From Chef To Cook

destashing and fair isle

2007-02-10T22:22:00.000-05:00

recently, greg asked me to start destashing my yarn. I wanted some new yarn to start a sweater, but greg told me that I couldn't buy anything new until I got rid of the extra yarn around the house. so, on thursday, i brought 2 extra large bags of yarn to my knitting circle, and now I'm down to I large rubbermaid container.

in other destashing news, I learned fair isle knitting. fair isle is a way to knit with multiple colors. i started with a hat from knitty's website.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTcentersquare.html

i knit it out of blue and white yarn I had left in my stash... here is the finished product.

i have to say, it was a lot easier than i ever thought possible... i have to do more fair isle knitting.

when good tv shows go bad...

2007-02-01T15:59:00.000-05:00

not all television is good... there are definitely a large amount of crap tv for everyone to watch (including me...)

but there is something so sad when a really good tv show goes bad. when the story line gets so absurd that you start to wonder why you are watching at all. when the characters start acting like other people then they are, and you start yelling at the tv screen...

sometimes this happens because the writers have written themselves into a corner and can't get themselves out. sometimes it is when the writers and producers have left, and the show is now being run by other people and there are mistakes in continuity... sometime things just all go to hell...

this has officially happened to one of my favorite tv shows - Gilmore Girls.

i have faithfully watched this show since the beginning. in fact, i still enjoy watching old episodes on ABC family. but this season has happened and a good show has gone bad. characters aren't acting like themselves. the old writers and producers put the show in a corner when they left at the end of the last season, and now the new staff is trying to get out of the corner while still pleasing the fans... and what has happened is now we have a show that doesn't make any sense with any of the other seasons, and i am angry!

what shows have you watched that have gone bad? i'm not talking about one or two episodes that weren't good, i'm talking entire seasons of badness... please comment.

i will be a better person today...

2007-01-25T09:50:00.000-05:00

i am not someone who is big into new year's resolutions... they are too easy to break, and often times, too specific. most people want to lose weight, stop smoking, travel somewhere exotic...

but this year, at this moment, i am making a resolution to myself...

I will be a better person today than I was yesterday.

i am hoping to be able to keep this resolution, not only for this year, but forever.

give me my space!!!

2007-01-19T23:23:00.000-05:00

i believe that when you live with someone, be it a significant other or just a roomate, that everyone deserves a little bit of their own space. it can be a whole room, or in the case of a dorm room in college, a corner where your desk is. but no matter what, that is your space to do with what you please, to keep as clean or as dirty (but not endangering the health of others) as you like.

i currently live in a 250+ year-old farm house in the Philly area. it is a really nice house, stone walls and a fireplace, but with all the modern ammenities like satelite tv and a bathroom on the 2nd floor. in addition to all these great things, is a fully finished attic space that spans the entire house. one half is currently used for storage of boxes and some old clothes, but up until recently, this space was where my husband and his friends would hang out and play video games. this was a perfect arrangement! he had his space to do with as he pleased, and i got to watch directv with tivo downstairs in the living room with no one to bother me... his space, attic, my space, living room...

and this was all great, until...

he got a Playstation3!!

now, the tv in the attic wasn't good enough... he needed the better tv and the sound system, which reside in the living room. he had to put the PS3 downstairs! but, he and his friends still occationally hang out in the attic when they aren't playing video games. and where do i go? tonight, i've been sitting at our kitchen table with my knitting. which really isn't so bad, but i would really like to catch up on my tivo'ed shows while knitting...

give me my space!!!!

if he wants to keep the PS3 downstairs, that's fine, but then I want the attic... wait, the attic doesn't have satellite or tivo! and the attic is covered in his posters!

need solution before I go crazy! please help!

mea copa... and a happy 2007 to everyone!

2007-01-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

to quote fiona apple...

i've been a bad bad girl!

i know i haven't posted since 2006, july 2006... i know i have left many people wondering, "has stacy fallen off the face of the earth?" and the answer is... NO, but i've been a bit busy.

there has been baking going on, but nothing noteworth to speak of.

there has been a lot of knitting, and a few things to speak of, including my first ever baby sweater!

but this post is to apologize, and to make a new year's resolution... i will try to be better about posting. i will try not to abandon my blog after only a few months of writing. i will try to keep everyone apraised of what is going on in my life... i will try!

knitting socks instead of baking

2006-07-20T15:23:00.000-04:00

my first sock
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

being up in maine for the summer means 2 thing...

#1. I'm instantly going to turn into the meanest driver in the state because everyone here is so freakin' nice. they stop for pedestrians, even if they aren't at crosswalks, they allow other cars to go before them at 4-way stops, even if they get there first, and... they go the speed limit! i'm from jersey, i learned how to drive in jersey, and we all know what that means... i'm not a nice driver. i think i'm the only person to use a car horn and my middle finger to express my thoughts on the other drivers here...

#2. i need to find something to keep myself busy when i don't have work. last summer, and this one, i've been working on my photography. but over the last few months, i've been learning how to knit. i found the most fantastic yarn store (http://www.uniqueone.com), and i've been learning how to knit socks. the above photo is my first attempt at a sock, and I have to say that I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

I've now purchased yarn for a pair to be knitted for greg, more yarn for socks for a person to be determined, and some beautiful alpaca/silk/wool yarn for a nice scarf for me... and, of course, i have a few other projects going for people having babies soon... i have a lot of knitting to do!

zucchini bread

2006-07-09T09:43:00.000-04:00

zucchini bread
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

I made this as my first new dessert in Maine for the summer. As you can see, it pretty much got destroyed before I could take a proper photo. These are the 3 slices I managed to save for the camera.

receipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_14971,00.html

I used the exact receipe, but instead of dividing it up, I made one large loaf. Make sure to add more time to baking when doing this.

4 weeks...

2006-07-07T16:25:00.000-04:00

baby bunny
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

and nothing new baked...

the other couple we work with was in Poland for the last 4 weeks, so I haven't really been trying any new recipes. I wish I had the time, but with only 2 of us on the busy nights, I had to go with the items I know, like banana bread and blueberry coffee cake.

but for your patience while I work really hard and get ready for the summer in maine, enjoy the photo I took of a baby bunny by my house...

egg over easy

2006-06-23T08:48:00.000-04:00

egg over easy
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

ingredients:

1 non-stick frying pan
1 pat of butter or PAM cooking spray
1 large egg

heat pan over high heat. melt butter or spray pan with PAM. crack egg into pan, making sure not to break yolk. when whites done to your liking, flip egg over gently as not to break yolk. slide egg out of pan.

sorry i haven't been writing much, but i've been baking the same stuff. seems as though i've made some things that my bosses like. so, i decided to work on my egg flipping skills. this was my first attempt at eggs over easy, and it turned out really well!

banana bread and an apology

2006-06-05T17:50:00.000-04:00

okay, the apology is first. i'm sorry that i haven't posted in so long. i really don't have an excuse other than i've been lazy. i did go to my friend darryl's wedding over memorial day weekend (mazel tov!), but as far as being busy over the last few weeks, not so true.

so, to make it up to everyone, i'm posting the new/old banana bread recipe i used the other week. it's new because it is the first time i've used it, and it's old because it was in a 1991 issue of gourmet magazine...

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/13196

i've left out the nuts (due to an allergy) and coconut (because no one likes it), but it turned out great, the best yet...

blueberry coffee cake...

2006-05-13T17:43:00.000-04:00

with crunchy walnut topping!

this was such a hit at work that i'm making it for mother's day. i also intend to make it during the summer when i can get the tiny maine blueberries to bake with. this recipe comes from the williams-sonoma "desserts - new healthy kitchen" cookbook. thanks to aunt deena again!

Crunchy Walnut Topping
1/2 cup walnut or pecan pieces
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, melted

Cake
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

preheat oven to 350F. line bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper

for topping: put walnut pieces in a bowl and sprinkle with brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. toss with a fork to combine. drizzle with melted butter and toss again. set aside.

for cake: cream softened butter and granulated sugar together in a bowl until fluffy. beat in egg and vanilla. add sour cream and beat until combined. sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. add to butter mixture and stir until just combined. pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. sprinkle evenly with berries, then with topping.

bake until cake is risen, golden in color and no long jiggles when pan is skaen, and a wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. remove from oven and let cake stand in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes before unlatching sides and transferring cake to a plate. let cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing.

back from vacation and spiced apple cake

2006-05-13T17:29:00.000-04:00

sorry it's been so long since i've posted. greg and i were on a 2 week vacation! we went on a week cruise with my parents, sister and grandmother to celebrated my parents' 30th anniversary... for the other week, we were getting ready for the wedding of our friends otto and marisa at the palm beach zoo. while it was nice to relax for 2 whole weeks, it is good to be home and back to baking. i didn't bake on vacation, why would i do my job while trying to relax...

this spiced apple cake is the first recipe i made when we got back to work. it is from the williams-sonoma "desserts - new healthy kitchen" cookbook that greg and i got from my aunt deena as an anniversary gift.

3 green apples
1 cupe granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 golden raisins
2 tbsp granulated sugar mixed with 1 tsp ground cinnamon
powdered sugar for dusting

preheat oven to 325F. butter an 8-inch round cake pan. core and thinly slice apples, leaving skin intact. whisk granulated sugar, butter and egg together in a bowl. stir in two-thirds of the apple slices.

sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt together. add to egg mixture along with raisins, stirring until just blended. pour into prepared pan and smooth top. arrange remaining apple slices in a pattern on top, pressing them gently into batter. sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. bake until goden and springy to touch, about 50 minutes. let cake stand in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and let cool completely, about 2 hourse. dust with powdered sugar and cut into wedges to serve.

notes: you can use any type of appes in season. the cake will taste slightly different every time but is always moist, as well as easy to prepare. store cake in a covered container in refrigerator for up to 4 days.

the cake turned out pretty well, with the exception that it was a little under cooked in the center. give the cake a few more mintues in the oven if you find it is still a little goopy in the middle.

carrot cupcake

2006-04-22T16:01:00.000-04:00

carrot cupcake
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

i've been wanting to try these since i got my new cookbook. it worked out well... and it was really fun to draw carrots with icing for the kids

http://content1.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=FF31D7D6-E9C4-4098-BC1030D46242FEB1

this is my last post until after the cruise i'm leaving for tomorrow morning. i'm hoping to get some good ideas from this trip...

plum cake

2006-04-22T15:57:00.000-04:00

plum cake
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

i made this for my boss on wednesday. finally found plums that were decent and saw this in my newest dessert book from williams-sonoma. i replaced the sugar with fructose and some of the flour with soy flour... here is the recipe for everyone...

http://content1.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=11B12672-C614-43A3-930AE0DAA74F7941

blondies and brownies

2006-04-19T19:52:00.000-04:00

blondies and brownies
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

sorry it's been so long since i've written anything. there is really no excuse other than i'm a lazy bum!

i made both blondies and brownies. the brownies were the recipe i've posted before. the blondies were made from the following recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_32977,00.html

i used the butterscotch chips, and the kids didn't like it too much... i think the next time i'm going to use chocolate chips and call them chocolate chip cookie bars!

minature black bottom cupcakes

2006-04-02T16:37:00.000-04:00

minature black bottom cupcakes
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

i made these at work from a recipe that i found in my mother's old temple sisterhood cookbook from 1993. it actually is my mother's recipe and they turned out great!

Cream Cheese Mixture
8oz cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
6oz chocolate chips

Cupcake Mixture
1.5 cup sifted flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark Hershey's cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

in small mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese mixture ingredients. mix chocolate chips in by hand.

in large mixing bowl, blend all the cupcake ingredients and beat well.

line small muffin tins with cupcake papers. place 1 tablespoon choclate mixture in each cup, then top with 1 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture.

bake in a 350 oven for 25 minutes. make 48 cupcakes.

my 1st anniversary

2006-04-02T16:21:00.000-04:00

today marks one year since greg and i got married... a year has flown by so fast, it seems like yesterday we had just gotten engaged and started to plan our wedding. now, we are officially no longer newlyweds...

ps - i love this photo! we took 16 hours of dance lessons the 2 weeks before our wedding. we even learned how to dip!

at the TPC...

2006-03-28T23:20:00.000-05:00

at the TPC...
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

we've returned safely from scottsdale, arizona yesteray. now that i've catched up on sleep and relaxing, i've got to go back to work in the morning.

i have to say a big thank you to my parents for having us stay at their new house in scottsdale and feeding us and letting us use the convertible the whole week. it was a lot of fun! we've pretty much decided that after we are done with this job, we're going to move to the phoenix area. 300 days of pure sunshine, who doesn't love nature's prozac!

another big thanks going out to greg's friend dan. he showed us around the chandler/gilbert area and gave us some insight into living in phoenix, since he's been living there for 10 years. also, thanks to dan's folks for dinner, it was yummy and i think i've stopped smelling like garlic!

i'm off to figure out some menu ideas for tomorrow! good night to all...

off to arizona...

2006-03-21T06:26:00.000-05:00

greg and i are off to scottsdale to visit my parents and to get a few days of r&r while the bosses are out of town...

i don't know if i'll blog from there, we will just have to see what happens!

hamantashen for purim

2006-03-17T08:31:00.000-05:00

this week, we celebrated purim... quite possibly the best jewish holiday ever! this holiday commemorates the deliverance of the Persian Jews from destruction in the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus. at temple we read the story of esther (not madonna) and haman (boo!!!!), and we dress up in costume and have a big party, and usually a carnival with prizes for the kids. check out http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday9.htm for more specific info on the holiday...

one of the most important parts of this minor holiday is the 3 cornered cookie called hamantaschen. it is shaped like a triangle to represent haman's (boo!) 3 cornered hat. the bosses' grandkids have been asking for hamantaschen all week, so on wednesday, i baked some... these cookies come with a variety of fillings ranging from prune to apricot to cherry, but as we all know, all these kids wanted was chocolate chip, and who am i to argue (chocolate in my fav too!) so, i busted out my mom's temple sisterhood cookbook and found her recipe for hamantaschen...

4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1.5 tsp. baking powder

Add warm water to flour and rest of ingredients to make a soft dough ball. divide into 6 balls. roll out, one at a time. use large mouth glass to cut dough into circles. fill with filling; pinch corners together to fashion triangle, and place on greased cookie sheet.

bake at 350F until brown, about 20 minute.

as you can see, this is a pretty basic recipe, but i did have to call my mom and yell at her about this one. what order do i put the ingredients together? do i cream the oil and sugar together first? or do i just throw everything in a bowl and hope it comes out okay?

her response... "i just threw it all in a bowl and mixed it up"

thanks mom!

i did cream the sugar and oil together first (never any harm doing that), and i sifted the flour, salt and baking powder together just to make sure everything was well mixed. i added chocolate chips, white and dark swirled chips, and chocolate and caramel swirled chips as filling, as well as a few made with blueberry pie filling. all of them came out great! in fact, i every found prune butter (yuck!) and filled a few for my boss, and he loved them too!

sorry i forgot to take photos, i guess you will all have to wait a year until purim comes around again to see what they look like!

knitting - my other hobby...

2006-03-14T19:22:00.000-05:00

baby blanket for zoe
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

since i don't do a lot of baking in florida, i decided to finally finish the baby blanket i started. it took 4 months, and zoe is now almost 6 months old, but at least she will have a pretty pink blankie from her aunt stacy!

this blanket was an easy pattern... maybe that was the problem, it was easy. it was only in knit stitch and it increased 1 stitch every row, starting at 5 stitches and ending somewhere about 200 stitches in the center row. by the middle i just wanted to kill the blanket, but thanks to my knitting circle (yes, i belong to a knitting circle), i pushed through and finally finished it!

now to start my next project, an afgan for my house. after that, i have 4 more baby projects to do, everyone i know seems to have gotten knocked up lately... must be something in the water that i'm not drinking...

brownies - project #1, part 2

2006-03-06T11:16:00.000-05:00

i decided yesterday that i was going to attempted the brownie recipe from william-sonoma again. we had everyone over for dinner last night at work, and what would 9 children love for dessert other than chocolate chip cookies... BROWNIES! but this time, i was going to do things a little differently than the 1st time...

1. make sure to use a glass pan, just like the directions say...
2. check the brownies a few minutes before the directions say, then add more time as needed...

tada! the brownies came out perfect and delicious! i'm so very proud of myself... moist, chewy, chocolaty brownies! i can bake!

today is another day off (yes, i do seem to have a lot of those)... i'm going to try to finish the baby blanket i've been working on for a while now. it seems that i have at least 3 or 4 more to work on for friends and family before the end of the summer.... lots of knitting to do!

florida boredom

2006-02-27T12:48:00.000-05:00

we hardly ever make dinner while we are here in florida, which means i hardly ever get to bake here in florida. mostly, my day consists of getting up, going to the market to get newspapers, setting the table for breakfast, serving breakfast, cleaning up breakfast, and then trying to figure out a way to fill the rest of my day up. we try to see as many friends as possible while we are here, which seems to be very little this year.

as you all read, i'm working on a baby blanket for my friends' baby. that will probably keep me busy for part of today. i also just bought a new book called "Yarn Harlot, the secret life of a knitter" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0740750372/sr=8-1/qid=1141062824/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4335157-3656131?%5Fencoding=UTF8 which i'm thinking i can get through sitting by the pool in one afternoon.

i really need to think of more stuff to do... any suggestions?

jerusalem articoke chips with lemon thyme dip

2006-02-25T08:41:00.000-05:00

greg and i were trying to think of ways to incorporate jerusalem articokes into work. since we can't use potatoes at work, we often times use other root veggies to make chips, fries and other thing you would use potatoes for. greg decided to make chips out of the jerusalem articokes to make chips. i did some research and found this recipe.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/101438

instead of frying the chips, greg baked them on a low heat for a while. they crisped up quite nicely, especially after the second baking time.

the dip was really easy to make. it is quite like an aoli or emulsion. and as greg's friend eric would say, it will make you lots of friends.

the bosses really liked the chips and dip, and asked that we make it for the next dinner party they have.

interesting notes about jerusalem artichoke... they are neither from jerusalem nor are they articokes... they are actually the root of a sunflower and are often times called sunchokes. the reason they got the name "jerusalem artichokes" is because the italian name for sunflour is girasole, which sounds like jerusalem, thus jerusalem artichokes...

and that ends the food lesson for today. we are going back to florida today, so maybe i'll post something interesting from there!

chocolate biscotti photo and recipe

2006-02-25T08:23:00.000-05:00

i'm going to post the regular recipe for chocolate biscotti. take into account, i replaced the sugar with an artifical sweetener and part of the cake flour with soy flour.

makes 4 dozen biscotti

cake flour - 8.25oz/248g
baking soda - 1tsp/4g
cocoa powder - 1.25oz/35g
eggs - 6oz/170g
sugar - 5.5oz/156g
instant espresso powser - 1tbsp/7g
vanilla extract - 1tsp/5mL
almond extract - .25tsp/1.25mL
salt - .25tsp/2g
bittersweet chocolate chunks - 5oz/142g

line a sheet pan with parchment paper
sift together the flour, baking soda and cocoa powder
whip the eggs, sugar, espresso powder, vanilla and almond extracts, and salt using a wire whip attachment on high speed until thick and light in color, 6 to 8 minutes. on low speed, mix in the sifted dry ingredients until just incorporated. using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate.
form the dough into a strip 24in/61cm long on the prepared sheet pan
bake at 300F/149C until a skewer inserted in the center of the strip comes out clean, about 1 hour. remove from the over and cool for 5 to 10 minutes. lower the over temperature to 275F/135C
using a serrated knife, cute each strip into slices 1/2in/1cm thick. place on prepared sheet pans and bake for 12 minutes. flip the biscotti over and continue baking until completely dried and crisp, 12 to 15 minutes. transfer to racks and cool completely

Marble Pound Cake Photo and Recipe

2006-02-25T08:09:00.000-05:00

as promised, i'm posting the photos and recipes of my last two projects. here are the marble pound cakes i attempted. as you can see, one got a lot more chocolate batter than the other two cakes. i'll have to work on that next time!

makes 6 large cakes

cake flour - 3 lb 4.5 oz/1.49kg
baking powder - 1.5 oz/43g
butter, soft - 2lb 5.5oz/1.06kg
sugar - 2lb 5.5oz/1.06kg
salt - .5oz/14g
eggs - 3lb 12oz/1.70kg

coat the loaf pans with a light film of fat or use the appropriate pan liners
sift together the flour and baking powder
cream together the butter, sugar and salt on medium speed with the paddle attachment, scraping down the bowl as needed, until the mixture is smooth and light in color, about 5 minutes
blend the eggs and add in three additions
add the sifted dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until just blended and scraping down the bowl as needed
scale 2lb/907g batter into each prepared loaf pan
bake at 350F/177C until a skewer insterted near the center of a cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes
cool the cakes in the pans for a few minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

marble variation: add 12oz/340g melted and cooled bittersweet choloate. after blending the batter, transfer one-third of the batter to a separate bowl and add the melted chocolate, folding it in thoroughly using a rubber spatula. gently pour the chololate batter into the plain batter. using the handle of a wooden spoon, gently swirl the batters together with 3 to 4 strokes. do not overblend. scale and bake as directed above.

chocolate biscotti - project #5

2006-02-20T10:15:00.000-05:00

i was going to make almond flour pound cake for my boss, but decided to make chocolate biscotti instead. he really likes chocolate, so it was a good choice.

i replaced the sugar with splenda, and replaced 2/3 cup of regular flour with soy flour. the sugar replacement went fine, but i believe that the soy flour gave the biscotti a strange aftertaste.

biscotti is an interesting recipe because you double bake it. the first time you bake it for an hour as a whole loaf. then, you lower the temp of the oven, cut the biscotti into slice it, and then bake for an additional 15 minutes on each side. it isn't very difficult, just time consuming.

this recipe is good for anyone with an egg allergy, because there are no eggs at all...

my boss seemed to like it, although, he kept saying he could taste the baking soda. next time, i'll cut the baking soda in half and see what happens. i personally think he was tasting the soy flour...

Marble Pound Cake - Project #4

2006-02-19T09:57:00.000-05:00

sorry about this post being late, i don't really have an excuse other than i spent friday watching curling... what a strange sport!

thursday i made 2 desserts, pound cake for the kids and chocolate biscotti for the boss. i'm in florida right now, so i don't have my big recipe book or usb wire for the camera. i will post the photos and recipes when i'm back in philly...

the pound cake recipe, like every one in the CIA book is a large quanity. i cut it down from 6 cakes to 3 cakes in order for everything to fit into my mixer...

i decided to go with a marble pound cake over a regular one because it was more interesting. who wants a plain marble cake when you can have one with chocolate.

everything went fine until the baking part. the recipe called for 2lbs of batter per pan. i had smaller pans, so i put 1 3/4 lb of batter in each. greg forgot to tell me, and i didn't figure out, that i needed to cut the time a little bit. the cakes looks beautiful, but were a little dry. i'll fix that the next time...

back to enjoying the warm weather while i work....

no-bake day...

2006-02-15T19:48:00.000-05:00

i went into work, all mentally prepared to bake marble pound cake. what i found was that the other chefs had made cupcakes yesterday that hadn't gone out. so, my boss said to send those out and not to bake today.

so, i guess i'll make the pound cake tomorrow. and i'll bake an almond flour pound cake for the bosses...

snow day...

2006-02-12T10:36:00.000-05:00

overnight, about 18 inches of snow got dumped near my house. i have the day off, which means no baking for stacy.

instead, i will be working on the baby blanket i've been knitting. hopefully, i will get a bunch of it done today while watching bad movies and stuff on my tivo.

hope everyone who is stuck in the snow has a good day off. and for those of you who live in a place where there is no snow, i wish i could be with you right now.

Vanilla Pretzels - Project #3

2006-02-11T21:01:00.000-05:00

friday nights at work are a bit strange. any other night, there are 2 of us in the kitchen. but on friday nights, with 12 people eating dinner, there are 4 of us in the kitchen (greg and i, and the other chef couple). there is never enough work for all of us to do. most fridays, you will find me in the car, going to the market for something we've forgotten.

last week, when i was making the decision to start baking, i realized fridays were the perfect time to try stuff out. this week's recipe, from the CIA "Baking & Pastry" book, vanilla pretzels.

makes 12 dozen cookies

butter soft - 9oz/255g
confectioners' sugar, sifted - 4.5oz/128g
eggs - 4.5oz/128g
milk - 2 floz/60mL
cake flour, sifted - 14oz/397g
dark chocolate, melted, tempered - 3lb/1.36kg
coarse sugar for coating - 1lb 8oz/680g

trace pretzel shapes onto parchment paper and line sheet pans with the parchment, inverting it so the pencil markings are on the underside of the paper.
cream the butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed with a paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 mintues. blend the eggs and milk and add in two or three additions, blending completely and scraping down the bowl after each addition. on low speed, mix in the flour until just blended
fit a pastry bag with a no. 2 plain tip and fill it with the batter. pipe pretzel shapes using the traced patterns on the prepared sheet pans.
bake at 375F/191C until light golden brown, about 8 minutes. transfer to racks and cool completely.
dip the pretzels into tempered chocolate and transfer to racks set over sheet pans. sprinkle iwth coarse sugar once the chocolate is lightly set.

i cut this recipe in half, because 136 cookies was far too many.

because of this book, i bought a digital baking scale, which is probably the best thing ever. at first, looking at a recipe that only have weights can be intimidating, but it actually is very easy if you have a good scale. here is a link to the scale i bought:

http://www.kitchenkapers.com/3007.html

things that concerned me while working on this recipe. when i was mixing in the eggs and milk into the sugar and butter, it didn't seem like it was combining well. when i started adding the flour, it finally started to come together, and actually worked out well.

a number 2 pastry tip was far too small for my taste. i used it for my first batch, and they burned far too quickly and it was hard to make the shape come out correctly. i switched to a number 4 tip and was able to control the shape much better. the cooking time needed to be adjusted to 12-13 minutes to achieve the desired look.

i decided not to dip the cookies in chocolate, too much of a mess. instead, i melted chocolate and put it into a squeeze bottle, and drizzled it over the cookies. the effect was nice and it was much easier than dipping cookies.

the cookies were a big success! next time i will make more, and maybe use colored sugars over the chocolate to add color.

well, it is the weekend, and i'm off the to the philly auto show to find my next car. snow is also on the way. if i'm working on sunday, i'm thinking about making pound cake, i will let you all know.

banana bread - project #2

2006-02-10T22:26:00.000-05:00

banana bread
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

welcome to my sencond project, banana bread. i was asked by my boss to make banana bread instead of the normal chocolate chip cookies that normally are made for their grandkids, so i obliged.

i found my recipe on the foodtv.com website, the night before when i couldn't sleep.

here's the recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_4050,00.html

i was able to contain my mess a little better this time, so greg was happy about that.

it actually turned out pretty well, in fact, my boss tried it and like it.

what i learned was that the next time i bake this, i have to make sure my bananas are over ripe and that i mush them up even better. any chunks that i had this time, ended up sinking to the bottom of the bread. still, it was yummy...

Brownies - Project #1

2006-02-10T21:39:00.000-05:00

i decided that for my first project i was going to conquer a familiar product, brownies. granted, i've only made brownies from the box. but this time, i found a relatively simple recipe in the "dessert" book from williams-sonoma.

here is the recipe: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/R100951.jsp

the one big mistake i made was baking the brownies in disposable aluminum pans instead of glass. it seemed to make the brownies dry out faster. but other than that, they looked exactly like the photo.

greg will tell you that i made a really big mess with this project, and that is completely true. we have a large kitchen to work in, but for greg, it became really small with the amount of space i took up.

what i've learned... changing the kind of pan you use will change the amount of time you have to cook your recipe. also, learn how to make less of a mess, or at least the space the mess takes up.

Welcome...

2006-02-10T21:19:00.000-05:00

hello to all reading my blog...

my name is stacy and i am a chef. actually, let me better explain myself. according to my tax return i'm a chef, but in all reality, i'm not even much of a cook, yet. just over 2 years ago, my husband and i were hired to work as personal chefs for a family. they wanted a couple, and despite the fact that i had no culinary experience, we were hired (my husband greg went to the culinary institute of america, or cia as i will refer to it).

now, 2 years later, i've decided to really start learning how to cook, specifically how to bake. and i've decided to start a blog in order to document my progress, the recipies that i try, and what i learn after each. and occationally, i post about what else is going on in my life (like the knitting project i'm working on or anything else that strikes my fancy).

so sit back in your comfy office chair, relax with your daily cup of coffee from that fancy coffee place down the street... and enjoy