tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28489642293383563322024-02-19T12:05:19.837-05:00Lick the BatterMaureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-3377520140827575472011-07-02T20:39:00.000-04:002011-07-02T20:39:11.825-04:00Hearty Sunday BreakfastUpon waking up, one of our first thoughts is about breakfast. Tom & I are big fans of breakfast, from simple to fancy, it doesn't much matter. I've never quite figured out skipping breakfast. I usually wake up hungry, and though I'm a coffee drinker, I much more useless without food in me than I am without coffee.
Last weekend, while pondering our breakfast options and ruling out eggs (tiredMaureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-37627995251588382432011-06-23T20:27:00.000-04:002011-06-23T20:27:20.457-04:00One of my faves - Blackbird Baking A co-worker of Tom's turned us on to Blackbird Baking last fall. This one-woman baking company is located in South Portland Me, offering "the simple goodness you've been craving." Stacy posts and/or emails her menus regularly. You order and then later in the week, voila! A pie is delivered unto you. It is like pie magic.
We've had a couple of different pies, most recently a Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-31204952777468922002011-06-15T19:40:00.000-04:002011-06-15T19:40:09.200-04:00A Yummy Birthday CakeOver the weekend I was trolling around different sites, looking for a tasty birthday cake option for Molly's b-day. I didn't want a standard layer-frosting-layer-frosting kind of cake, but was looking for something a bit different.
My go-to site for this search was Smitten Kitchen. One of my favorite cooking blogs - great recipes, great pictures and an approach to food that I can relate to - Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-19078058002906586992011-06-03T21:15:00.000-04:002011-06-03T21:15:23.598-04:00S'mores!This is not baking.
It barely involves fire, but it is very good.
Years ago in my house we were on a microwave s'mores kick. Don't know how we got off this kick, or why because a microwave s'more is really a very a good thing.
From a variety of different baking I've done recently, including Congo Bars and Coca Cola Cake, I found myself with the appropriate fixings for these easy tasty bitesMaureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-6212501134367744282011-05-20T09:22:00.002-04:002011-05-20T09:35:01.411-04:00Coca Cola CakeWho knew that mini-marshmallows and Coca Cola would make for a great cake?
I was a deep skeptic of this cake. I'm not a soda drinker, let alone a Coke drinker. Truth be told, I think Coke is pretty wretched. Baking with sweetened carbonated beverages was something I never encountered. The first time I had this cake was at an vegetable lasagna "cookout" in Boothbay Harbor, ME. A good Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-10335146846166925382011-05-14T16:00:00.000-04:002011-05-14T16:00:47.673-04:00Congo Bars
Is this even considered baking?
This recipe involves melting butter, sprinkling sugar laden toppings, pouring a sweet liquid and then 30 minutes in the oven. I suppose technically I'm baking, but it is more like baking-lite.
You've had these chewy, sweet, guilty delights. They are Congo bars, treasure bars, glop bars....they have many aliases (aliai?). They consist of butter, graham cracker Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-52441141959057457182011-04-23T15:13:00.001-04:002011-04-23T19:30:35.438-04:00Elvis MuffinsWhile I don't think there is any direct connection between Elvis and Easter, I was inspired to make an muffin for our Easter brunch that the King would enjoy. That would be a muffin enjoyed by the latter-year's, somewhat bloated King. The one you want to avert your eyes from while you think longingly of the Elvis from "Blue Hawaii." When I was little, I thought Elvis was plastic and lived in the Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-55055934052519410422011-04-23T11:38:00.000-04:002011-04-23T11:38:35.887-04:00I Heart Standard BakingYum.
Errands this morning included a stop at Standard Baking here in Portland. This is one of the many food gems to be found in our great little city. Always a difficult decision, we settled on the fruit buckle.
It was still warm.
Nice crumb topping that didn't completely fall off as we ate it. Stuffed full of raspberries, with a dough that had a bit of a lemon tang. Delicious.
Here's Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-19219133220537428092011-04-19T20:34:00.001-04:002011-04-23T11:22:46.113-04:00(Recycled) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Coconut CookiesTonight, baking was more compelling than the work homework that I should have been doing. I hadn't made an oatmeal type of cookie in awhile and was jonesing on one with chocolate and coconut in it.
As I dug through the pantry, I realized that I didn't have all the chocolate chips that I needed. Hmmm. There were some chips, there was a chunk of dark chocolate, there was a chunk of white Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-22088794715445323412011-04-10T17:22:00.001-04:002011-04-10T17:24:30.199-04:00Orange Flavored Olive Oil CakeSpring is making a shy appearance here in Maine. After perhaps the best April Fool's joke ever with a Nor'easter that dropped about 6 inches of snow in my yard, our temps have been climbing slowly.
We took advantage of the low 50's temps this weekend to have some much needed outdoor time. Tom took me on my first motorcycle ride of the spring on Saturday. I was safe and spiffy in my new helmet, Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-86021704678125493772011-04-04T20:01:00.000-04:002011-04-04T20:01:21.048-04:00Crock Pot Banana BreadDespite my best intentions, I'm an infrequent user of the crock-pot. It sits tucked away on a high pantry shelf, making access at best difficult and at worst, dangerous. The heavy glass lid threatens to fall on my head whenever I pull it down, and this scares me.
The most common applications for the CP in my kitchen are making apple or pear sauce, cooking farro overnight (makes for a great "Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-68216594479711070142011-03-28T21:16:00.000-04:002011-03-28T21:16:11.950-04:00Brownies!
If I could only have one form of dessert for the rest of my life, the brownie would be a serious contender for the top spot. Yes, pies are delightful, cookies are comforting, and cake is festive. But when it comes right down to an immensely satisfying form of chocolate baked goodness, there is nothing really close.
Most of my formative batter licking experiences happened while making brownies.Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-84600361358103531272011-03-23T18:58:00.000-04:002011-03-23T18:58:51.998-04:00Chocolate Chip Cookies (dare I say perfect?)After my mediocre CCC experiment the other day (let's be honest, those cookies kind of sucked), I went back to the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from the New York Times article that I referenced in a recent post. These cookies did not disappoint. They came out thick, with crispy outside and chewy-gooey chocolate-y insides.
I think the key to this cookie's goodness is the aging Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-25445841724593061182011-03-20T11:14:00.001-04:002011-03-20T11:28:57.653-04:00Chocolate Chip Cookie update Following up from my earlier post with results from the baked product. In a word, 'meh.' These cookies were ok, certainly better than many I've had, but not even close to the best I've made. They were a bit flat tasting, and lacked that inherent chocolate chip cookie goodness.
Here's my diagnosis:
Corn Syrup - Helped achieve some of the thickness that I wanted, but detracted from the Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-77078692543029245572011-03-20T09:30:00.002-04:002011-03-20T11:01:11.233-04:00Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chapter 2
Coming back to Chocolate Chip Cookies, as promised and because, well - it's always good to come back to CCC. And because my brother's birthday is coming up and he's the kind of brother that you just want to make chocolate chip cookies for. When I was in college, he'd bake and mail cookies to me. Slightly crushed and more than slightly delicious they would arrive, to the oohs and ahhs of my Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-61584519324903883502011-03-12T16:38:00.003-05:002011-03-12T17:53:10.398-05:00Spent Grain Bread
Tom has embarked on his third batch of homebrew, a yet to be named IPA. Since he started making beer in September 2010 I've been wondering about using the spent grains for bread making. Since we are essentially making the liquid and baked version of the same thing (yeast, grain, water, sugar fermentation) it seemed like I should be able to make a bread out of what he leaves behind.
His current Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-48930641879098489492011-03-10T20:41:00.002-05:002011-03-12T16:46:16.104-05:00Peter Reinhart on breadDo you know about TED? TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a non-profit devoted to ideas worth spreading. It's kind of hard to explain TED - they host a couple conferences each year where the speakers, "the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers," are challenged to offer inspiring, thought provoking talks, in 18 minutes or less.
The short videos found at the TED website informMaureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-12030428620169777212011-03-06T15:37:00.010-05:002011-03-12T16:46:46.497-05:00Bark! (woof)
I've been thinking about chocolate bark for most of the week. Not sure what prompted it, other than we were out of the really good dark chocolate that we often have a wee piece of for dessert. While not much beats an unadulterated piece of really good dark chocolate, sometimes I like stuff in or on my chocolate to mix things up a little.
While I was coming up with ideas for my mix-ins, I Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-36231759841386579182011-03-05T09:30:00.002-05:002011-03-12T16:47:10.993-05:00I'm a Lumberjack and I'm ok
Despite my professed love for the chocolate chip cookie, today's soft but crispy, sugar topped molasses cookie is right up there among my favorites. Don't get me started on how good this dough is in its uncooked state.
This cookie - the Lumberjack - came from an Old Sturbridge Village cookie recipe book that one of my sisters has had for probably close to 30 years. I've tweaked the original Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-70437178166351745392011-02-20T15:48:00.002-05:002011-03-12T16:47:35.839-05:00Blueberry Pie With Goat Cheese and Basil
Inspired by a pie of the same name, served at a diner featured on the Food Network, I decided to go recipe-less on this one. Well, not entirely true. I did followed a guide for the pie dough. I just found Michael Ruhlman's (of the bread conversion from last post) iPhone App - Ratio. It's based on his book of the same name and provides the basic culinary ratios for things like bread, pie and Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-49700614609345986342011-02-19T08:32:00.001-05:002011-03-12T16:47:57.356-05:00Variation on No Knead BreadWhile trolling around baking sites with my coffee this windy morning, I found some more information about No Knead bread. I like the additional details in this recipe and there are some good links at the bottom of Michael Ruhlman's post about this bread. I've got my eye on the whole grain recipe, as I'm still trying to incorporate more whole grains into my baking.
Here's the link to Michael Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-58597073416088941502011-02-17T20:42:00.001-05:002011-03-12T16:48:23.316-05:00Creative PrepThe dilemma: My cream cheese needs to be at room temperature. Not only is my cream cheese not at room temp, but I don't even have cream cheese. And its 6:30 Friday evening, and we are hungry and craving Indian food, and I don't want to be up until midnight making cheesecake.
The solution: Stand back, I'm packing cheese.
I decided to warm my 24 ounces of cream cheese in my purse while I ate Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-42101603195930571152011-02-10T20:53:00.002-05:002011-03-12T16:48:55.313-05:00Chocolate Chip Cookie: Chapter 1The right chocolate chip cookie may just be the most perfect food in the world.
To me, this "right" cookie has these qualities: it is thick, the outside is crispy, the inside has the right balance of chip to non-chip territory and has just enough goo to it. It is not flat, nor is it cakey. It does not contain nuts (I realize that this is a polarizing statement). It leaves a bit of a grease stainMaureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-68669165422760910992011-02-02T19:55:00.002-05:002011-03-12T16:49:48.119-05:00Oatmeal Bread on a Snow DayI can't say that the Groundhog Day Blizzard lived up to the hype. By early afternoon the snow was pretty well wrapped up. If I had to guess, I'd say we got 8-10 inches - a pretty standard Maine snowstorm. But...with work closed down for the day, I had the rare chance to do some mid-week bread baking.
Always a sucker for a good oatmeal bread, I decided to try a recipe in Good to the Grain for Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848964229338356332.post-34608084366806410522011-01-29T15:13:00.001-05:002011-03-12T16:50:19.924-05:00Cooking for a CauseWe had our premier this week as Guest Chefs at the Ronald McDonald House here in Portland. Volunteers in the Guest Chef provide home cooked meals for the families staying at the house. Tom & I will be Chef-ing once a month and we're really excited to be combining our love of cooking with such a great cause.
We kept it pretty simple for our first menu - baked ziti, salad and plain Maureenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890178212442007379noreply@blogger.com0