When I started this blog three and a half years ago there weren’t a lot of food blogs around, unlike now! I had two options for a template…one with coffee (which I felt was too clichƒ© for a Seattle area blogger) and a watermelon. As you all know, I went with the watermelon.
Now, I like watermelon, especially on a hot Summer day with a little salt sprinkled on it, but really, the watermelon was starting to get to me.
Right around the time of my 3 year blog anniversary I started thinking I needed a change. Since I am computer illiterate and my husband, though a computer software guy is not a web designer, I decided that maybe I should hire someone. One of my regular reads in the food blogging world, Cannelle et Vanille had recently gotten a “face lift” on her blog and I was admiring it greatly. It wasn’t what I wanted for me, but I felt it really captured the feel of her blog. Aran makes such beautiful and sophisticated baked goods and pastry and her new blog design reflected that. I emailed her and asked her about price (gulp) and about her experience with her designer, Kaytlyn of Beneficial Design. She had nothing but great things to say about Kaytlyn, and of course now I know why. As luck would have it, Beneficial Design is right here in the Seattle area (well, Bellevue to be exact). I took that as a sign and contacted her. I was raring to go but got slightly deflated as Katlyn was already working on projects (how dare she ) and though it was July I would be waiting until September to actually get started. Turned out, that was good. For I had several months to really focus on what did I want my blog to look like. Which blogs do I already read that I like their design and so on.
So when push come to shove I really knew what I wanted, I had some idea in July, but by September I pretty much had my concept. What was my concept you ask..quirky and simple. Let’s face it, I don’t make sophisticated foods (I leave that for Helen and Aran). I make stuff that hopefully anyone can make. My first cooking show I ever watched was Martin Yan on PBS. He ended each show with, “Yan can cook, so can you” and I often feel like saying, “Peabody can bake, so can you!” to all of my readers.
At first I think Kaytlyn thought I was going for more of a upscale style, but one in person meeting took care of that. And with that, things took off. Yes, the color is the same, I like the green. Yes, I kept a nod to the old blog design by having a little watermelon in the banner ( I just had to) as well as in the links button. Hopefully you like the new stuff that was added (p.s. the comments are on the top of the post now) and more importantly I hope you feel that it represents me.
So thanks to Kaytlyn for getting the essence of who I am and translating that into my blog. It was a pleasure to work with you and I would say thanks for putting up with me, but really, I’m not that much of a pain. Lol

So of course the next thing I had to figure out was what to make. I originally had this grandiose idea, but I am still recovering from pneumonia and that didn’t sound all that fun anymore (I will make later I am sure).
Should I make a Dorie? Nah, I do that almost weekly. What about Yard? Ah yes, Sherry is my other go to gal in the baking world. Though ironically, no baking here. I was drawn to this recipe because I still can’t have dairy (fills up in my lungs) and so I am craving it. Also, I have been drinking this local Honeycrisp Apple Cider like a mad woman and saw an opportunity to use it. You can use just about any type of apple (though I would stay away from Granny Smith). There are several steps but none of them are hard, just a little time consuming. If you are not familiar with semifreddo, its similar (at least to me) to a frozen mousse. Though it doesn’t stay frozen long, as you can see from my photos…and it was 62F in the house. Imagine that on a hot day.
I was a bad girl and had a little piece, and yes, I paid the price. Oh well, it was worth it. Make it even better by throwing some caramel sauce on it.
I also included the Caramel Bavarian version which is basically the same recipe with gelatin added. So two recipes for the price of one…sounds good to me.

Caramel Apple Semifreddo

1 cup heavy cream
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 TBSP granulated sugar
2 TBSP water
½ cup Apple Caramel Glaze

1 large Honeycrisp apple, peeled and diced
1 tsp butter
3 TBSP granulated sugar

Using a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer, whip the cream and vanilla extract on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until it reaches the medium-peak stage. Set aside in the refrigerator., Clean and dry the beaters.
In a small saute pan, melt the butter and add the apple pieces. Let cook for about 3 minutes, until they start to get soft. Add the sugar and let them caramelize. Set aside to cool.
In a separate bowl , whip the eggs on medium speed for 5 minutes, until thick and pale yellow in color.
Meanwhile, bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the  heat . This is the simple syrup.
As soon as the eggs reach the ribbon stage, drizzle in the simple syrup very slowly, still whipping at medium speed. This will prevent the eggs from scrambling. Take about 2 minutes to add all the syrup. Continue whipping for 5 minutes, or until the eggs have triple in volume and are cool to the touch.
Transfer the whipped eggs to a large bowl. Add the glaze and using a rubber spatula, fold the egg foam and the glaze together. Next, fold in the reserved whipped cream. Lastly fold in the apples and any caramel that formed. This is the semifreddo base. Pour the base into a freezer container (I just used mini loaf pans), cups, or glasses and freeze until firm, about 3 hours before serving.

Master Caramel

¼ cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
2 TBSP light corn syrup

Combine the water, sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Whisk them together, making sure no lumps of dry sugar remain.
Cover the sauce pan and place it over medium heat for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat to high, and bring to boil Do not stir from this point on. Keep an eye on the pan. It will be very bubbly. When stray sugar crystals appear on the side of the pan, crush them down with a clean, wet pastry brush.
As the sugar cooks, the bubbles will get larger. Insert a candy thermometer, and when the temperature reaches 300F, lower the heat to medium, which will slow the cooking. Continue to cook the sugar until it reaches 325F; this will happen quickly. It will be golden brown. At 325F, remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for 1 minutes, or until the bubbles subside.

Apple Caramel Glaze

1 recipe Master Caramel, prepared through heated to 350F
½ cup apple cider
¼ cup water
2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP sliced fresh ginger
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
1 star anise pod

Bring the cider, water, sugar and spices to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Immediately remove the syrup form the heat and carefully add it to the caramel. Stir with a whisk to incorporate completely.
Cover the pan and let it cool at room temperature for 20 minutes, then remove the spice with a slotted spoon or strainer. The glaze can be used immediately or refrigerated for later use.

Caramel Bavarian Cream:

The semifreddo recipe can also be used to cream a caramel Bavarian cream by adding 1 envelope powdered gelatin. Dissolve the gelatin by sprinkling it over ¼ cup cold water and letting it sir t for 5 minutes. Stir in the gelatin into the syrup, add the mixture to the eggs in step 4, and continue with the recipe. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour, before serving.

Adpated from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard

you probably came here for TWD. I suck. But this weeks pick was pumpkin muffins and I have two versions. One pecan and white chocolate chip and a chocolate covered raisin version as well. I promise there is a reason for being a slacker.

Sometimes we become a creature of habit, especially in the world of food. So often I order the same thing, I am most guilty of this when it comes to Chinese food. For even when I try to mix it up, I often find myself longingly looking over at someone who ordered one of my regulars. Then end up ordering it and taking it home for lunch the next day. When will I learn.
My husband often puts me into baking ruts. Chocolate chip cookies and red velvet cake…with cream cheese frosting. So when going through Baked I noticed that they have a version of red velvet cake that was called Red Hot. At first I was afraid they did the whole chocolate and chili thing which I am not a fan of that movement at all (Bobby Flay can keep that one) but it was just basic red velvet cake, but with a cinnamon frosting. Hmm, cinnamon frosting, I felt the need to give that a try (not to worry I made my husband plain old cream cheese frosting).
I must admit I am not sure if I was up for the change. I like the cinnamon flavor with the cake a lot but missed the tang of the cream cheese. I think next time I will make a hybrid of sorts using a cream cheese frosting with cinnamon. If you want to make the little Red Hot (where it got it’s name from) decoration you just simply melt some chocolate, pipe it through a bag, place a Red Hot on top, and stick in the fridge to set up.
I used a different red velvet cake (recipe here) but I included the frosting recipe if you want to break away from the normal standard.

Cinnamon Frosting

1 ½ cups granulated sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole milk
¼ cup heavy cream
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 20 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until cool. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter; beat until thoroughly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and cinnamon and continue mixing until combined. If the frosting is too soft, transfer the bowl to the refrigerator to chill slight, then beat again until tit is the propers consistency. If the frosting is too fir,, place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat with a wooden spoon until it is proper consistency.

Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

In these times of economic down turn you can see that the Fluff Ticket has chosen to temporarily suspend their campaign. (That and we ran out of money). But CCS and LFB have a very important message for you…Remember those less fortunate than you.
Of course everyone we know is struggling with the cost of food along with many other things (as you can see pictured above CCS is quite depressed about it). And in times of economics strife one of the biggest sufferers are Food Banks and Animal Shelters. There have been many food drives around here as of late, they simply are not getting the donations used to, and we all know why. The same goes for the Animal Shelters.
The Fluff Ticket begs you to think about others and please contact your local Food Bank and Animal Shelter and see what they need. And then donate. Even if you only have $2 to give, that is $2 more than what they had. Every little bit truly does help!!!
In good news, LFB is recovering nicely. She now has a 90% chance of keeping her eye (though we will love her just the same if she has to lose it). I can tell you though she is a little tired of being poked in the eye several times a day with medicine. We wont for sure know until about December, but we are hopeful.
The Fluff Ticket would like to thank everyone for the growing support they are receiving. Why just look at the variety of animals who are on board with the Fluff Ticket (with special mention of Emma (corgi), who belongs to Cassie a fellow food blogger). Corgis, bears, chickens…oh my! With this kind of momentum we can’t help but feel optimistic for a win in 2012!
In crappy financial times like these I like to stress eat. One of my all times comfort foods is one that I will admit I am embarrassed to like. I like it so much that I only allow my mother to make it for me as I seriously eat the whole pan. And what is worse, I have to have Cool Whip, not whipped cream on it. So. Very. Wrong.
This is about the easiest recipe every created. You literally dump everything in, hence the name. There are a ton of varieties of this cake but this is my favorite flavor combo. It’s a good potluck cake or family meal as it feeds many…or just an afternoon snack if you are me.

Oh and in case you are wondering, no I did not make the dump cake. It’s a picture from when I was at my parents house in July. I really mean it when I say I can’t stop eating it and therefore wont make it.

Dump Cake (My mom’s version)

1 (20 ounces) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 (21 ounces) can prepared cherry pie filling
1 (18.25 ounces) box yellow cake mix
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
½  cup chopped pecans
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 for glass baking dish).
Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking pan.
Dump undrained pineapple baking dish or pan and spread it out evenly.
Using a spoon, dump globs of cherry pie filling evenly on top of the pineapple.
Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the cherry and pineapple layers.
Pour butter evenly over cake mix.
Sprinkle nuts and coconut if using them.
Bake for one hour.
Remove from oven and let cool for 20  minutes.
You can serve either warm or cold. I like it room temperature with Cool Whip (yes, I know that is wrong ).

Yield: about 10 to 12 servings (or two if I am eating it)

We’re CCS and LFB and we approve this message.