90 Already?

my grandpa and grandma

My grandmother turns 90 Tuesday. So in honor of her birthday my parents had alot of us over for dinner. She made some really great roasted butternut squash , and baked potatoes and ribeyes on the grill ( cause it wasn't 15 degrees out for once) I made a blue cheese butter for the steaks that turned out really yummy , but my actual contribution to the meal was dessert I made Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with a Vanilla Bean Frosting. The turned out amazing. I had a slight reading comprehesion problem and failed to let everything that needed to come to room temperate , I'm not so sure how it would have turned out if I did to that.


I would make these everyday , I love the flavor , and I especially love the little flecks of vanilla in the frosting. It was my first time working with an actual vanilla bean, I can't believe I waited this long to work with them. It is so worth it! I really love piping the frosting on. I don't think I will ue the offset spatula again. They look so pretty!

So , It was a pretty busy weekend so sadly I will not be contributing to Tuesday's with Dorie this week. I am most definitely going to be making that cover cake , it just wont be in time for tomorrow. I am very excited to see everyone else creations!!

TWD Floating Islands

I have never heard of floating islands , but thanks to Shari of Whisk: a food blog I learned. This was a fairly easy recipe to follow, although I'm still not sure what the kitchen towel was for! I made these on Sunday, the creme anglaise was pretty easy to make , I do think it was my first attempt at tempering , it was a success! When I made the actual islands I wasn't sure if I poached them long enough , they seemed OK. They were pretty yummy. I don't think I am in any hurry to make them again. Although it is gluten free so SIL can have this... and.. It did make a really pretty dish! Speaking of dishes I went to HomeGoods Saturday and picked up some really fun dishes!! You'll see them throughout the blogging. Check out Tuesday's with Dorie to see how everyone else did! OH!!! and next week THE COVER CAKE!! I can not wait to make this!!

So , in other news , I think I should mention Rachael Ray in every blog I post Why? cause my hits have increased a TON since my last post... Who knew she was such a touchy subject!

TWD World Peace Cookies

As promised by the many blogs I frequent these cookies were amazing. I wish I had pictures to show you how amazing they looked but alas I do not. This week Jessica of cookbookhabit ( who is from Clinton! practically my neighbor!) Chose Dorie's World Peace Cookies , from Baking My Home to Yours. Check out how the other bloggers did here .


So , week 2 of my little dinner adventure.... All I made was a really simple meat sauce and some pasta . It was super yummy . Week 3 was nonexistent. I was sick , and with the superbowl I didn't have time to plan meals. For the superbowl I made my wings ( they are ALWAYS requested , and I made Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes from How to Eat A Cupcake . They are awesome!!!! I love the frosting! Again no pictures , I've just been out of it with this head cold. I'm trying to get better because I have a very exciting day in NYC Thursday. I will definitely be blogging about it!!!

TWD Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

Its another Tuesday, and I was excited about this weeks recipe chosen by Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake. I chickened out though, I went to safe route I left out the Pepper . I just was not feeling adventurous. I halved the recipe , and made mini muffins instead. I think they came out great! I loved the texture of the cornmeal. I also really enjoy the sweetness of the corn kernels in them. This recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours. Check out how the other bloggers faired with this weeks recipe!

It's Almost Tuesday...

When I joined Tuesday's with Dorie , I knew I would have to be disciplined. To date I have not been, however I am really excited about the next recipe. Its Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins. I've never made a savory muffin. I imagine it would be like corn bread , except in muffin shape , but I think it will be much more. From what I've read it they complement chili really well. I'm going to try and talk one of my co-workers into making chili.

Look for my write up on Tuesday!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

TWD Grandma's All Occasion Sugar Cookies... NOW with PICTURES!!

Seriously , where has this month gone?? I had every intention of doing this recipe the correct week , however my computer had other plans. So I waited and waited till i could get it fixed , and its still not . So needless to say there are NO pictures. but I did make the cookies on Sunday

I made the Sugar cookies with my 3 year old cousin Abby , we had a BLAST! we frosted them, and dyed some of the dough red . The red cookies Abby decided were Santa's cookies. Man did they turn out tasty!! Abby and I made Santa's , bows, christmas trees, stockings, and snow flakes. I had to share the batch with Abby , and the rest will be eaten on Christmas !!

As soon as MY laptop is functioning again I will edit the post and add them to this blog. Please check out the Tuesday's With Dorie Blog Roll to see how the other bloggers did with this recipe!!

TWD Arborio Rice Pudding, White & Black

Well , this was my first stab at Tuesday's with Dorie the recipe I made was Arborio Rice Pudding, White, Black or Both, it was chosen by Isabelle of Les gourmandises d’Isa.I did make both varieties though Vanilla and chocolate . For the chocolate I used Ghirardelli bittersweet.

I followed the directions exactly as stated , except I had already seen on the TWD website that Dorie had said there was a typo in the recipe. Instead of cooking the Arborio rice for 30 minutes she said to cook for 55 minutes. I cooked mine for about 65 minutes. It was still a little soupy. It did thicken up as the recipe stated it would. It tastes SO yummy! It came out okay. I probably would not make it again, I wasn't a fan of the texture.


But was pretty good for my first TWD adventure. Make sure you check out how my other bloggers fared with this weeks recipe!



Next week...... Thanksgiving Twofer Pie I haven't even read the recipe yet so i can't wait to see what it says!

p.s Arborio is a fancy way to say risotto rice!