Daring Bakers: Tiramisu

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

You can find the recipe here.

I made a few changes, I left out any coffee or alcohol and instead put in melted caramel. And I dipped the savoiardi cookies in milk chocolate. I've never had real tiramisu so I have no idea if it tasted right. I did expect the cookies to absorb more of the filling, but they were good the way they were. I probably won't make this again because it was a lot of work and tasted like a trifle.

Genetics

Who do YOU think he looks like?

Sick Babe

Isn't he the saddest kiddo ever? This is after a week of ear infection. Harvey is ready to be done with sickness for good. Someone ought to tell that to his ears.

P is for Pizza

When I was still a kid living at home with my parents we had a dinner time ritual. It was called "The Guessing Game." It went like this. You thought of a noun and said "I'm thinking of something that starts whit the letter..." And everyone else tried to guess what it was. You could ask any question except "what is it made out of?" because that one usually made the game way too easy.

We always knew when something started with the letter "P" was either... you ready for this...


Although, sometimes it was penguin. But usually they were thinking of pizza. Now I'd like to share with you our family recipe that has been perfected over the last 10 years or so.

Pizza dough for one Large crust

2/3 c. warm water
1 tbl yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbl olive oil
2 c. flour

combine 1st 5 ingredients and let set for a few minutes to activate the yeast. Then add in flour till just mixed. Dough will be sticky. Place in an oiled bowl & let rise. This is optional, but it makes rolling out easier.

* Trick Heat your oven to 200 and turn off and then place the bowl inside to expedite rising.

Putting the pizza together:

1. Preheat oven & pizza pan to 450
2. Roll dough to desired size.
3. Sprinkle corn meal on pizza pan
4. Crush/mince 1- 3 cloves of garlic and mix with 1-2 tbl of olive oil and rub over the crust. This is the most important step because it keeps the dough from absorbing excess sauce.
5. Add sauce/seasonings I use about 4 oz typically... about 3/8 cup.
6. 2 cups or more cheese.
7. Add Toppings. At our house, this consists of peperoni, but feel free to be more adventurous.
8. Bake at 450 for 12-18 minutes.... longer if the pizza is thicker.

Voila! Pizza perfection.

The Picky Eater

My son ate pizza for the first time yesterday. While this may not excite most moms, I was ecstatic about it. See you may not know this, but Harvey is a picky eater , so I'm excited with all new foods he will eat.

What?! You don't believe me?

See for yourself.



Hello my name is Harvey and I am a picky eater.

Hi Harvey.

I've been a picky eater my whole life. It started right after I was born. I wouldn't take a pacifier or a bottle to calm down. Only grandma's fingers would do me.

I can count the things I am willing to eat on my fingers. Crackers, pretzels, cereal (which mom says all count as the same thing), Raisins, yogurt, cheese, chocolate, and pistachios.

That's it.

What's worse is, I'm picky about HOW I eat. No spoons for me please. On the floor if you please. With the cat if you don't mind.


Oh and don't help me with those, I'm saving them for later.

Please note that this is lucky charms cereal. Also notice how the majority of the marshmallows are gone already.

10 years ago

These are pics of Captain and I from 10 years ago. I think we were pretty cute.

Bathtime Bubbie

Harvey's bath time are one of my favorite every-day regular times with him. There isn't anything really special to it, it is just a bath, but we love it. Right now his favorite toy in the tub is a washcloth.