Tuesdays with Dorie: Pecan Powder Puffs

 

Say hello to a cookie that is flaky, nutty and melts in your mouth. Oh, and it's coated in powdered sugar. Delish. This week Tia of Buttercream Barbie chose these Pecan Powder Puffs for our weekly Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. 

I'll be honest, I wasn't that excited. I just saw it as a cookie that I'd sorta had before and was not wowed by. But um, as usual, Dorie busts out a great recipe that takes the ordinary up to extraordinary!

I loved these cookies. They were so much better than any Mexcian wedding cookie recipe I had tried before, and they were easy to make! (The shape didn't turn out like I had imagined but I didn't care because the taste was delicious.)

Be sure to get the recipe from Tia's blog and see how the other TWD baker's like them, here.

2011 St. Patrick's Day Menu {Recap}

For St. Patty's Day we like to get all festive with dinner and dessert. For dinner we've done a few things but usually stick with corned beef and cabbage. I think we found a winning recipe this year in the slow cooker. (victory!) Then for dessert I just do something springy or green.

I rarely get any pictures of the night but did manage to get some this year.

Here's our menu:

Irish Soda Bread
Corned Beef & Cabbage
Mint Chocolate Brownies with Vanilla and Pistachio Frozen Custard

I have always wanted to make Irish Soda Bread but been very intimidated and figured I didn't want to spend any more time on a week day. But this year after reading the King Arthur Flour blog's post on American Irish Soda Bread, I decided um...this is going to be easy!

So I did it, and I even had King Arthur AP Flour on hand (instead of my usual and local Lehi Roller Mill Flour). I'm telling you friends, the combo of freshly opened caraway seeds and plump dried currants in this just-sweet-enough batter was the ultimate. I was shocked at how much I loved this and how impressed I was with its ease.

 

This American-Irish Soda Bread will be on our menu every year from now on!

 Next up is the main course: Corned Beef and Cabbage. My husband usually makes this dish with potatoes and carrots. I roll-in on the assist by steaming the cabbage. This year he found a recipe on Food Network's site that has you do it all in the slow cooker. Pretty sweet. 

The part I really liked about it was at the end when you take the meat out to have it rest, you stick the cabbage in all the meat juices and cook it there.

For dessert I had knew I had to plan ahead since I work full-time and we didn't want to eat late, especially with company coming over. So I set out to make Dorie Greenspan's Creamiest Lime Meringue Tart...turns out I really didn't plan well enough and was only able to finish the filling and crust.

So I had a back up plan and just grabbed some dessert from a The Chocolate Dessert Cafe and Coneys Frozen Custard. Chocolate Mint Brownies (The Chocolate Dessert Cafe) and Pistachio and Vanilla Frozen Custard (Coneys Frozen Custard) It was perfect.

Hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day full of good friends, great food and lot of fun. What do you like to make?

Tuesdays with Dorie: Honey-Nut Brownies

I never knew so many {legit} variations of brownies existed. Case in point: these honey-nut brownies I made last night for my weekly baking group: Tuesdays with Dorie.

 I added a full cup of deep, dark blossom honey from Tahiti. A cup people, a full cup! Do you know how much honey that is? That is a generous amount.

I had no clue what to expect. Dorie says that the chocolate takes back seat to the honey flavor. Boy was she right! Honey resonates in every bite. So I'm glad I used a high-quality honey that I loved.

As usual, I followed the recipe to the t. I even branched out from the normal (Amano or Guittard) chocolate I bake with and used Calebeut for the first time. Great results!

The texture perhaps was another surprise. It was very cakey, moist and had a high rise. Then with the toasted, slivered almonds I folded in, it had a nice crunch. Maybe reminiscent of German Chocolate Cake?

We enjoyed our brownies nearly-at-room-temp, and with a side of vanilla custard (from my favorite: Coneys) and with milk. I can't wait to take these to work tomorrow and see what my coworkers think. (I hope to take some non-nighttime pictures tomorrow....yuck I hate late-night photos. ---- UPDATED: NEW PHOTOS!)

If you want the recipe, head out and buy Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or read Suzy Homemaker's, blog since it was her pick this week.  Remember to check out the TWD LYL Post!

I'm gathering quite the collection of brownies recipe from all my adventures. Peruse if you'd like.

Cook's Illustrated - Chewy Brownie
Tuesdays with Dorie - White Chocolate Brownies
Tuesdays with Dorie - Brownie Buttons
Tuesdays with Dorie - Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia
Tuesdays with Dorie - Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies
Tuesdays with Dorie - Chipster-Topped Brownies
Peppermint Bark Brownies - Take 2
Peppermint Bark Brownies
Tuesdays with Dorie: Carmel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake
Cherry Fudge Brownie Torte
Tuesdays with Dorie: Brrr-ownies

A New {type of} Bible

Are you ready for Spring cleaning, or just ready to get a handle on your home? Well I am and I'm excited! A month or so ago, I purchased Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home.

It's fabulous. Martha tells me everything I need to do for my home and how to do it. It's a freaking encyclopedia of home maintenance. But my favorite part of the book is what to clean and when (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally). Many things may seem like common sense, but it has allowed me to think about my "cleaning schedule" and get organized.

For instance...I am obsessed with sweeping because of this list. I now love to sweep!

Six Things to Do Every Day 

1. Make the BedTidiness begets tidiness. A crisply made bed makes the whole room seem more orderly, which makes it less likely that you'll let other things -- such as clothes and papers -- pile up around it.
2. Manage ClutterWhenever you leave a room, take a quick look around for anything that isn't where it should be. Pick it up and put it where it belongs. Insist that everyone in the household do the same.
3. Sort the MailTake a few minutes to open, read, and sort mail as soon as you bring it inside. Keep a trash bin near your sorting area for junk mail. Drop other mail into one of four in-boxes: personal correspondence, bills, catalogs, and filing.
4. Clean as You CookInstead of filling the sink with pots and dishes, wash them or put them in the dishwasher as you prepare a meal.
5. Wipe Up Spills While They're FreshWhether it's tomato sauce on the cooktop or makeup on the bathroom counter, almost anything is faster and easier to remove if you attend to it immediately.
6. Sweep the Kitchen FloorEvery evening once you've finished washing up after dinner, sweep the floor. This will keep tough-to-clean dirt and grime from building up, which will make the weekly mopping much quicker.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Six Things to Do Every Day - Martha Stewart Home and Garden

Tuesdays with Dorie: Citrus-Currant Sunshine Muffins

Orange zest is a revelation!
Why don't I use orange zest more often. It brightens any gloomy day and any ordinary baked good.

Sunday was a beautiful spring day, and what better muffin to make after church than Dorie's Citrus-Currant Sunshine Muffins. Though, since I got lazy and didn't run to the store for currants mine should be renamed Citrus-Raisin Muffins.

These muffins were not overly sweet and they were also buttery and light.

I am really loving raisins these days. Does this mean that I am finally growing up? (Cause raisins are old people food right?) No seriously? All my life I've shunned the shriveled things and now I will throw them in anything!

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or visit Lauryn's blog, Bella Baker, as it was her pick this week. Be sure to check out the LYL post to read other TWD baker's blogs!


Last week: Corniest Corn Muffins
Next week: Honey-Nut Brownies
1 year ago: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys
2 years ago: French Yogurt Cake

Martha Stewart's NEW Pies & Tarts

Chock another one up to the 'ol cookbook list.
This time I want Martha's new pies and tarts cookbook.

And before you start saying "Pies are the new cupcakes," stop! Just stop.

We'll leave that discussion for another time and places, maybe over at my other blog. But all I want to say right now is I want this cookbook and if you preorder it now you save like 45%. Killer deal, right?

I think I'd love this book because it would take me out of the traditional seasonal pie baking mode. Besides branching out of the norm with my Tuesdays with Dorie baking group, I honestly only make pies when local apples are best, and then during the holidays.

What cookbooks are you wanting these days? And would you buy this one?



A few pies and tarts I've made:
All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie (Tuesdays with Dorie)
McMamma's Recipes: Chicken Pot Pie (aka Potato a la creme)
Crunch and Custardy Peach Tart (Tuesdays with Dorie)
2009 Thanksgiving Pies
Tartest Lemon Tart (Tuesdays with Dorie)
French Pear Tart (Tuesdays with Dorie)

Tuesdays with Dorie: Corniest Corn Muffins

 I love corn muffins.

And when I get to dress them up with fun mix-ins, life is even better.

This week for Tuesdays with Dorie, Jill of My Next Life selected Corniest Corn Muffins.  You can snag the recipe from her blog.

I thought these muffins were easy and delicious. I added chopped fresh rosemary, as I had plenty of it around the kitchen and it was a recommendation of Dorie in her ‘playing around’ section. I made sure to rub the rosemary with the sugar before adding to the mix to bring out the most flavor. I believe it helped.

These muffins are great on their own, a perfect side to chili or great as a side to a nice salad like I had last night. Be sure to check out my fellow TWD baker’s blogs, here. I know they did some fun things with the recipe like adding jalapenos, cilantro and chipotle.

PS…you’re getting a little glimpse of my new kitchen from this little iPhone pix!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Pots de Creme

I know this is late. But life has been a bit crazy (we just moved!) and I've been without internet to upload my good photos. So behold my iPhone picture of this week's Chocolate Pots de Creme for Tuesdays with Dorie.

These were good. My husband loved them twenty-times more than I did as evidenced by the fact that he ate 90% of them. :) I think these things definitely take practice with getting the texture right. I'll need to try them again.

 Chocolate Pots de Creme were chosen by Christine of Black Cat Cooking, and you can find the recipe on her blog. Be sure to check out the other TWD baker's posts, here.