2008 February

Tuesdays with Dorie….

February 12, 2008 by Peabody · 83 Comments

Well, it is official, food blogging has ruined me. When I first learned that we were making the Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake, I was overjoyed. You by now all know my love of cheesecake and so I wasted no time in making it. The very next morning after I learned of what we would be making this week, I awoke early to get started as I wanted cheesecake for breakfast! Cheesecake is after all, the breakfast of champions. I took the cheesecake out of the oven and placed it on the rack to cool. Still at this point excited about the cheesecake. Then I released it from the spring form. Crap, crap, crap was all I thought. Now you may be thinking at this point that there was a large crack or it sunk, etc. Nope. Not the case. Hearing my rather loud “crap” comments coming from my mouth, my husband(who was working from home that day) came down to see what the fuss was about. I pointed to the cheesecake and said, “look at it!” He did. “Looks like cheesecake.” “It's beige. Beige, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging Event, dessert, fruit ·

Time to make MY doughnuts…..

February 9, 2008 by Peabody · 51 Comments

So I was a little boring this time around. Nothing fancy to say the least. However, I did go out of my comfort zone. See, I make cake doughnuts all the time at home, but yeast doughnuts...that was virgin territory. What I got were very interesting results. For from the same batch I had some doughnuts that rose like sky scrapers and I had some that didn't rise at all. Hmmm. I must say that I was stumped. I mean, I make yeast bread often. And when you make yeast bread, it either rises, or it doesn't. Parts of the bread don't rise and other parts do, so to say I was perplexed was putting it mildly. It could have been the fact that I had to get up early to make these babies(my brain is not known to function at that time of day). There is a sponge made, a rise for that. Add the ingredients, a rise for that. Roll them out, cover myself in flour, and then a rise for that. Well, some rise. Some just flat dough staring at me, mocking me. The ironic things was that after frying all of them up, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging Event ·

I’m a rat…

February 7, 2008 by Peabody · 52 Comments

When I was still in high school my maternal grandfather died. My grandmother, a diabetic was left alone, and did not take the best care of herself. After much discussion, it was decided that she would come and live with us. Those were probably the toughest years for my parents. The only time in my life that I ever heard them argue and my grandmother was the source of that. My grandmother hated to go anywhere but always complained if you left her...which we did because we weren't letting life pass us by, even if she was. One of the few places she would go with us was to Chinese food. Every Sunday, our family would go to Chinese food. The same restaurant and the same time. Older folks like to have routine. The more we went, the more and more the owners grew to love us. What they loved the most about us was the fact that we were taking care of my grandmother. Oh how they loved my grandmother. They doted on her like no other person did and she ate it up. After about a year, at the end of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: baked goods ·

Tuesdays With Dorie….

February 5, 2008 by Peabody · 49 Comments

I've joined another baking group. No, I have not left the Daring Bakers(all 500 and something of us...or maybe it is 600 now) but joined a group that is dedicated solely to baking Dorie Greenspan recipes. The first time I saw a post for Tuesdays With Dorie, I thought it was the cutest idea ever. We could spend years on Dorie recipes and never make a dent in all that she has to offer. If you read this blog you know that I am more than a Dorie fan, more like a Dorie worshiper. No other cookbook author seems to do what she does...offer near fool proof recipes in a language that the every day cook can understand. Having reviewed Baking From My Home to Yours, I know what an outstanding cookbook it is...I have recommend it to countless numbers of people and if you don't have it you truly should. Each week the group makes a recipe from Dorie...on Tuesdays. We are currently using the Baking From My Home to Yours but we have lots to choose from. This time around, April of Abby Sweets, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging Event, chocolate, dessert ·