A miracle has occurred! I'm posting on the right day. And to honor the miracle, I ate one of these cookies even though I gave up carbs for Lent. It was a small cookie and it was fabulous. What can I say? I'm definitely a grace-dependent person.
A couple of notes to my future self:
1) Use at least 2 T. of espresso powder - only used 1 1/2 this time, needed more.
2) A combo of dark and white chocolate is good, but more dark next time.
3) Don't be afraid of the apricots. And add lots of chopped walnuts for Michael.
4) Refrigerate the dough overnight and use the small scoop.
5) Use the airbake cookie sheets and parchment.
Here are some pictures:
Ghirardelli chips are fine. Don't worry about all that chopping.
Small is good. They don't spread so much and you can eat more!
Caught her stealing the dough. There's less mocha flavor after baking.
The recipe for these wonderful cookies can be found here and the other bloggers are here.
And now for a shoe. This past weekend was the Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop. I put some miles on the car visiting the 10 quilt shops in the Atlanta area. The GPS took me astray while looking for one of them, and instead I came across the most amazing group of shoes in the road! Sometimes those who think they are lost are actually in exactly the right place. Here's a picture of one of those shoes.
I *only* used 3 1/2 sticks of butter. The recipe called for 4 1/2 but several people mentioned that they were greasy.
I don't even know how far behind I am at this point. But I don't care. I made croissants. That's all that matters. And I took a little road trip with my boy, which required that the dough go into hibernation for a few days. The finished product disappeared right quick, so they must have been good. Here are a few pictures:
That's the butter layered on the dough.
pounded it out with my new french rolling pin
The infamous "double fold".
Had to wait for me in the freezer. Half of it is still there.
used the scraper to cut. Have I mentioned that this one little tool has changed my life?
let 'em rise outside in the sun.
The croissant recipe can be found here and the TWD bloggers are here. But if you want to make these you simply must watch this.
Here we are at the Space Center in Huntsville. The scale of those things is hard to capture in a picture.
Saw a couple of shoes in the road on this trip, but didn't get a picture. So here's one from another time and place. It was last year in York, SC.
Didn't plan on baking this time because I gave up carbs for Lent but both kids came home for the weekend. It seemed like the right thing to do after all. And besides, Sundays don't count during Lent. Mama had to have a little slice. Just to test it, of course.
I'm a Kentucky girl, so you KNOW there was bourbon on the shelf. But only just enough since Christmas makes a dent in the supplies, what with eggnog and bourbon balls and all...
The only word I can think of to describe this is LUSCIOUS. And easy. Used the food processor method. It won't be the last time for Boca Negra at our house, although I may try Kahlua or Grand Marnier next time instead of the bourbon.
Tried to tell her that chocolate isn't good for dogs. She didn't care for that explanation.
Flipped out just fine.
Even poor nauseous Daddy took to it. This was a bad bad week all around. Chemo was hard, and then came the news that we're losing our pastor. I can hardly stand it. The kids and the chocolate saved me for now.
Did you notice my daughter's red hair? It used to be blonde (for the first 20 years of her life). That's what happens when they become art majors. Just sayin'. Get it out of your system now, honey.
This recipe can be found here, and the other TWD bloggers are here. Do not fear the Boca Negra.
Here's a shoe I spotted in the courtyard at church one Sunday:
OK, I'm late again. But *late* is a relative term.
A very wise woman once said to me that the most important question in quilting (and in life) is "who made that rule and why?" Maybe I should go back and look at the Tuesdays With Dorie rules. Do they *require* me to bake the recipe on the given date? Because if that's the case, a large portion of the bakers are breaking the rules, but they're baking in advance. So as long as I'm baking, experimenting, learning, TRYING - the project is a success in my book.
Saw on Cher's blog that drawing on the wrap
could help me judge the rise time.
See how much I'm learning?
This was good bread, but it took me 3 days from start to finish. Well, technically, it took the yeast 3 days. All I did was mix it up, watch it rise, and let it hang out in the fridge for a day and a half. Nothing hard about that. But if I want to have this again, I need to remember to start REALLY early. As I believe I've demonstrated quite effectively, doing things in advance is not really my forte...
to think of all the years this poor stone
languished in the oven unused...
My beloved USM on a beautiful day
Remember that little road trip my son and I went on a couple of months ago? When we saw the first dorm I ever lived in? That dorm was on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg. How glad I am that we made that trip. Late yesterday afternoon, a tornado ripped through Hattiesburg, straight down Hardy Street to the USM campus. Thankfully, most of the students were gone on a Mardi Gras break. But there is much damage to the town. The pictures and videos are shocking. Unbelievably, there seem to have been no fatalities. Thanks, God.
Your life can change in a minute. So enjoy as many of the minutes as you can. Eat warm bread straight out of the oven. And don't worry if you didn't bake it on the right day.
This recipe can be found here, and the other TWD bloggers are here.
Since this week is Valentine's Day, here's a shoe I've been saving for awhile. It was on the side of the interstate in a really bad place to slow down, so excuse the bad quality. But how many times do you see a red Croc?!? Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you have some really good minutes this week.
Woo-hoo, this was good! But not quick. I think that's really what this whole exercise is about. If I wasn't baking this for Tuesdays With Dorie, I would never have attempted it. Already have a perfectly good go-to apple pie - my mother's apple crumb pie. It never would have occurred to me to make something else. See how I'm stretching my wings?
Didn't have a large tart pan, so I enlisted those cute little ones I bought for the Chocolate Truffle Tarts last year. I like individual servings anyway. And, half of one of these re-heated in the microwave for 25 seconds with vanilla ice cream is pretty close to heaven.
The recipe can be found here, and the other bloggers here.
Gotta run. There's a lot going on.
Here's a shoe. We had a presidential inauguration this week, so here's one I saw on Jimmy Carter Boulevard. I know it's fuzzy. You'll understand if you know the road.
I've never made homemade pizza crust before. It was good. I liked the onions but was trying for something else and didn't quite get there.
I was trying to re-create a pizza that I'd had in a London pub. The Libertine. Sitting at the bar on a chilly night, enjoying myself immensely. Don't be fooled by the jokes, everything I ate in London was unbelievably fresh and tasty. When my friend suggested the pizza "with rocket", I had no idea pizza could be so wonderful. The version I made wasn't quite the same (for one thing, I wasn't sitting at a bar with a stout ale) but I'm not giving up. I topped it with prosciutto and feta, however the onions threw things off. Should have consulted this picture first. Next time I'll try goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. It'll be closer, I just know it.
There were two serious catastrophes during the pizza-making process.
After the onions were in the pan, I realized that the recipe called for red wine in addition to red wine vinegar. Somehow, I'd missed that in the read-through. Off I went to the store, where I discovered much to my horror that "Mad Housewife" wine was being discontinued. (I know, I'm such a connoisseur. I buy wine because I like the label.) The only bottle I could find wasn't red enough. So I opted for some of those little bottles for the recipe, and the sweet pink for myself.
Second disaster - and this is a BIG one - here's what I found when I pulled the mixer from it's spot in the corner.
YIKES! At the very end of our kitchen counter is a space where the kitchen butts up against huge logs from our front room, which is a 19th century log cabin. We've been hearing little scurrying noises, and my husband even sprayed everything with peppermint oil, which repels rodents. (Daughter said "it smells like we live in CandyLand!") We tried to be nice, we really did. But this is WAR! Anyway, in a state of shock, I used that energy to knead in the flour the old-fashioned way. It was fine. The plug has already been replaced by Mr Fix-it, and let's just say that there have been no more scurrying noises lately.
You can find this recipe on Paul's blog here, and the other Tuesdays With Dorie bakers here.
Since you've read this far, I'd like to ask for a favor. If you're a praying person, throw one our way, OK? Or send good thoughts, or positive energy, or whatever works for you. We've had a week of good news and bad news. The good (and it is VERY good!) is that my husband had a PET scan that showed "significant improvement" in all areas, so the chemo is working! Hallelujah! Happy Dance! YES! On the heels of that, however, there's been a bit of a complication. The side-effects of the chemo are increasing. This week he's been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and has a huge blood clot in his left leg. Starting on blood thinners and trying not to freak out too much. Certainly, this too shall pass.
And just for fun, here's a little video I ran across on facebook. You'll have to watch all the way to the end to see why it's appropriate for this post.
The world didn't end. But just in case, I made the Finnish Pulla on Thursday (I know, I know - late again). It was good. And I was glad. Because who wants to eat something that's not good on what could potentially be their last day on Earth?
After seeing some suggestions in the P&Q (what DOES that mean?) I decided to make two small wreaths, one regular and the other with filling. The filling was shredded almond paste that I came across in the store next to the sliced almonds. Never used it before. But I WILL be using it again.
Ready for the oven.
I used turbinado sugar on the regular one
instead of pearl sugar. The other got a dose of
powdered sugar glaze after baking. Just because.
The kids were too busy watching two seasons of The Walking Dead to help with the baking. But they were quick enough to descend on the finished product.
The recipe can be found here and other TWD bloggers are here. I wish you a very meaningful Christmas. May your heart be filled to overflowing.
Here's a little treat.
The best shoe I can think of for this week is one I saw a year ago at the Christmas Market in Vienna. Yes, "lost soles" are an international phenomenon.
