Projects Projects Projects!!! Part I

So after a brief (month-long) hiatus I am back! With lots and lots of things to share!!

Since the last time I've posted I have successfully completed:

1. A delicious experimental pie (for which I finally have the pictures)
2. A cuddly bear
3. My February Beret
4. Birthday wonderfuls

And am working on a pair of hand warmers to match my beret that will be done soon. Exciting, huh? And now you all know that even though I may not be writing I am certainly keeping busy.


First, the pie.

I found a spectacularly delicious-looking plum pie recipe over at Savour Fare quite a long time ago but I was afraid to start it because I'd never made a pie crust before, and all I've ever heard about them is that they're more finnicky than delicate machinery. The boyfriend, who is apparently the king of pie crusts, talks all the time about how he'll sit there and cut the butter into perfectly-shaped squares so it'll melt perfectly because otherwise the dough will be lumpy and your pie will be ruined oh noooooooo!!!!

But really, this recipe was super easy. Basically you just throw some ingredients in a mixer, whip it up, and chill it overnight. Then tada! After a bit of shaping you've got yourself a pie crust! A beautiful, tasty, and deliciously flaky pie crust.

I'm glad I finally worked up the courage to tackle this. I visited the boyfriend and a bunch of other friends at school a few weeks ago and finally had the guinea pigs necessary to try something new, so I figured, why not? Thanks to all my guinea pigs... and look how wonderfully it turned out!

Okay, so... secretly the only picture I have of the pie is the one above. I was rushing out the door and didn't snap pictures when it got out of the oven. D'oh. Instead I will give you a picture of the hardest part of the whole pie: the plums.

You know how with pitted fruit it's generally pretty easy to cut it in half and remove the pit? Well, yeah. I was working with mutant plums.

See how those pits are only sort of existent??? It added so much time to the cutting process!! There wasn't a full pit to pull out, and I was stuck with all this nasty hard stuff that I had to cut out with my paring knife. Gross.

All in all, though, this was a wonderful experience. The crust is like the crostata (tart) dough in that if it's out of the fridge or too long the butter in it will start to melt, so I'd recommend keeping the lattice dough in the fridge while shaping the base. It's also missing sugar (and we definitely noticed its absence), so I'd add some next time. It's a super versatile recipe, though-- I also made a scrumptious blueberry pie that I kind of made up the recipe to but that I didn't take any pictures of (shame)-- and is something I would love love love to do again!


Next time: Part 2, and maybe parts 3 and 4, depending on how loquacious I'm feeling. Stay tuned!

There is almost nothing as good as a cold glass of milk.

Seriously. A glass of milk so cold that as you pour it the outside of the glass starts to sweat, and you want nothing more than something sweet to go with it. And really, that sweet thing is what knocks your glass of milk totally out of the water. Think about it-- imagine eating a piece of tart, or a heavy-duty brownie, or a red velvet cupcake with your tall, delicious, creamy glass of milk.

Which brings me to an announcement-- I'm baking this summer! Here's the sample plate I brought in to a local market:

Don't they just look scrumptious? This plate has sour cream cupcakes, chocolate sour cream cupcakes, heavy-duty brownies both with and without nuts, and a tart with black cherry jam, and they're only some of the many goods I bake. I don't ship orders (yet), but if you're in the tri-state area feel free to contact me for orders and we'll work something out.

And now.... back to the kitchen!

Don't be fooled by molasses, guys.

My parents sent me the most delicious cookie sampler for my birthday from Dancing Deer Baking Co., and as I sit here eating a molasses-clove cookie I am realizing I shouldn't have chickened out on molasses cake over winter break. I found this recipe for dark molasses gingerbread cake and immediately wanted to make it-- I mean, look at it! It just looks so gooey and rich and inviting that my taste buds simply quivered and ordered me to start baking. However, because I found it pretty late at night I figured it wouldn't be such a good idea, so instead I went to bed with my midnight snackies unsatisfied and put the cake on the back burner (ha).

My plan was to make it the next day, but as I was gathering ingredients I'd realized that I had no idea what a molasses cake tasted like. Both my dad, who was my sous chef for the day, and my mom, who was taking a break from playing with me in the kitchen, warned me that molasses was certainly not for everyone-- I already knew that my mom wasn't going to eat this cake (she really doesn't care for molasses), and so to see if I would like it my dad had me lick some off a spoon. Sounds like a good idea, right? To give me an idea of what the cake might taste like?

WRONG. MOLASSES BAKED GOODS TASTE NOTHING LIKE STRAIGHT MOLASSES FROM A SPOON. DON'T BE FOOLED, GUYS.

The molasses-from-a-spoon experience unfortunately pushed me away from baking that delicious-looking cake and I opted for a chocolate gingerbread instead. Chocolate gingerbread is a masterpiece in its own right and is actually one of my all-time favorites, but I now realize the error of my baking ways. Because when I bit into this Dancing Deer molasses-clove cookie it was moist and reminded me faintly of gingerbread, but tasted nothing like the gross, viscous, dark substance I ate from a spoon.

The moral of the story is, don't be fooled by its sticky texture, weird color, and strong smell. Molasses cookies are spectacular. So when I find ingredients and a willing oven, guess what my next project's going to be?