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Chocolate Strawberry Turnovers

March 22, 2012 By 56 Comments

“COFFEE MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO GET OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING.  CHOCOLATE MAKES IT WORTHWHILE.”  Author Unknown

The cycle of a lazy Sunday morning.  I am too comfortable in my bed and my eyes remain closed as I contemplate how to spend this beautiful day.  Everything about this morning feels good.  And soft.  The soft, cool breeze wafting through my window stirs me to wrap my favorite soft, cotton blanket around me, my feet, still poking out.  The soft, tinkling of the wind chimes relax me to sink even deeper into my soft, pillowy feather bed.  I can sense that my soft and sweet, affectionate cat, Sinclair, has come to enjoy the morning, too.  His soft little face gently nudges my head.  Nudging, but I won’t open my eyes.  Nudging, and my nose begins to itch.  Nudging, I roll over.  Nudging, he finds me on the other side.  Nudging, nudging, nudging!  Sinclair!!! 

So Sinclair is out and I am up!  A warm cup of coffee, light with cream begs to wash down…..something.  The coffee keeps me focused just enough to layer mascarpone, strawberries, strawberry jam and bits of milk chocolate on cold flat pastry.  But I am patient….I know that it’s just a matter of time until the dough warms and puffs and flakes and browns in the oven.  Wait!  Let me sprinkle it with sugar and toss some almonds on top for good measure!  And it’s just as I had hoped!  Maybe even more!  Warm and crusty, sweet and gooey. Chocolate and strawberries mingling and oozing.  It’s pure, blissful, comforting.  And it’s gone before my coffee has time to wash over it.  A few more sips.  And I am tucked back in bed.  The perfect lazy morning until….. [Read more...]

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Citrus Curd { and some quick desserts}

January 1, 2012 By 50 Comments

“FOR LAST YEAR’S WORDS BELONG TO LAST YEAR’S LANGUAGE AND NEXT YEAR’S AWAIT ANOTHER VOICE.  AND TO MAKE AN END IS TO MAKE A BEGINNING.”  T.S. Eliot

Happy New Year!  I hope this is a great year for everyone!  In the past, I have made and tried to stick to resolutions which included exercising more and swearing less, raising my expectations and lowering my expectations, losing weight and finding joy, living with grace vs. putting myself first more often!  Oh yes….and take my vitamins!  But what worked for me last year and what I look forward to again this year…is to live simply. 

This year, I’ll start by getting back to basics again.  I love those very simple recipes that lend themselves to versatility.   Like lemon curd.  It’s been on my mind again lately since watching a cooking show where lemon curd was made for the whole purpose of dipping biscotti.  Who knew?  I’ve only dipped my biscotti in coffee or tea!  I’ve made Martha Stewart’s lemon curd recipe before and it is really good!  But Alex Guarnaschelli adds orange juice to her lemon curd.  And so I thought….why not go for the trifecta!  A combo of both recipes with the addition of lime!  And thus….citrus curd was born.  So go ahead and dip away or read on for more scrumptious recipes…… [Read more...]

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Croissants

September 27, 2011 By 32 Comments

BON MATIN MES AMIS!

The Daring Bakers go retro this month!  Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child.

Well this is my first assignment as a Daring Baker!  And what a doozy as I was challenged to once again stare down my old nemesis…..pastry dough!  (I was secretly hoping for some kind of fancy cake to build my confidence!)  But truthfully, pastry dough would not be my nemesis if I just worked with it more often!  So this turned out to be a good exercise for me.

These turned out quite light, fluffy, and buttery.  And amazingly, something that took 14 hours to prepare, were gone in less than 1!  Relieved to have this first challenge under my belt and looking forward to next month’s!

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Blueberry-Vanilla Cream Cheese Hand Pies

May 7, 2011 By 6 Comments

“A MOTHER IS A PERSON WHO SEEING THERE ARE ONLY FOUR PIECES OF PIE FOR FIVE PEOPLE, PROMPTLY ANNOUNCES SHE NEVER DID CARE FOR PIE.”  Tenneva Jordan

 Well the bad news is, it is Mother’s Day weekend and my guys are once again away at school.  The good news is, this recipe makes 10 hand pies and there’s only one of me!!!  This is a perfect Saturday morning recipe.  It is quick and easy and amazing in flavor!  I love, love, love blueberries!  And I will be using them a lot as spring turns into summer.

But this recipe is simple and  delicious!  The pies are incredibly light given the buttery, flaky crust and the amount of blueberries and cream cheese packed inside of them.  They come together quickly, but the end result is something pretty special.  I hope you will give them a try and feel free to mix and match berries and liqueur.  Yum! [Read more...]

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