I've had a lot of changes in the past few weeks---and just realized that my last post was stuck in drafts!
In any case, I'm fortunate enough to have the freedom in my schedule now to blog as frequently as I'd like. This blog is going to have a dramatic overhaul. Yes. This time, I mean it. I'll be blogging about everything. Well...not EVERYTHING, because there's a fine line between "sharing" and "oversharing" and I don't think ANYONE wants or needs to hear about EVERYTHING.
In any case, I'll be pursuing my lifelong dream to become the younger, trendier version of Martha Stewart. Okay, you got me there. Not so much with the trendier---I'll leave that part up to my fashionisto (I know, I had to make it masculine, because HE is) husband.
Until next time...
The Phantom Blogger
Building our family, one day at a time. An eclectic mix of posts regarding literature, food, faith, and fitness. Celebrating our adventures as a family.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Monday, December 12, 2011
I promised.
Last week, I publicly declared my commitment to blog once a week. Yesterday, I finally discovered the wonderful world of Pinterest. Just what I needed...another social media/networking tool to take my time??? Fortunately, I've found some great ideas that will hopefully not take too much time to complete before we leave for the holidays on the 24th. With the canine kids. On an airplane. Am I nervous? Totally. We've never flown with dogs, and Felix is already nervous. I mean, not about the flight, but on a daily basis, he exhibits very nervous behavior, as is typical of most dachsunds, or so we were told at the vet's office.
In any case, I feel like I have a ton of things I need to do before we head up to WA, and one of the most important things is actually start and finish my Christmas shopping. To say I was busy this semester is a bit of an understatement. When William accepted his job with Gannett in September, he immediately started traveling on a weekly basis, and usually for 4 or 5 days at a time.
Pretty much everyone who knows me knows I like to stick to a routine, and this fall has been no different---it's just that the routine is more typical of how it was when I lived in Spokane, on my own, with Belle and Gracie. Up super early, maybe early gym session, sprint home to get ready for work (or now, school), head back home (or gym) or to pick the boys up from doggie daycare (aka the in-laws), study, and crash. Somewhere in there is meal prep and sleep, but sleep was the least of my priorities with 5 classes, a job for the first half of the semester at the bakery, and trying to get the puppies out for exercise on a daily basis. Add in Monday cookie-baking/delivery to the church office, occasional airport shuttles for William (either very, very early or on the way to class), and it's a little more clear as to why blogging fell by the wayside.
Tonight is my first Monday night off in almost 4 months, and I found myself watching the clock to make sure I was running on schedule. Instead, I'm sitting here...peacefully blogging, eating my dinner, and getting ready to sit back down with the puppies to finish my Swedish mystery, Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum. It's due today, even though I checked it out on Halloween. The shame...to my defense, I did just start reading it the other day. Yesterday? Friday? I don't remember. Still on my agenda tonight---planning the Christmas menu, doing some online shopping, and then possibly getting my sore legs off the couch for some in-store purchases. We'll see how far I get.
Until next week...
In any case, I feel like I have a ton of things I need to do before we head up to WA, and one of the most important things is actually start and finish my Christmas shopping. To say I was busy this semester is a bit of an understatement. When William accepted his job with Gannett in September, he immediately started traveling on a weekly basis, and usually for 4 or 5 days at a time.
Pretty much everyone who knows me knows I like to stick to a routine, and this fall has been no different---it's just that the routine is more typical of how it was when I lived in Spokane, on my own, with Belle and Gracie. Up super early, maybe early gym session, sprint home to get ready for work (or now, school), head back home (or gym) or to pick the boys up from doggie daycare (aka the in-laws), study, and crash. Somewhere in there is meal prep and sleep, but sleep was the least of my priorities with 5 classes, a job for the first half of the semester at the bakery, and trying to get the puppies out for exercise on a daily basis. Add in Monday cookie-baking/delivery to the church office, occasional airport shuttles for William (either very, very early or on the way to class), and it's a little more clear as to why blogging fell by the wayside.
Tonight is my first Monday night off in almost 4 months, and I found myself watching the clock to make sure I was running on schedule. Instead, I'm sitting here...peacefully blogging, eating my dinner, and getting ready to sit back down with the puppies to finish my Swedish mystery, Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum. It's due today, even though I checked it out on Halloween. The shame...to my defense, I did just start reading it the other day. Yesterday? Friday? I don't remember. Still on my agenda tonight---planning the Christmas menu, doing some online shopping, and then possibly getting my sore legs off the couch for some in-store purchases. We'll see how far I get.
Until next week...
Monday, December 5, 2011
Oh, the shame...
I've neglected the blog. Despite times during my schedule when I could have forced myself to sit down and write something, I didn't. I'm just starting finals today, and am publicly declaring my New Year's Resolution today, that's starting today:
I'm blogging once a week. I need to hold myself accountable, but it may not hurt to have people nudge me every once in a while.
So many new and fascinating things happening right now, and I haven't shared them. I make it sound earth-shattering---it's really not, but I'm almost finished with culinary school, planning a holiday visit to the Northwest, and teaching myself new and random cooking and baking techniques outside of the classroom.
Next week's post will be longer, more detailed, and will attempt to fill in the blanks about where I've been and what I've been up to (with three broken toes).
Until next week...
I'm blogging once a week. I need to hold myself accountable, but it may not hurt to have people nudge me every once in a while.
So many new and fascinating things happening right now, and I haven't shared them. I make it sound earth-shattering---it's really not, but I'm almost finished with culinary school, planning a holiday visit to the Northwest, and teaching myself new and random cooking and baking techniques outside of the classroom.
Next week's post will be longer, more detailed, and will attempt to fill in the blanks about where I've been and what I've been up to (with three broken toes).
Until next week...
Monday, August 8, 2011
SS#1: Almond and Chocolate Chunk Biscotti
The inaugural bake for the Sunday Sweets with David, an Almond and Chocolate Chunk Biscotti, was a huge hit in my household! I've been making biscotti pretty consistently now for almost two years, and while they've always gone pretty quickly, only two were left after the third day of baking.
Granted, I did tweak things a bit when I prepared this recipe...for shame, I know! While I stuck to the method---whipping the egg whites, sugar, and vanilla for about 5 minutes (which was new to me when it comes to biscotti)---DL mentions a variation with chocolate chips instead of the chopped chocolate. He prefers the irregularity of the chunks---I prefer the convenience of having half a bag of chocolate chips to use up. ;) I also didn't cut them quite as thin as I could have after the first bake. One of the issues I've run into in the past with biscotti is breakage due to the length and width of the cookie post-second baking. I'm tempted in the future to keep everything in one log, rather than divide it into two--just to get those nice, substantial pieces of biscotti like I've seen at some of the coffee shops here in the US. While this means the biscotti wasn't as brittle as the thinner pieces have been, it was safer to the roofs of our mouths. :)
Looking forward to next month's bake!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Skip-a-dee doo dah...
Hi, y'all-
I'm skipping this month's bake, Creme Brulee. I've never been a fan of the texture, and instead took the opportunity to bake up some Oreo Brownies for a friend of ours on his birthday!
See you next month, and happy baking! If you're in warmer climates...I feel your pain! Forecast this week is 106-108 all week long...not so much fun in front of the stoves at work, and worse when the A/C goes out! YIKES!
Yours in butter and heavy cream,
Ryan
I'm skipping this month's bake, Creme Brulee. I've never been a fan of the texture, and instead took the opportunity to bake up some Oreo Brownies for a friend of ours on his birthday!
See you next month, and happy baking! If you're in warmer climates...I feel your pain! Forecast this week is 106-108 all week long...not so much fun in front of the stoves at work, and worse when the A/C goes out! YIKES!
Yours in butter and heavy cream,
Ryan
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
BWD#7 Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler
First and foremost, I apologize for the delayed post! Yesterday was the 4th of July here, and my parents flew in for a visit from Washington state.
In any case, the Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler was a huge success (which is good, considering rhubarb is an acquired taste, in my opinion!). Other than tracking down a cherry pitter at Whole Foods, this is probably one of the easiest recipes I've baked with Dorie. ;)
Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler
For the Filling
1 pound sweet red cherries, pitted and halved
12 oz rhubarb, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1" pieces
1/3 c sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 t ground ginger
For the Topping
3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
3 T packed brown sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground ginger
3/4 stick (6T) cold unsalted butter, cut into about 18 pieces
1/2 c whole milk
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375. Butter an 8" square baking pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
To Make the Filling: Mix the cherries and rhubarb together in a medium bowl and stir in the sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Stir the fruit from time to time while you make the topping.
To Make the Topping: Put both flours, the brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and ginger in a food processor. Pulse a couple times to blend. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and, using 1-2 second long pulses, mix in the butter until the dough looks like very coarse meal with a bunch of pea size pieces tossed in. Continuing to pulse the machine, add the milk, then pulse until the dough forms moist clumps and curds. Try not to process the dough so long that it forms a ball on the blade. Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface.
Cut the dough into 20 pieces and gently shape each piece into a ball. Don't worry about making the pieces perfectly round---the important thing is to not handle the dough too much or too roughly.
Pour the fruit and its syrupy liquid into the buttered pan and top with biscuit puffs, making 4 rows of 5 puffs each. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the biscuits are golden and the fruit is bubbling away. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the cobbler on a rack for at least 20 minutes.
Is there anything y'all would have changed? Personally, I LOVE bread (cobbler's been one of my favorite desserts for as long as I can remember) and I'm thinking the next time I bake this I'd probably double the topping recipe to make for some larger biscuits. :)
Because I was fortunate to have the fruit in season (but expensive...holy smokes! 6.99/lb for rhubarb and 4.99/lb for cherries) I didn't have to work with alternatives, but I always like thinking about pairing different fruit combinations and can't wait to see what everyone else came up with! Thanks for baking with Dorie, Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler...and I apologize again for the delay!
In any case, the Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler was a huge success (which is good, considering rhubarb is an acquired taste, in my opinion!). Other than tracking down a cherry pitter at Whole Foods, this is probably one of the easiest recipes I've baked with Dorie. ;)
Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler
For the Filling
1 pound sweet red cherries, pitted and halved
12 oz rhubarb, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1" pieces
1/3 c sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 t ground ginger
For the Topping
3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
3 T packed brown sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground ginger
3/4 stick (6T) cold unsalted butter, cut into about 18 pieces
1/2 c whole milk
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375. Butter an 8" square baking pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
To Make the Filling: Mix the cherries and rhubarb together in a medium bowl and stir in the sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Stir the fruit from time to time while you make the topping.
To Make the Topping: Put both flours, the brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and ginger in a food processor. Pulse a couple times to blend. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and, using 1-2 second long pulses, mix in the butter until the dough looks like very coarse meal with a bunch of pea size pieces tossed in. Continuing to pulse the machine, add the milk, then pulse until the dough forms moist clumps and curds. Try not to process the dough so long that it forms a ball on the blade. Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface.
Cut the dough into 20 pieces and gently shape each piece into a ball. Don't worry about making the pieces perfectly round---the important thing is to not handle the dough too much or too roughly.
Pour the fruit and its syrupy liquid into the buttered pan and top with biscuit puffs, making 4 rows of 5 puffs each. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the biscuits are golden and the fruit is bubbling away. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the cobbler on a rack for at least 20 minutes.
Because I was fortunate to have the fruit in season (but expensive...holy smokes! 6.99/lb for rhubarb and 4.99/lb for cherries) I didn't have to work with alternatives, but I always like thinking about pairing different fruit combinations and can't wait to see what everyone else came up with! Thanks for baking with Dorie, Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler...and I apologize again for the delay!
Monday, June 6, 2011
BWD #6 Quintuple Chocolate Brownies....or Death by Chocolate?
This one's for you, Dad---
Once again...love the method. Life is so much easier not having to break out the electric hand-mixer!
I have to confess, I did take some liberties with this recipe. We don't have coffee in the house anymore, so I mixed up a little instant espresso (it seems like I have that in a few recipes outside of DG) and used that in lieu of the coffee. I ended up using pecans, on the off chance that my FIL will try these, but I'm pretty sure that he's going to pass on these!
And Dad...you have your own copy of the book now. No excuses! Break it in!
- cocoa powder
- bittersweet chocolate
- unsweetened chocolate
- milk chocolate
- white chocolate
Once again...love the method. Life is so much easier not having to break out the electric hand-mixer!
I have to confess, I did take some liberties with this recipe. We don't have coffee in the house anymore, so I mixed up a little instant espresso (it seems like I have that in a few recipes outside of DG) and used that in lieu of the coffee. I ended up using pecans, on the off chance that my FIL will try these, but I'm pretty sure that he's going to pass on these!
 |
| Chopping up the chocolate makes the melting soooo much easier. |
 |
| Whisking in the sugar, or rather, muscling in the sugar once the chocolate has cooled a bit. |
 |
| Dry goods---cocoa powder, salt, flour---mixed in with a rubber spatula and finished with a cup of milk chocolate chips and pecans. |
 | ||||
| Voila! Minus the white chocolate...tonight. Gooey white chocolate+late night=postponed! |
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