baking | Gunsmoke and Knitting

Posts Tagged ‘baking’

What am I sappycat blogging?

March 28, 2014

“If you’re an adult, especially a cat-loving adult, a more sophisticated hotcake might be in order. It doesn’t get any classier than these Japanese pancakes, which serve as a playground for sweet frolicking kitties. And if pancakes aren’t your breakfast style, check out the donuts!

The cats are so cute you just want to eat them up. And you can, because they are completely edible! Actually, sadly, you can’t eat them because these adorable confections are not for sale. They are made by a Japanese housewife named Caroline, who bakes them up every February 22 (Cat’s Day in Japan) for her family to enjoy.

So, unless you marry into Caroline’s family, you’ll just have to ooh and ah over these awe-inspiring photos. And could you really stomach eating such pure cuteness in the first place? It would be like lighting up your kitty swatting a ball of yarn candle.”

Thanks, Katie, for this reference reblogged from The Cat Channel

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged animals, art, baking, cats, cooking, food, food art, Friday, sappy cat blogging, whimsey | 4 Comments »

What is tattoo Tuesday about?

March 4, 2014

It is Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras!

I suspect that this is another one of those holidays that has been taken over by the church and yet predates Christianity. If you know its earlier origins, please let me know.

This is a pancake race in Great Britain.

Pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent because they were a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The liturgical fasting emphasized eating plainer food and refraining from food that would give pleasure: in many cultures, this means no meat, dairy products, or eggs.

In Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand the day is also known as “Pancake Day” as it is a common custom to eat pancakes as a meal.

In Newfoundland small tokens are frequently cooked in the pancakes. Children take delight in discovering the objects, which are intended to be divinatory. For example, the person who receives a coin will be wealthy; a nail that they will become or marry a carpenter.

Source: Wikipedia

And, of course, there are tattoos:

Celebrate the day with pancakes, jambalaya, a slice of King cake, and a hurricane!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baking, cooking, food, history, holidays, Mardi Gras, Pancake Tuesday, pancakes, style, tattoo Tuesday, tattoos | 5 Comments »

This weekend, Pies on Parade was the celebration in Rockland, Maine. The event centers around National Pie Day (January 23), was sponsored by several local inns in Rockland, and benefits the local food kitchen.

Pie has a broad interpretation in Rockland, including the cute little puffin cream puff pictured above.

“Pie” as a term of art here in Rockland, is broadly interpreted and includes not only the fruit pies that we all love but savory pies and pizza pies as well. You’ll find all of the old favorites, apple, blueberry (of course, this is Maine which is famed for its wild blueberries), cherry, pumpkin and even lemon meringue. Maine is also notable for the Whoopee Pie and these are also very much on the menu, including delicious examples made from the exotic oils and vinegars at Fiore on Main Street. But you will also find heartier fare such as real mincemeat pie, quiches of several varieties, the Franco-Canadian special holiday meat pie – tourtiere, and several varieties of pizza, among other choices. Perhaps the most entrancing offering are the tiny puffin “Cream Puffins” at the Maine Audubon Puffin Project.

Quote is from the examiner.com.

I did not see any coconut cream pie.

Caramel Apple Tart

A variety of fruit pies.

Lobester Quiche

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baking, coconut cream pie, cooking, entertainment, food, Maine, pie, puffin, Rockland | 2 Comments »

Who is the Bakery Blogumentary about this time?

January 23, 2014

Following the demise of the favorite bakery of my childhood (Hough Bakery) it has been my quest to discover excellent bakeries in the Western Reserve, or in places to which I travel. These are the subject of the Bakery Blogumentary.

This time the Bakery Blogumentary features Blackbird Baking Company in Lakewood, Ohio. The folks at Blackbird specialize in a type of bread that uses a levain to make the bread rise:

Levain is not only this traditional French bread’s name, but levain is actually a bread starter used as a leavening agent and sometimes called “wild yeast.” Acting in much the way yeast does, levain helps dough rise but also effects the flavor and characteristics of the Pain au Levain (bread of a wild yeast.) The essence of levain rests in patience. To make levain, water and flour are mixed together and allowed to sit for up to several days to develop flavor and strength as the starter is exposed to air and grows good fungus (this fungus actually keeps bad bacteria away making levain safe.) A well-ripened levain will be bubbly, and extremely elastic. Levain can be kept for years if fed often and maintained.

The levain cannot be bought, making levain unique to each baker who begins to cultivate this starter. Some are soupy, some are firm and tough. Theses differences ultimately effect the mildness or sourness, the weight, texture and look of the finished bread.

Who am I featuring on the Bakery Blogumentary?

January 15, 2014

In my tireless journey to find and sample exceptional bakery in my hometown – and beyond – I have discovered BREADSMITH, located at 18101 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107

They describe their business as follows:

“Breadsmith is an artisan bakery specializing in hand-crafted breads, baked fresh from scratch daily. We bake over 45 traditional European and American breads each week using time-honored, vegan-friendly recipes and the very finest ingredients. We also have tasty sweets.”

The bread is pretty amazing. Saturday I purchased a sturdy honey white loaf and a tender brioche loaf. I was happy – and the chocolate chip cookie tasted homemade right out of the oven good.

Here are more photos and their website.

BS7 Samples!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged artisanal, bakery blogumentary, baking, bread, Breadsmith, chocolate chip cookie, cooking, food, hearth baked | Leave a Comment »

What is the bakery blogumentary about?

December 22, 2013

This time, the Bakery Blogumentary features Honey Fluff Donuts in Ukiah, California. In August, we took a road trip from Portland, Oregon to San Diego, California. While driving on Rt 101 near Ukiah, California, we spotted this sign from the road and said, “donuts!” in unison.

It was lunchtime. We had to stop. And there were donuts.

And more donuts.

And, I never would have guessed it, but they also had noodle bowls.

And so did we.

It’s worth a stop.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baking, California, donuts, doughnuts, food, Honey Fluff, noodle bowls, road trip, San Diego, travel, Ukiah | 2 Comments »

What am I celebrating today?

December 5, 2013

Today marks the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition (January 1920 through December, 1933). This was accomplished by ratification of the 21st amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

It is difficult for me to believe that an amendment such as the 18th was ever proposed, let alone ratified, in the first place. It must have been a very different time, or I am just exhibiting my proclivity for leaving the Constitution alone.

Nevertheless, today is National Sacher Torte Day. So raise a glass (or not) and enjoy this Austrian delicacy, which was developed in 1823 by Austrian pastry chef, Franz Sacher.

Franz Sacher

Here is a recipe from the Austrian Tourist Board.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 18th amendment, 21st amendment, baking, chocolate, cooking, food, Prohibition, recipes, repeal of Prohibition, sacher torte, the Constitution of the United States of America, travel, Viennese pastry | Leave a Comment »

Who am I featuring on the Bakery Blogumentary?

November 18, 2013

This time the bakery blog went further afield. The featured bakery is Bread & Cie, located in the Hillcrest area of San Diego. When we were on the left coast a few months ago, we stopped at Bread and Cie for breakfast and were delighted with the fare.

You see here a very Parisian baguette avec jambon et fromage and almond croissants with coffee – yum.

Look closely below and you can see the selfie I took in the cafe. We are sitting by the back wall and I took the photo into a large mirror.

More shots to give you a feel of the place. I think Bread & Cie is worth checking out if you are in the area.

And they have a website: http://www.breadandcie.com/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baking, Bread & Cie, cafe, California, croissants, food, Hillcrest, San Diego, travel | 2 Comments »

Who am I featuring on the Bakery Blogumentary?

November 6, 2013

A couple of weeks ago I was lamenting the demise of Hough Bakery in Cleveland. While I still miss their special treats, I have noticed that there are quite a few newer – and also wonderful – bakeries around.

In this installment of the Bakery Blogumentary, I am featuring Zoss the Swiss Baker. Zoss is on the route I take to work every day, and it is an easy and quick stop for a croissant, a spinach tart for lunch, a box of cookies for the office (when the minions have been especially good) – so many wonderful things. Their bakery has a continental favor and it is THE place to go for Bavarian pretzels, palmiers, macaroons, croissants, chocolate papillons.

I would love to show you a photo of the hazelnut macaroon I purchased this morning, but it just disappeared somehow – sorry.

Perfect, flaky, buttery croissants.

These are chocolate papillons.

Selections from the pastry counters.

This post would not be complete without mentioning the bread and rolls that Zoss produces from their magical ovens. We are fortunate that Zoss bread is also available in local supermarkets so it is possible to find even when the mothership is closed. They always do something special for the holidays – I’m looking forward to that.

Did I mention the brioche?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bakery blogumentary, baking, bread, brioche, Cleveland, cooking, croissants, food, history, Hough Bakery, macaroons, palmiers, pastry, pretzels, Zoss, Zoss the Swiss Baker | 4 Comments »

What is tattoo Tuesday about?

September 17, 2013

PLUMS and Plum Blossom Tattoos

A few years ago, my friend, Betty, invited Roz and me over for dinner and made a Plum Galette for dessert. After dinner, Roz and I politely ate a slice of the galette, and then another, and then abandoned our forks and finished off the galette so that only crumbs were left.

I bought some lovely purple plums in Whole Foods the other day and made this tart. While it was not devoured all in one sitting, it was pretty good.

The recipe is an adaptation of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Plum Flame Tart in The Pie and Pastry Bible

1 recipe sweet cookie tart crust

3-4 large purple plums sliced into 1/8 sections

1/3 – ½ cup sugar – depending on the tartness of the plums

½ t cinnamon

1/8 t nutmeg

1/3 cup Apricot or other preserves for glazing

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Place a cookie sheet on a rack in the lowest position in the oven

Crust

One stick of cold, unsalted butter cut into pieces

¼ cup sugar

1 ½ scant cups of all-purpose flour

1/8 t salt

1 large egg yolk

2 T cream

Combine the egg yolk and cream and set aside

Using a pastry blender combine the sugar, flour, butter and salt until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. You can also use a food processor for this part. Add the egg and cream mixture and blend with a fork. I needed a little more cream to make it come together. If the dough is too soft, refrigerate it for a few hours or freeze for about 10 minutes. Mine was perfect as is to press into the pan. Press the mixture evenly over the pan bottom and about ½ inch up the sides. Use a tart pan with a removable bottom or a similar spring form pan. No need to treat the pan because there is plenty of butter in the dough and it will release easily. I used a 10” spring-form pan because that is what I have.

Bake the tart shell for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.

Place the plum slices on the tart shell in concentric rows beginning with the outer edge of the crust, working toward the center. Mix the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together and sprinkle over the tart.

Bake the tart for about 45 minutes, or until the plum slices are soft. Remove from the oven and cool.

Glaze the tart by warming and straining apricot preserves and brushing over the tart. I had an extra plum or two, so I just made some plum preserves, strained them and used that as the glaze.

Why did I photograph the plate upside down?