Tea Party!

Being a stay at home Mom is more fun than I ever imagined. Earlier in the week I planned an elaborate Tea Party. A full on finger sandwiches and sugar cubes fancy kind of tea party.

It. Was. Awesome.



The little girl in me loved the idea of getting dressed up, wearing gaudy baubles, heels and princess crowns and eating petite sandwiches with the crusts cut off. My little princess had lots of fun. "Hey Mum, can we have a real tea party everyday?"



We had cucumber and cheddar and egg salad sandwiches, a dark chocolate/white chocolate marble loaf, and some apple and chamomile tea.



It was so much fun! :o)

River Cottage Bread Handbook: Brioche

I've wanted to try my hand at Brioche since I started this love affair with bread baking, but it seems that every recipe I read spoke of the difficulty of making Brioche by hand and recommended a stand mixer. Well, up until recently this was a bit of a challenge for me. I patiently waited for the Holidays to wind down so I could get on with trying to make Brioche on my own.

Over the weekend I whipped out many of my trusty cookbooks, I didn't realize how many variations of Brioche I had at my fingertips. I've decided to start with the River Cottage Bread Handbook's recipe. I love this little handbook to bits and I knew could trust it to turn out a great loaf of Brioche. Perhaps I'll start a little experimentation and see how each of the recipes that I have differs in taste and preparations... we'll see! This Brioche came out amazing! I'm dying to try the other recipes and see how they compare. The only thing that happened was there were some large bubbles that baked up on the top of my loaf, but no matter, it still tasted delicious!

As for now though, on to Daniel Stevens recipe.

This was simple, simple, simple. You measure everything out, throw it into the bowl of the mixer and let it knead away until it's breathtakingly gorgeous.

Then you shape it into a round and pop it in the fridge over night.

The next day, shape the dough in to whatever shape(s) you like and allow it to rise until doubled, the dough is cold so this could take quite a while - between 3-4 hours.

Read a book, draw, watch a movie, play while you wait... tick tock... :o)

Glaze the dough, pop it into a hot oven and bake...

When it's done let it cool and then eat the whole loaf... trust me, you'll want to it's so darn good.

The French know a little something about bread, I think.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Happy Anniversary! Cocoa-Buttermilk Birthday Cake

In honor of Tuesdays with Dorie's second anniversary the group was given the option of baking either Dorie's Tarte Tatin or Cocoa-Buttermilk Birthday Cake. I chose to make the latter for various reasons. As much as I love Tarte Tatin, I simply cannot pass up the opportunity to bake a chocolate cake!



As soon as I saw the recipes posted for January I jumped at the chance to bake this cake for New Year's Eve dinner at my Mum and Dad's. It was a lovely night and this cake made it all the better!



The cake is really stupendous! It's moist and it's not a fluffy cake per se, it kind of reminds me more of a denser, devils food style cake. But, it is moist and lovely. The frosting is everything a chocolate frosting should be in my opinion, sweet, chocolaty and with a very creamy texture. Over the top awesome! That malted milk really does something special to the frosting, it's to die for!

*Snow*

Snowball Fight!



What a beautiful weekend. We got lots of snow and ate lots of delicious food. It was perfect! :o)

Nothing like a bowl of hot chili after playing out in the snow.

A New Year & A Look Back At 2009

Happy New Year! Not only is it a new year but we are heading in to a new decade and a new decade for me as far as age goes. I'll be the big 3-0 this year and although I can't say I am overly excited to be leaving my 20's, I have a feeling this is going to be a good year... at least I'm optimistic that it will be a good year.

I'd like to take a look back at the blog throughout 2009 and pick some of my favorite things...

January

January was a huge month for me. It was the the month in which I discovered the joys of homemade bread for myself. My mother had baked bread when I was a child but I have long been afraid of baking yeasted breads and this was the month I felt the fear and dove right in. I'm so grateful to have started with the River Cottage Family Cookbook's Raisin Bread recipe, it was heavenly!

February

Valentine's Day! I will always be excited for Valentine's Day, I just love it!

March

March! My blog turned One on March 7! It was exciting to think about how I had grown and learned in the first year and how much I had begun to really love blogging.

April



I started a new adventure to chronicle on my blog: cake decorating.

May

May is a special month for me, it's the month in which I got married so I always get a little giddy when May rolls around. It's also Mother's Day, which is really exciting too! I think what I enjoyed most though was our trip to Maine for our anniversary and the mouthwatering lunch we had at Duck Fat in Portland.

June

My birthday was my favorite thing this month. We went to Plimoth Plantation. We couldn't have wished for a more beautiful day weather wise and it was really a lot of fun!

July

Super exciting month! I joined Tuesdays with Dorie as well as the Daring Bakers and participated in my first challenges.

August

August was fun. I finally did a post on my favorite cinnamon rolls and I made these rockin' cupcakes for a family party! All in all a great month!

September

September marked my first year going to the local Greek Festival and I hope to go for as long as we live in Massachusetts. The food was phenomenal and it was so much fun. I also participated in this month's Daring Bakers, which took my cooking to a whole other level when I successfully made puff pastry from scratch. Amazing feeling to watch it puff up in the oven. It tasted delicious and I was so proud of myself! I also made a ton of other delicious things in September: Alfajores, Irish Soda Bread, Spinach Bagels and Bakewell Tart were some of my tops favs of the year!

October

October was a bit of a tough month as my computer was infected with a virus for most of the month. But I did make homemade danish pastry this month and it was a smashing success!

November

My Little Princess Turned 4!

December

Well, what can I say about December?

Pan Fried Onion Dip

This is one of those dips that will have people begging for the recipe. I've become a seasoned pro when it comes to making this dip. I could probably whip it up with my eyes closed I've made it so many times. It is irresistable, you'll be coming back with chip after chip, moaning and groaning, "Mmm mmmmmm."

In the beginning there were a bunch of raw onions...

I love onions. Onion soup, onion bread, onions in my salad and on my pizza... oh onions! I've perfected the art of caramelized onions. After years of fiddling with herbs and other little touches I've managed to create perfect caramelized onions every time. A girl's got to have a few secrets though and my onions will remain as such. ;o)

Almost there...

We're doing a big New Year's Eve dinner at my Mum and Dad's vacation house this year and this is one of the goodies I'll be arriving with.

The gorgeousness that is caramelized onions!

I loosely use Ina Garten's recipe for Pan Fried Onion Dip. But over the years I have tweaked it a bit and added a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I think it's best to make it a day or two in advance so the flavors can hang out and become friendly. It's also easier to test the flavor after it's been sitting in the fridge to see if you need more salt or pepper. Make it! You'll thank me, I promise!

The dip just prior to mixing.

Jane Austen & River Cottage Pizza

"It is not what we say or feel that makes us what we are. It is what we do, or fail to do." ~Marianne, Sense and Sensibility

Tonight my husband had a work commitment and so it was a girls night for Lily and I. Mr. H was so good to me this year. He kindly left the Sense and Sensibility Collector's Edition, which includes Andrew Davies adaptation of Sense and Sensibility as well as the BBC/PBS latest production of Persuasion and Miss Austen Regrets, in my stocking. Everyone has their favorite Austen, mine is Persuasion with Sense and Sensibility coming in a close second. I just adore classics. I will never tire of watching endless hours of adaptations of such wonderful novels! I always enjoy seeing how different individuals interpret the classic novels.

We spent hours watching Sense and Sensibility today. We stopped only for a brief intermission to make some yummy River Cottage Pizza.



The River Cottage Bread Handbook has a great recipe for pizza dough. It's super easy and creates a beautiful dough that always bakes up tender and light on the inside and crisp on the outside. Tonight I made a bit of a thicker pizza with a hearty topping of meatballs, onions and mozzarella. It was delicious and it made a great "picnic" on the living room floor while we watched Sense and Sensibility... with our tissues close by, of course! Oh, doesn't your heart just melt when Edward arrives at Barton Cottage at the end? *Sigh*

River Cottage Pizza Dough
makes 6-8 small pizzas
(I usually make one large pizza w/this recipe)

250g white bread flour
250g ap flour
5g instant yeast
10g salt
325ml warm water
1 Tb olive oil

Mix up the ingredients in the usual way and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a round and allow it to rise, covered, until doubled in size.
You'll want your oven to be screaming hot. I bake my pizza @ 500F (make sure your oven is clean or you'll wind up with a smokey mess). Shape the pizzas, add your toppings (use a light hand with the toppings if you choose to roll your crust very thinly) and bake them on a preheated pizza stone or sturdy baking tray for 10 minutes or so - your baking time will depend on how thinly your crust has been rolled out. When they are golden and look ready take them out and pop them onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool slightly. Then enjoy the fruits of your labor ~ the most yummy thing ever is homemade pizza!

Ina's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

My beautiful sister and her children came for a visit today. About a month ago my sister gave me a signed copy of Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa: Parties! I'm completely in love with Ina's cooking and recipes so this was one awesome gift! Since she was coming for a visit today I thought I'd get up extra early and whip up a Sour Cream Coffee Cake. ;o)



The recipe was simple and straight forward. It only took about 10 minutes to put together and it smelled wonderful while it was baking. Any chance to use my mixer is all right with me.



The cake itself is utterly incredible. The crumb is moist and tender, there's just enough sweetness with the streusel and the glaze puts the whole thing over the top. Ina Garten is THE best!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Low and Luscious Chocolate Cheesecake

This week's recipe was chosen by the Tea Lady of Tea and Scones. She chose the Low and Luscious Chocolate Cheesecake and the recipe can be found on her blog.



This was an awesome recipe. Not something I am sure I would have made if I wasn't forced to. I'm not the biggest cheesecake person... when I was a child there was an instance where I ate a bit too much cheesecake and for probably at least a decade even the sight of it would turn my stomach. I'm growing to like it again, little by little. But, if it's on a dessert table and there are other options that I like more, I'll definitely pass it over. This recipe ended up being a pleasant and delicious surprise.

I decided to make this recipe for one of the desserts we served with Christmas dinner and I so pleased with how great it turned out and how easy it was. It definitely lives up to it's name, it bakes up low and it utterly luscious!

Buon Natale! The Newest Edition To My Cookbook Library

I only asked for one cookbook this year... as crazy as that may be. But I've recently gotten quite a few new ones and I haven't even had the opportunity to cook from them yet so I didn't want to feel too overwhelmed. I've wanted Dolce Italiano since it made it's appearance on the shelves. Being part Italian I have great affection for Italian food and culture, especially Italian pastry. My mouth waters just thinking about some of the recipes in this book... sorbetto di limone, baci di cioccolato, pane di pasqua, panforte, biscotti, panna cotta, gelato... I could go on and on. I've thumbed through it numerous times already and it's a no nonsense, extremely informative cook book. Gina De Palma has done an amazing job capturing not only some wonderful Italian recipes but also the giving you a glimpse at different essential Italian ingredients and kitchen equipment.

There will definitely be some yummy Italian offerings in the not to distant future... stay tuned!

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas Everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying this special time with their family and friends. May the New Year bring joy, health and happiness to all. Hope that Mr. Claus was good to you! *wink wink*

It's Here, It's Here, It's Here!

Today UPS came a knockin'... and this is what arrived...



I'm not officially allowed to open it until Winter Solstice, but I can look at it ~ and boy oh boy am I excited! If you had asked me ten years ago if I could possibly get this excited about a kitchen appliance I'm sure I would have laughed at you... but here I am, all grown up and positively giddy about a mixer.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Sables

I make no secret of my love affair with all things shortbread and sables may very well be my favorite version of shortbread. I had a hugely successful go at Sables last year, which I brought to my cousin's for Christmas Eve. I was really excited when December's Tuesdays with Dorie recipes were posted and Sables was on the list.



This week's recipe was chosen by Barbara from Bungalow Barbara and you can find the recipe on her blog. A great big thanks to Barbara for choosing this delicious recipe! :o)

The recipe was beyond easy. It took only minutes to make the dough and then I just popped it in the fridge overnight and by morning the cookies were ready to be coated in sugar and baked. So simple. I'm particularly keen on the idea of coating the cookies in different colored sugars, I just didn't have any on hand so I used regular old turbinado sugar and they came out swell. Truly yummy! It took some serious restraint not to eat the whole lot of them.

Our Beautiful Christmas Tree

This was our first year cutting down a tree and it was so much fun. We had a fake tree in years prior and I will never, ever have a fake tree again.



I think we did a bang up job picking the most beautiful tree at Bog Hollow. We decided to go to Bog Hollow in Kingston for our tree and everyone was incredibly nice. Plus it was beautiful to drive over the cranberry bogs, which look especially festive. There were handcrafted decorations, Santa and Mrs. Claus, beautiful little donkeys, hot chocolate and coffee. It was so much fun. We were able to walk through the gorgeous woods and admire the beautiful trees and the views of the bogs. We not only picked up a lovely tree but some freshly harvested cranberries that have been put in the deep freeze for Christmas dinner.

Our tree smells wonderful, looks absolutely gorgeous and it's awesome having a piece of nature inside our home. I could sit and stare at the tree all day. I just love Christmas!



Lily was so proud to help decorate the tree, when we finished she sweetly asked if I would take her picture with the tree. She is so excited for Christmas this year and she is really enjoying the magic of the season. It's just wonderful!

Lack of Enthusiasm? Yes.

When my computer took a vacation during the month of October so did I. For a few days it was strange to be without my laptop but then I kind of enjoyed it... it was like being on vacation from the world of technology and I have to admit it was wonderful. Sure sure, I missed my blog and the blogging world and I missed reading the Times and the Huffington Post (my guilty pleasures). But, really, I didn't miss it enough. It's been slow getting back online. Arts and crafts and books took over all of my spare time and it was quite nice, really.



I find my enthusiasm for the computer has waned significantly and my blog has been suffering. Perhaps the Holidays will get me back on track... or perhaps I'll read that fat stack of books that's been calling my name. We'll have to wait and see what December has in store for the Mrs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you to all who read my blog and I wish you all a blessed and joy filled day of eating and time spent with precious family!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Tuesdays with Dorie: All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake

As I mentioned in my last Tuesdays with Dorie, the rules this month are lax and I chose to do the All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake so I could bring it to Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house. I baked it really late on Tuesday night because I didn't want it sitting around for days before Thanksgiving. That's why my post is a bit late.

Anyway, it is Britin of Nitty Britty that chose this recipe and you can find it on her blog.

I can't attest to it's taste quite yet as I haven't cut into it, but boy it is beautiful. The combination of pumpkin, apples, cinnamon, nutmeg and cranberries makes for one wonderful smelling cake... as it was baking I kept thinking about how I just cannot wait to dig in to it. I opted for a glaze as opposed to a sprinkling of icing sugar.



I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out.

*Update* Delish! This cake is AWESOME! It's moist and full of Autumn flavors! I LOVED IT!

Help!

Hello Fellow Food Bloggers. I really need your help!

My husband and I are looking to purchase a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer for Christmas. Lets start by saying that I have wanted a mixer for years and I'm so excited I could burst. We went to William's Sonoma to have a peak at them and when I came home I started searching the net for reviews and experiences - and there are a lot of bad reviews out there and truth be told, I'm a bit terrified.

The Kitchen Aid is expensive and is a long term investment so we are seriously considering purchasing the Pro 600 series, but there are some horrible reviews out there. I am not sure, but I believe that Kitchen Aid has/had been using plastic parts in the machine and they have/had been breaking rather easily. I'm inclined to believe that they are no longer using plastic parts but I can't be completely sure of this. I anticipate using my mixer a lot. I bake almost all of our bread myself and have been hand kneading and would like to forgo that completely and use the mixer 100% of the time for that task as well as for normal baking/cooking tasks.

I would appreciate any and all information/experiences people have had with Kitchen Aid mixers; including the Artisan, Pro500 and Pro600 series. This is a big deal for us and we've really been looking forward to purchasing a mixer for a long time and I would be heartbroken to spend close to $500 and end up with something that doesn't work properly or is just a piece of junk.

Kindly share your thoughts and experiences with me, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you in advance for all your help!

Linzer Sables

Felt like something yummy but not too difficult to make and something new... these cookies did the trick! I recently purchased a linzer cookie cutter set and I've been dying to use it, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. These Linzer Sables are a shortbread type cookie made with ground nuts and spices and can be sandwched with jam or chocolate. I chose the latter. Dorie has done an amazing job again.



My husband is away and Lily and I were in need of some serious treats for our girly time today while having our Elizabeth Gaskell Wives and Daughters marathon. :o) These made a delicious little treat with some tea.

The Tuesdays with Dorie group made these about a year ago and the recipe can be found here. These would be a perfect treat for a holiday cookie tray and because they are so easy I would highly recommend them. You can grind your own nuts (I use a coffee grinder and grind them in batches - you get a nice fine grind) or purchase ready ground almonds. I used a combination of walnuts and almonds, which made a yummy combination along with some delicious milk chocolate.

Dear Santa...

I certainly wouldn't mind if Santa put this under my tree!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

I was pretty excited to get a Tuesdays with Dorie post up. I missed all of last month because of the virus on my laptop. I still have several posts to write and photographs to edit from last month's cookery adventures and there are some photos for TWD posts from October... so perhaps those will go up soon as well.

This month's Tuesday with Dorie rules are a bit lax. We are able to bake which ever of the recipes we want on which ever Tuesday we want. I've chosen Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies, which Pamela of Cookies with Boys chose for my post this week.



I was super excited about these cookies. My Dad adores molasses cookies. I can remember him getting excited for the holiday time because my Gram would make him molasses cookies. When I read that this recipe was in the rotation for November I couldn't wait to try it so that if it came out well I could bake up a batch for my Pop.

These cookies are really delicious and super easy to make. The combination of spices and molasses makes a rockin' good cookie and they have a crispy exterior and a chewy middle. I sandwiched some coffee icecream between two and it was quite a treat! They are definitely going to become part of my favorite cookie list!

I'm back!

My computer is finally back up and running and I couldn't be happier. I have had a rotten virus on here for almost a full month. We removed it and it came back, I have the sneaking suspicion that it never really left... but, never-the-less, things seem to be better. I am so relieved. *PHEW!*

I have uploaded hundreds of photos from the past month of being without a computer. So, I would imagine that there will certainly a few posts to follow this as I've still been cooking while on hiatus from the Internet. I was able to post a few on my daughter's birthday cakes, which was exciting! :o)

My first post in a while should be one about the thing I love making the most... bread. Tonight is soup night. With the weather getting cooler and the sun setting earlier and earlier - it's soup season. It's Autumn and Winter food time and gosh is that my favorite. Although I love summer produce and fruits I really love the heartiness of winter foods, rich roasts with all kinds of delicious root veg, hearty breads, soups and stews, puddings and pies and crumbles. *Sigh* I couldn't be happier. I've been on a huge tomato soup kick. I think we've had a continuous supply of tomato soup for about three or four weeks now - although last week we were without it in preparations for Lily's family birthday party. Not gonna lie, I've missed the tomato soup so today I made a big batch and for dinner we're having tomato soup and homemade foccaccia.

I've used the River Cottage Handbook: Bread for the Focaccia recipe but I changed it up a bit. I added some caramelized onions and Herbs de Provence as well as some Varelli feta. Yum and Yum! I know I've said it in the past, but The River Cottage Handbooks are amazing and this recipe for Focaccia is delish. It is such a beautiful dough, much like the English Muffin dough it is soft and luxurious. It was a joy to knead and definitely a joy to eat.



Unfortuntely with this time of year photography becomes more and more difficult with the sun setting so early and my natural light sources diminishing. This photo was taken in my kitchen by the overhead light... boo hoo! Such is life.

Focaccia
River Cottage Handbook: Bread

500g unbleached bread flour
5g instant yeast
10g salt
325ml warm water
1 TB olive oil

Extra Olive Oil & Topping (rosemary, salt or other toppings of your choice)

Mix all the ingredients until they come together to form a soft dough. Knead dough until smooth and silky. Shape into a round, coat with oil, cover and allow to rise in a warm place until double in size. Tip the dough out into an 11x17" baking pan, which has been coated with oil. Press the dough with your fingers right into the corners. Leave the dough to rise, covered about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 475F. When the dough has risen poke it all over with your fingers to make deep holes. Drizzle with oil, but not too much and sprinkle with salt and herbs. I used cooked onions, salt and feta. Bake for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 400F and cook a further 10 minutes until golden and lovely. This is excellent served warm or at room temp.