Aaaaand we're back!

Let me preface the below by saying that it was written roughly four months ago. The adorable baby you see before you is now a whopping seven months old and ever the darling girl.

Oh my. It's been nearly a year since my last post...which was about it being nearly a year since my last post. Not a very convincing way to start a new post about how I plan to write more often eh? To be fair to myself, my last post was written just a few weeks before I found out I was pregnant, and the epic ten months of pregnancy hell that followed. I understand that pregnancy is different for every woman; some adore being pregnant and find the whole process "magical" (I hope each and every one of those women end up with horribly colicky babies for nine months. Okay, no I don't. Well...maybe a little bit. At least those women that flouted that they never threw up, never fell nauseated, felt energized by it all, and ran throughout their pregnancy. Those women can get colicky babies.) For me, pregnancy was miserable. Between the constant throwing up, debilitating fatigue, sciatica, and swollen ankles, there wasn't much time to focus on the magic of it all. For the first four months I called my mom nearly every day in tears, looking for reassurance that it would someday be over, and was worth it. Fortunately my mother, an unconditionally loving woman who is the epitome of kindness and goodness, told me this: she hated every single second of pregnancy. The "glow" others attributed to her pregnancy, she insisted came from inner rage. Inner rage sounded about right. But I digress. Ten months of misery led to the most perfect baby the world has ever seen. And though Marilla may say that "every baby is the sweetest and the best," I know better. Mine actually is the sweetest and the best. Just look at this girl.

But back to this blog. Now that I am no longer pregnant (huzzah!) and can stomach the thought of baking again, my passion for it is reinvigorated. The first thing I baked after having Roxie was for a couple of dear friends who were moving into a new place after somehow surviving a year together in a teensy studio apartment. While the bambino kept me from actually getting to help them move, I figured the least I could do was bake something delicious for the moving crew. I made two things: first, a refreshing double-lemon bar. My father is the biggest lemon bar fan I know, and I always think of him when I see them; he cannot resist buying one if they are in a bakery, even if his primary pastry is something else (usually a cream cheese danish of sorts. This is much like my father-in-law who cannot pass up ribs if they're on the menu. He'll order them in addition to his main entree, and have the ribs brought to the table already in a doggie bag for later.) I cannot blame my father; lemon bars are highly underrated pastries, if done right. And boy, were these done right. I got the recipe from the fabulous Bon Appetit Desserts cookbook, which has yet to fail me. It is a simple recipe, but what sets it apart from other lemon bar recipes are its two key elements: the cookie bottom is more of a sugar cookie than shortbread (I detest shortbread, so this is a welcome change); and the quantity of lemon curd topping is double that of normal lemon bars. Yes! Why is this not done more often? The bars are intensely tart with a delightfully bright lemon flavor that isn't muddled up with too many ingredients.

This is a horrible photo of the end product, but these were gobbled up so quickly by myself and others that I nearly forgot to take a photo of these beauties before I finished off the last one.

The second dessert I made was a batch of brownies I'd seen on the Pioneer Woman television show. I've been a follower of her blog for quite some time, and was happy to see she'd been given a cooking show as well. These brownies were one of the first things I saw her make, and man did they stick in my mind. First things first, they're called "Knock You Naked Brownies." How can you go wrong when your recipe starts out with such conviction? These are fairly easy to make and hugely impressive. One layer of oozing caramel sandwiched between two layers of chocolate brownie, studded with chopped pecans. Unfortunately these suckers were eaten up so quickly I did not have the opportunity to snap a photo of them. I should have taken a photo of my husband's sticky chocolate grin though, as that would have captured their essence as well. These brownies are incredible, decadent, and worth all the time it takes to peel the plastic off all 60 of those darn caramel candies. For a photo and recipe, go here: Knock You Naked Brownies

The last thing I baked this month was a Vanilla Cardamon Peach Crumble. It was a bit of an amalgam of the highlights of several different recipes -- topping from one, spices from another, etc. My brother-in-law and his lady were coming over for dinner and I wanted to make something summery and special. I tried to think of my favorite summer treats and remembered a recipe my aunt Shari had made for my father's 60th birthday -- hands down the best peach cobbler I've ever eaten. The kind you convince yourself can also be a breakfast food so you can eat it in the morning guilt-free, save any you feel about polishing off the last bit before the rest of the family wakes up to find out it's gone. I fully admit to doing this more often than I should.

Baking Class: Cream Puffs and Eclairs

It's been over a year since I have updated this blog. Life got in the way, pure and simple. However, lately I have really been missing having an outlet to write and share my baking stories. I got a little nervous of what this blog could become -- work, rather than a place where I can keep track of all the things I make, all my successes and disasters, solely for my own benefit (and that of a few supportive family members and one glorious best friend). Being fairly self critical, I worried about other people reading this blog, not liking my writing or, gasp! finding a typo or two. My husband, ever my cheerleader, has patiently listened to all my excuses and fears and encouraged me to forget about "the audience" and make this blog about me, an online private journal if you will. And so, until the dreaded self-conscious monster rears its ugly head again, I shall start this blog anew. 


Below is an unfinished entry I just found as I logged into my blog for the first time in months. I think it was written around April or May of 2010. It will just have to do for now.


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Oh my. It really has been quite the whirlwind month 'round these parts. Between life's crazy curve balls and weeks of an unshakable mental and physical exhaustion, this poor blog, just beginning to get off the ground, was tossed by the wayside. I just had too many other things to focus on...funny how sometimes when you have the most to say, you have the least ability to do so.

For instance, during my month-long blogging absence, I took a four-week baking class. It was wonderful and inspiring in every sense. Being in an industrial kitchen, with every ingredient, and every baking utensil at my disposal was freeing (and not having to do dishes was brilliant). I did some of my best baking at this class, surprising myself with my abilities. Now, I know that a baking class isn't a competition, and there is no grade at the end. Everyone, including myself, is there to learn. So what if you make mistakes? That's why we're all there right? And yet I must admit that I silently congratulated myself whenever I was the first to master a tricky bit of a recipe, or get all my ingredients mixed and baked. I know it's silly, but I don't care. Allowing myself to take pride in the ease with which my ingredients came together made me feel good. And ultimately that's why I bake. Because it makes me feel good.

So, on to week one: Pate a Choux (please excuse the lack of accents). Pate a choux is the light pastry that is typically used for cream puffs, eclairs, and the like. I was very excited to learn how to make eclairs, because they always seems like something only bakeries could make. A magical pastry that could not be attempted at home. How wholly wrong I was! It came together pretty easily, with great success.

The vanilla pastry cream within was worth the time and care it took to make. Is there anything prettier than a vanilla bean fleck? Honestly, they just make everything feel so glamorous and decedent. Given a choice between plain vanilla ice cream and vanilla ice cream with little vanilla bean flecks, the flecks get me every time. I'm like a vanilla bean magpie.

This pastry cream was delicious. It also happens to be one of my husband's favorite food groups, which means I got foot rubs for a whole week till we ran out. Now I know the secret!

Cream cheese brownies...and the sweetest husband in the world.

Today's post is a quickie and really just a shout out to my husband, the sweetest man on earth. Seriously, check his driver's license, it actually reads, Jonathan "Sweetest Man on Earth" Little. No kidding. Why is he the sweetest man on earth you ask? Just keep reading...

A couple weekends ago I was home alone again on a Friday night while my husband was out puppeteering. As per my usual routine, I did a little baking, watched What Not to Wear, and went to bed early. Nothing too special. However, the next morning when I logged into facebook, this is what I found:

I have the BEST wife ever!

I just came home from one of our puppet performances in Providence. I love performing there. I just wish it was closer.

I decided I would get a late night snack and there it was, a little piece of heaven just for me.

She baked! But she does not bake like normal people. She makes things that bakeries sell for $5 a square or piece.

So anyway back to the awesomeness. She had made cream cheese brownies. That is right, cream cheese brownies and damn they are good!

I don't think I could be a luckier man. I found a woman that thinks it is ok for me to wiggle dolls around, loves me even though I'm basically a giant 12 year old, and loves to make unbelievable baked goods. Life can't get any better.

Now all I have to do is not eat the rest of the brownies before she wakes up.

See! Sweetest man on earth. Bet you didn't know that my license reads, Tomye "Luckiest Girl EVER" Little, did you?

It really is the little things that make life -- and love -- grand.

Oatmeal Blondies

About a month ago a friend of mine came over to keep me company on one of my lonely Friday nights. We gabbed, made dinner, watched a chick flick, and then, of course, we made cookies. I'd come across a recipe for oatmeal scotchies a couple weeks before while perusing the web for ideas. I'd never heard of the cookie before, but being a big fan of both oatmeal cookies (the batter is one of my all-time favorites) and butterscotch, I printed off the recipe at work and stuck it in my purse. That night, much to my surprise, when I asked what cookies we should make my friend immediately said, "oatmeal scotchies -- they're the BEST!" It was kismet -- I reached into my purse, pulled out the recipe, and made some pretty tasty cookies.

However.

As tasty as these cookies were, the butterscotch chips were (and I cannot believe I'm saying this) too sweet. Gah! Since when is anything too sweet for me?! And yet, one cookie (okay, fine, two cookies) was all I could take. Hmm...looks like this little sweet tooth might be growing up.

Still being a huge fan of both oatmeal cookies and butterscotch, I remembered a recipe I'd come across in my America's Test Kitchen Baking book that was for oatmeal butterscotch bars. Now, what I love about this baking book is how they explain their choices for each recipe -- what made it great, and what failed miserably. In developing this particular recipe, their goal was to find a way to mellow out the sweetness of the butterscotch chips, finding them (as I did) overpoweringly sweet. The trick? Melt the butter in a sauce pan until it turns a golden color, then add the butterscotch chips. This works wonders. I'm not a good enough baker to tell you why (that's what the Test Kitchen is for) but it seriously made such a difference. These bars are pretty darn awesome. Oatmeal butterscotch blondie heaven.

The oatmeal adds such a nice texture, the melted butter keeps them chewy, and the butterscotch flavor is perfect. Make these and be happy.

When I made these, my husband was away doing puppet stuff, so unfortunately there was no one here to witness my "I'm a baking goddess" dance when these came out of the oven. Unless the little old Greek ladies next door were spying on me, which honestly I wouldn't put past 'em (I swear, our street is The Burbs.) Oh, and that maturing sweet tooth I mentioned earlier? Destroyed. Knowing I was in eminent waist-expanding danger, I immediately divided the bars up into tupperware containers to be taken to work the next day (leaving a plate of them out for my husband, of course. I would never be forgiven otherwise). Judging by how quickly they disappeared from the kitchen (and the fact that I left my office door open so I could spy on anyone who ate one), I think my co-workers liked these too. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

For the love of Oreos

In my last post I mentioned a certain husband succumbing to giggles after taking a bite of something I made. It was the perfect response to a dang near perfect little treat. While I do love the oohs and ahhs I get every once in a while when I've baked something tasty, giggling is by far the best reaction. It's pure joy. And I find that joy is often elusive in day to day life. Happiness, yes, that is obtainable (how very optimistic of me, I know). But joy? Joy is something different. It's a state of happiness that has no contingencies. I feel like so often when people are asked, "are you happy?" the response is, "yeah, for the most part." I get that, I definitely do. In fact, I think it's often my own response. But I don't think you can be joyful for the most part. You either are or you aren't. It's a brilliant, however fleeting feeling that sets itself apart because it is so transient. Eliciting joy is a special thing.

Now, let's get to the joy-giving goodies. In the past few weeks I've begun trolling baking blogs for ideas. I happened across one terrific blog that I now frequent on a daily basis (go check it out at bakerella.com). There are several recipes I plan to attempt in the coming months, but this was my first. It was a mighty good start. When I first read the words "oreo truffle" I couldn't help but think, "how very American -- a white trash truffle." But then I got to thinking, "Woah Tomye, way to be a snob. Oreos are amazing. Everyone likes Oreos. Admit it, even you do. Just give the darn recipe a chance." So I packed away my cookie elitism, and got to work.

Now, I've decided to show more step-by-step photos of my mad baking skills, in the event that anyone wants to recreate anything here. So, before I got started on the truffles, I arranged all the ingredients:

Then I got started. At which time I realized that I hadn't included the cream cheese in my photo of ingredients. So much for my awesome tutorial. Oh well. Moving on...

Bust out your food processor and grind up the entire package of Oreos until they resemble coffee grounds (reserve about a half cup for later). Like so:

Add an 8 oz package of softened cream cheese and mix well. Your dough will look thick and clumpy, but trust me, it's perfect.

Roll dough into little balls and place them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Dough will make about 36 bite-sized balls. Mine made 37. With no place for that last little sucker on my cookie sheet, Jon and I were forced to eat it. Just a warning, you may be required to do this as well. Prepare yourself.

Place cookie sheet in freezer for about half an hour, just long enough to for the dough to harden (and not fall apart when it's time to dip). Put the chocolate wafers in the microwave on 50% power for 30 second intervals until they're all melted. Don't do all the wafers at once, as the dipping process is slow and the chocolate will harden before you're ready to use it all. Small batches are best. Drop a ball in the chocolate, roll it around, spoon chocolate over it, and slide it up the side of your bowl with your spoon, allowing the excess chocolate to drain off before placing it on your waxed paper.

After all the truffles are coated and dried (the drying happens pretty quickly), pick up each truffle and dip its top in the leftover chocolate and then the reserve Oreo crumbs. Purely for aesthetics, but worth it. Otherwise they just look like they're covered in Elmer's glue (and I'm guessing we all ate enough glue when we were kids that the charm has worn off).

Keep these in the fridge until you're ready to serve them. When you are ready, just sit back and get ready for some seriously happy faces. And some giggling. Oh, and maybe a little in-fighting...I'm not kidding, be ready for that. People tend to get very territorial over these guys. The creamy Oreo center is like crack...only much better for you. Or as good for you as Oreos can be.

Regardless, enjoy! Make these, you will not be disappointed. They will become your secret weapon, if ever you need to wield ultimate power over someone. Trust me. The guys at Sci-Fi night were mine to control. Mwwuuaahh aahh aaah!

Brownie Goo Turned Gold

You know you've baked something good when, after taking one bite, your husband starts to giggle. It's a good feeling, knowing how to make people smile. Honestly, I think it's a big part of why I love baking so much. Yes, the act of baking is fun. And yes, the act of eating said baking is really fun. But I also love the feedback. I guess a bit like a comic needs his audience, as a baker, I need the oohs and ahhhs that come (hopefully) after someone takes a bite of something I've made.

Friday night my husband, a puppeteer, had a couple of his fellow puppeteer friends over. Usually they meet elsewhere to film and practice puppeteering until the wee hours, leaving me all by my lonesome every Friday night, so it was a real treat to have some company this time around (saving me from my typical Friday night -- bowl of cereal, What Not to Wear marathon, early bedtime). Having guests also allowed me to bake (rule #1 in our house: no baking unless there are more than two of us to eat it). Having bought several boxes of brownie mix on sale a few weeks back, I decided I should keep it simple and use one of them. But as I reached down to retrieve the box from the pantry shelf, my eyes fell upon two bags of leftover white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chips and a bag of leftover mini marshmallows. Well, might as well throw those bad boys in too right? Neither bag had more than a half cup left, so they were of no use anywhere else.

So, I made my brownie mix and threw in half of each addition, sprinkling the other half on top, like this:

I baked these for thirty minutes, but they still weren't done. After I baked them for another ten they were still gooey as all get out. Argh. Unfortunately, my husband's friends were going to be leaving soon and in order to abide by rule #1, they needed to eat these brownies, gooey or not. So, though embarrassed, I served them the terribly undercooked, quasi-pudding brownies.

Thankfully, no complaints were filed, and they graciously ate every last crumb. My husband has such nice friends. Later that night, before I went to bed, I eyed the brownies again. They had had time to cool, so I thought I'd see if the consistency was any better. Oh baby. The pudding had solidified into a fantastic fudge. The marshmallows both inside and out were still gooey, and the chips held their shape just long enough before yielding to add a bit of crunch. Turns out, severely undercooking brownies only means one thing: if you have the patience to wait it out, you're going to get one hell of a good brownie. And all the oohs and ahhs your ego desires.

This brownie is definitely more than the sum of its little leftover parts. But that's often the case in baking right? Yummy + yummy doesn't just equal double yummy. It's more of an exponential yummy. Consider peanut butter and chocolate. Am I right?

Valentine's Day Weekend Rebooted

Last weekend I should have been in Seattle. I should have been waking up every morning to coffee with my Mom. I should have been helping my Dad grill salmon for dinner. I should have been having a long overdue reunion with my best friend at our favorite childhood bakery. I should have been doing a lot of wonderful things. Instead, my flight was canceled due to a supposed "snowmageddon" on the East Coast that dropped a whopping half-inch here in Boston. The happy weekend home that had been planned for weeks was suddenly replaced with a miserable one stuck in Boston. I cried a little. In fact, I cried a lot.

But them my husband and I rallied our spirits, determined not to let one crappy airline's poor decision ruin an otherwise perfectly decent holiday weekend. So we went candlepin bowling with my in-laws (and I miraculously won two out of three -- yay!) on Friday night, and I began dreaming up what to make for Sci-Fi night, now that we were going to be in town. I decided that if I was going to bake the day before Valentine's Day, then whatever it was, it was going to be heart-shaped, pink, chocolate, or all three.

First up were rice crispy treats. I happened upon a bag of strawberry marshmallows while scavenging the Valentine's Day section at Target. I was intrigued. Then I noticed the heart-shaped cookie cutters. I was inspired. I went home and made a pan of rice crispy treats and, once set, popped them out onto the counter and cut them out using my new, fancy cookie cutters. I dipped one side in white chocolate, and finished them off with super cute sprinkles (again, thank you Target). Now, to be honest, I bought these marshmallows because they were pink. I figured the strawberry flavor would be pretty nominal and wouldn't really factor in. Wrong! These puppies are awesome! Yes, it was artificial strawberry flavor, but it rocked. Like strawberry milk rocks. And with the white chocolate, it was divine. Such a simple treat, but with a big pay off.

Next up were cupcake sundaes. I'd seen these little guys on another blog and decided they were too cute not to try. They are really simple, just vanilla cupcakes with chocolate ganache, whipped cream, and a cherry. I cut some major corners on this one, and they still turned out brilliantly. First off, I used a cake mix. Sue me. It was much faster and they turned out light and moist and full of flavor.

Next, the ganache. Oh. My. Goodness. Where has ganache been all my life? Oh, right: safely far, far away from me! It's amazing what magic a little chocolate and heavy cream can do. I dipped my cupcakes in the ganache while it was still pretty runny, which turned out to be much, much easier than frosting. The final presentation included a quick spray of Redi-Whip (another corner cut) and a cherry. Perfection! I'll absolutely make these again. The ganache was so much better than any frosting--not as sweet, not as messy, and immensely more satisfying. In the end though, I over estimated how much ganache I would need for the cupcakes and was forced to make a difficult choice: consume remaining contents of bowl in style of the Comte de Reynaud from Chocolat; toss remainder down the sink (and break my own heart); or find something I could dip. As much as I preferred the death by chocolate option, reason prevailed and I pulled out the strawberries I'd bought earlier on a whim. Thank God for whims.


All in all, the goodies were well received and will certainly be made again. Dangerous left-overs were driven to friends' houses (as demanded by my husband, who deemed it a "cupcake emergency") and nothing came home with us. So the original plan of baking for others to save my waistline continues to be a success. It was a fine line with the ganache, but willpower prevailed. This time.