52 hike challenge (#4)

What a treat - I had company on my hike today!  I mean, more company than just Doug the dog, my standard hiking companion.  

Rose wanted to see if her friend in the neighborhood was interested in a play date, so she accompanied me on my hike. I like to go counter clockwise on my neighborhood loop, so she was a trooper and did about 3.75 miles (of 4.5). I dropped her off, and then did just that final part alone (with Doug).

Today was the first day above freezing in weeks, and the first day above zero in over a week. I had forgotten how "warm" 40 can feel! It was lovely. 

This is where the neighborhood T Rex lives

So many missing teeth! :)

52 hike challenge
1. 1/1/20 - 2 mi - out and back
2. 1/5/20 - 4.5 mi - neighborhood loop
3. 1/11/20 - 2 mi - out and back
4. 1/19/20 - 4.5 mi - neighborhood loop

Monster Cookies

Monster Cookies
#8 of the treat yo' self challenge
Cookie Jar Contenders chapter

The instant Rose saw this photo of cookies with Reese's pieces in them, she was sold! There was no way she was requesting any other recipe in this book. And I have to admit they looked pretty good to me too - like a peanut butter cookie married an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and they threw Reese's pieces confetti at the wedding. What's not to love?

No new techniques or anything fancy, just a new combination of ingredients in slightly different ratios that most of the cookie recipes I used.

Verdict:  Pretty good! Next time I would refrigerate the dough longer before baking, and also shape the dough prior to refrigerating. Also, the cookbook author stressed that the cookies should definitely NOT be baked any longer than 12 minutes...but mine must have been bigger than hers (I ended up with 4 dozen, rather than the 5 dozen she predicted) because my first tray was clearly underdone and subsequent trays took more like 15-17 minutes. But with those tweaks, I would definitely make this recipe again! And I'm sure Rose will be asking for it again soon :)

Scone-top Blueberry Muffins

Scone-top Blueberry Muffins
#7 of the treat yo' self challenge
pastry chapter (?)

Rose's school switched to a four-day week this year, so she and Mike get to hang out together every Friday (not that I'm jealous or anything!). When I left for work yesterday, I asked them to pick out a recipe or two to try this weekend and let me know if there were any special ingredients I needed to pick up before leaving town. A few hours and a handful of texts later, we had a plan!

This is Mike's selection. (Rose's selection will be coming later this weekend!) He loves blueberry muffins and he loves scones, so I should have known he would choose this one! We already had a bag of blueberries in the freezer, as well as some leftover buttermilk in the fridge, so the only other non-standard ingredient we needed was the zest of a lemon. (Side note: Did you know you can freeze lemon zest? I'm going to have start doing that when I juice a lemon, so I'll always have zest on hand in the freezer!)

This was another recipe where I was introduced to a new technique. Usually I use my KitchenAid for EVERYTHING that I don't do by hand, but this one called for the use of a food processor to completely obliterate the butter into the dry ingredients. Since I couldn't do that by hand or in my trusty stand mixer, I had to pull out ye ol' Cuisinart from the back pantry.  I know some people love their food processors, but for some reason I've always avoided them. I was probably afraid of the sharp blades as a kid, and that fear just lingered irrationally into adulthood. So I'm not sure if the Cuisinart was completely necessary this time, but I did follow the recipe's technique to a T, just to be on the safe side!

Verdict:  The three of us all had different responses to this one. Rose happened to get one absolutely loaded with blueberries, so she said it was great except "too blueberry-y." I thought it tasted pretty good for a blueberry muffin, but blueberry muffins just aren't what I'd pick from a muffin line-up. (Give me banana with chocolate chips any day!) Mike, on the other hand, said "Wow! This one is definitely a keeper!" So I guess if you like blueberry muffins then you'll love this recipe :)

Cherry Shortcake Squares

Cherry Shortcake Squares

#6 of the treat yo' self challenge

counter cakes chapter

After the disappointment of yesterday's Donut Loaf, I wanted to try something that at least looked highly appealing. This one was definitely a feast for my eyes as I paged through the book. Little mini squares of cake with hearts of cherry? Yes, please! And the simplicity of the recipe was just a bonus for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I used a new baking pan for this recipe - cooking on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment, rather than in sort of traditional baking pan (like an 8x8 or 9x13 classic). The batter seemed so thin as I spread it across the pan, but I decided to trust the author. (Plus, there was no way I could have easily scraped all that batter back out and into a smaller tin!) Then I also learned a new technique: scoring the batter with a toothpick in order to better judge the placement of the cherries on each of the 24 future pieces. It certainly looked promising as it went into the oven...and looked tasty when it came out a little bit later!

Verdict: Yum! Next time I think I would increase the lemon juice to balance the sweetness a bit more, and I would also put less of the cherry "juice" on each piece to make it more visually appealing. But those are pretty picky changes, and overall this was a winner! Hopefully my coworkers appreciate the treat tomorrow.

52 hike challenge (#3)

And for today's most boring blog post on the planet, here is my record of having done a brief hike today. About 2 miles on my standard out-and-back path. But since my phone was low on batteries, I have no proof of my accomplishment. So, instead, here are Mike and Rose working on this awesome KiwiCo crate that she got in the mail last week - we have no idea who sent this to her, so if it was you please let us know so we can thank you for the wonderful gift!

Donut Loaf

Donut Loaf

Recipe #5 of the treat yo self challenge

counter cakes chapter

I love a good donut - a good raised glazed donut, that is. I'll settle for a Long John or a bear paw or a Boston cream (all raised varietals), but my heart will always lie with the raised glazed variety in particular.  

Note the conspicuous absence of any cake donuts on my favorites list. Cake donuts, to me, are usually dense and dry and coated with rancid powdered sugar that blows up your nose and makes you choke even more than you already were on the cakey, dry crumbs. Blech.

So when I realized this morning that I was tired of the sweet breads chapter (after only 3 recipes, lol) and needed something different this weekend, I started paging through the rest of the book... It's not pie season yet... too early in the day for cookies... but "counter cakes"? That definitely sounded promising!

Several of the reviews for this book mentioned this Donut Loaf recipe as a winner, so despite my obvious hesitations I figured it would be a good one to try, particularly on a cold and blustery Saturday morning when my beloved child woke me up at 5am. (Ugh.)

It was an easy enough recipe and we had all the ingredients on hand, so I threw it together and waited for my oven timer to go off...

Verdict:  Well, it tasted like how I imagine a "good" cake donut (if there even is such a thing) should taste like. It was cakey and soft, kind of like banana bread without the banana flavor - all that would be left is some cake texture and a little bit of some sweet spice (nutmeg, in this case). So, it was fine and all, I guess. Mike and Rose both enjoyed it, but I will admit that it certainly didn't sing to my heart. Oh well, still a fun experiment in baking!

inky and theo

We have two identical black cats.

I used to be able to tell them apart because Inky had white whiskers and Theo was, well, the other one. But suddenly Inky lost his white whiskers and now I have NO idea who is who. It not only feels rude to not know their names, but it also feels a bit dangerous if one gets sick and has to go to the vet and I have no idea who is with me. 

So tonight I decided to take some photos to help me learn. Rose somehow has always been able to differentiate them, so I had her identify them both me.

Then I started memorizing their facial features. I think Theo has slightly more green eyes and Inky's are slightly more yellow. 

I still can't tell them apart if just one comes up to me, but I can now differentiate them if I can see both sets of eyes at once! I'll take that as some progress... :)