Buh-buh-buh Blackberry Pie!

Whoa - talk about a neglected blog. But, interspace followers, if it makes you feel any better, I haven't really been doing any baking either.

This past Sunday changed all of that when I baked my FIRST pie crust without the helping hands of my mom. A flaky crust, blackberry filling and lots of compliments all around means I guess I did a good job.

The crust was crazy simple, and I only refrigerated it for about two and a half hours (which was almost a little long). I split it apart and used two-thirds of the down for the bottom and one-third for the lattice work on top.

The pie itself was also super easy, and I even used frozen blackberries. I was a little afraid they would be flavorless, but none of my taste testers could even tell :)

This blog might see quite a bit more action in the coming weeks/months as my roommate's friend runs a coffee shop and he's looking for people to bake goodies for customers. But freelancing, nannying, applying for Teach For America and now volunteering for the Sustainable Food Center might be enough for my plate right now.

Happy baking!

Granola Goodness

So my new full-time writing job means less time for blogging.... and even fewer spare moments for baking. But, a 45-minute commute also means I want a breakfast that I can take with me. And that's where my newest baking adventure was born - homemade granola bars!

After doing just a brief world wide web search, I narrowed it down to three recipes. The first one I tried two weeks ago, but unfortunately didn't take pictures of. The bars turned out great (they tasted more like dessert than breakfast), but they didn't keep me as full as I would have liked. They were also pretty crumbly, something I attribute to my use of Chex cereal. The recipe can be found here - an excellent, healthy treat for peanut butter lovers :)And the use-any-cereal step means that their are infinite variations on this simple recipe.

This week, I moved on to my next recipe. With more flax seed (I used it instead of the called for wheat germ) and no peanut butter, I hope these will prove healthier and more filling. I haven't breakfast-tested them yet, but the sample taste proved promising. I like that these bars have more fruit (which is purely based on my trying to finish off the bag).

Tip: nuts and dried fruit can be on the more expensive side, and since this endeavor was mostly taken on to save money, that was a bit of a bummer. To save the dough, I bought a bag of mixed nuts and dried fruit for $4. In the first recipe I was able to keep them mixed, and in the second I had to separate them, but it really wasn't a pain. Definitely worth the $4-$5 it saved me!

The next recipe I try will be this one, but that won't be for a few weeks (off to NYC Feb. 17!). Care to try it and report back?

Does anyone have any granola bar recipes they've tried and loved? I'm particularly into ones that have common ingredients (again, for saving the green), but I'm sure there are some great variations with unique ingredients.

Happy baking!

Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins

Hello all! This is the first Austin-based post! After taking a month (and change) to settle in, I'm back on the baking bandwagon. What better way to win the hearts (and stomachs) of some co-workers than by bringing in sweet treats?

Pumpkin-inspired deliciousness is the best part of fall, so I was eager to try a new recipe with some old favorites: chocolate and pumpkin (and the organic stuff was cheaper than the regular!).

I stumbled upon this recipe from a blog I've used before, the pioneer woman. She updates more often than me (though I'm going to work on that...) and has some great recipes.

The muffins were just as easy as they sound, and my new roommate's kitchen aid mixer made the job easier than pumpkin pie. One amendment: instead of doing the whole "add half the chocolate chips, then top with the other half" gig, just roll as many chocolate chips as you desire in about a 1/2 a cup of flour. Then dump the lot into a collander or sifter and sift the flour into the trash. Coating any ingredient will prevent it from falling to the bottom of a cake-y creation (muffin, cupcake, cake, etc.).

Oh, and thanks to the new laptop and its webcam(my mac of 5 years had a swift death just 20 minutes before I had to do an interview...), I'll be able to provide more photos!

Happy baking!

Chocolate bday mousse!

So it has been brought to my attention that I've been a little lazy with the blog posting. I guess the fact that my last post was 4 months ago kinda answers that question. But with two vacations, four birthdays (including my own), a sibling graduation AND preparing to move at the beginning of August, I've been pretty busy. Oh, and don't forget that I work for two families, as well as freelance. But, on to the business at hand...

This past Saturday, my family celebrated my sister's 28th bday and I was in charge of dessert. Thought it wasn't a surprise (my sister helped me plan it), she and the rest of the family loved it! I made the chocolate mousse from the back of the Jello sugar free chocolate pudding box (recipe below). From there it was a 6 step process:

1) Crack a butter cookie into two or three pieces and place a the bottom of a glass (I used martini glasses because they were on hand and prettier, but unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo).
2) Put two to three heaping tablespoons of mousse on top of crackers.
3) Next, place a dollop of whipped cream or cool whip on top.
4) Sprinkle crushed butter cookie crumbs over top.
5) Grate chocolate shavings over it (I used dark, as requested).
6) Place four or five berries around the edge (I used raspberries and blackberries).

It was delicious!

Jello Chocolate Mousse Recipe

1 box of Jello Sugar Free Instant Chocolate Pudding
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 squares of baking chocolate
1/2 cup cool whip

Place baking chocolate and 1 cup milk in a large bowl, and microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Add pudding packet and remainder of milk, and beat for two minutes. Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes to cool. Mix in cool whip just before serving.

Happy baking!

Whipped up in minutes....

I love potlucks. Hosting them, attending them or even just hearing about a great, plentiful potluck makes me happy. Last-minute invites can pose a bit of a problem, but trying to come up with something yummy sans a trip to the store is one of my favorite challenges.

Yesterday my roommates and I were invited to a friend's house for another fantastic feast. And just as I was thinking of when I would make it to the store around my work schedule, I remembered: I have a can of Pillsbury crescent rolls in my fridge! Note: After this little baking success, I will be keeping a can of these on hand like flour and water.

So I thought through my other ingredients and came up with: Mini Apple Turnovers Drizzled with Chocolate. Unfortunately I don't have a photo, but my finger-licking friends can vouch for the deliciousness that were these pastries. I simply chopped up a red apple, then sliced each crescent dough triangle in half. I spread a small amount of butter on the inside of the dough, drop a teaspoon full of chopped apple on it and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Then I folded the two corners over and followed the baking directions from the can. I let the mini-turnovers cool just a bit, then I drizzled about two or three tablespoons of melted chocolate chips over them. Warm and doughy, with a slight hint of chocolate and a crunch from the apple (not entirely melted)= very good!

This recipe could certainly be altered-- put pretty much ANYTHING inside a crescent roll and you're bound to get compliments.

Happy baking!

Not-so-sweet treat, but just as delish

Though this blog is mostly devoted to the lovely world of baking, I will from time to time actually cook. That being said, I want to share with all of you intertron-fans my savory successes as well!

The other night I made a chicken and dumpling recipe that was the easiest AND most home-y, warms-the-soul-on-a-cold-night meal I'm made in a long time. The recipe can be found here, though I only used the dumpling portion. My friend and I shredded a small, pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the store. We also added green beans (there has to be SOMETHING healthy going on here...).

Might I add, the most fun part of this meal (besides the eating and the tons of leftovers) was slicing the dough with a pizza cutter.

Any other great variations on chicken and dumplings?

Valentine's Day portraits!

Here's just a sampling of the adorableness....

Chocolate Sweethearts!

For the cutesy V-day party my roomies and I threw last night, I decided to make a Martha Stewart recipe: Chocolate Sweethearts. Now, normally, Martha's concoctions are adorable and ever-so-themed, but there's just too much detail involved. But this recipe turned out great!

Find it here.

I had to substitute chocolate chips for cocoa, which I thought would make it super sweet. But, I cut down on the chocolate pieces and the sweetness was just right. Subtle, with a great after taste (and a true relief next to all the other super sweet desserts).

And I have no photo of my own, but I guarantee mine where just as cute as Martha's. And some shots of our adorable V-day portrait area will arrive shortly!

Happy Baking!

Katie-Kelsey-Kupcake-Katastrophe

photo: World's Largest Cupcake by none-other than Duff Goldman, the owner of Charm City Cakes and featured on Ace of Cakes, the Food Network show. (photo courtesy of delish.com)
This past Saturday, my roommate Katie and I ventured into the world of cupcakes sans papers for a friend's birthday party. Greased tins? yes. Successful? Not so much. After peeling away 18 cupcakes by hand to find a soft and extremely messy outer layer, we realized these could not be served. Not as cupcakes, anyway.

So, we smushed them into a casserole dish and iced the top. Oh, and distracted from the gaps by adding heart-shaped strawberries, cookie crumbles and chocolate covered coffee beans. And we called it a cake.

Lesson learned: do NOT use Crisco. For anything (at least, that's my theory.).

The chocolate icing was what was truly to-die for; recipe to be posted soon.

best wishes in your baking endeavors!

I've been busy?

Long time, no update! Ah well, it's been pretty crazy with graduation, the holidays and a niece's birthday. I almost lost my baking touch (gasp!) but I think it may have been salvaged in the last week. My most recent baking exploits:

- Thanksgiving: a chocolate meringue pie. It was my first time baking a pie (though not a first for the pie crust), and my first time making meringue. The recipe looked easy enough, but I think it should have been more specific as far as how long to let the chocolate mixture go on the stove. My chocolate never thickened, even after freezing. The meringue, while delicious, also didn't spread well, so it looked like little icebergs of meringue floating on a chocolate ocean. Delicious according to all and completely devoured by the end of the night, but a bit of a failure in my opinion.

- Pre-Christmas: sugar cookies. The dough was made by my sister and I did the rolling and cutting (very soothing). The cookies themselves weren't sweet enough, but her icing compensated. The only problem was that the icing wouldn't harden, allowing you to stack the cookies. So when I decorated cookies with friends, I made a new icing that advertised itself as perfect for cookies because it hardens quickly. One problem: way too much crisco! It was all you could taste and the tupperware containers were impossible to clean with all that grease! It was good fun though (see picture), as was making creative and hip ornaments for my friends' tree.

- Christmas: Snowball cake. Another fantastic success thanks to Kraft Foods! The recipe was about as simple as it gets, but super delicious with the cream cheese surprise and crunchy coconut. The cake also comes out super moist.

- Soup night: rosemary bread. My first-ever bread and it got rave reviews. A great accompaniment to any soup, this bread is supposed to be an imitation of Macaroni Grill's bread, though most people said its better. I would recommend this recipe to anyone, first-time bread makers or seasoned bakers!

Will do my best to keep up with the blog. Now that I'm done with school (!!!), I'll have a lot more time to try new recipes. A delicious basket of cookies could be just the trick to getting that new job....

Great video for holiday baking

Beginning Bakers slide show!

Easy-peezy Biscuits

Energized from my run this morning, I whipped up some love-ly biscuits (pun intended). They were so easy (box mix and milk) that I don't think this can really be considered baking. The mixing was easy enough, but the trouble came when I had to roll them out. The batter was way to sticky, so I added loads of flour----- and ended up with flour-covered biscuits. They were still tasty, though, especially with some butter or jam. Enjoy the photos!

CARROT CAKE!

Today I had the honor of baking what could be the best-ever carrot cake recipe. It was the perfect ending to a surprise Grandma's-birthday dinner. Here's the recipe; I recommend it to all! Oh, and pictures should be coming soon...

Homemade thin mints... always a good idea

Roomies and I embarked on a mission to outwit those money-swindling Girl Scouts (no hard feelings, I was one of them for a time) and make our OWN thin mints. First a side note: let me establish that thin mints are the best Girl Scout cookie. I too like Samoas and Tag-a-longs (though there are way too few in a box), but all that chocolate chip and Do-Si-Do business is a waste of time; if you are buying Girl Scout cookies, you are buying thin mints.
Moving on.... So, the recipe seemed surprisingly easy. The only additional ingredients we needed were peppermint extract (of which I'm sure I will never be able to use up, as this recipe only called for 3/4 of a teaspoon) and dark chocolate. We just mixed the dough, rolled it into logs and popped them into the freezer for an hour. Then we sliced, baked and dipped them into the dark chocolate.
They came out delicious and a little richer than regular thin mints, which has made them last a little longer in a four-girl household. Our only mistake was cutting the cookies a little too thick, which left them with less crunch than the green-boxed variety. Oh, and the recipe can be found here (along with other Girl Scout cookie recipes). Good luck with yours!

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate frosting

A few weekends ago, I was helping my mom prepare for a family dinner when I offered to make the cake. She pulled out an old family recipe and set me to work, approving the amount of batter, the taste of my frosting and the done-ness of the cake. It was in that last step that things went wrong.
See, when the timer for the cake went off, I removed the pan from the oven and stuck a toothpick in it--- a toothpick that came out almost clean. Instead of trusting my instinct and sticking it back in, I asked my mom about whether she thought it was done. "Yeah, it's good," she announced after scanning the toothpick and looking at the cake on the counter.
A few hours later, however, as she started to slice and dice it, we discovered that the entire middle was mushy. Let's just consider this a lesson in not being lazy. Next time, I'll spend a few more minutes in the kitchen so that we can actually enjoy more cake.

My first entry!

Hello out there, all you blog-reading cyber space people! Welcome to my blog and my very first post (I know, surprising for a journalism senior). It may have taken me a while, but I've made it--- creating my very first blog on a topic near-and-dear to my heart: baking!
I suppose my fascination with baking started when I was young, though I've only recently begun to cultivate it. My mom has been slipping in a hint there and a secret tip there every time I've helped her make a batch of brownies or chocolate chip cookies. I suppose my love of chocolate, my spare time during Sunday afternoons in the summer and all those tips have added up to one thing: a love of baking. Though I don't get around to it as often as I would like, I love any excuse to make baking a priority. For my mom's birthday last weekend I made her a cranberry ricotta cheesecake that she loves (though I have quite a few of my own alterations: a store-bought graham cracker crust and canned cranberry sauce taste just as good), and my sister received a strawberry and vanilla creme cake for her birthday in July (pictured up top).
One thing that makes me completely different, I think, when it comes to baking is that I:

• Sometimes like things quick and easy
• Sometimes like things to be challenging and long
• Sometimes like a back-of-the-box recipe
• Sometimes like my grandmother's 50-year-old scribbled recipe

What's most important to me about the final product is also sometimes different. Often I just want something tasty (and probably chocolate), while other times I am working to master a new recipe or give a family member what they've really been craving. The only thing that stays constant in my baking is me!

So welcome and I hope you enjoy my adventures in baking!

p.s.- Did you guess the motivation behind the title of this blog? Only a fabulous biking movie, Breaking Away, from 1979 with a young (and hot) Dennis Quaid :).