Results tagged “baking” from It Ought to be Enjoyed

So, it was a friend's birthday recently...and I had the clever idea of making him a batch of cookies that would hopefully be a big surprise.  To give away the ending of this story...just give cash.  Okay, well maybe not but the cookies never made it to him.  The first batch when baked did not stay in the shape of the cookie cutter, needless to say large blobs of sugar cookie do not convey "lobster." And for the ones that did keep their shape most did not even get finished being decorated, since for the most part it was like an eruption of sugar goo that exploded across the kitchen.  Basically if you make the mistake of making the icy "too" runny so that it flows too well, it will flow everywhere.

Well, not originally what I was thinking of posting, but since the post is likely to have a bit of a maudlin tone since I'm a bit down...figured might as well start of with a title that seems to sum up how the world has felt like treating me.  But all that can be done is slog through it, and figure out what can come out of it.

Somedays you get to be at home and lucky enough to spend the day with friends.  And on some of those days you are lucky enough to get to cook for them, and everything you need is already in the house.  The past weekend turned out to be one of those days.

September always seems warmer then what you think it should be, at least that seems to be the general consensus in Northern California.  It seems like a nice cool day, you think I'll try that recipe that claims to be "the best brownie ever" and at 9:30 at night you are wondering, "why am I so stupid as to have heated up the entire house!"

The last box of the fruit CSA came last week, and it was chock full of peaches.  It felt like something with a bit more 'huzzah' should be done then another peach cobbler.  So I broke out the Beranbaum Bible.  A Peaches and Cream Tart with a Sweet Cookie Crust.  The crust was tasty and came together easily, but ended up not withstanding the liquid from the peaches and custard.  The peaches called for ended up being too many peaches to fit in the shell.  The custard called for was too much custard (and since it was poured in while baking, it ended up spilling out into the oven and burning.  p.s. - burnt milk not the best smell to fill the house).

It's August.  Which is nice since July seemed to be hanging around far too long.  The CSA came with bunches of peaches and plums...still trying to figure out what to do with all the plums.  But I thought I would try a new cobbler recipe with the peaches.  I'm not sure what the woman was thinking but I wouldn't call it a cobbler, I also wouldn't call it a pie...it really wasn't quite either.  However you really can't go too wrong with baked dough, sugar, and peaches.  I used raspberry vodka instead of the called for cognac, because...why the heck not.

It isn't that I haven't been baking (or cooking), rather I just haven't been posting about it.  Well, actually I haven't been baking as much as I'd like either.  Time as always slips by quickly.  I say this with the ominous shadow of a twenty year high school reunion looming over me.  

I've been meaning to jump in and participate with all those who have been baking their way through Dorie Greenspan's Baking book but time and many other forces had seemed to be preventing that.  Well this is the week that I have triumphed against time (we shall see about those other forces...).

Maybe it is too many Raymond Chandler novels, or the fact that I took a class called Dick Fiction in the wacky heydays of UC Santa Cruz, but a mysterious blonde hiding something seemed appropo.

Nectarines, raspberries, strawberries, zuchinni, squash, apricots...and those are just some of the stuff that has landed in the house.  Summer always seems to be an influx of fruits and vegetables.  Had way, way too many nectarines in the house and have been subjecting co-workers to nectarine raspberry muffins.  I have to confess that I think I've found my new favorite muffin recipe in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book.  The Sweet Muffin basic recipe is great, lets you add any fruit that you want and has all the right muffin qualities, dense, moist and never tries to be a cupcake masquerading as a muffin.  Now I just have to find the time to try the Savory Muffin recipe...I'm thinking some Rouge Creamery Maple Smoked chevre and crisp pancetta.

The first time I made Whoopie Pies I remember thinking that these were completely over-the-top and decadent.  There is no way an individual should eat an entire Whoopie Pie on their own, yet everyone did.  They are perfect when you want to communicate an excess of emotion.  (Of course in certain circumstances the only cookies that can work are "The Cookies That Talk" but that is an entirely different story.)

Does anyone else remember that punch line?

Tried making some new cookies today, and well...life is easier if you have enough room to roll out your dough.  It sounds like that should be one of those Quotable Quotes you read in Reader's Digest or the like, I know.  But honestly, it is a true statement.