ain't no donut bank...

Okay-so if you know me at all, you must be at least slightly aware for my love of the Evansville Donut Bank. If you want to assess your knowledge of me even more, then you should question whether you know about my life dream to open my own pastry shop. So you can only imagine my joy when I woke up Saturday morning to a food nerwork special on the best donuts in the country. Despite it being before 9am, I decided I should join in on the fun and make my own...and my sleeping husband of course!

So down memory lane I went to my middle and high school memories of jill hickey's mom making homemade donuts for us in the morning after a sleepover full of swimming and papa johns. The recipe is pretty simple--a package of pilsbury biscuits, chocolate icing, sprinkles and of course a pan of oil....

Just make sure to keep the pan and oil in low to medium heat--or you'll end up with a disguised ball of dough covered in icing and sprinkles...not that I would know!

berry baking

so recently, i have been getting into the world of food. not in the sense that i am just now beginning my love affair with great tasting foods, i mean, ive always known i have been blessed with amazingly alert taste buds, but more in the "life application of food".

in doing this, i have been battling between cooking and baking. because, yes, virginia, there is a difference. to start, i have to state that i am not yet going to claim a love for one over the other, but have instead been struggling with my inner self on which i have a better calling for.

cooking, you see, is more of the fresh, on the stove variety. this seems to fall more along the lines of, you know, a greek style zucchini salad or spanikopida. these are obviously all wonderfully delicious options, but seem to take a lot of care and attention throughout the entire cooking experience.

on the other hand, you have baking. and to me, (and please remember this is no professional opinion) the world of baking includes more “dry” ingredients and more time is spent in the oven than actually monitoring the process via grill, stove, skillet, etc. these also tend to make sweeter foods when i "bake"...

my mother has always been more of the baker. and im starting to think i fall more in her footsteps. but im keeping my options open. i like the idea of cooking and am still working on those skills – but things you bake tend to turn out better for me. or at least capture my attention a little better.

a few weeks ago we discussed flexitarianism and the world of trying new foods to “make” (see how i intentionally did not use “cooking” or “baking” here to put myself in a box?) since then, i have been following my taste buds to a variety of food blogs (thanks, sonja!) this has thus inspired me to attempt a new “phase” for the blog – which entails attempting a new recipe each sunday, with of course a monday photo and recipe post.

and with that, i post this past weekend’s project: baking a mixed berry buckle. what i learned?

• i like to bake.
• i had most of the ingredients already in my kitchen, surprisingly enough.
• i like berries.
• i like desserts.
• i still prefer desserts with chocolate incorporated.
• my husband did not yet try what i baked.
• this next week i want to try something to put in my yet-to-be-used cake stand.

mixed berry buckle

what you will need:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking dish
1 cup granulated sugar3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups mixed berries, such as raspberries, strawberries (halved or quartered) and raspberries
vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2-quart oval or square baking dish. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to combine. Add vanilla and beat to combine. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder; with mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture until incorporated.
Spread batter in baking dish. Scatter raspberries on top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean and top is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes. With a large spoon, scoop out onto serving plates; serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

here are more details: http://www.blogger.com/thekitchensinkrecipes.com/2009/06/29/bust-wide-open/#more-5703

i get it from my momma

yesterday i celebrated the second of three birthday celebrations (count it three) for my sister at my mom's. i mean, honestly, who makes that big of a production out of their birthday? ;)

so my mom has always been #1 when it comes to heartfelt birthday cake creations. for my 14th birthday, she even made a phone cake - decked out with sweet tart candies and licorice for phone numbers and the cord! over the years she has worked on an assortment of cakes - i'm sure there was even a phenomenal horse cake effort at one point! needless to say, i have had a plethora of wonderful cakes in my lifetime - so i thought i would post a photo of her latest creation for my big sister - half s'more and half reese cup! it looked great with homemade peanut butter and marshmallow frosting and tasted even better.

what have we learned, readers? that i get it from my momma. my desire to learn to bake, create and of course devour my achievements!

what i've learned from being married:

• my husband is a great surface cleaner. however, if you consider eating something off of the counter and i’ve been out of town…think again
• there must be something “manly” about taking out the trash. i find joy in keeping my email inbox clean. he finds joy in keeping Hefty in business with his multiple trash trips each day
• growing up, I remember someone told me it cost 10 cents for every light switch you turn off and on. my husband must believe that is true still. either that, or his fingers hurt too much from working so hard he can’t bear to move them to save power or the earth
• there is never any harm in a good ‘ol fashion competition – especially when it comes to who can mow the yard the best or power wash the fence more efficiently
• “alone time” is out the window. at first I thought it was just my dog rudely barging through closed doors…apparently it is a boy thing
• it is always nice when the one who cooks can watch the other clean. my husband actually initiated this rule and i gladly follow it. i think he just wanted to continue his fetish with loading the dishwasher…but again, who’s complaining?
• the family that blogs together stays together. my husband is a blogger now too
• dance. even when your wife is watching. or recording it on her cell phone
• sing loudly. even when you husband is sitting next to you
• something about our bed being made makes me feel like we have it all pulled together. i will strive to stay away from this lie
• apparently i missed the memo on any canned beverage tasting better after sitting open in the fridge for at least two days…
• a well manicured yard is something to be proud of. let’s not go there on where you keep your trash
• i’ve lived by a lot of “secret rules” that i somehow expected my husband to “just know” – working on getting over that
• strive to love each other the way your dog does every day when you come home from work
• long walks and lying in bed laughing before bed will keep a marriage young. maybe this is hopeful two months in, but those are two of our cherished times together each day

¡holy moly guacamole!

sadly i must report last night's first major cooking failure - guacamole. that little sucker sure is difficult and was a lot more effort than i had anticipated. i must also note i did not take a photo of this bad boy, so nothing for me to forget in the morning...

it goes like this: last night i thought i would whip up some guac before dinner, as a little snack to hold me over because the husband was at some work happy hour (hence causing a delay in dinner time). promptly after leaving work, i headed over to the local Fresh Market. wow, let me just tell you what a little slice of paradise this place is - soothing music and fresh fruit & veggies - and a plethora of organic food to feast the eyes of all the bripple hippies. man, was i excited when i left that place. i thought to myself, "self, you have so many great memories ahead of you in this place - you are going to make so many awesome, healthy and hearty meals that people will love". but low and behold, it all came crashing down.

smashing that darn avocado takes way more effort than the guac mix package led me to believe and soon my dream crumbled - avocado chunk by un-smashable avocado chunk. perhaps i will investigate the "proper" way to "mash" an avocado - because my meat tenderizer, large spoon, small spoon, food chopper and hand mixer didn't work. i toyed with the idea of using the actual blender, but my sliced and diced pieces were taking over the entire kitchen that i simply needed to surrender and call it a night with the cheese sauce.

ill keep you posted if i battle this thing again - perhaps next time with a mortar and pestle ...

rachel ray THAT

so our friends steph and adam had a beautiful baby boy a few weeks ago, and our "tiny bunch", aka our small group, has coordinated shifts to bring over meals to the new parents. for some reason, i decided to sign us up as meal visit #1 - now, since this whole domestic cooking is new to me, this meant we would either set the bar really really low for those following or knock the ball out of the park with my new skills.

the official vote is still out, but i'm pretty proud of the 3.5 out of 5 rating brandt gave the chicken mac 'n cheese last night. i even spiced up rachel ray's recipe by adding my own seasoned chicken - and i have to say, the homemade cheese for the noods was pretty scrumptious. im thinking of applying the asiago, sharp cheddar and parm mix to a beer cheese/pretzel combo down the road. but what's up with homemade mac 'n cheese turning into just cheesy noodles? something about the kraft and velveeta style has me confused on what is really is supposed to taste and look like.

i couldn't find my recipe on RR's website to share, but it looks like there are tons of options for those of you working to become quite the little cook like me. http://www.rachaelray.com/article.php?article_id=95.

of course i took a photo of the finished piece last night, topped ever so beautifully with bread crumbs - but as usual, left for the office in a hurry this morning and walked out without a camera cord to upload. i'll make sure to post it tomorrow (i know, the post isn't complete without it and you a dying to see it). id also like to add it in hopes my husband stumbles along the post and notices just how unflattering the photography is from my old camera and is inspired to buy me a new Canon SLR for my birthday - which is just around the corner you know...