Monday, January 24, 2011

Do me a favor... please

Hey all,

So I've decided that I am going to make Tea Biscuits this week, but I won't have time until Wednesday night. In the meantime I thought I would ask a favor out of all of you... thanks to technology I've been able to keep track of my page views and audience. The numbers are WAY higher then I would have ever been able to hope, so for that I want to thank you! All of you have made this blog what it is or is becoming so as a result I want to hear from you. I want to know who my readers are (in some sense.)

In the comment section to this entry please tell me a little something. It could be where your from, what you like about this blog, what you don't like, something you want to see, or anything about you. I know that as a blogger I really shouldn't be asking favors from my readers, but curiosity has gotten the best of me.

Keep posted for the next recipe last this week, and thanks for doing me this little favor :) Oh and please don't feel pressured to put your name, anonymity is totally respected.

Catherine

Monday, January 17, 2011

Back to the grind

Hey readers! Sorry for not blogging regularly over the past month. Being on my last winter break threw off my schedule, but I am now back into the swing of things and that includes baking! I mentioned briefly before that I was going to visit Carlo's bakery, but like most of my plans this break the snow prohibited me from going. I am however going THIS Friday to pick up a birthday cake that I ordered for my nephew who is turning 1 this week!

As promised I attempted to make the Italian Custard Cream again over break, and guess what? It didn't work. 4 times is not the charm. I looked and compared Buddy's recipe with a bunch of others, and I am convinced that there is an ingredient missing from my book. Maybe I'll get a chance to ask Buddy or someone on Friday, if not a very confused e-mail to them will just have to do. The main reason that I am more than determined to figure out the custard cream is because a bunch of the recipes for this blog call for it as a component, and I can't let the blog down! I made a promise to bake all the recipes, and I very well intend to keep that promise to the best of my ability.

So as I mentioned before I finally got a chance to try a new recipe for the first time in quite some time (major apologies to any loyal readers I might have.) I chose to make Pecan Wedges for the beginning of this new semester. Once again, I've never made anything like these before, but it was a fun experience for me to try. It wasn't Buddy's easiest recipe, and I'm not sold that they turned out the way they were supposed to, but I made something! The directions Buddy gave were easy to follow, but the measurements for the dough didn't make sense with what my product was. Like any great baker, I improvised to make the recipe work for me (instead of me working for it.) I think my favorite part was making the pecan filling, which involved me making caramel. Pretty cool. My biggest complaint is when I was cutting up the pieces they kept on falling apart. It was only after they had been in the fridge for a little while did they maintain their shape and taste.

Overall my taste-testers of the week seemed to enjoy them. The average grade received was around an A-. Some of the comments were:
"Good, except the breaded part tasted a little dry, but pecans were just the right type of crunchy."
"Moist and delicious!"
"Yum! This is like a better pecan pie- all the flavor, but not overly sweet!"

'Nommmm."


After not baking for some time I was a little nervous to get back into the swing of things, but once I dived in it felt great! Besides for the messiness and the fact that I don't love nuts, this was a fun recipe to make. I'm not sure I'll add it my repertoire of baking for the future, but I accomplished something new and that's always good to be proud of.

Keep posted to the blog for a full update of my trip to Carlo's Bake Shop and more recipes to come in the near future! Also don't forget to comment and tell your friends.

xoxo

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Update

I hate Italian Custard Cream. Attempt 4 was still a failure. On the bright side I'm going to Carlo's Bakery on Friday. Maybe I can ask them for some tips on what I am doing wrong? Oh, and Happy New Year everyone. Hope 2011 is awesome!

Stay tuned for more recipes coming in 2011, an entry on my trip to the bakery, and maybe sometime in 2011 I will finally get the Italian Custard Cream.