See...I'm not that bad...

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TWD: One week behind...

So....today's TWD was supposed to be Cocoa-Nana Bread chosen by Steph at Obsessed with Baking. Somehow I lost a week and now I am a week behind on the baking schedule. Who knows what happened...all I know is that I will never get that week back!

As you can see, these are my Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars which were chosen by Lillian over at Confectiona's Realm for LAST week's TWD.

The only thing I did differently was to substitute dried cranberries for the raisins.

3/4 of the pan of these babys went into the freezer to be consumed at a later date. I ate the other 1/4!

Don't forget to check the TWD site for the more current (than I am) and up to date bakers.

Thanks for stopping by. Next week I promise to have Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes to share with you. :)

TWD: Celebrating an Anniversary!

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie marks a milestone...It's our 2nd Anniversary!! Now, although I haven't been baking along with this group for that long...I have been in it for over a year and it was the reason I started this here little blog. I have learned a ton from Dorie, her book and all of the other bakers in the group. Lot's of tips and hints, trials and failures. I so enjoy looking at everyone's blogs and reading their interpretation of the recipe of the week.

For this special celebration, we could choose to make either the Tarte Tatin or the Cocoa Buttermilk Cake or both.

Since I had previously made the Cocoa Buttermilk Cake for a client.....

Cocoa Buttermilk cake decorated with Malt Balls.

I decided to make the Tarte Tatin this time.

I prepared the puff pastry ahead of time and put it in the fridge. I also caramelized the apples about and hour ahead of time.

I then took everything to some friends' house. So I showed up with a cast iron skillet full of carmelized apples, a cookie sheet with a 9" circle of puff pastry, a silpat and a big plate for the tarte.

The only thing that gave me a problem was the caramelizing. My caramel took a lot longer to turn amber than 15 or so minutes. Even then, I thought the apples were a little on the pale side. Looks didn't matter in this case though as this tasted delicious with some vanilla bean ice cream on the side. A nice ending to a nice dinner and super easy to put together.

Don't forget to stop by the TWD site to see what the others baked up.

Thanks for stopping by~

TWD: Low and Lush Chocolate Cheesecake

Here's the deal...I made this cake in plenty of time to post yesterday...but then the flu struck and it all went to h-e-double toothpick.

I made this for our Christmas Eve family get together and it was a huge hit.

I piled on the whipped cream and raspberries and then shaved some milk chocolate over the top.

Very rich, very lush, very delicious.

Here's where the problems start again.

I was in a hurry to get to my cousin's house on Christmas Eve so I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the finished product prior to leaving.

There were a lot of other dessert there so I knew that mine wouldn't get eaten entirely...that's fine, I only needed one slice to take home for a picture.

When we left that night I had about 3 slices of cheesecake left so I knew that would be perfect for photographing the next day.

Well...Christmas...presents..brunch...kids etc. No time to photograph. Someone had a slice for dessert and I assumed they cut a wedge to enjoy.

I was wrong.

They scooped a bunch out of the middle of the cake and I no longer had any wedges.

Oh well...here's what I had left.

Top view


As I said, it was delicious....and I'm not a cheesecake lover.

Here's a little wedge I was able to salvage.

This was super easy to make and there are lots of ways you can dress it up.

Thanks to the Tea Lady over at Tea and Scones for her choice of this yummy dessert for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie.

Don't forget to stop by here to see what the others have made.

Thanks for stopping by.

TWD: My Favorite Pecan Pie

Probably my favorite now too....

Tuesday's with Dorie this week is brought to us by Beth over at Someone's in the Kitchen with Brina.

I've only ever made one pecan pie before and that was when we were living in Australia. It was Thanksgiving time and a friend of mine really wanted a pecan pie. Being the only American within a 50 mile radius I said I would make her one.

Bad idea....I ended up baking it for something like an hour and a half and the thing was like a hockey puck..a super sweet hockey puck but nonetheless, she ate it and then thanked me!

Never again....I'll bake pies that are easier to gauge when are done.

Then came this pie. Not so sweet and easy to bake. I took Dorie's word for it that the pie would be done when puffed and not jiggly and you know what? She was right!

My crust got a little crispy and brown and lost it's crimping but still tasted good.

I omitted the chocolate and espresso powder in this pie because this was a Thanksgiving dessert and I was also bringing the Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake to the Thanksgiving feast.

A little brown sugar whipped cream does a body good.

This pecan pie is a simple, flavorful pecan pie. What a pecan pie should look and taste like! And Dorie's right, you can taste the pecans.

Don't forget to stop by over here to see what the other bakers' have created.

Thanks for stopping by.

Here's hoping everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!!

Still on a quest for the best...

...cranberry sauce.

I have a thing for cranberry sauce. Always have. I am the one to bring the sauce to the Thanksgiving feast, wherever we happen to be. I love trying out different recipes, adding different spices, ingredients etc. I don't think I've made the same sauce twice.....ever. I love how you can combine a bunch of ingredients with whole cranberries and after turning to mush after cooking for a while, it still ends up tasting great!

So when I saw this recipe over at Noble Pig, I had to try it out. This sauce uses canned mandarins, a chopped up apple, orange marmalade, raisins and curry powder among other ingredients. (These are just the ones that you might not find in every cranberry sauce recipe.)

It sounded intriguing to me.

So..I used 4 fresh mandarins instead of the canned. I live near the foothills of Northern California and it is mandarin season around here....it would have been sacrilege to use canned! I left out the raisins and used dried cranberries instead (out of raisins) and I chopped up a Pippin apple picked from a friend's tree.

After combining with the rest of the ingredients, bringing to a boil and simmering for about 45 minutes...I had a yummy sauce.

I'm not sure if this is the ultimate sauce for me. I will continue on my quest. In the meantime, enjoy this version and let me know what you think.

And while I was there, I saw this recipe for Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue Topping. I am so making that next.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cranberry Crumb Bars....AKA Something everyone will like when you bring it to their house on a moment's notice

Trolling through the food blogs I found this recipe here.

Since it's cranberry season and I have cranberries in my freezer just waiting to be used, I decided to go to the grocery store and pick up a few more bags!

Hey, they're on sale right now. At least that's how I am justifying my purchase to myself.

This is so easy to put together and tastes so good. The fresh cranberries are left whole so there is no need for chopping. There is a crust on the bottom and a crust on the top (from the same dough mixture, the topping just has some added cinnamon) and a beautiful cranberry filling.

I didn't have any oranges for the fresh juice so I just poured in some Tropicana.

Deeeelightful!

Go make your own right now!