Busy Like a BEE...

I am truly an utterly amaized at my productivness today! I have gotten so much done, and then some! Wow, why can't I do this every day...?

Well, here are some samples of what I have been doing...

These are the same pics from the earlier entry today, but so much better! I was tooling with Photoshop and this is what I created! Enjoy them, and if you have any critiques, tips, or suggestions...please, let me know!

Hope you enjoyed the visual feast! Be back later!

Ciabbata, Sourdough, and Croissants...oh My!

FREE BREAD!!

I got a gift! There is this local baker in St. Joseph, MN who makes amazing bread and I may be working in collaboration with him to start marketing "Bread Stenciling". How fun does that sound! Very, in my opinion. SO, to make a long story short, I went to his bakery and he gave me a tour and sent me on my what with 6 loaves of bread and some croissants to sample and experiment with. It MADE my DAY!! Free, amazing bread!

This is what I got:

Spinach & Feta Croissant

Almond Croissant

Jalapeno & Cheddar

Wild Rice & Cracked Pepper Loaf

Sourdough Loaf

Mulitgrain

Rye

Cracked Wheat

Lavash Cracker Bread

Side view of the lavash. It was very, very light and sounds like a drum. I can't wait to "crack" into it!

Once I start tasting everything, I'll keep you posted on the amazing yummyness to occur!

Cinnamon Rolls, Pizza, and Planes! What more...

Hello, Hello!!

Once again...it has been a while since I have last posted...please do not hate me! I am really going to start making this a regular thing...I just have to find the time...and the content. But...on a better note...I did some BAKING!!!

I was in North Carolina over the weekend with the Hubbs and we (I) had some wonderful culinary adventures! The first was Homemade Pizza Crust with jarred sauce :-(...sad I know, but if we had had the ingredients on hand we would have used them! We made two medium sized pepperoni pizzas. The crust was very thick and some what doughy...but not underdone! Its just really "thick" for a pizza crust. Next time we will make 2 LARGE pizzas or 3 MEDIUM ones so that the crust is thinner. But on the whole...a Delicious experience!

~Homemade Pizza Dough~
2 c. warm water
1 pkg. yeast or 1 tbsp.
1 tbsp. sugar
1/3 c. olive oil
1 tbsp. basil
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
5-5 1/2 c. four (more if needed)

Combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and allow yeast to ferment (bubble). Mix the olive oil, basil, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning in a large bowl. Pour in yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add in flour 1 c. at a time and stir to combine. Turn out onto floured surface and knead until well combined. Place in oiled bowl and cover with a towel or oiled saran wrap. Let sit in warm location until doubled in size. (About 1 hour or more.) Once risen, turn out onto floured surface and knead a little more then roll out to desired size. This recipe makes 2 large pizza crusts or 3 medium pizza crusts.

~Pizza~

3-4 c. pizza sauce

toppings of choice

cheese of choice

Italian seasoning

After dough is rolled out to desired size, spread sauce over top. Amount used depends on how much sauce you like on your pizza. Spread with toppings of choice then top with cheese. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30-45 min. Remove and let cool for 5 min. then slice and enjoy!

Look at that wonderful crust! Perfect, I like it slightly doughy...yummy!

Wow, so the next morning I decided to make some Cinnamon Rolls. These did not turn out quite as good. They tasted spot-on, but they were really quite stiff and crunchy due to the dough not rising properly. I did not want to waste in, so I made them any way! Hey, I can always get better and whats not good when it is liberally covered in cream cheese frosting? Hahaha!

~Cinnamon Rolls~

(adapted from the Skinny Gourmet)

Dough

1/4 c. warm water

1 tsp. white sugar

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1/3 c. sugar

1 egg, beaten

4 tbsp. butter, melted

1 tsp. salt

1/2-1 c. skim milk

2 1/2 - 5 c. flour (more if needed)

Filling

4 - 6 tbsp butter, divided

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

2 tbsp. sugar

4 tbsp. cinnamon

1/2 -1 c. raisins (optional)

Pour the warm water into a small bowl. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Pour in the yeast and set aside until yeast has fermented or "puffed".

In a large bowl, mix the milk, sugar, melted butter, eggs, and salt. Sir to combine. Once yeast has proofed, add it to the mixture and stir to combine. Add half of the flour and stir. Slowly add in 1 c. of flour at a time and stir after each addition. The dough should come together but not be tough. Dump out the dough onto a floured surface and knead, adding more flour if necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and cover and let to rise in a warm location, free from drafts, until it has doubled in bulk. This could take anywhere from 30 to 90 min.

Once the dough has doubled in size, dump out unto a floured surface and knead slightly. Divide dough and roll out into a rectangle. Spread surface of dough with butter then sprinkle evenly with brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon. Roll dough starting with the long side and cut into 4-6 even pieces. Place into a buttered baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 min. or until rolls are golden brown.

~Cream Cheese Icing~
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2-3 tbsp. butter, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. milk

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Taste and add more sugar and milk to desired taste and consistency. Spread over warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

Rolling the cinnamon rolls

And I have to put in a plug for my favorite new drink! So, I am NOT a pop drinker. I gave it up in high school for lent and still have not drank it. (unless I did not know about it) BUT...there is one "exception"...Vernors Ginger Soda. It is AMAZING!! Much more potent than ginger ale...wonderful ginger flavor and carbonation.

And I would like to leave you with some more plane pictures! This one one top is during take off with a sunrise...i just love it! The one below is about an hour before landing...the texture of the clouds was just to amazing to pass up! Hope you like them as much as I do!

BOOM

Expect great things soon...

Chicago Trip 08 and Recipe

Can ya believe it! This is where I just got back from! 10 art students in one big van head to CHICAGO for at 3 day invasion! We went to the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Navy Pier, River North Galleries, and Millennium Park.

The hostel that we stayed at was just a few exits north of Wrigley Field on the L. Of course I had to visit! We went to a bar that had batting cages above it and hit a few balls. That just about made the trip! (to Wrigleyville at least) I also did some beer tasting at Goose Island. Yummy.

Home of the Cubs!! I love baseball!

One night for dinner we went to Cosi. I had a Wasabi Roast Beef sandwich. There was ginger and a soy sesame sauce on it as well. Not to bad, the bread was good, but not on this type of sandwich.

One of the water towers at Millennium Park

The Bean!!

Pizza from Gino's East. We sampled both the Veggie and Sausage pizzas.

Last, but not least, I would like to share two recipes. The first is Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I had two reasons for making these cookies:

1. My dog died on Wednesday the 1st. My dad was having a hard time with it, and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are is favorite, so I baked him some!
2. I made them for the car ride out to Chicago, and they were gone in a flash!

The batter for these cookies is absolutely delish! So that could only mean good things for the cookies...correct! They were wonderful! Full of raisins, cinnamon, oats, yummy goodness! And the recipe is very simple.

~Oatmeal Raisin Cookies~
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1-2 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon*
3 c. rolled oats
1 1/2 c. raisins
1 c. chocolate chips**

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in rolled oats, raisins, and chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded tsp. about 2 in. apart onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 9 to 12 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 min and remove to wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 4 doz.

*I added more cinnamon **I did not add chocolate chips this time

ENJOY!!

Comming Around

Hello All!

It has been one heck of a week! First a trip is on, then its off, then its back on again! Should I pack or not? Oh yeah...thats why I leave it for the last minute! So, in all, I am currently going to be spending then next few days in Chicago!! Yippie! I will return with some amazing pics to share with all thoes I adore most!

Before I leave I would like to have something for my viewers to rest their eyes on. I have been getting a lot of old pictures off of my (slowly) dying computer and on to a mass storage divice. I just found a few that I enjoy and have lots of memories tied to them. I hope that you enjoy them as well!

Weighted-down pine

*Gosh how I LOVE winter!*

My fish Moony Gourmet (RIP)

The weird things that people put on cars! A Pikachu plate!

Mother Nature doing her best work

Bark scrolls from a Birch tree

And some more interesting stuff:

I found this while wondering around today, on http://boringhistorygirl.blogspot.com/ The list below was done up by a guy from Britain called Andrew Wheeler. It's a list of what he thinks all omnivores should eat once in their life. Some of them are great and some of them are gross and there are some that I have never even HEARD of! Google here I come!

Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions. Bold all the items you’ve eaten. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile** Does Aligator count?
6. Black Pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari** Both pan fried and batter fried
12. Pho
13. Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich** MANY many times
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart** Would an outdoor vendor at a baseball game count?
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream** Just a taste test
21. Heirloom tomatoes** They were stewed
22. Fresh wild berries** We used to have wild blackberries in the backyard at home
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava** LOVE it and would like to try my hand at making it
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas** I heart wasabi! Sushi is amazing!
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl** At Boudin's, SF CA, the BEST!!
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut** Had it, but no NOT like it
35. Root beer float** A&W, have not had it in a while, but I hear its the best way to go!
36. Cognac with a fat cigar** Just had the cigar part, but with wine
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O** Tis a college student, what can I say?
39. Gumbo** I am sure that I have sampled this somewhere along the way...
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects** Does inside of a sugar candy or covered in chocolate count?
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut** Good, but I do prefer the Old Fashoned
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores** I suggest using a Reeses PB Cup for some variation on the original
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake** Benigets are amazing!
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain** At a little Caribbean restaurant somewhere in Northern CA
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie** Apple, a long long time ago
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict** Best I had was in Hawaii
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash** Dad loves it hot or cold, sampled, not a huge fan
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft Shell Crab** Sampled the hubbys at Sears Landing in Surf City, NC. Yummy.
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish** The best meal CCC = Catfish, corn and corn bread
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta** Do Polenta fries count?
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Thats all for now folks! -Porky the Pig

Im Back!

I'm back!!

Did you miss me? I wish, but I can only make the assumption that everyone had been just as busy as I have the past month or so. What with school, a job hunt, night classes, my Sr. Studio Thesis art project! Yikes! Busy busy bee, that is me!

So, amid all the running about, to and fro to classes, working out (so i can eat sweets!) and what ever else I deem appropriate to put on my plate, I would like to say that I HAVE been cooking. Well...that's a slight fib...I have been COLLEGE cooking. I.E. simple noodles...boxed recipes...grilled cheese...simple salads...and what not. But the other day I baked COOKIES and BROWNIES! Can ya believe it! There is one downfall, I have not been keeping up on my photos of said food. So you can believe me without proof. I really did make this stuff! You can ask my Sr. Thesis class!

So, What did I bake you may ask? Well, I baked Ginger Raisin Oat Cookies, and Cinnamon Vanilla Brownies. And alas...the brownies were our of a box, but I added the cinnamon and vanilla to kick things up a wee bit! Since the recipes are very sweet and simple, I am not going to post them here...but do-NOTE: the Ginger Raisin cookies are the same as the Pluot Raisin cookies subbing chopped candied ginger for the Pluots. The brownies are just a boxed mix and add in two cap fills of vanilla extract and 1-2 tsp. cinnamon.

To make up for the lack of current recipes, I give you some of my wonderful Photoshop abilities and a recipe that I made over the summer for a reunion at the cabin. Without further babble from me...I give you....

~Chocolate-Covered Sunflower Seed Cookies~

1 c. unsalted butter, room temp.

1 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 eggs, room temp.

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 c. chocolate-covered sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 375F. Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl in between additions. Add vanilla and beat for 30 seconds. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix on low until fully incorporated. Stir in chocolate-covered sunflower seeds. Form into 1 in. balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 min. Let cool for 2 min. then transfer to a wire rack.

*I found the chocolate-covered sunflower seeds at my local Trader Joe's (God how I LOVE that store!)

**When I made this, I realized that I had no eggs so I mixed the sugars, butter, and vanilla together and the flour, salt, and baking soda, but kept them separate. I put the butter mixture in the fridge (bad idea) and went to get some eggs. When I came home. I preheated the oven and took out the butter mixture with the intention to add the eggs and continue on, but it was too cold! So...I thought...preheating oven...cold butter and sugar...put it in the oven! So I did this, and to my amazement, it WORKED! And it came with the bonus flavor of slightly caramelized sugar! If you don't have the same problem that I did, I'm sure that the cookies will turn out wonderful regardless!

I LOVED these cookies...they are more of a crunchy, thin cookie, which is a good and different change of pace from the thick and chewy. The sunflower seeds add a little hint of nutty flavor as well. De-lish!

~Whole Wheat Pancakes~

My uncle makes amazing ww pancakes and they are a special weekend cabin treat! I don't yet have the recipe, but i know that they have egg whites in them...so they are semi-healthy right? Anywho...the best way to eat them is warm off the griddle with a light slathering of peanut butter and then a nice drizzle of warm maple syrup...only live once right? Simply AMAZING! I have always thought it tastes like a Reeses PB Cup minus the chocolate but sweet none-the-less!

Well, that's all that I have for now....thanks for being patient with me...and my lack of posting. Now that things are starting to somewhat get into a regular pattern...posting should increase...hopefully!

Much Love!