Cheese Making Workshop, Part Two

The class was held in the sustainably designed, solar heated meeting and workshop space of the Angelic Organics Learning Center, towards the back of the farm. The building is a straw bale structure and from what they say, very energy efficient. Attached is the milking area and animal pens surround it.

This picture shows our class. Starting from the lower left and going clockwise: feta, chèvre, ricotta, fromagina, and mozzarella.The ricotta came about pretty quick and caught me unprepared and cameraless.

Mozzarella required heating the milk to a couple different temperatures. Below the milk is sitting in a water bath trying to maintain a constant temperature of 108 °F for 35 minutes.
Mozzarella also needs to be worked. Bits of mozzarella are pulled like taffy and then formed into balls and dropped into a brine solution. This was the hardest recipe because there are several different temperatures that have to be hit and maintained and it also requires the most actual 'hands-on' work. However, this cheese probably turned out the best (I didn't try the ricotta) that day.

Fromagina may sound unfamiliar. It is a cross between Fromage Blanc and Mascarpone developed by Bob & Ricki Carroll of the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. Ricki Carroll is also the author Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Delicious Cheeses. Fromagina is an easy-to-make, creamy cheese. Here the curd is being ladled into colanders to drain the whey.I think this cheese needed more time to drain than the class allowed.

The most common goat cheese you will find on the supermarket shelves is Chèvre. 'Chèvre' is the French word for goat. This is also a cream cheese which usually comes in vacuum-sealed logs; often combined with herbs, nuts, edible flowers, or fruits like cranberries. Here they are ladling the curd into colanders to drain.Several people declared this cheese 'goaty' though I didn't think it was bad. Pete, the instructor, made several different types of spreads with Chèvre as the base including a chocolate one.

Cheese Making Workshop, Part One

A little over a week ago I attended a cheese making workshop put on by Angelic Organics Learning Center in Caledonia, IL. I've been to a class there once before and actually have another class scheduled next weekend. This was a very basic class covering cheese making. The milk used was raw goat milk from the small herd of goats they maintain. All recipes were also provided by them.

The class divided into groups of one or two based on what kind of cheese you wanted to make: chevre, fromagina, ricotta, mozzarella, feta, and queso blanco. Most groups had two people. Actually, thinking about it now, I was the only one working alone since I chose feta. The rest split across the other types of cheeses save queso blanco, which nobody wanted to make. I chose feta because I didn't want to do a cream cheese and I was a little intimidated by the mozzarella recipe.

Feta begins as whole goat milk that gets heated to 86 °F. At this point you add 2 ounces of mesophilic goat cheese starter culture, mix, and allow to ripen for one hour. This is my milk ripening:


After ripening, 1/4 rennet table is dissolved into 1/4 cup cool water and then added to the milk. Again, cover and let sit for another hour. This is when the curd is formed. With a knife, cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes using a gentle sawing motion. Let the whey get between the cubes and let it sit another 10 minutes. This is my curd post-cutting:


Now the curd gets stirred for twenty minutes. This picture is just as I started stirring:


After stirring, the curd should be broken down. Feta needs to hang and drain so it goes into cheesecloth. Line a colander with the cheesecloth and ladle the curd and whey into it. My curd and whey just before tying it off:


Tie the corners together and hang the cheese for four hours.


After hanging cut the curd into 1 inch cubes and sprinkle with 1 tsp of coarse salt. Age the cheese for four to five days in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.

My feta tasted OK. The times in class were abbreviated so it only aged for ten minutes before people tried it. I do think it was one of the better cheeses made that day. The cream cheeses didn't seem to turn out great.

Teal Perfection!

Paul and I have done cut-outs probably a dozen times now…and this last time was the best technical execution of the basic frosted cut out cookie (i.e. there have been problems in the past – egs. dough too sticky, dough sticks to many surfaces, icing doesn’t dry – to name a few). In fact, on ‘baking day’ I have been known to turn up missing for several hours to avoid any cookie drama. After our first run at Easter cookies with multiple, unplanned designs that had to be perfectly executed, I pawned off our next Baby (cookie) Basket job to my Mother who was visiting from out of town, telling her I couldn’t take the stress of working with Paul again so soon. She recalled my stories of how the bunny eyes (made of Candy Dots) had to be perfectly matched shades of blue and how Paul became upset when one set wasn’t…A look of fear came over her. I think I might have bribed her with something (spa day at HQ?) to assist Paul with this job, as we had three Baby Baskets to make for Mother’s Day. I once asked Paul, “Why does it take all day to make cut outs?” He gave me this reply: Step 1) Roll out dough. Step 2) Cut out cookies. Step 3) Remove good cookies. Step 4) Scrape up bad cookies. Step 5) Repeat Steps 1-4.


HOWEVER, nothing brings me more joy than planning around a theme and delivering a box of cookies that delights on both taste and appearance! One of my hobbies is scrap booking. As such I make use of my squeeze 2x2 die-cutting system as well as shop for the perfect embellishments. I do not get involved in the cookie itself until the actual decoration of the cookie. Although I sometimes advise (strongly) how I want the cookie to look as I did on this occasion. So, Paul and I have different strengths and can compliment each other quite well.


This occasion called for cut outs in the letters “H” and “Q” for the salon I go to for my therapeutic massages and miscellaneous other services: “HQ Headquarters Salon & Spa.” HQ moved into their new upscale location approximately one year ago, which is consequently how I found them, and were celebrating their one-year anniversary; a week long celebration with a different free service to try each day of the week: Hand masks, paraffin dips, facials, polish changes, 10-minute chair massages, and more. Plus treats and more treats. I wanted to bring in something special that represented the theme and the salon atmosphere.

Although I didn’t get the specific PMS (Pantone Match System®) color number for teal that Julie (salon owner) uses in her printed materials (she didn’t have that readily available), we did match to her brochure and business card. Julie uses teal and white as her primary colors.

Trial and error has led us to the Hard Glaze for Cookies from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. We poured the frosting into clear bottles, much like what you find at a diner for ketchup or mustard, and each set off to frost our assigned letter. I frosted all of the H’s, Paul the Q’s. I preferred to trench a heavy line of frosting across the entire middle of the cookie, then spread evenly with a small spreading spatula. Paul preferred to use the clear bottle for the entire process; he traced a thick line of frosting over the entire cookie then used the bottle tip to spread the frosting. His cookies had more cookie border showing than did mine. Both methods achieved the objective. We had about eight dozen cookies to frost and sprinkle and we finished in record time; in about one and a half hours! It does seem that the frosting starts to set in a couple of minutes…so one should sprinkle the nonpareils every 4-5 cookies. I let the frosting set overnight, then packed everything up in the morning. I arranged them in stacks of four high, alternating H’s and Q’s in the bakery box.

We used Wilton® Teal icing color for the coloring and added a little at a time until we reached the desired boldness of teal color. The sprinkles are Wilton® White Nonpareils and really popped against the teal. The cookie recipe also comes from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. The H’s were flavored with vanilla extract and the Q’s with almond extract.


The packaging was simply a window bakery box with teal scrap booking paper overlaid with a 10” dia. doily. I used a second piece of teal paper to die-cut the letters HQ. I shopped until I found the perfect embellishments, which turned out to be Jolee’s Boutique® ‘My First Haircut.’ This set of stickers contained scissors, a comb, a hair dryer, a salon chair with booster seat and other salon-related tools. I also used parts of three other sticker sets so that everyone at the salon would be represented in their particular specialty; massage, nails, etc.

Julie was thrilled with the cookies, and I was told they were quite the hit with Julie’s clients. This is my first post at Cookies, Et Cetera. I hope you enjoyed reading my first post.

The Name Meme

Nirmala from Nirmala's Cooking Corner tagged me for this meme. For each letter in my name, I have to share a little nugget relating to a word that starts with a letter from my name.

Here are the "official" rules (for all of you playing the home version):

Players must list one fact, word, or tidbit that is somehow relevant to their life for each letter of your first or middle name.

When you are tagged you need to write your own post containing your first or middle name game facts, word, or tidbit.

At the end of your post choose one person for each letter of your name to tag.

Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them ,they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

If I've tagged YOU, please join in on the fun!

PAUL -

Pisces - My birthday is in March and very much fit the typical description of a Pisces.

Avid reader - I love to read and even thought about starting a blog reviewing the books I've read. I tend to read a bunch of books in a short period of time and then get distracted/busy for a time and then repeat the cycle again. My subject matter jumps all over the place too. Currently I'm reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss and another on botched executions called The Executioner Always Chops Twice. Since the beginning of July I've finished Louise Dickinson Rich's We Took to the Woods, Bernd Heinrich's A Year in the Maine Woods, Dianne Jacob's Will Write for Food, David Sacks' book Language Visible about the history of the alphabet, Bourdain's The Nasty Bits, Steven Ozment's A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People, Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation, Eric Schlosser's Reefer Madness (easily as good as Fast Food Nation), and a general pop-culture attraction guide called Elvis Presley Passed Here.

Udder - As in the thing on the bottom of dairy goats. Lorrie and I recently took a class called Farm Dreams which was about helping people decide if they want to farm or have a market garden and what they need to think about and what it will really take. I also have a cheese making class scheduled in October and then Lorrie and I are taking a soap making class in November. We are thinking about starting a small dairy goat farm to make things like soap and then eventually growing it and making it part of a B&B where everything we use will either be made on the farm or grown locally.

Lineage - I've done some research into my family tree and found some interesting ancestors. My 11th great grandfather is Stephen Hopkins, who both lived in Jamestown for awhile and came over on the Mayflower with his daughter Constance, my 10th great grandmother. I also have a 4th or 5th great grandfather who was a Loyalist in the American Revolution and eventually moved to Canada. Who knows how many hereditary societies my family could join if I got off my duff and actually did the follow-up leg work.


Now, for the people I am tagging:

Hannah of Bittersweet
Alisa of One Frugal Foodie
Mimi of French Kitchen In America
Kristen at Dine and Dish

August 2007 Just Baking Round-Up

My "Look, I post somewhere else" round-up of posts I did as editor at Just Baking in August.

August 10 - Video Learning: Checkerboard Cookies - A great video demonstration of making a decorative sugar cookie without frosting.

August 13 - Bob’s Red Mill Cooking Classes - A list of classes available from Bob's Red Mill

August 15 - Triticale - One of my unusual ingredient posts.

No posts on August 1st, 7th, and 14th. I think September will be much better. Either way, Just Baking is growing every month.

*Update* - As Just Baking no longer exists, I have removed the actual links but left the post names as a source for ideas

Baby cookies

Sometimes I don't think I'm a good blogger. I don't photograph everything I make and for some reason, there's a certain group of baked goods that I make but never blog about. It's a shame really, because these baked goods are what really are a huge part of the blog's name.



Over the past two years, Lorrie had a good number of friends and coworkers who had children. Lorrie, being friendly and social, likes to give little gift bags. These bags usually have something baby related, a container like a bucket or basket, a dozen cookies, a stuffed animal or flower, and a card.



The cookie shapes are baby bottles and baby buggies. If we know the sex of the baby we use the corresponding color. Pink for girls, blue for boys. People get a mix if we don't know.



We've experimented a little with different recipes for the cookies and the frosting and I've settled on the frosting. The cookies taste good but the dough doesn't hold its stiffness, even after being in the fridge for 24 hours, so I'm still trying different things. We've also settled on using the white nonpareils on top. We think they look better than dusting sugar and they pop against the frosting background.

Turnovers

OK, I made this a while ago and I have to confess, I forgot how. Well, OK, I didn't forget per se, I just didn't write down the high points of what I did. We were leaving for vacation and I was trying to pack, bake these, and load the car. I'll try to recall as much as I can.



First, I didn't make the dough. It is store-bought, frozen puff pastry dough. I just rolled it out per the instructions on the box.

The filling is peach. I had some peaches (like 4 or 5) I needed to use up before going on vacation. I simply chopped them up, threw the chunks into a sauce pan, added about 1/4 cup of sugar, and cooked until the fruit released its liquid and then reduced a little.

I cut the dough in half and then cut each half into three squares. A pizza cutter works best. Each square got a dollop of fruit and syrup in the center and then was folded over. I moved the filled triangles to a baking sheet and then covered with cinnamon and sugar. I probably should have used an egg wash to both seal the turnovers and cover the turnovers and hold the cinnamon and sugar better. Still it worked pretty well and none unfolded or came out sugarless.

So far so good. Here's where this write-up falters. I don't remember the oven temperature or how long I baked them.

Lorrie and I used these as breakfast on our trip to her parent's place.

Early Cookie Experiments

I was cleaning up a number of different folders of pictures the other day and ran across this picture:



Lorrie and I had made cookie baskets for Easter one year and we churned out 5-7 dozen cookies. Unfortunately, this was before I was blogging so taking pictures wasn't all that important and I only took this picture, with a disposable camera no less, to use up the film.

I do think this was a great batch of cookies. I'll try to zoom in and highlight some of them.



This is an Easter bunny face. The eyes and nose were candy dots, the kind that come stuck to pieces of paper. The whiskers were black licorice; we had to cut these in half because the licorice was still too thick, even as this thin rope. That was tough. The ears were done with pink sugar and I used a stencil to get the shape right.



The cookies on the left are another version of the rabbit, sitting in grass. Again the eyes and nose were the candy dots. No whiskers, we just couldn't get the whiskers small enough. The grass is coconut dyed using green food coloring. Other cookies in the picture are various Easter eggs and a church with gummi bears lined up.

Other cookies in the main picture are robin eggs (on the left), sheep, tulips, and butterflies. The robin eggs had a turquoise base with purple sugar. The sheep were just covered in coconut. The tulips were just simply designed with pink, white, or yellow frosting and then a contrasting sugar color. The butterflies were yellow or pink with M&M's as the body sections and then spots in the wings.

The white tower of drawers is where I keep the cookie decorating supplies. You can see some of the left over candy in the lower right. In the lower left you can see what looks like spray painting. I found a spray can color spray thing. I think it is meant to be like a poor man's air-brush. I played around with it, both alone and with stencils. I wasn't thrilled and probably, OK, won't, use it again.

All in all, I think they turned out pretty good and they were well appreciated. My personal favorites were the two rabbits.

Rhubarb Cake

One of the true treasures of my cookbook collection isn't Baking: From My Home to Yours, Tartine, or even the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. It's an old plastic bound collection of worn-and-torn pages between two laminated pieces of yellow construction paper. The title quotes Psalm 37.3 in black script, fancier than everyday handwriting but by no means calligraphy. "You Shall Be Fed" it proclaims. This was the fundraising effort of the United Methodist Women of Zion United Methodist Church of Denmark, WI. The purpose was to raise funds for a new addition for the church, a hand-drawn picture of which is there for your inspection, on the dedication page just past the front cover. There are no full colored, highly styled photographs but the page dividers do have little black magic marker doodles illustrating the subject of the pages that follow it. The recipes are terse. These are not instructions, these are formulas. There are no sidebars explaining terms and techniques, no science lesson on the Maillard reaction. It is expected that you know how to 'cook' because why on earth would you be buying a cookbook if you have never been in a kitchen before?

These old books, passed over many times in used book stores for the Food Network production overruns, are truly treasures. Has Rachel Ray ever included a recipe for ice?

1 empty 1/2 gal. milk carton (preferably Lake to Lake)
Water

Pour water in 1/2 gallon carton and put in freezer until firm. Can be broken apart for crushed ice or left whole and used to keep things cold in cooler or box. May be refrozen.

Does "Whoever has a heart full of love always has something to give." sound like a quote from a Tony Bourdain book? Of course not.

But I have to admit it's more than just kitsche that brings me back repeatedly. Many of the names that appear throughout this book are the same names that appear throughout my family tree. Plus, it has notes on the recipes, and a few more grandmother.

recipes in the blank space, in the familiar hand-writing of my

Take, for example, this recipe for rhubarb cake from my great-grandmother.

Rhubarb Cake
Elsie Schneider

1/2 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lg. egg
1 tsp. soda in 1 c. sour milk or buttermilk
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. rhubarb (cut in pieces)

Use well greased pan. Cream shortening, sugar, salt, and 1 large egg. Add soda, buttermilk, flour, and vanilla.

TOPPING:
3 c. rhubarb - cut in pieces. Sprinkle 1/2 c. sugar.


That's it, that's the entire recipe. It was assumed you would know things like oven temperature for baking cakes and times. My grandmother wrote "Bake 350° 45min" in the margin (that would be a 'Moderate Oven' according to the helpful oven chart included at the book's beginning).

I've made this cake several times now, first with just rhubarb and with a rhubarb-cherry mix. Both times it was delicious. The cake, though sweet, highlighted the fruit without overpowering it. The cherries and rhubarb worked well paired, and I think I could have even reduced the sugar in the topping by a quarter cup or even all of it.

July 2007 Just Baking Round-Up

My "Look, I post somewhere else" round-up of posts I did as editor at Just Baking in July. Things are looking good over there. We are adding new writers and content and our stats have been increasing each month.

July 10 - Campfire Baking - My brief overview on Dutch ovens. Inspired by the attempt to use one while on vacation.

July 12 - Video Learning: Decorating Sugar Cookies - A cool video on decorating sugar cookies. It was cool to see her use a pasta maker to roll the fondant.

July 19 - Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale® - I also posted the Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale on Just Baking.

July 20 - - Do you have the perfect casserole for any occasion? - Do you want to write for Just Baking.

July 25 - Video Learning: Mooncakes - Cool baked treats for the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

No posts on July 3rd, 6th, 26th. I try to cover when the other writers don't post but sometimes I'm just too busy (stupid job!).

*Update* - As Just Baking no longer exists, I have removed the actual links but left the post names as a source for ideas

Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale®

Do you want to do something about childhood hunger in America? Join with the over 1 million people who have been baking, selling, or buying baked goods as part of Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale. So far this campaign has raised over $3 million since 2003.

"The Great American Bake Sale campaign provides a simple, exciting way for people of all ages to join the fight to end childhood hunger in America," said Billy Shore, Share Our Strength's founder and executive director. "The campaign builds on the long American tradition of holding bake sales as community fundraisers. By engaging everyone to hold a bake sale, the Great American Bake Sale will help ensure that the 12.4 million American children at risk of hunger have the healthy, nutritious foods they need to develop their full potential."

Hunger has long lasting effects on children. It contributes to poorer health overall and can affect the child's psychological and academic development.

What can you do to help? Visit www.greatamericanbakesale.org and learn more about the campaign. Then choose to hold a bake sale or a virtual bake sale to raise money to end childhood hunger. Registration for Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale is free and available at www.greatamericanbakesale.org.

Monies raised go to local organizations that run after school and summer meal programs. Funds also go to organizations that educate families at risk in proper nutrition and cooking skills.

Share Our Strength and Food Network have joined together for this year's campaign with Food Network TV personalities Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, and Tyler Florence taking part in PSA's encouraging people to participate.

This year's top fundraiser will win a trip for two to the Food Network, get tickets to a taping of Emeril Live!, and receive a tour of the Food Network Kitchens, the 'soul' of the Food Network.



Share Our Strength® is leading the fight against hunger and poverty by working with individuals and companies to use their strengths to the fullest. Their priority is to end childhood hunger in America and the Great American Bake Sale is just one way they are working to achieve this goal. For more information, please visit www.strength.org.


All logos are from the Great American Bake Sale web site.

Why I've been missing

I've been slacking in keeping up with the posts here but I have a good reason: vacation. After a tough end to the 2nd quarter at work, I was able spend a week at Lorrie's parent's place in the thumb of Michigan. I spent most of it just relaxing, reading a few books. How could you not when this is your surroundings?


These are the neighbors...



It makes it hard to come back to the sprawling exurb and the million or so cars.

But, I was able to do a little research.



The best part of the whole vacation? All the time I got to spend with my love...




Now it's just playing catch-up at work and here...

June 2007 Just Baking Update

My "Look, I post somewhere else" round-up of posts I did as editor at Just Baking in June.

June 4 - In The News - Couple of quick hit news posts from the world of baking.

June 12 - Just Baking, All Baking - An announcement about Just Baking and it's focus on all baking, not just sweets.

June 21 - Pistachio and Strawberry Stuffed French Toast - I've made this a number times now, it's very good.

June 25 - Video Learning: How to braid bread - Let's learn how to braid bread dough!

No posts on June 1 and June 22, not good. I try to cover when the other writers don't post but sometimes I'm just too busy (stupid job!).


*Update* - As Just Baking no longer exists, I have removed the actual links but left the post names as a source for ideas

Strawberry Syrup

As a child growing up, I enjoyed reading The Little House On The Prairie books. I was amazed at what they did to survive. A child of the Seventies, all I knew were supermarkets. Sure, my parents and grandparents told me stories about how it was when they were growing up but stories about the someone getting the first car or TV in the neighborhood didn’t compare to the seemingly outlandish concept of having to hunt and grow everything you were going to eat for the next year. My young mind fell in love with the concept of being able to make my own maple syrup. We had maple trees in the front yard, we could do it too, right? Luckily my parents put a quick end to that concept before the maple trees in our yard and the red maple trees in the other yards were harmed. But I still had the dream.
When I grew up, I’m going to have lots of land with lots of maple trees and I’m going to make my syrup! Alas, that dream has yet to come to fruition. I live in an exurb of Chicago, surrounded by strip malls and townhomes. Yeah, there is a maple tree in one of the common areas but I think if I stuck a tap in it and hung a bucket, it would probably end up bent over like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. Come to think of it, there’s probably something in the bylaws of homeowners association against it too.
However, despite the lack of maple trees and an angry homeowners association, I can still make my own syrup. The farmer’s market season started here about two weeks ago and there is a great selection of fruit. Containers of cherries and blueberries were at most of the stands and this week strawberries started making an appearance. Besides being just plain good to eat, they work well in jellies and jams, but they also make very good syrups.

Strawberry Syrup
Yields about 3 cups

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
1 Tbls. lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 Tbls. cold water

In a 2-quart saucepan combine the strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, and corn syrup and bring to a simmer over medium heat. As this mixture heats up, mix the water and the cornstarch and stir until the cornstarch dissolves. Once the syrup simmers, add the cornstarch slurry. Continuously stir until the syrup starts simmering again and goes from cloudy to clear. If the berries are not broken down enough, use an immersion blender or run through a fine-mesh strainer before serving. Serve warm.

- Other berries like blackberries and raspberries work as well. Strain for seeds before serving.
- Rhubarb adds a nice touch as well. Use 3/4 cup rhubarb and 3/4 cup strawberries. Start the syrup using the rhubarb first and then add the strawberries once the rhubarb is tender.


All pictures are from the morgueFile archive.

---

Also appearing at Sugar Savvy and featured on the Well Fed Network.

Pistachio and Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

My favorite meal of the day has to be breakfast. More times than not I'm having something for lunch or dinner that most people would consider breakfast. 'Breakfast served all day' is my 'cellar door'. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, omelets, what-have-you are the meals I cook most during the week. A real treat though, is French toast.

For Father's Day I was able to make this breakfast for my parents. I had made it a couple of weeks earlier and my girlfriend and I loved it. I believe the key is thick bread and a good, long soak in a custard-like mixture of eggs and cream. I see these recipes calling for 4 or 5 eggs and equal amounts of milk, just enough to cover several slices of sandwich bread. Make those recipes and you're missing out on how truly wonderful French toast is meant to be!

Pistachio and Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Makes about 5-6 servings

1 loaf bread, sliced in 1" slices - I have used challah (slightly staled) and 'Italian peasant', both worked well
12 eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 Tbls. vanilla
1 1/2 cups strawberries
sprinkles of cinnamon
sprinkles of nutmeg
1 1/4 cups pistachios

Beat the eggs and then add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix well. Slice the bread into 1 inch slices. If the egg mixture isn't in a dish big enough to soak several slices of bread, move it to a dish that can. Soak the bread in the egg mixture for 5 to 10 minutes, flipping the bread halfway through. Dice the strawberries while the bread is soaking. Place a layer of bread slices in a 9" by 13" greased pan. Use a spoon to press down on the bread and form a little indentation and then spoon the strawberries onto the bread. Place another layer of soaked bread on top, forming 'sandwiches'. Press down slightly on the tops slices to compress the 'sandwiches', just enough so there is no gap between the slices. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg and then cinnamon. Crush the pistachios and place on the prepared french toast 'sandwiches' liberally. Bake in a preheated oven at 350° F for 40 to 45 minutes.

Serve with real maple syrup and butter.

Variations -

Use your favorite jams or other fruit for the filling.

This can be made into a savory dish by leaving out the cinnamon and nutmeg and using something like caramelized onions or spinach.

Try using cinnamon rolls instead of bread.

All pictures are from the morgueFile archive.

So I've been busy...

The end of the quarter is always a busy time for me at work. Our bonuses are based on what we did in a quarter so there is a lot of people working late trying to get credit for as much as possible. Including me.

We had Lorrie's mom here for awhile and my parents stopped down too. I haven't had a ton of time to bake but I tried a couple recipes. No pictures, they were test batches. The first was the Ice Box Crunch recipe of my grandmother's. I made two types: fig and cherry. OK, I have to admit, other than fig Newtons, I don't think I've had figs before. Actually, I don't think I've even seen figs before. I was walking through a local Polish market and they had figs so I picked some up to try. Not bad. I understand the grit in Fig Newtons now: seeds. The cherries were some organic sweet cherries from Target. The fillings were basically the fruit with some sugar, heated to create a bit of syrup. I did use an immersion blender on the figs but I left the cherries like they were. I like how it turned out, I need to do this again. The second recipe is from my great-grandmother. It was an excellent rhubarb cake. The recipe was basically a list of ingredients, that's it. I do plan on doing this again and will go into more detail about the recipe in that post.

You may notice some changes here. First, I've added the Foodie Blog Roll. It's been a boon to this site, bringing in all kinds of people. Second, I've been kinda keeping this a 'dessert' blog but I think I'm going to include more under the 'Et Cetera' part of the blog and include the other food related things I do. Possibly, in the near future, there may be a site redesign too. Not sure about that yet.

Lastly, I glad Top Chef is back on. Shear Genius just wasn't doing it for me.

May 2007 Just Baking Update

My "Look, I post somewhere else" round-up of posts I did as editor at Just Baking in May 2007.

May 2 - Video Learning: How to Make a Wedding Cake - Shannon Pridgen, owner of Heavenly Crumbs Bakery in Brooklyn, NY, and Shelly Everett, owner of The Gourmet Angel Catering, show how to make a lemon wedding cake with buttercream frosting, start to finish.

May 3 - King Arthur Flour Online Baking Classes - King Arthur Flour offers many baking classes.

May 10 - Home Baking Association - A non-profit organization promoting home baking.

May 15 - Video Learning: Puff Pastry - Let's learn how to make puff pastry!

May 16 - Emmer and Einkorn - Ancient wheats.

May 25 - Video Learning: Baking a Pie - I love my videos.

OK, come to Just Baking. We have some incredible writers and it's shaping up to be our best month yet!


*Update* - As Just Baking no longer exists, I have removed the actual links but left the post names as a source for ideas

I want candy (for other reasons)

I have to admit, I feel a little out of place at Sugar Savvy. I mean, I like candy. Yeah, my Halloween candy lasted until Easter and my Easter candy lasted until Halloween, but really, I like candy. It seems to me to be review, review, Hey - I made brittle, review, review. And by no means am I trying to demean what they are doing. I know they enjoy eating and writing about sweets as much as I do, they’re probably even better at the writing part of it too. But in my little world, I just have a different view of candy. When I see a piece of candy, my first thought isn’t so much about taste, but can I use this in something. To me, more often than not, I think of candy as a part of a larger piece.

Take these marshmallow ice cream cones for example.


When I saw these I wasn’t thinking about a slightly stale marshmallow taste with a sugar crust reminiscent of Peeps. I was trying to figure the best way to work them into a home-baked gift, which turned into this:


One of my favorite things to use is chocolate.  I've used molded chocolate (and it’s cheaper and easier-to-use cousin candy melts) for a number of projects. It’s so simple to do. Cars, bats, skulls, and hearts are just some of the things I've made to adorn or accompany my baked goods. First, you need a mold. I was lucky starting out, there was a baking and candy making supply store near me with large selection of chocolate molds. Sadly, well for me anyway, it closed recently. Hobby stores and party supply stores also have molds; however they tend to have a small selection of just the basics. With a little planning though, you can find anything you need online. The next step is to melt the chocolate. Then pour into the mold. Scrap off the excess, refrigerate until hard, and unmold. You now have your own crafted candies.




Marshmallow cone picture from the Marshmallow Cone Company Website

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Also appearing at Sugar Savvy and featured on the Well Fed Network.

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Follow-Up
I received this email a couple days ago:

I just happened to come across your blog today when I was doing a search for “marshmallow cones.”

Not that it’s here or there, but under your May 31st entry, you show a picture of our marshmallow cones and then your cupcakes have a tiny marshmallow cone on them.

The first picture is from our website (I took and edited it myself), the latter one is a foreign-made “marshmallow” cone.

There’s a big difference between our product and theirs – ours is 4” long, theirs is 1.5 or 2” long. Ours has a marshmallow topping, theirs is more like a sugar-crusted jelly bean.

FWIW, given your penchant for cooking/baking/decorating you might be interested in knowing that some people use our cones in building gingerbread houses. One woman sent me pictures where they had used the cones as front door pillars.

Anyway, I saw your blog and just thought I’d write.

Take care,
Dan

Dan Runk
President
Marshmallow Cone Company
www.marshmallowcone.com
"Celebrating 71 Years (1936-2007)"

I have to admit I wasn't entirely sure the cones I used were his brand. Lorrie purchased them from a candy store chain and I tried to find the source the best I could since there was no box. I tried to match up the look and style of the cones to pictures on the 'Net and I thought I had. Obviously, this is not the case and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Mystery Solved!

A while back, I asked for help identifying these two cookie cutters. I had picked them up in a rummage sale and had no idea what they could be. The best guess Lorrie and I could come up with was a cob of corn and a bat.



Well, now the mystery is solved. I was up in Green Bay over Mother's Day and stopped by my aunt's to pick up her cookie cutters and cookbooks. She was downsizing to a new apartment. I started going through them when I had a 'Holy, um, cow' moment once I saw this:



A full set of the mystery cookie cutters still in the package! So it turns out the corn cob-looking one is a basket and the bat one is a chick with it's wings spread. And hey, there is a rabbit in the set too.

April 2007 Just Baking Round-Up

My "Look, I post somewhere else" round-up of posts I did as editor at Just Baking in April 2007.

Apr. 11 - Yellow Cake - A Baking Basic - My Easter bunny cupcakes make an appearance.

Apr. 13 - Blackberry Oat Muffins And A Lesson - I share my post about oats and how they aren't gluten free.

Apr. 23 - Have you ever baked a birthday cake? (Or wanted to?) - We're looking for writers.

Apr. 24 - Teff - Another unusual ingredient of the week.

Apr. 25 - Video Learning: Baking Bread - I really like being able to put a video up.

Apr. 30 - Congratulations - We're very proud of Hannah Kaminsky, a writer at Just Baking and her own site, Bittersweet, for her upcoming cookbook.

*Update* - As Just Baking no longer exists, I have removed the actual links but left the post names as a source for ideas