Holiday photo FAIL

Friends, we took our annual holiday tour through Phipps Conservatory yesterday. I've done that as long as I can remember, and it just so happens to make a great background for family holiday photos. You know, if your kid is into that kind of thing. While I was busy trying to capture The Boss and her oh so natural reactions to the flowers and decorations, she thought she'd try to "work it" and give me pretty everything I didn't want.

Enjoy the hilarity, I know I am!

Clearly, we need a lesson on sitting like a little lady.
She announced that this is her Mad FaceFollowed by a few variations of Happy Face.
Happy Face mixed in with Show 'Em What's Under Your DressAnd the 'Scuse Me I Have to Scratch My Butt
And the Sorry Mom, Trains Trump All--Photo Shoot Over.

Thankful for you.

Hi friends,
Today I'm not sharing anything today except my thanks for you! We are all incredibly busy people so the fact that you've ever clicked into this blog to read anything about me and my little life is a miracle. Many of you I know in real life, others may just pop in from my offerings on Tastespotting. Regardless, thanks for being here!

I love Thanksgiving. It can be as simple or as complicated as you want in terms of food, but I love that it's just about gathering, eating, and talking. Love. it. The more people stuffed into my house, the better. The Boss is under the impression that we are having a party for her. Then again, when I think about everyone coming over today, yeah, it probably is a party for her.

Hope you're wearing your comfy pants today!

Play dough.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love the fact that The Boss is a ready and willing helper when it comes to measuring and dumping and stirring whatever it is I'm baking or cooking these days. She used to run when the Kitchen Aid was on, but she's made her peace. No doubt she can figure out good things come from it! She requests space on the counter so that she has the best view and doesn't miss a step. We're a good team.

I've been trying a variety of bread recipes in an effort to be a better bread baker and learn how certain ingredients will affect the texture. I'm getting better with practice and it makes me appreciate the fact that people once baked their own bread every day.

I find bread is a fun thing to do with kids. Sure there is a lot of waiting around time, but their attention is so easily diverted anyway. The kids sure do love punching the dough down after the first rise. Fun! The Boss and her buddy helped me out with this batch--I'm not sure if they liked punching the dough down or swiping finger licks of the cinnamon sugar mix better.

The bread was good warm on the first day and made great toast (and probably would make great french toast) the next day. You'll see my version didn't have raisins because we simply didn't have any. Unconscionable in a toddler household!Brown Sugar Raisin Bread
Williams Sonoma

1 TBSP active dry yeast
3 TBSP granulated sugar
1 1⁄4 cups warm water (105° to 115°F)
1 cup warm milk (105° to 115°F)
3 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
1 TBSP salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
6 to 6 1⁄4 cups bread flour, plus more as needed
3⁄4 cup golden raisins
3⁄4 cup dark raisins

Filling:
2⁄3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
mixed with 4 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon

In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of the granulated sugar over 1⁄2 cup of the water and stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the remaining 3/4 cup water, the milk, butter, the remaining granulated sugar, salt, egg and 2 cups of the flour. Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the yeast mixture and 1⁄2 cup of the flour and beat for 1 minute. Add the raisins, then beat in the remaining flour, 1⁄2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Switch to the dough hook. Knead on medium-low speed, adding flour 1 TBSP at a time if the dough sticks, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes. My dough took another 1/2 cup of flour, so don't be surprised if you need a lot more. Transfer the dough to a greased deep bowl and turn to coat it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours.

Lightly grease two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Divide the dough in half and roll or pat each half into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle. Lightly sprinkle each rectangle with half of the filling, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Beginning at a narrow end, tightly roll up each rectangle into a compact log. Pinch the ends and the long seam to seal in the filling. Place each log, seam side down, in a prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough is about 1 inch above the rim of each pan, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours.

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Bake until the loaves are golden brown and pull away from the sides of the pan, 35 to 40 minutes. Turn the loaves out onto wire racks and let cool completely.

Makes two 9-by-5-inch loaves.

I am not the boss. The Halloween edition.

I really love Halloween. I have as long as I could remember. I was giddy the first year we had a house because finally, we'd have trick-or-treaters! Our little street gets together for pizza and goodies before the droves of cute kids, inappropriately or barely costumed teens arrive at the door. It's just good fun.

I figured this year I'd let The Boss choose her own costume. She certainly has enough opinions about everything else in life. Given her recent interest in dinosaurs, I was so sure that was going to be her choice. C'mon, I know my child! I made sure I gave her ample opportunity to change her mind, but no, every single time I asked her, it was Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella. Never mind she doesn't know the story of Cinderella or even watched the movie, this was her choice and she was sticking to it! Those darn peers and their influence on my child!

So Cinderella it was. Apparently, I know nothing! I decided to do make it myself this year. I haven't sewn in years. A shame really, as I realized how much I enjoy it when I sat down to make this Cinderella dress. I came out of the experience with sanity in tact even though this thing was in satin. The satin--it was a bitch to sew, a bitch to rip out mistakes, uh, not that I made any, but it turned out ok for a girl that at times should be named The Destroyer.

She was getting really excited and finally, Halloween was here! After breakfast she saw the dress hanging up and said, "My Cinderella is so beautiful" and then I asked if she was going to wear the dress to trick-or-treat and she said "No, I want to be Ariel."

TRICK!

Sigh. Ok then. All day, she ran around in only underwear, eschewing Halloween and the notion of trick-or-treating and the glittery shoes that drew me in to this princess business. I am not the boss. I almost didn't care. I certainly wasn't going to force her. Nothing good ever comes of that. But five minutes before kids started showing up, she decided that yes, being Cinderella was a good idea. And after receiving candy at just two houses, I heard her say, "Halloween is so fun." She made it a lot further than I anticipated which meant she had way more candy than necessary. But it also meant she wore the dress more than a few minutes and she had a big smile on her face. That's all this mama wanted from her princess.And tonight at bedtime, I lay in her bed ready to read stories. She decided she needed a few books that were in the family room so I let her go get them on her own. She came back with two dinosaur books and two candy bars! Nice try, princess!

Fall is tasty.

Isn't it? The crisp weather and leaves crunching underfoot just calls for me to turn the oven on.

We've been in apple overload ever since we went apple picking a few weeks ago. Apple crisp, apple cake in a cast iron skillet (damn you, Pioneer Woman! And I mean that in the most loving way), baked apples, a small batch of applesauce, and keeping it simple and healthy by just grabbing a fresh apple when hunger strikes.

But I'm not here to talk about any of those things! Ha! Maybe someday. Until then, let's talk about creme brulee. I love this. Waaaay back when we used to eat out for special occasions, I'd order this dessert. So simple but elegant at the same time. These days, I much prefer making those fancier meals at home. It's not that we lack willing and doting grandparents to babysit. I just like being able to make those meals myself as cooking and baking to me is 1)relaxing and 2) it's my way of showing someone I care for them. When I planned out our wedding anniversary dinner last week, I decided to try making this for the first time. It was time to give the ramekins a purpose. And the little torch! Who doesn't love using the little torch?

(hint from The Spice Rack: buy this from a home improvement store and you'll save about 90% of what you'll pay at a speciality kitchen gadget store)

What the heck was I waiting for? This was so ridiculously simple to make. And there's nothing more satisfying than cracking through the caramelized sugar top. Yeah, it's rich, but you can make these in small ramekins and really, they just beg to be shared.Creme Brulee
adapted ever so slightly from Alton Brown

1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (alternatively, you could use 1 1/2 tsp of a high quality pure vanilla extract)
1 cup white sugar, divided
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. If using vanilla extract, just add it to the cream once it comes up to a boil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6-8 (7 ounce) ramekins. I only had 6 and probably could have filled 8 of them. I just cooked the rest in a small baking dish. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. I was able to fit my 6 ramekins in a 10x13 baking dish for a perfect fit. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Mine took 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. You can do this step ahead of time and just put them back in the fridge if you are serving this for a dinner party. I wouldn't recommend doing this more than 6 hours ahead. The hardened sugar will eventually get soft and then liquefy. You wouldn't want that to happen!