Finally there was a break in the gloomy weather in the afternoon. Maia and I rushed off to Frick Park to play in the creek before it was time to pick up Tristyn from Science Camp.
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July 2009
July 30, 2009
Golden Simplicity Cake
Golden Simplicty Cake sounds better than Butter Cake, doesn't it? And it really is simple too; it has only four ingredients in it and it's delicious!
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July 27, 2009
Happiness in a Box
Sometimes happiness does come in a box. Specifically four, large boxes from King Arthur Flour containing three flour buckets (holding 25lbs each!) glass pitchers, cupcake liners, sugar decorations and parchment paper.
And one other thing: Lots and lots of packaging paper! I must say that KAF does not seem to be too concerned with the amount of paper they stuffed around plastic buckets but regardless of that fact.....someone else got happiness in a box.
Maia made paper beds, a paper bridal gown and veil and a paper swimming pool.
And of course a paper mountain!
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July 26, 2009
Slow Sunday
Today has been a slow day, just the sort you'd expect to have on a Sunday in Summer. Except for one thing. It's not been very sunny at all. But sun or not, there wasn't any rain and Maia and I took the dogs to Frick Park.
I adore stone bridges.
Gloomy skies didn't keep Maia from poking around. But then...
...suddenly the sun came out! It brightened (pun intended) our day considerably.
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July 25, 2009
July 24, 2009
Can You Guess?
All of the time Sometimes I have the strange desire to control food in all of it's stages. In a perfect world, I would grow the wheat that makes my flour that makes my bread. I would raise the chickens that provided the eggs that went into my cookies and made such yummy frittate. I would grow all the vegetables I needed and all of the fruits too. (We won't even talk about growing cotton or raising sheep!)
But with a small, city shaded back yard I am very limited. The last two years I've been experimenting with what I can grow in my impractical space and that's going well. I don't think I'll ever grow wheat though! Sigh.
I guess in the meantime, I'll have to stick to controlling making other things.....
I did make this strawberry jam myself a few weeks ago. But the flour......
Ah well, I made this pastry from store bought basics: flour, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, salt, baking soda...It was a real pain to roll it out to measure a certain size over and over again.
But I think it'll pay off. The strawberry jam mixture spreads real nice. Can you guess what I am making yet.
How about now? The filling is topped with another pastry rectangle and then the tines of a fork are used to press the edges together.
I made....Strawberry PopTarts! Not as perfect looking as the ones you buy in the store but infinitely better and fresher. There is no greasy mouth feel when you finish eating one of these, they are more filling and the strawberry jam actually tastes like......real strawberries! Imagine that!
Ready to toast but with lots of caution. Unlike their store bought counterparts, these poptarts have real icing that actually can melt in your toaster (might be a good time to pop it in the microwave for a quick warm up). Don't ask me how I know; I am sure you can figure it out. Which brings one to a disturbing question: What on earth are you eating when you buy a store bought PopTart and you toast it and the so-called icing does not melt and run down into the bottom of your toaster if you don't watch it carefully?
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July 23, 2009
Rustic Peach Tart
This may be my new favorite way to eat peaches and pie:
This rustic tart is very simple to make---a sure thing for someone who is just learning to make pie or a more experienced pie maker who wants to make one in a hurry. There is no fiddling with getting the crust rolled big enough to fit the pie plate. No need to fuss over figuring out how big to make the top crust and deciding if it's to be latticed or solid. Never mind fooling around with how to finish the edges: crimp? fork? rope? fold?
All this tart requires is that you roll out your pie crust into a vaguely circular shape roughly 14 inches or so across. Then, if you want to you can use a knife or a pastry tool to neaten up the edges into a more uniform circle but it's not necessary. You could probably even pat out the dough into the shape you require if you so desired. Slide the dough onto a rimmed cookie sheet (in case of filling leakage--don't want a smoking oven) and pile up the filling in the center leaving about a 2-3 inch border. Fold up the edges around the filling--the rougher the better! It'll look more authentically rustic that way and pop it in the oven to bake.
That's it!
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July 22, 2009
Pirates Game
Rick took Maia to a Pirates Game last night. Tristyn and I had some time together going to the library and then poring over our books at home. Every so often Rick would text me a little picture....
Ready to cheer on the team in her new Pirates shirt.
Hot dog throwing time. A couple of times during the game, they shoot hot dogs out of a big gun. I always find the level of excitement some people have for this particular activity to be disturbing which is why Rick sent me a picture.
This guy caught the foul ball. It's always a grown up who catches it, isn't it? It seems kids only catch the foul balls when it's Hollywood making the movie and the kid is either exceptionally dorky--but cute! or he/she is sandwiched between the parent and the love interest.
Maia meets friends where ever she goes. She's the the little one on the right; the new friend is the one with the 38 on her shirt.
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July 20, 2009
Sparkling Sugars
I love sparkling sugars. King Arthur Flour recently sent me a catalog with all sorts of different colors of sparkling sugars...but they were all sold out! I was very disappointed and will have to wait until they have them in stock again. Meanwhile, I will stick with the not-as-exciting Wilton sparkling sugars.
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July 18, 2009
writer. baker. wanna be world traveler.
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