Bake 52 Week 12: Palmiers

Something went terribly wrong for me. I don't know what exactly, but as soon as I started making the pastry dough I had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well. And it didn't. Prepare yourselves...

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LOL 

(I'm preparing you)

Yup.  To see how they should really look, go to Bekah's blog.

This is my first time attempting to make a pastry dough.  In fact, I've never even made pie crust!  I've always counted on my Mom and sisters to do that kind of stuff.  I literally spent all day making these cookies.  I am feeling a bit discouraged after all that work.  Anyone want to tell me what I did wrong?  Here is what they looked like before I baked them:

Nothing about this recipe looked right, even from the beginning.  Oh well.  You win some, you lose some.

xoxo

j

Bake 52 Week 10: Lunchbox Brownies

Lunchbox brownies.  The book says that these brownies should be sturdy enough to pack in a lunch.  That they were.  They were not too soft, or too hard.  They would be perfect for travel.  I have to admit that I am a Ghirardelli brownie mix junkie.  I love those things.  These brownies didn't beat that, but I still liked them.  I added a cream cheese mixture to give them more diversity.  That was a good choice. Here is the link to the recipe: (to come later today)

xoxo

j

Bake 52 Week 9: Babka

 Babka.  I've never heard of it until now.  I had no idea what to expect.  I would consider it to be a dessert bread.  The dough is very sweet and there is cinnamon, sugar, and walnuts rolled into it.  Raisins are optional.  It was delightful.  I thought it was a beautiful bread.  I felt very accomplished when I pulled it out of the oven.  It tastes amazing!  I will definitely make it again when I want to impress someone.  The recipe makes two loaves, but I only made one.  I made crescent rolls with the rest of the dough, like Amanda did. My only problem was that my loaf was a bit doughy in the middle.  Did anyone else have this problem?

I would definitely recommend this recipe, and here is the link:  http://michellefavrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/02/bake-52-week-9.html

xoxo

j

Bake 52 Week 8: Peanut Butter Cookies

sigh Cookies.  

I love cookies.

This peanut butter cookie recipe is pretty standard.  Butter, sugar, extra crunchy peanut butter, flour, crushed peanuts... etc.  There is nothing about it that will wow you, but it's a great basic recipe.  Here's the link to the recipe.

xoxo

j

Happy V-day

 Holy cow, there are so many cute Valentines Day ideas on pinterest right now.  I have intentions to do some of them.  However, I was supposed to bring treats to a kids club and I needed to find something quick and easy.  These rice krispie treats took me about 20 minutes from start to finish.  The white stuff is just melted white chocolate chips with a little oil.  I just put it into a sandwich bag and pipped it onto the rice krispie treat.  I saw some way cuter versions of this on Pinterest, but again, they were still too time consuming.  I took what I liked from them and made an easier, quicker version.

xoxo

j

Betsy's Caramel Corn (the soft kind)

My friend, Betsy, just gave me this recipe.  It's the soft kind of caramel popcorn.  It is gooey, and oh so good!  I brought it to a girls movie night, and the girls raved about it!  Thanks for the recipe Bets!

Betsy's Caramel Corn

1/2 c butter

2 c brown sugar

1 can condensed milk

3/4 c Karo syrup

Combine all and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. stirring consistently, boil 4 min. (you can stir in a tsp of vanilla after heating if you like here also) Pour

over popcorn (probably 2-4 bags) and mix well.

xoxo

j

Bake 52 Week 6: Challah Bread

I have something to admit.  This is the first time that I have ever made bread all my myself, EVER.  Yep.  I have always had a huge fear of making bread.  It just seemed so time consuming, which it was.  When I first looked at the recipe for Challah bread I felt completely overwhelmed.  I thought to myself "maybe I'll just skip this week".   But I didn't, and I'm glad.

I was really dubious the whole time I was making this bread.  The dough was really dense.  Maybe that is how all bread dough is.  I wouldn't know.  So I let it rise, but it was still so heavy.  Then came time to do these crazy braids.  They really were crazy.  The whole thing was looking so ugly, and I almost quit several times.  Surprisingly, The bread came out of the oven looking and tasting great!  I was shocked!!!

 It did get slightly over cooked.  I blame that on my husband.  I had to go somewhere, and I was left with no choice but to leave the cooking part up to him.  So considering the situation, it turned out just fine.

By the way, Challah bread is a jewish bread.  It's pronounced Halla.  The CH is silent.

Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.zollyzoo.com/inthekitchen/2012/02/08/bake-52-week-6-challah/.  Here are my pictures.

See what I mean?  UGLY!

And double ugly 

Not so bad!

I'll take it!

Today I made bread!  That feels good to say!  Maybe I'll do it again someday...just maybe.

xoxo

j