The Reveal

Nov 152012
 

OK, so did you figure out what the mystery muffins were?  I’m sure that everyone was thinking “Carrot Cake,” right?

Yes, yes, that would be correct.  HOWEVER, there is a slight twist to that answer.  Me, being the baking rebel and all, could not make just ordinary carrot cake muffins.  I have to change it up a notch and be all unconventional.

First off, I tried the recipe not with the ordinary muffin tins (where’s the fun in that? ), but instead with my muffin top pan.  The tricky part about doing that is adjusting the cooking time because of the shallow pan.

Where the original recipe requires about 20 minutes to cook, mine only took about 14 minutes.  While they turned out just fine with this pan, I would have to say that they aren’t as moist as I would have wanted them to be, so perhaps pulling them out at 12 minutes would have produced a better product.

Now here is where the fun part came in:  where traditional carrot cake has that nummy cream cheese frosting *drool* that we all love on top of the cake, these little babies have it baked in the center.  How fun is that!

Again, because of the pan I used it wasn’t this huge glob as show in the original recipe, but I have to say I was quite happy with the result anyway.  You have this wonderful carrot cake and cream cheese flavor without getting frosting all over your face and/or fingers.  And, storing them is a cinch because you can stack them without working about smooshing the frosting!

Although I will have to tweak the recipe and baking time the next time I make them (Rick thinks I should add a touch of lemon juice to the frosting next time), I think that I’ve found another keeper to add to the recipe binder.

 

Fritter Delicious

Nov 012012
 

I had an ulterior motive the other day when I was cleaning the deep fryer.  Actually, I think that anyone that wants to put the time, effort and elbow grease into such a task has to either a) be out of their mind; b) bored out of their skull; or c) wants to cook something and not have it taste like it came from the greasy spoon down the street.

Unfortunately, I fell into all 3 of those categories with only a slight hint of “b”.

After all, lately Monday’s have been Suzie Frickin Homemaker day around the house, and I did have one recipe that I’d been wanting to try for weeks.

These little morsels of sweetness were found on my travels of the interwebs that led to, of all things, a website that specializes in Greek food.

Jacquline over at Seeminglygreek.com posted the recipe and photos and I immediately knew that these would be fantastic.  I have always loved Apple Fritters, and the thought of little bite-sized portions to nibble on put them high on my yummy scale.

I was a little disappointed at first with the amount of batter this recipe made;  I mean, it really was small.  But when I dropped the first blob in the fryer and it nearly doubled in size, that disappointment ran out the door.

If you try this recipe (and I’m hoping you will) start with only a small spoonful of the batter.  Mine took about 5 minutes to cook and even after that amount of time I was still worried that they wouldn’t be completely cooked.

Also, flatten the batter a little as this will give me more of a “fritter” look (like the pictures on her website).  Oh, and maybe dip the things in the icing instead of pouring it over (like I did).

No matter how you make them, I think that you love these as much as Rick did!

 

Coordinating Oil Changes

Oct 302012
 

Around our house, if I don’t feel like making supper, Rick will often turn to the deep fryer to help him cook his evening meal.

With that said, the deep fryer gets used  A LOT.  And just like my shower, it is not something that I enjoy cleaning.  So once, maaaybe twice a year I will get a wild hair up my ass and give it a good cleaning.

Can you say ewwwwwww!  (I have actually had one caked up so bad that I didn’t even attempt to clean it.  It went right into the trash.)

And every time I tackle this dirty deed I make a promise to myself that I will never, ever let it get this bad again.  Anyone want to guess how many times I’ve kept that promise?

Let’s just say this about the whole experience:  Now I know why Rick hates changing the oil on the vehicles.  The sludge I got out of the bottom of the pan was worse than what comes out of my car every 3,000 miles.

Maybe I should just coordinate cleaning the deep fryer with the oil change for my car, that way we can compare which is worse.

 

If It’s Monday…

Oct 292012
 

It must mean you get your update on what happened with the shed this past weekend.

Well, the rest of the soffits got delivered and part of them got put on, and Rick started shingling the back part of the roof!

And I had some great pictures but… for some reason my camera got hungry and ate them.  I have no other explanation for where they went.  They were on the camera and then they were gone.

Bad camera.

We also had some company this weekend.  Nichole, Alexis and Kayla came for a visit, and Alexis must have thought that I needed to decorate the house a little bit since Halloween is fast approaching and I have nothing up to celebrate the occasion.

Well, this certainly does the trick (or treat… HA!) now doesn’t it!

Let me see… what else… Oh, we also took a little road trip on Sunday to Phillips, WI, where Rick had found this

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the Gellman 400 Bread Slicer.  It’s amazing the things that the man finds.  Years ago I was looking for a bread slicer, but they were way way out of my price range.  Apparently, this model is similar to one that Rick used years ago when he worked at a bakery (which I never knew… after all they years I’m still finding out stuff about him.)

The machine came with a wooden push paddle that has obviously pushed many loaves of bread into those razor-sharp blades.  The best part was that the silly thing runs like a charm!  With a little clean up (it was full of bread crumbs!) it will make short work of those wonderful loaves that I bake each week.

Now I just need to find room in the Kitchen for it.

 

Betty Crocker I Ain’t

Oct 172012
 

Monday was a busy day of running around and baking.  I actually bought some fresh fruit to make these

And ya know what?  They turned out pretty good!*  I made 4 of the “traditional triangle” that we’re all familiar with, and 8 of the rectangle that you saw in yesterday’s post (which are sitting in the freezer waiting for this weekend).  All apple, because it was easy (which is obviously the way to go).

Of course I cheated and bought the phyllo dough because… have you ever tried to make that stuff yourself?  It takes like 3 days and you have to have the patience of Mother Theresa and the muscles of Lou Ferrigno to pull it off!

OK, I may be exaggerating a tad, but not by much.  Here’s my fear:  I’m gonna take the time and energy (and flour, butter and other crap) and with my luck I’ll end up with hockey pucks instead of light fluffy turnovers.  Some of my fears may be irrational, but I don’t think I’m too far off the mark on this one.

And if I do decide to be Betty f’n Crocker and make the homemade stuff, you’ll know I’ve finally headed down the road to Crazyville.

At least I won’t be lonely… I’ll have all of you there with me.

 

*My taste tester loved them.

 

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