SUCESS :-)

WOW!!! I can not believe that I made these and they turned out goooooood. I almost think that Julia herself would have enjoyed them. I didn’t change a thing. I watched the u-tube before hand which was wise and helpful. So, if you, dear reader find yourself with at least 6-8 hours on your hands and you have a yen for sticky buns, I say to you now, Go for it. For if I can make them, then you most certainly can!

Ta Da!!!

Other than some smallish issues, this turned out pretty good. The rhubarb filling was delish. My adult self was surprised at liking rhubarb since my childhood self would never touch the wild rhubarb that grew in our yard. Grating the shortbread gave the bars a lightness that I rather liked. The only problem I had was that the bottom layer of shortbread hardly cooked. It was basically raw. My family didn’t mind, but it certainly wouldn’t be presentable for guests. My only thoughts on how to fix that would be to bake the bottom layer for maybe 10-15 minutes first. Otherwise I am stumped. Any suggestions?

Didn’t go as I had hoped….

Well, another disappointing  outcome. My lemon loaf was dry and heavy (think rock). I knew from the outset this would be a tricky assignment. Cakes at 5,000 feet typically require lots of adjustments to get a good product. I researched. I faithfully did all the adjustments listed in my good old New High Altitude Cookbook. I even splurged  on organic cake flour. The cake gods were unhappy with me and the garbage can gods were hungry because that is where my inedible lemon loaf ended up, when all was said and done. Even the dog couldn’t be persuaded to eat my lemon loaf, and that is saying something. I am not a baker of lemon loaf, despite my sincere efforts =(.

Pizza Rustica

 Ok. I’ll confess. I am a self-taught and not all that sophisticated cook. One thing I appreciate about the Cooking with Dorie group is that I am making things I have never even heard of, let alone made. This is one of those recipes. For starters, the finished product does not resemble any pizza that I have ever had. However, the instructions and the recipe seem so fool-proof that even I was able to make it with reasonable success. The crust is simple and the filling is easy and both are tasty. The only issue was not knowing a way to test to see if it was fully baked. My rustic was runny and I am not sure if that was because I didn’t bake it long enough or if it was because I didn’t let it cool completely before serving. In any case, my runny rustic pizza was tasty and enjoyed by all!

 

Easy-peasy

Irish Soda Bread this week – YEA SUCESS!! What a  simple, tasty recipe. I followed the recipe without any modifications and it turned out great. It was so good that I was proud to bring it to a St. Patrick’s Day party.

My faith has been restored 🙂

I am a baker of Irish Soda Bread <;)

Deliciousness, thy name is Rugaelach

When my mom set out on this task, all she was talking about was how badly they were going to turn out. She made the rolls with chocolate chips, nut and lekvar(whatever that is!) and then put them in the fridge. The next  day when I went into the fridge I thought they were gyros or really weird breakfast burritos. When she was coating them in egg yolk she was talking about  how bad they looked and when they came out they were absolutely AMAZING!!Even though, truth be told, the  looked a little funky haha!! =p

A Sad Story…..

     Well, things haven’t gone well for me since my last post. First, I tried to upload pictures of my bread and the files were too big. Then, it got worse.  I made the chocolate tartlets.

    I did my due diligence. I read the P&Q. I watched the Julia YouTube. I absorbed all the tips. I read the recipe several times.  I bought rather expensive tartlet pans and some extravagant chocolate. It was all to no avail. My tartlets were dry and not very tasty, even the crust was disappointing 😦

   I am not yet a baker of yummy chocolate tartlets.

Greetings Fellow Bakers!

  Hi Everyone (and there are a lot of you). My name is Anne and I am new to the Baking with Dorie group. Like most of you, I heard Dorie interviewed on Talk of the Nation and was inspired by her enthusiasm to give this a try!

   I am so glad I did! When I read that bread was first up on the agenda, I won’t lie, I wasn’t happy. I live at 5000 feet and since moving here I have had NO success with bread. In fact, I gave my bread machine to Goodwill because it was dead to me.  Well, much to my amazement, my bread turned out great!! How could that possibly happen you may ask?? I will tell you…..

      I asked for help on the P & Q page and got this advice:     use less flour. I checked my other cookbook “The New High Altitude Cookbook” and it not only confirmed the advice I received, but also told me to bake the bread at 25 degrees higher for the first 10 minutes of baking and then drop it down to the temperature stated in the recipe. Since I was interested in success, I followed these instructions and to my surprise produced the best bread that I have ever made. As soon as I learn how to upload pictures, I will have visual evidence of my success!

   I am now a baker of bread.