Grandma's Kitchen Table

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chockablock Cookies

Thanks to Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet  for her Tuesdays with Dorie pick of Chockablock Cookies, found on page 86 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Mary has the recipe posted on her site today.  She is also a great blogging friend as she and I are in a few different groups together, so it's fun to pop in over there and see how I did compared to how she did with a recipe.  She always wins.

It's a chocolate cookie, and it's chock full of all sorts of other ingredients that are destined for greatness paired with the chocolate, so there isn't much to say except that it took me longer to assemble the ingredients (there are a whole lot of goodies in these cookies) and bake them than it took for them to disappear around here.  I only made half a batch, but still, there was some serious cookie-eating going on with the guys.  These are repeaters.  Chock full of goodness and delight. 

Next week:  Becky from Project Demonstration has chosen Burnt Sugar Ice Cream, found on page 432.  TWD blogroll found here. 

CSC Spring Awards Banquet

 
Photo:  From the left:  Daniel, Matt, John, Matt F., Kiernan, Jonathan, Nik, and Mike.  

 

The CSC Spring Awards Banquet was this past Sunday.  It's always a big deal.  The swimmers look forward to it, the coaches get a chance to see and be seen in something other than pool togs, and we parents get a chance to see all the swimmers in one place at one time...dry and wearing actual clothes...400 swimmers strong this year. 

 

We had a lot to celebrate...lots of firsts and new best times...lots of fun times and best of all, this year, for the very first time, Carmel Swim Club was named a USA Gold Medal Club, ranked 11th in the nation.  Not bad, especially for a smaller community.  We gladly forfeited our Silver ranking and got a brand new banner for the pool proclaiming the latest feat, the only Gold Medal Swim Club in the state of Indiana.  The swimmers were thrilled with the news. 

 

Matt recieved Most Improved Swimmer Award for his group, much deserved as Matt had a banner year himself, the best year he's ever had with swimming so far. 

 

Through all the celebrating and joyful news bits, there is always, the sad bits...the saying goodbye to the seniors who will be heading off to college in the fall, and to those parents who will no longer be hangin' at the pool because their last swimmer is heading off to college.  Nik and Daniel gave moving and inspiring speeches, so I didn't manage to be dry-eyed through the entire time...I caved when the little memories the two boys were sharing brought it all home that they are now almost grown...and almost gone...and that all these years of sharing so many times with them are almost gone as well.  Yikes.  How is a girl supposed to keep her hanky dry through all of that???

 

Matt also had a choir performance Sunday afternoon and had to skip out a little early...I kept saying, "Are you sure you have enough time to get both of these in today with the travel time and everything?"  He kept assuring me he did.  During the banquet, he realized for the first time that the venue for the choir performance was on the total opposite side of Indianapolis.  He thought 89xx was by St. Luke's on the north side (near where we live), and then realized it was 89xx SOUTH, and had to do some quick calculations about the length of time that was going to take to get clear to the south side of Indy.  He managed to arrive on time, barely.  Ali had skipped the banquet thinking she didn't have time to do both, so she was worried when he didn't show up until the last minute.  My hair is turning more gray by the day. 

 

I only have a few shots from the banquet this year as the swimmers were spread all over the place and it took a bit just to get these guys all sitting in one place at one time.  The girls were everywhere all at once...trying to nail Jello to the wall trying to get decent photos of them, but here's a cute one of Colleen and the guys.  (Mike, Daniel, Matt, Matt F., John, and Colleen.)

Modern Baker: Date Walnut Bread

The fourth recipe from The Modern Baker group baking from the book by the same name by Nick Malgieri, is Date Walnut Bread, on page 47.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

 

This was a most delicious bread, moist and flavorful, made in my small bundt pans, a fourth of the recipe making 4 small mini bundts, testing done at 36 minutes, rather than the hour for the large bundt pan recipe in the book. 
Ingredients included the usual pantry items we all have on hand as well as the dates and walnuts. 

 

Mr. Malgieri suggests serving this with cream cheese, which sounded about right to me, so I figured I would just go ahead and include that in frosting around the top and down the sides a bit.  (After all, he didn't specify NOT TO.)  YUM.

At least with the minis, if you are going to limit yourself to one piece of it, it is one small piece, how much damage can you do with that?  Definitely a repeat recipe. 

Next week:  Whole Grain Apple Raisin Bread, pages 49.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Quick Breads, with the blogroll here. 

Friday's Favorites Fare

READING:  The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s by Piers Brendon, 692 pages (with an additional 77 pages of notes) leading up to WWII...Roosevelt, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Franco, Chiang Kai-Shek, Mussolini, Orwell, Riefenstahl, Hemingway, Paris, Kyoto, Vienna, Shanghai, Magnitogorsk, Norris, Dust Bowl, Night of the Long Knives, Ethiopia, Guernica, Anschluss, Piccadilly Circus, the Kurfurstendamm, Ginza, etc., etc. I know, you all stopped reading after "Roosevelt" but I am one happy reader to have found this book.  All in prep for my summer delving into WWII era.  Someone has to do it, and you didn't want to, so I guess that leaves me.  Not that I mind. 

LISTENING TO:  The music of the 1930s...here is a little preview for you, but there's lots more! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5tucwcS-_o

COOKING BYTES:  This week I was gifted, by two dear friends, David Lebovitz's new cookbook Ready for Dessert, for my birthday, so now I can bake along with them on Twitter from this book.  Alex was delighted to see that it had chocolate featured on the cover, and I was delighted to see that not even fully half of the recipes are chocolate, so there is plenty of variety for people who, for instance, don't like chocolate.  Wonder who that could be?

FAV NEW FIND:  Matt is a romantic!  He asked a girl to prom by spelling it out in marshmallows at a bonfire and presenting her with flowers...awww...how sweet is that?  All his idea, we didn't know a thing about it until afterward.  She said yes.   

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  Scott dug out this old photo for his facebook page of the four boys in their first relay podium win back when they were first swimming.  Scott (10) with the sunglasses, Matt (9) beside him, John (9) in left front, with Michael (11) beside John. All the boys are still swimming. My this seems like such a short time ago, and yet again, like such a long time ago.  Every parent will understand this statement, even though it seems contradictory.   

 

This week I also had a really great birthday on Wednesday, lots of emails, cards, calls, etc., and it's not over yet, as I still get to go out for Chinese food on Sunday, Sunday being the earliest day we could get all our schedules coordinated at dinnertime. Some weeks are like that.  I was born in 1955 and this year I turned 55...that must be some kind of good karma somehow, right? Who knew we would get this old this fast?  Inside I still feel like I am in my 20's, don't even try to explain that to teenagers. 

GOING TO:  Matt's serving the Confirmation Mass on Friday, we are going to order tux for prom, order wrist corsage for prom date, try to figure out dinner arrangements for prom, and we have a college visit for Matt, CSC Spring Awards Banquet, and whatever else comes along. 

PRAYING FOR:  All the Confirmation kids this weekend, please join me.

CEiMB: Soft Asian Summer Rolls with Sweet and Savory Dipping Sauce

The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave, was selected by Teresa from A Blog About Food and is Soft Asian Summer Rolls with Sweet and Savory Dipping Sauce, found on page 56. 

 

I am a big summer roll fan.  I can make them for lunch and I don't have to have a lot of fancy ingredients, can hold out a few items from dinner the night before, have any number of sauces that I can throw together at a moment's notice in a very little amount of time, and am just as happy as can be with a summer roll for lunch or a snack. 

 

Ellie's summer rolls were very nice, the dipping sauce a good accompaniment with the ingredients she chose for the recipe (red lettuce, Asian noodles, basil, mint, shrimp, shredded carrot), and a simple assembly line action to put it all in order.  Definitely worth a go.  A repeat?  Sure, why not.  I wing summer rolls all the time, so as to whether or not I would use those exact ingredients again just depends if I have them on hand at the time. 

 

The sauce (water, sugar, chili sauce, rice vinegar, carrot, scallion, lime juice, soy or fish sauce) is nice, I would use that again.  The only thing I changed was that I added two more shrimp to each roll as the recipe called for one shrimp in each, and I was fairly sure that the guys would be less interested if there was only one shrimp.  (I actually wasn't sure if the guys would eat them, but the recipe made six and Mark ate three of them, declaring them very good, so guess that means they were a hit.  Usually when I make summer rolls, the guys go for the sandwich making materials at hand, so I am looking at this as growth.) 

 

Next week's recipe:  Southwestern Hash and Eggs, recipe found in Ellie Krieger's book, The Food You Crave, on page 30.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Sweet Cream Biscuits

Thanks to Melissa of Love at First Bite  for her Tuesdays with Dorie pick of Sweet Cream Biscuits, found on page 23 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Melissa has the recipe posted on her site today.  

 

The only other biscuits I have ever made were the sweet potatoes ones we made for TWD awhile back, so I was looking forward to trying a biscuit recipe again since my others didn't rise particularly well both times I tried them. Okay, eager and also skeptical as I was fearing that biscuits were possibly not my strong suit. 

 

The ingredient list was not long: flour, cake flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, sweet cream.  After patting them out, cutting with a biscuit cutter, and baking them, I had biscuits in a very short amount of time.  This time they rose okay, they tasted okay, and I figure that it might be a biscuit.  I've also decided I am not a biscuit gal...I didn't grow up eating biscuits, neither did Mark, so biscuits have never been something either of us has ever sought out.  My boys are leading a biscuit-deprived childhood.  Maybe it is a taste they can acquire in their adulthood.

 

Were they tasty?  Yes, I guess.  Truth is, I wouldn't know a good biscuit from a not-so-good one, so not really sure how they compare.  Will I make them again?  Probably not, unless someone requests some. 

 

I know there is a whole crowd of admirers on any given day of that biscuit and gravy breakfast (lunch or dinner) type thing, but that has never once been in my radar for options.  I put a little bit of butter on part of one and it melted nicely so it tasted like butter...no more of a need to get addicted to that taste.  I also put a little Sweet Jalapeno Jam on one as I figured anything bread related tastes better with that on it...and again, the jam tasted just fine, the biscuit wasn't a repeat, not because of Dorie's recipe, but just because we aren't real biscuit loving people at our house. 

 

Check out the blogroll to see what the others thought as I have a feeling there might be a whole lotta biscuit-loving bakers out there that will have some definitive opinions on the whole deal.  Thanks, Melissa, it gave me a chance to bake something new and different!   

 

Next week:  Mary from Popsicles and Sandy Feet has chosen Chockablock Cookies, found on page 86.  TWD blogroll found here. 

Modern Baker: Whole Wheat Currant Bread

The third recipe from The Modern Baker group baking from the book by the same name by Nick Malgieri, is Whole Wheat Currant Bread, on page 46.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

 

This was a delicious bread, made with whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat), buttermilk, and dried currants, along with the usual quick bread players.  Again this week, I used my small loaf pan, a half recipe making 4 small mini loaves.  I figure if I make smaller version of things, I can make more of a variety each week. 
The bread was nice and moist with a delicious flavor.  (I baked the little loaves for 22 minutes.)  It was good on its own, but I also had a small bit with cream cheese on it and another small bit with sweet jalapeno jam on it, just to see.  Oh, yeah, delicious.  This bread can be versatile.  

 

Next week:  Date Walnut Bread, pages 47.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Quick Breads, with the blogroll here. 

Friday's Favorites Fare

READING:  The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger solely because Matt needs to read it for his English class.  I haven't even thought much about it since I read it in college, although it is probably one of the top ten books that everyone reads at some point or another.  A book about a lot of nothing much is how I have always viewed it...nowhere near the top ten on my list of must-read books.  At any rate, figured it was worth a re-read as it is always nice to have a chance to chat about things like books with teenage boys.  Don't imagine Matt and Caulfield have a lot in common, Matt being about the direct opposite of CH as I can imagine.  If nothing else, since Salinger died a couple of months ago, it's a fit salute for a man who participated in WWII at Utah Beach, The Battle of the Bulge, and was one of the first soldiers (Jewish himself) to enter a newly freed concentration camp to walk the incarcerated Jews out to freedom.  Yep, the man deserves a salute.   

LISTENING TO:  The birds chirping like mad on this sunny morning, but am probably gearing up to listen to Def in a bit as it is a morning to try to get a lot accomplished.

COOKING BYTES:  Dorie Greenspan has a new book coming out, Around My French Table:  More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, not yet released, but available for pre-order.  This will need to go on my Christmas list as I am not buying myself anything new this year, but be assured, it will be on that list!  And, btw, I so so so so have to get back to my French cooking, have sort of let that drop recently, and truly miss it.  Summer is coming, school will be out, I won't be subbing, all my herbs and things will be growing nicely, and then I am dusting off those French cookbooks and going back in. 

FAV NEW FIND:  I am learning a lot about swimming colleges...kind of fun actually to figure out what the different ones have to offer, etc.  I like ones nice and close...just saying.

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  Matt was named 2009-2010 High School Boy Swimmer of the Year for our county, so that was kind of fun, a nice big article and photo in the paper and all.  As a junior he is ranked 65th in the nation...not bad considering that is less than 2 per state on average.  

GOING TO:  Spring clean, yardwork, CSC Triathlon (working, not participating), swim and choir practice, going to a play, and Alex is looking for another job as the BK he is working at doesn't give him enough hours...we all have plenty to do this weekend.

PRAYING FOR:  Our service men and women, please join me.

MSC: Jumbo Cream-filled Chocolate Cupcakes

It's time for another cupcake adventure this month from the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book.  This one, Jumbo Cream-filled Chocolate Cupcakes, is found on page 133 of the book, and was chosen by Jess of Cookbook Habit.  Love Jess' blog as she is a young mom with not a whole lot of time to spare, but loves to cook and bake and take care of her family, such fun to read about her adventures as she is always so upbeat about everything.  

I knew the guys were going to like having chocolate this week and since they all love marshmallow type things, figured this would be a double hit with them.  I was right, the cupcakes were much appreciated and eaten with a great deal of enjoyment, Matt downing three of them right away as I was finishing them.  

The chocolate cupcake was easy and baked for the amount of time specified, although I made regular sized cupcakes, not jumbo ones as I do not have a jumbo size pan.  I didn't have marshmallow fluff on hand, didn't feel like going to the store, so searched and found a recipe for it...who knew that was so easy, quick to make, and tasted so much better than the jarred version???  Never buying the jarred version again, not that I buy a lot of it, but just saying, that making your own is incredibly easy and fun.

  

A repeat recipe.  I am thinking little mini ones of these would be a big hit at swim events.  Thanks, Jess, they were a big hit! 

Next month's recipe selection was chosen by Lisa from Smiley's Sweet and Creations and is Tres Leches Cupcakes, found on page 48, posting May 15th.   Blogroll and Schedule found here.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Swedish Visiting Cake

Thanks to Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs for her Tuesdays with Dorie pick of Swedish Visiting Cake, found on page 197 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Nancy is a great friend of mine so all these months I have known that she has secretly waited patiently for her turn to pick the dessert for TWD, and each month when the list comes out, she searches anxiously to make sure no one has picked this recipe as it is HERS, she has wanted to claim it since the beginning.  I cannot believe in that in all this time, no one has picked this recipe and it is definitely HERS.  I think I was as excited as she was when it was still available and her turn came up.  And no wonder, this is one delightful cake!  So easy, so quick, and so delicious.  Nancy has the recipe posted on her site. 
I decided to make a half of this recipe in a seven-inch pie pan, not because I didn't think the recipe was appealing, but precisely because I thought the recipe was way too appealing, meaning that since the guys aren't overly fond of cakes around here, that I might, okay, let's be honest, I WOULD eat far too much of this by myself.  How bad could it be if I made a half, the guys each had a piece and I ended up with what was left over?  That was the reasoning anyway.  When it was baking there were thoughts of just not telling the guys I made it at all and let them have at the MSC cupcakes I was also making today which happened to be chocolate and I knew I wasn't going to be partaking in those.  Don't worry, I shared. 

 

The cake itself is very flavorful as it has vanilla, lemon zest, almond extract, and almonds, and some extra bits of sugar sprinkled on the top.   A repeat for sure, and next time I will have no fear of making a large size recipe of this one, everyone will be more than happy to eat a good share of it.  Now, I just need the Swedes to come visiting and I will have the perfect dessert.  Thanks, Nancy, for a wonderful pick this week. 

 

Next week:  Melissa from Love At First Bite has chosen Sweet Cream Biscuits, found on page 23.  TWD blogroll found here. 

BBA: Marbled Rye Bread

The nineteenth Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) is Marbled Rye Bread, and is found on pages 183-186. 

 

This was a fun bread.  You get to make two different kinds of rye dough, one light and one dark, and then stack the pieces layering them together, the end result being a swirl in the bread.
I know, thrills are cheap these days, but this was just so much fun to do!  The bread was so pretty on the outside, so much fun on the inside, and tasted so very good.  I will definitely make this again.  We used it today for making Rueben sandwiches and it was absolutely wonderful.  Definitely a repeat.
Nancy, Cathy, Jessica, Melissa, Sarah, Di, Leslie, Margaret and I are baking on a slower schedule.  If you would like to see their Marbled Rye, click on their names and visit their sites, or you can visit the main group and marvel how they are so far ahead of us.  We'll get there...Slow and Steady.  Our next challenge:  Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire, found on pages 187-189.

Cooking Italy: Focaccia with Fresh Rosemary

The recipe for the Cooking Italy group I chose to make this week is Focaccia with Fresh Rosemary, found on pages 618-620 of the cookbook we are using:  Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. 

 

I have made Focaccia before, in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, and while it took me forever to talk myself into that recipe (it was like 9 pages long), I finally did it, absolutely loved it, and have never ever tasted any Focaccia that I have liked as well as that recipe.   So, it was with a great deal of gusto that I could not wait to undertake the recipe from this book and see how it would perform.

 

First of all, I really enjoyed the kneading technique that she describes in the book.  It is just a little different from my usual style and I enjoyed the cadence of it very much.  That said, I didn't enjoy the final product as much as the BBA one.  This one was not light and fluffy like the other, did not impart the same wonderful deep flavors, melt in my mouth, etc. 
I am wondering if the denseness of the bread was because of the flour that I used.  I used a regular all-purpose flour as there was not a particular kind specified in the book.  I am also thinking that perhaps the original recipe used Italian flour which is a bit softer than our flour, and that if I had managed to get ahold of that flour, that the results would have been much different.  (Never underestimate the power of flour...if I have learned anything from baking, that would be front and center.  All flour is not created equal.) 

 

The guys liked the bread and ate multiple pieces of it, saying how wonderful it was, so perhaps it is just me:  but, that Peter Reinhart Focaccia recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprenticeis the BEST I have ever had. 

 

Am going in search of Italian flour to give Hazan's recipe another chance, however.  She has been so great at all the recipes I have made from this book, that surely the error must be mine.  Eager to see how the others in the group made out on this one. 

 

If you would like more information on the Cooking Italy group, want to see the menus and schedules, and want to see fabulous food and photos, visit Angela's site here. 

Tuesdays with Dorie: Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake

Thanks to Erin of When in Doubt, Leave it at 350 for her Tuesdays with Dorie pick of Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake, found on pages 180-181 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Erin has the recipe posted on her site. 

 

I decided to make a half of this recipe in a pan that makes six little individual bundt cakes as I figured the guys would be more likely to slice up small portions as cake is not something that disappears quickly around here, and I could freeze some of them for later.  I was right, the little cakes were a hit. 
The cake itself is very flavorful as it has vanilla, chocolate, walnuts, and coffee in it, all flavors that appeal to the guys.  A repeat for sure, and next time I will have no fear of making a large size recipe of this one.   Thanks, Erin, for a wonderful pick this week. 

 

Next week:  Nancy from The Dogs Eat the Crumbs has chosen Swedish Visiting Cake, found on pages 197.  TWD blogroll found here. 

Modern Baker: Chocolate Spice Bread

The second recipe from The Modern Baker group baking from the book by the same name by Nick Malgieri, is Chocolate Spice Bread, on pages 44-45.  If you would like to see the write-up for this bread, here is the connect for Phyl's blog, Of Cabbages & King Cakes. (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

 

I made only a half recipe of this bread as I have quite a bit of cooking/baking to do to catch up this week, guys can only be expected to eat so much. 
I also baked the bread in little mini loaves as they are more portable for the guys for breakfast than slices of the bread, i.e. one of these little mini loaves is about the equivalent of two muffins, I would think.  One half of the recipe made four of the little mini loaves as you see above. 
The recipe was incredibly easy and the taste was pleasing and satisfying to those who indulged, the inside nice and moist with plenty of chocolate flavor.  I think this is a repeater.  Although I am always amazed at those who eat chocolate for breakfast, apparently it's a nice change, and it works well for snacks as well. 

 

Next week:  Whole Wheat Current Bread, pages 46-47.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that and the blogroll here. 

CEiMB: Garlic Basil Shrimp

The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's book So Easy, was selected by Margaret from Tea and Scones and is Garlic Basil Shrimp, found on page 151. 

 

It's always great fun to get to make a recipe that a friend has chosen, so I enjoyed making this one knowing that Margaret was making it also and enjoying it.  Margaret is from Louisiana, she's naturally inclined toward all shrimp recipes and there are many really great ones on her blog.  We all love shrimp here, and we enjoyed this recipe very much.

 

The ingredient list is not long:  shrimp, olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, dry white wine, grape tomatoes, basil, salt & pepper.  It is all brought together in an easy and quick manner and served over orzo, one of Matt's favorite pastas.  

 

Like so many Ellie recipes, the taste is just wonderfully fresh and delicious.  Definitely another keeper.  Mark said, "Ooh, you can make this one again any time."  High praise indeed.  

 

Next week's recipe:  Grilled Zucchini Roll-Ups with Herbs and Cheese, recipe found in Ellie Krieger's book, The Food You Crave, on page 56.

Spring Break!

It's Spring Break...finally!  No posts this week, thought I might get some time to bake/cook ahead to bank the posts, but no such luck.  See you when we return.  Have a great week and lots of fun without me.

Mellow Bakers: Hot Cross Buns

Happy Easter.  Hot Cross Buns:  I have eaten them before, but never made them before.  Now I can say that I have made them, although my piping of the crosses will need some work, the buns tasted great! 
The Mellow Bakers, no I am joining another group (at least not officially), but I am going to bake some of the breads that they are baking if they fit in with family needs at the time.  The Mellow Bakers began officially this month (but gave a sort of preview recipe last month of Hot Cross Buns).  They are using Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread:  A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes.  

These buns taste very similar to the BBA Christos bread we made, and were just as easy, a nice treat for a holiday time of year.  I will make them again next year using this same recipe.  If you want the recipe, you can do a quick search and come up with it fairly quickly.  Or better yet, you can buy the book and have all the recipes at your fingertips. 

Modern Baker: Fennel Fig & Almond Bread

This week The Modern Baker group got started with the first recipe from the book by the same name by Nick Malgieri, Fennel Fig & Almond Bread, pages 42-43. 

The book is organized in sections, and we will be baking from this quick bread section from now until June.  Phyl, the mastermind behind the group, issued a call-out for the bakers in this group to "claim" a recipe to blog for each section so that we don't all have to blog all of the recipes in the book, that we are free to just bake and not blog them if we like.  What a relief.  If you would like to see the write-up for this bread (we are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us), here is the connect for Sara's blog, Three Clever Sisters. 
The bread was really different, which is one of the reasons I wanted to join this group and bake from this book...lots of different sounding recipes.  Fun to try something outside my usual recipes now and again.  I thought the combination of flavors, i.e. fennel, figs, and almonds, was surely something that didn't really sound as if it all would go together in a pleasing manner.  Wrong.  The bread is great, a new flavor combination for us.  Who knew that ground up fennel seeds could create such a wonderful flavor accompanying the figs and almonds?  A nice surprise.  

If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that and the blogroll here. 

Friday's Favorites Fare

READING:  The Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs.  Finished all ten that our library has on hand, probably just going to do some catching up with odds and ends around here until after Spring break.   

LISTENING TO:  And watching, the Butler/MSU game in the Final Four.

COOKING BYTES:  First post for the Modern Baker group coming right up.

FAV NEW FIND:  It's Spring! Trees are budding, flowers are blooming, the weather is very lovely, birds are back and singing and nesting, and I think I can say with confidence that we are so over the snow!

FAV THING THIS WEEK:  Spring break started Friday and I am so happy to see Matt get a chance to kick back and enjoy life without a having to be here and there with all his commitments, although he likes it like that, he also like to have a bit of down time now and again.  We are all looking forward to some time off.  

GOING TO:  Celebrate Easter and watch a whole lot of Final Four this weekend.

PRAYING FOR:  Safe travel for all the fans traveling to Indy for the games this weekend...please join me.

CEiMB: Miso Glazed Cod

The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave, was selected by Alison from Veggies and Valentino and is Miso Glazed Cod, found on pages 230-231.  

We enjoyed this recipe very much, The ingredient list is not long:  cod, white miso, dark brown sugar, toasted sesame oil, and mirin.  The technique is simple:  brush the marinade on the cod an hour before cooking, broil 3-4 minutes and then cook at 350 degrees for another 7 minutes.  The taste is just wonderfully fresh and delicious.  Definitely another keeper.  

Next week's recipe:  Garlic Basil Shrimp, recipe found in Ellie Krieger's book, So Easy, on page 151.