I prefer vanilla ice cream. I wear white t-shirts under cardigan sweaters A LOT. I abhor wallpaper. In a nutshell, I prefer things to be plain. But these muffins were too plain, even for me.
TWD: Peanut Butter Crisscrosses
I started eating peanut butter out of the jar, with a spoon, when I was in college. It was one of those bad habits people develop when they stay up all night doing important things like writing 10 pages papers that count for 70 percent of their course grade and writing articles for the school paper about how many health code violations the dining hall had racked up that month. It’s not a habit I’m proud of, nor one that I’ve held on to (except for a brief period when I was pregnant, but that doesn’t count), but in dire moments that burst of protein did wonders for both my energy level and my mood.
But I still love a good peanut M&M, peanut butter cup or peanut butter cookie, so I was glad when Jasmine Cuisine chose them to bake with Dorie Sept. 7. They were quick and easy to assemble and I had high hopes because I ate a ridiculous amount of raw dough while I assembled them….and then I pulled mine out of the oven and thought that maybe they were too easy. My cookies were flat as pancakes! Still delicious and not too sweet and tender to bite, but not at all like the picture in Dorie’s book. Her’s looked more like a toasted English muffin, and mine were similar to manhole covers.
Was it because I left out the peanuts? Or because I sprinkled mini chocolate chips into the top? Would it have made a difference if I had chilled the dough before I rolled it into balls and then rolled the balls in sugar for baking? I’ll just have to try them again I guess.
pickles!
What’s a girl who doesn’t like cucumbers to do when she receives a bumper crop of cucumbers from her father’s garden?
Make Pickles!
I found a slew of canning jars in said father’s basement and this recipe for quick pickles from The Spice House, and I was off to the races. Just about everyone I know right now is enjoying fresh pickles on their turkey sandwiches.
TWD: Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream
As this recipe’s host said : Oh. My. Ganache!
This is so rich and flavorful. It’s more of a custard than an ice cream, one that Another Eater says could give the infamous Kopp‘s a run for its money.It has whole milk and egg yolks and cream – all of which make it difficult to at more than a few spoonfulls before you can feel your arteries closing. But it’s worth it.
I really wish I had used milk chocolate instead of bittersweet, because it’s a little more to my liking, but Another Eater is quite pleased that he’ll have this one largely to himself. And it’s going to be back in the 90s this weekend, so ice cream will be just what the doctor ordered after he mows the lawn.
TWD: Oatmeal Breakfast Bread
There are certain things I think everyone keeps in their pantry. Rice. Flour and Sugar. Olive Oil. Chocolate Chips. And when you run out of these staples, you know it has been FAR TOO LONG since your last trip to the grocery store.
That’s the wake-up call I got when I went to make the oatmeal bread that Oven Love selected for Tuesdays with Dorie and found myself short on oats. I used instant low sugar apple cinnamon oatmeal to make up for what I lacked, and it turned out just fine. I used a mix of dried cherries, cranberries, blueberries and golden raisins from Trader Joe’s golden berry mix, which I love.
This was a spectacularly moist breakfast treat that Another Eater and I enjoyed every morning last week on our ways out the door: mine was perched in my lap while I drove to the train station, his came in finger-full bites while he fed PT before daycare (which PT loves).
TWD: Chewy, Chunky Blondies
Just like the Cookies on Friday blogger who selected this recipe last month, I love baking bar cookies. It’s a simple way to create a good volume of cookies (whether you are sharing them with others or simple curling up with a glass of milk after a bad day), and there is something unbelievably therapeutic about pressing batter into the corners of a pan and then licking it off your fingers when you have it Just Right.
Picking different flavors to add into the bars is too big a decision for me on most days, so I stuck with Dorie’s recommendations on this one: butterscotch chips, milk chocolate chip, walnuts and coconut. The only on I regret is the coconut, as it was really the only thing I tasted. Maybe it’s me – coconut isn’t my favorite thing – but it didn’t stop me from gobbling these up! The cookie base that carries whatever add-ins you choose is just perfect enough to make these irresistible, regardless.
What to serve with turducken??
Cherpumple, of course:
(Click on the picture for the video of how to make this delicacy)
This is right up there with the Dream Omelette, in my book.
Not at all refreshing
This is undoubtedly one of the least comfortable summers I can remember in the long time, ad when I’m not hugging the AC vent I’m wiping water rings off the tables when my drink glasses have sweat themselves to room temperature or swatting at one of the amazon mosquitoes that have sent up tents in the yard. Popsicles nearly always sound good these days, except for this one:
The Consumerist writes:
Beat the heat with this cheap and cool treat, the beer popsicle, aka “The Hopsicle.”
The Diablo Royale Este saloon in New York takes a Tecate, inject it with simple syrup and lime juice, then jam a wooden stick in the can hole and freeze it. Four days later, they pull it out the freezer and saw it open with a serrated steak knife. Sounds awesome! I look forward to soon saying, “I make my own beer popsicles at home.”
Can you imagine the cross between a hangover and brain freeze??
Almost too good to eat
I’m a big fan of cakewrecks and the disasters that some paid bakers pass off as cakes – which is why I am that much more impressed when Professional decorators do things well. Check out these finds from koldcast.tv
Well done, Talented and Creative Bakers! Admire their work, and then check out all the ways Cakewrecks found to screw this cute guy up here.
Do you know what I could do with $231
It does not involve a stroller that keeps my watermelon cold. Are refrigerators going out of style?
From Engadget.com:
So far as we can tell, this here watermelon cart (priced at ¥19,950, or a whopping $231) serves to keep your voluptuous fruit cool when being transported from market to mouth, but everything beyond that is lost in translation.