Darcie B

When I was trying to decide which cookies to make for the meeting at work, Zucchini Mama suggested Cottage Cheese Crescents. That idea had been rolling around in the back of my head for a couple of days, and I noticed I had some ricotta cheese to be used, so I decided to make something similar, Ricotta Cookies. I found a recipe on recipesource.com, and proceeded to make substitutions and other changes (I find it nearly impossible to make a recipe as written. It's a stubborn character flaw.) The cookies came out very soft and delicate with an interesting flavor. It reminded my husband and me of something, but we can't figure out what. Here's what they looked like: I'll post the recipe in RecipeGullet if anyone is interested. Or you can just search for Ricotta Cookie on recipesource and substitute lemon zest and juice from one lemon for the lemon extract, and decrease the soda by 1/4 tsp.

Thanks!! I guess I should have searched here first!

That's what I was thinking too. I haven't a clue what to do with it, though...

I followed this recipe, but added 1/4 tsp. coconut extract to the cake and filling, and also substituted 1/4 cup Coco Lopez (cream of coconut) for 1/4 cup cream in both the cake and filling.

Also, I need help with one of my purchases today from IGS: How do I prepare the rice balls with red bean? Do I fry them? Can I coat them with sesame seeds (mmmm....sesame...)

There is one last market I wanted to show you all. It is International Grocery and Spices, and it is where I go to be boggled by ingredients I don't know how to use. Fresh produce And can someone please remind me what the following are: and these in the middle: They have a lot of SE Asian and Indian things that the photos didn't capture - dozens of varieties of rice, many types of flours including chappati and gram flour, several types of dried beans (mung, dal, fava and more), and even soft drinks. I tried the Basil Seed drink once and couldn't quite get into the slimy seeds slipping down my throat There are many brands of soy, oyster and fish sauces, curry pastes and bean pastes. They carry some halal meats and can someone please tell me what longaniza sausage is? They have so many things that I don't have the slightest clue on how to use (sorry about the blurry photos but I couldn't use the flash on the glass cases) They also have a lot of prepackaged food products, especially Indian foods and sauce mixes. I don't know, but I suspect, that these are to Indian food what Chef Boyardee is to Italian: Nevertheless, I purchase some, and add it to my all-American lunch: We do have an Indian restaurant in town, but I won't eat there after being chased out by a 4 inch cockroach. (yeah, I'm a weenie that way. I know there are probably bugs in every restaurant, but as long as I don't see them I'm cool. This also reminds me about the stories my husband tells of his former career as a commercial HVAC technician. We don't eat out much.) As for other ethnic eateries, we also have one Thai restaurant, several Chinese places of varying quality, 3 or 4 sushi joints, a French restaurant (it has a painting of the Eiffel Tower near the entrance, covered with Christmas lights, if that gives you a hint at the quality), several Mexican places, and three Italian restaurants (moderately authentic due to lots of Italian immigrants in the mines up north). We have a few other independent restaurants, some of which are decent, but mostly we have lots and lots of chain restaurants. "It's not just delicious, it's Applebee's delicious." Would someone please move here and open a Pho place? I will eat lunch there every day, I swear. I'll mop the floors!

I added my Tangy Buffalo Wing Sauce to RecipeGullet. The beer was really good, but I don't know if our friend can replicate it! We just finished the last two bottles...

Leafblower? So Darcie B, how did you make the candied orange peel? Did you use powdered egg whites? ← Nope - hadn't heard of using egg whites. I peeled the oranges, scraped out the pith, cut into thin pieces, and blanched them in two changes of water. Then I put them in a simple syrup and cooked them for about half an hour. I let them cool down a bit, then sprinkled with sugar and dried them in the toaster oven at 200 degrees for about 45 minutes. They were pretty tasty; I kept nibbling on them all day. Edit: let me tell you about the leafblower. It sure cleaned out under the fridge, but left greasy cat fur and dust on the walls, ceiling, countertops, you name it. It took me two hours to clean up after he got done "cleaning."

Tangy Buffalo Wing Sauce Most wing sauces stick to the basics of hot sauce and butter. I added some extra elements to help round out flavor. 1 cup hot pepper sauce (I prefer Louisiana or Texas Pete) 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp.) butter, melted 3 cloves garlic, pressed 1 tsp. yellow mustard (if you have dijon, even better) 1 tbsp. ground black pepper 2 tsp. chili powder (I use Penzey's med-hot) 1 tsp. to 1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper, to taste 2 tsp. cider vinegar 2 tsp. light brown sugar Combine all ingredients together in a glass bowl or small saucepan. Heat for a few minutes until flavors blend. Brush on deep fried chicken wings; eat; smack lips. Keywords: Appetizer, Easy, Sauce, American ( RG1602 )

Well I was too pooped to do any more baking tonight, but I did manage to use my deep fryer. We made tortilla chips and wings, served with beer of course. Here are the chips taking their warm bath Oops I let them go a little too long Now onto the important part, wings. The little place I showed upthread where I get most of my meat is wonderful. I called and asked them to set aside some wings, expecting I would have to dissect them myself. To my surprise, when I opened the package, they were all neatly trimmed. So I really paid less for them than at the big box store, since I wasn't paying for all the wingtips (although I usually save those for stock). But I was happy not to have to spend time on the wings. I tossed them lightly with flour, then they took a bath too. Coming out of the fryer... Although I only did a dozen the first go round, this fryer can safely handle 18 wings (larger than what you usually get in restaurants) at a time. Here they are with sauce: We served them with a fine homebrew that a friend made:

Basically I'm a one woman show. My husband cooks now and again but doesn't do the cleaning thing much (of course his idea of cleaning under the fridge involves a leaf blower so maybe it's not so bad).

A show of hands: Did anyone really, truly, say to their mother, "Oh yeah? Name one!" when she told them this? ← No, but I did tell her to send the food to them!

Violets are very mild tasting so can be used with most anything - I use them mostly for color. However, I think they especially go well with greens that have a bit of a assertive flavor like arugula. Nasturtiums tend to be more peppery so I pair them with a looseleaf or romaine lettuce so they stand out. I have not noticed any taste difference in different colors in either violets (some are blue, some ummm...violet, and some are white) or nasturtiums. Another thing I like to do with nasturtiums is to sandwich them between sheets of pasta and cut out large squares with a leaf in each one, then serve with a simple butter sauce. Very pretty, but a PITA to make. Making candied violets is also a painstaking process. I brush each one with egg white (I use powdered) with a very small paintbrush (a cheap children's watercolor brush works great). Then I sprinkle superfine sugar on it and set it on parchment or waxed paper to air dry. I have tried various methods to do more than one at a time and I just end up with clumps of unrecognizable goo. I have no idea how they do it commercially but I can see why they cost so much. If you live in Appalachia, redbud tree flower buds are really sweet tasting and beautiful in a salad. Many other flowers are also edible but I haven't experimented much beyond nasturtium and daylily buds, which taste a lot like green beans when sauteed in butter or oil. I usually go for the greens, searching for purslane and lamb's quarters, and of course utilizing the ubiquitous dandelion. I have wild strawberries in my yard, but unfortunately they are of the tasteless variety (there are two basic kinds of wild strawberries; one is intensely flavored the other is nearly flavorless). I have never tried pickling nasturtium seeds as capers. That is intriguing...

Well, I had to go back to work today so I could get some rest . Your tax dollars at work... Anyhoo, I worked through lunch as I do many days, so I just went downstairs to the "snack bar" and got a BBQ and salt and pepper chips to eat at my desk. Doesn't it look like the BBQ is sticking its tongue out? Then to partially make up for the unhealthy eating I made a salad out of greens I brought from home. You may wonder what the weedy-looking thing is on the top of my salad. It's a weed - chickweed to be precise. It tastes a lot like fresh garden peas and I have no trouble growing it all over my yard! In addition to baking, my loves include gardening and foraging. I love early spring when I can go out into the woods and find all kinds of greens, violets, redbud, and more to nibble on. I love to use violets in a salad or to candy them and use them on cakes. Chickweed is available year round, as are dandelion greens. I only pick them from my backyard, which is insulated from traffic and dogwalkers It's too bad that clover isn't better tasting because I have an endless supply of that, too. Right now the garden is quite bare except for some overwintering leeks, a few tenacious herbs and sprouts of garlic, just peeking through the top of the soil, asking "is it spring yet?" This year I am cutting back on the garden because I don't have enough time to devote to a big affair. I will hopefully be changing responsibilities (or maybe even jobs) in about two years when my boss retires, and I am looking forward to having more time to garden then. This year will be leeks, garlic, a few tomatoes, tomatillos, haricots vert and some salad greens. Maybe shallots if I am feeling really frisky. Edit to add photo

The chocolate meringues had 2 egg whites, 6 ounces melted semi-sweet chocolate, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp. salt, 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Beat egg whites until foamy; gradually add sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Beat in vanilla and salt. Fold in melted chocolate (let cool for a while after melting) and nuts. Drop by tablespoons (actually I think teaspoons would work better) onto a well greased cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes. The deep fryer will make an appearance this evening for wings! I have the Waring Pro. You can find it for about $100 on sale, usually $129 not on sale. Short of a commercial unit I don't think you can do better. You can put the lid on when frying to minimize the oil spatter. I wish it would get hotter than 375 degrees, though, but I can't seem to find a home unit that will do more.

This morning I decided I needed coconut cake for breakfast. Cake has eggs, right? And flour, and milk.....so it must be a good way to start the day... This cake is very good. I washed it down with a tall glass of milk...yum. I am really impressed with the texture of this cake, especially considered it uses all purpose flour and not cake flour. I think the cake part would be a very good wedding cake base because it is quite firm and sturdy without being too dense. It's moist and slices well, too. It is not the most delicate cake but after the lightness of the cake portion of the previous two cakes, this is a welcome change. I will definitely put this cake on the rotation, perhaps varying the fillings and icings. I had to finish the cookies last night. In addition to the chocolate chip cookies, I made Ling's Lime Meltaways: These are a great combination of sweet and tart - good thing I am making these for work or I would eat them all myself. I also made chocolate walnut meringues to use up some of the many egg whites I had left from the ladyfingers. I thought these were pretty good but my husband hated them. He didn't like the texture and thought they were too chocolately. I ask you, how can anything be too chocolately? I decided to make peanut butter cookies as the last type of cookie. They are just so yummy. I brought these in and put them on trays we keep at work for my baked goodies. Actually the trays are for anyone to use but I seem to be the only one who brings something to put on them. Right next to my trays of lovingly made cookies was a container of Walmart cookies. Reminds me of an episode I witnessed during the holidays. A young woman had her daughter at the grocery store. We were in the dairy aisle near the eggs. The woman asks her daughter if she wants to bake cookies that evening. The daughter excitedly says yes and reaches for the Pillsbury cookie dough. The woman says, 'no we don't want those,' and I think how sweet, they are going to bake cookies from scratch, which is so much fun with little kids. Then the mom reaches for the newest Pillsbury cookie, saying, 'these are already cut into shapes.' 'Hey kid, do you want to turn on the oven and put the cookies onto sheets? Won't that be fun?' Edit to fix photo links.

Thanks for that info. Actually, I have somehow misplaced my large serrated knife so I don't think I could have cut it had I made it. I think I might have brought the knife to an event and left it there . I really wanted to do the roulade anyway, so it worked out fine. Also, thanks for your earlier post about the rum substitute for kirsch. I went to look for kirsch but the liquor store was out of stock. I see it called for in a lot of recipes. I also struck out on good canned/jarred cherries. Do you know of any online sources in the U.S.? Or does anyone know of stores in the DC area that would have them? (I get to DC a few times a year for work.)

I almost forgot to answer this...I used about 1/4 tsp. extract in the filling and 1/4 tsp. in the cake batter. Plus I also subbed 1/4 cup Coco Lopez for cream in both too. Edit cuz I cain't spel.

1. I like the Cordon Rose Banana Cake a lot, and the Buttermilk Country Cake too. My go to recipe is the Cordon Rose Banana Cake with the Sour Cream Chocolate Ganache. I adore that ganache. I haven't made all the "fancy" cakes yet (but I got a good start this weekend!). 2. I guess I am known for baking in general because I bake cookie trays and take them into work, plus I make birthday cakes for coworkers. If it came down to 1 recipe, though, it would be the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies I made upthread. I have been tweaking that recipe for years. My "secret" ingredient is Kahlua. I have a secret ingredient in my peanut butter cookies, too - soy sauce. I use it instead of salt and it really punches up the flavor. 3. Hmmmm...I really like to bake just about anything, but I enjoy eating coconut cream pie, chicken pot pie, the above mentioned banana cake, CI's lemon cookies, profiteroles, and the oatmeal choc chip cookies mentioned above. I do make a variety of things, though, and I am probably forgetting something...

Hi Darcie, Coincidentally, I cooked bacon today to get the bacon fat to make these cookies (and hadn't yet peeked at your blog!) So when I began to read and saw you made the same recipe I was planning to make, I was pretty excited to see the photos and read about your experience with these cookies. I love your idea of adding pepper. I also had someone suggest brown sugar instead of white. Do you think it would make a difference, since there is already molasses in the recipe? Also, I was considering adding candied ginger bits. Do you think that would be a good addition? I am really enjoying your blog! Randi ← I think brown sugar might make the cookies spread too much due to the extra moistness. I don't think it would contribute much more flavor, either. Candied ginger bits would be a delightful addition to these cookies - great idea! I'm glad you are enjoying the blog. It's tiring, but fun.

Drum roll please.... I finally got all three delectable delights finished. I have tasted two and will have to wait a bit before I do the final. Then I am off to the neighbors to give this stuff away before I gain 20 pounds! Where did I leave off....oh, I made the ladyfingers (next time I'm buying them ), reduced the blood orange juice, (that's three oranges' worth!) and made the candied orange peel. Next up I made the orange Bavarian cream, which is basically a pastry cream with gelatin from what I can understand. I made the light whipped ganache, which is a chocolate ganache heavy on the cream. I poured both into the ladyfinger base, then I worked on trying to make chocolate curls. I think I did this once years ago but usually don't fuss too much with my baking (if you can believe that). Anyhoo, I tempered some dark chocolate (Lindt) and smeared it onto a piece of marble. I waited just a bit to let it cool, then scraped it into curls with a bench scraper. I guess I let it cool a few seconds too long, because the curls were not really smooth. I may have messed up on the tempering, too, since I don't do that very often. When I went to move the curls they all broke into pieces. Oh, well. The final result: A slice (none too neat, but the chocolate curls make it difficult to cut cleanly): The taste on this was a little underwhelming. The bavarian cream was not very strongly flavored, even though I added a little extra orange juice "concentrate" and a healthy glug of Grand Marnier. The flavors did blend together well, and I liked the contrast between the smooth cream and silky ganache and the crisp chocolate curls and chewy orange peel. I can't imagine making this one with the ladyfinger top like Rose Berenbaum suggests, because it would just be mushy then. Now, for my take on the White Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake. I used a roulade from The Cake Bible instead of the white chocolate genoise shown on epicurious because I noted several reviewers had problems with the genoise. I rolled up the cake with raspberry preserves, then sliced it and put it into a plastic wrap-lined bowl. Then I made the raspberry and white chocolate mousses. I spooned the raspberry mousse into the cake lined bowl and topped with the white chocolate mousse. Then I put more cake rolls on the bottom and stuck it in the fridge to chill. Voila, I should have pushed the rolls together more tightly because you can see the mousse in between the spaces. It still looks pretty neat, though. Although it really was supposed to chill for a few more hours, I decided to try a piece anyway. It would hold its shape better if I had let it chill. The taste, however, was fantastic. Even my husband liked it and he does not have a sweet tooth at all. The contrast between the tart raspberry and the subtle sweetness of the white chocolate were great, and the cake roll added a bit of texture. I had to eat some real food today, too, so I made bistecas rancheros from All About Braising by Molly Stevens. I will show you the coconut cake later. I still have to bake cookies for work tomorrow I already did some choc chip/oatmeal cookies (I can do these in my sleep) I have Ling's Lime Meltaways in the fridge right now, and I am going to make some Chocolate Walnut Meringues in a minute (I have a lot of leftover egg whites to use...maybe macarons tomorrow night if I'm not too exhausted). Then I have one more cookie to do, and I am leaning toward peanut butter, but might do a spice cookie for color contrast. Stay tuned. For those who wondered if my kitchen was always neat, here's what it looked like earlier today amidst the baking frenzy: It's on its way back to neatness, but it will be a few more hours... Edit to add photo.

Back to project #2, Orange Chocolate Crown. Last night I made the ladyfingers (called Biscuit ala Cuilliere (sp?) in The Cake Bible. I don't know why, but I just love making meringue. It is so light, fluffy, smooth and shiny. It seems, I don't know, elegant. Rose Levy Berenbaum suggests using a slotted skimmer to fold the egg whites into the yolks. It really works well but the sound of the metal on metal really grates on my nerves. My husband kept calling me Marie because I was so intent on my cakes and hadn't made lunch or dinner. He made us bagel sandwiches for dinner. Because of the cat vet trip, I wasn't able to get to the cake decorating supply place to get a large pastry bag to pipe the batter. So I made do with parchment triangles formed into bags, which are quite a bit smaller than what I needed. Also, I don't have a 3/4 inch tip called for in the recipe so I used a 1/2 inch tip, figuring I would just pipe things closer together. Well, that didn't work out as well as planned. Rose tells you to pipe them in a zigzag pattern about 1/4 inch apart and they will ooze together and make a long strip of ladyfingers. Plus I forgot to sift the powdered sugar over the top. Here's what I got: Off to make a second batch; this was a cheap mistake. I decided to cut down a plastic tip I had for an old decorating tube I had so I could pipe bigger lines. The batter is too runny to pipe separate ladyfingers, and I don't quite have the hang of the zigzag thing, but once I get the right tools it should help. And again, I forgot to sift over the powdered sugar. I was so proud of myself because I didn't swear. Very loud. Anyhoo, I said "to heck with it" (actually that's not what I said) and since they tasted okay, I went with this batch. Thankfully the spiral base worked out okay on the first go-round. Here is the second batch out of the oven. And here is the base assembled. I reduced some blood orange juice for the bavarian cream and made some candied orange peel for the top. Then I went to bed, but didn't get much sleep because the new kitty is quite anxious. He kept us up most of the night, but I am now ready to resume the project. First, breakfast to fuel me up. I made a sweet potato/red potato hashbrown: And it actually held together when I flipped it! Here was breakfast: Back at 'ya later with the Orange Chocolate Crown.

Because I'm an idiot. If I really wanted to use that dish I should have used a cake round, decorated it, then transferred it. However, I am out of cake rounds and the tray I was going to use is at the neighbor's house. I really don't have a lot of serveware, a situation I plan to remedy this coming year now that I finally have a china cabinet in which to store such niceties. I can't because my Knights of the Round Table costume is at the cleaners so the effect wouldn't be right.

Just wanted to add that I managed to save the coconut halves, and yes, I did gallop around the house making horse noises helenjp, here are two close up pics of the teaball. The clasp works pretty well and I haven't busted a fingernail on it yet, but it is the kind that will probably rust up and become unwieldy. Oh well, it's cute.

OK, first cake done. I did the easiest one first, the Peninsula Grill Coconut Cake. But first I had to have some sustenance. Nachos, courtesy of: If you like deep frying, I highly suggest this little baby. It does a great job. We will probably have wings tomorrow or Monday, so you'll see this puppy in action again. And this is for torakris: I never had Pocky before. It's addictive. I wish we could get more of the exotic flavors here; we just have the chocolate and strawberry. On to the cake. In the photo below you'll see one of my favorite bowls. It's an old Texasware bowl that my grandmother had. It reminds me of being in her kitchen baking up loads of kuchen. I made the filling last night (thanks ludja for the heads up on that). I made 2 changes to the recipe. I had some Coco Lopez left over from making macaroons, so I substituted 1/4 cup of that for 1/4 cup of the cream in the filling and the cake. I also added a couple drops of coconut extract to the filling and cake too. The cake really doesn't have any coconut in it so I thought this would round out the flavor. I used fresh coconut on the outside of the cake but sweetened flaked in the filling. Aren't coconuts fun? The batter was stiffer than usual, so I didn't have to worry about using Magicake Strips. For those who aren't familiar with them, they are aluminized fabric strips that you moisten and wrap around your cake pan to insulate the pan and help the cake bake more evenly (akin to a waterbath). I find that with stiff batters there isn't that much difference, but with looser batters it will keep the cake from doming. The cakes baked up beautifully. Here is the first layer covered with 1/2 the filling. Repeat, then spread on cream cheese icing and press in toasted coconut (mine got a little too toasty oops) I like cakes where you put coconut or nuts on the sides and top because you don't have to worry about the icing being perfectly smooth. This cake smells divine but I am not going to cut and eat it until tomorrow (I am taking it to the neighbors). Next up: Orange Chocolate Crown. I will make part of it tonight and finish tomorrow, when I will also make my take on the white chocolate raspberry mousse cake. Edit because I can't count.