Hand Pies!

I'm not sure why I've been entranced with the idea of hand pies this month.  It could be that with the busy schedule I like the thought of having something to go from freezer to plate that's homemade and flavorful after a long day of work.  It could be that I just like any excuse to use my killer pie crust.  It could be that I need something appropriately British to match the accent my internal dialogue has picked up since I spent two sick days on the couch watching Downton Abbey.  Or it could be that they're just a really great idea.  A pie you hold in your hand.  A pie you can eat all by yourself without getting funny looks.  A hand pie!

Baked Oatmeal

The dogs are just as bad as E and I about wanting to get out of bed in the mornings, especially when it's chilly outside.  They'll wake us up demanding breakfast and as soon as they've eaten, they climb into bed with us to warm back up.  During the week, they're on their own for snuggling, but come Saturday morning, the whole family gets to sleep in.  Freya will bark at the side of the bed, demanding that we make room for her.  Ellie will bounce her little head up with a tiny whine to let us know she's ready to be invited up for that last hour of pre-dawn sleep.  We read a bit, or fall back asleep briefly, and generally enjoy the fact that we don't actually have to be anywhere just yet. 

Daring Baker's Challenge 2: Jaconde Imprime/Entremet

This was not so much a recipe as a project.  The kind that involves file folders, spreadsheets, hours of research, and weeks of planning.  I have admitted before that I'm not much of a recipe gal. So when I saw that this month's challenge involved 5 pages of instruction, and that that was just a fraction of the final product, my first thought was to bow out.  I don't even have a real sweet tooth.  I don't actually care if my food looks good.  But then I remembered that the reason I joined this group was to challenge myself.  And taking a sick day on the second challenge seemed kind of weak.  So I steeled myself, took a deep breath, and said "Challenge Accepted." [Insert Dartagnon-like glove slap here]

Jarlene's Famous Apple Fritters

I lost a dear friend this week.  She was born Darlene, and was lovingly dubbed Jarlene a few years after I met her.  (You see, her license plate was JAR-2081.)  She was my 1997 Toyota Camry.  I bought Jarlene in 2002, and we spent 8 years together (her "Glory Years," she always said).  I can still remember the day I met her- a late summer afternoon, in the dealer's lot.  

Savory Bread Pudding

I swore I would make a recipe as I baked this dish.  I would be testing two different permutations, so certainly I could keep tabs on how much of each ingredient I used so as to best direct you toward the perfect savory bread pudding.  But instead, I got caught up in winging it and the drooly anticipation of my dinner, and so instead, I have a wobbly sort of recipe, and a set of suggestions- AND links to where you might find less wobbly recipes and more suggestions.  I do all of this because I want you to make this bread pudding, before it gets warm and the fun of comfort food is replaced by the bright colors of spring vegetables.

Stollen: My First Daring Bakers' Challenge

I am so excited to have completed my first Daring Bakers' Challenge! I decided to join the Daring Bakers because baking is my weak point. I know how to cook with intuition, but baking is a different story. It requires discipline and rigorous application of tried and true methods. It doesn't let you play around and experiment and tweak if you want a slight change. Or so I thought... As I slowly begin to bake more, and read more blogs that are devoted to baking, I've found that people who bake a lot do the same thing I do with cooking. It just takes practice, the same way learning to cook took practice. So each month I'll have a specific baking challenge. I'm going to try to follow the recipe to the letter the first time, then try to tweak it towards my own tastes- change flavors, textures, etc. And then try to find people to generously accept some baked goods from me so that E and I don't develop diabetes before we turn 30.

Bacon Pecan Cookies

We had our first snow last weekend.  Snow is always magical in the south.  You spend days hearing it's going to happen, finding it hard to actually believe the forecast, but secretly hoping and praying it will happen (and preferably on a weekday as nobody works in the South on a snow day).  Then it does happen, all of a sudden you look out the window and there are these big, soft snowflakes coming down, melting right into the ground.  And two hours later, they're still falling, now accumulating and coming down faster, but still such big and soft flakes that it actually feels good to stand out in it.  And everything is so quiet.

Thanks Given, and Doggies Treated Well

Thanksgiving was an amazing holiday this year.  E and I had our first family holiday as a married couple, and it was just perfect- although too brief.  The company was splendid, with endless rounds of Catch Phrase (awesome!) and Apples to Apples (not so awesome).  The dinner was fantastic, with all the regular favorites and some new ones as well.  The dessert was an adventure, as grilling pies is not as easy as a full belly and several glasses of wine had me believe.  And it was all topped off with a bonfire, complete with guitars, a mushroom the size of an infant, and a robust rendition of The Little Mermaid soundtrack.  The entire family, 7 people and 5 dogs (there are also 3 cats in the family, but I doubt they would have stayed past Les Poissons), all enjoying each other's company as the night wound down. Couldn't have asked for more...