An afternoon in the kitchen

This afternoon, I did not have anything I needed to do. So, I decided to bake a cake I found in a book I picked up at the library yesterday. Not that I needed to look at another recipe book, since I have a pile of printed out recipes from the internet that I still need to try.

I found this particular recipe book when I was scrolling through my Goodreads account. The title is called ‘Snacking Cakes’ and it is written by Yossy Arefi. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I want a bit of dessert, but I don’t want to spend the time making a big cake with all the frosting. So the cover of this book and the title made me search for it in our local library.

The book arrived yesterday, so I walked down to the library to pick up the book. As I was looking through the book last night, I spotted a recipe for Browned Butter, Pecan, and White Chocolate Cake. Oh my!

Since part of the recipe is on the following page, I did not realize that I needed to keep back some of the white chocolate and chopped pecans for the top of the cake. Oh well! I am sure it will still taste delicious.

I do like that this recipe book has some suggestions for using different pans, provides some flavor variations, and offers a way to dress up the cake when serving it.

It is too soon to tell whether I will add this book to my cookbook library, but in the meantime, I know what I am having for dessert tonight.

Baking Bucket List

At the beginning of this year, I wrote down a few goals I wanted to accomplish this year. Since I love to bake, I decided to make a list of things I have never made before. My list included the following:

Basically, this is my Baking Bucket List for 2019.

As you can see, I have not made much progress.

But I have made a couple of batches of macaroons (macarons? does anybody know the correct way to spell this word?):

I still have quite a bit of almond flour, so I really should make another batch or two and experiment with different flavors and colors.

They really are not too difficult to make, you just need to make sure to really pay attention to the details.

And bagels?

I have been using a homemade sourdough bagel recipe from this cookbook: Artisan Sourdough Made Simple by Emilie Raffa

If you have a sourdough starter, you will want to give the bagel recipe a try. They are so delicious and really easy to make.

As far as the rest of my baking bucket list, I am not sure how many recipes I will try this summer.

After all, summer is not the usual time of year to spend a lot of time in the kitchen with the oven on.

What would you put on your baking bucket list?

Fall Photos...so far

Today, I have done a whole lot of nothing.

For some reason, this year has been incredible busy.

I don't want to complain about how busy I have been because I have had some amazing opportunities this year.

But today, I really enjoyed staying home. Which gave me the chance to edit a few photos.

This week, I was able to take my camera with me to a couple of our favorite California locations, and take some photos at home.

Golden Gate Bridge

Pizza My Heart at Capitola Beach

Capitola Pier

Homemade Vanilla Bean Scones

Strawberries

Thank You gift

3Strands bracelets from Mercy House Global

What photo is your favorite? And what have you been taking photos of?

My Week of Photos

What did I capture this week with my DSLR camera?

ISO 400, f/2.0, 1/80 sec with 50mm lens

I love an excuse to bake! One day last week was National Chocolate Cake Day, so I baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes and sold most of them for my Bake for Brazil fundraiser. Pretty excited that I was able to raise $50 last week for Compassion kids in Brazil!

ISO 400, f/2.0, 1/500 sec with 50mm lens

Took advantage of a break in the rain, set up one of my favorite childhood books in the backyard to capture this one. What children's book is your favorite?

ISO 100, f/10, 1/640 sec

After we got home from church on Sunday, my daughter and I drove around a bit, looking for the perfect spot to take photos of the clouds moving in. 

ISO 100, f/5.3, 1/400 sec

This is not a very exciting photo. And I really should have brought all these quart size canning jars in for the winter. But this just shows that we have been receiving a lot of much needed rain out here in California!

ISO 400, f/2.5, 1/80 sec with 50 mm lens

Hard to believe we are in the second month of this new year already! Time to put away the winter decorations and bring out the Valentine decorations. Pages from an old, used copy of Persuasion were used to make this craft which hangs in our windows in February.

ISO 800, f/2.5, 1/80 sec with 50mm lens

A few more handmade Valentine decorations are out. Add a bit of paint to some glue and paint the outside of a couple of canning jars. Attach a paper heart doily and tie it with a bit of ribbon or twine, and you have a cute new candle holder for your tealight candles on these dark winter nights.

What did you capture this week?

National Cookie Day

I usually don't need an excuse to bake cookies, but when I found out that today is National Cookie Day, I just knew I should bake up a batch of homemade Snickerdoodles.

Snickerdoodles are a big favorite around our home. As much as I love homemade chocolate chip cookies, there are times when nothing satisfies like one of these homemade Snickerdoodles.

I have had the recipe for these cookies for quite some time, not even really sure where I first found it. But there are some important things I do each time I make these cookies. 

Unsalted butter is a must, as well as Pampered Chef's Cinnamon Plus seasoning. The Cinnamon Plus seasoning is what I use in place of regular cinnamon. The additional spices in this seasoning mix make a big difference in the way the cookies taste.

One last important step, which I do with most cookies that I bake, is to underbake them just a bit. Once I pull the pan from the oven, I let these cookies set on the cookie pan for a few minutes before removing them to cool. 

These cookies end up being lightly crisp on the outside and a bit chewy in the middle. Oh yum!

What cookie recipe is your favorite?