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 cliché 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

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.

About a month ago, I went to a birthday party for Jessie (for both her and her blog) of Cakespy. If you don’t visit Cakespy, you should. Jessie makes the cutest illustrations of cupcakes that you ever did see. And speaking of cute, Jessie is about as adorable as a person can possibly be! Seriously. She also is the size of my leg. Apparently every time she eats a cupcake the calories get sent to my thighs, not hers.
It was of course held at a cupcake shop (Cupcake Royale). While we were there we were served 3 mini cupcakes. One of those cupcakes was a white cupcake with fresh strawberry buttercream frosting. Wow that was good.  So good I needed to take the larger version home. Since I only bought one it was gone before I knew it. And darn it, I wanted more! The drive down to Seattle seemed a bit much just to get a cupcake (though it was contemplated) so I decided to do the next best thing, make my own. My muffin pan was dirty, so I made a layer cake (gosh I am lazy, just wash the stupid pan Peabody).
I did not go for fancy with this cake. I wanted a real homemade feel to it, so I made my frosting on the thin side so it could drip down the sides. The frosting at the cupcake place was thicker. If you want thicker you can just add more powdered sugar.

Little Fuzzy Bunny was born in Snohomish, WA. Mostly consisting of farmland but with new construction moving in, LFB can be considered a small town rabbit. With small town values.
At only 5 months old, LFB provides youth to the ticket. Even at this young age, she has already faced adversity, currently dealing with the possible loss of her eye. Last week as many of you know LFB was told she had a 50/50 chance of losing her eye and would most likely be blind in the eye if it could be saved. This past Monday at her check up we are please to announce that she now has a greater chance of keeping the eye than losing it. She also has regained some eyesight in it which they are very excited about. She is not out of the woods just yet, so your thoughts and prayers would still be appreciated.
Since LFB is on the mend be sure to look for the Fluff ticket to be covering the issues in the coming blog posts.

P.S. Our campaign manager (my dad) says we might be up to $5 in contributions…go us.

(We are CCS and LFB, and we support this blog post)

Classic White Cake with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

White Cake
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
6 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (6 oz), softened

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease two 9 inch cake pans with vegetable shortening, line the bottom with parchment paper, grease the parchment paper and flour the pans.
Combine milk, eggs whites and extract in a small bowl with a fork. Set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in an electric mixer and mix at slow speed with a paddle attachment. Add butter. Continue beating at slow speed until mixture looks like wet sand (If you’re doing this by hand, sift the dry ingredients together and rub in butter).
Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and beat for an additional 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Do not overmix.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and gently shake to smooth batter. Bake 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes then invert onto racks to cool completely before frosting. Unfrosted cakes can be frozen for 1-2 weeks.
Serves 12-16.

Adapted from Baking Bites.com

Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups (may need more or less) powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter and 1 cup powdered sugar on medium speed for 1 minute.
Add vanilla and strawberries and beat for 1 minute.
Adding 1 cup at a time, add the remaining powdered sugar. You may find that you need less than 4 cups or more than 4 cups depending on the consistancy of the frosting you are going for. I wanted mine to drip down the sides so I went with less sugar.

I don’t quite understand the people of the states obsession with dominating the Olympics.
I can not count the number of people who have come up to me and said, “ha, ha, the US is kicking Canada’s butt.” Really, the US is kicking Canada’s butt at Summer Olympics? Most people kick Canada’s butt in the Summer Olympics…in case you didn’t know, it’s mostly Winter up their anyway. And I am not sure Winnipeg even gets a true Summer.
I mean our fricking synchronized swimmers Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon and Isabelle Rampling wore SNOWFLAKES on their swimsuits…for the Summer Olympics. Our athletes are just out there, representing their country(doing the best they can do)for the event(Olympics) that is suppose to promote a sense of world togetherness, not world domination.
This “American” attitude sometimes carries over in many aspects of daily life. Canadians(well most) only care about dominating in hockey(as it should be :P). My blog for example. I am often amused by people who ask me if I get mad if someone likes another blog more than mine. Or if I get mad because another blogger got a cookbook deal and I don’t  have one. Um, no.
There are far superior(in my opinion) blogs to mine. Far better photography, more beautiful food styling, more gorgeous food. Good for them. They work hard for what they do and that should be celebrated. It makes me have something to strive for. There is always someone prettier than you, richer than you, thinner than you. The same applies to a food blog.
And as for my food blogging friends with cookbook deals I am beyond excited for them. It’s something that they obviously wanted to do. They went for it and they got it. I on the other hand, haven’t even bothered to write a proposal so why I get upset over someone getting a book deal? It’s like being mad at the lottery winner each week…but don’t bother to buy a ticket(which I should probably start doing).
In striving to do my best and representing my blog, I am usually trying to think of new things to try. I love key lime pie as most people know so I thought, there is lemon pie and lime pie but I rarely see me an orange pie. So I set out to make one. It is basically a tweaked key lime pie recipe so it produces the same texture.
I liked this pie, the crust was a good choice, even if I had to make my own cookies for it. I will however next time try to go with tangerine for just a little more tartness. I think it was the tartness I was missing.

Orange Pie

½  cup fresh squeeze orange juice
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
¼  cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 to 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest, divided
5 egg yolks
whipped cream, for garnish
1 Citrus Cookie pie shell(recipe follows)

Whisk sweetened condensed milk with the egg yolks. Whisk in Mascarpone cheese. Stir in whipping cream, orange juice and lemon juice. Stir in 1 to 1 ½  teaspoons orange zest. Pour into a prepared crust and bake at 325° for 15 to 20 minutes.

Citrus Cookie Pie Shell

1 1/3 cup citrus cookie crumbs(run through food processor)
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup plus 2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted

Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Press mixture into bottom and sides of a lightly greased 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes. Cool.