missing out

only one more week to go...the photo shoot starts on wednesday and then when it is finished-i get my old life back...that will be the time to fight with fema, fix the house, have a yard sale, build a garden and oh yeah-bake some stuff for the various challenges i have been missing. look for me to be back in the game in a couple weeks!

jonesing for bread again

once again, i have neglected my starters. i was afraid that they were in bad shape from the lack of activity. no problem, out of the fridge they came and i fed them. a short time later, i could see bubbles and i knew all was well with the starters so i decided to mix up some sponge for sour rye bread.

after adding some flour and caraway, i left the bread out on the counter overnight. time to mix up the dough!

i love to use one of these old cafeteria style trays to knead bread on. it helps me contain the mess and the best part, i can shake off the flour and put it in the dishwasher.

it is starting to take shape

ready to rise

wow!!! ready to be shaped into loaves

two little loaves

onto the peel and into the oven to bake

beautiful little loaves. this demo garden sour dough starter is the best! i harvested organic grapes from the garden last summer and it is till going strong. so strong that i have divided it several times and shared it with a bunch of my coworkers.

has it been a year already?

hard to believe but it has been a whole year since my first post for the daring bakers. last year for my first challenge, i made a flourless chocolate torte for valentines day. we had dinner with the girls and this year, we did it again.

BLOG-CHECKING LINES: The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

over the years, i have made many batches of tiramisu. i have made my own mascarpone and my own ladyfingers too. for my first book, skyhigh, i even designed a wedding cake made of tiramisu and for that cake, i made the layers with sponge cakes. i have perfected the method for whipping zabaglione by using a hand held electric mixer which some would say is cheating. but when you work in a restaurant and have to make batches of tiramisu to feed several dozen guests at a time, you find a way to make it happen...

since i was serving this to my girls, i used coffee rather than espresso and i left out the rum altogether. i didn't have any in the house and i really didn't want to buy a bottle for just this recipe. i made the mascarpone using a 40% cream because it was the only one i could find that wasn't pastuerized and it was a bit firm but it worked out fine. one other thing i did-omit the lemon; i do not like the combination of coffee/espresso with lemon at all. would i made tiramisu again, you betcha! would i use this method again, no. the addition of pastry cream was not necessary and i didn't care for the consistency of the cream-way to soft. we ate, we enjoyed and we had a nice valentine's day dinner.

thanks ladies for a wonderful challenge!

busy, busy

work work work. even at home i am working...sorry for the absence but if you are really curious, check out my new project by clicking on the loveless cafe logo above. that's where you will find me.

saw this at work and thought i would share it . now i am not a walking atlas but even i know that there is something amiss here. look at the logo, longboard surfing and a claim that the onions come from "every pacific point". so why are they in florida??? the box did indicate that the onions were from peru so i guess they are accurate in the "pacific" claim. but longboard surfing in florida? who are they trying to fool?

sick day

i hate being sick. i have a nasty cold that is keeping me from things like the gym and chores. even the cat was sick. i had to take little ginger to the vet today. she is having urinary issues. time to take some cold medicine and head towards bed. see you tomorrow, i'll be the one doing the rudolf impersonation...