Patience. You either have it or you don't. And if you are going to be a baker and a pastry maker, you need patience. I realize many a person does not possess this trait. For people are always apologizing for making me wait. I always give them a big smile and say, “I used to teach Junior High, I have the patience of a saint.” And they smile back and know that I am not mad at them. Most days I have patience. When I made this nut roll I had patience. I made the dough. I let it rise. I punched it down, rolled it out and stuffed it with pecan filling. Then let it rise again. And then after the almost 3 hours were up, into the oven it went. Thirty-five minutes later out of the oven it comes. No problem. Since I got the idea to make the bread at 11:00 at night I did not finish until almost 3am(remember I am the night owl), obviously there was no light out so I knew that I would not be taking photos of this bread until I awoke the next morning(afternoon). So I chose to wait … [Read more...]
My Sweet Vegan….
I am always amazed at the variety of readers I get, from international to gluten free. But no one is more surprised than me with all the Vegan readers I have. I mean, I think bacon should be the 5th food group. I sometimes feel that my Vegan readers see my creations as a challenge, a challenge to see if they can “veganize” it. And when they do I am always in awe, just like I am in awe when the gluten-free Daring Bakers make bread. So when I was presented the opportunity to review Hannah Kaminsky's(you might know Hannah from her great blog Bittersweet) new cookbook, My Sweet Vegan, I thought heck ya! Here is my chance to give my Vegan readers some love back. I was most excited to see how far the Vegan world has come. About a decade ago I dated a Vegan, and I will admit I hated cooking for him. To this day I dread eating anything with lentils because that is all we seemed to eat. So the idea of a cookbook dedicated to the world of Vegan sweets sounded like a good idea to … [Read more...]
Intertwined….
I've been lucky enough in my life that loss has been at a minimal. I have no remaining grandparents(though at my age that is to be expected) and I have lost only 2 friends, and now 3. Last week an email appeared from a friend of mine in Phoenix. I was all happy until I opened it up to see that a very funny and wonderful person had passed. He was a referee and hockey buddy of mine. Part of a group of rouge referees that liked to sit around and drink beer, eat fried food and tell lies after each night of reffing. He was part of the pack that went each year to Vegas to participate in the Zebra Cup, a hockey tournament for just referees(Lord help you the years the NHL refs showed up...you basically were playing for second place). I would trek along on these trips...me and 13 guys. I will avoid reminiscing as it will no doubt get many a person in trouble. :P My grieving process is fairly simple.1. I cry, a lot for about 2 days. 2. I eat a lot of bad things for me and usually have a little … [Read more...]
Make Christmas Cookies…then eat them…
When I moved to the state of Washington I had no idea how many things I loved originated here. Liberty Orchard Aplets and Cotlets are from here. The Cinnabon originated here before it went off and became it's own company(now out of Atlanta), Starbucks of course...and Almond Roca. Oh, oh, oh how I LOVE me some Almond Roca. We used to only see it around the holidays at first when we were in Arizona but then slowly through out the years you could get it year round. And though it was still good, it kind of lost it's specialness because you could get it whenever. When walking through a Washington Rite Aid one day my head did a 180 when I saw the words Candy Cane Roca. I was a tad skeptical I will admit...toffee and candy canes? But in the name of research, I of course bought some. I went home and had a piece, then another, and another...you get the idea. It got to the point where I am only allowed to buy myself one can a year. That first year I went through many a can. :| So when I saw … [Read more...]
