Bakers Love

New favorite

Picture from these guys http://www.haagen-dazs.com/products/five.aspx As much as I would love to tell you that I make everything from scratch, it is just not possible.  I love homemade ice cream and have many found memories of a slow churned peppermint ice cream my lovely Aunt Mary Lou would make special for me, well, I would like to think she made it just for me.  I know ice cream is simple to make, and it is a lot of fun to make, but really, if you are a forty something woman in the mood for ice cream searching for where you put the darn ice cream maker is not high on the list.  As I looked in the ice cream isle for something different I came across a new to me product from Haagen Daz.  The ice cream is called Five.  Five for the number of ingredients in the pint.  Perfect.  Well, all ice cream should only be made out of five ingredients, have you researched the ingredients it takes to make ice cream 'light'?  Yikes.  I had to narrow my choice to one, I was torn between the brown sugar flavor or ginger.  Ginger won out because I had this sinking fear that the brown sugar may taste bitter and burnt, and not in a good way.  I enjoyed a little scoop of ginger ice cream with Rex's apple crisp, what a perfect combination!  I love this ice cream, rich, creamy, with a hint of the ginger that is just the perfect amount that compliments desserts, and is also enjoyable on its own. Other flavors in the Five series are Milk Chocolate, Mint, Vanilla, Brown Sugar, Coffee, and Passion Fruit.  I think the next one for me will be Coffee, no wait, I think it will be Mint.  Oh hold on...maybe I will try the Brown Sugar.  Um...shoot Passion Fruit sounds interesting....Okay off the pool so I can sample them all.

A lad in the kitchen

Rex needed a project.  I gave him a few options for cooking in the kitchen, but he wanted to bake something completely alone, no help from Mom.  Putting on my Mom/Chef cap I concluded that making a fruit crisp was probably a safe bet.  Which actually means minimal mess for me to clean up after he has 'cleaned'.  There is a lot of fun cooking tasks to do when making a crisp.  Plenty of peeling, chopping, and dumping of ingredients.  The best part is that you get to mix the crumb, or crisp, topping with your fingers, so his need for a tactile activity has been met.  I wrote down a simple and quick recipe and Rex got himself prepared to bake. 

 

Rex's easy fall fruit crisp

3-4 Granny Smith apples- peeled and sliced

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 stick soft unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Place sliced apples in the bottom of a buttered baking dish.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients and mix with your hands until crumbly.

Sprinkle crumb topping over apples.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Serve with fresh whipped cream.  MMMMMMM.

Apologies to the Major

Dearest Major Dickason,

Every morning you are there for me waiting in my favorite mug.  I get up a little earlier than the rest of my house so that we can share a few quiet moments together.  To me you are rich, dark, and perfect, sort of the coffee equivalent to George Clooney in my book.  Comparing you to George makes what I am about to admit seem so out of character of me.  I am usually so loyal, but lately you have become a morning luxury that I thought I should replace with a cheaper version.  I know, here I have the Clooney of coffee and now I thought it would be an okay idea to replace the Clooney coffee with say a John Stamos coffee.  NOT the same, but still good right?  

I asked around for a good suggestion to replace you Major Dickason, some said Starbucks,  a few mentioned Dunkin Donuts, and one mentioned Trader Joe's French roast.  Trader Joe's seemed like the only one that seemed to have any possibility, so off to TJ's I went.  I went back and fourth as to if I could really commit to a change in morning ritual.  Was I really going to save that much money?   What else could I give up so that my Clooney coffee could still be a daily ritual?  I have given up magazines, soda, and new clothes.  How much more can I take?   I bit the bullet and made my purchase.  $5.99 for 13 ounces.  A bargin compared to your price tag lately Major.

So, when I began to brew my first pot of the TJ's blend I knew I was going down the wrong road.  The coffee was not the beautiful rich deep dark color I had grown accustomed to seeing first thing in the morning.  My second clue was that the coffee aroma that usually awakens my senses was not occurring.  Lastly, the light color in the coffee pot was disturbing.  This clearly was not a Clooney.  As I poured my first cup of this Stamos brew I knew I was driving right up the road to buy another pound of my one, my only Major. 

Major, I learned my lesson.  Don't mess with the Clooney. 

I wonder if Trader Joe's has good shampoo?

WIth all my love of good coffee,

Andrea

Oh how the mighty have fallen...

Well, not exactly.  Many moons ago while making this casserole for my then boyfriend, now husband, our roommate walked into the kitchen and saw what I was preparing for dinner.  He looked at me with all seriousness and said, "Oh how the mighty have fallen.."  I always think of that day when I find myself making something that I can't stand with ingredients that I have to drive to the next town to purchase so that I don't run into anyone that I know. 

Tater tot casserole, or what Family Circle magazine called 'Busy Woman's Casserole' in the 1970's.  This is a dish from my childhood.  Something that I know was easy and filling, and has all of the necessary ingredients for dinner.  Protein, dairy, starch, and a vegetable.  I have fond-ish memories of this dinner, what could be better when you are a kid than dinner that consisted of hamburger and tater tots?  As I grew up, and found that this particular casserole was a ghastly combination of fat and sodium, let alone fake food, I cherished the humor that was tater tot casserole.

So, how on earth did I find myself STILL making this gut bomb?  Well, that is actually easy.  Men love tater tots.  While Westley and I went on our first road trip up the coast to Oregon we stopped at a little pub that served tater tots.  While we were enjoying a beer and tots, I told Westley all about this crazy concoction that my family ate.  With all seriousness from across the table, eyes glazed over, Westley asked me if I could PLEASE make him this gem when we returned from our trip.  I sort of thought he was joking, until about a week later.  Westley worked on my motorcycle as a favor and in return I offered to make us dinner.  His request was what you would suspect, tater tot casserole.  Blech. 

These are be basic ingredients of Tater tot casserole.  Ground beef, enough to cover a casserole dish, a can each of cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese.  I suppose you could purchase pre-grated cheese, but this was all I had on hand.  I should have tried harder.  So, you take the ground beef and press it into the casserole dish.  Open the soups and plop on top of beef, spread evenly.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese, you know, I bet if you used Velveeta you could really rock the TT Casserole.  See, I just don't have it!  Now place tater tots on top of cheese in any decorative pattern you choose. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Viola. 

Tater tot casserole.  MMMM.....if you are into that kind of thing. 

I used to tell my single girlfriends that the way to their partners heart, in more ways than one if you ask the cardiologists in the audience, is to make a tater tot casserole.  There is something about the deep fried gems, and yes, they are deep fried before they hit the freezer section, that make eyes glaze over and warm childhood memories return.  I do have nice memories of my husband loving this dish and sharing it with his friends.  Friends often host 'theme' parties in an attempt to make tater tot casserole socially acceptable.   I do find it hysterical that when it all is said and done, the one dish that will truly be memorable will be this mess.

So long old friend

When Conde Nast recently announced that Gourmet magazine was ending its remarkable run. I felt as if a good trusty friend was going to move to Mongolia, never to be seen again.  Published since 1941 Gourmet magazine was part history, part fantasy, and certainly part teacher.  I adored Gourmet, sometimes a recipe would sound so enticing that I would run out to the grocery store and eagerly begin preparing in the kitchen.  Gourmet was really my first foray into food beyond the everyday, it opened up a world of food that helped me discover favorites I may have never tried.  My favorite memory of a Gourmet recipe was a chocolate raspberry cake with a dark chocolate ganache frosting.  I thought that if I could make this cake, and make it look like the photo, I should consider going to culinary school.  Seizing the opportunity to bake this cake for a friends birthday party, I started the exciting task of making ganache, chopping chocolate to add to hot cream.  While the cake was baking, and the ganache cooling, I picked over the raspberries to find the most perfect ones for the cake top decoration.  The cake was a smash, and my sights soon set on a lifelong love of baking.  All thanks to a beautiful photo of a chocolate cake in Gourmet Magazine.

AAAAhhhhh. Finally back in the bake.

I had no intentions of neglecting Bakers Love for over a week, but sometime circumstances have other plans.  My mom, the amazing Grandma, was here for a brief visit.  The guys were excited to have her here and enjoyed all the dinners out and trips to the game store.  I was delighted just having my mom around, particularly when our little Dexter was expelled from school.  That's right.  Dex was offered an extended leave of absence from his current school.

To say that everything went bad for Dex last Friday would be an understatement.  Dex had, up until this point, been doing great at his new school.  He helped choose where he would attend school this year, and picked this junior high because of its great music program.  He has a few amazing teachers, one in particular that seems to actually 'get' my kid.  We were all so hopeful that he was finally going to taste success.  Until Friday, where every administrator at his school failed him.  Although Dexter made some poor word choices in a fit of anger, he may have never reached his boiling point had the adults in charge respected the protocol in how to handle Dexter when he needs to cool off. 

My guy is so brave.  He still wants to go to school so that he can be with other kids, he just wants to feel like he fits in.  Today he started a school that is designed for kids like him.  Bright, loving, talented kids who are just missing that little chip in their brain that helps them along socially.  He is student number 21, with only 5 other kids in his class.  Watching him walk through the hall to his first class I saw him standing straight, instead of his usual head hanging low, I watched him shake hands with a fellow student, and I saw him smile while at school.  Simple yet meaningful things give me hope that Dexter can finally feel a sense of pride when it comes to school.

So to celebrate his first day at a new school I had to bake him something special.  Dexter, who adores just about anything I bake, has one favorite that is sure to make him smile.  Chocolate Chip cookies and a giant glass of ice cold milk. 

Here's to hope!