Shark, anyone??

This makes me think of "Finding Nemo" and Nemo's nickname that he gets from the other fish in the dentist's aquarium: Shark Bait (OOH-ha-ha). Sorry. (Which reminds me that I need to take the dead goldfish out of our own aquarium that I saw floating this morning... Egad. Maybe I can talk Hubby into doing the dirty deed.)

Anyway, these are some old pictures that I had on our old computer, which crashed, and that I forgot I had on the ol' memory card until I started transferring pic files yesterday. Insta-blog! ;D

Last July, we went on a trip with a group of friends who know each other through our university. Some I went to school with, some I'd met since I graduated, and some I had only "seen" online via our email listserve. We all met at Jekyll Island, Georgia and spent a week:

~Going to the beach~

~Going shopping~

^^ Sweet Pea & me during the middle of a nice little tantrum she started throwing in the middle of one shop on St. Simons Island - ahh, memories! If I look in control there it surely did not last....

~Eating good food~

^^ Spring rolls that one of our friends, Buzz, made from scratch one night

~Touring the island and admiring the beautiful old buildings~

but mostly just hanging out and nuturing some awesome friendships.

^^ Jekyll Island Club brunch, L to R: Doc Mary, Nita, Jan, Lynne, Gail, Siri, me

^^ Siri, Cindy, Kym

^^ Terry & John

^^ JJ, Neels, Gail, & Lydia

Another thing we did was to go sea fishing. Hubby went twice - the first day with our friends Jimmie, Doc Mary, and Jan;

^^ L toR: Boat dude, Hubby, Doc Mary

^^ Jiminy the Master Fisheress

and the second time with John, Siri, and me.

Siri's shark - not big enough to keep, though.

L to R: Siri, me, boat captain, John

It was really a blast, and everyone caught a good amount of fish both days so that there was plenty to share and bring back home.

Thus, with the sweet taste of salt water still clinging to our lips - even if in memory - we decided to cook up some of our spoils once we returned home. When Hubby went with The Gals, they decided to go fishing for shark, so we ended up with several steaks in the freezer. If you know us, you know one defining thing about us: Our adventurous palates! So Hubby and I were both salivating like Pavlov's dog when he threw these onto the grill. I swear to goodness, I can't remember what he used for seasoning....will try and remember to ask him and update if he actually remembers.

Clockwise from top L: Grilled shark steak; Corn on the cob; Quinoa w/tomatoes, cucumber, and parsley; Green beans & potatoes

The flesh was nice and firm yet tender, and quite mild. Someone had told Hubby that it could sometimes have an ammonia-like taste, and I could kind of pick up on this kind of "different" taste, but it was so faint that it didn't make any big impact. Plus, since sharks don't have bones, you could just dig on in there and not worry about that (I can't stand fish bones....if there's a phobia for that I have it). I'd definitely have it again - preferably caught by a familiar hand just off the coast of an extremely cool island in the company of fabulous friends. It just wouldn't be the same any other way.

Struggling to Get Regular....

As a pregnant person, I can't tell you how that means soooo many things to me right now, LOL! Seriously, I do want to get back to posting regularly - like I was, only better. And I may actually have the opportunity to get back on track with many things this week. See, Sweet Pea turned 6 on Thursday, and we had a party for her yesterday. Today, she left with my mother to visit in Mississippi for the week over spring break. She will loooove hanging out with Mom and her friends (who love to spoil little girls and let them pretend like they are grown!), as well as hanging out with my dad, kicking around in his gardens, and being a Tractor Girl.

My parents are both retired, and Dad has gotten into finding old tractors and restoring them - which is great since he's a mechanic by trade and is one of those people I want around me if the Apocalypse ever actually occurs - and he tells Sweet Pea that these are THEIR tractors. So the week for S.P. will include entertaining and being entertained by Proper Southern Ladies, as well as learning the finer points of self-sufficiency and riding around on my parents' property on whichever John Deere she and Dad decide upon at that moment. Life is good for the Pea. :)

So while we have a quieter home for several days, some of the goals on my neverending list of Stuff I Have Got to Get Done are:

• Get the freakin' laundry caught up and put away (instead of frantically digging through the pile on the couch every morning)!
• Get the freakin' dishes cleaned in totality and put away (instead of wishing that we could just eat off of paper plates until Jesus comes)!
• Get the floors clean - swept, mopped, and vacuumed (instead of wishing a street cleaner could fit through our front door and scrape off my floors)!

Clean, clean, clean....everything clean! Beat Hubby and make him clean! Yesss!

As well as:

• Catch up on organizing. What to organize, you ask? Ha! What's NOT to organize?! OK, really...if I can just get things cleaned cleaner than they have been in the last long while, I really won't focus on this very much as I will have earned myself some "ME" time.
• Catch up on my scrapbooking. With Baby Sister on the way, I must-must-MUST get farther along on Sweet Pea's stuff than I have gotten over the last 6 years. It's shameful - if I actually thought about it - and I have this table behind me with hundreds of $$ worth of scrapping things that has been neglected for so long that Hubby thinks it is now a storage place for some of his crap, as well as the old printer he replaced and that I have no idea what he wants to do with. Inconceivable!
• Get back into the baking that I have been missing. Really. Missing. With the job I started last summer (stupid crazy job that I regret taking, except that the other one bored me to tears, but where my perpetual "not using the gifts God gave me" lament continues) I've been thrown off even more than I ever thought I could be. It's been a struggle to just do the things that MUST be done....much less the things that I enjoy and that make me ME, that make me HAPPY. Yes, it's been a sad little hole I've been sitting in, folks, and I'm trying my best to crawl out of it. By darn. So cooking and blogging and writing about food, and my amateur attempt at food photography - I'm doing it all.
• Just doing things I like to do. Window- and mini-shopping at Tuesday Morning-type stores. Over-shopping at Whole Foods. Playing my guitar. Writing. Pondering. Spending time outdoors. And the like.

So those are my plans for the week. Sure, I don't expect to strike 100% of that off as completed, but just knowing that I'm going to focus on these things that have been all but forgotten kinda gives me a lift. There's a hopefulness that's been gone for a while that I'm gonna get back, by gosh. And I'm really looking forward to doing it and putting it on here.

Shamed Into Blogging

I get into one of my emails, the one I check least often nowadays ('cuz honestly, I'm loving gmail and this other one provided by my ISP is irritating), and find a note from one of my best-best college friends saying, "Hey, I have started a blog!" So I go to check it out and let me tell y'all - this girl has tricked out her blog site bigger than crap!! This isn't surprising, considering she was an ever-so-cool art major and an extremely bright and creative person in general. But I was reminded of how looooong it's been since I blogged, and in my humiliation and shame I thought I'd throw a post out there.

So here you go.

I'll give an update, though, since it's been so long since I just actively put something out, which is the biggest reason why I've been under the radar for quite a while. See, I went to visit my parents over Thanksgiving and noticed I was feeling kinda....weird. Couldn't put my finger on it, but something wasn't "right" (I refrain from using the word "normal" because, well, I'm not really). Anyway, in the next couple of days it hit me, and the following weekend when I was out of town at another college BFF's wedding, I decided to buy a pregnancy test.

Well, guess what - it was positive!! Yay! Now, I'll admit this wasn't something we'd been "trying" for -- plus, I've always hated that phrase "we're trying"; it reeks of desperation and just brings the bedroom out there to everybody and doggone it, that's my biz. ;D No, seriously, we already have Sweet Pea, who'll turn 6 in a couple of weeks, and I've been feeling strongly about another kiddo since she was about 3 or so, but I rationalized that it didn't need to happen for various life reasons.

Then I became forgetful and a little lax with my b.c. patch, and well.... There you are.

Anyway, I was thrilled and so was the Big Guy when I told him. However, that BFF Wedding Weekend was the beginning of several weeks of siiiiiiick for the mama, here. Very uncool (albeit an apparent necessity for my body when beginning a new life - since I went through very similar stuff with Sweet Pea) . One good thing was that I have since dropped about 15 pounds; which, if you saw me last fall or so you would likely have recognized that I've never been that freaking fat in my life. Ever. It was scary and appalling. Anyway.

Fast forward to this morning. Hubbs and I dropped Sweet Pea off at school and headed up to our nearest Big City (i.e. Little Rock) for a Level 2 ultrasound. FYI, a Level 2 is just a more detailed version of what most of consider a "regular" ultrasound. My local ob. does the regular ones, but I was referred to the medical sciences area for the sole reason of: AGE. LOL! I turned 39 on Feb. 21st - dang it, I don't feel of "advanced maternal age"! Whatever; we went. It was really cool and they took a long time checking out the baby. I personally thought that they were pretty darned thorough, and the doctor there said she thought everything looked fine, but she wanted me to come back in 4 weeks to just check again and make sure. Seems like the Little Bean was on its tummy and the ideal position to see every.thing on the ultrasound is for the baby to be on his/her back.

They were able to get a look at the hiney, though, and it seems that Sweet Pea is going to have a LITTLE SISTER! Whoohoo! Now, I didn't care one way or the other. The really cool thing about having another girl, though, is that I never got rid of any (and I do mean any) of Sweet Pea's clothes this entire time.

Sweet Pea herself was thrilled, and screamed when I told her the news in the car after school. She has been begging for a sibling for a couple of years, and most recently a sister. As a matter of fact, right before I found out I was pregnant, she said, "Mama, I want a little sister....and I want her NOW!!!!!" followed by a stamping of the foot. Okaaaaayyy, kid. Just a few days ago she told me that if the baby was a boy that we could PRETEND it was a girl and dress him in her old clothes, anyway.

Dad - you know how guys can be sometimes - made cracks about "shooting blanks" and the like. I honestly don't get the need some guys have for feeling like they "must" have a male child. I know that ALL guys aren't of this mindset, but lucky me has one who does feel that way a little. ;P Eh, I'll humor him until he freakin' gets over it (aren't I the supportive wife)!

Anyway, I'm excited and can't wait until the end of July to meet this precious cherub in real life! Now that I'm feeling better and not wanting to sleep 18 hours out of the day, I'm hoping I can catch up on all of the things I've let fall by the wayside as of late. =:D

Daring Bakers - June '08 Challenge!

OK, this is another Daring Bakers challenge that I did not post in time. Actually, the more I think back, the reason it didn't post in time was because I made it after the deadline for the posting date. Better late than never, I always say (of course, I think this is beginning to be the story of my life, so maybe I could consider turning over a new leaf in 2009)!! Our June challenge, hosted by Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What's Cooking?, was to make a Danish braid. Our requirements was that we make at least one braid, and then we could go into other shapes and flavors if desired.

This recipe does have a lot of steps, and to try and make this when you are short on time or skimp on what you're supposed to do would be setting yourself up for certain disaster. However, aside from that, nothing was hard; I really enjoyed making it! The results were heavenly.

*************************************

DANISH DOUGH
Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

For the dough (Detrempe):
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage):
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH/DETREMPE: Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed.
Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK/BEURRAGE:
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

APPLE FILLING: (Makes enough for two braids)
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

DANISH BRAID: (Makes enough for 2 large braids)
1 recipe Danish Dough
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

After rolling out and cutting into 3 sections - 2 braids & 1 piece to play with

2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash:
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking:
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.

Proofing - like my one straight braid and the one that wanted to go free-form? :D

2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Lemon curd Danish braid

Apple Danish braid with almonds

*************************************

The apple filling was awesome. On the second braid, I used a lemon curd recipe that I had sitting around -- been thinking, 'It's cool, but what would I use it for?' AHA! I'm just gonna say, I could have eaten that freakin' curd by itself without sharing. It was a lot easier than I'd thought it would be, and one day I'd love to use blood oranges, Meyer lemons, or grapefruit and see how that turns out. Here is the recipe:

Lemon Curd:
Makes about 2 cups (500 g)

4 lemons, preferably untreated, organically grown (I just scrubbed the hell out of mine)
1/2 c. (125 g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 1/4 c. (250 g) superfine sugar (Used regular white sugar and all was well)
4 eggs
~*~
Grate the zest of each lemon and squeeze the juice into a heatproof bowl.

I love my microplane but am always paranoid that I'll end up shredding my knuckles on it

Add the butter and set the bowl over a pan of simmering water.



Stir in the sugar gradually, stirring until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.

LOVE my new camera we got this summer - look at those grains of sugar popping out in HD!

Place the eggs in a large saucepan

and beat.



Strain the sugar mixture into the pan with the eggs.



Cook over low heat, stirring constantly; do not boil.



Remove from heat when the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.



For storing -- when cool, pour into sterilized jars and seal (or just take the extra and eat it with a spoon and don't worry about it).

*************************************

I halved each of the two braids, kept one-half of each at home, and took the other two halves to work. Everybody loved it! One of my coworkers said she was going to commission me to make one for her. LOL I'll definitely make it again. Thanks, Kelly and Ben! :)

Daring Bakers - September '08 Challenge!

OK, I really have been doing a few things over the last few months.... Among other things, Hubby took the camera off to the deer camp before I could unload my pics from the memory card, and now that deer season's over I had him get it out of his truck so that I could actually PUBLISH THESE BLOG POSTS.

So as you can see, this is coming out quite tardily and, although I guess I can't prove it, I was not late in actually DOING the challenge. Whatev's. I'm just glad that I actually typed this up in September, because then all I needed to do was make a few changes and add my pics. And there is NO freaking way on God's earth that I could have remembered all the details 4 months later....

Anyway, the September challenge was something really cool and, to me, totally unexpected: Lavash Crackers! Our honorable September Hosts were Natalie from Gluten a Go Go and Shel from Musings From the Fishbowl. Natalie and Shel are two of our Alternative Bakers, Natalie being a gluten-free cook and Shel a vegan one. Our challenge was to make lavash, which is a cracker bread made in many different cultures. It was to be accompanied by a dip, and the crackers AND dip both had to be gluten-free and/or vegan. Aside from that, we were wide open and could use any flavorings, sweet or savory, that we desired.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lavash Crackers & Toppings

(Recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread
by Peter Reinhart)

The key to a crisp lavash,...is to roll out the dough paper-thin. The sheet can be cut into crackers in advance or snapped into shards after baking. The shards make a nice presentation when arranged in baskets.

Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)

* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt

* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast

* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar

* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil

* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature

* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

Mise en place, clockwise from top left: Flour , Water, Olive oil, Sugar, Yeast, & Salt

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave/sugar, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed. [I did need all the water.]

Sweet Pea mixes

2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (see http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bread-Dough-Has-Been-Mixed-Long-Enough for a discription of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Pre Wrap

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

Ready to roll!

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This was fun and extremely easy to make! Of course, I got a little nervous seeing yeast in the list of ingredients, because I always have this fear of making something that just totally falls flat. But such is the life of a Daring Baker -- to laugh at the possibility of nonresponsive yeast and motor on! Bwahaha!!

Seriously, I had no problems with the yeast. It didn't seem to rise like I expected, but I think I always expect dough to like septuple in size or something. Eh.

Naturally, my Sous Chef, Sweet Pea, helped with the mixing. She was mildly irritated that I didn't give her dough to knead, as I have in the past, but I wasn't working with a large batch of dough this time. In retrospect, I had plenty to spare, so next time she can play along.

I cut my crackers into swirly patterns with my pizza cutter and sprinkled some poppy seeds, cumin seeds, Italian seasoning, and sea salt over everything. I originally wanted to do bands of each separately down the dough and cut them so that the pattern showed on each cracker, but I then realized I didn't have enough cumin seeds to do that. So I spread everything equally across the entire dough -- then realized that cumin and dried Italian herbs might not really mesh. Whoops! But it was OK.

I had made one of those Knorr spinach-veggie dips just the day before, but of course that was not vegan since it had sour cream. Gah! So I made a pseudo-hummus dip. I say "pseudo" because I had no tahini in the house, which gives hummus this layer of lovely je ne sais quoi, but it was still good because of the garlic and lemon juice. Mmmm. I drizzled extra virgin olive oil over the top and sprinkled on a little Hungarian paprika.

Then I had this creative idea and made a vegan/non-vegan yin-yang. Ha ha!

Many DB's took a break from the sweetness and made savory, but others still made some ravishingly good non-savory creations. Be sure to check the ever-growing Daring Bakers Blogroll to check them out!

Daring Bakers - August '08 Challenge!

No, I haven't dropped out of Daring Bakers, or the free world, for that matter. Still, I'm truly surprised that I wasn't able to do the June and July challenges! Wah! But it was really impossible the way things were going (schedules and all). Now I'm back on track. :)

This month's challenge was a Pierre Herme' recipe was chosen by our hosts Meeta of What's for Lunch, Honey? and Tony of Olive Juice: Éclairs from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé'. Hermé is a French pastry chef who, honestly, I had not heard of until recently, but I think it's safe to say he is truly a premiér Pastry Artist. The only cookbooks I've been able to find by him are in French, and I actually entertained the idea of buying one to refresh myself on the college French that I took. Just for fun, don'tcha know!

Tony and Meeta graciously gave us a good deal of leeway with the recipe. We did have to use the choux recipe provided and have one chocolate component, but otherwise we could do whatever we wanted in the line of flavorings and fillings.
*****************************

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 20-24 Éclairs)

Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.

I made mini eclairs and mini cream puffs. They were most excellent!

Notes: 1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.


Assembling the éclairs:
• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)


1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper. [As you can see, I ignored that part of the instructions. I thought it was easier to open them like clam shells; that way you could pipe filling into each half and just fold them back over themselves.]

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes: 1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

[OK...I don't know about a ribbon but it looked OK to me.]

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.


Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and then freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.


2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

Gah, just give me a spoon, man!

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stopping) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat). Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. [Here, I was paranoid that my water was going to slop into my pastry cream - I was careful and it didn't.] Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes:
1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature


1) In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce Recipe
from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:
1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.

2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.
******************************


I made both éclair and cream puff shapes - fun! Both were incredibly tasty, but I really liked the bitty cream puffs because you could pop one into your mouth and it was great - not too much (like that matters when you eat eleventy-six of them)!


I pretty much stuck with the original recipe, but played around with complimentary flavorings. I split the filling 3 ways: Grand Marnier with crushed almonds on top; Mocha (I added about 1 Tbsp. instant espresso); and "Mayan" (a large dose of cinnamon with maybe 1/4 tsp. cayenne to give it a subtle heat). I will admit, I was extremely tempted to use the pastry cream as a vanilla without adding any chocolate, but I decided to try the chocolate this time.

Left to Right: Mayan cream puff; Grand Marnier éclair; Mocha éclair

Several DB's commented that the rolls tasted "eggy", and I agree that they did on their own. However, once filled and glazed it gave it a subtle richness that held up with the filling and glaze. It wasn't too bland (I have had me some b-l-a-n-d eclairs in my life and that just detracts), but didn't overpower. It was an excellent supporting player. Kind of like the right undergarments help that little black party dress look uber-fab.


:)

Inside of a Mayan cream puff, and a nibbled-on Mocha éclair

I really liked this recipe, and each component was ridiculously easy compared to how hard I always have thought éclairs would be to make. I'll definitely do it again, and be sure to make them a little bigger (though I must admit I liked the bite-size quality of these). Now that I've seen exactly how they rise, I'll be able to judge better next time. I *really* want to do a vanilla bean pastry cream in the future.

For those who've been daunted by the "hoh-hoh-hoh" Frenchiness and perceived difficulty level of éclairs, take a weekend afternoon to try this out. I think you will be pleasantly surprised! Thanks, Tony and Meeta!
Check out the other Daring Bakers' creations here!

Little Schoolgirl :)

I'm sure all parents nod and roll eyes when I say, "It seems like just the other day....she was born!" but it's true. Sweet Pea has another milestone notch in her belt; along with first word, 1st birthday, first steps, we now have First Day of School. We have a big kid 5-year-old in the house!

Wake up, sleepyhead! Hey, how'd you get in our bed, anyway?

~*~

Lest ye wonder - no, it wasn't a tearful day for me. It's been worse the last 5 years going to day care (rack that up to an eternal disagreement between Hubby and me re: stay-at-home moms)! I was actually excited that FINALLY she was going to be in a place where she would really have the opportunity to thrive.

Getting ready - she picked out her clothes the night before and was so excited

~*~

I thought it was funny - I was so the tomboy and HATED dresses of any kind (I remember howling to my mom on several occasions why girls had to wear a dress to church but boys didn't!) so obviously the "dress" gene skipped from my mom to my child. This kid LOVES them! As a matter of fact, she's started getting kind of "vocal" on the days I'd try and put shorts on her to go to day care.... Hey, whatever floats your boat, kid. ;>

Cute l'il jumper, and showing the dangly flower on her backpack

~*~

We had her backpack all stuffed and ready. This was a gift from a friend of mine who got this for her when we had a group vacation with college friends on Jekyll Island, Georgia.

"Granny Sheila" is actually nowhere close to being a granny. She is actually just a couple of years older than I, and was in the same social club at college (a social club is basically a non-Greek sorority); we are actually in the same "family tree". Specifically, this means that my big sister Nicole had a big sister Lauri; Lauri's big sister was Sheila. In club speak, Lauri is my "granny" and Sheila is my "great-granny". Get it? Anyway, she and Sweet Pea were major buddies during vacation, and Sheila was totally sweet to get her this totally adorable backpack. I got it monogrammed when we got back home.

We also got a big-girl haircut the weekend before school started, while she was visiting Grandmama and Granddaddy (my parents) in Mississippi. One of her vacation friends, Brenna, had the most precious haircut, which I loved, and when I mentioned it to Sweet Pea she became totally excited, as well as determined to have a Brenna Haircut. :) I thought it turned out adorable, and Sweet Pea is very fond of it, too!

We got to school and to the classroom (which we'd found a few nights before at "Welcome Back" night), where all the other kids and their parents were congregating. I heard the sweetest voice behind me, and turned to see none other than Ms. Susan, the teacher. She really seems so nice, and perfect for a kindergarten class. At first, Sweet Pea was excited; then Ms. Susan instructed them to hang their backpacks on hooks next to their names. This was when she froze up and got the Deer in Headlights look, and I had to point out her name/hook for her.

We walked back over to her desk, and she looked at me and said, "Mama....I WANT YOU" (which means, "I'm not really cool with this and you need to hold me or something."). I gave her a big hug and started talking about ALL of the fun things they'd do that day, and she seemed like she might have tried to accept that for a second.

Feeling a little reticent....but ended up OK!

~*~

If I'd wanted to slip out unnoticed, I failed miserably by leaving my purse in the car, so when Ms. Susan called for lunch money and my child looked at me like I had totally left her to the wolves.... I promised her I'd take care of it - with a quickness. Any meltdown I anticipated never happened, though she was left looking a little lost, and her best friend Olivia, who's in the other K5 class, began crying at some point. Sheesh.

Fortunately, by the time the hour came to pick her up, I was met by this exuberant little girl who proudly and confidently took me on a "tour" of her new school. The day was a success, and Mom and Dad were relieved. All is right with the world.