Category: baked goods

Facebook Recipes

Anyone who has been on FB has been bound to see all different recipes that are posted. I, as well as some of my friends, are guilty of reposting these recipes.The premise is if you save it to your Facebook wall, you will have saved the recipe so you can have it.The recipe that I actually did was the chocolate/peanut butter”crack” brownies.It was an invitation, as I tagged it on Facebook,to insulin use, IMHO.What I decided to do was not make the “crack”part.
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I started by making regular brownies from a regular mix:nothing really fancy.Prepare the mix according to the directions on the box.We tend to like fudge-like brownies, so I followed that direction, but there is always the decision for cake like brownies. It’s all spelled out on the box.
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While they are baking, I unwrapped recess’ peanut butter mini cups, and cut them in halves, then quarters.When you pull the brownies out, you sprinkle the peanut butter cup pieces over the hot brownies, and then throw them back in the oven for five minutes.
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The peanut butter cups will be soft, so I just used my spatula to smooth it over the brownies.You can see the chocolate sink into the brownies.I then set them aside and let them cool.Now the Facebook recipe will have you melting chocolate chips and then stirring in rice cereal.Well, bad enough I am making the recipe.For us, we just didn’t need the over the edge amount of chocolate.It’s your call.If you opt for that, all you do is melt chips in the microwave and then stir in the cereal.Then you are supposed to ice the brownies you have made and put in the refrigerator to cool.

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The last picture is what’s left of the brownies, thus the dirty plate! You can see how the peanut butter worked its’ way into the brownie and the chocolate.This was one case of doing half of the recipe rocked!

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Valentine’s Week

We’re at the point of our relationship that I am not looking for anything for Valentines’day,nor am I expecting anything on that day, but there is nothing wrong with sharing the love with my neighbors.

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What can be more loving than an Oreo Biscotti? Oven 350 degrees-yields 28 cookies

Here’s the recipe:
1 cup sugar
1⁄3 cup butter, melted
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
16 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped
2 ounces semisweet chocolate or 2 ounces white chocolate, melted

Beat sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until blended.
Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.
Fold in chopped cookies.
Divide mixture in half.
With floured hands, shape each half into a 9×3-inch loaf on a lightly greased large baking sheet.
Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the centers come out clean.
Remove from oven; cool for 10 minutes.
Cut each loaf diagonally into 15 (1/2-inch thick) slices.
Place slices, cut side up, on same baking sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes more on each side or until lightly toasted.

Drizzle the tops with melted chocolate.Myself? Nah, I’ll take them straight, with a coffee chaser!

Enjoy and share the love!

Company’s coming

Trying to get the house cleaned, do some wash,walk the girls , do a little baking…we are going out tonight!  

I tripled the biscotti dough to make enough for everyone.They just came out of the oven now. I found a big Tupperware container to store them in, although by the time I distribute them, I might need a smaller container.

  
 
It’s a nice day here, but getting windy. I am meeting up tonight with a former co-worker and her husband for dinner. It’s going to be nice to talk after all these years.

Enjoy your weekend!

Armageddon,no Snowageddon

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So I went with my neighbor to the market today, and the above shot was only part of the melee at the bakery section. I seriously shudder to think what the rest of the market looked like,as the “Snowaggedon”, as opposed to Armageddon was coming.Never mind that if you actually paid attention to the weather forecast, you would have learned that yes, we would get snow,but it would be warm enough to turn from snow to sleet to rain.

WHY WAS EVERYONE IN THE MARKET? RAIN, FOLKS,RAIN……..

We had strip steak for dinner, to celebrate the snow that will be short-lived,and get ready for the nor’easter that will be in our midst.

If you are out there where there is actually snow, well, be safe. If you are down here with me in the nor’easter, be safe.

Let’s just all make it through the weekend in one piece, ok!

Eggs? Bread? Milk?….

There has been no snow alert, but something in my recent swing of watching Cutthroat Kitchen and the Food Network has made me decide to set myself up for baking.

In addition, I am preparing for my return to work, and there is something in getting ready that screamed baking to me.In a recent post that I had the vanilla biscotti recipe listed, well, I figure I might throw another batch or two together to keep in Tupperware for a quick morning or afternoon fix.I have a tendency, when I do this recipe, to give some to our neighbors, who are greatly appreciative of them, so there’ll be some for them, and some to stash away.

I find myself laughing as I type this, because I am no longer in the big city, but old habits die hard.Maybe it’s the old girl scout in me.Perhaps it’s the fact that I know it’s not even mid-January yet.

Snow.

I know you’re coming.

So at the risk of repeating myself, here’s my vanilla biscotti recipe that I found on the Food Website.Enjoy!

SERVINGS
36
YIELD
3 dozen biscotti
UNITS
US
6 tablespoons butter
2⁄3 cup sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 -2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18″ x 13″) baking sheet.
In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low-speed of your mixer, add the flour, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky.
Plop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Shape it into a log that’s about 14″ long x 2 ½” wide x ¾” thick. Straighten the log, and smooth its top and sides; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper works well here. Note: For extra-long, bistro-style biscotti, pat the dough into a lightly greased 12″ x 5 1/2″ biscotti pan.
Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes; just work it into the schedule of whatever else you’re doing in the kitchen. Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the log, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier.
Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F Wait another 5 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into 1″-2″” slices. Or cut the biscotti on the diagonal—for fewer, longer biscotti. As you’re slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they’ll topple over during their second bake.
Set the biscotti on edge on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes, till they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden. They’ll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they’ll continue to dry out as they cool. Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.
Variations: Add up to 2 cups nuts, dried fruit (dried, not fresh), or chips to the dough, along with the flour. Adjust the spice to suit the add-in, if desired; e.g., add 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 cup chopped dried apple and 1 cup diced pecans. Or substitute hazelnut, butter-rum, or your favorite flavor for the vanilla. A classic Italian anise biscotti is made with 1/2 teaspoon anise extract (or 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon anise oil, to taste), and 1 tablespoon fennel seeds.

Enjoy!

Milestone

Down here in “Amity”, as I like to call it, I went to a 90th birthday party today for a good friend of mine.

Vivian has been so kind to me for the past six years I have known her. She collects the money at the pancake breakfast. Always,Vivian has a kind word for everyone. 

 
She’s the one with the grey hair and pearls. She try to help fellow knitter and crocheters as best as she can.She is always amazing to talk to in a coversation. One day when I grow up, I want to be just like her!

   
    
 
Here are some shots that before hand, would have had Martha Stewart smiling.

Happy birthday Vivian! I love you!

Vanilla Biscotti- from Food website

My brother-in law makes biscotti and gives them out at Christmastime. I am a purist who enjoys anything vanilla.

I have made these twice now and boy are they good! I figured I’d share the recipe. I gave a few of my friends trial bags and they said they were pretty good.

SERVINGS
36
YIELD
3 dozen biscotti
UNITS
US
6 tablespoons butter
2⁄3 cup sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 -2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18″ x 13″) baking sheet.
In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low-speed of your mixer, add the flour, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky.
Plop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Shape it into a log that’s about 14″ long x 2 ½” wide x ¾” thick. Straighten the log, and smooth its top and sides; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper works well here. Note: For extra-long, bistro-style biscotti, pat the dough into a lightly greased 12″ x 5 1/2″ biscotti pan.
Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes; just work it into the schedule of whatever else you’re doing in the kitchen. Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the log, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier.
Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F Wait another 5 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into 1″-2″” slices. Or cut the biscotti on the diagonal—for fewer, longer biscotti. As you’re slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they’ll topple over during their second bake.
Set the biscotti on edge on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes, till they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden. They’ll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they’ll continue to dry out as they cool. Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.
Variations: Add up to 2 cups nuts, dried fruit (dried, not fresh), or chips to the dough, along with the flour. Adjust the spice to suit the add-in, if desired; e.g., add 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 cup chopped dried apple and 1 cup diced pecans. Or substitute hazelnut, butter-rum, or your favorite flavor for the vanilla. A classic Italian anise biscotti is made with 1/2 teaspoon anise extract (or 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon anise oil, to taste), and 1 tablespoon fennel seeds.

Enjoy!

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Pumpkin 

We are going to see our friend Max and his Mom Norina tonight.

They were good to us the other night and had us over for homemade minestrone and I felt bad: usually I like to bring something with me, like an appetizer or desert.

They are getting ready to shut down their summer cottage for the year, so I thought of  pumpkin bread! I had a recipe which incorporates mashed ripe banana with it, so that’s what I went with. I figured I would make one for us too, and I incorporated chocolate chips with it. I probably will take a piece to them to see how they’d it.

I give Zush a little canned pumpkin with some protein as a snack and she woofs it down. The only one not embracing pumpkin is Kasia.

Three out of four family members isn’t bad.

  

Copper Fit

I have a lower lumbar that is reflective of my 55 years if not more.

Seeing the ads that Brett Farve has out for the Copper Fit, I saw it and initially had a bad taste in my mouth.As a kid, you would always read about people wearing copper bracelets for arthritis.Sure, they claimed it worked, but eventually you heard more about people with green wrists from the bracelets.

I saw the copper fit ads and figured it was worth a shot.I had been scripted for prescription strength naproxen sodium,and figured if it worked, I’d save my both the abuse of taking the medicine, especially working in the bakery.There’s something about working the racks and having to scoot down that low, especially if alcohol isn’t involved, well, it’s rough on the back.

I have found that at least the back brace serves to keep the area warm, and I actually can function in the bakery. I can come home and after walking the girls, I lay with ice on my lower lumbar and I feel pretty good.

There’s got to be something to this copper fit: maybe it’s psychological, but it does work.

Baking again

I rearranged my new pantry today and as a result, I’m making cookies tonight to quiet my mind.After they are done, then I’ll sit and have a nice cup of tea.

I just didn’t make as many cookies as I intended do, as with bringing things down from the house, well, it takes time.So tonight I have a little bit of quiet time, so I have an Axis special on TV about the group Queen. Good music to bake by.

A quiet Saturday night with my family. ..All is good!

Fit bit versus…

The holiday season is going to really pout my fit bit to the test.

It’s time for chocolate kisses, home-made cookies, cocktails and the like. The mere prospect has me quaking in my boots a wee bit, as I managed to nicely fit into a lower size of pants and would like to keep it that way, if not lower.

I am getting the last night walk off tonight, since I have walked over 16,000 steps today. Jim is going to take the girls out, and I am going to get ready to get to bed and stay warm under the blankets.

It’s going to be a long holiday season.

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Heat

After dinner tonite, I started baking some double chocolate brownies for Shingleman to bring to work. Just as pure accident, I came across the movie “Heat” with Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro.

I never was into cop/gangster movies. I was a late bloomer to Pacino and DeNiro, and I have come to appreciate them both. Maybe like a maturing fine wine, you have to be of a certain age….I don’t know.

Either way, making brownies was a delight!

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Happy birthday in Heaven

It’s been a year, Mom.
A year since I got to sing Happy Birthday to you.
A year since I gave you some chocolates, fuzzy socks you always liked, and sang Sto Lat.

Well, you didn’t make one hundred . You hit eighty- nine. I was blessed to have you for fifty-two of them. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss you. I miss those blue eyes, that soft touch, that smile.

Happy birthday in Heaven, Mom. I know Dad made the pound cake for you , not our favorite 1-2-3-4 cake. I’m glad Dad is with you to get you your first heavenly birthday card.

Our December birthdays won’t be the same without you.

Love,
Marisha

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Quiet Sunday

It’s a quiet Sunday.

I have been up and down, as Jim has fallen prey to the GI big going around. The girls and I are good, so we have. Been providing him with nursing care. Ginger ale, pretzel rods, jello and chicken soup are the menu of the day.

We went to a work Christmas party for Jim last night at his friend Box Bagwell’s house. I enjoyed it as much as he did: it was a great party.

Here’s hoping for a good week for us all.

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Bake one, knit two…

As the storm has moved from Hurricane to Nor’easter, so have I…

…from baking to knitting.

I have washed my last measuring cup for the day and have gone back to my felted scarf I am in the process of knitting. It is  a nice ombre of pinks and such, as I needed a pop of color to go with my black leather jacket. I couldn’t wait to start it, and have gotten a third of the way.

It’s funny how a storm gets different actions from different folks. Shingleman is out checking in with neighbors, and is making a list for himself for chores to do in the morning, since he is off too.

Me? I am arm-pit deep in Sandy. I remember storms past, if my folks were around, or I was on my own, and watching them on tv. I think I have kept the tv on in the background to serve as a soundtrack to the memory, as it were. The girls and I get out to walk, and , as mentioned earlier, I bake, blog, or knit. ….and relax.

Don’t get me wrong: I am praying for friends and neighbors who are riding the storm out, but with the travel restrictions and time off?

Life is good.

How much can you bake?

Sandy has awakened the Betty Crocker in me yet again.

I made Snickerdoodles yesterday when we got home here and cinnamon cake at lunchtime. I guess it is indeed a subliminal answer to bread, eggs and milk.

The biggest thing now seems to be chance of a power outage,so the hatches are tied tight and we are concerned about our neighbors who decided to ride it out around Undisclosed….

Here’s hoping we ALL stay safe!

 

Betty strikes again

Took advantage of the day off to reawaken the Betty Crackpot, I mean Crocker in me.

Next weekend we are having company at Undisclosed. So all my ducks are in order, I baked today….pumpkin….pumpkin spice cookies…yum!

Will parchment paper and freeze the pumpkin bread, and tin up the cookies.
Here’s hoping they make the trip in one piece!

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Betty Crackpot

Hanging in a little later tonight, watching Iron Chef America in order to have baked goods cool.

Yup,
Betty Crackpot is at it again.

We are having a Shingleman family gathering, to honor his late Dad’s memory. My sister-in-law is helping me with putting a meal or two together for the gang. The problem with baking is keeping Jim away from the baked goods. This time I made an almond pound cake and chocolate chip cookies. Something about a boy/man in a kitchen for longer than normal-all you hear is a quiet munch…. 🙂

“I only ate the broken ones.”….famous last words!

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Food Network Magazine, are you KIDDING me?

Oh yeah, dinners under 500 calories…great article for me, right? After all, I subscribe to their magazine….you know, the one that is screaming “The Chocolate Issue”!!!!

  • 50 Brownie recipes
  • chocolate chip cookies, chewy, crispy and more
  • win chocolate for a year
  • and, least I forget, chocolate covered EVERYTHING( like bacon,complete with a picture of chocolate covered bacon)…..

Now, I know I am a big girl and everything and you are not a light recipe magazine ( I mean, come on now, the new darling of the diabetics, Paula Deen and her Mile High Pie on the cover), but can’t there be a happy medium somewhere?

Just sayin’….

Dear Dunkin’ Donut Customer Service

Do you train your staff?

Really?

Don’t you pride yourself on how nice your products look?

Today, I ordered a chocolate iced coffee roll **yes I know, but it was a grieving, comfort food thing** and proceeded to watch you place the roll with your thumb smashing it into the paper and icing and then have the lack of respect even more so for the product by putting icing side down in the bag. Yup, brown DD bag, upside down coffee roll icing, coffee roll and bakery tissue. I mean a fourth grader with practice would give better customer service than that.

Think about it DD, and maybe train your staff. Hey, you might make money and make as much as Starbucks…how about that!

These boots are made for walkin’….

Behold…my right foot.

For those of you who “know” me, you know I have been through the whole knee saga and would say, “Mar? A heel? What’s up with that?”

Well, I figure it’s time.

I am hopefully going to see my other “Juls” over New Year’s Day and in Carlisle PA., it’s known to be a little frosty. So I looked in my closet last night and said it’s time.I haven’t worked a heel on a shoe for about five years-not that I was ever a big fan of a heel. In fact, the Naturalizer heel was as high as I went. If only I didn’t have a belly in the way  when I put them on, but, that’s another story that I am working on…on that note, a shout out to my friend Joanne, who knew my coffee was a little lonely this morning- the baked goods were fabulous!

So, I am going to work these boots into the new year,hoping to start the year in an upright position.

Here’s hoping you do the same.,