My family isn't competitive at all. Really.

A few weeks ago, I visited one of my favorite cousins, Semra. We have a lot in common, but the most obvious similarities are our love of baking and our competitive spirit. When it comes to baking, we have different personalities. I focus on taste and follow all the rules, but struggle in the presentation arena - for Semra, creative liberties and presentation are the best part about baking. Together we are an unstoppable team. Which is good because we also love winning. My first day in Florida, we were participating in a pie baking contest. Where some would see this as good, clean fun, we saw it as an opportunity to crush competition and win the day (nicely of course). We set out to make the most amazing pie ever. What resulted was our award-winning apple, blackberry crumble pie.


Because we basically made this recipe up and Semra is not nearly as OCD as I am, I cannot tell you the exact ingredients or specific steps to make this pie, but here is what I can tell you - 


We coated slices of Granny Smith Washington apples and blackberries in sugar and placed the sugary fruit in the pie crust.  Then, we mixed softened butter, cinnamon sugar and oats together to make a crumble topping, which we spread on top of the fruit. Finally, we latticed the pie (this was all new to me) and coated it with melted butter. We baked it at 350 degrees until it looked done. 


The end result? Success.

New year, new muffins

In the spirit of New Year's Resolutions, I recently decided to make healthy muffins for the office. I found some intriguing recipes in the New York Times and tried my luck. 

The carrot cake muffins were my favorite. Both muffins were very low in sugar, but the spices in the carrot cake provided enough flavor that I didn't miss the sugar. Plus they were more photogenic...

The steel-cut oatmeal and blueberry muffins were good, but a little bland. They were best right out of the oven with a little bit of butter. I didn't cook the oatmeal first before adding it in, so this may have contributed to the blandness. Still, I loved eating a muffin with real blueberries and not that scary artificial substitute.  

The office was divided on which they liked best, so try both recipes and decide for yourself!

I'm in full baking and cooking mode and trying out lots of recipes, so more to come soon!

How My Family Celebrates Christmas...

Nothing says Merry Christmas like wine, cheese and baked goods...

My dad experimented with the turkey this year by baking it with Miller Lite. I am not making this up. In spite of what sounded like the turkey exploding seconds before the timer went off, it actually worked. Holiday miracle or genius kitchen discovery? We may never know. 

And in all the excitement, I forgot to take a picture. 

Happy Holidays!

For me the holidays are synonymous with baking. It just doesn't feel like Christmas until every surface in my house is covered with a baked good.

This year, over the course of one week, I made an assortment of six different baked goods:

Bourbon Truffles - It's not a holiday until bourbon is involved. This recipe was far more successful than my previous attempt, which produced mutant bourbon balls that resembled jabba the hut instead of a holiday confection. Still, bourbon truffle making is far more complicated and messy than other bourbon desserts. For a holiday go-to, I'd stick with bourbon brownies.

Buckeyes - I may not be a big Ohio State fan, but I can't help but love these addictive candies. Be prepared - the recipe yields an absurd amount of buckeyes. Also, I cut out a cup and a half or so of the confectioner's sugar. The candies are still very sweet and 6 cups of sugar is insane.

Donut Hole Cookies - This recipe was on one of my favorite blogs and I knew I had to try it this year. It's as good as it looks and definitely a cookie I will make again!

Classic Rice Krispy Treats - Perfect recipe if you're pressed for time. I'd forgotten how good homemade rice krispies are. The website has some great ideas for making them look more festive if you're feeling especially creative, but I was not nearly that ambitious.

To balance my baked goods out with something "healthy"...

Crispy Honey Nut Granola - This was surprisingly easy to make, though mine did not turn out as nice as the ones pictured on Once Upon A Chef, but that is nothing new.

Healthy Peanut Butter Coconut Cookies - I agree with the blogger, these are perfect for breakfast!

Merry Christmas!

A belated happy Thanksgiving

It is pretty sad when you have a food blog, but no Thanksgiving post. I'm not sure a belated Thanksgiving post has the same luster and excitement as a pre-holiday blog, but it's worth a shot.


This year, inspired by one family's pie-to-person ratio, I packed my Derby pie in a travel dish and headed to my extended family's Thanskgiving dinner.  Though we didn't have more pies than people, we came close enough. 


Along with the pie, I made a quick, easy and delicious roasted green beans with cranberries and walnuts dish I found at Once Upon a Chef.    It was a hit with a notoriously picky crowd and it literally took me 20 minutes to make (I cut my prep time by using frozen french cut green beans). 


I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Bourbon Brownies

At the beginning of the summer I vowed to try new bourbon recipes from my Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook. Admittedly, this resolution has gotten off to a slow start.  To date, I have only made two recipes - Chicken Kentuckiana and Pan-Seared Salmon with Chipotle Lime Bourbon Glaze. Fortunately last weekend I got back on track with Bourbon Brownies.  The recipe required some ingenuity - like devising my own double boiler...

Not as attractive as a Dutch oven, but it does the trick.

I couldn't find the exact recipe from my cookbook and don't want to run into any copyright issues, but here is a quick overview of what's required. First, you soak pecans in bourbon until they absorb half of the bourbon (roughly a half an hour). Then you toast the bourbon-soaked pecans and put aside the bourbon for later in the baking process. Next, you use the double boiler (or a contraption similar to the pic above) to melt unsweetened chocolate, butter and margarine. Once you've cooled the chocolate mixture, you stir in flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cocoa and the left over bourbon. Then you bake (in my oven, this took 15 minutes longer than the prescribed 25 minutes)...

YUM!

The end result is fantastic, fudgy, and deliciously bourbon-y.

Philly: A wonderful foodie break from the GMATs

I have been a bad food blogger in 2011. I mistakenly thought I would have to rededicate to this blog time after my crazy work project ended, but did not account for how much studying for the GMATs would start to dominate my life. Instead of baking or trying new restaurants in the past few months, I've been trying new equations and GMAT tutoring. I have another month left, but desperately needed a break from the food desert and studying, so last weekend I went to Philadelphia with my sister and cousin. We had a wonderful time and discovered some great restaurants along the way!

We started out our Philly adventure at my favorite bar, the Continental Mid-Town. I discovered this lounge with my friend Liz on my first trip to the city and have gone back every time I visit. It serves delicious classic cocktails and has fun, mod decor. I love it.

Our next stop was the Dandelion Pub, a delightful and delicious restaurant. The menu has a range of intriguing and inventive dishes. We ordered gemelli pasta with spring squash, pattypans, and zuchhini blossoms - it was one of the best pasta dishes I've had this year. The pickled beetroot jar with olive tapenade, goats cheese, and sourdough toast was also a hit, and the devilled eggs were amazing. The decour was inviting and whimsical.

For dessert, we went across the street to Serafina, a New York import with an impressive menu. We shared a rich chocolate hazelnut cake and a light berry tart.  It was the perfect way to end our meal.

The next day, I took over fork: etc. at breakfast to study for the GMATs while my sister and cousin went to the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall. While there, I had a flaky cinnamon roll, a blue cheese pear scone, and fresh fruit (and yes, it was difficult to chose only those three). As well as their tempting pastry selection, fork: etc, had friendly service and a laid-back atmosphere perfect for a local cafe.

I met my sister and cousin at Franklin Fountain, where they were having ice cream. An old fashioned soda shop to its core, Franklin Fountain is great fun, but backs up its decor with great ice cream. This may be a regular stop on my future Philly trips.

We stopped by Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's Steaks on our way out of town. We agreed that Pat's had better bread, but overall we liked Geno's more. Before starting the long drive back, we stopped the Italian Market to pick up some provisions from DiBruno Brothers. Walking in was like heaven. The whole store smelled like cheese, olive oil, and cured meats. The staff is friendly and let us try lots of samples. We walked away with half a pound of prosciutto and two amazing cheeses. Unfortunately the prosciutto didn't survive the car ride home...thanks to me.