I've read all the way through Desserts by the Yard. I enjoyed it quite a bit, which isn't surprising, since I loved The Secrets of Baking. I've even managed to bake something from it already--more on that later. I'm in the middle of reading Don't Try This at Home--it makes for good light reading during lunchtime at work. I've just barely started Kitchen Mysteries. I expect it to be drier, but still interesting to the scientist in me.
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Friday, December 28, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas!
Chocolate Bon-Bon Cookies
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
6 tbsp shortening (no trans-fat)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (I used pecans)
4 dozen chocolate kisses (unwrapped)
assorted colored sugars and sprinkles
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cream sugars with butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add egg and extracts and beat well. Add flour, baking power, salt and nuts and mix until blended.
Form dough into 1 inch balls. Press each ball around a chocolate kiss so the kiss is completely enclosed (like a chocolate-covered cherry). Dip in sprinkles and place sprinkle-side up onto baking sheet.
Bake 12 minutes, or until just beginning to brown around the edges. Allow to rest on baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Yields 4 dozen cookies.
Monday, December 24, 2007
'Twas the night before Christmas
(preparing to go in the oven)
And here's some of the finished product, along with some spritz cookie trees. We had to have carrots for Santa's reindeer as well--nine, in case Rudolph was along. Not to mention hot chocolate, though I forgot the marshmallows. =)
Sunday, December 23, 2007
In the beginning...
Over time, my cooking and baking started to evolve. I bought a few cookbooks. Then I discovered cooking magazines. I acquired some more cookbooks. I found cooking shows on PBS and then on Food Network. I have a degree in Chemistry, but my current occupation has nothing to do with that, and I found that experimenting with baking was a way to feed my analytical side. It should come as no surprise that I have cookbooks from Alton Brown and that I subscribe to Cooks Illustrated. A couple of people suggested that maybe I should keep track of what I was doing, so I could make notes on the recipes I tried and recreate successful variations if I wanted to. In May 2005, I bought myself a notebook and started to do just that.
Just recently, I discovered food blogs. I can't believe it took me so long. And as I'm sure happens to a lot of people, one thing lead to another. I started reading a couple of blogs on a daily basis. Then I had a little free time (something that doesn't happen often with two small children and a full-time job), and I found a few more. And I started to think, hey maybe I should give that a try myself. I still plan to use my notebook while I'm cooking, but this blog will give me a place to put more detailed notes as well as photos. I guess we'll see how it goes...