlGGD_tholyWLm1Q-tDUNarYkPYnCsIo5i9vuq2_r4z_kZwr8r4LucO8qnJPsDWlD_W1RbnRzrj4xB_-oah3bcBuaes3s/s320/apple+turnover+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383334457800960402" /></a><br /><br />Thanks to Julie of <a href="http://someonekitchen.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Someone's in the Kitchen</span></a> for picking this recipe which can be found on pages 317 and 317 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From My Home to Yours</span>, by Dorie Greenspan.snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-17575141460651603342009-09-05T10:44:00.003-05:002009-09-07T18:36:25.232-05:00Espresso Cheesecake BrowniesI don't even know what to say. It is Monday night and I am writing last week's post. I shouldn't even post at all probably. But once again, I *did* make the TWD project. I just didn't post about it. So nothing like the last last minute, I wanted to say I did it; I loved them, and here they are:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIhtoraVf0KjvhyWNCIrNG9IIEM7SRB26uXg3MWFRavlE3xm9zeLuEEO0b0oamgrN0SZcD9MBjN-GxNMLHla58NSiV9HvprAmnCa-jWZzwQ_nVdF7TkihpAVIyXqC4-F0GI4bph4_UmA/s1600-h/esspresso+cheesecake+brownies+done.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIhtoraVf0KjvhyWNCIrNG9IIEM7SRB26uXg3MWFRavlE3xm9zeLuEEO0b0oamgrN0SZcD9MBjN-GxNMLHla58NSiV9HvprAmnCa-jWZzwQ_nVdF7TkihpAVIyXqC4-F0GI4bph4_UmA/s320/esspresso+cheesecake+brownies+done.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378872265920015202" /></a><br /><br /><br />Melissa of <a href="http://lifeinapeanutshell.blogspot.com/2009/08/twd-espresso-cheesecake-brownies.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Life in a Peanut Shell</span></a> chose Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, pages 104 and 105 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking From My Home To Yours</span>.<br /><br />Up for tomorrow: Find a suitable souffle pan or substitute, take Grandma to aqua aerobics class, bake souffle, shampoo carpet in three bedrooms, take Little E to music lesson, Chaperone Big E's evening marching band practice for 3 hours, and write a post about the souffle, assuming it even turns out. Right.snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-87855749012668923562009-08-25T18:56:00.007-05:002009-08-25T20:00:59.971-05:00Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie, TWD<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwL8rAntNvfLSk1TyQeZapi6CB6TpnTug3aKtrcnL8FKmRUOq3f7POmB-BINzpYocWQoIKbHH85afgfupEZWtEXLFYX8nAOsMlDvf8pf73BRX8hrCNDJXeZjnRQ3ATbiNnO15DegPnpg/s1600-h/slice.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwL8rAntNvfLSk1TyQeZapi6CB6TpnTug3aKtrcnL8FKmRUOq3f7POmB-BINzpYocWQoIKbHH85afgfupEZWtEXLFYX8nAOsMlDvf8pf73BRX8hrCNDJXeZjnRQ3ATbiNnO15DegPnpg/s320/slice.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374069357497270226" /></a><br /><br />This was quite a pie. (With quite a lot of butter.) I got excited about making this when <a href="http://jenjw4.wordpress.com/">Jennifer</a> brought it to book club. Our host provided a wonderful citrus themed dinner, including dessert, but Jennifer provided another dessert, serendipitously citrusy as well. (And <a href="http://pointlesslyhypertechnical.blogspot.com/">Ms. PH</a> brought an incredible pesto dip, which complimented the citrus theme too!) <br /><br />The lime cream for the pie has a hint of ginger. I stole a page from <a href="http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/">Romaine's</a> book and made my cream in the microwave. I have done curds in the microwave before, and it is so simple and getting it to 180 degrees just took a few minutes. Then I strained it into the blender and slowly added the two and a half sticks of butter. The cream was nice and thick, so I think the microwave cheat was fine.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMeDxcUmpAsW469x_aQ8wIAys62kNHkTpNJhDikgJrYLVZV3Hs-3LJVE4LnbiqO7sMJkgXq6aDR5g0UC-9En5zuuvSu7Ljm6BMsymRdWLbrtc7xBqPSNgws8myVK0Jb-WzFwn4ipI37ss/s1600-h/thick+cream.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMeDxcUmpAsW469x_aQ8wIAys62kNHkTpNJhDikgJrYLVZV3Hs-3LJVE4LnbiqO7sMJkgXq6aDR5g0UC-9En5zuuvSu7Ljm6BMsymRdWLbrtc7xBqPSNgws8myVK0Jb-WzFwn4ipI37ss/s320/thick+cream.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374067173750463778" /></a><br /><br />One advantage to procrastinating when making the TWD recipes, is I can learn from Jennifer's suggestions. She felt her crust was too dry and crumbly and suggested doubling the butter. As if this pie did not already have enough butter? But I followed her advice and the crust turned out fine. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzb0Vky75bIps-exK4CppXudip4WWS7VgEtqNKBfwije2OXTBBa9PUxXXEMw_0T9SIWODIfvsWzyaBoks6zLAKJmPCEhI2F4nqhjZGwv8yI3xnu0W_0MsIxP3l7RUVdL1I5tYJGe2xMj8/s1600-h/slice+and+pie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzb0Vky75bIps-exK4CppXudip4WWS7VgEtqNKBfwije2OXTBBa9PUxXXEMw_0T9SIWODIfvsWzyaBoks6zLAKJmPCEhI2F4nqhjZGwv8yI3xnu0W_0MsIxP3l7RUVdL1I5tYJGe2xMj8/s320/slice+and+pie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374069169856936034" /></a><br /><br />I was worried about burning the meringue and may have pulled it out a tad to soon. Next time I will be braver and toast that top a little more.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_yUBQ_HP4l9cMaz9kTTfOR8t6sXP64ZZKY9jjSF5cS1SzdZlN8qTZEMUg4netzz81-_5klzj-_bXec9U16ULZ7XPGxMgHt6pbL2yjorNPqT64jUV0I0HYia0HEGStgHhYkkra1vkseA/s1600-h/whole+pie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_yUBQ_HP4l9cMaz9kTTfOR8t6sXP64ZZKY9jjSF5cS1SzdZlN8qTZEMUg4netzz81-_5klzj-_bXec9U16ULZ7XPGxMgHt6pbL2yjorNPqT64jUV0I0HYia0HEGStgHhYkkra1vkseA/s320/whole+pie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374067903884617650" /></a><br /><br />Thanks to Linda at <span style="font-style:italic;">Tender Crumb<a href="http://www.tendercrumb.blogspot.com/"></a></span> for choosing this pie. She made tartlets from this recipe that are the most beautiful I have seen. You can get the recipe on her blog or on pgs. 337-339 of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/aws/cart/add.html?SessionId=002-1699174-2036839&SubscriptionId=D68HUNXKLHS4J&AssociateTag=tueswithdori-20&ASIN.1=0618443363&Quantity.1=1&adid=1P1YHFX08ZEBEA7XG8D4&linkCode=as1&OfferListingId.1=P9%252B7X"><span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From my Home to Yours</span></a>, by Dorie Greenspan.snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-91264034024461107722009-08-22T10:49:00.002-05:002009-08-22T11:05:06.150-05:00Peoria Dining Tour BooksBig E is a junior this year in the Washington Community High School band. He actually has a (4 note) solo in the song "Going to California" by Led Zeppelin. Yes, the marching band is doing The Music of Led Zeppelin for their show this year. I'm sure later in the season I will post a video of their show, showing all their hard work (and Big E's 4 note solo).<br /><br />One of their fundraisers is selling Peoria Dining Tour books. This is a book full of Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupons for area restaurants. These are really nice to have. I am happy to have purchased my own this year. The past few years, I have had a relative who bought one of these to our family Christmas gathering and we all passed it around and shared the coupons. (These make great gifts!) Using it just a few times recoups the cost of the book. The book costs $30. You can buy them other places, but if you purchase one from the WCHS band, the band gets $10 of that.<br /><br />I am listing all the businesses included here. If anyone would like to purchase one of these from the band, please call Scott or Vickie Williams at 309-745-5020 or you can email me at snicketmom@yahoo.com and I will hook you up.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fine Dining, Casual Dining & Theater</span><br />Aachis Indian cuisine<br />Adams Street Café<br />Angie’s Family Restaurant & Buffet<br />Bananas Ale House<br />Bar Louie<br />Beef ‘O’ Brady’s <br />Bellacino’s<br />Bennigan’s<br />Burger Barge<br />Butler’s Chicken<br />Café Evergreen<br />Carnegie’s 501<br />Castaways<br />The Chateau<br />Chilliworks<br />CiCi’s Pizza Buffet<br />Club Lacon<br />Cornerstone Family Restaurant<br />Cracklin Jake’s<br />Crusen’s<br />Dairy King<br />Davis Brothers Pizza<br />Denny’s<br />Double A’s Pizza Pub<br />Eamon Patrick’s Public House<br />Eastlight Theater<br />El Sombrerito<br />Feldan’s<br />Firehouse Bar & Grill<br />Firehouse Pizza<br />The Galley<br />Geo’s Pizza<br />Germantwon Grille<br />Godfather’s Pizza<br />Good Tequila<br />Haddad’s<br />Hickory River Barbecue<br />Hooters<br />I-Hop<br />Jane’s Ice Box<br />Kaiserhof<br />Kelleher’s Irish Pub<br />Khoury’s<br />Khoury’s Cuisine Knickerbockers<br />Kobe Japanese Steakhouse<br />Kouri’s Bar & Grill<br />Lian Wang<br />Los Jimadores<br />Maid Rite<br />Michael’s Italian Feast<br />Nick & Willy’s<br />Par-a-dice Hotel Casino<br />Peoria Pizza Works<br />Peoria Players Theatre<br />Pita’s Mediterranean Wraps<br />Pizza Inn<br />Pleasant Hill Antique Mall<br />Ponte Vecchio<br />Qdoba<br />Rhythm Kitchen<br />Richard’s on Main Street<br />River Beach Grill<br />Second Street Bar & Grill<br />Sizzling India<br />Star Struck Hollywood Grill<br />Sushigawa<br />Tailgaters Sports Bar<br />Taj of India<br />Thanh Linh<br />Vertucci’s<br />Village Inn<br />Water Street Café<br />Yesterday’s Bar & Grill<br />Youssef’s Deli<br />Zim’s Diner @ Campustown<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">On The Lighter Side</span><br />Auntie Anne’s Pretzels<br />Baskin Robbins<br />Blimpie’s<br />Burger King<br />Charley’s Grilled Subs<br />Chicago Hut<br />Chicago Pizza & Grill<br />Cold Stone Creamery<br />Cookies By Design<br />Culvers<br />Dairy Queen<br />Domino’s Pizza<br />Dunkin Donuts<br />Dunkin Donuts & Baskin Robbins<br />Garner’s Pizza & Wings<br />Kentucky Fried Chicken Lou’s Drive Inn<br />Mister G’s Chicago Style Hotdogs <br />Nut House<br />Papa John’s Pizza<br />Quizno’s<br />Roly Poly Rolled Sandwiches<br />Smoothie King<br />Sonic<br />Spotted Cow<br />Subway<br />Sweet Treats<br />Taco John’s<br />Trefzger’s Bakery<br />Udder’s Ice Cream<br />Velvet Freezesnicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-47926600687310512282009-08-18T16:51:00.007-05:002009-08-18T17:12:59.737-05:00Applesauce Spice BarsLook! I'm here. I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Or in a hole. And I have been baking my TWD assignments. (I just haven't been posting about them the past two weeks.) But I made the Banana Bundt Cake.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQr0UdaQgJp1kBtTSgCRJVVPm-jNin0RkPLEm5zhQe-NVAgfpuZlRmYvAr8VQsbxOLazBiqczmavSryYoplBW4UXMHqM-1vrl6ncenYrWRmiSeCIlmX-YUCtUEdkOnL4jMhsya1brXtCQ/s1600-h/banana+bundt+cake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQr0UdaQgJp1kBtTSgCRJVVPm-jNin0RkPLEm5zhQe-NVAgfpuZlRmYvAr8VQsbxOLazBiqczmavSryYoplBW4UXMHqM-1vrl6ncenYrWRmiSeCIlmX-YUCtUEdkOnL4jMhsya1brXtCQ/s320/banana+bundt+cake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371425773295441458" /></a><br /><br />And the Brownie Buttons.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ87uJs9sBKhKpaLzi8PCRlLuhId6l9UJT1fLhHHnqcsk7qzQgnNTlp8EpjxWDYbK9O6f77WXJXL4qgja0XBb4uJqC8VozZPRUP7nXVVzHBw92lf_vbh6X-RMJyV4AnQOIofTA9-9xfno/s1600-h/brownie+buttons.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ87uJs9sBKhKpaLzi8PCRlLuhId6l9UJT1fLhHHnqcsk7qzQgnNTlp8EpjxWDYbK9O6f77WXJXL4qgja0XBb4uJqC8VozZPRUP7nXVVzHBw92lf_vbh6X-RMJyV4AnQOIofTA9-9xfno/s320/brownie+buttons.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371426352627653234" /></a><br /><br />But summer has just gotten busy. And now it is over. The kids went back to school today and the Applesauce Spice Bars made a perfect after school snack (and a mid-morning snack for me while they were gone.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoECLBaU1ocfPOw0rHdPwpL3JIMrVKoAiinkpNti2AS3s_Q8n3r2EwQ7Nuyb5DnKwDzuqSC4dZ2z435m0GxkEiY2pyvibEaTh7GoVtsQeQRfnE1FL2liSg7BY63Vyvqh80cjoB1HnwR0/s1600-h/three+bars+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 155px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoECLBaU1ocfPOw0rHdPwpL3JIMrVKoAiinkpNti2AS3s_Q8n3r2EwQ7Nuyb5DnKwDzuqSC4dZ2z435m0GxkEiY2pyvibEaTh7GoVtsQeQRfnE1FL2liSg7BY63Vyvqh80cjoB1HnwR0/s320/three+bars+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371427156368618610" /></a><br /><br />This recipe was chosen by Karen and the recipe is on her blog, <a href="http://somethingsweetbykaren.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Something Sweet by Karen</span></a>. Or you can find it on pages 117 & 118 of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Baking-Home-Yours-Dorie-Greenspan/dp/0618443363/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1250556856&sr=8-1"><span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From My Home to Yours</span></a> by Dorie Greenspan.<br /><br />I loved this simple recipe. I substituted walnuts for the pecans and since I didn't have heavy cream, I doubled the glaze recipe and used half sour cream and half half and half. That was weird to write. But this cake was great, and hopefully I will be blogging more frequently (but <span style="font-style:italic;">maybe</span> changing the name from Secret Server to Secret Substitute.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSrVzYhb2Xl5rkMf0tLkN2fwNEtjTT9G_6p2BOmm1r71Z2HevZXlzPkGCL-Sxkv1Bt2KN3NlY5LnoSghIaZsZ2Csiq2XFhpf74vd8nmeoWXhmdxW_HCkBViM4YKaLi7NVI-5qodGiA_g/s1600-h/plate+spice+bars.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSrVzYhb2Xl5rkMf0tLkN2fwNEtjTT9G_6p2BOmm1r71Z2HevZXlzPkGCL-Sxkv1Bt2KN3NlY5LnoSghIaZsZ2Csiq2XFhpf74vd8nmeoWXhmdxW_HCkBViM4YKaLi7NVI-5qodGiA_g/s320/plate+spice+bars.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371430012108298178" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-57018676827712832972009-07-28T20:21:00.005-05:002009-07-28T20:51:53.010-05:00Memories of Vanilla Ice Cream; Tuesdays with DorieRemember when we made the <a href="http://peoriasecretserver.blogspot.com/2009/06/perfect-party-and-cake-twd.html">Perfect Party Cake</a>? With eight egg whites (which I doubled, ending up with 16 egg yolks)? In June? I decided to use my egg yolks to make a double batch of Dorie's Vanilla Ice Cream (pg. 428, 429 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From My Home To Yours</span>). I "played around" and made a mint chocolate chip version and a chocolate swirl version. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iIZaGwW06MXTbM85h6YkyNULH5KvYsXbp-_BYGrOmTq8OhK_iN0Rjwxkii6feUD2oJMfZSW6PpeeKfA_7C2slg9t-L-KmILf2wopNCQXG9XE63lGhewVAcbjmaPVg2uQtUs8InNo90k/s1600-h/brownie+with+ice+cream.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iIZaGwW06MXTbM85h6YkyNULH5KvYsXbp-_BYGrOmTq8OhK_iN0Rjwxkii6feUD2oJMfZSW6PpeeKfA_7C2slg9t-L-KmILf2wopNCQXG9XE63lGhewVAcbjmaPVg2uQtUs8InNo90k/s320/brownie+with+ice+cream.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363692433220255826" /></a><br /> Chocolate Swirl Ice Cream With Katharine Hepburn Brownies<br /> <br /><br />I didn't really take any notes or any pictures because I figured it was a dry run for this week's Tuesdays With Dorie, in which Vanilla Ice Cream was chosen by Lynne of <a href="http://www.cafelynnylu.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Cafe LynnyLu</span></a>. I figured in the month's time since then, I would make the ice cream again for real and take some great pictures. And write a great post. <br /><br />Ooops. A month has flown by quickly, and it is Vanilla Ice Cream Tuesday, and I sit before you empty handed. No ice cream, no pictures, no post. I am sitting here on a cold, rainy summer night being challenged by my teenager to take him to the Ice Cream Shack to make good on a bet I lost today. I'd rather be visiting the <a href="http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/">TWD</a> blogs and eating some rich creamy homemade vanilla ice cream.snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-7262312827095721412009-07-21T11:15:00.010-05:002009-07-21T12:46:02.507-05:00Blackberry Blanc-Manger, (TWD), a post including crushed bones, wobbly breasts, seaweed, rocks, and a delicious dessertWhat an interesting Tuesdays With Dorie recipe this week. Susan, of <a href="http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy</span></a> chose Dorie's Raspberry Blanc-Manger. I found this to be such an and intriguing recipe. First, I needed to learn to pronounce blanc-manger. I failed French I in high school. "Blah-mahn-jhay". Répètes. "Blah-mahn-jhay". Très bien!<br /><br />Next, I needed to learn what the heck it was. It looks to me like a panna cotta. Only with ground almonds in it. In fact, Dorie calls it the kissing cousin of panna cotta. This wasn't extremely helpful to me either, since I don't have a lot of experience to with panna cotta, except one near successful attempt at a coconut milk panna cotta made with agar agar. But I did learn something about panna cotta last week. According to Jay Rayner, on last week's <a href="http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef-masters">Top Chef Masters</a>, "A good panna cotta, if it's set right, is meant to wobble like a woman's breasts." Just thought I'd share that, in case you missed it.<br /><br />So the blanc-manger may have been around for a couple thousand years. Today's version uses gelatin instead of crushed bones. That's great, unless you are a vegetarian who doesn't use gelatin because it is made of crushed bones. (Me!) So I decided to use agar agar as my gelling agent. Agar Agar is "a gelatinlike product of certain seaweeds, used for solidifying certain culture media, as a thickening agent for ice cream and other foods, as a substitute for gelatin, in adhesives, as an emulsifier, etc.". I substituted agar agar powder 1:1 for the gelatin in the recipe and followed the recipe instructions.<br /><br />I questioned my judgment on that after I microwaved the agar powder with three tablespoons of water for 15 seconds. I ended up with a glob of what looked like an eraser.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iCYHYKeQGnn_2bMyraw9bKrPS_2w_e_pBwGjQQ6UZu9gf_m91IJJBf88bDTBeYcnPKrNZL_FJQxzhOKt6aE6vwN_YNMAOXuBCnf0TzX9iQYPGX5Ytjig_MiOFPeNwMS30WqLanKPl58/s1600-h/agar+agar.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 171px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iCYHYKeQGnn_2bMyraw9bKrPS_2w_e_pBwGjQQ6UZu9gf_m91IJJBf88bDTBeYcnPKrNZL_FJQxzhOKt6aE6vwN_YNMAOXuBCnf0TzX9iQYPGX5Ytjig_MiOFPeNwMS30WqLanKPl58/s320/agar+agar.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360959489321688466" /></a><br /><br />Once I added it to the milk/almond/sugar mixture, it dissipated and was OK, but in the future, I might try just adding the agar powder directly to the milk on the stove. When I started to cool my mixture in the ice bath, the agar started to jell really quickly. My almonds were not ground very finely, and I was really worried because at this point, this recipe looked like Malt-o-Meal.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZMA_RSGMwkRl1Do0cUW7Jd8qgWhT_rNY8q2k8doUQt-yAR4iEwRfj5GoXrY2d3fKVzslZe4ckztuNFe4m18xJdE746FcANBjzbrKNO36uo8nHMga4VqX3CgQbGARuSq8dqyRVN70MEU/s1600-h/almond+milk+agar.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZMA_RSGMwkRl1Do0cUW7Jd8qgWhT_rNY8q2k8doUQt-yAR4iEwRfj5GoXrY2d3fKVzslZe4ckztuNFe4m18xJdE746FcANBjzbrKNO36uo8nHMga4VqX3CgQbGARuSq8dqyRVN70MEU/s320/almond+milk+agar.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360960563324219346" /></a><br /><br />I quickly mixed in whipped cream and blackberries and was pleasantly surprised that it turned out really well. I made a blackberry coulis and was very pleased with the result.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5DPTnm1MMMlBpog5MuWao5oejf-xZM_Lkc-6sVcAty4bI0y5Km5zgXDoSy4fmzcxCuPVm7kllxblwHJxmuMvHCNkRpjZUUKgNG492E5hlOa14AYumu3Iuc4Y_ECEVluMQpd65KnjD4s/s1600-h/all+done.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5DPTnm1MMMlBpog5MuWao5oejf-xZM_Lkc-6sVcAty4bI0y5Km5zgXDoSy4fmzcxCuPVm7kllxblwHJxmuMvHCNkRpjZUUKgNG492E5hlOa14AYumu3Iuc4Y_ECEVluMQpd65KnjD4s/s320/all+done.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360962203416688418" /></a><br /><br />The only aspect that maybe wasn't quite right was the texture of my almonds. I had whole almonds that I blanched and ground in the food processor. I have had trouble getting the skins off before, but this time followed these easy <a href="http://oldtips.blogspot.com/2009/04/tuesday-tips-how-to-blanch-almonds.html">instructions</a> from <a href="http://amandascookin.blogspot.com/">Amanda</a>. I recruited my grandma to help with the almonds, but I couldn't get them ground very fine and the texture in the final blanc-manger was like rice pudding.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQ0XGarJHAKVq32Nxk9Hhf-KKiGXXIicKoOMO9rrQsau7Y7kwji198mCePI1zzX9PyrZC6jVKfUwRYWvR3K0GwxPy02nSOtegvqBplCpQVOW888MXVWChWibKzJdF-xcnLKJXRMcjhIY/s1600-h/almond+blanching.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQ0XGarJHAKVq32Nxk9Hhf-KKiGXXIicKoOMO9rrQsau7Y7kwji198mCePI1zzX9PyrZC6jVKfUwRYWvR3K0GwxPy02nSOtegvqBplCpQVOW888MXVWChWibKzJdF-xcnLKJXRMcjhIY/s320/almond+blanching.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360964712669987906" /></a><br /><br />Speaking of pudding, this is really off topic, but it was a great "ah ha" moment for me. I am a rock hound and every year I assist with a class at a summer camp that teaches kids about rocks and fossils. The instructor has a PHD in geology and oceanography and is a great mentor, but sometimes explains things in really technical terms and doesn't show examples of what he is talking about. One of the rocks I have yet to find is a puddingstone, a "metaconglomerate of large dark crystals in a lighter fine grained matrix, that looks like a pudding". What? With that description I have never really been able to picture what I am looking for. However, when <a href="http://jenjw4.wordpress.com">Jennifer</a> brought her blanc-manger to book club, and cut it, as soon as I saw the way the berries were suspended in her "pudding", I immediately pictured the elusive puddingstone!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJj6hOcsud2totRkN37EExfgiJzIUiPJIDUOxVfzwXSFqedL6QyDkYsO1UBnRHa0Vz2miKJ1OnVwl4qqHOO8krp-bEJwplpWf6-4tg_IeBfxs9RKh0DFY8t26PKCmL7VoeL0FC9IM6oH0/s1600-h/jennifer's.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJj6hOcsud2totRkN37EExfgiJzIUiPJIDUOxVfzwXSFqedL6QyDkYsO1UBnRHa0Vz2miKJ1OnVwl4qqHOO8krp-bEJwplpWf6-4tg_IeBfxs9RKh0DFY8t26PKCmL7VoeL0FC9IM6oH0/s320/jennifer's.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360969196243236338" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG3us5NBj2gT1V_CCfqw140Q26pIxQCqf_9WhFQTU4DCzU68OulwgmqFsNXx4n-g-hLqocoMyKVDnK_ulTts9_7WzMPFsVCkvcSk5eYj2vItBD5ojHuqAprfBF0YNU9j7CQ6zAmJeVfOg/s1600-h/Puddingstone-Photo.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG3us5NBj2gT1V_CCfqw140Q26pIxQCqf_9WhFQTU4DCzU68OulwgmqFsNXx4n-g-hLqocoMyKVDnK_ulTts9_7WzMPFsVCkvcSk5eYj2vItBD5ojHuqAprfBF0YNU9j7CQ6zAmJeVfOg/s320/Puddingstone-Photo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360969413232842002" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-86975682586384648702009-07-14T13:22:00.007-05:002009-07-14T13:45:00.041-05:00Peach Blackberry Brioche Tart, TWDI did not do justice to this weeks's <a href="http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/">TWD</a> recipe, Plum Brioche Tart, chosen by Denise, of <a href="http://www.chezus.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Chez Us</span></a>. I wimped out on making the Dorie's "poor" brioche. I don't have a stand mixer, and I didn't think I could do it by hand. I had a pound of Brioche dough from <a href="http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Artisan bread in Five Minutes a Day</span></a> in the freezer, so I used that for my dough. I didn't have plums, but I did have peaches and blackberries.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfc0p7mn2hQpejl7JOnG4MbDgW62b3JZSnCT8CT69qPmhci5UkhnGn75qEhuSQXpTCbknw1VjPu66uMKYI9Otza1is0IRoPDnpeZOJd4o8GEODDR_P3VaCYpEIF6yzi2SGyPgc4EUOcPM/s1600-h/ingredients.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfc0p7mn2hQpejl7JOnG4MbDgW62b3JZSnCT8CT69qPmhci5UkhnGn75qEhuSQXpTCbknw1VjPu66uMKYI9Otza1is0IRoPDnpeZOJd4o8GEODDR_P3VaCYpEIF6yzi2SGyPgc4EUOcPM/s320/ingredients.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358384895592999010" /></a><br /><br />I pressed the brioche dough into the tart pan and covered the bottom with seedless blackberry jam. I arranged some peaches and blackberries to look pretty. (I may have used a few too many.) I finished it off with some almonds and sugar.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzE3RnHQ7tIfz8FgAGRBJ_BiD0UE2hOIDa_ovUffF97-WXK6nbCsYZYQ-LV5P0Q1aA80LMJHEh9CkAOSmr39mPcdL8-vKj9BhS8vhhPIuBfyOKC-JV1Ldmk8FynvNFbpyXv4eBzD2Szc/s1600-h/ready+to+bake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzE3RnHQ7tIfz8FgAGRBJ_BiD0UE2hOIDa_ovUffF97-WXK6nbCsYZYQ-LV5P0Q1aA80LMJHEh9CkAOSmr39mPcdL8-vKj9BhS8vhhPIuBfyOKC-JV1Ldmk8FynvNFbpyXv4eBzD2Szc/s320/ready+to+bake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358386078537502546" /></a><br /><br />After baking for the recommended time, my tart looked like fruit soup in a bread bowl. (Which might not be a bad idea.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLi7WDYY2t-hhOdE5I5pH_JXVVbg8wdEhkqX3gz24npMsnF7Pl1CLqRdSQ_uXGQYWr5gmKO9ozAH_nqRsGGdyBGRa4bNRCVRknz9ke_lqEKsG_miccPNZwvSTV2zLEYCpD_B-uhKYBc-s/s1600-h/fruit+soup.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLi7WDYY2t-hhOdE5I5pH_JXVVbg8wdEhkqX3gz24npMsnF7Pl1CLqRdSQ_uXGQYWr5gmKO9ozAH_nqRsGGdyBGRa4bNRCVRknz9ke_lqEKsG_miccPNZwvSTV2zLEYCpD_B-uhKYBc-s/s320/fruit+soup.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358386596196414098" /></a><br /><br />I removed some of the liquid and baked it longer. It turned out very good, but my brioche did not puff very tall. I don't know if it was because I did not let it rise much, since ABin5 bread does not usually need rising time, or if I had too much fruit and juice weighing the whole thing down.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjki2Ere30ACLu_QAVXltEodoZM-10jXaO6nyV8IusJl3m9Rv7n2Qdmyjp25swZRPsYr5kH90M47lDfQMIFybHZnHjw36n_bEX8zJ6-ndoaKKcbsgIsNq62O6ij8l2BMIpDw_FWcybIdJU/s1600-h/done+tart.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjki2Ere30ACLu_QAVXltEodoZM-10jXaO6nyV8IusJl3m9Rv7n2Qdmyjp25swZRPsYr5kH90M47lDfQMIFybHZnHjw36n_bEX8zJ6-ndoaKKcbsgIsNq62O6ij8l2BMIpDw_FWcybIdJU/s320/done+tart.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358387427680312690" /></a><br /><br />I'd really like to try this again and attempt Dorie's brioche and use plums. My version was pretty tasty and made a good breakfast, but I have a feeling it wasn't as good as it was supposed to be.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQAcRfcbmdDZe0KvsLMdZjDuqUWoJ8vSf0v4jZI-ScxS_nGQVCLxVM7pSFFfvLa8m1mbpHzuSoZ22Pp7zO2gSKJG92WLcNIfshv-FdVthvTLy-k_uBKaO_yEC3-5loPv2ikZZEUhhE1Q/s1600-h/tart+slice.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQAcRfcbmdDZe0KvsLMdZjDuqUWoJ8vSf0v4jZI-ScxS_nGQVCLxVM7pSFFfvLa8m1mbpHzuSoZ22Pp7zO2gSKJG92WLcNIfshv-FdVthvTLy-k_uBKaO_yEC3-5loPv2ikZZEUhhE1Q/s320/tart+slice.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358388025526483858" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-6388857874301292842009-07-07T20:56:00.005-05:002009-07-07T21:19:41.658-05:00Tribute To Katharine Hepburn Brownies; TWD<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhME5ppm9qO3xvXnfYpbUqolNhtkOXUolWK9Z_AZYgsR8u93OwlGYF8XWSJhfyiPc5b4AwmE6OTvW_T-K406-XPpVM2m7kAasaqwhtBOe_YCUS-zs3Ramiu9R2IKXW4PnLp1pAhMdJ1kIs/s1600-h/dish+brownies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhME5ppm9qO3xvXnfYpbUqolNhtkOXUolWK9Z_AZYgsR8u93OwlGYF8XWSJhfyiPc5b4AwmE6OTvW_T-K406-XPpVM2m7kAasaqwhtBOe_YCUS-zs3Ramiu9R2IKXW4PnLp1pAhMdJ1kIs/s320/dish+brownies.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355907122529725890" /></a><br /><br />This week, we had a guest host who chose our recipe, Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies. Lisa, from <a href="http://www.survivingoz.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Surviving Oz</span></a>, is not a regular Tuesday With Dorie baker. In fact, I don't think she is a regular baker at all, but she did a spectacular job of making these brownies and writing an entertaining post about her experience with it.<br /><br />How did she get the honor of choosing the recipe, when I have to wait about 100 more weeks for my turn? She designed our new TWD logo! (To the right.) It is beautiful and I am glad she got to slip into our rotation schedule and pick this fabulous recipe.<br /><br />These were the *best* *brownies* *EVER*! They have cinnamon, a kick of coffee, and advice from Katharine Hepburn, "never put too much flour in your brownies".<br /><br />I told <a href="http://jenjw4.wordpress.com/">KPOW</a> I would bring these to her house on the fourth of July, but I couldn't get them out of the pan because they were so gooey. I know she had an abundance of desserts anyway, so I put them in the refrigerator and headed to her house without them. (More brownies for me Mwa Haa Haa.) <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhaPv_woVWsaQMfeJLLDwCs8cDZvXxpea5SEMqC47XBSgl_CtyIX_aeHE0DElXBPRbZnnrLQw7vE67QDPXlPx-L7-HaX9HSp4l4qCbWS_6wcug4pTTl0Aywc61_wAy_-l2YbHjxuez7-Q/s1600-h/done+in+pan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhaPv_woVWsaQMfeJLLDwCs8cDZvXxpea5SEMqC47XBSgl_CtyIX_aeHE0DElXBPRbZnnrLQw7vE67QDPXlPx-L7-HaX9HSp4l4qCbWS_6wcug4pTTl0Aywc61_wAy_-l2YbHjxuez7-Q/s320/done+in+pan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355905236513049506" /></a><br /><br />When I got home, they had firmed up and I was able to get them out of the pan. My whole family loved them. We put all arguments about cakey brownies vs. fudgey brownies behind us. These were definitely the fudgey type, but were so well liked, they bought peace into our home and made happy tummies.<br /><br />When I had lots of egg yolks left over from perfect party cake, I made a double batch of Dorie's vanilla ice cream. This one was swirled with fudge and made the perfect accompaniment for the brownie.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ywb5qeycRoHICMYMCRiRY693TK26ciUDP3Zno87pEW0vVoST3OJqwu7SUf3sR29_09iP1TUOOeNc7VJCX3zijKiYSmYPAGAtN1cU2TScSpdL-PbyqZccllmuaUsG9TR4ATUFLn_7eho/s1600-h/brownie+with+ice+cream.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ywb5qeycRoHICMYMCRiRY693TK26ciUDP3Zno87pEW0vVoST3OJqwu7SUf3sR29_09iP1TUOOeNc7VJCX3zijKiYSmYPAGAtN1cU2TScSpdL-PbyqZccllmuaUsG9TR4ATUFLn_7eho/s320/brownie+with+ice+cream.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355906546562508834" /></a><br /><br />My kids are already asking me to make them again and I cannot resist the simple requests of my sweet little children. As soon as I get more chocolate, I am making more of these brownies!snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-64310254927202017852009-06-30T09:56:00.007-05:002009-06-30T14:26:31.382-05:00The Perfect Party, and a cake; TWDMy grandma (who has Alzheimer's and lives with us) is 88 years old. She has a sister, Helen, who is 89 years old. They have always been the closest of sisters, even though for the past 48 years, Helen has lived in Arizona. My grandma used to spend several months of the year in Arizona with her sister, but hasn't been out there for about three years. It had become clear within the last year that she would not be traveling out there, definitely not alone, and even if I took her, I think it may have been stressful and disorienting. Helen's husband had been chronically ill and she was unable to travel here. I was worried these sisters would never see each other again.<br /><br />Earlier this year, Helen's husband passed away, and just last week, Helen came back here. For good! She is moving back here. She has been to see my grandma every day and I am soooooo happy to see them together again. Of course, I had to have a party so all the family members could get together and see welcome Helen back. Of course, I had to make a cake to celebrate. I was thrilled that this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was The Perfect Party cake, chosen by Carol of <a href="http://www.tablefare.com/blog/"><span style="font-style:italic;">mix, mix...stir, stir</span></a>. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJLlwCaqYcwHIZIEcWeTJrbPsLRTleCuBv96Suicd7g1XmSsd4gzRFbqe5N9keDVl8RRtJOlzXHuQJDgYSBUwmfENAPuBMb9n5r1b-UaQ9bZzBMy_ZWEwv_c9NonMRdHEVYWIurjC7Kk/s1600-h/helen,+gram.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJLlwCaqYcwHIZIEcWeTJrbPsLRTleCuBv96Suicd7g1XmSsd4gzRFbqe5N9keDVl8RRtJOlzXHuQJDgYSBUwmfENAPuBMb9n5r1b-UaQ9bZzBMy_ZWEwv_c9NonMRdHEVYWIurjC7Kk/s320/helen,+gram.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353141489873463810" /></a><br /><br />I baked my cake Saturday and figured I would fill, frost, and assemble it Sunday morning. One of my layers turned out really lopsided though. I wanted it to be perfect. (No pressure from the name of the recipe, right?) Sunday morning, I decided to bake another one. Both layers turned out perfect. I decided to shave the lopsided part off the one cake and use the rest. Seven cake layers would make a spectacular cake. I also had some lime curd needing to be used, so I alternated the layers with blackberry preserves and lime curd.<br /><br />I hadn't actually started frosting the cake when my guests started arriving. One uncle brought his own cooler of Budweiser he started drinking out of. (He actually does this every time he comes to my house, regardless of whether there is a party going on.) Another uncle put some Moosehead beer in the refrigerator and offered me one. I accepted and drank a Moosehead while I was beating the buttercream with a hand mixer. Yes, it takes that long to make this buttercream. I started feeling a little tipsy and commented to my husband that it must be strong beer. He asked what I had eaten so far that day, and I realized I had only had about 8 cups of coffee.<br /><br />I put wax paper strips down on the plate, got another beer, and proceeded to assemble/ fill/ frost the cake. I would bet that spreading buttercream over jam and/or lime curd is not easy sober. It was sloppy fun being a little tipsy and I finally got all seven layers stacked. When I pulled the wax paper from underneath on one side, part of the bottom layer came with it, so my cake ended up lopsided after all!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrxj0V5Y_VlvuHWZRBXbf1Co6hUcAlPOuiFNlwqtLHgIh4U6NBMN_sURzIx0LbJvo2ueI2tJvIHjzLqKjGolzU0zCVappgp08gpa6ptYPPeO_r3ccZji4HsC6gJGuN2rhusI8tTHYwLE/s1600-h/tall+cake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrxj0V5Y_VlvuHWZRBXbf1Co6hUcAlPOuiFNlwqtLHgIh4U6NBMN_sURzIx0LbJvo2ueI2tJvIHjzLqKjGolzU0zCVappgp08gpa6ptYPPeO_r3ccZji4HsC6gJGuN2rhusI8tTHYwLE/s320/tall+cake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353148929413721458" /></a><br /><br />We had a great time visiting and catching up. Someone else bought some Heineken and some Miller Chill, and my cousin kept offering me some Jack Daniels from a bottle he was pulling from his pocket. I declined the Jack, but someone headed out for more beer. We finally cut the cake and it was delicious. Cousin J decided to stabilize it with a knife.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuYH7_d2dTgwJmtijgHu3vj4ac_w3FxwJ52iRyYCxSDS4LZQFGEMSMt3MGqieWJd_06VBTU3bXm9BN3xoHHPdS3pjdBEohTZiW53iu3-1HLR2k_hS40_ClbEJc34tX89x0dtbKCddG11I/s1600-h/knife+stable.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 262px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuYH7_d2dTgwJmtijgHu3vj4ac_w3FxwJ52iRyYCxSDS4LZQFGEMSMt3MGqieWJd_06VBTU3bXm9BN3xoHHPdS3pjdBEohTZiW53iu3-1HLR2k_hS40_ClbEJc34tX89x0dtbKCddG11I/s320/knife+stable.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353150702585672338" /></a><br /><br />That worked for that side, but part of the cake ended up on the stove, and for some reason, that seemed really hysterical to everyone and we laughed and laughed. And had more cake of course! And beer of course!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6uy-7eQV9O8019bGiA9oo40ZbaPa85q_qK95_ligocF3TKDa5vxCtcgriFC5go-xaRwFHZ2IJASUdBuFHm_AzAAUxPQeS0bzGgjVaEhNycI-dY7cSY00bkBgHr6HeJwUIdZ2v3u3VGeA/s1600-h/fsllen+cake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6uy-7eQV9O8019bGiA9oo40ZbaPa85q_qK95_ligocF3TKDa5vxCtcgriFC5go-xaRwFHZ2IJASUdBuFHm_AzAAUxPQeS0bzGgjVaEhNycI-dY7cSY00bkBgHr6HeJwUIdZ2v3u3VGeA/s320/fsllen+cake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353151260519419794" /></a><br /><br />For some reason, these pictures are fuzzy and unclear. I thought it was just my perspective at the time, but I guess I am about as good at drunken photography as I am drunken frosting. I loved this cake and loved having the family together laughing and eating and reconnecting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedlA7q2xCT-rQtHzb6UxxpnetF7vewbLQ35-6ysN6eeJdQKpmdrOYPO9efZmvRX3Pxv62brbNvm7hFTXD8KhoHXrpbhok94q2yC8h7GfgRqgbY3NB7rI_AytobbrQd3hJnKLsTTZ-F_w/s1600-h/the+family.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedlA7q2xCT-rQtHzb6UxxpnetF7vewbLQ35-6ysN6eeJdQKpmdrOYPO9efZmvRX3Pxv62brbNvm7hFTXD8KhoHXrpbhok94q2yC8h7GfgRqgbY3NB7rI_AytobbrQd3hJnKLsTTZ-F_w/s320/the+family.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353204114636252738" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-84981331385944142332009-06-25T08:55:00.003-05:002009-06-25T12:35:37.286-05:00Summer Days In Da ClubDuring my shifts at work, business has been painfully slow. Summer is a slow season for us anyway. This summer, the economic climate has brought a harsh drought to the money of the club. (I learned the phrase "make it rain" recently from Little E. He was with me somewhere when I pulled out my stack of dollar bills to pay my bill in singles. [Hey, at least I wasn't writing a check.] Little E asked why I carry around large amounts of dollar bills and I told him because I am a server, I make most of my money I take home in dollar bill tips. He said "you always look like you're getting ready to make it rain." I asked him what "make it rain" means and from behind us in line my husband laughed and said "You don't know what '<a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=make%20it%20rain">make it rain</a>' means? Remind us where you work again." So I guess I have seen it many a time, but never knew it was called that.) Anyway, there hasn't been much rain in the club lately. Everyone gets irritable. I usually try to keep good spirits and do my job well, even when I am making very little money to do it.<br /><br />The dancers have been getting a bit mouthy with the customers for not tipping and I have been becoming increasingly uncomfortable about it. I understand their frustration. They PAY to work there. Not only do they not make an hourly wage, they pay a fee everyday to be able to come into work. So they start out their day in the hole and it would be infuriating to go on stage after stage to dance and not have anyone coming up and tipping them. But they are not allowed to solicit tips. They definitely are not allowed to DEMAND tips, which is what one woman has been doing.<br /><br />Last Wednesday (my day shift), a regular customer said "M has been getting really bad and driving away customers." I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do about it. There is usually no manager there during the day. I'm just a bartender. They are independent contractors. I'm not their boss. But I do represent the club and it is important to me that we make our customers comfortable. So I had been pondering it and decided to talk to her yesterday morning.<br /><br />I told M that I know it is upsetting when people don't tip, but I would hope she would not try to embarrass them or make them feel uncomfortable. That didn't go well since she pointed out that it makes her uncomfortable and embarrassed to have to dance naked for free. I pointed out sometimes customers don't tip her if they are waiting for another dancer to go spend money on. (I had noticed that last week, her calling a customer a cheap ass because he wasn't coming up to her stage and he was waiting for another dancer to come out, whom he spent $100 on.) She countered that even if a customer is waiting for another dancer, he should show her respect while he is waiting.<br /><br />These are good points, but customers are not obligated to tip. I also asked her to consider that sometimes, customers spend money on dancers, but don't tip the bartender and sometimes it works the other way. Sometimes I am making money off of people even if the dancers are not. So could she please consider that before harassing them?<br /><br />It turned out that was exactly the situation yesterday. The first part of the day, several customers got drinks from me without tipping, but were tipping dancers on stage and getting private dances. My tip jar sat completely empty while the dancers made some good money. In the afternoon, a group of three guys came in and tipped me $5 for their first round of drinks. Whoo hoo! Not spectacular, but better than the $0 I had gotten from most of the other customers. They sat and talked while M went on stage. Another round, another $5 tip. M yelled "I'm not getting naked for free here!" Grrr. Whatever. Fine, I understand her not wanting to get naked. She seemed to think that the guys were watching TV and sat on the couch onstage saying "OK, well, I can watch TV too." They looked a little confused. M asked, "Are you so cheap you can't even give me a dollar?" A couple of them reluctantly approached the stage. I walked by and told her to cut it out and went to the table and they ordered another round and gave me another $5 tip. M yelled to the table, "You know those beers are cheaper somewhere else." The next time she got on stage, they got up and left. <br /><br />We had the same argument we had earlier and she really feels she is right in acting this way. I feel it makes the club look bad. When a manager came for the evening shift, I told him about it and he said he and the house mom would talk to her about it. Great. Now I am going to be considered the tattletale. Once, I told the (same)house mom when I saw a dancer giving a blow job in the couch dance area and was chastised as being the tattletale for years.<br /><br />On a more humorous, weirdo factor note, the other day a guy came in with a flier rolled up and I could see the top said "wanted". He didn't want to buy a drink, but I told him when there is no cover charge, he has to buy a drink and he reluctantly ordered a cranberry juice. As dancers approached his table, he kept showing them the flier. It turns out he was hoping he could post it in the stripper dressing room. It said "Wanted. Roommate."snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-21584381015425746632009-06-23T12:35:00.006-05:002009-06-23T13:17:20.707-05:00Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise; Tuesdays with Dorie<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFwleR4xYYYwSGzIyctfEv5OvIxeSW1hAftec_Pa0WsQfgHEDP6NAOWxREhgBVz8dWKSt0Ft2sVp2ScR-Ktvqv1s3pfXZAOVdCHeEhjGmHR8fpCXWkAPUuQ3insdXGKWOZPtTqvWKsO4/s1600-h/dacquoise+slice.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFwleR4xYYYwSGzIyctfEv5OvIxeSW1hAftec_Pa0WsQfgHEDP6NAOWxREhgBVz8dWKSt0Ft2sVp2ScR-Ktvqv1s3pfXZAOVdCHeEhjGmHR8fpCXWkAPUuQ3insdXGKWOZPtTqvWKsO4/s320/dacquoise+slice.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350587143969790434" /></a><br /><br />I made this week's <a href="http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/">TWD</a> recipe on Sunday. I knew it would not get done in time for Father's Day dinner dessert, but hoped it would be done on Father's Day. This recipe just had several steps that took a lot of time. "Bake for three hours, chill for three hours, once assembled, chill for four to six hours."<br /><br />I had everything I needed for this, except for a pineapple and parchment paper. I even had some white chocolate that I had been thinking would never get used. So I bought a pineapple, decided to use silicone mats, and decided to follow the recipe and make the white chocolate ganache, even though I had a feeling I would like this more with a whipped cream. I decided to just take my time and work on the recipe throughout the day.<br /><br />I baked the meringue sheets on silicone sheets, so I didn't exactly make neat 6'X 12" rectangles. My camera batteries died, so I couldn't take pics of my steps, but knew that they would be charged by the time this recipe got done.<br /><br />I made the ganache, and roasted the pineapple and had them chilling, when my brother called wanting to know if I would babysit my 18 month old niece for a few hours. Baby E came over and shortly thereafter was scratched by a cat and started crying. And crying and crying. I knew she was tired and would be more comfortable at her house so I had my husband hold her while I threw the dacquoise together so it could be chilling while I took her home and got her a bath and in bed.<br /><br />He calmed her for a few minutes by getting a Yo Gabba Gabba song on Youtube. I decided to try to trim my meringues to make them more neat and even, but they cracked. Baby E started crying harder in the other room. Knowing this needed to chill for a few hours, I wanted to get it assembled, but it was hard to piece the meringues together attractively with the crying baby wailing and I felt hurried.<br /><br />Wah Wah Wah Wah! I hurried and made a layer of meringue. Wah Wah Wah Wah! I pulled the ganache and pineapple out of the refrigerator and made layers. Wah Wah Wah Wah. More meringue, ganache, pineapple. Wah Wah Wah Wah! Finished it off by pouring the rest of the ganache on top and slapping on the rest of the pineapple.<br /><br />I looked at it, wondering if it was supposed to be sitting in a lake of ganache? Threw it in the fridge and the baby in the stroller and headed to her house. Her cries subsided as soon as we were out the door. <br /><br />We went to her house and she got a bath and a snack and we read some stories and she went right to sleep. It's been a long time since I have taken care of a little baby. I sat down in the quiet house, and just then it hit me; I forgot to whip the ganache! When I got home around midnight, My dacquoise had been chilled long enough, so I pulled it out and realized it was more of a floating island than a dacquoise. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63-hNqIH7S-1VFH8Ab1lell4oHdqag3-IBTsdytTCWyo-leab2eUj57c23h4ruEDGBeOvhtO2o5P2EDJatyRN1FLE4enR5FbnKl7tmfhZFUdN8UWBkMubLK4_rfnAlZZXTuP1QGxO3jo/s1600-h/pinapple+lake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 292px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63-hNqIH7S-1VFH8Ab1lell4oHdqag3-IBTsdytTCWyo-leab2eUj57c23h4ruEDGBeOvhtO2o5P2EDJatyRN1FLE4enR5FbnKl7tmfhZFUdN8UWBkMubLK4_rfnAlZZXTuP1QGxO3jo/s320/pinapple+lake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350587264436455346" /></a><br /><br />It was really too sweet too. I think I would have liked this with whipped cream. I liked the meringue (eating my left over chipped pieces) and the pineapple. Maybe whipped, the ganache wouldn't have been so overpowering. I'll have to try this again. Thanks to <a href="http://andreainthekitchen.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Andrea in the Kitchen</span></a> for this pick!snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-41165842525605850622009-06-16T09:24:00.007-05:002009-06-16T10:33:20.478-05:00Honey- Nectarine Ice cream; TWDThis was summer on a spoon. We all <span style="font-style:italic;">loved</span> this refreshing treat. This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Honey-<span style="font-style:italic;">Peach</span> Ice Cream, was chosen by Tommi, of <a href="http://browninterior.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Brown Interior</span></a>. The recipe can be found on her blog, or on page 437 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, from My Home To Yours</span>, by Dorie Greenspan.<br /><br />I had an exhausting week, volunteering at a summer camp, for a class that teaches kids about fossils and rocks. It is my favorite week of the year, but it is more physically demanding than my regular job, which mostly consists of sitting on a cooler, waiting for a customer, or occasionally having to lift an ice scoop and pour a Captain and Coke. <br /><br />At camp we walk for a half a mile to a creek. Then we walk though the creek looking for rocks. Then the kids collect too many rocks. And their five gallon buckets get too heavy. Then the instructor wants to go farther down the creek. And I realize, "Hey this water is higher than some of the kids' heads and there is a pretty strong current, so I can barely stand and the water is only up to my thighs." So I yell to the instructor who is way ahead but he can't hear me. And the little kids start crying because of the cold current. So I end up carrying small children and heavy buckets of rocks through a rushing stream until I am almost crying too. Then we go back and do the same thing the next day. Actually, it is more fun than it sounds, but I am just trying to describe my level of physical exhaustion.<br /><br />So I didn't even know if I would have the energy to make the ice cream. I went to the store and they had only five shriveled, bruised peaches. I remembered that Dorie says you can use nectarines, but I had nectarines all week for lunch and the nectarines at the store were hard and not very appealing. I bought them anyway and hoped for the best.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rp5foOWwbbd-McGiFOPEllYebFduI_eHOg0jec2e-4fzO71kxizX9EEcNq63CDwwqYduoFB3530_doPh4mFMlqD39Fz0GbExh9_0fGqHoT2M-DtoykG7SyCRwT1TAOq5Vn4WsdXRQ5M/s1600-h/nectarine+halves.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rp5foOWwbbd-McGiFOPEllYebFduI_eHOg0jec2e-4fzO71kxizX9EEcNq63CDwwqYduoFB3530_doPh4mFMlqD39Fz0GbExh9_0fGqHoT2M-DtoykG7SyCRwT1TAOq5Vn4WsdXRQ5M/s320/nectarine+halves.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347936841429806706" /></a><br /><br />You don't need to peel nectarines, so that was nice. I just diced them up and boiled them with honey. (I did not notice that I was only supposed to chop half, and save the other half for when the ice cream gets frozen, so all my nectarines went in.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptVV88vI-gW_zlEW6uGR9ckDjGyJWljbThXY0UoiT3qPDIabFfOGjQE41eRAcQuRCRBt-qhAZT7ThtiOByO8U_GX4cf-VGgutjIimKBMCRgUz8a5ULbFcJqoalGLLGIWKEI74muGia3k/s1600-h/nectarine+chopped.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptVV88vI-gW_zlEW6uGR9ckDjGyJWljbThXY0UoiT3qPDIabFfOGjQE41eRAcQuRCRBt-qhAZT7ThtiOByO8U_GX4cf-VGgutjIimKBMCRgUz8a5ULbFcJqoalGLLGIWKEI74muGia3k/s320/nectarine+chopped.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347937422533541490" /></a><br /><br />Then the nectarines get pureed and a simple custard base gets made.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXo8dtyEUtzw2s19BaMY2ke5U3MlPndAeY4ROpRvLLH7TCufHH0uQV9apMrDfxfKd29wgeIxuY5KKfYxq78Qk-x7Y52adPMyibVJctqTIsg_aGcMHv0yNS-IaVsAA_YN4T350k_6JP98I/s1600-h/in+blender.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXo8dtyEUtzw2s19BaMY2ke5U3MlPndAeY4ROpRvLLH7TCufHH0uQV9apMrDfxfKd29wgeIxuY5KKfYxq78Qk-x7Y52adPMyibVJctqTIsg_aGcMHv0yNS-IaVsAA_YN4T350k_6JP98I/s320/in+blender.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347937865157959842" /></a><br /><br />When the custard and the fruit combined, it tasted like peach baby food. Yum. My favorite. Seriously. At this point, I substituted Absolut Peach Vodka for the vanilla. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76f-Mfs_f0xAPf5F5tgd31zlMMtVvuROfO43DcRJI_xL_dyQ4uc2F51jQp9httd3o-77wBM6wQTIW75Jr9TuFQpJuG9zTcaMb9QsuQcMyZ0v9gAAl-SBpTJ5htG9VdriW8NXBJhEUX-g/s1600-h/blended.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg76f-Mfs_f0xAPf5F5tgd31zlMMtVvuROfO43DcRJI_xL_dyQ4uc2F51jQp9httd3o-77wBM6wQTIW75Jr9TuFQpJuG9zTcaMb9QsuQcMyZ0v9gAAl-SBpTJ5htG9VdriW8NXBJhEUX-g/s320/blended.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347938605340199858" /></a><br /><br />After being chilled overnight, I poured it in the ice cream maker, froze it a little more, and we had this lovely nectarine ice cream.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTKUBu4RBQSVbj3Weala2UjLPbXuDULGoTjqvv47pEzsJu_fLad5spCIqy8JNIFdgaZXUF1eM8HOUoBRvKpum2zhh5cLUhQUsRnsM5vpLE2qXmeRarhdJH0b0kctK126xM4iTuLi-vD4/s1600-h/bowl+ice+cream.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTKUBu4RBQSVbj3Weala2UjLPbXuDULGoTjqvv47pEzsJu_fLad5spCIqy8JNIFdgaZXUF1eM8HOUoBRvKpum2zhh5cLUhQUsRnsM5vpLE2qXmeRarhdJH0b0kctK126xM4iTuLi-vD4/s320/bowl+ice+cream.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347948243100587266" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-46800801942512501422009-06-09T20:20:00.009-05:002009-06-09T20:59:15.105-05:00Parisian Apple Tartlet; TWD<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIssig-7G9T9lpyaeOqtr_PBirtre3nBuupfFM4Zoc30OOrk9SOtvPBcUKnycZarLP1GEKqFjeotKWRJaCiPeo0De9VSGEkK_5cPFiLHLx9rWCm3_Q9Zwi1Gxz-3-Z7PaVCYGjES3cVDo/s1600-h/pariaian+apple+tartlet+done.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIssig-7G9T9lpyaeOqtr_PBirtre3nBuupfFM4Zoc30OOrk9SOtvPBcUKnycZarLP1GEKqFjeotKWRJaCiPeo0De9VSGEkK_5cPFiLHLx9rWCm3_Q9Zwi1Gxz-3-Z7PaVCYGjES3cVDo/s320/pariaian+apple+tartlet+done.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345511185883817250" /></a><br />I really liked this week's recipe for Parisian Apple Tartlets, chosen by Jessica of <a href="http://mybakingheart.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">My Baking Heart</span></a>. The recipe was sooo simple, but sooo tasty. It would make such an elegant little dessert for a party.<br /><br />I showed the recipe and picture to little E, and he said, "It just makes <span style="font-style:italic;">one</span>?"<br /><br />So I explained that the recipe was so simple; apple, a dab of butter, a sprinkle of sugar, and some puff pastry, I could easily make however many I wanted.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJB4yj28JyQpxVDTF2NZJkJB-lz-bkYYNyhyZZw7gZsFkhN3m0_ytESEZTXguF-V3Tu7aZ50vW4i5m6yqcw18nsLgNu-X19uds9uJMUXL8XEZKhsxV4Uz_s7jL4NuZQNsLvfZ5RQEB3oY/s1600-h/apples.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJB4yj28JyQpxVDTF2NZJkJB-lz-bkYYNyhyZZw7gZsFkhN3m0_ytESEZTXguF-V3Tu7aZ50vW4i5m6yqcw18nsLgNu-X19uds9uJMUXL8XEZKhsxV4Uz_s7jL4NuZQNsLvfZ5RQEB3oY/s320/apples.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345506032100846834" /></a><br /><br />I asked how many he thought I should make and he quickly replied, "Twenty-five. There are five of us and we could probably eat about five each." Little E is a thirteen year old boy going through a growth spurt.<br /><br />I am sure these would be great with store bought puff pastry, but I had never made puff pastry dough and wanted to give it a try. I used <a href="http://sugarhighsaira.blogspot.com/2009/06/pastries-bir-day-continued.html">this</a> recipe. It didn't turn out perfect, but it was my first time so I did not stress about it. My husband came in and asked if I was making a relief map of Iceland. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfSqrhguSbR9Srb_dtCeVyzSFNZMnBc-IvbxcPk6Pf1TPThn7CMZAvY_YDV8H0FNhiQx6gPaE2qDWm5tti98sCWCrVQq4DOKeJw8x0laVIpkBFmYbVlTVsxNNOXnUzG3Mlkv0gGuw3ZDo/s1600-h/pastry+dough.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfSqrhguSbR9Srb_dtCeVyzSFNZMnBc-IvbxcPk6Pf1TPThn7CMZAvY_YDV8H0FNhiQx6gPaE2qDWm5tti98sCWCrVQq4DOKeJw8x0laVIpkBFmYbVlTVsxNNOXnUzG3Mlkv0gGuw3ZDo/s320/pastry+dough.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345507632365314610" /></a><br /><br />Also, that is white thing is a Countrytime lemonade canister lid, about 3 3/4", used to cut the circles. My apple chunks were really too big, but rather than cut them again, I just stacked them a little haphazardly.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2mStkvn0IpqYKEkVMv9m6PVC9rHu3TMxQmjdWjeBsi4kyWFdr6JXwQj8f3DBzMRYBT__fqCt20iXh4uxV_TNrRVToj7PfxQXd-n9haTpnlkxsdWl_OtWD5O570erLgSvJfLxF-ANnQmA/s1600-h/unbaked.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2mStkvn0IpqYKEkVMv9m6PVC9rHu3TMxQmjdWjeBsi4kyWFdr6JXwQj8f3DBzMRYBT__fqCt20iXh4uxV_TNrRVToj7PfxQXd-n9haTpnlkxsdWl_OtWD5O570erLgSvJfLxF-ANnQmA/s320/unbaked.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345508668379253138" /></a><br /><br />I may have wanted to make my apple slices thinner, and/or my circles bigger, because the butter and brown sugar overflowed quite a bit and kept the pastry from puffing in places, and the apples toppled a bit. (Note- I only made ten.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswVgahRPl3s1IFviQp33m7smDqYnhItcO85YpDadYrMDjoVhOG0kLZMIU-QJ6IPsjhZUXvrYU9PgfziVvH0jiRlzGkj-jhN2Xekrn4ew76V963ZKeIR694lShXVw_akWxJxxgT-Uburs/s1600-h/cooked.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswVgahRPl3s1IFviQp33m7smDqYnhItcO85YpDadYrMDjoVhOG0kLZMIU-QJ6IPsjhZUXvrYU9PgfziVvH0jiRlzGkj-jhN2Xekrn4ew76V963ZKeIR694lShXVw_akWxJxxgT-Uburs/s320/cooked.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345509266525231602" /></a><br /><br />But they tasted really really good. Even though Dorie says they should be eaten soon after being made, certainly the same day, I had one two days later and it was still good. I <span style="font-style:italic;">wish</span> I had made twenty-five. A couple were almost picture perfect.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUBdNDZgm2gW5oHVgdIx6qV0m6HmMDMmxvCYvVKzHESeKFSOnPSdwUl1R45X_9Mub_aLxSgZMHqkcVZXnL1rbL2N-FmS5MM-fC0WQ8yYK7z0OFonZC7Fpia-YxsMKhkrMv6mGHtQdvgw/s1600-h/done+tartlet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUBdNDZgm2gW5oHVgdIx6qV0m6HmMDMmxvCYvVKzHESeKFSOnPSdwUl1R45X_9Mub_aLxSgZMHqkcVZXnL1rbL2N-FmS5MM-fC0WQ8yYK7z0OFonZC7Fpia-YxsMKhkrMv6mGHtQdvgw/s320/done+tartlet.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345511011028200722" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-31555669024051590142009-06-02T11:00:00.012-05:002009-06-02T16:24:01.759-05:00Cinnamon Squares; Tuesdays With DorieIt's a picture game. What is this? <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXupRO_ey2n0CeGZ9yREE6ktdNOSbu05JRqAM7sbxGSYN3LbyUNciwcsmVyNXWkHK4t4rizVhKvMztzkyA3o0i94BaYenRUuji3I8WTZvkM-R8_BXsudb3rnUfjm8-OyiEB7S3m-xB6LU/s1600-h/tents.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 251px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXupRO_ey2n0CeGZ9yREE6ktdNOSbu05JRqAM7sbxGSYN3LbyUNciwcsmVyNXWkHK4t4rizVhKvMztzkyA3o0i94BaYenRUuji3I8WTZvkM-R8_BXsudb3rnUfjm8-OyiEB7S3m-xB6LU/s320/tents.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342768920784423458" /></a><br /><br />Did you guess tents in a sandstorm? Or chunks of Starbucks Mocha Dark Chocolate, dusted with cinnamon, sugar, and espresso powder? If you guessed the latter, you are correct! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2IoHng5XTL3wQB2yGJV1wuBkg-a3urZvGWEK7CGul4V4_8L9DypZDE0_iFuMInH-udC2dFlObpa4k8L-jWyB5vnJdWzm4tJAvMIV00i-I8RGxtgSg652m-y4F7ILNWsmgnzIEsBpqHc/s1600-h/cindusted+choc.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2IoHng5XTL3wQB2yGJV1wuBkg-a3urZvGWEK7CGul4V4_8L9DypZDE0_iFuMInH-udC2dFlObpa4k8L-jWyB5vnJdWzm4tJAvMIV00i-I8RGxtgSg652m-y4F7ILNWsmgnzIEsBpqHc/s320/cindusted+choc.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342769079966904530" /></a><br /><br />I wish I could give you a cinnamon square as a prize.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxz6YS-esEVtW6_xJZ5LUCYiy0NavD1Wg9f_rP753bwfzV6liJCIVPiKby7wmEANzBltyb9yFARR-XT28ZMJ1gMVXIaOUfW9hzkFKDLlUBwB_EdbN-6YlkwA5X4JyMN7XyS4l7PUXodc/s1600-h/corner.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxz6YS-esEVtW6_xJZ5LUCYiy0NavD1Wg9f_rP753bwfzV6liJCIVPiKby7wmEANzBltyb9yFARR-XT28ZMJ1gMVXIaOUfW9hzkFKDLlUBwB_EdbN-6YlkwA5X4JyMN7XyS4l7PUXodc/s320/corner.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342764984911177442" /></a><br /><br />Cinnamon, chocolate, and espresso, all bold flavors, play nicely together in this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Cinnamon Squares, on pages 210 & 211 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From My Home To Yours</span>, by Dorie Greenspan. This simple, but elegant snack cake was chosen by Tracey, of <a href="http://www.traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Tracey's Culinary Adventures</span></a>.<br /><br />This recipe came together so easily. The batter is mixed by hand, and half is poured in an 8" X 8" pan. Then It is topped with chopped chocolate, cinnamon, and espresso powder.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOeetrc9u04s6s-Z5TGLLkTwF2tcSRX6Q183zfm5aoRwjPK_RYRacIa1_Hq1AbSilUjt2GnineMwciWDNdZZt-G4noY2lMdBDbR6gcFyGY-PN81X9z0I4i9V3Nk-2UyXNvdGWZVJ3iWc/s1600-h/bottom+half.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOeetrc9u04s6s-Z5TGLLkTwF2tcSRX6Q183zfm5aoRwjPK_RYRacIa1_Hq1AbSilUjt2GnineMwciWDNdZZt-G4noY2lMdBDbR6gcFyGY-PN81X9z0I4i9V3Nk-2UyXNvdGWZVJ3iWc/s320/bottom+half.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342766377951120498" /></a><br /><br />The rest of the batter goes on top, and it is ready to go in the oven.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8tRl6XLKixWiPbDWsdYvC9yK3shjSaoE0RBjwt-Jx2G5dlp5Qzay9JJxK0NttzWawHYSrS-NBAceZeuZViWgtUEtGaVfyhFhCx88hr8Gd1yCPZZ_b0ZbWWXlIsW9z7B_xtmxaRQjUdOs/s1600-h/oven+ready.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8tRl6XLKixWiPbDWsdYvC9yK3shjSaoE0RBjwt-Jx2G5dlp5Qzay9JJxK0NttzWawHYSrS-NBAceZeuZViWgtUEtGaVfyhFhCx88hr8Gd1yCPZZ_b0ZbWWXlIsW9z7B_xtmxaRQjUdOs/s320/oven+ready.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342769864447984962" /></a><br /><br />The recipe included a chocolate frosting, which looked delicious, but it was very hot and humid in my house, and the frosting seemed too heavy. I just dusted it with powdered sugar and cocoa.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc98an2LgXnpKIId9gALOymcMg7oWPG2c7jV3BnpAAaNjKoNOP3zZ9Ny7r3IUVXVebeTPBjkvj4pSQUqJUjFVSoYCOlCxJ2n2ZgujaYdv6br3iy3YOMw4mGT2bgxpmJtg_asmWCrvDdD0/s1600-h/dusted.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc98an2LgXnpKIId9gALOymcMg7oWPG2c7jV3BnpAAaNjKoNOP3zZ9Ny7r3IUVXVebeTPBjkvj4pSQUqJUjFVSoYCOlCxJ2n2ZgujaYdv6br3iy3YOMw4mGT2bgxpmJtg_asmWCrvDdD0/s320/dusted.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342770494915493234" /></a><br />(My cake had a couple of stab wounds from testing.)<br /><br />I served this to the kids as an after school snack. Big E said "If you want to make this again, you can." It is always nice to have to have the sixteen year old's <span style="font-style:italic;">permission</span> to make him snacks. I was glad they liked it though. I thought is was great and I'm sure I will make it again.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOSRPFlFUOzhOSMm1S_lPaHQBVGYtdLz3lZaxrxbeZL-uPmvtFT4Z-HFimrGHBSPRmKJmKDpNYSKBoOC_T2tMxBKrPsl3bR0zA66hTELQxbrH5ssbZWc2nmq1iCcV4p8xuuc4D-MMXRk/s1600-h/snack+piece.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOSRPFlFUOzhOSMm1S_lPaHQBVGYtdLz3lZaxrxbeZL-uPmvtFT4Z-HFimrGHBSPRmKJmKDpNYSKBoOC_T2tMxBKrPsl3bR0zA66hTELQxbrH5ssbZWc2nmq1iCcV4p8xuuc4D-MMXRk/s320/snack+piece.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342844044209141362" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-68323050812669910612009-05-26T11:32:00.007-05:002009-05-26T12:17:00.349-05:00Chipster Topped Brownies; TWDThese brownie/cookies are Greek Sirens, calling me, seducing me with their sweet voices until I, in a tracelike state, eat one against my will and one is too much. I remember this feeling from my childhood, eating a whole <span style="font-style:italic;">solid</span> chocolate Easter bunny. I smother the Sirens in plastic wrap, but later I hear their voices calling me again. I want them so badly, because they are soo good, but I think this may be a case of too much of a good thing, which is a bad thing for someone like me, someone with no self control.<br /><br />This week's recipe, Chipster Topped Brownies, was chosen by Beth of <a href="http://http://lloydsdinnerandamovie.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Supplicious</span></a>. It is a brownie, with a layer of chocolate chip cookie on top. It has a lot of butter and chocolate.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4F1qaaErHixqoWHw6q5pAqj34W2bzUif2-9uihKBMUg5hYWlVzeP7zVmzH3d540llNs9-DecQ3ll01ois1dLpwvNREkRB02LoTuP_RhIrSnsMNp1Qn1GCbssIQTTJCUc7jaOffkGdpQ/s1600-h/butter+and+chocolate.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4F1qaaErHixqoWHw6q5pAqj34W2bzUif2-9uihKBMUg5hYWlVzeP7zVmzH3d540llNs9-DecQ3ll01ois1dLpwvNREkRB02LoTuP_RhIrSnsMNp1Qn1GCbssIQTTJCUc7jaOffkGdpQ/s320/butter+and+chocolate.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340177760210025186" /></a><br /><br />That is just for the brownie layer! These were also a little tricky to make. I was worried about spreading the cookie dough on the brownie batter, but it went fairly well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYu_htaeRzDUSuMpVLuc2Yv8AEmgMcrxnJgrhcHDGAfRare8o_JDdUZzbmS83ln-l4ZeiKT4VFewoPEUuNJ0PtiVDd7ulmVGVWtG2sTG7S3yy5YrncPR2CMTJpU3k5yA-rVW4asIKDog/s1600-h/dollops.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYu_htaeRzDUSuMpVLuc2Yv8AEmgMcrxnJgrhcHDGAfRare8o_JDdUZzbmS83ln-l4ZeiKT4VFewoPEUuNJ0PtiVDd7ulmVGVWtG2sTG7S3yy5YrncPR2CMTJpU3k5yA-rVW4asIKDog/s320/dollops.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340179224372630514" /></a><br /><br />I did some dollops with a cookie scoop and spread it with a rubber spatula.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvBChfI1RNC5wvQnTJt8-zyE-w4YYv8-nhULyFhnNHTTNJugkjeTzWwQGfA46EHVT-lRjipar5h_IPwr0wis2SFu4d0tS6A1wCaEz5pj_mi6BnnnMj28ksONOY7TDCIufVcdVggSyzDqA/s1600-h/smoothed+dough.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvBChfI1RNC5wvQnTJt8-zyE-w4YYv8-nhULyFhnNHTTNJugkjeTzWwQGfA46EHVT-lRjipar5h_IPwr0wis2SFu4d0tS6A1wCaEz5pj_mi6BnnnMj28ksONOY7TDCIufVcdVggSyzDqA/s320/smoothed+dough.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340180109539233202" /></a><br /><br />I baked them 10 minutes longer than suggested and let them cool, but in the middle, some of them weren't done. The brownie batter was still too gooey and the cookie had crisped and broken on top, but I could see raw cookie dough beneath. I needed to take some to a recital, so I took the outer ones that were done.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdnQIRp_Rh8PmccwQoKv2Qd0Zr2GP4N4avvcZ4Jcvhh9GptzkGB_Ste5hrACgLrRbeTnfSK6R-wx1B6xVW6I3LBI7mG2006qzIy5r19FbF_aPTiyRTgB9oXo9NrbJa53u_1Ri15hH57s/s1600-h/plate+brownies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdnQIRp_Rh8PmccwQoKv2Qd0Zr2GP4N4avvcZ4Jcvhh9GptzkGB_Ste5hrACgLrRbeTnfSK6R-wx1B6xVW6I3LBI7mG2006qzIy5r19FbF_aPTiyRTgB9oXo9NrbJa53u_1Ri15hH57s/s320/plate+brownies.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340181041335808578" /></a><br /><br />When I came home, I re-baked the rest of them, and have been eating them and reaping the consequences every since. This recipe made a lot! It can be found on pages 94 and 95 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From My Home To Yours</span>, by Dorie Greenspan and this week on <a href="http://lloydsdinnerandamovie.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Supplicious</span></a>.snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-68399501957855744702009-05-21T11:13:00.004-05:002009-05-21T15:02:09.518-05:00Warning: May Contain Offensive Content. For Immature Audiences OnlyI have received some strange texts lately. Last week, someone I don't know texted me, "Tmorrow is where red day. Tell all ur friends to where red." A few days ago, the same person texted me, "Where did you kick him? he's on the floor now." My friend, <a href="http://jenjw4.wordpress.com/">Jennifer</a>, suggested I reply, "in the balls obviously, or he'd still be standing." I did not take her advice and just ignored them, assuming they'd been sent to me by mistake.<br /><br />I have been receiving other crazy texts though, not by mistake, from my coworker, P. I have worked with her for about 6 years and we have never interacted socially. We are polite and I like her, but I haven't had any relationship with her outside of work. Until a few months ago.<br /><br />We discovered we both enjoy walking hills and she invited me to walk with her. We have met a couple times a month to go walking and I have enjoyed doing so.<br /><br />About as frequently as we have been walking, she has also been sending me text messages. Keep in mind, I have never even spoken to her on the phone, if it wasn't work related, in 6 years. These are some of the texts I have gotten from her:<br /><br /><em>Great news! I found a prostitute who charges by the inch!! Obviously, I can’t afford her, but it’s a great deal 4 u!<br /><br />How does a vagina look before sex? Like a lovely pink rose. And after sex? Ever seen a bulldog eat mayonnaise?<br /><br />Y r blk people nose so big? Cuz god stuck his 2 fingers up their nose y he was painting them blk.<br /><br />Cheap mexican pregnancy test: insert burrito in vagina and remove after 30sec. If half eaten, there’s a little beaner on the way.<br /><br />Im from laos. Sao in laos means miss like single and na is My middle name<br /><br />The best engine ever made is a vagina. It takes any size piston, self lubricates, starts w/ 1 finger, and does its own oil change every 28 days!<br /><br />It was once said that a black man would be president when pigs fly. Indeed, 100 days into Obama’s presidency, swine flu.</em><br /><br />WTF? I assume she sends these to everyone in her phone book? Doesn't that seem strange? I barely know her, but I hope she knows me well enough to know I wouldn't appreciate the racist jokes. I don't really appreciate the political or sexual jokes either. I'm not sure how to feel or what to do. I don't get charged for incoming texts, so I guess it doesn't bother me THAT much. It just seems strange to me.<br /><br />We were walking the other day and I was considering bringing it up, but wasn't sure what I was going to say. I started the conversation by telling her about the text I had received about kicking someone. She said "Oh my gosh, I did that the other day too. I had this picture of this pussy that was all burnt and blistered so I sent it to some people, and then then my phone rang and I had sent it to this woman I didn't know who told me it was really inappropriate." So I said, "well, at least it was an adult and not a kid." But in my mind, I was thinking, "*what* *the * *fuck*?" And also, apparently she does select who she sends the messages to, because I did not get the picture message (thank god). Or maybe she tried to send it to me, but sent it to the stranger lady instead.<br /><br />As I write this, I just got another message. "<em>Roses are red. Pickles are green. I love your legs and what's in between</em>."snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-66836038716193295112009-05-19T10:32:00.012-05:002009-05-19T21:12:24.896-05:00Fresh Mango Bread; Tuesdays With Dorie<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx3W4g2PGhbzDk95DrX0bI4o4fGTuuQqreugXhQgj6uMij2_jpwN9KnBsbmTpuqkJZHWK2Qyk8hq358MEHuyLDtFIR7pKep2K3rG0OJajB47lApUi3i8jHb3RmH_FB1aadA1V_oSSt0ok/s1600-h/loaf.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx3W4g2PGhbzDk95DrX0bI4o4fGTuuQqreugXhQgj6uMij2_jpwN9KnBsbmTpuqkJZHWK2Qyk8hq358MEHuyLDtFIR7pKep2K3rG0OJajB47lApUi3i8jHb3RmH_FB1aadA1V_oSSt0ok/s320/loaf.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337565899622038178" /></a><br /><br />I learned how to get the flesh out of a mango. This may be a rudimentary skill, but I am going to go ahead and give a tutorial, in case there are any other people (like me) nearing 40 years of age who don't know how to do this! I made this week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection, Fresh Mango Bread, twice. The first time, I had some trouble with my mangoes. I guess I haven't really worked with them before. I have seen images similar to this many many times while surfing the food porn.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQcRDZkCQeww4EcS8XzHdO80swraNEClX5tf4iKzM8iphXJsllhQf9vSqnri3FKoR06YDBShZG2sGcCXjYBtbkh7sZEcIUSTPVO0mm-4V9mLEXjG0kAl095dyuHETQyewf0L1CUevPbM/s1600-h/cheek+cut+and+popped.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQcRDZkCQeww4EcS8XzHdO80swraNEClX5tf4iKzM8iphXJsllhQf9vSqnri3FKoR06YDBShZG2sGcCXjYBtbkh7sZEcIUSTPVO0mm-4V9mLEXjG0kAl095dyuHETQyewf0L1CUevPbM/s320/cheek+cut+and+popped.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337560652585404802" /></a><br /><br />I never actually read about what that image was. I just assumed it was half a mango, and that you could slice a mango down the middle, score it like that, and pop the fruit out. I learned that if you try to cut a mango down the middle, you run into a giant pit, about as big as the mango, and then the flesh gets all stuck to the pit and the skin in really strong strings, and if you try to pull it apart that way, you ends up with globs and strings and tears and not much mango to put in your bread.<br /><br />After reading the instructions, I learned that you need to cut the cheeks off the mango.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKz3iQO5If2PJOO8_eqpnB-JReiEvfkWnuXJFNOk-d7dATIJtYms6154YpZwqv0Mb4-b-Si3QZ9N7Zr9NKObBlRgqwPRVUKv0ud40xRcOQCaui7Lff58wEdv-qFLHbHzpYBGLlpymMsts/s1600-h/cutting+cheek+off.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKz3iQO5If2PJOO8_eqpnB-JReiEvfkWnuXJFNOk-d7dATIJtYms6154YpZwqv0Mb4-b-Si3QZ9N7Zr9NKObBlRgqwPRVUKv0ud40xRcOQCaui7Lff58wEdv-qFLHbHzpYBGLlpymMsts/s320/cutting+cheek+off.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337562239871183042" /></a><br /><br />Then you can score the cheeks like so:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia-4mueuUkAMJ09pX8Qtt0THfoPLBw3na3cPJA8MPHWdqAyl2r1HO0pqh4OvX7ahbqob_HCfwmlDecwPHHYywPLF8dINj7ubnrzmTdMCgUanxlFgw0rD8X4TpWHNDAg4h2WusyQ-N03s8/s1600-h/cheek+scored.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia-4mueuUkAMJ09pX8Qtt0THfoPLBw3na3cPJA8MPHWdqAyl2r1HO0pqh4OvX7ahbqob_HCfwmlDecwPHHYywPLF8dINj7ubnrzmTdMCgUanxlFgw0rD8X4TpWHNDAg4h2WusyQ-N03s8/s320/cheek+scored.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337562569667563250" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Then</span> you can pop it inside out and cut the flesh off into neat little chunks:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0Q5DV4FbKoavKeie86o3Pa6ZbzGrUDYb6WG3AAYtJayeahIRb_i2TNRzHOQhLl-JsT1OcAdorCxEWJObXZ4RS7dcDi4wk6B46ZQGHcUk3gILjgy4_Fm6m7h425WSRTu9BP6gNOcaAbE/s1600-h/cheek+cut+and+popped.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0Q5DV4FbKoavKeie86o3Pa6ZbzGrUDYb6WG3AAYtJayeahIRb_i2TNRzHOQhLl-JsT1OcAdorCxEWJObXZ4RS7dcDi4wk6B46ZQGHcUk3gILjgy4_Fm6m7h425WSRTu9BP6gNOcaAbE/s320/cheek+cut+and+popped.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337562944112719682" /></a><br /><br />Then you can trim what you can off the giant pit:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-SZs8Pz9FLklBiqfvi4t-A4mHa_WMergW9k-8Q9a9P2wOGXQw10bZr8mc9ZWbEYTPHI8ZheK0_cu_4lRDOjCk9yPVuaXCOOTpuU4baIgIGvbf5w4o_Oq2X2DpFrPo9mbMs-sztOWfbE/s1600-h/trimming.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-SZs8Pz9FLklBiqfvi4t-A4mHa_WMergW9k-8Q9a9P2wOGXQw10bZr8mc9ZWbEYTPHI8ZheK0_cu_4lRDOjCk9yPVuaXCOOTpuU4baIgIGvbf5w4o_Oq2X2DpFrPo9mbMs-sztOWfbE/s320/trimming.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337563351181226802" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Then</span> you can make your mango bread. I used a little extra mango and omitted the raisins this second time around. I also used the zest from a whole lemon and a whole lime.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPlKpuxOcWrdVa8C6bmHs3sy9jPrv1RlZLec_3s5-piA4ZtWZ-P6pe3j9TRnHqU_NLNixuprsbTmP83pe-ONmnK1chYFf5mv-D-E2qD3wsPQULoqXBKKd4Io_D3SAcn9-UvQm1ZazF1o/s1600-h/batter+with+zest.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPlKpuxOcWrdVa8C6bmHs3sy9jPrv1RlZLec_3s5-piA4ZtWZ-P6pe3j9TRnHqU_NLNixuprsbTmP83pe-ONmnK1chYFf5mv-D-E2qD3wsPQULoqXBKKd4Io_D3SAcn9-UvQm1ZazF1o/s320/batter+with+zest.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337563926542055890" /></a><br /><br />Kelly, from <a href="http://bakingwiththeboys.wordpress.com"><span style="font-style:italic;">Baking With The Boys</span></a>, chose this recipe. Over on her blog, she also includes a version to make it lighter. Lighter in calories and fat, that is.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqUyq-UIYe6YwxGRvB6UE79l965ryLFJAiNm3eS-_Xw4xtl4004yOpnF2mSwbSmumzFKd7qhrnS9kKUILJixyf5cjcjXfhOD6YHDCvHu8maygXdkF538YMchGgMXRW6WiQ7vh6m8ffuJs/s1600-h/ready+to+bake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqUyq-UIYe6YwxGRvB6UE79l965ryLFJAiNm3eS-_Xw4xtl4004yOpnF2mSwbSmumzFKd7qhrnS9kKUILJixyf5cjcjXfhOD6YHDCvHu8maygXdkF538YMchGgMXRW6WiQ7vh6m8ffuJs/s320/ready+to+bake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337565079233031890" /></a><br /><br />When baked, this bread turns a lovely dark brown. It is spicy and chewy, and bejeweled with mangoes. I thought this was beautiful and delicious!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC15z0cSCkd8vlGGWsz_DiTA9CTrJWdfwnPVKRYPqlNItH1ilIqSAg-EbR478x5rK2HUy1EK46hO-QVsKdJ4HK1_kkZuEjbmdrirH5yKPnF8wC6u_eYIGggDGOjkH8zAACYVfVt9BGQAg/s1600-h/slice+with+jewels.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC15z0cSCkd8vlGGWsz_DiTA9CTrJWdfwnPVKRYPqlNItH1ilIqSAg-EbR478x5rK2HUy1EK46hO-QVsKdJ4HK1_kkZuEjbmdrirH5yKPnF8wC6u_eYIGggDGOjkH8zAACYVfVt9BGQAg/s320/slice+with+jewels.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337565732367978290" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-60841512953468966792009-05-12T13:01:00.008-05:002009-05-12T15:54:30.739-05:00Tartest Lemon Tart; Tuesdays With Dorie.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhriSydpFvJ-xS_aMT686temW9hyphenhyphendoL_OUTSihs_hJwmRcY76PI6y8wDwgZ_Xnot3uRZuctkYVrSyCVjwDXl8BiWQOohnJgDTTkVISpTmCkVd1Y1fRPIYwUqGGrrbJ_a49IlUaVK2mw24s/s1600-h/zest+and+yolks.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhriSydpFvJ-xS_aMT686temW9hyphenhyphendoL_OUTSihs_hJwmRcY76PI6y8wDwgZ_Xnot3uRZuctkYVrSyCVjwDXl8BiWQOohnJgDTTkVISpTmCkVd1Y1fRPIYwUqGGrrbJ_a49IlUaVK2mw24s/s320/zest+and+yolks.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335037858298305186" /></a><br /><br />This tart is bold. It is simple and delicious. It is made with whole lemons. Or if you are a scardy cat like me, whole lemons minus the pith.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC33J7s2j_aync4kQGpkSsZND1nUJVcTlS1IKzdWXxFH5RiVKlD9VDViQ9NpPqCLKGGXvRDzPtEjqW_fMYFI1-aq464kZ8C6aZOsX31p-2GlulbwU7mqmVY4Edun45rDVOBno_oIvpilc/s1600-h/pith.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC33J7s2j_aync4kQGpkSsZND1nUJVcTlS1IKzdWXxFH5RiVKlD9VDViQ9NpPqCLKGGXvRDzPtEjqW_fMYFI1-aq464kZ8C6aZOsX31p-2GlulbwU7mqmVY4Edun45rDVOBno_oIvpilc/s320/pith.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335023052804404498" /></a><br /><br />I really did not know if I would like this tart, chosen by Babette, of <a href="http://www.babettefeasts.com/"><em>Babette Feasts</em></a>. I had some extra filling , which I baked in a little ramekin, so I did get to taste the filling before I served the tart on Mother's Day. I wasn't sure how to describe it to my Mother's Day guests either. Most of them tried it (in spite of my description, "ummm, really tart, and a little lumpy.") Everyone who tried said they really liked it and asked me for the recipe.<br /><br />I wasn't sure how to describe Tuesdays With Dorie to a group of mostly tecnologically challenged people either. I said it was like my baking club, where we all bake the same thing each week and compare notes. <br /><br />"But not a <em>real</em> baking club?", asks my brother. "You don't actually get to <em>taste</em> each other's food?", asks my mother. I include my whole family in the technologically challenged description, not excluding myself, as having some sort of impairment, with me being on the higher functioning end of the spectrum. (I suck at editing photos, but am somewhat familiar with "web logs".) The other end of the taxonomy does actually include those who have NEVER used a computer ("And never will!") Most of them email and google and a few even have facebook pages.<br /><br />So this is where the situation starts to get a little sticky. How do I describe a group like TWD or an activity like blogging? I start to explain about food bloggers and baking bloggers, but don't want to misrepresent my blog as being part of that group, when a lot of my blog is about how fucked up my family is, but I don't want to go there either in this Mother's Day conversation. (To any family members who have found your way here, I am not talking about YOU, I am talking about other family memebers, of course.)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgstZM5aFNiLc_DdR4KIX-9PjnO3l89fXvvS6kOUlG49x_090uv6q7UZIE9z4FuyfzqBl_txUx44hO1vatrFlo-IIZISjich3KqNAOjYHSaKB76p6RkbMDWH_VT_4vsel-dkUb2UMob6AM/s1600-h/done+tart.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 144px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgstZM5aFNiLc_DdR4KIX-9PjnO3l89fXvvS6kOUlG49x_090uv6q7UZIE9z4FuyfzqBl_txUx44hO1vatrFlo-IIZISjich3KqNAOjYHSaKB76p6RkbMDWH_VT_4vsel-dkUb2UMob6AM/s320/done+tart.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335039554492264530" /></a><br /><br />I was glad that everyone, myself included, really loved this tart. I will definitely make it again. You can find the recipe on page 336 of <em>Baking, From My Home To Yours</em> by Dorie Greenspan, or at <a href="http://www.babettefeasts.com/"><em>Babette Feasts</em>, </a> or family members with email adresses, I will email it to you.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3SmJSt2fh9-Nl4I265c2E9GZCNSvBKwbijC8UJzDoejJLp1dsMg4dUTSh6u4eb5bDYICEOZpMb2fEx0SoIZM9L0zUx_w4dOrUp1sPSdDMJaDma1aCC52B1XPUVmHPuKv2YaZKrVN71w/s1600-h/slice.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3SmJSt2fh9-Nl4I265c2E9GZCNSvBKwbijC8UJzDoejJLp1dsMg4dUTSh6u4eb5bDYICEOZpMb2fEx0SoIZM9L0zUx_w4dOrUp1sPSdDMJaDma1aCC52B1XPUVmHPuKv2YaZKrVN71w/s320/slice.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335042031469072914" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-71733973559285772822009-05-05T08:37:00.008-05:002009-05-05T10:34:44.862-05:00Tiramisu Cake and Questionable Parenting Practices; TWD<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIsfbhHJPbmZppcXbrrgZbdMsGE8VZvblnXegj_gDcnmxynvEHDyH8qL4Un1zdSb3b4R76zkXu8qGZ7AijMtr9cV9gJkqqF3RP9HoJQukFSJTkTLWTPtl-bW2gvEbqPpK4VWA37uJFMI/s1600-h/whole+cake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIsfbhHJPbmZppcXbrrgZbdMsGE8VZvblnXegj_gDcnmxynvEHDyH8qL4Un1zdSb3b4R76zkXu8qGZ7AijMtr9cV9gJkqqF3RP9HoJQukFSJTkTLWTPtl-bW2gvEbqPpK4VWA37uJFMI/s320/whole+cake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332362138898307634" /></a><br /><br />Dorie introduces this cake by saying that in the 1990s, the only way to avoid tiramisu was to go to Antartica. I cannot figure out why anyone would want to avoid tiramisu. Heck, I would probably be willing to travel to Antartica to get it, if that was the only place it was available. Luckily, Dorie makes it available in a layer cake form, with homemade yellow cake instead of storebought ladyfingers. This cake is wonderfully delicious, drenched in espresso syrup and a little amaretto kick. It is the perfect "pick me up".<br /><br />Traditionally, this is a dessert made with the ladyfingers, mascarpone cheese mixed with some liqueur, espresso, and a dusting of cocoa powder. I didn't have any mascarpone, but had ricotta I needed to use, so I used that. I had read you could use ricotta and to whir it in a food processor to make it smoother. I was rushed, so I skipped that part. I was worried it would make the filling and frosting too grainy, but after sitting in the refrigerator over night, it is very smooth. I knew I would love this recipe at this point:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirC64igrlTE11-EIdUJGfYC3jBXKhKPQXg43r7jX6NI-8B0vMNL40vs3JXLBVAm7zvLZjBUcJQfqg9gU-WZbZ3OpZq6cMxA5xyI6qkfreTMMelvBx95y_T70eMFeY_BkcoLp-koBns4Q/s1600-h/add+chppoed+chocolate.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirC64igrlTE11-EIdUJGfYC3jBXKhKPQXg43r7jX6NI-8B0vMNL40vs3JXLBVAm7zvLZjBUcJQfqg9gU-WZbZ3OpZq6cMxA5xyI6qkfreTMMelvBx95y_T70eMFeY_BkcoLp-koBns4Q/s320/add+chppoed+chocolate.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332355883522945858" /></a><br /><br />This cake gets more than just a dusting of chocolate. The layers are filled with chunks of chocolate. I had some of this on hand:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-wbB71bY45Mc7Xo09SlnGoEDS5PuQfvWotc58H2zU9Nne1Manfbrnip8srJQOU4R3yWn5gwSVBAW1rQdP5GG57KHQO497Dg_f6_0hRjc3RhtCJgqlo1AAVO3VBP9GP1KRsvV9_DxDFg/s1600-h/mocha+dark+chocolate.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-wbB71bY45Mc7Xo09SlnGoEDS5PuQfvWotc58H2zU9Nne1Manfbrnip8srJQOU4R3yWn5gwSVBAW1rQdP5GG57KHQO497Dg_f6_0hRjc3RhtCJgqlo1AAVO3VBP9GP1KRsvV9_DxDFg/s320/mocha+dark+chocolate.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332356700035247042" /></a><br /><br />A perfect choice for this cake. Making the cake was fun and simple. I was getting out the ingredients and asked Little E to do some quick math for me to figure out how many grams of cake flour I needed. After telling me the answer was 224, he came to see what I was doing. I was pouring the cake flour onto the scale. Oooops, 225 grams. I pulled a spoon out and got lucky and scooped exactly one gram. So I said to Little E, "If you ever need to eyeball one gram of white powder, this is what it looks like. hee hee." I'm not sure what is wrong with me, that I would make a drug joke to my thirteen year old. He responded, "Well, hopefully I'll be dealing in kilos, not grams, hee hee." So I stopped giggling and made it clear that it is not really funny.<br /><br />Little E brought home a stray cat two nights ago and we are letting it stay here while we find it a home. It is mentally ill I think, and continuously sucks on your shirt and kneads at you like it is nursing. Constantly. It has kept him awake for the past two nights so he was really dragging this morning. Of course, I offered him a piece of the tiramisu cake for breakfast. He really needed a "pick me up". He was running late, so he grabbed a piece and headed out the door. There goes my teenager, heading to school eating a 'breakfast' not only filled with sugar, but laced with alcohol and espresso as well. At least I did not make any more cocaine jokes.<br /><br />I would guess this cake has the potential to be addicting though. It is really delicious. This recipe was chosen by Megan, of <a href="http://mybakingadventures.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">My Baking Adventures</span></a>. She has the recipe and great step by step pictures on her blog. It can also be found on pages 266-268 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, From My Home To Yours</span>, by Dorie Greenspan.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_qgiIkQ9acpfWt6c5bvkRhrYpBmc1CVp4hSMfzb9yvQx0gS5oCis6gF8on-j4UOVxGYlI_WSICktqTj8p-DDwTrsyji-YQkQ4A8QwmvFKp0858CyDKO4gID6NAT1sh6rNiIoZtZ58WI/s1600-h/tiramisu+slice.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_qgiIkQ9acpfWt6c5bvkRhrYpBmc1CVp4hSMfzb9yvQx0gS5oCis6gF8on-j4UOVxGYlI_WSICktqTj8p-DDwTrsyji-YQkQ4A8QwmvFKp0858CyDKO4gID6NAT1sh6rNiIoZtZ58WI/s320/tiramisu+slice.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332362247097638978" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-3022925960172901832009-05-04T10:15:00.006-05:002009-05-04T15:52:40.951-05:00You Can't Have Your Cake And Eat It TooI really like my church. I spent a lot of my life searching for a religion. When I was four, I asked my parents for a Bible and got a giant children's Bible that I read cover to cover. I rode church buses to different churches because my parents never went to church. I took it upon myself to go with my giant bible to various churches looking for "the one". When I was in high school, I was <strike>brainwashed</strike> saved at a fundamentalist Christian church and spent a few years trying to convert my friends and enemies to the Assemblies of God. I could write a book about how crazy that church was and how fucked up I still probably am from it. Amazingly, my atheist <a href="http://jenjw4.wordpress.com/">BFF</a> remained friends with me, and it's how I met my husband of 18 years, so it's all good.<br /><br />Fourteen years ago, I started going to this church where you don't have to believe anything. The whole idea of the church is that each person should make up his or her mind about what to believe. At that point in my life, it is exactly what I needed. <br /><br />There are seven principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote: (from The <a href="http://uua.org">Universalist Unitarian Association</a>; the church in Peoria is called the Unitarian Universalist Church of Peoria.)<br /><br />-The inherent worth and dignity of every person;<br />-Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;<br />-Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;<br />-A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;<br />-The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;<br />-The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;<br />-Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.<br /><br />When I first started going, I was a very active member and on all kinds of committees and volunteered for everything and taught Sunday School. Over the years, my attendance has become way more sporadic and my involvement ebbs and flows. Lately, I have been trying to be more involved and connected.<br /><br />UU churches also have this really important tradition called coffee hour. After every service, everyone gathers to have coffee or tea and snacks. Usually a committee or several people join together to host coffee hour and provide the snacks. I guess I still have some over-zealous tendencies and decided I could host coffee hour myself, or with the help of my immediate family. It is kind of a lot of work, but I thought it would be fun.<br /><br />About a month ago, a woman called me wanting to know if she could have a cake at our coffee hour, for her wedding anniversary. Sure, of course. A cake would be great. Then she hunted me down at church the next Sunday, to see what else I was going to serve. She seemed really distressed that I did not know at that point. In my mind, cake goes with everything. It is also not cheap to serve 150 people and I thought I would see what is on sale at the time and plan a menu from there. The next Sunday she found me again, wanting to know if I would be serving the food from one long table, or two separate tables. Again, I did not know and again she seemed unhappy. She was very concerned about my coffee hour and her cake, or cakes. So I told her I would probably have 2 tables, to facilitate the line moving faster.<br /><br />The last few days have been really hectic because there is only so much you can do ahead of time for serving so much food. So I have been frantically baking and prepping and have been a little stressed and PMSy to make it even more fun.<br /><br />Sunday morning there was also a breakfast before church hosted by the religious education committee. This also made getting ready for coffee hour a little more difficult because I had to wait for all the people to clear out from breakfast (which ended up being after the service had started) before I could set up. I helped the RE committee clean up after their breakfast while my husband made coffee. It was a hectic scene in a crowded kitchen. The RE committee had used one long table and I saw the anniversary woman had brought one cake, labeled "For Coffee Hour". So I decided to just use the one table, put her cake right in the middle with an anniversary figurine she had left for display, and put my pairs of dishes symmetrically on either side of the cake. I had labels as to what my items were and labels for vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free (because UUs welcome many diverse diet choices and facilitate informed decision making in that regard). <br /><br />The RE people decided to offer their leftover breakfast foods for coffee hour and started filling in the spaces on the table with leftover bacon and quiches etc. Then another cake appeared from the welcoming committee to welcome the new members. So I tried to stop stressing over the bacon in the vegan section and tried to figure out what I was supposed to do with this cake. Luckily someone from the welcoming committee came and put the cake on a separate table and cut it up. He suggested I do the same with the anniversary cake, so people could eat it. I was unsure about whether or not to cut it, but I know what 150 people wanting free food are like and how it would not be easy to cut it up while they are going through the food line. My husband went and cut up the cake and we stood ready to serve coffee as church was letting out.<br /><br />Anniversary cake woman approached me with her arms around her daughter to tell me I had ruined her cake. She hadn't taken a picture of it yet. She started crying on her daughter's shoulder. I apologized and the daughter said it would be alright, but anniversary woman was collapsing in her arms and sobbing on her shoulder. She wailed, "Just, in the future, don't cut the cake!"<br /><br />Did I mention I was PMSy? I retreated to the restroom and cried. My husband served the coffee and observed the bizarre spectacle of the anniversary couple getting a picture of the cake while the people were moving through the line to get the rest of the food. I came back and hid my tear stained face in a sink full of dishes.<br /><br />In hindsight, I should have known better than to cut the cake. I regret not thinking more clearly. I wish I would have just left the uncut cake and let her deal with it if people had started scooping fistfuls of cake. I know, more than likely, people would have come back for cake if it wasn't cut when they went through the line, then anniversary woman would have been able to get a picture. So I really am sorry.<br /><br />But, let me say this. If it is important to you that a cake be served in a certain way or at a certain time, maybe you should leave a specific note saying so. Or talk to the person setting it up directly. If you want a picture of it, it might be a good idea to do that before there are 100 people wanting to eat it. I understand that you want your cake your way, and would be happy to help you make that happen, if I had known. So please "in the future", give me some freaking clue what you want, or better yet, host the coffee hour yourself.snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534221498298699129.post-23159551643887487952009-04-28T12:54:00.006-05:002009-04-28T15:14:41.714-05:00Chocolate Cream Tart; Tuesdays With Dorie<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixghkzqFq0gZLVTORT59DVoDZtNuT5QWXN02_LBZVSbXiuwPPPhYUkTMhHXnRmyR02u7-63FQvIeCNtSVAvOaJ-DqWdbs9x9scgUOjtYHieOQYkQqD-mVBkyPhYCXaYGNyLAs1L58ZRe8/s1600-h/finished+tart.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixghkzqFq0gZLVTORT59DVoDZtNuT5QWXN02_LBZVSbXiuwPPPhYUkTMhHXnRmyR02u7-63FQvIeCNtSVAvOaJ-DqWdbs9x9scgUOjtYHieOQYkQqD-mVBkyPhYCXaYGNyLAs1L58ZRe8/s320/finished+tart.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329804414587691282" /></a><br /><br />This tart, chosen by Kim, of <a href="http://www.scrumptiousphotography.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Scrumptious Photography</span></a>, was luscious. It is perfect for a day that is only 50 degrees, after several 80 degree days that made me feel like summer. It is perfect for a day after your basement is flooded and your grandma, who lives there, is being a nervous-wreck-basket-case (understandably so). It is perfect for a day when your dryer isn't working and you hang laundry out on your new clothesline that you are thrilled to have, only to have it rain non-stop. It is perfect for a day when you are being a nervous-wreck-basket-case with PMS. Today I <span style="font-weight:bold;">NEEDED</span> chocolate, and this tart delivers the chocolate. Some of my fellow TWDers expressed the opinion that this may be <span style="font-style:italic;">too</span> chocolately. I really can't wrap my head around such a concept, but they are entitled to their (crazy) opinions. For me, it was exactly the right amount of chocolate.<br /><br />There are three components to this tart: The crust is dark and crisp, almost bitter. The cream is velvety and rich. And the topping is light and sweet. It is a veritable <strike>menage a trois</strike> triptych of flavors.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMYneRaVPHrlbpA31KE6vGGukkOLnYnFOKyFcaY63ZoiA9_IEMaA65uMNbXsosnFvWwK2IE_w8wxOhJ2wdtqwXqPu8VxD8Z8tRWSbNr7cr_aPi9fuEcCwc573W1dnodDey4fvxu2SBgQ/s1600-h/tart+triptych.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMYneRaVPHrlbpA31KE6vGGukkOLnYnFOKyFcaY63ZoiA9_IEMaA65uMNbXsosnFvWwK2IE_w8wxOhJ2wdtqwXqPu8VxD8Z8tRWSbNr7cr_aPi9fuEcCwc573W1dnodDey4fvxu2SBgQ/s400/tart+triptych.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329812547665372370" /></a><br /><br />For the recipe, lots of pictures, and even nutrition info, please go to <a href="http://www.scrumptiousphotography.com/">Kim</a>'s site. The recipe is on pages 352 and 353 of <span style="font-style:italic;">Baking, from My Home To Yours</span>, by Dorie Greenspan.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVoKqP74sMuNvIOHZO7VCRUoIO_7sbJ7b-G6Vs8MOPYRya8uwc8QJcyN7Iq3C7TtxYFe7Hi68qdOx-kUis329-0shPhbymlpkqTdJpsGu36XM7HOxEUS1jS-6GAjWmlqcS9OXW-33Pi4U/s1600-h/slice.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVoKqP74sMuNvIOHZO7VCRUoIO_7sbJ7b-G6Vs8MOPYRya8uwc8QJcyN7Iq3C7TtxYFe7Hi68qdOx-kUis329-0shPhbymlpkqTdJpsGu36XM7HOxEUS1jS-6GAjWmlqcS9OXW-33Pi4U/s320/slice.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329811641824816658" /></a>snicketmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487153057136367343noreply@blogger.com12