Time to breath

I have taken a moment to catch my breath & to catch y'all up on what is happening with my life.

For the past two months I've been teaching daytime cake classes @ the local craft store, teaching night classes at the same store & helping Linda when ever she needs me which is usually Friday & Saturdays. This month I am also working Wednesdays helping with her Pastry Camp for kids.

I also had a display piece to complete for entery into our state fair & have recently become a consultant for 31 Gifts. Soon Kyle will go back to school & hopefully things will settle down a bit for me.

In the meantime I have been trying to come up with some new recipes, but as many of you can attest it has been stinking hot out! Really hard to get excited about turning on the oven when we are struggling through a record hot summer.

So instead of heating up the kitchen, here's an easy recipe for a frozen treat!

Ice-cream Sandwich Casserole

• 2 boxes ice-cream sandwiches, your choice on brand
• 1 tub of whipped topping, think Cool Whip
• 1 jar hot fudge topping
• 1 jar cherries.

Begin by unwrapping and layering  ice-cream sandwiches in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. (or a smaller pan if this will not fit into your freezer.)

Top the sandwiches with 1/2 the tub of whipped topping (adjust to your pan), then drizzle the top with hot fudge.

Add another layer of sandwiches & the remaining whipped topping. Finish with a drizzle of hot fudge.

Freeze until ready to serve. Slice & serve topped with a cherry & nuts if you'd like.

Thanks Pattie for the recipe!

Bad Blogger

I admit it, I am a bad blogger!

I see it's been several weeks since I posted & there is no excuse for this.

I am busy right now with large cake orders & I've been kept busy working at Our Cupcakery on the weekends , but that is not an excuse, just an update on what I am doing.

I will post pictures of the cakes I am doing when they are done, but in the meantime here is a recipe from Food on the Table I will be making for dessert tonight.

Balsamic Strawberries with Whipped Mascarpone Cheese

INGREDIENTS

• 3 pt strawberries (baskets about 24 ounces, hulled halved)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup cream (chilled whipping)
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese (chilled) *Italian cream cheese, available at Italian markets and many supermarkets. Look in the dairy, around the cream cheese or block cheese
• 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp sugar (4 tablespoons)
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
•  
• Servings: 6

---

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine vinegar, 2 teaspoons sugar, and lemon juice in heavy small saucepan
2. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves
3. Boil until syrup is reduced to scant 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes
4. Transfer to small bowl; cool completely
5. (You just made a simple syrup! This can be made up to 2 days ahead. Simply cover and refrigerate until you need it)
6. Combine mascarpone, whipping cream, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl
7. Whisk until thick soft peaks form
8. Cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours
9. Combine berries and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in large bowl; drizzle with balsamic syrup and toss to blend
10. Let stand 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
11. Divide berries and syrup among 6 goblets
12. Top with mascarpone mixture

NUTRITION INFO

Servings Per Recipe 6

Calories 32

Calories from Fat 18

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 2g	3%
Saturated Fat 2g	10%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 6mg	2%
Sodium 3mg	0%
Total Carbohydrate 3g	1%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Sugars 3g

	I'll let you know what we think! UPDATE:  Who ever thought balsamic vinegar & strawberries was a good combination ought to have their head examined! We enjoyed the mascarpone whipped creme & of course the strawberries were yummy, but after sampling a small test batch of the vinegar syrup with a strawberry we decided not to add it to the whole batch. EWWWWW, we couldn't eat more than one of them! We were glad we changed the dessert & left out the vinegar syrup.

Teachers, a timer & television

Last week was crazy busy for me. I'm not talking spinning-around-til-you-fall-down-dizzy crazy, I'm talking hand-me-the-heavy-sedatives-&-the-tequila-bottle, put-me-down-with-a-tranquilizer-gun crazy!

Monday started out just fine, back to school (oops, Kyle's sick no school today) & work for the family (Sui has to go in an hour early all week so you know how that throws off the morning routine), no cake classes to prep for but make sure to schedule an oil change on the Highlander & check on Tuesday classes while I'm at it. Kyle's laundry day & deep clean the bathrooms, start the menu for the week & begin the shopping list.

Tuesday began the uphill battle to make it to the weekend. Kyle still home sick, put him back to bed & started to catch up on emails/facebook/website & find something interesting to put on the blog, wait a minute... what's that email? Kurt Ludlow 10tv wants to set up an interview time?!?! He'll call when he... is that my phone ringing? " Hi Kurt, yes I was just reading your email. Of course I'd be happy to talk to you about Food on the Table. You & a cameraman, in my kitchen, WHEN? Tomorrow.....(is the house clean enough that I can have someone filming in it without too much disgrace & without having to kill myself to get it ready?) Sure, tomorrow sounds fine (God Bless you Fly Lady!) around 10 or 10:30, perfect. I'll see you then, Bye!" Hang up the phone, breath,breath,breath... you can do this. It's only the local news, how many people watch that anyway? NO, don't think about it, too scary. Lets get to work.
I spend the remainder of the day cleaning, finally around 3p.m. remembering that I need to feed the family, so I make a giant pot of vegetable soup & begin to prep for Sui to come home. He brings home Duck & asks me to make rice (so much for the soup!) then I tell him the exciting news. His first reaction is to look around and ask, "You are going to pick this place up right?" DO NOT KILL THE HUSBAND! I Smile sweetly & say, "It will look fantastic, you'll see". Sui decideds to spend the evening with me, so no cleaning tonight. Forgot to cancel oil change for tomorrow, grab phone during a commercial & call. Don't reschedule for this week, will have to look at the schedule for next week later. Pull out hamburger to defrost for tomorrow and go to bed.

Wednesday, Kyle goes to school. Sui brings up Kin's laptop for the interview & I spend a little time after Kyle gets on the bus finding my way around it. Decide the house needs a little sweet touch so I snip some flowers from the garden & then I wait...and wait... and wait. Deciding that if I sit and wait any longer I'll go insane so I start making the Vanilla Bean Pound cake recipe from last week.

Vanilla Bean Pound Cake
(adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion)

1 c butter
1 c sugar
3 TBSP light brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 TBSP vanilla bean paste
1 tsp baking powder
1 & 3/4 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
4 large eggs For the glaze:
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c water
pinch salt
1 TBSP vanilla bean paste

Preheat oven to 350°. Using the paddle attachment, mix together the butter, sugars, salt vanilla and baking powder until smooth & fluffy. Add the flour and mix well. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bottom after each addition.

Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9 X 5" loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes.

Once the cake is out of the oven, make the glaze. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, water and salt to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla bean paste.

Remove the cake from the pan and place on a cooling rack set over a cookie sheet. Poke the cake all over with a cake tester or toothpick. Slowly drizzle and/or brush the glaze all over the cake...until all of the glaze is used. Cool completely before slicing.

All done, forgot to add the glaze though! Slightly salty, probably because I forgot the glaze, but really good with whipped cream & fresh strawberries.

 If you get the chance to see the interview you'll notice me pulling these bad boys out of the oven, the timer went off just as Kurt & his cameraman walked in the house. We spent an hour doing all the shots & interviews he needed. Then after he left I cleaned up & put away the "dinner" for later. No class tonight so I had to email/call the ladies to let them know, then I spent the remaining time trying to figure out why the website for the cake club wasn't working right. AAARGH, I sometimes hate technology!

Thursday was downstairs cleaning & grocery shopping. Had to run a ton of errands, I'd normally do them on Friday but it's Teacher Appreciation week at Kyle's school & I offered to help with the teachers luncheon so needed to shuffle the schedule a bit, and the rain finally stopped for the day so I got out in the flowers beds to de-weed them! The interview was scheduled to air around 6:15 tonight so I made dinner early & planned to watch with the boys, however Kyle got involved in Rift & Sui fell asleep so I watched it by myself. Oh well, it was good interview.

Friday, teacher appreciation lunch till 1:30 then dash to store & hurry home before Kyle get's there. Prep Sui for my being @ Linda's on Saturday and start planning for the graduation cakes coming up.

Saturday is my day to work at Our Cupcakery, I can't get over how busy they are!, so I was there until after 6 and then I ran to the store to grab something quick for dinner and then home.

Sunday, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!, or not. Sui's mad about something so he's not talking to me, Kyle didn't realize it was a holiday until he went to Chinese class & someone made mention of it. Waited to see what the boy's would fix me for dinner, but finally gave up on that idea at 8:00 and made sausage & mac-n-cheese. Called my mom to wish her a great day, she works third shift so I wait till evening to call so I hopefully won't wake her up, got ready & went to bed. A really disappointing mother's day! Kyle was sweet & snugly after he realized it was my special day, even offered to finish dinner, but he needed to get a shower and get ready for bed so I thanked him but said no.

Another week down..., now what will I try this week? Hmmm, those lemons look really pretty.
I'm thinking Meyer Lemon & Vanilla Scones!

An adventure in scones!

I have never tried a scone. I've never eaten one or made them, ever. Not that I have anything against scones, it's just the small town I grew up in didn't have any place that served them. The local doughnut shop, while wonderful & tasty, knew that their clients probably would not take kindly to something that sounds & looks a bit like stones. So I lived almost half my life never experiencing a scone, then on Saturday my friend Linda Kick from Our Cupcakery had me try one of her freshly baked cranberry orange scones.

I had no idea what I was missing! Light & fluffy with a little crunch on the outside, my mouth was alive with flavors & textures. My taste buds were dancing with joy, and anyone who knows me will tell you my taste buds are about the only thing on me that can dance. I knew one simple thing... I had to make scones!

For those who've never tried one, they are a bit like a sweet biscuit but a little crunchier on the outside. Perhaps there are savory scones out there, I have only begun my journey into scones & look forward to years of traveling along they're flaky highways, but for now I began looking for scone recipes on the ultimate recipe index, the internet!

Two different recipes looked very promising; Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones from Once A Month Mom and Meyer Lemon-Vanilla Scones from Bake @ 350. It was a hard choice to make, but in the end the strawberries I had sitting in the fridge settled the debate. I was off to my kitchen to try my hand at scones!!

 

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones

Author/Source:

Kelly @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups All purpose organic flour
• 2 Tablespoons sugar or sucanat
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons butter, preferably organic
• 1 large egg yolk
• ½ cup buttermilk, organic (or homemade* see bottom)
• ½ cup strawberries, organic
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• ½ cup almonds chopped (optional)

Directions:

1)   Preheat oven to 425 and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper
2)   In a large bowl sift together all of the dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender, until it resembles a coarse meal. (I used the food processor)

3)  In a smaller bowl whisk together egg yolk and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until dough starts to pull together. (Used my Kitchen-aid with the dough hook)

4)   Fold in chocolate chips and strawberries and roll out onto a floured surface. (I didn't have quite enough chocolate chips so I threw in some white chocolate too!)

5)   Pat dough into a large square and cut into smaller squares, then cut squares into triangles (I think next time I'll chill the dough before I roll & cut, note the extreme mess on the parchment. I even added extra flour to try and help with rolling out & a sheet of parchment on top. No such luck!)

6)   Place on cookie sheet and place in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes (As you can see I never did get to make mine into triangles, the dough was too sticky, and I think it's too thick but I couldn't roll it out thinner because it kept sticking! Definitely going to chill before I roll out! Also, this is NOT how it first came out of the oven, I felt it was still too doughy after the timer went off & decided it was because they were very thick. The old sheet was starting to burn where the "messy" stuff was & I worried how that might affect the taste so I separated everything onto a new parchment sheet & baked for a few minutes longer. )

Well, even thought the adventure wasn't a resounding success it was certainly not a complete loss. A few things were learned, chill the dough before you roll & keep it sorta thin like 1/2 inch thick or less. Sui loved the strawberry's and the dough, but he doesn't particularly care for chocolate. Kyle raved over his and asked for seconds! I've enjoyed a few over the last few days & like them much better fresh, but even older they're still pretty good.

If you should get a chance to try these, let me know how your experience was. Maybe you can show me a few things I missed!

My next attempt will be the vanilla pound cake recipe from a few days ago.
Till then, sending sweet somethings to you!

In the beginning

In the beginning there were simple ingredients; butter, sugar, eggs and flour.

The combining of these base elements should always create the same result, right? But as anyone who bakes will tell you, a simple twist of one thing or another & the whole kit and caboodle changes!

That is what draws me again & again to my mixer bowl. The excitement to see what's next! How one little change can create something all together different & wonderful!

Please come along on this journey with me & we'll see what kind of messes we can get into together!

Our first adventure is to discover Vanilla Bean Paste. I've seen this advertised in different places and have wondered at it's applications to baking. The name implies something along the lines of a thick cream that you would scoop out & use, think softened butter with vanilla beans in it.
When I finally found a recipe for homemade vanilla paste on line , I was off & mixing! Luckily I had some vanilla beans that hadn't quite made it into the vodka bottle (homemade vanilla, not what you were thinking!), so I am all set!

Vanilla Bean Paste

things you'll need:

• Four vanilla beans
• 4 tablespoons corn syrup, more or less as needed
• Flat baking pan
• Parchment paper
• Sharp paring knife
• Spice or coffee grinder 

1. Lay a piece of parchment paper over a baking or cookie sheet. If air drying, find a dry place with low humidity to allow the beans to dry, or preheat oven to 175 to 200 degrees, depending on how low the oven will go. The temperature should be warm but not hot.
2. Place each vanilla bean on a flat work surface or counter top. Using a small paring knife, split the vanilla bean in two lengthwise. This is done in one of two ways. The first is to hold the vanilla bean firmly down with one hand and in the other take a paring knife and work the tip of the knife down the vanilla bean, working right to left if you are right handed. The second is to hold the vanilla bean on the right side, place the knife parallel to the work surface and cut the vanilla bean in two by going left to right. Repeat with remaining vanilla beans.
3. Place the cut vanilla bean halves on the parchment-lined baking sheet and spread them out to avoid touching.
4. If letting air dry, let the beans dry out for several days until brittle and completely dry. If drying out in an oven, place the vanilla beans inside and bake for about 30 minutes. Check every 10 to 15 minutes thereafter and remove when completely dried and brittle. Remove and allow the beans to cool to room temperature.
5. Break up the beans into smaller pieces and place several broken-up vanilla beans in the bowl of a spice grinder or a thoroughly cleaned coffee grinder. Pulse until the vanilla beans have been pulverized into a powder. Open up the top and pour out into a mixing bowl. Repeat with remaining vanilla bean pieces.
   Measure the corn syrup one tablespoon at a time and add enough to get the desired consistency. Add only enough to make a paste that will be easy to scoop. The amount of corn syrup will depend on the amount of powder from grinding the vanilla beans.
6. Mixture will keep for a week in the refrigerator.

Now that I have this, what to do with it? Found this recipe on-line Vanilla Bean Pound Cake, but will probably have to wait for another day. I've got a bunch of things lined up for the remainder of the week and will probably be "sweeted" out by the time I get done. How about you? Anything sweet cooking this week?