Do or do not...

So, Wilton makes this donut pan that allows a person to make delectable donuts without all the frying. Now, most food blogs might give you the recipe for these lovely Lemon Blueberry Donuts. They might even inform you as to where you could find the pan. (I purchased mine through Amazon.com, but I just saw it on sale at A.C. Moore, a local craft store.) But, alas, this is not solely a food blog. Which leads me to discuss, what IS the focus of my blog. For this, my friends, is why I have trouble posting daily. Oh, who am I kidding, I can't even post once a month. I see the likes of Bakerella and Pioneer Woman and I wonder, why can't I be as religious about posting? There are many reasons, really. I could begin listing them, but then it would just sound like excuses and I'm not one for excuses. I will tell you this, though, my musings do begin with a plan: a valient plan to document art and food and creative things I've done and do with my family. For whatever reason, though, what begins as a moment of inspiration, fizzles out and becomes another failed attempt at putting fingers to keyboard. But, I digress....


....let's get back to the donuts. They were good, in fact, they were great, and I felt a little less guilty eating them because they hadn't been fried. I also realized I needed to invest in a second donut pan to avoid disproportionate batter amounts between batches. But, I was so excited by the results of these donuts that I bookmarked the blog from which I got the recipe and vowed to make more of the baked donuts posted by the much more accomplished blogger, Amy Clark. Baked Blueberry Donuts with Lemon Glaze; they are definitely worth a try. Now that fall is lumbering up behind us, I'm ready to try the Baked Pumpkin Donuts. Maybe I'll post my luck with those sometime around.....December?

Hearts All A-Flutter

With every holiday comes the chance for me to showcase my love of baking at either one of my kid's schools. Naturally, I eagerly volunteer my time. It's even more fun when you have help in the kitchen from a three-year-old and a six-year-old. They like to go heavy on the sprinkles.

These are heart shapes that I cut out from a Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Pan Cookie. They are super easy to whip up, with the most challenging part being that you need to spread the mixture out in a 15"x10" jelly roll pan. It doesn't seem like it will fill a pan of that size, but it does!

From a distance, they look good enough to eat. And let me tell you, cutting out heart shapes from a pan cookie leaves A LOT of scraps. Little scraps of Tollhouse cookie are dangerous to have around, but sooo yummy.

To everything there is a reason

A very good friend gave me the cake pan to create this lovely, delectable dessert. It got me thinking of an occasion I will have to celebrate just so that I can make this cake. So, I thought, or rather, I mused that there must be an Oreo cookie day....and there is! It is on March 6 which acknowledges the day that the first Oreo was sold in 1912. Now looking ahead, March 6th, 2010 falls on a Saturday. This could be perfect! We'll celebrate National Oreo Cookie Day with a lovely Oreo cookie cake. There is only one problem...I don't think I can wait that long.

Once again, I went searching. ( I don't really need a reason to bake this cake, it's just fun for me to try and find one) And, what do you know, February is National Snack Food Month. I would say that Oreos definitely qualify. Still, I don't want to wait until February...and yes, I know it is only two weeks away. Fortunately, my search of everyday holidays has brought me two potential days that may offer me the chance to bake this cake. First, there is January 25th which is the "101 Dalmations" birthday (1961). I don't think it is too difficult to see why I have related this dessert to a popular black and white dog. The final date that I have found is simply "Chocolate Cake Day" and that falls on Wednesday, January 27th. It is always nice to have something different to break up the weekly routine. I'll let you know how it turns out...if I even wait that long.

Let it Snow!

On a Monday night, while supper was cooking, the kids and I worked on preparing a fun treat for after dinner. This was so easy, that even we were able to make it a part of our weeknight routine. These tasty fried tortillas satisfied the sweet tooth and allowed a little creativity at the end of our day.
Here I have folded the tortilla like you would if you were going to make paper snowflakes. We used a variety of cookie cutters to cut into the folded tortilla.

Like any snowflake, no two tortillas are alike!


Look at that sizzle!

Now that it has been dusted with powdered sugar it is finally ready to eat. Next time, though, I think I may mix in a little cinnamon with that powdered sugar. On a side note, these were whole wheat tortillas. So, although it was fried and sprinkled with sugar, it still packed a good dose of daily fiber!