YAY! for quick breads!!

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

The first recipe I made was a lemon-poppy loaf (recipe) It was really good, but I should have used an 8x4" pan instead of the 9x5" pan to get a taller loaf.

I then made raspberry linzer muffins for a breakfast-themed potluck.  (recipe) They were really good, and I will probably make them again. 

The raspberry jam filling sank to the bottom, but they were still good!

YAY! for Black Bean "Falafel"

The Daring Cooks’ February 2012 challenge was hosted by Audax & Lis and they chose to present Patties for their ease of construction, ingredients and deliciousness! We were given several recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods to produce our own tasty patties!

I made hamburgers shortly after the challenge was announced, but that's something I've done several times before, so not much of a challenge. I also forgot to take pictures. For my second challenge attempt I thought I would make falafel, but I didn't have any chickpeas, so I came up with something completely different: a black bean "falafel" style patty, with Tex-Mex flavors, served in a pita with sour cream, lettuce, salsa, and cheese. Avocado would have been great, but I didn't have one :(


Recipe
Into my food processor I put 2 handfuls of tortilla chips (I didn't add salt because the chips were salty)
I chopped them small then added:
1/2 small yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
zest of 2 limes
1/2 serrano chili (use more if you like more heat)
about 1/2 tsp each of black pepper and cumin
I blended again and added one can of black beans, rinsed and drained well. I added them last to maintain some of the chunkiness you find in traditional falafel (which uses soaked raw beans)
1/2 an egg might have been good, but they held together pretty well without it. Any more liquid than 1/2 an egg would have made the mix too soft to handle.

I used a #60 scoop to portion the patties, flattened them slightly, and fried them in about 1/3" of 350F oil until browned on both sides, drained on toweling, and served.  
The patties were good, and super filling. I made about two dozen "falafel", which was more than enough for the four of us, and probably would have easily served 6. 

YAY! for Pink!

 After we took the Christmas pillows down the sofa looked naked, so I got fabric to make pink pillows for Valentine's Day. It took a while (I've been busy) but I finally finished all four pillows.

Scrappy string-pieced squares

I made two 16" covers, with a paper-piecing technique from here. I used 1-2" strips of all the fabrics to make a scrappy looking top.

I like the pinwheel look of these two.

For the 14" squares I used only 3 fabrics and cut strips to make 8 identical squares. I then put them together into fours.

One with the lightest fabric in the middle

This one is my favorite!

And one with the darkest fabric in the middle. I'm bad at math, so the 8 "squares" were really rectangles, so I trimmed them down and added a second border to make the 14", which I actually really like. I had planned on a border of the backing fabric, but I like the second border a lot.

I always make envelope back pillow covers, with at least 6 inches of overlap.
I find the cover looks better with more overlap

YAY! for great friends!!

We've had some hard things going on at home recently, and Mom's friends keep asking how they could help. The Primary presidency decided they wanted to freshen the garden, around the pond. And they did a great job!

They brought us a new doormat

Planted new flowers in the pots and added a fairy path with enchanted mushrooms

Dave and Elizabeth planted a LOT of bulbs. The narcissus started blooming at Christmas

They replaced the rhododendrons and added new bushes

planted jade, primrose and succulents around the pond

and added some daisies around the front

and they left Nacho's path so he can still lay about outside

We're grateful to have such wonderful friends and family!

YAY!! for Biscuits!

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

They were very flaky and fluffy, and I got to use my new baking rack!

The recipe provided was great, and quite similar to others I have used, with the one difference being the technique for incorporating the butter. I had never grated frozen butter into the flour, but it worked really well, and might be a good technique for other recipes, like pie crust.

They nearly tripled in height after baking!

I also made a batch with cheddar cheese and chives. They were fantastic with ham and green beans. 

Golden brown and flaky deliciousness!

I added the chives and cheese to the flour with the butter, tossing them all gently to mix, then added the milk and smooshed it together in the bowl with my hands. I patted and cut rounds and baked until golden and gooey.

Gooey melted cheese. Yum.

RECIPE

Ingredients:
4 cups AP flour

2 T and 2 tsp baking powder

1 teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt

1/2 cup frozen butter, grated 

2 cup cold milk or half and half

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to  450°F

2. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. 

3. Dump in the butter, cut a few times with a pastry blender. 

4. Add all of the liquid at once, mix until it almost forms a sticky dough, then fold and press to mix in the rest of the flour.

5. Pat or roll out the dough to about ¾ inch thick, cut into rounds.

6. Place the rounds almost touching on a baking dish 

7. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.


8. Serve while still warm.

Chopped Bingo!

I made a Bingo game for watching chopped. I'd seen this drinking game, but we don't drink, and thought bingo would be a good alternative. I've made 5 different cards, so you can play with your friends and/or family!  Enjoy!

 

YAY! for tamales!!

Maranda of Jolts & Jollies was our January 2012 Daring Cooks hostess with the mostess! Maranda challenged us to make traditional Mexican Tamales as our first challenge of the year!


I made the chili verde version here


They were really good! I usually don't like tamales (probably just haven't had good ones, I guess) but I liked these. 

I served them with extra chili verde sauce and guacamole. 

My brother, sister, and puppy helped me fill, and then I steamed them in my bamboo steamer (I got it for Christmas, thanks Jonathan!) I cooked them last night then reheated for dinner tonight. 

Hunter was such a good supervisor