Sick Day
We make a lot of pizza here. Generally speaking, we buy dough from Trader Joe’s as it’s delicious and easy to work with. While Shawn is a veteran pizza maker, I’ve never made dough myself. A new test for my mixer and it’s dough hook!
The pizza turned out a touch crispier than the usual pizzas. It was so easy and relatively quick I definitely foresee more homemade crusts in the future.
I also finished the never ending hat project today. A few months ago I got some great organic cotton yarn to make a hat for Shawn. See, he only wears orange hats. I set out to make a hat with a simple cable stitch. It turned out to be too big. So I tried to make a simpler double knit hat that would be more like one he already had. Without a pattern though, this was a much more difficult task than I anticipated. The version you see above is the fifth incarnation of the hat. Finally it turned out right!Thanksgiving and more
This Thanksgiving was all about stuffing. Shawn and I made probably about 20 servings worth of stuffing which has lasted us for days. We both spent the whole day in the kitchen with our various projects. Despite the potato peel disaster of 2008 everything turned out really well.Instead of Tofurky, I made a version of the Seitan Roulade from Vegan Yum Yum. I filled it with apple cranberry stuffing (more stuffing!) that made it taste even better a day later. The fruit flavors seeped into the seitan after being refrigerated. Although it probably would have been prettier cut into smaller pieces, it was kind of fun to eat “caterpillars” for Thanksgiving.
Shawn made a monster batch of mashed potatoes that further tested the abilities of the new mixer. Of course they turned out smooth and delicious. I also made my first apple pie. I made the crust from scratch, which was slightly terrifying. Unfortunately I decided to bake it in our small oven (yes we have two) and ended up with a slightly burnt top crust. It still tasted really good, the filling was the perfect consistency and sweetness, and the bottom crust was not bad at all, but it wasn’t quite photo material. I can’t wait to try another.
I also got a new cupcake courier, and a good deal on it no less. I love this thing. I previously had a smaller carrier that carried 24 cupcakes but was always irritated that half the holders were too shallow and the other half were too deep. The new one holds 36 cupcakes securely for travel. It’s great. So here it is on it’s first delivery filled with red velvet, pumpkin spice and vanilla/chocolate cupcakes (from the top).
Hope everyone else had a great turkey-free Thanksgiving.
peanut butter cups
photo by Shawn BannonHappy 25!
So if you hadn’t guessed already. My (not-so) little surprise is a stand mixer! I’m ecstatic! I finally decided it was time to just fork over the money for it and get the one I really wanted. It’s a great addition to the kitchen and I know it will be great to make larger batches of things which I hope will be in my future.
My first baking experiment was my own birthday cake. A lot of people thought it was against the rules for me to make my own cake but I couldn’t think of anywhere that I could get a better cake. We broke in the mixer with mashed potatoes but this was the first dessert to get made.
I also treated myself to some new cake pans and a cake stand. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve made a cake, let alone a double layer one, so it was definitely a learning experience. With cupcakes, if one turns out funny there are still 11 good ones. With a cake you just have one chance. Mainly I learned the correct proportions of frosting and such that I’ll need for the next cake I make.
The plan was a double layer vanilla cake with vanilla frosting in the middle and a chocolate ganache icing. I used to have a really good recipe for vanilla cake but apparently lost it so had to do a bit of improvising. Ultimately everything turned out really well but did cause me a bit of distress in the making.
I made quite a chocolate mess covering it but I new it would taste great even if it wasn’t the prettiest cake ever. Still need a couple more decorating tools, but mainly practice. It really did turn out delicious though. Shawn says it tasted like a giant gourmet hostess cake. Yum!
More autumn flavors
I made some pumpkin bread last week that was absolutely delicious. Super moist with some subtle spice. This is only half the loaf since it all got eaten so quickly. Pumpkin is seriously awesome. I’m going to have to come up with some more pumpkin dishes before the end of November. There is still time yet!Wonderful news though….I’m getting a big baking treat tomorrow! A special present to myself. I’m sure a lot of people out there could guess what it is. So excited. 🙂
