Whole meyer lemon tart

I've got a few recipes that I've made but haven't blogged about yet thanks to being sick for a week. So this is going to be short, sweet, and a little tart. 

Well, if you've been reading here you'll remember that I recently bought and tried meyer lemons.  Since that first time I've purchased more and made this whole lemon tart I saw on Smitten Kitchen. It was very good and one of the twins, Devon absolutely loved it.  I know some people commented  on Deb's blog and mentioned that it didn't go well for them but I didn't have any issues and it was my first time making tart (or pie) crust.  I did find the recipe for the crust a bit confusing but in the end it worked out.  I made my tart in the rectangular tart pan that I received for Christmas this year which means my crust was thicker than what it would have been had I used the proper sized pan.

Next up will be meyer lemon curd but first photos of a dessert (a  kinda charlotte, trifle thingy) I made.  I won't post the recipe (there wasn't one) to as it was pretty but just okay nothing that you couldn't whip up on your own (& probably even better).

FYI~ the lemon tart photos are courtesy of my sitter, Miss Karolyn! 

Technorati Tags: lemon,tart,strawberries,trifle

Late for the Suppa Club

This was due a couple of weeks ago but unfortunately I got sick and then time got away from me.  I made it right away but never got around to posting it.  Better late than never. 

Siri from the blog the Transplanted Baker was this round's hostess.  The two choices she gave us were Greek Pastitsio (pasta and lamb casserole) and Chicken Salsa Chili.  Chicken Salsa Chili won.

It was very good.  The kids liked it and the twins finished it off after school the following day. I didn't really change much. I didn't use canned tomatillos because I couldn't find any so I used fresh. 

Banana cake w/praline filling and white chocolate ganache frosting

You may have recognized the title as the cake that the group The Cake Slice  made and revealed at the end of January.  After  drooling over the photos, reading the name of it, and hearing how wonderful it was I was convinced I need to take the plunge and try my hand at the cake.  Except for the Snickerdoodle cake it would be my most  from scratch cake. 

I followed the recipe as this was not the time to try modifying anything . Overall everything went smoothly.  My one and only mishap was over beating the whip cream after I added in the white chocolate.  

This is another one of those desserts I have mixed emotions on.  On Tuesday when I tried it, well, lets just say if it wasn't because it would have killed me to toss out a whole cake I wouldn't even have mixed emotions.  That first night it was flat out NOT good.  I couldn't have been more disappointed.  I had made the cake layers on Sunday, on Monday I candied the nuts, and on Tuesday made the frosting and put it all together.  I think  I should have made the nuts first then the layers, and while the layers were cooling the frosting & filling.  Oh, well.  Anyway the following day the kids and sitter tried the cake and liked enough to finish most of it up.  On the third day remembering my experience with Ina's Lemon Yogurt Cake I decided to give it another go.  It was edible.  It was okay and I could tell that it had potential but it still wasn't something the impressive cake delish cake I was hoping for.  I actually have the third layer that I froze right away instead of using.  I'm going to give the frosting and filling another go but with a few changes.  Lindsey at Cafe Johnsonia wrote me a great email detailing how I might have gone wrong and what I could do the next time.  I had left her a comment on her post of this cake telling her of my dilemma.  Maybe at a later date I might try the cake itself again.

Btw, notice the improved photography?  Nice, right?!  The children's sitter and my official taste tester, Karolyn took the photos.  I took some too but deleted them after she sent me hers.   She rocks!

**Thanks for all the get well wishes.  I'm not 100% but I am feeling A LOT better!!!!!

LiveJournal Tags: bananas,cake balls,ganache,pralines,white chocolate,frosting

Sick...

I've been sick but I'm finally feeling a bit better. I'm hoping to catch up on my reading, commenting, and posting in the next several days. Hope everyone else is doing well!

She says brownies, I say blondies!

Miss Bunny from the blog, Bunny's Warm Oven mentioned in an email that she had a peanut butter brownie recipe that she thought my family would enjoy.  She also said that it was made in one pot!  The idea of dirtying only one pot had me making a batch that night for the Twins' baseball practice.  It didn't hurt either that Bunny recommended them.  Folks, Bunny, I'm sorry but these aren't brownies.  They're blondies!  Peanut butter blondies and they are GOOD.  Better than good.  I've already made them two times and I'm thinking about making up another batch.  Besides being terrific these bars were quick and easy to put together!  

I followed the recipe with my only change being instead of using vanilla extract I used vanilla bean paste. I really like how blondies taste using it instead of regular extract. I also tested my blondies (not brownies) two minutes earlier than called for and took them out when the tooth pick still had a few moist crumbs clinging to it. They were purrrrfect!  I hid a few for a photo shoot when I had a moment and they were still moist and yummy.  I actually (third day) warmed up the last one in the microwave and topped it with some Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream.  I don't even know how to describe just how good it was.  

   

I don't have photos but I also made this recipe which I saw on Bakerella.  The brownie part was good, nice and moist but I the "cookie" was dry. Unlike Bakerella I didn't add a frosting.  If you click here you'll see that Nikki of Pennies on a Platter  also made them but used peanut butter cookie dough instead of chocolate chip cookie. 

FYI~ Sorry if I haven't stopped by and commented.  I've been crazy busy! Both Twins had a project due tomorrow and one of the Twins has TWO MORE due THIS Friday.  Oh and in case you were wondering two of the three projects were just given this past Monday.  After Friday things should settle back down & I'll catch up on my reading & commenting.

LiveJournal Tags: bars,brownies,blondies,chocolate,peanut butter

Meyer lemons & what to make?

Earlier this month I raved about a great "grocery" store I found called The Fresh Market.  In that post I mentioned that I finally found and bought meyer lemons.  Yay, now what to make!?  There are an amazing amount of lemon recipes floating out there, several of which I thought to try. (click here to see a meyer lemon recipe round up which I didn't find until after I used my lemons!) The problem I kept running into was that I didn't buy enough lemons.  I only bought three!  One of the things I thought to make but was secretly glad I didn't have enough lemons for was lemon curd!  (click to see the gorgeous lemon curd by Sweet Charity Pie) It goes back to being a scaredy cat baker!  During the course of my "research" there was recipe that I couldn't shake. It was Ina Garten's Lemon Yogurt  Cake  that I had previously seen on a few blogs (in 2008).  The blog, Picky Cook had made a grapefruit version of Ina's recipe and while I wasn't using grapefruits I couldn't get her photos out of my head.

Meyer Lemon Yogurt Cake and mixed emotions.  I'm not certain how I feel  about it.  While the recipe was easy enough  I did have to adjust a few things in order to make it.  Unfortunately, I didn't have extra large eggs and  I didn't have the full amount of plain yogurt.  (lesson learned... read recipes slowly and carefully!)  Because I have grown some what as a baker, I forged on and made what I thought was the best adjustments.  They were as follows instead of three extra large eggs I used four large ones.  For the 8 ounces of plain yogurt I used 6 ounces and added 2 ounces of sour cream. Feeling proud of myself I completed the recipe and had a taste once it cooled and was glazed!  Nope, didn't really like it.  I'm not sure why. It was very moist, almost overly so.  As for the kids they ate it, no complaints and one of the Twins really enjoyed it. He made certain to eat his share which is unusual for him as he often only gives my desserts a try leaving the lions' share for his twin. Day two, I cut myself a tiny sliver, taste, okay, this is not bad.  I cut myself a bigger slice.  Day three, hmm, there's still a slice left albeit a thick one, cut it in half, taste. Hey, this is actually really good.  Weird, did my changes noticeably effect the outcome or is this one of those desserts that needs to sit for a day or so before you eat it?  Okay, I just remembered I might have made another booboo.  I read somewhere that if you'd like a pretty seam on top of your cakes baked in a loaf pan take a knife and run it down the center.  I tried the tip; again, I don't know if it was my adjustments to the recipe but the seam while pretty did not rise up above the pan until much later during the course of its baking time. Instead the edges did which (I think) lead to their over browning!  In order to truly see if it was me or not.  I need to make this again following the recipe!

Here's a photo of my babygirl...check out her sleeve thingies (not sure what they're called).  When I asked how everyone liked her outfit she said that they liked the "sleeves" best.  She's a trendsetter! LOL!

 

 

LiveJournal Tags: lemon,pound cake

Lipsmacking goodness is right!

A couple of weeks when I blogged about making my Butterscotch Marshmallow  Brownies with Butterscotch Ganache Lori left me a comment about having an amazing butterscotch bar recipe.  Well, I wasn't about to let her get off teasing me like that so I demanded, er commented that I would love to have the recipe.  Ask and you shall receive!   That very same day she blogged about them and posted the recipe.  She was right these bars are A-mazing!  We loved them! (I don't count Babygirl's opinion because she just likes to be difficult! Paybacks...for those of you who do not have children and intend to someday hope you were good!)  Okay, now listen to this name, Browned Butter Oat Bars!  I don't know about you but once I read browned butter I was done!  That name has something for everyone. For those of you who are on a health kick you have oats.  LOL!  And the "bars" part of the name appeals to those of us who want easy.

         

I have another yummy recipe coming from a fellow blogger. It's baking as we speak.  While I haven't tasted it yet it's smells great! Stay tuned!

LiveJournal Tags: oats,butterscotch,bars,browned butter

Peanut Butter Mousse Bars

I LOVED this dessert!  With that said I have to tell you a something about myself.  I'm not a fan of chocolate or peanut butter.  I won't eat peanut butter on it's own and well, unlike many I don't go gaga over chocolate.  Yeah, I'll eat a brownie if it's been kicked up a notch but that's about it for me.  If and when a recipe calls for chocolate I use  dark and when I can, I'll leave it out all together.  Here's where I'm  really strange.  I like peanut butter and chocolate together.  A lot which is why (along with yummy pictures) I decided to give this a try.   

I initially was going to make this to bring to the Twins' baseball practice, but I ran out of time and made them Cheater Snicker Brownies instead.  Am glad I ran out of time!  I would have gotten one little piece had I brought them to baseball. Greedy but true!  This was soooo good!  And I LOVED the peanut butter mousse!  It was "lick the bowl" good!  I wanted to but I restrained myself and used the spatula to get every last little bit of it.

 Okay, back to this delish bars.   Another thing I loved about the bars was how lovely they looked after cutting them.  You can clearly see the contrasting layers.  The ganache topping didn't  harden up so much that it cracked when cut making for a smoother cut.

This bar recipe comes to you courtesy of Dianne's Dishes who as you may remember is my blogging Mama!  Please check her out she has  a lot of great recipes, including gluten free ones, and healthier ones for those of you making a lifestyle change.  You want bread ?  She's got bread! Take a look!

On another note:  Baseball did not go as well as we would have liked this weekend.  We won both our games yesterday but lost today's which was the one that mattered.  The Twins' personally did NOT have their best stuff though Jalen did a good job pitching.  In 1 & 2/3 innings he struck out 4, walked 2, hit a batter, gave up only 1 hit & did not give up a run. We ended up 2 & 1.

LiveJournal Tags: peanut butter,chocolate,peanuts,mousse,graham crackers,ganache,bars,brownies