Tuesdays With Dorie Rewind

It's January and it's a rewind week.

Looks like the perfect time for my annual catch-up post.

I kept up until June of last year (2017) so let's start with July.

July:
From Baking Chez Moi (BCM): Martine's Gateau de Savoie, a nice little sponge cake that was perfect with summer fruit

From Dorie's Cookies (DC), Classic Jammers

yes please

and Coffee Malteds

First time I ever used malted milk powder.
These were especially good with Dulce du Leche.
And guess what? It comes in a squeeze bottle!

July was a difficult month for us. After almost 5 years of chemo and other treatments, we discovered that my husband's cancer had continued to spread. We were out of options and entered hospice care. There was, however, a concert. After a lifetime of concerts, I'm glad that Michael's last one was to see Sir Paul. We'd seen him before, but we were all older, wiser, and a bit more sentimental this time.

August

DC: Crash-O-Cookies

I made these but can find no photographic evidence. Crunchy oatmeal chocolate chip with raisins and a little cinnamon. Similar to Cowboy Cookies without the nuts and coconut. (We do love some Cowboy Cookies.)

August was a time of visiting with friends and family. Even with declining health, Michael's social calendar was full. Lunches, dinners, a visit to the lake, bingo, and baseball. We made it to two games at the new Braves stadium.

And there was an eclipse!

September

The most difficult month of my life. I honestly believed that Michael would beat this. Even as it was happening right in front of my eyes, I did not realize what it would mean to lose him. If only we'd had a little more time.  I believe that real answers on cancer will come very soon. Brilliant people are out there working on it every day. There was no baking in September.

October

DC: Crumb-Topped Apple Bars

Good. Easy. In Season.

DC: French Snacklettes

The Snacklettes were little chocolate chunks. Here they are
on the stump of the 100-yr-old oak that hurricane Irma took
down 2 days before Michael died. Visual metaphor of our life.

DC: Pecan-Butterscotch Shortbreads, not assigned as a TWD recipe yet, but I needed shortbread for a reception after church on the day of the Kirking of the Tartans. Never dreamed that "butterscotch" was actually made from butter and scotch.

November

DC: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

These were fantastic! The pumpkin cakes had
little bits of chopped fresh cranberries. The
filling was made from marshmallow creme
 and dulce du leche. 

On Nov 20, the Georgia Dome was imploded. It was much too young to suffer such a fate. So very sad to see it go. I watched it happen (in an instant) from a friend's office window.

December

DC: Princeton Gingersnaps
We've had our own Molasses cookie recipe for years, but I do believe these were better. I mean, three different kinds of ginger!?! (Fresh, crystallized, and ground) They stayed soft too. I'm sold.

perfect for a little eggnog ice cream sandwich

The Creme Brulee Project
I was listening to someone interviewing a famous chef and the question was "what is your favorite dessert?" At that very moment I realized that I do not know how to make my favorite dessert. If I'm in a fancy restaurant, I'm asking for Creme Brulee. So I made a New Year's resolution right then and there to learn about Creme Brulee. This will be an ongoing project. First up was Alton Brown's recipe. Good but oh so rich! We didn't even finish them all. Next time, half a recipe might be enough.

And finally,  January of 2018

DC: Chunkers
These cookies apparently have a bit of a cult following in NYC and I can see why. Two kinds of chocolate (3 if you count cocoa), cherries, and a large quantity of cashews.

Milk. You must have milk.

The REAL lesson from this recipe.
I have a wonderful new kitchen scale.
150 grams of sugar is NOT 3/4 cup - it's a little more than 1/2 cup.
I'll be weighing ingredients from now on!

BCM: Real Hot Chocolate
We've had some very COLD weather. Of course it was good.

Used my little creme brulee torch to toast those marshmallows.

BCM: Crunchy Granola

Perfect with that fancy new yogurt that comes in a jar.

Now, we move ahead. One day at a time. One shoe at a time.

TWD/DC: Cabin Fever Caramel Banana Bars

I've spent many happy hours baking along with

the other Tuesdays With Dorie participants.

But not posting about it.

It's been a VERY long time.

There's a catch-up day coming.

For now, I'll report on the Cabin Fever Caramel Banana Bars.

The photo above doesn't do them justice.

We devoured them before I got a better one.

You can refer to the photo on page 66 of Dorie's Cookies.

Ours looked just like that. No kidding.

It's been COLD here in Georgia.

Instead of Cabin Fever, I had a case of

Too-Cold-And-Lazy-to-Go-to-The-Grocery-Store.

How's that for a recipe title?

Didn't have fresh bananas, but there were some in the freezer for smoothies.

Didn't have yogurt or sour cream, but there was leftover eggnog.

Close enough.

We loved the crunch of the peanuts in the bar.

I used bittersweet chocolate on top.

Daughter said "obviously the right choice."

So much has happened since my last post. For now, let's just say 2017 was not our best year. Life goes on. One step at a time. It's all a person can do. A cookie now and then helps.

Here's a shoe. Actually two of them.