2006 is coming to a close and 2007 is knocking at my door. Hard to believe that my mother was right...the older you get the more time flies. I thought I would end the year by highlighting some of the favorite things I made. We will start with the Caramel Apple Cake that not only tasted great but was kind enough to pose well for me so that I could win the edibility award for DMBLGIT. Next is a Blackeberry Cobbler that I am afraid to make again because when I did make this I actually ate nothing but the cobbler for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was gone in a day and a half. A whole cobbler, with just me eating it. My mom's graham flour Banana Bread is also one that shouldn't be missed... the graham flour gives it that something special that other banana breads don't have. My two favorite projects of the year were to replicate two of my childhood favorites: Circus Animal Cookies and Pop Tarts. I paid tribute to my favorite sandwich, the Monte … [Read more...]
Close Encounters of the Food Blogging Kind
Today I was fortunate enough to meet up with a fellow food blogger Jeff and his lovely wife Steph, as they were in town here for the holidays....all the way from Boston. Jeff runs C is for Cooking one of my must daily reads. It was really fun to actually meet a food blogger face to face and it just fuels me to want to meet others. Both of them are wonderful people and we had a nice conversation....my husband even talked, which is amazing because he is pretty anti-social. I got to oh and awe over his nice camera while I took out my point and shoot. ...which took horrible pictures today since I took their picture with the macro on, which I did not realize till I got home...duh! We met up at the Original Starbucks(because everyone in Seattle knows where it is) and decided to go to Cafe Campagne which is just down the street and located in the Pike Place Market area. It is the bistro version of the more snooty, yet highly regarded Campange. Our waiter was very good at acting French, he … [Read more...]
Velvet Chocolate Torte with Kahlua Chocolate Sauce
My hubby doesn't really like turkey and doesn't like to eat leftovers, so we go surf and turf for our Christmas dinner. This year was filet mignon(that is pretty much the constant) and crab cakes(the surf changes each year) with garlic mashed potatoes(for my meat and potatoes guy). For dessert I'm limited due to hubby's picky palate. Chocolate is always allowed but I didn't really want to make a cake....we have so many frosted cookies that I didn't want frosted anything. I chose a Velvet Chocolate Torte. I changed this recipe a lot, from no crust to freezing it instead of refrigerating it...and I changed the orange-caramel sauce(since I made one for the cheesecake) to a chocolate sauce. In retrospect, I would have make the crust, it would have been easier to plate. Velvet Chocolate Torte 3/4 cup pecans 3/4 cup walnuts 1/4 cup light brown sugar 6 TBSP unsalted butter, melted 12 ounces semisweet chocolate 4 large egg whites 3/4 cup powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 … [Read more...]
Merry Christmas!
Mr. Gingerbread(though he is really a frosted cookie) would like to remind you to eat all the other cookies but him. :) I would like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. If you don't celebrate Christmas, then have a great Monday! … [Read more...]
