Wordless Wednesday - Pretty pastels

(some of the bulk candy options at Central Market this time of year)

Kitchen math

One of the things that Gillian has gotten into is doing Bedtime Math.  We don't get to it every day, but she's definitely getting better at the Little Kids problems over time.  We kind of did our own version in the kitchen today.  G asked me if we could make treats for her teachers (classroom and after-school).  At her request, we settled on David Lebovitz's Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.  (Okay, I just realized that when I wrote that post, I also talked about Bedtime Math, but totally forgot that I had done so!)

The math didn't come in with the measuring this time.  It was after the cookies were baked & Gillian was trying to figure out if we had enough for all the teachers plus some for us.  So, there are three classroom teachers and four after-school teachers.  There are two pans of cookies, one with fifteen cookies and one with eleven.  How many cookies can we package up for each teacher, and will there be enough left for a family of four to have dessert? =)

How to get to Carnegie Hall

I was reminded last weekend that my skill in the kitchen didn't develop overnight.  Sunday night I made dough for rolls and stuck it in the fridge.  (It's the recipe for Hoagie Rolls from Artisan Breads Every Day--a really lovely dough to work with, which I forget when I haven't made them in a while.)  Monday morning, I got up early and portioned the dough and formed the rolls.  I managed to get them baked before I had to go to work.  Boy, did the house smell good when I left. =)  At one time, I never would have had the confidence that I could pull that off, but in the past 5 years of baking and blogging, my baking skills have improved tremendously.  How?  Through repetition, of course.  And also good teachers--Dorie Greenspan, Peter Reinhart, and lots of others.  

Yet I still get frustrated when things don't turn out quite the way I wanted to--when they aren't perfect.  The demons of perfectionism and I-don't-have-enough-time have been really getting to me lately, which is a lot of the reason why I haven't been posting much.  I get hung up on the idea that if I don't have anything new and exciting to post, I shouldn't even bother.  But there's beauty in sharing the things that have gotten better with practice, and in writing just to express what's on my mind. 

Wordless Wednesday - Festive sprinkles!

(birthday cake for someone at work--doubled recipe for this cake)

Wordless Wednesday - Amy's ice cream & Arboretum cows

Life, the universe, and everything

As my friend Ben said, "Welcome to the age of the answer."  I had already thought of that.  Yes, on Thursday, I turned 42.  It was a good birthday.  I did some shopping, in preparation for my running away from home (which is where I am now, in the Pacific Northwest for a few days).  I had a nice lunch out.  I made myself a small birthday cake.  With sprinkles--42 needs sprinkles, I think. =)

Watching:  Less TV.  Well, at least we're trying.  I do have to admit to the guilty pleasure of Food Network's Worst Cooks in America.

Reading:  In honor of my milestone birthday, I'm rereading the Hitchhiker's Guide books.  I found an omnibus edition to read on my iPad.  I'm not actually sure if I ever read the last one (Mostly Harmless), actually.  So far, I've gotten through the first book and about half of the second.  

Listening:  I've been trying to listen to CDs or music from my phone more, in the car or around the house.  I find that I'm avoiding morning radio for the same reason I stopped watching the news--so much of it is way too depressing.  The right music helps with getting my out of the funk I've been in lately, so I'm trying to remember that and play it more often.  Including this.  (Kind of goes with this week's birthday theme.)

Making:  Birthday cake!  (see above)  I did half of the recipe for Dorie's Perfect Party Cake to make a couple of 6" layers.  I was out of buttermilk, but I like the way the cake turns out with that rather than regular milk.  So I thinned some plain yogurt with a little milk and used that.  It seemed to work out pretty well.  The frosting is one of my favorites, this Chocolate-Sour Cream Frosting.  It turned out that I was also out of sour cream, but I recently made some creme fraiche.  So I used that and omitted the bit of butter from the recipe, since there was plenty of fat in the creme fraiche.  It seemed to turn out pretty well.  (I doubled the recipe to be sure I'd have enough for decorating.)  I found the pretty sprinkles at Make it Sweet.  I love that place.

Feeling:  A little better since I've had a break from being "Mommy!!!" for a day and a half.  I'm not sure that the recent funk is gone for good, but I'm feeling more rested.  It's nice to have a break from my kitchen, too.  I miss it, but hopefully it's a case of absence making the heart grow fonder.  And eating out at new places is giving me some inspiration for things to make at home.  Here's hoping that continues for the rest of the weekend.

Planning:  Not entirely sure yet.  Mostly gathering ideas right now.  Ooh, except one thing--I am definitely planning a trip to Trader Joe's tomorrow. =)  I made sure to leave some room in my suitcase on the way out here. 

Loving:  Being cold.  Am I nuts?  Probably.  But I'm so glad to be away from Texas at least for a few days.  I'm also loving Jamie for being willing to put up with the girls on his own for the weekend.  

For more lists, check out Kristin's blog.  

Have flour, will travel

Gillian and I were looking for something fun to do on Sunday afternoon while Jamie and Brianna went to the Tennis Center.  We started off at the park for a bit, but it was still a little too damp after some overnight thunderstorms.  I remembered that some folks from King Arthur Flour were going to be in town for a baking demonstration on yeast breads.  G had been to another cooking/baking demo with me a couple months ago, and was game to try out this one.  It turned out not to be the best for her--it was a much larger group, so it was hard for her to see, and she spent most of the time playing games on my iPad.  We only stayed for about an hour before her attention span hit its limit.  But I enjoyed the part of the presentation that I did get to hear, including some entertaining stories.  With my level of experience, I didn't learn a lot of new stuff, but I'm intrigued by some of the classes that KAF offers at their Baking Education Center in Vermont.  I'm going to add a trip to Norwich to my Mondo Beyondo list.  It would be a great opportunity to meet my blogging friend Rebecca, too.  Maybe I can convince some of my other baking/blogging friends to meet up with me there and we can all take a class together.  Anyone interested? =)
 

When we got to the demo, we each got a booklet of recipes.  G immediately pointed out the recipe for Double Fudge Brownies.  When we got home, J & B still weren't back, so I suggested that we could bake something together.  G quickly suggested the brownies.  I knew it wouldn't be a problem to get my employees to eat some of them, so we made the full 13"x9" pan.  The recipe calls for brown sugar, which I think helps keep the brownies moist.  I used natural cocoa powder rather than the Dutch-processed that was called for (I prefer the way it tastes) but did keep the espresso powder to boost the chocolate flavor.  The somewhat sneaky ingredient is white whole wheat flour.  Granted, these are brownies, so there isn't a whole lot of flour, but a little extra whole grain is always a good idea, right?

The verdict?  You would never guess that there was whole grain flour in these brownies.  They are fudgy and a bit chewy, and altogether yummy.  The change in cocoa worked out fine.  We added a mix of chocolate chips and m&ms to our batter, but next time, I'll put the m&ms on top instead.  The candy shells sort of melted into the brownies when we let them rest overnight.

If you'd like to try these for yourself, you can find the recipe in the KAF Whole Grain Baking cookbook.  And if you think you'd like to join me on a trip to New England, let me know!

p.s. We got this nice KAF bowl scraper to take home with us--you can never have too many of those!