by Aimee on December 30, 2008
Sometimes I get the impression that I’m probably one of those insane picky eaters, I guess I am..because….I don’t care for cheesecake. You can pelt me with boxes of Philly if you’d like, but that won’t do a bit of good. I never liked cheesecake. Let me clarify this statement a bit. If someone plops a slice of cheesecake in front of me chances are I’ll eat it, enjoy quite a few bites of it if not all of it, and then five to ten minutes after eating it I’ll start hating myself for the rock of cream cheese that is now simmering in the bottom of my stomach. This is what happens to me when I eat anything that has THAT much fat in it. Burping, yeah, I start burping too. Don’t ask me why, I’m a baker not a doctor! (Don’t I have that mixed up somehow? I suppose if I was a doctor and named McCoy it’d be the other way around. I don’t dress up as a Klingon or anything, but I do love Star Trek 
)
So, after that preamble, I did really like this cheesecake….some of the time. The Tall and Creamy Cheesecake for this week’s challenge was selected by Anne of AnneStrawberry. I purposely had to go out and buy a springform pan. Thankfully this is one of those hovering around ten buck purchases that I can manage once in awhile and Santa didn’t treat me too badly. Too bad the pan I selected turned out to rust around the latch after washing so this is going back to my favorite store, HomeGoods. Click to continue…
Tagged as:
Cheesecake,
Cholesterol Anyone?,
Taste Definitions,
TWD
by Aimee on December 29, 2008
Yep, those were the exact words that left my lips the night (or was it morning?) when I finally finished the assembly of this challenge. I just joined the Daring Bakers group last month and while last month’s challenge wasn’t too difficult for me, seeing as I had made a caramel cake a couple of months earlier, December was certainly a doozy. pics
Tagged as:
Chocolate,
Daring Bakers,
Hazelnuts,
MacGyver Baking Tip,
Oops!
by Aimee on December 29, 2008
I wanted to say something. I wanted to give you all a reason as to why you haven’t seen hide nor hair of me for over a month. There isn’t really one reason, it’s been more of a conglomeration of joys and sorrows that are part of any life. For those of you who just come here to bake and don’t give a damn about my personal life please move on or brace yourself for more than you probably ever wanted to know about me. Click to continue…
Tagged as:
Why I Bake
by Aimee on December 28, 2008
So, I was so THRILLED in October to get the news that I was accepted into the Daring Bakers group. So thrilled in fact that I made the November challenge, took pictures even, but never got around to actually post my results because I got hives from my computer for around a month for some reason. Actually this is the WORST time of year for me to try and keep any kind of schedule. Between taking care of my Mom, the house, preparing for the holidays and trying to keep up with all the baking – AAAAHHHH! Excuse my meltdown. Anyways, I hope this somehow makes up for November because that’s when I actually made this cake.
Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater brings us a sugar-high to last through the holidays with a Caramel Cake. Hosting helpers are Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex from Blondie and Brownie, Jenny from Foray into Food, and for those alternative bakers Natalie from Gluten-a-Go-Go. (I think I have this right to get credit for this, but if I’m missing something please let me know!) Click to continue…
Tagged as:
Brown Butter,
Caramel
by Aimee on December 23, 2008
This week is brought to us by Donna of Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases. I hate to state this so bluntly, but I’m afraid this was a big loser for me. I could not eat this…period. My Mom loved it though, so I guess it’s a wash. I still ended up spending $5 on a munchkin-sized bottle of scotch just so I could make this recipe. I think the foundation of the recipe was fine (if you were making a custard and not a pudding but more on that in a bit) but the liquor I chose was abysmal. I had no idea what to pick. I have a feeling that this probably would have tasted fine with a different liquor, but I was limited to the selection of tiny bottles up at the front of the counter that my local liquor store had in stock. If it wasn’t in a little bottle, well, tough luck. I’m not spending $20+ on a bottle of liquor for a recipe that I’m not sure I’ll ever make again. I got the cheapest “scotch” that was available and it was a blend – they were all blends, so I figured I’d go cheap. Despite the gah! factor, I’m glad I only spent five bucks on the booze. Click to continue…
Tagged as:
Pudding,
Scotch,
TWD
by Aimee on December 16, 2008
I just recently made my favorite jam thumbprint cookie recipe and scarfed them down in record time, I’m ashamed to say. So, I was looking forward to trying my hand at Dorie’s recipe for these Buttery Jam Cookies selected by Heather of Randomosity and the Girl. How could you go wrong…butter = yum, jam = yum in my taste equation primer. And yet, I guess my palate isn’t that refined because I just didn’t care for these as written in the book.
I baked the first half of the dough according to Dorie, but after being somewhat disappointed by the flavor I decided to make some alterations with the second half of the dough. Click to continue…
Tagged as:
Ginger,
Jam,
TWD
by Aimee on December 10, 2008
While I was researching the best price for sugars and other decorations I came across this questionably useful item, a “flour wand” at King Arthur Flour. Now, don’t get too excited. There’s a bit of false advertising here by calling it a “wand” since no real magic will be imparted by purchasing this gadget. Yet, this strikes me as one of those items that enhances the ambiance of performing your baking duties. Click to continue…
Tagged as:
UN-necessity But Fun!
