no TWD

I plan to get back on track with Tuesdays With Dorrie next week. Hopefully I haven't been kicked out. I'll be very sad, if that's the case. I've missed the last three. And I'm so sorry to have missed these cupcakes. HEY....I might do them tonight and post at midnight...then, I'm still in the game!

Tuesdays with Dorie, Creme Burlee

I'm going to go out on a limb here and make an "assumption"...and that is, that most of the TWD bakers are younger than I am.
In fact, most food bloggers are younger than I am. Not that I am "old" by any means, but I can just tell (usually) by the tone of the blog post and references to lifestyle, children, social activities, that I am on the older side of the food blogging world.
This is okay...BECAUSE.... this morning I have read two TWD blogs and both of you had trouble putting the butane in the torch. So want to know my solution to that problem? I handed it to my husband and said, "would you do this for me?"
To go back a bit further, I even handed him the box before going to the store and asked him to "figure out" what I needed, and then had him buy it.
Some independent, forward thinking woman, I am. Or perhaps, very clever. That's it! (lazy would be another description )

Now, let me get to the creme brulee!
My friend Barb, gave me this creme` brulee set two years ago for Christmas. I was so excited to be able to use it. And then after finding out how simple creme brulee is to make....I'll be using it all the time. (thanks Barb--did I ever even write a thank you note? Well....look here! for all the world to see too!! THANKS)

I love creme brulee, but always just assumed that it was a lot harder than it was: cooking, straining, whisking, baking....
but it was amazingly simple, and tastes "oh so good".

As always, I never vary the recipe, only because I'm usually making it at the last possible minute and it's safer to stay with the known recipe and not the variations.
I made it last night after we had dinner, put it in the fridge and caramelized the top this morning. I only had one little mishap... I spilled the vanilla in it. I have no idea how much vanilla went in. It's very vanilla-ee. And a little less firm that it should have been. But it was very good.

And now this morning...in 30 minutes (yes, it is 5:30 a.m. right now) my other Tuesday commitment will be showing up on my doorstep...to visit and have a cup of coffee. My friend Debbie. We've done Tuesdays for a few years now...at 6:00 a.m., in jammies, robes, coffee cup in hand. Today, I will be giving her a creme brulee treat to try!!
My Tuesdays are complete....with Debbie and Dorie. (it is only under threat of death that I post no picture of Debbie in jammies, robe and coffee cup in hand)

But let me tell ya....creme brulee after dinner is good, but in the morning with a hot cup of "good" coffee, shared with a friend. Yum! (a bit rich, really, but what was I gonna do? I had pictures to take. We shared)

I was a bit unsure of the ramekin size. I didn't have the correct one. The ones included in the "creme brulee" gift box, were so small, they could fit in the palm of my hand. The others the size of cereal bowls. As you can tell.....(picture cereal sized bowl on the left), the small ones, were...much too small. So we used the larger ones and I just put the 2/3 cup of creme in them.
Thanks to Mari at Mevrouw Cupcake http://www.mevrouwcupcake.com/ for her choice this week. One of my favorites so far!

Tuesdays With Dorrie

Tuesdays with Dorrie....Dimply Plum Cake.

Not a big fan.

It was a simple cake to make, and it was "good"... better than I thought but at the same time, not so great. Go figure.

I, of course, didn't have cardamom, so I left out a spice. I was going to use cinnamon, but I forgot it. My plums were too big, I used lemon zest instead of orange zest.
It was good, I just wouldn't have ever made it. I guess that's what's good about the challenge.... expanding my horizons.

And...once again, I made it in under the gun.

no TWD

work, Work, WORK, no TWD this week!
I could post a picture of my hotdog party this past weekend! (but I cannot even do that until I go home tonight---yes, I am at work right now)
Instead of baking, I had a "good bye to summer" hot dog party.
We had every kind of weener imaginable.

Anyway, no Tuesdays Baking with Dorie for me this week.

FINALLY TWD...and you didn't think I'd make it

Tuesdays with Dorrie.... my 3rd week.
It is 10:00 p.m. PST. I just finished baking my batch of "Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters" chosen by Stefanie of Proceed with Caution.
Hooray! An easy week....especially since I was gone for a major part of last week.
Easy and tasty.
Ten at night is when we should NOT be eating cookies, but we had to test them. They got the highest praise from my husband Rich who said, "these are good cookies".
I said..."they are Dottie's" and we shared a laugh. Because we are tired and it is late and well, little things amuse us.
(I was going to say that we are old, but really we're not THAT old.)

As usual, I followed the recipe to the tea....WAIT, NO I didn't. I didn't have chunky peanut butter or bittersweet chocolate pieces. So used creamy peanut butter and chocolate chips.
And I didn't cook for 13-15 minutes, but only 10 minutes. They turned out crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside...just like I liked them. We live at 4000 ft, so I'm not sure if it's the altitude that makes them overdone if I follow cooking directions or not, but when I cook as directed my cookies are always way too done for me.
So, this is a short post, but I want to go to bed now. I've had my milk and cookies. ~grins~

Dorie again...(if I spelled that right )

This is a cooking blog, right? Not a spelling blog? Because if it's spelling....obviously I lose. It would be mortar, not "motar" that I'm off to buy.
I got excited just hearing Dorie's voice that led to me post a "quick" note and my spelling radar just wasnt' up.
Forgive me?

Dore Greenspan

Dorie Greenspan is on "The Splendid Kitchen"

okay....so I'm a little behind in listening to my podcasts.. but she was on there on August 16th.
You can listen to her here: http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/listings/
it was fun to hear her voice.
and now.... I must go buy a motar. :~0

TWD: Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte

Tuesdays With Dottie...I mean Dorie

(my husband is confused and it is catching!)

Well, here I am, well into week #2 of my TWD challenge. This week was "Chocolate Banded Ice Cream Torte" chosen by Amy of Food, Family and Fun

( http://foodfamilyandfun.blogspot.com/ )
Friday Friends....stop by and check out her blog. ("old" blogger alert! I don't know how to have a link without putting up the whole address --sigh-- I need my kids to come home from college.)

This recipe was not hard, it was just time consuming. Definitely something you needed all day to make. Which made for a nice Sunday. I fiddled around in the kitchen, cleaned up some e-mails, fiddled around in the kitchen, went to church, fiddled around in the kitchen, cleaned the bathroom, fiddled around in the kitchen... you get the picture.
IT WAS TIME CONSUMING.
And the raw eggs kind of creeped me out. I have to be honest.

So much so, that I only ate part of one slice, while watching my husband and friends devour theirs and ask for more.
My husband ate another piece the very next night...I didn't.
On Saturday morning on the Food Network, the new show, "Ask Aida" was all about eggs, and she said that if they were fresh, a little bit was okay. But still....I just couldn't.

The ganache (was it ganache? the recipe never says ganache) was easier than I had thought, but I agree with some TWD bloggers, that 30 minutes was not enough time to freeze it good. My ganache layers were tacky to the touch, but I went ahead and put on my ice-cream layers, because it was so TIME CONSUMING.
and I had invited friends to dinner so it only got to freeze for 4 hours at the end. It really needed the 6, I believe.
And cutting it to take pictures? HA! The warm knife made my torte begin to soften and melt.
No good pictures here.

oh my gosh...that is a sorry piece of torte! Really....it needs the whole 6 hours or more of freeze time.

So....my synopsis? It was easy, but very time consuming and the egg issue bothered me. (there were 8 raw eggs, for crying out loud!)*
So much so, that I wouldn't have known how good it was unless I had watched friends and family enjoy it, complimenting me about how it was the best dessert they've ever had! And then they all said it was a good thing I had joined the "Tuesdays with Dottie" (my husband has everyone saying it) challenge.

*sorry. I don't have many food issues at all. None in fact...except expiration dates and well... I guess "raw eggs".

But it was FUN to do. I think I'd make it again, but find a different ganache recipe and maybe put some different ice cream like some of the other TWD bakers have done.