My older brother told me at Thanksgiving that he really really really (really) was craving some lemon bars. Since his birthday was this past Tuesday I agreed to make some for him – but I didn’t get around to it until today.
They’re in the oven at the moment, but they smell pretty good. I love things that are tart, so these are one of my favorite treats. This recipe is from the Better Homes and Garden’s cookbook.
Last night I had some co-workers over for a holiday dinner party. I made the focaccia, artichoke dip, ham, latkes, meatless lasagne AND vegan lasagne, apple pie (also vegan) and cheesecake.
As you can tell by the list of foods, I had a vegetarian and a vegan in the crowd.
I decided that there HAD to be an easy way to make a vegan lasagne, so I did my internet research. Turns out it actually is pretty easy, provided you have the right ingredients. The vegan was impressed and ate the whole (small) lasagne. She kept going back for more. While I was making it, I sent a text to my friend Greg to tell him and Christina (they’re vegan). I was asked to let them know how it turned out and to pass on the recipe.
I made about 1/3 of a normal size lasagne, but I’m including the list for a full-size.
Enjoy!
The original recipe (found in Perfect Baking a recipe book that I procured from TJ Maxx!) is actually with roasted cherry tomatoes, basil, and crispy pancetta – something that I’m sure would make Giada proud. Instead of going with the pancetta, I drizzled the final product with a balsamic reduction that matched perfectly with the herbs and tomato.
I made this for Thanksgiving (I was in charge of salad, bread, and desert – of course) and it was a HUGE hit.
This might be one of my personal favorite recipes, and it was a really easy one to boot.
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There are few foods that are generally accepted Thanksgiving traditions. I think pecan pie and pumpkin pie are two of those foods. The interns where I work are required to work every day this week, except for Thursday. I know they work very very hard, so I wanted to make them a special treat for Turkey Day. What could be better than pecan pie? For the record, it’s pronounced pecaaaaaaaaaaaahn, not peecan.
A few years ago, my friend Sarah made me “Derby Pie” a variation of pecan pie using bourbon and chocolate chips. I didn’t think to get her recipe before I decided that I wanted to make a pecan pie. I did a little bit of research and found what might be the easiest receipe for a pie EVER.
It’s currently baking in my oven, and let me tell you, it smells AWESOME.
In addition to the apple cake I made for Dawn’s birthday, I baked her a loaf of French Bread.
The recipe I used came from the Better Homes and Garden’s cookbook (page 147).
French Bread
5 1/2 to 6 cups flour
2 packages yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups warm water
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 tbsp water
1. Stir together 2 cups for flower, yeast, and salt. Add warm water and mix on a low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat at a higher speed for 3 minutes, then stir in as much of the remaining flour as possible.
2. Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead. Knead in as much flour as you need to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic – it takes about 10 minutes. Shape dough in to a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl – turning once to grease dough surface. Cover and let rises in a warm place until double in size (an hour).
3. Punch dough down, then turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface and divide dough in half. Let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal.
4. Roll each dough half in to a 15 x 10 rectangle. Tightly roll up, starting from the long side, pinching the seam to seal well. Place dough seam down on to baking sheet. Mix together egg white and water and bruch some over the loaves of bread. Let rise until nearly double (45 minutes).
5. Preheat oven to 375. Make three or four diagonal cuts about 1/4″ deep across each loaf top. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and brush more of the egg wash, then continue baking for another 15 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Immediately remove loaves from baking sheet and cool on wire racks.
Not gonna lie, but that cake was AMAZING. It kinda tasted like an apple pie – in cake form.
Sorry there are no pictures uploaded on the last few posts – I’ve been meaning to tell you all out there (in the blog-o-sphere) that my camera is a little sad and broken. Pictures to return as soon as I get my camera fixed.
This is a recipe of my own creation. My intern is celebrating her birthday tomorrow, so I wanted to cook for her. All of the interns where I work are full-time interns who make (significantly) less than minimum wage. She always talks about how much she likes my chili, so I’m making her some of that, some bread (focaccia? french? I’m not sure yet), and a cake.
Originally I was going to make the Apple Cake a few pages down, but I was short some of the ingredients (butter, orange juice), so I decided to take a yellow cake mix (I used Pillsbury) and doctor it up some, then layer it with apples.
AND to make it even better, I decided to try to add a graham cracker crust. Since the mix was the beginning of the recipe, it was an easy cake to make. The hardest part was peeling and coreing the apples.
I’m calling this a “Break of Dawn” cake for two reasons: it’d be good for breakfast (apples are fruit after all) and my intern’s name is Dawn.
I’ll let you all know how it turns out tomorrow after we eat it. All of the measurments are approximate, but I think I have a good idea of what they are.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: nothing beats the smell of bread rising and baking. It smells like home and comfort.
Whenever I find myself starting to feel stressed out, I bake . Whenever I want to impress someone, I bake. Whenever I am feeling twitchy or just plain bored, I bake.
Tonight I wanted to bake bread, and was planning on making focaccia, but my boyfriend got excited when I said I’d make cinnamon swirl bread. He LOVES this bread. The first time I made it, he ate practically the whole loaf when it came out of the oven. It’s great for snacking or french toast!
Mine is currently on its first rise, so I wanted to post the recipe while I wait.
OH.
MY.
GOSH.
When I first saw THIS and THIS, I tried to figure out a reason to make them. Luckily yesterday at work presented a tremendous opportunity – a Halloween pot-luck brunch.
Though mine didn’t turn out as lovely as the ones on Baked Perfection or Bakerella, but they were a huge hit. Since it was my first time, I ended up making some “mummies heads” complete with little chocolate eyeballs. The recipe makes a TON of balls, but they’re so rich it’s hard to eat more than one or two. This will make a wonderful addition to a desert tray – just adapt the color of cake and/or chocolate to match the season/holiday.
The picture isn’t the best, but I think they’re cute!
A FEW NOTES: This recipe calls for a cake, and you can use any kind, but I ended up using a boxed mix from Pillisbury. I didn’t use my mixer at all, and as a penance to myself, I mixed the yellow cake by hand. In the spirit of Halloween, I used food coloring to make the cake orange. If you want to color your chocolate, DO NOT use water based dyes – they will ruin the chocolate. You must use colorings created specifically for candy making.
Happy *Halloween* Baking!
The recipe:
