If you're in the mood for awesome...

You MUST try this recipe:

Browned Butter Snickerdoodle Brownies with Butterscotch Sauce

It is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the best things I've ever tasted. I was expecting a chewy, more brownie-like texture and a thicker sauce... but this turned out more like a extremely soft, rich spice cake with gooey caramel/butterscotch glaze.

There are so many overlapping flavors that as you keep eating it you keep experiencing different tastes: sweet, salty, buttery... but let me tell you that more than a small piece and you will be toast for the rest of the night. A little goes a long way.

Here's what I modified (though the recipe requires little modification) and a few things to note:

1) I lined the 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper, but only used spray cooking oil to coat the bottom - the flouring of the pan is really unnecessary for this recipe.

2) The directions on browning butter are very helpful - it enhances the butter smell/nutty flavor that you can taste in the final product, so don't skip this step!

3) Don't be afraid to use a full 2 teaspoons of salt in the brownie - it will actually enhance the sweetness of the brownie and highlights the other flavors.

4) I decreased the amount of brown sugar in the brownie to just around 2 cups - it's not much of a difference, but it made me feel a little less guilty serving it up. :)

5) Add the slightly beaten eggs to the mix a little at a time - this will keep the eggs from cooking in the hot browned butter.

5) I increased the mount of salt in the butterscotch sauce to almost 3/4 teaspoon (but I'm a sucker for salted caramel - I would recommend tasting the sauce and add more salt a very little bit at a time to find what you like best). Also, I added just a splash of vanilla to the sauce which helped the flavor and aroma.

Enjoy!

What's Bakin'

Wow, talk about a serious lapse in blogging - I'm sure all two of you who follow this blog are relieved to see that (a) the last cake project didn't kill me and (b) I was not abducted by aliens.

In actuality, 2011 has been a very VERY busy year - from Memorial Day through Labor Day we experienced an almost constant flow of friends, family, and the occasional vagabond to keep us plenty busy all summer. It was a rich time with our loved ones, but left little time for blogging and baking.

And now fall is upon us. The weather (literally) changed overnight this week: hot and humid 90+ degree weather one day, and chilly and rainy 60 degree weather the next. We're officially in the season of apples and pumpkins (pie, anyone?), sweaters, trick or treating, and hay rides.

Speaking of trick or treating, I've started the (rather painful) task of figuring out Halloween costumes for the kids. Our daughter has started preschool this year and will be attending an actual Halloween party, so the pressure is on to put out some real effort.

The kids have been on a serious aquatic animal/creature kick these days, so it was no surprise when our daughter asked to be a jellyfish this year. At first I balked at the idea (my sewing skills are only slightly behind my bread baking skills - see here). Until I found this link for a no-sew jellyfish costume:


This seems doable even for a sewing/crafting dunce like myself. Hot glue and some ribbon? I think I can handle that.

This gave me enough courage to search for other aquatic-related costumes for little brother... and then I found this:

I think I just died from overexposure to cuteness.

This costume was listed in an article titled "10-Minute Halloween Costumes."

WHAT??

Eye-squelching cuteness factor AND can be completed in less time than it takes to check my email? DONE.

What kind of costume ideas have you got cookin'?

UPDATE:

G-Bug loved her costume (though it does wobble a bit)

Little brother, on the other hand....
Note: Don't make this costume for kids who are sensitive to scratchiness.
Or goldfish. Or fun.

Wedding Cakes - A Labor of Love

When people look at wedding cakes, they (hopefully) see the dainty flowers, swirly icing, crisp edges, maybe even imagine what it will taste like.

What people usually don't see are the countless hours, weeks of planning, tears shed, baking snafus, flowers that shattered, illness, and the numerous other ways Murphy's Law tried to sabotage the entire project.

I choose to believe that prayers were answered in the completion of this cake for our dear friends Tim and Stephanie. It was such a joy to celebrate their coming together as husband and wife with them, and the fact that the cake was truly a labor of love made the presentation that much more rewarding.

Congrats, Mr & Mrs Tim and Stephanie Strader!

I'm filling a little pleased with myself...

(Insert your groan here for the horrible pun, I couldn't resist.)

So, this weekend is kind of a big deal. One of Jason's best friends is getting married to a fantastic girl, and we couldn't be more excited for them. We are honored to be asked to join the revelry, as well as doing our best to make this celebration a really special day... the beginning of a new and wonderful season of marriage. Hooray!

As a wedding gift, I offered to make the wedding cake... my first three tier (gulp) and my first try working with gum paste (double gulp). So far it's been going well, mostly due to the fact that I allotted every evening this week to preparation. Tonight was cake baking and filling making night.

The bride and groom decided on raspberry buttercream filling in the bottom layer and honey cinnamon buttercream filling in the middle layer. I was pretty confident that both of these recipes would be tasty and bring a little extra oomph to the cake... but MAN! I am seriously impressed with the subtle flavors and the wonderful creaminess of these fillings! So much so that I am designating an entire blog post about them. Try them - you will understand why.

Raspberry Buttercream Icing
**Note: You can substitute butter for the shortening - it will be more natural and taste even better. However, if you are needing it to be able to firm up and hold its shape you will need to at least use 1/4 cup shortening. Also, I increased the amount of raspberry preserves to 1/2 cup for a little more flavor (I used Smucker's Simply Fruit preserves)

Honey Cinnamon Frosting
**Note: Double the cinnamon - you won't regret it. Also, you can increase the confectioner's sugar up to 2 cups if you need more stability, though it will make it significantly sweeter.

More wedding related posts coming soon!

Cars

The Pixar movie "Cars" has got to be on the Top Ten List for all children under the age of six - of course, my kids and several of their friends are no exception. In the last three months I have made TWO Lightning McQueen cakes as gifts to two very Car-lovin' boys.


I want to dedicate this first cake to my Wilton instructor, Miss Veronica. Even though I only made it to half of the classes, I gleaned a lot of helpful information that made this cake a success. So, thanks for letting an exhausted 3rd trimester pregnant student in to your class with her lopsided cakes and poorly mixed icing. Oh, and happy birthday, Owen!

The second cake was for our friend and neighbor Cameron - I used the frozen buttercream transfer method (FBCT - see this previous post for details of method):


Finding just the right picture for this cake was tough - none of the online coloring pages had just what I was looking for. I eventually ended up just printing an image of a Cars birthday invitation and used it as a stencil. Thankfully, the birthday boy enjoyed seeing both McQueen and Tow Mater on his cake, making all of the extra effort worthwhile. :)

So there are the Cars cakes... I think I've filled my vehicle cake quota for a while.

KA-CHOW!!!

Christmas Cookies, better late than never!

Man oh man - talk about tardiness! I meant to post these recipes before Christmas, and here it is the 6th of January! In my defense, December was chock full of wonderful family visiting, an ice storm, Jason's seminary graduation, home insurance adjusters and estimators (did I mention our kitchen ceiling fell in on Thanksgiving?), and general Christmas/New Year merriment... so I'm going to cut myself a little slack and pointedly ignore the calendar for the next hour.

Speaking of merriment, we traditionally like to make goodies for our next door neighbors at Christmas. Gracie was extremely helpful this year:

Ain't she cute?

Last year I made seven pans of homemade cinnamon rolls. This year, we did an assorted cookie plate:

Won't you be my neighbor?

So, in case anyone is wanting a few good cookie recipes to extend the Christmas cheer and shake off the winter blahs... or if you have already given up on your New Years resolutions, here are a few examples of ways to indulge:

1) Baklava - fool proof recipe, and very simple (not quick, but simple!)

2) Thumbprint Cookies, aka "Austrian Jam Cookies" - I guess Austrians like their thumbprints rolled in chopped nuts, yum

3) White chocolate covered pretzel sticks (bag of pretzel sticks + melted almond bark = you're in business)

4) Oreos coated in white chocolate and dark chocolate (again, almond bark is easy - use a little leftover bark to mix with melted semi-sweet chocolate chips to help the dark chocolate coating set)

5) Chocolate Chip Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter (or equivalent)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chunks (or chips)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
2) Cream butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla until fluffy. In separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate, cranberries, and nuts.
3) Drop cookie dough in teaspoon sized amounts 2 inches apart on cookie sheet(s). Bake for 11-12 minutes until lightly golden brown around edges. Remove from sheet immediately and cool on wire racks. Makes 3 dozen.

Hope you had a very merry Christmas and have a blessed new year!

Quicky Dinner Idea: Bow Tie Lasagna

I've felt exhausted all week... it could be all the renovations going on at our house (we came home from Thanksgiving weekend to find a substantial gaping hole in our ceiling - thank God for homeowners insurance), it could be the post-holiday adrenaline rush, or it could just be the winter blahs.

Whatever the reason, I find it so hard to motivate myself to cook when I'm that tired. So, it was the perfect week to try a recipe my pal Jes sent me via Pioneer Woman:

Bow Tie Lasagna (thanks, Jes!)

Of course, I felt the need to change a few things (because I just CAN'T leave a recipe alone!)... so here are the alterations:

1) Substitution for the hamburger:
- 1/2 pound of pork sausage
- 1/2 cup zucchini (chopped)
- 1/2 cup yellow squash (chopped)
- 1/3 cup carrots (finely chopped)
**Brown sausage first, then when almost cooked through add the vegetables - cover and let cook until carrots are tender but still firm. Drain and continue with original recipe

2) Reduce sour cream to 1/4 cup, and add an additional 1/2 cup of cottage cheese

Bonus: the veggies are in small bites so they were easier for the kids to eat, and you've got all of your food groups in one easy to prepare dish.

Few dishes + kids eating vegetables =
(insert picture of me doing the happy dance)

Oh, and speaking of happy dances.... Jason graduated from seminary!!

YAHOO!! Way to go, babe!

Thanksgiving Pies

What would Thanksgiving be without them? A pie-less Thanksgiving? Perish the thought!

So, here are two that you may want to try... one is a recipe that I have used countless times from allrecipes.com and is often requested, and the other is a recipe I've posted previously but stands to be re-shared. I hope you enjoy them both!

Apple Cream Pie

Dark Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie

The pecan pie is a great one to let little ones help with. My 3-yr old daughter made it almost entirely by herself, her first made-it-all-by-myself-well-maybe-Mommy-helped-a-little pie.

I am so proud!

In all seriousness, I love Thanksgiving and what it stands for: a day to remember to be thankful for all that we have and for the people in our lives. So, thanks be to God for His great love and mercy and how he has cared and provided for us over the years, for my beautiful family, for creativity, and for chocolate. Amen. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Take that french toast and stuff it!

I stayed at a bed and breakfast recently, and the innkeeper made french toast stuffed with fruit filling... inspiration!

So, for this Saturday's breakfast I decided to relive the experience and share with the family:

French Toast stuffed with Caramelized Bananas

Let me just say, it was waaaaaay better than I thought it would be - the warm buttery sweet caramel flavor with bursts of banana, cinnamon and vanilla, encased within fluffy french toast... NOM NOM NOM... It was also incredibly simple and quick.

A couple of notes:

1) I would definitely use a large, crusty loaf of French bread cut into slices of 1-inch thickness, makes the splitting/stuffing much easier.
2) I intentionally did not use super ripe bananas, as I find overly-ripe bananas tend to overpower every other flavor in a recipe. But to each his own.
3) I did not use as much sugar as a similar recipe called for, so it was just lightly sweet - increase amount of brown sugar for extra sweetness (but to no more than 1 cup).
4) Use a bread knife or some kind of serrated knife to slice the cooked french toast - it was still a little difficult, so if you have any suggestions on how to do this without burning fingers, let me know!

So, here it is - let me know how it turns out, and anything you would do to improve it.

French Toast stuffed with Caramelized Bananas - Serves 4

French Toast:
- 8 thick slices French bread cut into 1-inch thickness
- 3 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon/sugar mixture
- pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, for frying

Caramelized Bananas:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 bananas, diced
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of cinnamon

1) Heat a large skillet and small skillet on medium heat. In a medium sized bowl, combine eggs, milk, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon/sugar mixture, and salt and whisk until well combined. When large skillet is hot, melt butter to grease the pan. While the butter melts, begin dipping pieces of bread into the egg mixture, allowing a few seconds for the bread slice to absorb the egg. Immediately place in hot skillet to cook, cooking each side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.

2) While french toast is cooking, begin cooking the bananas. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in the smaller skillet, and let the butter heat until very lightly brown. Add the bananas and vanilla and stir constantly until the banana pieces sizzle and begin to caramelize (about 5 minutes). Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, and stir gently until the sugar melts.

3) Slice hot french toast in half lengthwise (see photo). Spoon bananas into center of french toast and close. Serve hot, and with a sprinkle of powdered sugar if the spirit leads.

Homemade Granola Bars

So, I used to spend a small fortune in commercial granola bars. No longer! A couple of years ago I found an incredibly easy recipe on allrecipes.com, and I will never go back. It's easy, economical, and endless in possibilities!

Granola bar day at the Shaw house is always a happy day. It begins with a quick rummage of the pantry for any nuts and dried fruits that will inevitably go into the bars. I've used peanuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruit bites from the baby snack aisle (prechopped, can it GET any better??), you name it.

Today was a very good rummage day... because Gracie and I made these:

Cranberry chocolate hazelnut granola bars.

I know. Shut. UP.

This is too good of a recipe NOT to be shared, so here it is. Just a note for today's featured bars: I omitted the cinnamon and vanilla, and for the "mixin's" I just used 1 cup chopped hazelnuts, 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, 1 cup dried cranberries, and 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Just a note: in case there are those who aren't thrilled with the idea of using sweetened condensed milk (FYI: it literally only has two ingredients - milk and sugar, who knew??), I've heard that honey works well - haven't tried it yet, will probably alter the flavor a bit. Just be sure to substitute something sticky (and sweet!) to help give the granola bars form and flavor.

Basic Granola Bar Recipe
Ingredients:
3 cups quick cook oats
1/2 cup butter (one stick), melted
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup chopped nuts (peanuts, almonds, etc)
1 cup sunflower seeds (sometimes substitute pecan bits)
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, chopped apricots or apples, etc)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1) Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Line large cookie sheet with foil and lightly grease foil with cooking spray. Set aside.
2) Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Pour oat mixture onto greased cookie sheet and press flat into pan.
3) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

Happy granola making, and remember: silence can be bought.

Pancakes = Happiness

For almost as long as we've been a family, we've had a tradition of making Saturday a special morning where Jason or I prepare a hot breakfast for the family.

This morning, I decided to put a pitiful, lonely, almost too-ripe banana out of his misery by making him a part of the breakfast festivities. Here is what I came up with:

Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a medium/large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
2. In second smaller bowl, combine milk, egg, vanilla, oil, and banana. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and combine until just moistened. Fold in pecan bits and chocolate chips.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and lightly coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Virginia!

Frozen Buttercream Transfers: The New Frontier

It's been a while since I've posted. It's been pretty busy around here with two kids, and with the summer quickly approaching we have a lot of celebrations, birthdays, and travel coming up. Time for blogging is scarce and often used to wash dishes and potty train, but I wanted to be sure to post about a recent cake decorating revelation that I hope will inspire a few of you to try in the meantime: frozen buttercream transfers.

A FBCT is a way to trace a design with icing and after it freezes can be transferred to a cake. This is great because it doesn't require drawing freehand on a cake (can we say anxiety attack?) and you can also make it a day or two in advance and keep in the freezer until you need it.

I was actually pretty worried that it wouldn't work or that it would be incredibly difficult. I was wrong on both accounts: It was one of the fastest cakes I've ever decorated with some pretty impressive results.



I won't hash out all of the details, but I will post a link to some great instructions that I found very helpful on Cake Central:

How to Create a Frozen Buttercream Transfer

Some tips I would want to share:

1) Definitely purchase a tube of Wilton black icing along with a #2 Wilton icing tip (very small circle) and coupler. This will probably put you back about $5-7, but it will give you a cleaner image and will be the biggest investment for the project. Plus, the tubes last a long time so you can reuse it for more projects.

2) I just used canned frosting to fill in the image instead of making my own FBCT icing. I guess the benefit of making your own is that the fat content is so high that it doesn't stick to the wax/parchment paper, but I found that the generic canned stuff worked just fine.

3) After filling in the color to the image, gently but firmly tap the image a few times on a flat surface to help remove air bubbles in the icing. I didn't do this and ended up with little air bubbles in the image - not a big deal, but it would have helped clean up the finished product.

4) When you are done tracing/filling in your FBCT image, be sure NOT TO SKIP re-covering your image with more white icing (or whatever color is going to match your cake), and be sure that the extra icing extends a good 1/4 to 1/2 inch past your image on all sides. The edges of the transfer will stick a little and this will keep you from distorting the image that you just worked so hard on.

Good luck! I would love to hear if you try your own transfers!

The happy birthday girl

Outback Bread

Okay, last night I had another epic bread making FAIL while trying to make Outback Steakhouse bushman bread. This is what it's supposed to look like:

Can't you just taste the slightly sweet, warm, pillowy softness?

Aaaaaaaand this is what I got:
Bland, hard, and only fit for propping the door open.
(Please note poised position above the trash can, where it now lies)

Okay, in defense of the recipe I've tried to make, I only was able to use half the called for amount of molasses (I ran out). When I usually make it, the taste is pretty good but it is still hard and has the darndest time rising to a nice fluffy loaf.

So I now pose a challenge: I am going to post three Outback Steakhouse recipes. The first is the original recipe that I have been trying to make work for three years but never seem to be able to cooperate for me (I am fully aware that it could be solely that I am still not a seasoned bread maker). The second is almost an identical recipe, but calls for more yeast. The third is a completely different recipe.

Now, my challenge to you is this: try your hand with at least ONE of these recipes and tell me what happens. Does it come out soft and tasty? Or is the recipe defunct? Did you do anything differently? Does rye flour need added gluten to rise properly? Do I need to hire a priest to exorcise the bread demons out of my oven?

Recipe #1:
http://www.bigoven.com/119219-Outback-Steakhouse-Bread-recipe.html

Recipe #2:
http://restaurantrecipesbook.com/outback-steakhouse-bushman-bread-recipe/

Recipe #3:
http://www.lickthespoon.org/?p=203

I await your responses, bread masters!

Remembering

Today marks the one year anniversary for the passing of a dearly beloved friend and mother-like figure. Lynn McGary was and is one of the most beautiful women you will ever meet, inside and out. She was called home after a long battle with cancer, but her impact on the ones she knew and loved still continues to radiate like a star even after it dies out. My husband Jason posted a beautiful memorial to her and I want to share it with you all.

Ancient Lyric: In Memory of Lynn

Last January I posted something about Lynn that I wrote in her final days on this earth. You can read it here to know more and understand what she has meant to me and to so many others:

A Reflection on a Remarkable Woman

We still miss you and love you, Mama Lynn, and look forward to seeing you again.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

...but muffins are so delightful!


I was inspired this morning to whip together some warm muffins to fend off the winter chill. What I love about muffins is that they are really quick and easy to make, and that you can add almost anything to them (fruit, nuts, cheese, meat... you name it).

This morning, I had pecans and dried cranberries on hand so... surprise! Cranberry pecan muffins - lightly sweet, more like fruity bread loaves. Here's the recipe in case you need some help fighting the brrrrs.

Cranberry Pecan Muffins
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk (or rice milk)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted, or oil
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
dusting of powdered sugar (optional) - gives a little more sweet

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease twelve muffin cups or line them with paper bake cups.
2) In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture.
3) In another medium bowl stir together egg, milk, brown sugar, and butter/oil. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy - stirring too much will make your muffins tough). Fold in dried fruit and nuts.
4)Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done (if a toothpick is inserted into center of muffin and toothpick comes out clean). Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm. Makes 12.

The Yeast and I: Friends Again

Well, thank you so much to everyone who posted thoughts, suggestions, and encouragement. After using the kids' entire nap time to try every trick suggested, there was a satisfactory result:


What was I doing wrong? A couple of things:

1) Cold bowl that wouldn't warm up. It's important to make sure the bowl you use to let the dough rise is pre-warmed. A cold bowl = bored yeast. I was also told that warming the measuring cup for the warm water is also important. Since my Kitchenaid mixing bowl wouldn't warm up, I put a greased Pyrex bowl in the oven on low for a few minutes and transferred the dough. Much better.

2) It's possible I didn't have the water warm enough - apparently 130 degrees F is the best temperature for bread (warm enough to get the yeast excited but not too hot to kill it).

3) The kitchen wasn't warm enough. Following good advice, I preheated the oven to 175 degrees F and turned it off before putting the dough in to rise.

I was really starting to wonder if my dough was EVER going to rise after sitting so long in an inactive state. Let this be a lesson to all of you aspiring bread makers: don't give up on the dough too quickly! Try everything before giving up - it's worth the effort to have that smell of freshed baked bread permeating your house.

So thanks again to all my friends with their bread wisdom to share - it won't be another six months of despair before I attempt another loaf of bread. :)

And I must give kudos to Lisa - that sweet bread is AMAZING! It tastes very much like the rolls at O'Charley's. In case you need the link again to her recipe, here it is:

Lisa's Amish Sweet Bread Recipe

Yeast, why do you despise me?

So I have been trying for almost three years now to master the art of bread making. And I have to admit that the majority of my bread attempts have ended in disappointment. The only recipe that I have managed to complete with any real success has been Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls - everything else either doesn't rise, doesn't rise enough, or rises and then flattens out to an unattractive, hard loaf.

My most recent attempt was this morning: I am attempting to make my friend Lisa's recipe for Amish sweet bread. I proofed the yeast, and followed the rest of the recipe to a tee. I covered the dough over an hour ago to let it rise. When I went back to check on its progress, this is what I found:

It's enough to make you want to weep.

So I am sending out a cry for help into my cyber-hood and see if anyone can explain to me what I'm doing wrong. Here is what I have ruled out:

1) The yeast being old - I just used it a few weeks ago to make cinnamon rolls.
2) The water too cold - I made sure it was warm but not too hot.
3) Didn't rise long enough - I just checked it again, and after almost 2 hours, it STILL hasn't risen.

And here is what I want to ask about:
1) Do I need to warm up the bowl before I set the dough in it to rise? The metal bowl was a little cold but I hoped the water would warm it up.
2) I stirred the yeast this time since it's what the recipe said to do before I proofed it. Should I just sprinkle it in the water and leave it be until it bubbles?
3) Am I just yeast-challenged?

I await your wisdom.

On the lighter side

Cooking is a passion of mine - there is usually nothing I enjoy more than trying out a new and exciting recipe and finding the results to be tasty and satisfying. Food is truly my love language, and every meal is an opportunity to express care and creativity to family and friends. New recipes are an adventure, and "mistakes" are often opportunities to exercise creativity to salvage a would-be disaster and to learn to laugh at yourself. You cannot take yourself too seriously in the kitchen!

With that said, I want to expand the subject of this blog beyond just sugary treats (though they are fun to make) and include fun meals that others might enjoy trying themselves. I also hope to encourage others who may feel inadequate in their cooking abilities to branch out and try something new. Maybe blogging meals will also help me to plan better and more interesting meals to share. Win-win!

Breaded boneless pork chops with baked sweet potatoes,
and cranberry pecan salad with feta cheese

You'll need:
4 boneless pork chops
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1 cup italian bread crumbs

4 sweet potatoes, washed
butter
brown sugar
cinnamon

1 heart of romaine, washed
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup shelled pecan halves
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
poppyseed dressing

2 hrs before dinner: Bake sweet potatoes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Pierce sweet potatoes all over 8-10 times with a fork and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour (depending on size of sweet potatoes). When done, slice each sweet potato down the middle and insert a pat (about 1 tablespoon) of butter to give it time to melt and permeate the inside of the sweet potato. Mmm..
**To check for doneness: pick up the largest baking sweet potato out of the oven with oven mitt. With medium to light force, tap it on the counter - if it feels soft (or even gets a little smashed), then they are done. If it still feels stiff, put it back in and bake for another 15 minutes or so and check again. (I forgot to do this and we ended up with partially baked sweet potatoes - remember what I said about laughing at yourself?) :)

45 min before dinner: Prep salad.
Tear washed romaine leaves into bite sized pieces and place in salad bowl. Sprinkle cranberries, pecans, and feta cheese on top. Done! (Don't forget to set out dressing when it's time to eat - that way the lettuce won't be soggy.)

30 min before dinner: Prepare pork chops.
1) Heat olive oil in large skillet on medium to medium high heat. Beat egg and sage in a small bowl and set aside. In a second small bowl, pour in bread crumbs. Use paper towel to pat-dry your pork chops.
2) When the pan is hot, dip each pork chop into the egg mixture bowl making sure to completely coat the pork chop on all sides. Do the same with the bread crumbs.
3) Place chops in hot skillet and brown on both sides (about 5 minutes on each side). Add chicken broth to pan, just enough to cover the bottom of the skillet and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover skillet and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until pork is cooked through. Serve hot.
**If broth evaporates before chops are done, just add a little more. Too much broth will make your chops soggy!

Before serving the meal, slice open the tops of the sweet potatoes and dress it up with a pat of butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar.

Homemade Pecan Pie + Dark Chocolate = YUM.

My mom, a very health conscious woman, mailed us a bag of pecans this week. Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of pecans my mind usually drifts into one particular direction:

**Photo courtesy of webmd.com - under an article titled "holiday food horrors"

I'm sure my mother did NOT have this purpose in mind for her lovely pecans, but sometimes ignorance is bliss. And my friends, it WAS bliss.

This time I decided to spice things up by chopping up some semi-sweet dark baking chocolate and mixing it into the filling before baking it. Actually, my husband suggested the addition. The result: Amazing. Something very similar to derby pie but with a little more bittersweet bite to it. Yum.

Here is the recipe - if you want an easy pie to make for Christmas, look no further.

Note: I started with a basic pecan pie recipe from the Millard Cook Book, a collaboration made several years ago by the men and women on my dad's side of the family. Thanks again for the copy, Aunt Sis!

Dark Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter/margarine, melted
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pecans
- 3-1 oz blocks of semi-sweet dark chocolate
- 1 unbaked pie crust

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine eggs, sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt until well blended. Set aside.

2) Using a serrated bread knife (I'm told this kind of knife is best!), carefully chop dark chocolate blocks - make small cuts on the corners of the brick and work your way inward. The pieces don't have to be very large or uniform, though you will probably want a few nice sized chunks to bite into. Fold chocolate and pecans into egg mixture.

3) Pour filling into pie pan and place pie on cookie sheet. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until done.

4) Enjoy a warm piece of pie with a cold glass of milk.

**I made this pie dairy-free by substituting reduced fat margarine for the butter and using Baker's chocolate. You will have to make your own crust if you need it to be dairy-free also, simply make it by substituting the butter with same margarine.