Day 116 - Jam or Marmalade Bars?

I would much rather have strawberry jam bars as I think the rest of the family would, but that is not the direction I took.
Remember back on day 73 when I made Orange Marmalade Soufflé with Grand Marnier (I STILL love to say that - it sounds SO cool on the tongue!)?
Yes, I still have that orange marmalade in the fridge and noone's touched it and I certainly haven't because I just don't like the stuff.
Yeah, so why would I make something that nobody will probably eat?  Because I don't want to waste the marmalade. 
I know.
I hear you chuckling.
Yes,... you.
I'll be wasting BOTH the marmalade AND the bars this way.
Oh well, we'll see.

The recipe said to use an 8-inch square pan.  I own a 9-inch square pan or an 8-inch round pan.  I chose the round knowing the 9 would be too big and didn't want to burn my creation. 
I certainly wouldn't want to waste it by BURNING it!  ;-) (I need to add smiley face icons - on my to do list...)

This is from my Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Thirteenth Edition, p.632; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

Jam or Marmalade Bars - 16 bars, wedges, or pretty designs

½ cup shortening
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
1½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon salt
jam or marmalade (did not specify an amount in the recipe)

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Grease an 8-inch square pan.
Cream the shortening with the sugar, vanilla and almond extract.

Stir in the egg and blend well.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and salt, add to the first mixture, and combine thoroughly.

Spread half the dough in the pan.

Cover with a layer of jam or marmalade.

Pat the remaining dough on top and bake for 25 minutes.

Cool, then cut into bars 4 X 1 inches.

Or is you're using an 8-inch ROUND pan, cut into wedges however big or small you want.
'Cause they're your bars.

Or you can just cut them into pretty designs without regard to being pushed into making bars OR wedges.

Live a little.
Cut things differently.

Go outside your box.

...

ok, I'll stop.

If you have questions about pan sizes and substituting, check out this page at the Joy of Baking.  It was helpful and I know I'll need to consult this info. again during the course of the year.

Everything that I make is rated on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these orange marmalade bars earned 2½ rolling pins.
I knew I was going to have a problem putting the top layer of dough on the marmalade.
It really was a no-brainer that when I attempt to push the dough out from the center of the pan to the edges that the marmalade is going to move to the edges with it.
Yeah.
Before I placed the ball of dough on the top I flattened it as best I could like a pizza.  I placed that on the marmalade, but it wasn't big enough and still had to push it to the edges with a rubber spatula.  Consequently, there was more marmalade on the outer edges than there was in  between the layers.  It could have been the reason for it being dry, too.  Just guessing.
At first bite, they were very dry, but then the more I chewed, they became a little addicting.  And there really wasn't an overwhelming orange marmalade taste.
Go figure.
Know why?
It was all, ok, well almost all of it, pushed to the outer edges where it became crunchy and chewy which, I have to admit, was rather good.
Ultimately, I thought they were just kind of eh, or as we used to say in my high school French class, "Comme ci, comme ça" - could be better, but could be worse.

There.

There's your French lesson for the day.
The next time someone asks you how you're doing, say, "Comme ci, comme ça" (pronounced "come-see comme-saah"), and see how impressed they'll be!
Either that or they'll look at you like you have two heads and will wonder what the heck you said.
Cuisson Heureux!

Day 110 - Cornflake "Macaroons"

A great evening spent with friends.  Everyone needs to remember to do that once in a while.  It's good to socialize and forget about "things" even if it is only for a few hours.
It helps to keep me grounded.
And everytime I come home after being with friends, I'm thinking, "darn!  Why don't I do that more often?".

I found this cookie recipe in my Fannie Farmer Cookbook Thirteenth Edition, p. 621; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

Cornflake "Macaroons"  - about 18 cookies

1 egg white
½ cup sugar
½ cup shredded coconut
1 cup cornflakes
¼ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla
Dash of salt

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Place parchment paper on top of two cookie sheets.
Beat the egg white until stiff, then stir in the remaining ingredients.

Place by teaspoonfuls on the cookie sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and I thought these cookies earned 2½ rolling pins.  They were different.  They weren't bad, they just weren't something that I feel I absolutely have to make again.  I really liked the texture: the egg white was similar to a meringue, and the chewiness of the coconut mixed with the crunch of the cornflake was a good combination.  I like that there wasn't too much coconut, like a genuine macaroon, and I think a little less sugar would have been better - they were very sweet.  But that was probably because I used sweetened coconut, too.  Use unsweetened or cut the sugar amount in half.
I have to say that the smell of these brought me back to childhood.  I used to eat these sugar cookies from Nabisco that came in a pink wrapper and of course, they don't make them anymore.  The faintly smelled of coconut and were absolutely delicious.  I really miss those cookies... They were big, their shape reminded me of a flower and they had a hole in the middle that I used to stick my finger through and eat from the outside in.

Ah, the good 'ol days...(sigh)

Happy baking!

Day 106 - S'mores Bars

Yesterday and today have been spent largely in front of the computer.  I'm not kidding.  I spent from 10am-5pm yesterday glued to the laptop and today, I have been mostly in front of the PC when I'm not doing some housework or baking for today.  The reason, this absolutely awesome webcast through CreativeLive.  It has been a 3 day course in Seattle on food photography given by Penny De Los Santos.  She is an INCREDIBLE photographer and has such an incredible talent!  She has photographed for National Geographic and currently works for Saveur magazine.  She has also started a blog called Appetite. 

Yesterday she went over principles and some basics and today she showed how she does set-ups in the studio with a food stylist.  It was SO cool!  Seeing it live on the internet was definitely the next best thing to being there.  AND Shauna Ahern from The Gluten Free Girl was there today, so we were able to see her take part in it, too.
Sitting through this course has definitely made me see food in a different way and has really motivated me to improve my pictures.  Penny says food is sexy.  And it is!
I'm excited to see how I can incorporate all that she's been teaching.  First, I really need to read the manual that came with the camera. Haha. That would help!  I've been using my daughter's Nikon D40 and don't have my own, but now I WANT one!  Birthday's coming...oh, honey...
Yes, a REALLY nice camera AND an iPad.

Since my daughter is now home for the summer from college, I figured I'd dedicate today's recipe to her.  She's been e-mailing all these recipes that she wants me to make this summer while she's home.  We're definitely going to gain some weight if we do everything that she sent me!  Needless to say, she's very glad to be home helping out with this project and will be very well fed.

I was inspired to do this recipe when I saw a post on Dana's Food For Thought.  I have really been enjoying her website.  She is an inspiration as she's very creative and loves to enter her creations in contests.  She has also talked about taking some various food classes which has peaked my interest.  But what really got me was her picture in S'mores post of the jar of Marshmallow Fluff.  She had never tried it and was actually quite opposed to purchasing it for the recipe, but after tasting the bars she was won over.
I haven't shared this with her, but being from Rhode Island, that Fluff is a staple in our household even since we've moved out to Arizona.  My husband and I even grew up with it!  I buy the tubs by the case from where else, the Marshmallow Fluff website, of course.
We really only use it for Fluffernutters - a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich.  Dana, maybe you'll even try one of those one day.


S'mores Bars

1¼ cups Graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup flour
4 1.55 oz. Hershey bars
24 marshmallows

Butter an 8 X 8" baking dish.
Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl.  Add melted butter and mix thoroughly.  Pack ½ of mixture into the bottom of the dish.

Add egg and flour to remaining crumb mixture and mix until well combined.
Outline inside perimeter of baking dish on a piece of parchment paper.  Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

Place egg, flour, crumb mixture on parchment paper and cover with another piece of parchment.  Roll out dough until it just reaches the area of the outline.

Put both the baking dish and cookie sheet in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.

Place marshmallows on a greased cookie sheet and place under low broiler for 5 minutes.  Be sure to check on them frequently!  After 5 minutes, turn all marshmallows over to broil the other side for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven.

I just wanted to eat ALL of these before I used them!

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Remove both the baking dish and cookie sheet from the refrigerator. 
Arrange the chocolate bars on top of the set crumbs in the baking dish, so that it is completely covered.  Place the marshmallows on top of the chocolate in two layers.

Take the cracker dough that is on the parchment paper and invert it on to the marshmallows.  Remove parchment and press the dough down.
Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Ok, just so you know I am baking a different recipe every day (or at least attempting to when I'm not sick with a headache or when Blogger is down) andt they may not always be recipes that I would encourage you to copy.  I am going to have those days when things don't turn out as I would like them to.  I started this blog as a way to preserve our family recipes, share them along with other recipes I find in my cookbooks, from friends and on the internet.  There are some days I like to try to make someone else's recipes one of my own, but it may not work.
This, I think, was one of those days.
Don't get me wrong, it was really good and all ('cause when is something with chocolate NOT good?), but the elements just didn't come together.  I didn't want to copy Dana's S'mores, but now I'm thinking that was probably the way to go.
Everything I make I rate on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and the S'mores Bars earn 2½ rolling pins.  They were yummy as the combination usually is, but there were some technical flaws.  I should have put the flour and egg in the whole mixture of cracker crumbs instead of just half.  So, not doing that, the bottom layer was extremely crumbly.
Also, the marshmallows were very stringy.  They were much stringier (is that a word?) than I thought they'd be.  You know, like when you're eating fried mozzarella and you take a bite, go to swallow and some of it goes down, but the other half is still stuck in your mouth?  Yeah, it's kind of like choking or gagging.
You KNOW what I'm talking about!
On that note - haha, happy baking!

Day 73 - Orange Marmalade Soufflé with Grand Marnier Sauce

     I have to say a big thank you to my friend, Debbie, for her assistance with today's recipe.  I couldn't have done it without her because she let me borrow her soufflé dish.  I knew I was going to have to purchase one in order to make them for this blog, so I cannot tell you how excited I was when she told me she had one.  Debbie, I am so very grateful.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!
     Orange Marmalade Soufflé with Grand Marnier.  Orange Marmalade Soufflé with Grand Marnier.  I like the way that rhymes; soufflé, marnier, souffé, marnier.     
     I adapted this is from my Fannie Farmer Cookbook Thirteenth Edition, p.684,685; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.  The original recipe I wanted to use wasn't going to work.  I got 3/4 of the way through typing it to the blog and realized I never typed that the oven had to be preheated, so I switched and used the recipe for the Basic Dessert Soufflé, and added orange to it.  I also made it gluten free.  Not intentionally, but if you read the post from yesterday, you'll remember that I'm out of flour because I spilled it on the floor.  So, I substituted the King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour where it called for 3 tablespoons and added a PINCH of xanthan gum.
     There is an Orange Marmalade Soufflé with Grand Marnier Sauce recipe in the book, but it isn't baked.  Mine is.

     Orange Marmalade Soufflé with Grand Marnier

     4 egg yolks
     ¼ cup granulated sugar
     2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
     3 tablespoons butter
     3 tablespoons flour
     1/8 teaspoon salt
     2 tablespoons orange marmalade
     1 cup milk
     5 egg whites
     1 teaspoon vanilla
     Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
     Butter a 2-quart soufflé dish or baking dish and sprinkle it with sugar.  Beat the yolks; slowly add ¼ cup of the sugar, and grated orange zest, beating until thick and blended, set aside.
     Melt the butter in a skillet and stir in the flour, and salt.  Cook for several minutes over low heat, stirring, then slowly stir in the milk.  Stir in the orange marmalade.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until the sauce reaches the boiling point and becomes smooth and thick.

     Remove from heat, pour a little of the hot sauce into the yolk/sugar/zest mixture, and stir well.  Add the remaining yolk mixture to the sauce, stirring constantly, then return to the heat and cook for another minute; remove and let cool.

 Put the 5 egg whites in a large bowl and beat until foamy.  Slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar and beat until the whites are stiff but not dry.

     Whisk a fourth of the whites into the sauce to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites.  Stir in the vanilla.

     Pour into the soufflé dish.  Bake for 35 minutes if a slightly runny center is desired and 45-50 minutes for a dry soufflé.

After being in the oven for 30 minutes.  15 minutes to go.

     Sauce

     1 egg yolk
     3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
     1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
     ½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

     For the sauce, put the egg yolk into a medium bowl and whip it with a fork.  Stir in the confectioners' sugar and the Grand Marnier and whisk until it is smooth and blended.  Fold in the whipped cream.  Refrigerate until used.  Spoon sauce over each serving.

Right after removal from the oven.

Less than 5 minutes out of oven.

10 minutes after being taken out of the oven.  See how much it's collapsed?

     My rating system is based on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and the family decided that this soufflé earned 2½ rolling pins.  It smelled absolutely delicious as it was baking, and tasting the batter before it went into the oven, I thought it was really good and was quite impressed.  I have never had a soufflé before and decided that I'd be ok if I never had one again.  It wasn't that this wasn't good, it's just not my kind of dessert.  As my husband said, it's not the type of dessert we would order in a restaurant.  The flavor of the orange was just right and that sauce was sweet with that kick of Grand Marnier, but it was a little too eggy for me.  This was definitely a more sophisticated adult dessert and I was pleased that my kids couldn't stand the sauce.  Hmmm...now what to do with the rest of the Grand Marnier?

     Happy baking!

Day 38 - Cincinnati Coffee Bread

     Ok, so today the blog should be called 365 Days of Baking and Lynne's Mishaps in the Kitchen.  Today was one of those days.  I awoke with a pounding headache, so I'm blaming the brain fart I had on the dose of caffeine in the Excedrin I took.  Good grief!  The recipe says to mix the milk, sugar, butter, and salt in a large bowl and cool to lukewarm.  Doesn't sound that difficult, right?  Well, it isn't until you have a huge mess all over your kitchen.  I want to know how 1 cup of milk, 1/3 cup sugar, 5 tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon of salt can spread so far and wide over a kitchen?  So few ingredients.  I really don't know what I was thinking.  I heated the milk up on the stove and had put the other ingredients into the Kitchen Aid mixer, granted the butter was not melted and was a chunk which probably should've been my first clue.  So, I poured the milk into the bowl and turned the mixer on.  Not a pretty site.  Milk started flying, butter chunks were darting all over the kitchen, landing on the cat who ran for cover, droplets of milk, sugar, salt and somewhat melted butter all over the floor, kitchen table, mixer, counter, and of course, me.  In my attempt to shut the mixer off (ok this can be labeled as the second brain fart), I of course, pushed it in the wrong direction and turned it up to a higher speed.  OH!  MY!  GOSH!  I know it's good to make mistakes and there are times that I do appreciate them, but not when I have a physical mess to clean up.  Ok, so now it's comical.  I started from scratch again and this time decided to melt the butter in with the milk while it was heating and then mixed everything together with a spoon.  Much better, until I went to add the flour and dropped that bowl into the liquid mixture.  It dropped with a thud and there was another, but smaller, mess to clean up.  It seems as if the baking gods are against me this morning.  The batter's rising in the oven now.  We'll see what happens next.  I'm sure I'm going to be finding greasy spots all over my kitchen for the next few days.
UGH!!! My husband who was out for a run when all of this happened was just messing with my head.  I'm using his laptop to type this and he took his remote mouse over to the counter.  While pretending to dry his hands on a towel, he's using the mouse to move the cursor and scrolling the page up and down.  It really freaked me out because I put my hands in my lap and things were still moving all over the place. MEANIE!!  It's a good thing after 20+ years I still find him humorous.  I wouldn't trade him for anything.
     I found the Cincinnati Coffee Bread in my Fannie Farmer Cookbook Thirteenth Edition, p. 523; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

     Cincinnati Coffee Bread
     1 cup hot milk
     1/3 cup sugar
     5 tablespoons butter
     1 teaspoon salt
     1 package dry yeast
     ¼ cup warm water
     2 eggs, well beaten
     4 cups white flour

     Filling
     1 cup bread crumbs
     3 tablespoons sugar
     1 tablespoon cinnamon
     4 tablespoons butter, melted

     Mix the milk, sugar, butter, and salt in a large bowl and let cool to lukewarm.  Stir the yeast into the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.  Add the dissolved yeast, eggs, and flour to the first mixture and beat very well. 

Cover and let rise until double in bulk.

Stir down with a spoon and beat thoroughly.  Spoon into a buttered loaf pan.  Mix the filling ingredients together and stir them into the batter, just barely swirling the filling through.

  Cover the pan, and let rise again until double in bulk. 

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Bake loaf for about 40-50 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on rack.

     Hm...the batter was not really "spoonable" after the first rising.  I imagined just swirling the filling into the batter, but that certainly wasn't the case.  It was definitely more the consistency of dough, so I attempted to "swirl" the filling, but it was more like poking it into the dough with the spoon.  It is in the oven for the second rising and I'm interested to see what it looks like when it comes out.  I think the filling is going to be spilling all over the cookie sheet I put underneath it because most of it is just sitting on the top.
     The bread tasted good, was slightly sweet, but not too sweet and the filling...yeah, it was more like topping than filling.  The stuff I "poked" into the batter really didn't spread as I had hoped it would, so it all just kind of sat on the top and left the bread plain.  It's tough to cut, too because the cinnamon, sugar, bread crumbs combo. all fall off everywhere and onto the counter.  As far as breads go, it's ok, but I don't think we'll be eating all of it.  Maybe I'll try it toasted tomorrow morning with a cup of coffee.  My rating of 1-4 with 4 being the best: the Cincinnati Coffee Bread earns 2½ rolling pins.
     Happy baking!

Day 37 - Lace Cookies

     I've always wanted to make Lace cookies, but have been a little intimidated to.  They're just so delicate.  This recipe is from my cook book, Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Thirteenth Edition, p. 619; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., division of Random House; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

     Lace Cookies
     1½ cups uncooked oatmeal
     1½ cups light brown sugar
     2 tablespoons flour
     ½ teaspoon salt
     2/3 cup melted butter
                                1 egg, lightly beaten
                                ½ teaspoon vanilla

     Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Mix the oatmeal, brown sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.  Stir in the melted butter, then add the egg and vanilla and combine well.  Arrange the batter by half-teaspoonfuls, about 2 inches apart, on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Cool slightly, removing cookies from the cookie sheet with a spatula as soon as they are firm.  If they become too hard, return to the oven for a few minutes to soften.

     Now I know why I was intimidated.  These suckers are not easy cookies to make.  They're quite tasty, but they have to be made "just so" or they're not going to come out right and you'll end up eating the 10 cookies that stick to the spatula (well, how else was I going to get them off?). 
     It says to leave the cookies in the oven for 5 minutes.  I did that with the first batch and when I went to remove them from the cookie sheet after allowing them to cool there for a minute or two, completely smushed (I love that word, but not when I'm making cookies) them together.  It wasn't pretty.  The second batch I knew I needed to leave in longer to harden, so I did that, and left them a little longer on the cookie sheet to cool, also.  I managed to extract a few off the cookie sheet without a major problem while some were still being smushed.  And then the last ones to be removed were stuck to the sheet like glue.  Once the cookies cooled completely on the sheet, they were not going to budge, and the couple I managed to scrape off had me thinking they might be good to use as spackle.  Making these brought me back to when I was first learning how to make crepes and the amount of time it took to learn the right temperature in the pan, the right consistency of the batter and knowing when the crepe was cooked sufficiently on one side so that it could be flipped.  These cookies took this baker some time to master in order to achieve a perfect finished product.  By the fifth and final batch, I had it down, but I don't think I'll be making these again.
     I really like how light and airy they are, but they are extremely sweet.  So sweet in fact that my kids don't want to eat anymore than the two that they had.  And there were enough of them for me to bring and share with my hairdresser and her salon (everyone there really liked them).  My rating scale is from 1 to 4 with 4 being the best.  So for these Lace Cookies, the rating is:  2½ rolling pins.
     Happy baking!

Day 33 - Chicken with Rice

     I found this recipe card for Chicken with Rice among my cookbooks today.  I remember my mom making it and really wanting to know how to prepare it.  She gave me the card, but I never received a personal cooking lesson.  I make it sound like it's complicated when it took me all of 10 minutes,  I think to put the ingredients into the pan.  I'm all for easy, especially when it comes to busy nights with various family activities; there's nothing better than being able to pull something out of the freezer that's already been prepared, some crock pot recipe that I can start in the morning, or a dish that takes little time to prepare and will be done by the time we arrive home (like the lasagna, but you probably want to make sure you cover it, so that it doesn't become crusty like mine did ;-) ).  Hmmm...that reminds me, what do I make for dinner tomorrow night?
     Chicken with Rice
     1 cup uncooked rice
     1 chicken-cut up
     1 pkg. onion soup mix
     1 can cream of chicken soup
     1 cup sherry
     1 cup water

     Place rice in 2 qt. casserole, cover with water and wine. 

Place chicken over rice (in one layer if possible).  I used boneless chicken breasts.

Sprinkle with onion soup mix.

Cover with chicken soup.

Cover and bake at 325ºF - 350ºF for 1-2 hrs.  Remove cover; brown 30 minutes longer.

     It is an extremely simple recipe, but somehow, I managed to screw it up. Haha  Ok, not really funny.  As I said, I used the boneless chicken breasts, so I knew it should be in the oven or thought it should be in the oven for a different amount of time than it called for.  I started it at 350ºF for 30 minutes at which point I removed the cover and turned the heat up to 375ºF for another 30 minutes.  Why, you ask?  Um, because it was already 6 o'clock when I started to make dinner and I didn't have 1½ - 2½ hours to wait.  I have teenagers, remember?  And one of them is a boy.  So I figured before they filled up on snacks, I'd better speed dinner up.

     The chicken was delicious, very tender and flavorful because of the sherry, soup and onions.

 HOWEVER, the rice was a tad bit underdone and a little crunchy.  Next time, I'll probably use chicken breast again, but will bake for the allotted time at the temperature I'm supposed to.  The family liked it even though the rice was crunchy.  I'm still trying to pick bits out of my teeth.   The rating: on a scale of 1 to 4 rolling pins, I give this a 2½ because of the rice.  

     Happy baking!

Day 19 - Baking Powder Biscuits with Cheese and Roasted Garlic

      I was finally able to clean my house today!  Well, at least part of it, but it's a start.  I felt like I was able to accomplish so much, but there's still so much left to do.  I have the habit of starting one project and then moving on to another before the first one is finished; something I inherited from my mother.  Consequently, I tend to feel very disorganized and my "projects" tend to be scattered throughout the house.  Right now I feel like I'm nesting and want to sort, organize and throw away.  Out with the old, in with the new!  Or maybe the new should wait until the old is completely taken care of.
Wow!  I just noticed that you can purchase the cookbook I use for $.77!  Granted it  would be used, and is 20 years old, but it has a lot of recipes (some of which have proven to be tasty so far), contains very good information regarding the kitchen, and baking and cooking, and it has these wonderful little hints and equivalent charts on the inside of the front and back covers which I use constantly.  I've gotten in the habit of writing in all of my cookbooks and making notes whenever I use a recipe.  That way I know if I've made it and if it would be worth making again depending on the reviews it received from the family.  I know that this book is going to be filled with various markings by the time I am done with this challenge.  It's funny, I've always had this thing about not writing in books like it was sacrilegious or something.  But then when I started cooking more once we had kids, I kept thinking how was I ever going to know if I made something and if we like how it tasted.  It seemed logical to notate it, but I still had to overcome that hangup about writing in my books.  It's like how I only used to buy 2 kinds of cereal until we started watching 'Seinfeld'.  Then it was like I had permission to keep a lot of different kinds of cereal in the pantry at one time.   It was so exhilarating to go to the cupboard and have so many choices in the morning!  Weird, I know.  It's the little things that make us all unique.  Like sniffing pizza crust.
     Today's recipe, Baking Powder Biscuits, comes from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Thirteenth Edition, pg. 544; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

     Baking Powder Biscuits
     2 cups flour
     ½ teaspoon salt
     4 teaspoons baking powder
     1 tablespoon sugar
     ½ cup vegetable shortening
     2/3 cup milk

     Preheat oven to 425ºF.  Grease two 8-inch cake pans.  Put the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl.  Cut the shortening into the flour with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add the milk all at once and stir just until the dough forms a ball around the fork.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead 14 times.  Pat until ½ inch thick.  Cut into rounds with a 2-inch cookie cutter.  Place touching each other in the cake pans and bake for 15-20 minutes.
     Cheese Biscuits.  Add ½ cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese to the dry ingredients.
     Drop Biscuits.  Add an additional 1/3 cup milk and drop by teaspoonfuls onto a buttered baking sheet.

     I wanted to make the biscuits in the cake pan, but the cookie cutter I had was 3-inches and I didn't feel like free-forming a circle.  So, I went for the drop biscuit technique.  I added the cheese (didn't have sharp cheddar, so I used a Mexican combination) and 3 cloves of roasted garlic into the ingredients before I added the milk.  I roasted the garlic in our toaster oven at 425ºF for 20 minutes and then crushed it.  I left the biscuits in the oven longer than I should have because I was side-tracked with making dinner, so the bottoms were a little darker than I would have liked.

 They were tasty, but were also a little drier than we would have liked.  I don't know if it was because I baked them too long or if they are drier biscuit.  I also think that baking them in a cake pan would have made a difference, too.  Overall, they weren't such a big hit with the family, so I won't be making them this way again.  Next time, I'll use the cake pan and am going out to purchase a 2-inch round cookie cutter.  I also think I'll use Parmesan cheese and some herbs.  The rating for this one: 2½ rolling pins.
     Happy baking!

Day 17 - Breakfast Kugel

     I've started reading Julie & Julia  365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen by Julie Powell.  It's the book that the movie, Julie & Julia was based on.  I saw the movie, but wanted to read the book because a lot of times, as we all know, the book is better.  Given the fact that I've been baking for the past 16 days, I have absolutely no idea how this woman stayed sane doing 524 recipes in 365 days and worked a full-time job!  I would have lost it.  Ok, to be honest, it's something I never would have done.  I was going nuts enough when I was working full-time and managing a home, never mind the cooking part of it.  I give her a lot of credit.

Voilà!  A recipe from a new book!  The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook:  Your guide to the Best Foods on Earth, pg. 97; author, Diana Shaw;  Clarkson/Potter Publishers, a division of Random House; ISBN 0-517-59989-9.  Today it is a Breakfast Kugel or rather an early afternoon Kugel.  A kugel is typically a Jewish side dish or dessert made of baked noodles.  When we would have family potlucks, Dan would always make this, and I absolutely loved it.  I don't have his recipe and always meant to ask him for it, so I was excited when I found one in my recipe book.  Not the same as Dan's (sigh).  Maybe it was because today I had already pigged out on those Tostito Roasted Garlic & Black Bean Chips (I LOVE those!) and salsa.  I just wasn't hungry, but of course, had to try it anyway.  I'm feeling like I'm going to need an overdosing of vegetables soon.

     Breakfast Kugel
     8 ounces dried whole wheat penne or elbow noodles
     1 large egg
     2 large egg whites
     2 cups low-fat cottage cheese or low-fat farmer cheese
     2/3 cup nonfat or reduced -fat sour cream
     ½ cup sugar
     1 tablespoon grated lemon or orange zest
     1 teaspoon vanilla extract
     ½ cup soft bread crumbs, from whole wheat or French bread
     1/3 cup raisins or dried cherries

     Heat the oven to 350ºF.  Lightly grease an 8-inch baking pan or squirt with nonstick spray.
     Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Stir in the pasta, and cook until not quite done (test it with your teeth, it should still be a bit hard in the center when you bite into one), about 6 minutes.
     In a food processor or blender, combine the egg and egg whites.  Add the cottage or farmer cheese, sour cream, sugar, lemon or orange zest, and vanilla extract.  Process until smooth.

     Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the breadcrumbs and raisins or cherries. I added the noodles here because I didn't see where she wanted them added, but I'm assuming this was the logical place to do it.  And you know what assume means, but it worked out.

Spoon into the baking pan and bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes.

     Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.  Serve warm right away or refrigerate, covered, and serve cold.

     I used regular noodles because I'm partial to them and I thought about using plain Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream.  I've used it before as a substitution, and while the yogurt is a bit more tart than sour cream, I never heard any complaints from family members, but I didn't have any.  I didn't use the raisins or cherries because I know the dish won't be eaten in this house if I include them.  Also, when you are grating the lemon or orange rind, please make sure you keep your thumb knuckle far enough away from the grater.  I took a nice little chunk out of mine.  This is good though, only my second injury since beginning this.  The first was a slight burn on the second day when I went to take the Cream Cheese cookies out of the oven.  I'm fine, it's nothing a band-aid can't handle; just bake with care.
     I liked the taste because it was very similar to the blintze filling that I make but without the bread crumbs.  I didn't like the texture of the bread crumbs, but I'm sure they were used to thicken it as the mixture was very runny before they were added and also to ensure that the noodles wouldn't sink.   I don't remember the one Dan made for the family ever having any bread crumbs either.  However, it was tasty and I really liked the sour cream/cream cheese/lemon combination.  To be honest though , I don't know if I'd ever make it again.  But if I did, I'd try it without the bread crumbs and see how it turns out.  This one earns: 2½ rolling pins.
     Happy baking!