TWD: Rosh Hashana

So, instead of making a creamy, crunchy creme brulee, I did some other cooking.  Ready for dinner Tuesday night:  chicken soup, kreplach (kind of like a won ton or dumpling), carrot coins in maple syrup, apples and honey, pomegranate (your good deeds for the year should equal the number of seeds), potato kugel, salmon, and orange honey spice cake.

You may notice a lot of sweet items.  It is very symbolic to fill the table with sweet foods to help bring a sweet year.  Honey is especially prominent on the menu.

I love the new year.  According to the Hebrew calendar, we are starting 5769.  It's a time of renewal and hope.  It's a reminder to stop, look, and appreciate.

L'shanah tovah umetukah.  May you have a good and sweet year.

L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi.  May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.

Some wonderful recipes have been picked for October.  I'll be back in full baking force next week.

TWD: Dimply Plum Cake

Whew!  A break from cookies!  This week's recipe was chosen by Michelle of Bake-En.  We were all pleased, at my house, to have something a little different.

I found these adorable little plums at Trader Joe's called Sugar Plums.  They are about the size of, well, a small plum.  I dutifully read the other baker's notes and proceeded to screw up anyway.

The batter came together easily.  Because my plums were so small and cute, I was able to use the eight that were called for.  I gently and carefully laid them in the pan.  I baked it for exactly 40 minutes.  My kitchen smelled fabulous!  I tested it with a cake tester and a knife.  I put it on the cooling rack for exactly 15 minutes.  That's when I noticed that the center was a little sunken in.  Ok, maybe more than a little.  I decided to flip it out of the pan anyway.

Oooops.

Totally fell apart.  Totally.  And see, I had been warned.  A few people mentioned that it didn't always hold together around the plums.  In this exact state, I threw it back in the oven.  It baked a little longer, or maybe it just dried out a little.  Regardless, it was really really tasty.  This is absolutely a recipe that I would make again.  I'm very glad I bought the cardamom.  It added a wonderful flavor dimension.

I think that the next time I make this, I'll use cut up apples.  Although the plum flavor was nice, the large pieces make it a little dangerous.  Plus, the skin on the plums added a little odd taste.

Doesn't this view make it look like an alien?

Don't look for Creme Brulee here next week.  Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake has chosen a perfectly wonderful recipe.  However, we're out of town this weekend (Homecoming!  Go Hawkeyes!), and Rosh Hashana starts Monday evening.  I'll be happy to show you my homemade chicken soup, kreplach, and apple cake.  Plus I'll be baking for the tailgate and Cpt. Daleske.  Yes!  I'm full of excuses!  Regardless, I'll be back with Dorie in October.

TWD: Chocolate Chunkers

Claudia of Fool for Food (which, by the way, is really cool because it's in German) continued our cookie baking trend of the last few weeks and chose Chocolate Chunkers.  I'm glad for the cookies, because cookies tend to be easy.  I love easy.  While this recipe wasn't difficult to make, it did require many ingredents.  I don't usually post the process, I'm more of a finished baked goods kind of gal.  But this I had to post.

We start with cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder.

Then move on to unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and butter.

Sugar, eggs, and vanilla are also involved.

And then, there are the mix-ins.  More bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, toasted almonds, and a dried fruit mix.  (I substituted the almonds for peanuts and the dried fruit for raisins).  I skipped the white chocolate because, well, it's not chocolate.

There was a lot going on in this cookie.  I did discover that this is one of the few Dorie cookies that does not benefit from a little trip to the fridge.  Since the "dough" is largely chocolate, it made it difficult to scoop.  You'll notice the quotes around the word dough because there was little if anything holding all the mix-ins together.

Here is a finished cookie.  It was good.  It was also very rich.  This was not a snacking cookie.  And it definitely required milk.  Truth be told, it was on the expensive side as well.  I made more cookies than the original recipe stated, but I'm pretty sure I made them smaller than Dorie called for.  I don't think I'll rush out and make these again any time soon.  I just wasn't that into them.

Up next week:  Dimply Plum Cake chosen by Michelle of Bake-en.  Much as I've loved all the cookies, I'm excited to do something else.

Rained out

I had such high hopes for this weekend.  My family and I were going to go apple picking.  I had dreams, people.  I was going to make apple sauce, apple pie, apple butter, apple cake, and apple cinnamon ice cream.  I was going to make more dulce de leche just for dipping apple slices.  I bought a new jar of peanut butter.  Ok, I needed that anyway, but still.  I was going to go apple picking.

I had this lovely vision of my family walking through the orchard, smiling and laughing as we picked.  More laughter as we shared apple cider doughnuts fresh from the bakery.  And more laughing as we took a tractor ride through the trees.  Be quiet.  This is my fantasy.  No where was there any whining from my children.  Or husband.

What did I get?  Rain.  For three days straight now.  Rain.  A little drizzle?  That I could handle.  But this has been road closing, basement flooding rain.  Mind you, I'm grateful I'm not in Texas.  They have RAIN down there.

Rain out the back door.  Rain out the front door.

Rain on the patio.  Rain in the garden.

Lots and lots of rain.

Next weekend?  Next weekend my apple picking will happen!  Unless it rains.

So excited for the next round of the Baking Gals!

The nephew of one of my best friends in the whole wide world is going to be a recipient.  It was pretty special to be able to bake and know that I was making someone happy.  To know that someone is even more special.

If you aren't familiar with the Gals, check out the site.  I'll be baking for CPT Christopher Daleske.  He, and all the other service people, are very deserving of our treats.

The post office makes it pretty easy to ship.  You can go online and order free boxes designed especially to be sent overseas.  And they only charge a flat rate of $11.

Check it out!

TWD: Chocolate Whopper Malted Drops

I had some seriously high hopes for these cookies (see my previous entry).  And these are good cookies.  Very good.  I will make them again.  I just know what to do and what not to do next time.

I love Whopper candy.  I steal it out of my kid's Halloween baskets.  Shhhh.  Don't tell.  There has been a container of Whoppers on my counter just waiting to be baked into cookies.  I just want you all to appreciate my will power.  Thank you.  I bought malted milk powder just for the occasion.  I made some minor substitutions and made one small.... mistake is too big a word.  Just one thing I would change for next time.

The cookies used a minimum of dishes and came together pretty easily.  I didn't have whole milk, so I used skim.  I didn't have bittersweet chips and used semi-sweet instead.  Neither made a difference, I think.  Where I erred was being just a little too enthusiastic when it came time to smash up the Whoppers.  I put them in a freezer bag and just whacked the bejeesus out of them with my rolling pin.  Ooops.  Many of the other bakers recommended leaving them a little bigger.  Oh well.

I dropped them out on the cookie sheets.  No chilling time!  I didn't use the full recommended baking time.  I like my cookies a little chewy.  They turned out very chewy.  I really enjoyed the chocolate taste with the malted milk tang.  The chips added just a little richness to round out the flavors.  They are not very pretty cookies, but who cares about pretty when they are so tasty.

Mmmmm.  Malty, chocolatey, cookie goodness.

Here's a close up of the deliciousness.  See the little, and I do mean little malt pieces?

Funny side note:  I said that I liked my cookies chewy.  After they had cooled, I carefully put them in a jar.  I filled it to the top and was made sure not to smush any of the cookies.  When I came back a few hours later, there was about three inches of open space at the top of the jar.  I was ready to scold my husband when I looked really closely.  My chewy cookies had collapsed into each other.  Eating them was fun.  You didn't grab a cookie so much as you grabbed a hunk of cookie.  They still disappeared.

See the space on top of the jar?  That was full of cookie a few hours ago!

.

Thanks to Rachel of Confessions of a Tangerine Tart for helping me to discover a new favorite.

Next week:  Claudia of Fool for Food has chosen Chocolate Chunkers.  The cookie celebration continues!

TWD: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

I have to say, I'm liking the trend of cookies.  Cookies are good.  Cookies are generally easy.Cookies tend to use fewer dishes.  Cookies are nice little bites that make me feel less guilty than when I eat a whole piece of pie or cake.  Of course, that only works when I don't eat half a dozen cookies, but I digress.

When I looked at the recipe (chosen by Stefany of Proceed with Caution), I thought it looked familiar.  I couldn't remember if I had made them previously.  I hoped that I hadn't, because these sounded really good, and I wanted them to be memorable.

Turns out I had made them before.  I tend to write in my cookbooks.  Hey, they're my books.  This one was "just ok" according to my notes.  I played around a little more this time.  Or at least I meant to.  I cut the recipe in half.  That usually messes with me a little.  According to some of the other TWDers, there was too much cinnamon.  I meant to cut it in half.  However, that would have meant half of the half I had already cut, and I didn't do it.  I substituted dark chocolate m & ms for the chips.  (On a side note:  I really like dark chocolate m & ms.  They are really good.  Really good right out of the freezer, too)

The cookies are good, but they aren't great.  If they are called "peanut butter cookies", I expect more peanut butter taste.  I don't know that I'll make these again to play around, but perhaps some peanut butter chips might improve things.  And definitely less cinnamon.  It's the predominant flavor.

I do have two "versions" because I used two techniques.  For some of the batch, I rolled the dough into balls.  For the rest of the batch, I dropped.  No difference.  The rolled ones are neater.  I just got lazy.

Rolled:

Dropped:

Both:

Up next week:  Chocolate Whopper Malted Drops chosen by Rachel of Confessions of a Tangerine Tart.  I have been ANXIOUSLY awaiting this recipe.  The Whoppers have been on the counter for a couple of weeks.  My children look daily to see if the container has been opened.  I even went and ordered malted milk powder from King Arthur Flour just to make these cookies.  That's quite a build up.  Stay tuned!

Cookie Carnival: Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Just under the wire for August!  Whew!

The recipe was for hazelnut biscotti originally, but I can't stand hazelnuts, and it is all about me.  So almond it is!

This recipe came together very easily.  The boy and I made the dough pretty quickly.  I shaped the logs using my favorite trick of putting plastic bags on my hands.  It works well.  He measured with our food safe ruler.  (Yes, I am that anal.  I measure)  We used two baking sheets, which was a really good thing.  Our 2 1/2" wide logs of dough turned into about 8" of biscotti.

I liked them after the first bake.  You know, you have to taste.  I really liked them after the second bake.  I cut the big logs in half.  That way I got more cookies, and really, smaller cookies have fewer calories.  Unless you eat more of them.  Which I would never do.  Really.

I'd certainly make this again.  This is one of the cookies I'm sending off as a Baking Gal.  My items are ready to go.  Now if the post office would just get me those boxes....

Here is the whole rack of them cooling.  I love the way the chocolate chips and almonds show up against the cookie.

And a close up of sorts.  I really need to get a better camera.  Or better photography skills.  It could go either way.

I'm excited to see what the Cookie Carnival will bring next month.  Woo hoo!

TWD: Move along. Nothing to see here

Sorry, folks.  I just couldn't get my act together to make the wonderful Chocolate Banded Ice Cream Torte chosen by Amy of Food, Family, and Fun.  

I'm two weeks behind on big bags 'o veggies.  I have two batches of cookies to make for my Baking Gals soldiers.  School started for my two children this past Thursday.  (You sensing a theme here?  Too bad I can't say I've only gained two pounds)

Ok, enough whining and moaning.  I'll be back in the baking saddle next Tuesday.  We're making Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters chosen by Stefany of Proceed with Caution.  I think I've made these before, but I really can't remember.  I hope that's just because I'm getting old and not because they weren't memorable.

The best thing I've made lately

I made some caramel ice cream earlier this summer.  It called for a can of dulce de leche.  I bought a can from the grocery store (in the Hispanic Kosher section).  It was lovely, but I thought to myself, "Hey, I could probably make this!"  And then the research started.

I discovered ways to make it where you put a can in a pot of water, cover it with water, and let it simmer for three hours.  Of course, you have to top it off and make sure that the can doesn't explode.  Too much effort.

Here's a pretty labor intensive recipe that requires a lot of stirring.

David Lebovitz makes his in the oven with a number of pans and hot water.

And then, there was this recipe.  Seriously, it was a no-brainer.  I'll put it in a nutshell for you:  Take the label off of a can of sweetened condensed milk.  Put in in your empty slow cooker.  Fill the slow cooker with water making sure to completely cover the pan.  Put the lid on the slow cooker.  Turn it on low.  Walk away for 10 hours.  Turn off the slow cooker.  Let the water and can cool.  Gorge yourself on amazing, sweet, caramely dulce de leche.

Seriously, I had to stop myself from just eating it with a spoon.  At least when people were watching.

I have no photo because most of it went into caramel ice cream.  And the rest mysteriously disappeared.  I'm still looking into it.

TWD: Granola Grabbers

I love cookies.  I love cookies of all kinds.  I have been baking cookies for at least 30 years.  (I started REALLY young)  It's very possible I have a new cookie to add to my top five.  It's not quite my favorite, but it's close.  Michelle, from Bad Girl Baking, I cannot thank you enough for choosing this recipe.

One thing that put it at the top of my list.... I actually had all of the necessary ingredients.  And the list, I might add, was extensive.  Wheat germ, raisins, peanuts (I had honey roasted.  Mmmmm),toasted almonds, coconut*, granola (I used Trader Joe's Low Fat Almond), and, did anyone else notice one ingredient that was missing?  Of course!  Chocolate chips!  How could these cookies not have chocolate chips?  I'm sure it was just an oversight.

It came together very easily in just two bowls!  For Dorie, that's a light recipe.  They needed a bit of coaxing to stay in a ball-like shape.  They baked up golden brown and yummy looking.  We did discover that if you tried to eat one before it cooled, it did tend to fall apart a little.  Lesson learned.

Look at these lovely lovely cooling cookies.

These cookies were so good!  The granola gave it this wonderful crunch.  The sweet and salty of the fruits and nuts blended amazingly well.  These cookies did not last long in my house.  I don't think that the kids would be able to eat them as after-school snacks because I think I would eat them long before then.

Here is a close up of a now cooled, just about to be eaten cookie.  Mmmmm.

And another one.  Just look at all that chunky goodness.

I let the wheat germ and raisins fool me into thinking these were healthy and perhaps ate a few more than I should have.  Ah well.  That just means I'll have to make them again!

*Just a side note.  I HATE coconut.  Hate hate hate it.  You know the scene in the movie, "Big" when he's eating caviar and spits it out?  That's me and coconut.  In this cookie, I didn't mind the coconut.  That's how much I like this cookie.

I think I'm taking a pass on next week's recipe.  Amy of Food, Family, and Fun chose the Chocolate Banded Ice Cream Torte, which looks amazing.  School will just be starting, I'm being a Baking Gal, and my hips are ever widening.  Something has to give.

Everything deserves adoration

I was skimming my local newspaper today when an ad caught my eye.  It was for the Holy Comforter Church.  The first time I read it, I saw Holey.

I wondered what their services were like.

A big bag 'o veggies and the husband's ice cream pick

More veggies!  It's like they keep bringing them every week or something.  This week's bag:  a giant tomato (salad tonight), green beans (roasted with olive oil and onions), blueberries, basil, and sweet corn (sauteed with zucchini).

Apparently, I stored the basil incorrectly, because it got all wilty.  Good thing I'm growing my own.  I've really enjoyed this experiment.  I'll admit that there were times that I just pitched stuff after letting it sit and moulder for a couple of weeks.  But we've tried and even liked some new veggies.

I'd never taken the corn off of a cob before.  It was amazingly easy.  I sauteed it in a little olive oil and butter and tossed in a zucchini from the previous week's bag.  A dash of salt and pepper and even the kids ate it!  The onions from tonight's dinner were from last week as well.  They added a nice flavor component to the beans.

We made the husband's ice cream today.  Honey with Toasted Sesame Seeds.  It was very creamy and I liked the sesame taste.  The honey was a bit much for me, but I'm not particularly a fan of honey.

I've already made next week's TWD.  I may have to make them again.  And again.  And again.

TWD: Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Yeah ice cream!  We love ice cream!  As a matter of fact, this has been quite the ice cream summer for us.  We broke out the Cuisinart, and each of us, in rotation, has chosen a "flavor of the week."  The husband was amenable and "chose" this flavor for one of his weeks.  Thanks!

This was another Dorie recipe that I really wanted to like.  I think the blueberry world conspired against me a little.  The sweetness and sheer blueberryness of the berries plays a huge factor in the finished product.  While mine was a lovely blue/purple color, it had a decidedly sour flavor.  The lemon zest and juice and sour cream were stronger flavors than the berries.  Bummer.  Mind you, we still ate it.  We're not that foolish.

As far as many Dorie recipes go, this one was pretty simple. There was minimal cooking, mixing, and dishes.  I made the mix the night before I churned it.  Just a plug here for the Cuisinart ice cream maker.  We've used it over and over this summer.  It's been great fun and it's amazingly easy to use.  All for under $50, too!

I may try this recipe again and cut down on the lemon portion.  I've also seen some successes with frozen berries.  If at first you don't succeed....

Here's a blurry shot of the ice cream with some whole berries that I popped in at the end.  Note the lovely purple color.

Here's a much less blurry shot of the scooped ice cream.  

Thanks to Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity  for choosing this week's recipe.  Next up:  Granola Grabbers courtesy of Michelle of Bad Girl Baking.  

My Favorite banana cake recipe

I was talking smack about Dorie's banana cake.  I said mine was superior.  Here's your opportunity to try it for yourself.  I've been making this cake since I was about 15.  I'm not even going to let you do the math to figure out how long ago that was.  It was the recipe that my brother's then girlfriend used.  It has become a staple.  I'm pretty sure that it's similar to any number of other banana cakes.  This one is just the one that works well for me.  Here it is:

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

1/2 c. shortening (I use butter)

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

3 bananas  (you can mash ahead of mixing if you'd like)

1 t. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

3/4 t. salt

1/2 c. buttermilk (or sour milk -- just add 1/2 t. vinegar to milk and let it sit)

12 oz of chips (I'll sometimes use a combo of chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch or toffee)

Cream the butter and shortening in ONE bowl.  Add the eggs one at a time.  Beat well after each addition.  Add the bananas to the bowl.  (I rarely mash them first.  I let the mixer do it for me)  Add the vanilla.  I add 2/3 c. flour, the salt and soda and blend.  Then half the milk.  Then 2/3 c. flour, and then the rest of the milk.  Then I add the last bit of flour.  ONE bowl.  I throw in any combination of chips.  To keep them from sinking, you can add them when you add the last bit of flour.  It coats them a little.

350 degree oven.  Greased 13 x 9.  Pour it in.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Baking time really depends on the size of your bananas. Watch for the top to be a really nice golden brown.  I will occasionally frost this cake, but mostly I just eat it out of the pan.

This version has chocolate and butterscotch chips.  It's so moist that it needs to be eaten with a fork.  Or, you could just lick your fingers.  A lot.  

See the knife just waiting in the pan?  That's so I can cut off little pieces every time I walk by.  If I don't have a big piece, there are no calories.  

Here's a profile picture.  You can see the butterscotch and chocolate chips.  Mmmmm.

And another close up.  The edges get all brown and caramely.  Mmmmmm.

So give this one a whirl.  You won't regret it!  Well, maybe your hips will.....

Enjoy!

TWD: Black and White Banana Loaf

For me, banana cake is fast, easy comfort food.  It's sort of the equivalent to Mickey and Judy saying, "Hey, I've got a barn!  Let's put on a show!"  and everything comes together quickly, easily, and everyone's happy in the end.  I say, "Hey, I have black bananas, let's make a cake!"  And then I throw it all together in a bowl, bake it, and everyone's happy in the end.  Then I eat it.  Perhaps while I'm making myself sound old while referring to movies made a very long time ago.  Anyway, my point is, banana cake is quick, accessible, and delicious.  Except when it's not.

See, black banana.  Ready for baking.

Ashlee of A Year in the Kitchen chose Dorie's Black and White Banana Loaf.  It was a good cake.  It tasted fine.  It looked good.  I didn't have the underbaking problem that lots of other bakers have.  Here's why I won't make it again, though.  It was very fussy.  In reading the recipe, Dorie calls for four separate bowls.  Four.  Plus the loaf pan, measuring spoons, rubber spatula, measuring cup, paddle attachment, and either an insulated baking sheet or two regular baking sheets.  That's just too much.  For me anyway.  And for my husband who does the dishes.  

My favorite banana cake with chocolate chips uses one bowl.  One.  (I'll post that recipe later this week)

Ok, so fine, it uses a lot of dishes.  If it was amazing, I could say, "So what if it uses a lot of dishes.  It's amazing!"  However, it wasn't.  It was good.  For me, it didn't have enough banana flavor.  I over-bananaed it as well.  It called for one and a half bananas, I used two large bananas.  The chocolate wasn't strong either.  It was a little muddied.  Mostly I just tasted sweet.

Here it is all swirly and ready to go into the oven.

Not so swirly anymore.  

The beauty shot.

Maybe I'm just used to my favorite recipe.  I don't know.  I like the moist banana cake with a hit of chocolate from the chips.  It was good that I tried another version.  Now I'm convinced I have the best recipe in my files already.

Ah well.  Upward and onward.  Next week:  Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream chosen by Dolores of Chronicles of Culinary Curiosity.

Big bag 'o veggies and other scintillating stuff

Another big bag 'o veggies was dropped off on my doorstep on Friday.  This one has arugula, beets, collards, Italian parsley, peaches, green beans, and summer squash.

Unfortunately, we're not eating at home much this week.  I'm trying to figure out some things I can do.  I used a  little of the parsley with dinner Friday (Rice and Orzo Pilaf), but I'm not cooking a real dinner again until Wednesday.  Hmmmmm.  The husband likes beets.  Maybe I'll cook some of those up so he can take them to lunch or something.  

I bought a panini press on e-bay the other day.  (Odd side note -- my spell check recognizes e-bay but not panini)  Perhaps some sandwiches with arugula?  I'm a little done with the collards.  They really require bacon to taste good, and then it's just all about picking out the bacon pieces.  Alright, maybe I'll try once more.

It's been glorious weather here.  Sunny and slightly warm.  We've try to be outside as much as possible.  As much, that is, when the kids can be lured away from our various electronics.  

My rhubarb seems to be growing.  It's still kinda short, but I see a little new growth at the base.  Anyone know what to do with it over the winter?  I'll have to research. 

I made that microwave chocolate cake for one last night for the kids.  Ok, cake for two.  It had a good taste but an odd texture that they didn't enjoy.  I'm sure it's from the microwave.  And now that I look at the recipe again, it could be from the 2 T. of vegetable oil I forgot to put in.  Ooops.

That's all the news that isn't (Thanks, Garrison!)  I'll be back on Tuesday with my Dorie recipe.

TWD: Summer Fruit Galette

Michelle from Michelle in Colorado Springs  did me a big favor this week.  See, I've been doing a lot of baking.  A lot of baking = a lot of dishes = a slightly grumpy husband.  (Hi honey!)  So when I saw this, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Pssst.  Over here.  Don't tell.  I made this a few weeks ago and took pictures!  Wasn't that lucky!

When we made the blueberry pie, I discovered that I had a lot of dough left over.  Viola!  I made a galette.  I didn't strictly make the galette as Dorie had it written.  Let's just call it being creative.  It had nothing to do with lazy.

The crust was already made and had been in the fridge overnight.  I rolled it out on my Silpat, and then transferred it to a baking sheet.  I layered on some ginger rhubarb jam, some cookie crumbs, and then some strawberries.  I sprinkled on a little coarse sugar.

Here it is all pleated and ready to go into the oven.

And here it is, done, golden brown and delicious.  I ate it for dessert that night.  And then I'm pretty sure it was breakfast the next morning.

This is such a great way to use up extra dough and/or fruit.  Since it's free form, it's very forgiving.  I'd make it again in a heartbeat.  One of these days I'll try the official version with the custard.

Coming next week:  Ashlee of A Year in the Kitchen chose the Black and White Banana Loaf.  Again, really good timing!  I have bananas that are begging to be baked.

David Lebovitz is a genius

I had plenty of left over cherries from last week's Dorie recipe.  And while I have been eating a lot of them, I needed to find a recipe for the rest.  As stated last week, I don't like baked cherries.  So, what to do?  Enter David Lebovitz and his No-Recipe Cherry Jam  This stuff is amazing!  I followed the no recipe, and it actually turned out!  I had to test it four different times until it was done.  Now I know what it looks like, so I'm set if I want to make it again.  My only question is, can I do this with other fruit?  I have no pictures because I was busy stirring, but if you go to David's website and check out the recipe, mine looks exactly like that.  Exactly.

The big bag 'o veggies for the week is pretty much gone!  I made home made coleslaw yesterday using a recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  It was meh.  It wasn't nearly creamy enough, so I ended up dumping some ranch dressing that I had made into it.  Still meh but with a ranch taste.  The chard was cooked with bacon, so, that was good.  According to Jim Gaffigan bacon is the BEST FOOD EVER.  I tend to agree.

I'm ready to post all about my galette.  See you tomorrow!

I'm behind. It's two week's worth of big bag 'o veggies.

I realize that I never talked about last week's veggies.  That's because I didn't really end up using them.  I didn't cook a lot this past week.  And these veggies didn't hold a lot of appeal for me.  Last week's offerings:  arugula, beets, chard, saute mix, fennel, and Korean zucchini.  I'm actually getting around to the zucchini tonight.  I think I'll toss a little fennel into our salad as well.  The rest of them, I think, are a little wilty and meant for compost.  Sorry.

This week was much more useful to me.  We got broccoli, cucumber, cabbage, basil, chard, and blueberries.  The broccoli and cucumber are going to be part of tonight's dinner.  The blueberries gave their little blue lives to make blueberry sour cream ice cream.  I'm growing basil, so we are long on basil.  I may toss a little into tonight's salad and then make pesto with the rest.  It freezes nicely.  I'm also growing tomatoes this summer.  Now all I need is a little mozzarella, and I'm set.  Can I grow that?   The chard and cabbage look to be on the menu Sunday.  Maybe I'll try some home made cole slaw.  I've never done that before. 

Tonight I'm hosting my friends for scrapbooking.  It seems that I only scrap anymore when people come to me.  Someone in my house might say that that's because I have too much scrap crap.  Of course, I don't agree.  There's no such thing as too much.  So what if I'm two years behind...

On another crafty note, I recently finished a sweater that I started in May.  I'll take pictures soon and show you all my handiwork.

Have a lovely weekend.