I like to watch the Biggest Loser. I find it inspiring. Though maybe not that inspiring since I am usually eating ice cream while watching it. And while I do like the show, it has a lot of things I hate about it. The number one thing being all the product placement. Ugh. Between them and Top Chef I am not sure who is worse.
And the thing that the pimp the most is gum. I wont say which kind because I feel they get enough advertisement. But I will say this…in no way will a stick of tropical fruit gum stop my craving for a chocolate souffle. And anyone who truly believes that a stick of fruit gum will kill their craving for chocolate needs to visit the head doctor. I’m not sure there is a cure for a chocolate craving, except, well chocolate.
It’s like the people who love to say, “nothing tastes as good as thin feels”. Clearly these people just aren’t eating the right things. Because there is a TON of food that tastes better than being thin. Not all foods mind you. But there are definitely ones out there. My croissant bread pudding would be a great example of that.
The dreaded Valentine’s Day is coming up. I had been searching for a recipe for just two people. I get fed up sometimes with making a giant recipe when it is just the two of us. I found this gem in the back of the Cuisine for Two special publication. It was put out by my favorite magazine, Cuisine at Home. A lot of people asked me after I went on my rant about Bon Appetit which magazine did I like. Cuisine at Home is always my answer.
These deflated before I could even get them over to the table to photograph. Partially my fault as they had to sit around while I turned off the smoke alarm (it was set off by something else…a sauce for dinner that I forgot about…whoops!). So if that happens to you, I would invert it on to a plate and serve it as a souffle cake. No one will care. I served these with a caramel sauce and on the souffle cake I added some chocolate glaze as well.
You make one. Then eat it. Then an hour later, have a stick of gum. Let me know which one you like better.

Chocolate Souffles for Two with Kahlua and Cinnamon

unsalted butter and cinnamon sugar (for ramekins)

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate
2 TBSP milk
1 ½ tsp Vanilla Kahlua
½ tsp instant espresso powder
½ tsp cornstarch
2 tsp granulated sugar, divided
pinch of ground cinnamon
1 egg, separated
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt
pinch of cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 400F.
Coat two 6-inch souffle cups with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Chill cups on a baking sheet while preparing batter.
Melt chocolate chips with milk, Kahlua, espresso powder, cornstarch, ½ tsp granulated sugar, and cinnamon in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking until smooth.
Combine yolk and vanilla, then whisk into chocolate mixture. Cook 2 minutes, remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Using and electric mixer, beat the egg white with cream of tartar and salt on high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1 ½ tsp sugar; continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Using a whisk, blend whites into chocolate mixture until there are no streaks. Fill prepared cups with batter. Bake on the baking sheet until souffles puff, about 20 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a skewer int the center of the souffle. Souffle is done when skewer comes out clean or slightly moist.
To serve, cut a small slit in top of each souffle. Pour sauce of your choice into souffles. Garnish with whipped cream and chopped pecans.

Adapted from Cuisine for Two

Wow! Over 70 emails to me, letting me know that you too have either allergies or carpal tunnel (not including all the comments left on here). Just want to say thanks to all of you who took the time to write me and let me know what worked for you. I am writing this mass thank you, as writing back to each one of you would be next to impossible given my current limited computer time.
First off, I just thought I would let everyone know that I have had allergies all my life. These are not new to me. I just have not been to an allergist since I was a kid (I had full testing done then as well). So I have dealt and coped with these for quite sometime. Also, I have no reaction to my dog or other dogs which is why that was so surprising to me. I am allergic to cats and definitely have reaction to them. So I found it interesting that I am more allergic to dogs than cats, especially given no reaction to my dog or any dog I come in contact with.
I do clean the house often. I vacuum several times a week and I always do my cleaning with a mask on. The dog gets bathed regularly by either the groomer or the husband. I take daily allergy medication already (and I have tried them all Alavert, Claritin, Zyrtec, etc) and have tried many alternatives already, including holistic. I have dust mite covers on the bed and pillows. My home was mold inspected in November. I am aware of OAS, and do suffer from that as well.
Also, my allergist is not telling me that the shots are the only way to go, just the best way to go. They will help the most with the pollen, dust mite, pet dander, tree and grass allergies that I have going on. It will also help with the OAS since that is triggered by pollen. Many of my relatives and friends have had allergy shots and had great success on them (I am hoping that would be the case for me too). Of course, if I find out on Thursday that they aren’t covered by insurance, they wont be getting done either way.
As far as my carpal tunnel. I do wear a brace. I have one specifically for night time wear, which is giant and I look like a dork wearing it (but then again, what else is new ). I have one to wear while on the computer. I am staying off of the computer as much as I can (with in reason…I am slightly addicted). The doctor says I am not near a stage of needing surgery which is why I am trying to do all that I can to make sure that surgery does not happen.
As for everything else, I have my chin up and am carrying on through this crazy roller coaster called life. Though sometimes I must admit that I would like someone to give me a heads up so I don’t eat a bunch of cotton candy before I get on the roller coaster and want to throw up afterwards.
I made these cookies at Christmas time but never got them up. And by the time I could I figured that most people would be cookied out by then. But since less and less people are at my gym now a days, I figure the New Years resolutions are dying down and people might be back to wanting to eat cookies.
I lucked out in the fact that my friend A, the same one who gave me real Tahitian vanilla beans also brought me back some Pineapple jam from there as well. Though this was really more of a cross between and jam and a pulp. Really great pineapple flavor and it made these extra special. They are excellent with the raspberry jam as well. These are a tea cookie, so they are more crisp than soft.

Coconut Thumbprint Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup rice flour (you can use all-purpose if you don’t have)
¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

pineapple and raspberry jam

Place coconut into a food processor. Pulse a couple of times until the coconut becomes fine but still has some texture to it.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda and salt. Whisk in the coconut.
Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for another 30 seconds.
On low speed, add the flour/coconut mixture and mix until fully incorporated.
Form into a ball or disc and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Position rack in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and bake them for 14 minutes I only did 12). Remove from oven and make a dent in each cookie (you can use your thumb but I don’t like a burnt thumb so I used the back of a melon baller). Fill cookies with jam of your choice (I used pineapple and raspberry). Place the cookies back into the oven for 10 more minutes (I only did 7).If you like your cookies softer you can go less time. But these are more like a tea cookie and are meant to be crisp.
Remove cookies from oven and let cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Adapted from FoodandWine.com

I have always known I was allergic to things. Certain foods, grasses, trees, etc… And I just always dealt with them. But this last year that got really out of control and so I broke down and went to see an allergist. I had put it off for quite sometime because I have a deep fear of needles (a phobia actually) and to test you the poke you with a needle…a lot. And second I was afraid I would be allergic to wheat. I know a lot of people have that allergy and deal with it beautifully. I would not be good at dealing with that beautifully. So off I went. They were kind of rude, they kept telling me, “you think you have allergies” and I kept thinking to myself, “no, I have allergies, I don’t just get hives for shits and giggles”. But none the less I just smiled at them. My smile turned to smirk when my entire arms went aflame and before she was even done with the test she said, “oh, I guess you do have allergies”. Gee, I guess I do. But here comes the super crappy part. I’m allergic to my dog. Yes, CCS. Luckily, I am not allergic to rabbits. But my puppy. They told me of course that the best thing to do was to give her away to a friend or family member. Which I did, I gave her to my husband. I just laughed at the doctor when he told me that and he knew he would not be winning that battle. He then told me no more dogs after CCS. I laughed again, but this time in my head. Then he told me that since I am allergic to every tree, grass, pollen, pet dander (but hey…good news, I am not allergic to cockroaches…lucky me!) and molds, that the best course of action would be to get allergy shots. Shots? I avoided coming in in the first place was because of the needles and now you want to stick me three times a week for three months and once a month there after…for five years. Ugh. Though, in good news, I am not allergic to wheat.
That was followed with my right hand going numb all the time. I couldn’t do simple things like stir cake batter in a bowl. I couldn’t keep grasp of things. Yep. I have the dreaded carpal tunnel. Mostly because of how I sleep on my wrist at night. But aggravated from the computer. So you probably haven’t seen me around as much and if I do get to your site my messages have been short and sweet. This may be the case for awhile. I have also had to slow down on my baking as some of it just down right hurts. Grrrr.
That followed with me losing my main source of income. They simply aren’t making money and therefore can’t afford employees.
That followed with my husbands company laying off 5,000 employees within the next 18 months, with 1,400 being laid off last Thursday. The great thing is that we made it through that round. The scary thing is we still have 18 months to have that possibility.
Needless to say I have been a little less than perky as of late. So it was so extra special when Melinda (a faithful reader) of Melinda’s Kitchen Diary sent me a care package….a big one. It arrived on the day we found out whether my husband was going to have a job or not and for some reason when I opened up her packages it was like someone telling me everything was going to be alright…and it was. An hour after opening the packages, we found out my husband was still employed. What was in those packages was a complete surprise. See, when I made quince paste over on my other blog, she emailed and asked me if I would like any quince cheese (that is what they call it in the UK). I was really interested in trying it out and so I said yes, please. Well, I got my quince cheese along with many other items. There was a cookbook (Bake by Rachel Allan…she is a UK baker), tea towels (you can see those in the pictures), a little bag for my pup, and a cute little polka dot mug. Far more than what she should have done but a great treat as even though my husband did not lose his job we are buckling down and not spending money. So no more cookbooks for me for quite a while.
These shortbread (though the way I make them they are more like a butter cookie) are a take on the peppermint version I already made. This time I used the full cup of rice flour and really liked the texture. You could use any liqueur but I love Frangelico and it goes nicely with coffee or tea. They are quite addicting I must warn you. If you end up using the 9 by 13-inch pan you will need to bake them longer.
So there you have it. Not the best two weeks of my life. And also the reason why you wont see me as much around to your blogs and what not. And even when reading them I might not be able to comment depending on if my hand is numb or not.

Frangelico Shortbread Butter Cookies    

1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 TBSP Frangelico liqueur
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white rice flour
½  TBSP salt
2 TBSP coarse sugar for top
Parchment paper

In a standard mixer or with a hand-held beater, cream sugar, Frangelico and butter until light and fluffy.
Add flours and salt and combine until mixture just starts to come together. (The dough should be crumbly but stick together when squeezed.) Don¢â¬â„¢t panic as the dough will be very crumbly, when they start to bake they will form into a cookie.
Line a 12-by-16-inch pan with parchment (I used a 9 by 13-inch pan). Place dough into the pan and break up any large clumps, spreading evenly.
Press dough down gently and sprinkle coarse sugar on top.
With a rolling pin or drinking glass, roll out the dough evenly. (Use a little additional sugar if the dough sticks to the rolling pin.)
With a meat tenderizer or fork, press indentations into the top of the shortbread. (This prevents the shortbread from rising unevenly.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes(if you use a 9 by 13-inch pan you will need to bake yours around 30 minutes) or until shortbread is golden brown. I under baked mine because I like mine to be on the soft side.
Cut into squares while still warm and remove cookies from pan to cool.
Makes 24 2-by-2 inch cookies.
Source: Adapted from Sugar Bakery & Cafe right here in beautiful Seattle.

I’m was pretty sure that my 15 minutes of fame was up. I mean I was in a Jif peanut butter commercial when I was 3 ( great, I peaked early ) and last year a woman in the grocery store asked for my autograph (more on that in a bit). And now I am featured on the Pioneer Woman. If you go over there and scroll down, there I am on the left (or at least when I wrote this I was ). I was all giddy when a reader from over there came over here and told me that she found my site from PW. I was like, what??? Holy cow (or holy roping cows if we are talking PW). So very cool…oh, and try her Cajun meatloaf, it was a big hit.
So back to my other moment of fame if you will. The autograph. No doubt the first and last time that will be happening. I was in my favorite grocery store in the produce section. I could feel this woman staring at me. I smiled and moved on. I noticed that she kept staring at me. With my track record of great outfits and what not, I quickly brushed my purse (hiding my hand) past my zipper to make sure it was up. Yep, we were good to go on that front. She kept staring and I kept smiling and of course I am thinking now, either I know this person or they are clearly going to try and lure me in the back and stab me a couple of times. I walked over to the meat counter to see my reflection in the glass. I needed to make sure I didn’t have any What About Mary hair happening. Nope, that was good too.
I darted rather quickly over to the baking aisle and the woman followed. Yikes. She looks like she could out run me so if she was going to stab me clearly things would not be going in my favor.
All of a sudden I heard “are you Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody?” I said “yes, yes I am.” The woman gave out a shrill that even dogs could hear. The woman went on and on about how she loved my site (hopefully still does) and that her and her friends read it religiously. Then she goes digging through her purse to find a receipt for me to sign the back of. Hmmm. I assured her that my autograph and a nickel got her a nickel, but she still wanted it. So there in the baking aisle I signed my name on the back of a receipt. A little surreal and out there.
The store I was at carries all of my favorite specialty items. One of those items is Anna’s honey. The one I buy the most is the Creamed Cinnamon Honey. OMG, so good. A nice piece of hot bread, butter and this dripping honey really one of the better things in life. Having made those mascarpone pots a little while back and me eating everyone of them I knew I wanted to make a variation of those. Using the honey. These are a little different. A little more creamier…a little bit like cheesecake crème brulee (minus the blowtorch). I served them with a Frangelico shortbread stick (recipe on a later post). Much yum!

Cinnamon Honey Cheesecake Pots

1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces creamed cinnamon honey
4 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces mascarpone cheese
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
3 large eggs
Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325F.
In a bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the mascarpone, cream cheese and sugar until smooth using the paddle attachment.
Add the honey and beat until incorporated.
Add cream slowly into the cheese mixture until fully incorporated.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition ( I like to scrape down the bowl after each addition as well) until smooth.
Add vanilla and salt and beat to combine.
Put eight 4-ounce custard cups, ramekins, or small oven proof coffee cups in and empty 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Divide the cheesecake mixture among the cups.
Put the baking dish in the oven and then carefully pour boiling water into the pan. Adding just enough water to reach halfway up the sides of the custard cups. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake until the tops of the cheesecakes appear solid but jiggle slightly when shaken, 30-40 minutes. These will firm up as they cool to room temperature. Cover each pot with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. These can be made up to 2 days in advance.

Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O¢â¬â„¢Conner