Sweet treats
As a general rule, when I go to a new restaurant I like to try their signature dish. This past weekend we were in Chicago, and across the street from our hotel was The Original Pancake House (or so the sign said). Their signature dish was an apple pancake, so I ordered it.
This week marks the end of March, the second week of spring and my birthday. To celebrate, I am making shasta daisy lemon cupcakes.
If you want a pan that can do just about anything, get a cast iron one. It can fry a steak, sauté veggies, simmer a stew and even bake a cake! It does especially well with pineapple upside down cake. It bakes the cake evenly inside and creates a nice crunchy outside. If it is well-seasoned, the pan will even let the cake slide hassle-free from it. Now if only the pan could clean up after itself.
Start your Saint Patrick’s Day off right with a breakfast that includes shamrock-shaped maple scones. Don’t have a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter? That’s OK. They’ll taste just as good cut into triangles.
Has a song ever inspired you to bake? While debating with myself what to bake for my next post for Girl Meets Oven, the song “Coconut” suddenly popped into my head. If you are not familiar with it, the chorus goes, “She put the lime in the coconut; she drank ’em both up.” Then I thought instead of drinking lime and coconut, why not bake with them? Lime and coconut bars could make for a tasty and fun Saint Patrick’s Day treat.
I cannot tell a lie. I baked the cherry chocolate chip coffee cookies. I promise I did not chop down a cherry tree to make these cookies. I used dried tart cherries from the grocery store. However, I did steal the last cup of coffee to make them.
Is life like a box of chocolates or a bowl of cherries? It probably depends on who you ask. Forrest Gump said chocolates. Erma Bombeck may have said cherries. I like to think life is like a bowl of chocolate cherry chip cookies.
This Valentine’s Day, you may be conquering your fear to ask someone on a date. I am conquering my fear of making creme brulee. I love eating the stuff, but I have been a coward about making it until now. I’m facing my fear and sharing my story. My hope is it will help you conquer creme brulee too (if you haven’t already). If I can be brave enough to make it, so can you.
Ken loves those big chocolate chip cookie cakes from the Great American Cookie Company at the mall, so one year I bought a heart-shaped cookie pan to make them at home. I think I used the pan once in the several years I’ve had it. Whenever I make chocolate chip cookies, they end up being greasy and flat, and nothing like the ones at the mall. For Valentine’s Day this year, I went on a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.
When you’ve had a bad day, sometimes you need a little chocolate. It is a really bad day when your chocolate cake blows up in your face. Don’t let it happen to you. Check out this story, and get a super rich chocolate cake recipe too.