Quarte-Quarts - French Fridays with Dorie

I think I'm missing my weekly night away at symphony rehearsal (we're on break right now) because by the time Thursday night hits each week, I'm feeling like I need a break or some me-time.  I actually kind of saved this recipe for Thursday night.  I knew I didn't have anything going on and that hubby & I could put the kids to bed and enjoy some fresh-out-of-the-oven cake before bed last night.

We hurried home last night specifically to watch American Idol (I used to be a big fan, but haven't watched for several years now) because it was in PITTSBURGH last night and I'm a fan of all things Pittsburgh!!  After we watched an hour of American Idol, hubby took the kids upstairs for the bedtime routine and by the time they came to find me for our nightly family prayers, my cake was done & in the oven.  So thank you to Dorie for another recipe that was quick, easy, and uses ingredients we all keep on-hand.  There were some options with the recipe ... I made mine with vanilla (probably about 2 tsp - I just poured) and I sprinkled a healthy tablespoon of brown sugar on top of the cake before it went into the oven.

Usually my oven bakes things on the quick side, but I ended up baking this cake for longer than the suggested time.  After it cooled for about 20 minutes, it came right out of the pan and Hubby & I each enjoyed a barely warm piece with sliced strawberries.

I am usually of the thinking that if cake doesn't have chocolate, it's not worth my time or the calories.  Not the case with the quarte-quarts!!!  I loved it!!!

Loved the melted, crunchy brown sugar on top.

Loved the simple yet comforting taste & texture.

Delish!  Will definitely make again to go with berries. 

Think I'll make it in a square pan next time....

One more quick story.  

The mama came down this morning to take photos of a yummy cake, and what did she find .... a little "mouse" had been into her cake!

She caught the culprit and he curled up on the counter-top to cry...

The mama felt bad for roaring like a lion at the little mouse, so she quickly grabbed one of his favorite foods out of the fridge ... strawberries.

The strawberries helped. 

The End.

Black & White Creme Brulee

After trying Dorie's recipe last week for creme brulee, I was excited to try more creme brulee recipes ... easy, yummy, and they save well in the fridge!  I came across a recipe for black & white creme brulee ... creme brulee with chocolate mousse on top.

Both the creme brulee and mouse were easy to make, but this is a project that you'll have to plan for because the creme brulee has to sit in the fridge overnight before topping it with the mousse and then the mousse sat in the fridge overnight before serving it.

My family of five enjoyed this new concoction and a lot of my extended family tried & enjoyed it as well.  I liked the idea, but I personally liked Dorie's creme brulee recipe better (this recipe had a lot more eggs ... too eggy for me) and I'm certain I've had better mousse recipes as well ... think I'll try David Lebovitz or someone else's next time.  

Instead of making 6 individual creme brulee's, I made one large one in a tart pan.  When I went to take a photo, this is what I found ....

Creme Brulee - French Fridays with Dorie

I was so sad when I noticed that I missed Dorie's creme brulee in the busy month of December.  I've never made creme brulee and I was looking forward to a good excuse to try-out this dessert.  We decided to try it for this week's recipe rather than the chicken & we were not disappointed!

Thursday night I was at feeling at my wits end and I was nursing a bad headache.  My husband was very kind and took the kids into a room to build forts with blocks for an hour while I rested.  After the kids were in bed, I was in the mood for a little cooking project and Dorie's creme brulee recipe was perfect.  Quick & easy, just a handful of ingredients, & the smells were heavenly.  I've always been a fan of Amish custard pies, puddings, etc, so this was right up my alley.  I LOVE the smell of hot heavy cream mixed with a little vanilla, sugar & egg yolks.  For me, it's a very comforting smell.

I chose to put a teaspoon of Trader Joe's blueberry preserves on the bottom of each of my ramkins just to add another flavor to the dessert (it turned out good, but I don't know that I needed jam & then more sugar on top).  I baked my creme brulee's for about an hour but I think they could've baked another 5 minutes.  My kids & husband were excited to help out with my kitchen torch to make a little crunchy sugar on top.

After making Dorie's recipe, I started looking at creme brulee recipes in other cookbooks.  It's basically the exact same recipe ... some use only heavy cream, some use a water bath, etc.  I've already got my 2nd batch of creme brulee resting in the fridge ... I decided to try a "black & white" creme brulee (it has chocolate mousse on top!!).  I think we'll have it for a Sunday night treat.  I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

Brioche Part 2

After I tried Dorie's brioche, I wanted to change things up just slightly the second time around.  Instead of rolling my dough into 3 balls per roll, I rolled out my dough & cut-out 3 crescents for each roll.  I also watched the baking time more closely and pulled my rolls out of the oven earlier this time around.  Results ... I loved the roll baked a little less because it was softer.  I also like the crescent shapes and "peeling" apart my roll better.  No huge changes but a couple minor changes made this recipe even more enjoyable for me!

Miles the Birthday Boy

My nephew Miles turned 1 a couple weeks ago and we all got together last night to celebrate his birthday with lots of delicious food & desserts.  Just hard to share a few pics of cute Miles .....

Bubble-Top Brioche Rolls - French Fridays with Dorie

This week's FFWD recipe was bubble-top brioche rolls ... a recipe I looked forward to trying.

I doubled the recipe, but so far I've only baked 6 rolls.  Just enough for everyone to have a taste.  I'll save the rest of my dough for Sunday or Monday dinner since the dough can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days.

The dough came together fairly easily and Dorie's instructions were easy to follow.  The only thing I did wrong was leaving the dough on the counter for too long last night while I watched a Larry Crowne with my hubby ... cute movie ... but when the movie was over and I spotted my forgotten dough, it was overflowing onto the counter.  At that point, I just pushed it down a bit & threw it into the fridge cause it was past bedtime.  

This morning the kids were anxious to help me roll little balls.  Next time I think I'll try shaping the dough differently & see what I think.  The results were great, but I would've liked my rolls a little less brown cause the outsides got too crispy.  I think these will go great with a creamy soup or Thanksgiving dinner.

If you're looking for a great roll recipe, I highly recommend Dorie's brioche rolls!!

If you're looking for a fun date night/movie rental, check-out Larry Crowne!!

Potato Chip Tortilla - French Fridays with Dorie

This post is long overdue!  I made my potato chip tortilla & took my photos several days before the recipe was "due", but I'm finally getting around to posting my results nearly a month late ... December was a busy, crazy month!  In fact, there were some December recipes that I was really looking forward to trying, but I never got around to them, so I'll have to go back & do some make-up cooking.

This recipe was quick & easy and the only item I had to make a special trip to the grocery store for was the potato chips.  This tortilla is something I think I'd enjoy more during the breakfast hours (I made it  for dinner) & my only complaint was that I wished the potato chips were more crunchy.  Maybe I'll try adding them later next time.  I used cilantro in my tortilla because that's what I had in my fridge & for whatever reason it sounded better to me than the basil that's trying to grow on my back patio.

To see the results of other fearless Dorista cooks, please go HERE.

Stump de Noel - Baked Sunday Mornings

I didn't have the greatest luck with my first Baked recipe for the year 2012.  Maybe I tried to change too many things. Maybe I had too many distractions.  Maybe my oven temperature is off.  Maybe I let things sit too long in between steps.  Maybe I don't have the correct size of pans. I don't know, but it just didn't work.

Before I started my Stump de Noel, I checked out recipes in other cookbooks that I own.  The biggest difference I saw was that most of the sponge cakes were not a chocolate cake, so I definitely wanted to go for the chocolate Baked version.  I wasn't up for making all the mushrooms, cranberries, leaves, and varieties of frosting cause I'm not really a frosting girl & I didn't have time for all the extras.  I just wanted to try the cake and see how it all worked-out & tasted.

I worked on the cake for several hours (with distractions) Sunday night.  WOW!  This cake recipe was definitely the most time consuming cake recipe I've ever made.  It seemed like every single ingredient had it's own special instructions and steps before it could be added to the bowl.  I baked my cakes for 18 minutes, as instructed, and then let them cool overnight.  Monday afternoon I was ready to assemble my cakes with Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream instead of all the frostings.  I spread the softened ice creams on my cakes and then began to "roll" my cakes into stumps except they didn't roll at all!  They stayed flat, totally broke, & I ended up with a big, ugly mess after my attempts to make a stump out of the first sheet cake.  I decided there was no point in ruining the 2nd cake, so I cut it into 8 equal squares and layered my ice cream cakes 4 layers high ... much prettier.

We enjoyed a fun Monday night treat of ice cream cake.  It was delicious and of course no one cared that the cake was flat instead of rolled.

Last night I was relaxing in bed & reading a new chocolate cookbook my dad got me for my birthday.  I came across a recipe for a Stump de Noel with lots of chocolate that said to roll the cakes while they are still warm....  Don't know if I'm up for a re-do.

the Tooth Fairy is Coming Tonight!

I didn't lose my first tooth until a few months after my 7th birthday.  A few days ago, Peacock announced that she had a lose tooth ... at first I didn't believe her and I thought she was just trying to be big like her older sister.  Sure enough it was wiggly!

This morning she was really bothered by that wiggling tooth in her mouth and she started telling me that she wanted her dad to pull her tooth.  I wasn't really buying it because I thought we'd get down to the dental office, there'd be lots of drama, and we'd go home with a wiggly tooth still in her mouth.

At lunch, she was chewing on her fingers (she's also in the process of growing 3-4 new molars) and still complaining about the wiggly tooth.  I think she just had too much going on her in her little mouth and she really wanted to get rid of one problem.  After lunch we hopped in the car and went to see the dentist.

There were a few tears, but she never chickened out.  The deed was done and she is now awaiting her first visit from the Tooth Fairy!  Exciting times for my girl!!

{Peacock ... exactly 2 weeks after her 5th birthday!}

My Ghost & Ghouls

Our family enjoyed a great Halloween night of trick-or-treating, socializing, and yummy food!!  The kids all knew exactly (well, sorta) what they wanted to dress-up as for the festivities.

Penguin talked about being Hermione Granger for over a month.  She found a cape (from when I was a kid) at my mom's house, borrowed my tie, used my old jr. high orchestra skirt, & colored/decorated her own wand ... made from a chopstick. :)  She made a perfect Hermione!

Peacock told me all month that she wanted to be a fairy.  I didn't stress over her costume because I figured we had enough girly-fairy dress-up things around the house to make a great fairy costume, but at the 11th hour, she informed me that she wanted to be Princess Tiana again this year.

Turkey saw this fireman costume at Costco and his heart was set from that moment on.  If you stop by my house, you might find him still dressed as a fireman!

The line-up:

The above photo made me think of the following photo ... oh! how they've changed in 3 short years!!  (And they won't let me choose their costumes anymore ... it was fun while it lasted!)

Cash for Candy & Free Christmas MP3

If you'd like to get rid of some Halloween candy today (ours is currently locked in the garage!), you can trade in some of your candy for cash at Higley Park Dental.  See flyer for details.

If you're ready to get into the Christmas spirit, try this free MP3! 

Happy Owl-O-Ween

HAPPY Owl-O-Ween!!  I hope you have a super day loaded with lots of cute costumes and yummy things to eat!

Today is an extra special day at our house ... it's my Peacock's birthday!!

She was a busy baker on Saturday with her Bushka.

Lollipop Ghosts ~

Nutter-Butter Ghosts ~

R.I.P. Tombstone-Candy Corn-Pumpkin Cake:

Peacock has been counting down the days to her birthday for at least a month and she honestly believes that the world celebrates her birthday by going trick-or-treating. 

This morning she got up and helped me start a crock-pot of applesauce ... it's already starting to smell like sweet apples in my house.

This evening the kiddies will enjoy some trick-or-treating and then we plan to stop by Bushka's house for some homemade doughnuts!

Hope you have a safe & fun holiday!

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good: French Fridays with Dorie

I'm a little slow today getting my post up.  Thursday afternoons are crazy-crazy for us because that's when my kids all have EVMCO rehearsal.  I usually have to be creative for Thursday night dinners because soon after I get the kids home, I have to rush off for my rehearsal and by the time I get home at 10:30pm, I'm not in the mood to do much ... even blog.  This morning I had to rush off to the dental office to have some work done and after lunch, I fell asleep on the couch for a little while.  Going to the dentist really takes it out of me.  And I'm extra unhappy with the dental office with week for numerous reasons, but we won't go into those details .. it's just a stressful place to hang-out.

On to better things....

This week's FFWD recipe was pumpkin stuffed with everything good.  I was excited to make this recipe for numerous reasons ... it could easily be done vegetarian style, it was very festive, and I'd never tried stuffing a pumpkin before this week.

The kids & I headed out for our Monday morning shopping trip this week to find a 3-lb pumpkin that Dorie recommended.  Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are close to 10-lbs at Wal-Mart and they looked too big for my oven so we grabbed a couple pie pumpkins.  A couple days later, my mom called me to let me know that she had found smaller pumpkins at Trader Joe's and she had purchased one for me.  I picked up my smaller Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin from my mom that afternoon and since Hubby was hanging out at home, I sent him out back to do the dirty business ... cleaning out the pumpkin.

I stuffed my pumpkin with a whole loaf of bread, lots of sharp cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg, garlic, and over a cup of heavy cream.  I replaced the lid onto my pumpkin and let it bake for several hours.  Within 30 minutes of the pumpkin baking, my home smelled heavenly!  It was wonderful & I felt very festive!!

Everyone in my family tried the pumpkin.  My husband went back for 2nd's, but he wasn't interested in leftovers.  My 8-yr old liked the pumpkin part, but not the cheesy-bread part.  My younger two kids seemed to like everything and my youngest woke up the next morning wanting more for breakfast.  I loved the stuffing-bread part, but the pumpkin had a bitter taste.  I'm not sure if it needed something (salt & pepper didn't help) or if it comes with the territory of Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins.

If you'd like to try something similar, I'd recommend checking-out what other Doristas used to stuff their pumpkin with and get some additional ideas because it could be stuffed with a variety of things and seasonings.  Have fun!

EVMCO Christmas Concert: Come Ye to Bethlehem

The East Valley Mormon Choral Organization has been working hard since August to prepare for our upcoming Christmas concert.  I've been meaning to blog about the concert for a while now and I hope I'm not too late for some of my faithful concert-goers because both concerts are almost sold-out.    As of right now, there are some "limited view", back-row seats, and a few other odds & ends left for both nights. 

If you want to purchase tickets online go HERE.  I recommend the Saturday night performance and seats that are at least 10 rows back from the stage.

The concert will knock your socks off, but I don't think I have to do much talkin' cause the fact that about 3000 seats have already sold for a concert that's more than a month away speaks for itself!  Don't miss out!!!

Harry + Hermione

This past weekend, the hubby & I went to a Halloween party.  We were supposed to dress up as a famous couple ... it was a quick & easy choice for us .... Harry Potter & Hermione Granger!

The group:

Pissaladiere: French Fridays with Dorie

When I Googled for images of "pissaladiere", I got a bunch of variations of Dorie's recipe ... a pizza type looking thing with olives and anchovies ... ewww!  I have never tried anchovies (so maybe I have no idea on what I'm missing-out on) and I have NO intention of ever trying anchovies ... I don't even want to be the same room as an anchovy!!

But ... I didn't want to be a total party-pooper this week and skip another FFWD recipe because it had aspects that didn't appeal to me.  I checked-out the fancier olives at Costco and decided I wasn't willing to pay the price for those, so I made a Frolicking Night Owl Family-Friendly version of this week's recipe ... PIZZA!!

I wanted to try Dorie's recipe for dough because, up to this point, Dorie's dough recipes have usually been excellent and recipes that I go back to over and over again.  I had also never tried a pizza dough recipe with egg in it, so that intrigued me.  We did our Monday morning grocery shopping and grabbed from fresh mozzarella while we were out.  When we got home, I started a pot of fresh marinara sauce so it could simmer all afternoon ... I even used fresh basil from my "garden" (aka pots on my back patio).  While the kiddies had quiet time, I started my dough.  I wanted to make some oven roasted tomatoes again, but I ran out of time.

Monday was also hair day.  Sweet Ms. Donna came around dinner time to work on Miss Peacock's hair.  So while Ms. Donna did hair, I rolled & decorated dough.

I ended up making a mushroom pizza, a tomato & basil pizza, a mixed-bag pizza (partly just cheese, partly mushroom and tomato leftovers from the other two pizzas), and then I used the remaining dough and just baked it into a loaf of bread.

Results: Everyone (including Ms. Donna) loved the pizza crust ... it was thin & crispy, but don't use this recipe for make bread ... WAY too salty!  Overall, I think we had great success!!

My Dad

Still going through old photos & I came across this one that must be journal-ed.

This is my dad (way back in March) on his 64th birthday with four of his five grandchildren.  This picture is definitely a keeper!

{Papaw with Grandkids}

My dad is a very good dad and grandfather.  Growing up he taught me a lot about serving others.  He always found a way for us kids to serve out in the community whether it was participating in Meals on Wheels or just finding a family around town that  needed Christmas.  My dad has always worked hard to provide for his family and because of his hard work I was able to participate in a lot of lessons and activities that helped me to develop my talents. I also have fond memories of family vacations & outings while growing up.  Now he is good to read books to my kids, go swimming with them, support them in their development talents, and the list goes on.

Turkey's 4 Now!

Can't believe my little guy is 4 years old!  We celebrated his birthday several weeks ago and the parties and celebrations seemed to go on for days, which he never complained about.  He got to have family dinner and a little party with all the in-laws and cousins a week or two before his birthday.  On his actual birthday, he spent the evening with my mom baking up a storm of cupcakes ... of course they all had to be decorated, too ... can't remember now, but it seems like they got turned into little monsters.

The day following his birthday, he wanted to go out to lunch, but he didn't care about the lunch aspect because he just wanted a chocolate-chip cookie!  We ended up going to Oregano's ... not the greatest food, but Turkey loves their free birthday pizookies!

And then the gifts kept coming....

{my boy likes all things cowboy!}

{he's also got the Volcom stuff figured-out}

I asked Turkey for days ... or possibly weeks ... what kind of food and treats he wanted on his birthday.  He just couldn't decide, but he seemed to keep going back to a chocolate cake or a cheesecake, so I decided to combine the two.  If you want to do something similar, it's not too difficult of a project.  I made my favorite dark chocolate cake recipe (two 9" rounds), my favorite cheesecake recipe (with no crust, also 9") and 1 1/2 times my favorite bittersweet chocolate frosting recipe.  Make and bake everything separate.  Since a cheesecake should rest in the fridge overnight, that's a good project for the day before.  The morning of, I made the chocolate cakes and then right before dinner time, I made the frosting & put all the layers together.  And because the cake is so tall and rich, a little bit goes a long ways!

Turkey's Get-to-Know-You from church:
(He filled in the blanks ... his answers are underlined.)

• I came down to Pittsburgh, PA from my Father above.
• My home has 16 (every time I asked, this was the answer I got) people and I don't have any animals to love.
• I like to play with toys and go to church with my family.
• If you see someone with green eyes and red hair, it could be me.
• I like learning about big tractors when I go to school.
• When I grow up I want to be a cowboy. (I think that would be cool.)
• In my spare time I think playing in the backyard is fun.
• And I like to eat popsicles & strawberries when the day is done.
• I like the color green when I am making art.
• When I read the scriptures Nephi is my favorite part.
• On Sunday Sunbeams is the class I go to.
• Singing Popcorn Popping is one of my favorite things to do.

She's Goooooood

This morning when I was driving, I noticed an African-American (or "chocolate" according to Peacock) woman walking down the street with a young girl that I assumed was her granddaughter. On my way home, I saw this same pair still out on their morning stroll. It made me think about my Peacock and how she will probably never go for a morning walk with either of her "brown" grandmothers. There is a part of me that feels guilty for the things my daughter can not have because she calls me mom.

The house is quiet right now, so I'm going through old photos and editing.  I played with this photo my husband took about six weeks ago and ended up with this sassy picture of my Peacock.  I love this photo of her because her little personality that I know so well shines through and, in my opinion, she looks like the spitting image of her birthmother in this photo. 

Again ... my mind wanders back to the people & things she lost early in her life, but I am so thankful for the sacrifices that were made by many so that I could call her mine!

As I was typing up this post, she came in to visit with me.  I was listening to Pandora and the following (see below) song came on.   "This is a gooooood song, " she quickly announced and no goooooood song is complete without some shaking of a cute, round bottom and the clickity-clack of the beads in her braids.