It's a Toy Story.

Have there ever been such adored characters?!
They are so loveable!

Here's Mrs. Potato Head packing Mr. Potato Head's "Angry Eyes!"

Cracks me up.

This guy can dance a mean Tango.

They have inspired a couple of birthday cakes that I recently made.

Jesse is one cool cowgirl!

And the man himself.

 He was placed on top of the moon once he arrived at the party.  : )

And don't even get me started on this guy.

Adorable!

"Ride like the wind Bullseye!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

For some reason I'm drawn to the "not real holidays"... just like Halloween : )

It's just fun!

We had a good time cutting...

And pasting...

And once we had plenty of little heart butterflies...

 I sewed them to some toile.

The best part about these little decorations is that I can hang them above Bella's bed after Valentine's Day!

This guys got a lot 'a love to give.

I hope you have a Very Happy Valentine's!

Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake!

My favorite part about this coffee cake was the generous, crumbly, sugary topping. I also made a glaze with lemon juice, powdered sugar, and fresh basil.

And then I soaked it in it!

And I used lemons from my sister's own lemon tree.

Awesome!



Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake- MarthaStewart.com

For the Streusel-
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
6 ounces ( 3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter

For the Cake- ( I left out the lemon slices from the cake. )
5 Meyer lemons, cut into paper-thin slices, ends discarded
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons finely grated Meyer lemon zest (from 4 to 5 lemons)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

For the Glaze- ( I used a lot more lemon juice, added powdered sugar to taste, and also added chopped basil. )
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice

Directions-
1.Make the streusel: Mix together flour, brown sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut butter into the flour mixture until small to medium clumps form. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 3 days).

2.Make the cake: Cook lemon slices in a medium saucepan of simmering water for 1 minute. Drain, and repeat. Arrange lemon slices in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

3.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch angel food cake pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, and lemon zest with a mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer running, add eggs, 1 at a time, then the vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream.

4.Spoon 1/2 of the batter evenly into cake pan. Arrange 1/2 of the lemon slices in a single layer over the batter. Spread remaining batter evenly over the top. Cover with the remaining lemon slices in a single layer. Sprinkle the chilled streusel evenly over the batter.

5.Bake until cake is golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack set over a baking sheet, and let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, and remove outer ring. Let cool on rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the center tube. Slide 2 wide spatulas between the bottom of the cake and the pan, and lift cake to remove from the center tube. Let cool completely on rack.

6.Make the glaze: Just before serving, stir together confectioners' sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Drizzle over cooled cake, letting excess drip down the sides. Let glaze set before slicing, about 5 minutes. (Cake can be stored for up to 3 days. The lemon flavor will intensify with time.)

A Wedding Shower!

My sister is getting married! 

We had a great time throwing her wedding shower.

For the decor I piped with royal icing and also used a paint brush for some of the flowers.

Less than two weeks and it's a done deal!

Congratulations T & Roberto!

Cream Scones and a Haircut.

Scones are wonderful to make on a whim!

I got this recipe from The Art and Soul of Baking, a book put out by Sur la Table. The picture on the cover pretty much sold me. I am really enjoying the book, it is very informative. I can tell I am going to learn a lot from it, and that's the whole point!
It recommends using a food processor to keep the dough cold, and minimally mixed. It seemed like it took  60 seconds to make these and get them in the oven. Awesome. Still, there is something to be said about getting your hands dirty and mixing it yourself.  : )

So cold butter and a hot oven are the key to flaky scones.

The oven needs to be hot (425 degrees in this case) so that the dough quickly bakes around the pieces of cold butter forming little pockets and flakes in the dough.
Also, the less you knead the dough, the less the gluten is "agitated", resulting in a tender crumb.

I also used parchment paper and my baking stone to make the bottoms nice and crisp.

Butter and Lemon Curd?

For sure!

Well, it was time for a haircut... sadly.

The situation was beginning to get a little... hairy. 

Happy Haircut!

He looks like a little man now.

Next on the list... walking!

Cream Scones - The Art and Soul of Baking

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 T. sugar

(I added dried cranberries and lemon zest. I wanted orange zest but didn't have any oranges in the fridge this day.)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and position an oven rack in the center. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or a thin silicone mat. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of the food processor and process for 1 seconds to blend well. Add the cold butter pieces and pulse 5 times at 1-second intervals, or until the butter is cut into medium pieces. Add the cream and pulse another 21 times, or until the dough holds together in small, thick clumps. Use a spatula to scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently squeeze the clumps together until they form a cohesive dough.

2. Pat the dough into a circle 7 inches in diameter and about 1 inch thick. Use a chef's knife to cut the dough into 8 equal wedges and transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

3. Brush the tops with a thin coating of the lightly beaten egg (you will not use all the egg). Sprinkle evenly with the sugar. Bake the scones for 14 to 16 minutes, until firm to the touch and golden brown. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve the scones warm or at room temperature.

A Salty Sundae!

Oooooooh Caramel... I'm addicted!

In the past I would always reach for the fudge before the caramel, but now I just can't get enough of it! This "salty sundae" has salted caramel, salty peanuts, salted pretzels...

but it is soooooo sweet!

Growing up my dad always sprinkled a little salt on his watermelon and I thought he was crazy.

Now I salt my watermelon and love things like "salty sundaes"!

It's amazing how it brings out the flavors and sweetness.

Caramel was a far too difficult a journey for me. It's supposed to be as easy as pie!

The first time I tried to make it was about 5 years ago, and I ended up with a crystalized white clump of sugar. And all of the future attempts also failed miserably.

I'll tell you what I did wrong so that you never have to put yourself through that turmoil!  : )

To make caramel  add water to sugar, and heat it on low until the sugar dissolves, then raise the heat to medium or medium high so that it boils. As almost all of the water evaporates the sugar will start to caramelize. Next you add the cream. The point of adding the water is to slow down the process so that you can control what color of caramel you get.

My mistakes were :

I followed a recipe that told me to wash down the sides of the pan with a pasty brush and water. So I kept adding water to the mixture when it was supposed to be given a chance to evaporate. I sat at the stove forever wondering why it wasn't progressing.

Next, you should never stir the mixture once you raise the heat to boiling. Do not introduce anything into the mixture. I probably touched the mixture with the pastry brush while I was adding water... it was doomed from the beginning!

It really is SO easy if you avoid these mistakes.

I will never brush down the sides of the pan again!

FYI- If you want a thicker caramel sauce use less cream.

So that's the low-down on my caramel journey, which I am happy to say has finally ended in success!

Hooray!

Caramel Sauce - The Art and Soul of Baking

1/4 cup water

1 T. light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream (14 oz. ) * I used 10 T. which was about 10oz. and I was very happy with the consistency. Needs to be warmed slightly after cooling.
( I add salt and vanilla to taste in the end once the caramel is done. )

1. Pour the water and corn syrup into the medium saucepan. Sprinkle the sugar over the top, 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, allowing each addition to moisten before adding the next. In the small saucepan, heat the cream just until it begins to boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2. Place the sugar mixture over medium-low heat and stir with the wooden spoon or the spatula until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is clear ( I don't stir it at all. ) Increase the heat to high and boil rapidly ( I go to medium-high ), swirling the pan occasionally (don't stir) sot that the sugar cooks evenly. Cook until the caramel turns a deep golden brown.

3. Immediately turn off the heat and add the warmed cream. (Be careful here- the mixture will rise dramatically in the pan and sputter, so you may want to wear an oven mitt on the hand holding the pan.) Stir with the wooden spoon or the spatula to blend. If any bits of caramel have solidified, set the pan back over very low hear and stir gently until they melt. Cool the caramel to room temperature.

May be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.



Cheesecake and Christmas Morning.

Oh Cheesecake... you will be the end of me!

I love this recipe from Baking Illustrated. The baking times in the recipe, however, have never worked for me. The recipe says to bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes to start, but that burnt my cheesecake very quickly. This last time I put it in at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes and then 200 degrees for about 2 hours, I think. : )

This was the first time it didn't get that big crack down the middle of the cake.

For the raspberry syrup I smashed raspberries through a sieve, added some sugar, and reduced it over the stove until it was the right thickness.

Delicious!

It's a tradition of ours to all have hot chocolate together before any opening begins. We each have our own mug, but this year we needed one for Will too!

Can you guess which one is his?

Dom thinks it's torture to make them wait... but I love our tradition... and she doesn't look like she's suffering too much : )

With that out of the way we were ready!

We had lots of fun!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!!

New York Cheesecake- Baking Illustrated

Ingredients-

8 graham crackers 6 tbsp of butter, melted shopping list

1 tbsp  sugar

6 tbsp melted butter
2 1/2 lbs. (5 packages)  cream cheese, softened to room temp.
1/8 tsp  salt
1 1/2 cups  sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons  fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup  sour cream
6 eggs
2 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Brush the bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan with 1/2 T. of the melted butter.

Finely crush the graham crackers.

Mix with the sugar and 5 1/2 tbsp of the butter with a fork until crumbly.
Press the crumbs in the bottom of the prepared pan, bake for 13 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to rack to cool while you prepare the filling.

Turn oven up to 500 degrees ( I turn it up to 425 instead ).

In the large bowl of a standing mixer, beat the cream cheese for about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides. Add the salt and about 1/2 the sugar and beat at medium-low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl. Beat in the remaining sugar about 1 minute.

Add the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla.

Beat at low speed for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl.
Add the egg yolks and beat at medium-low speed until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute.

Scrape the bowl; add the remaining eggs 2 at a time, beating until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute, scraping the bowl between additions.

Brush sides of springform pan with remaining melted butter generously after the crust has cooled.

Pour into cooled crust and place on a lipped baking sheet in case there is spillover.

Bake at 500 (425 for me!)  degrees for 10 ( 20 minutes for me ) minutes. Reduce heat to 200 degrees.

Do not open the oven door.

Bake 90 minutes. (About 2 hours for me, until the center of the cake registers about 150 degrees.)

Remove from oven, cool for five minutes on wire rack.

Run knife around the outer edge of the cake.

Allow to cool for 3 hours at room temp.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Best served 30 minutes out of the refrigerator.