Happy Birthday, Little Ladybug

My blue eyed little girl turned one year old last week and we were determined to celebrate this milestone in style! Though she is utterly adorable, charming, funny, delightful, adventurous, bright and sweet, she was not, and still is not, always this way. Unlike my placid, easily pacified little boy, LL knows what she wants and will scream until she gets it. It took us a few colicky months to really get in sync with her and to this day, if we are not on her wavelength, she lets us know, loudly. I love her with a consuming passion, but getting through this first year with her, on top of parenting a toddler, has been the biggest challenge of my life thus far. So, we wanted to throw a party to celebrate her first birthday, but really, we wanted a party because we haven't thrown her or ourselves out of the window this year! We wanted everyone to see our little birthday girl and then send her off to dreamland while the grown ups could get down to the celebration. No kids were invited and even Z-Man was sent down the street for the night to play with neighbors.

The theme was "Cocktails and Cupcakes" because those are two of the most festive things I could think of. We decided to have the party catered because we didn't want to spend the few days before, the first few days in a row that DrRuckus had off at home all summer, in constant party preparation. Also, since this was to be a grown up party, we wanted to be able to relax and imbibe rather than fuss with entertaining. Because I love them, I decided to have Hubbell and Hudson do the catering. Their catering manager was delightful to work with and put together a fun menu of tasty nibbles and platters to please everyone. However, I could not entrust the cupcake aspect of the party to anyone but myself. I love baking too much, and really think that my cakes and cupcakes are way better than any you could buy anywhere else. Besides, it was way too much fun to plan which cupcakes I was going to make.

I have never been a fan of Martha Stewart, but I saw her cupcake book at Williams Sonoma a few weeks back and it really caught my eye because I opened it to the page on Ladybug cupcakes! Of course, I ordered it right up from Amazon and had it two days later. I got that book and poured over it like it was my Organic Chemistry textbook back in college. It was post-ited, highlighted, annotated and broken in within two days. I wanted to make everything in there, but finally narrowed it down to four cupcakes.

I also learned something very important: Martha Stewart is a huge pain in the rear! Her recipes are way more complicated and require way more steps than I am used to, and I bake a lot! Secondly, her recipes make really odd numbers of cupcakes. Not 24 regular size ones, but 32. Not 48 minis, but 56. Why? She obviously has a huge staff, so why can't they tweak the recipes so that the whole batter can fill regular muffin tins without having to start but not fill a third tin. Why?

Usually, I am a last minute lady, but I wanted to be relaxed for the party, and I was damn excited about my cupcakes, so I started baking early in the week and got some cakes in the freezer so that I could do a bit every night instead of being crazed the day before. My mom was there for most of the week and we had fun each night perfecting the "cuppersons". This method worked well for me, and I will have to remember in the future that, with a little planning, things are much more fun and less stressful!

1. Ladybug Cupcakes


I used Martha's recipe for chocolate chip cupcakes and wanted to make a caramel buttercream because I was still dreaming of the best cake I ever had, the Z-Man's third birthday cake which was made by a baker who has subsequently moved to Singapore. First, I tried to use the recipe for Magnolia Bakery's chocolate frosting, substituting caramel for chocolate, but this came out sickeningly sweet. I could not eat it and had to dump the whole thing (much to the chagrin of my sweet toothed sweetie). Then, I decided to try Martha's caramel swiss meringue buttercream. Boy, this one was a pain! Making a fresh batch of caramel, cooking, whipping and cooling egg whites, beating with two different mixers. But, it would have been all good if it was delicious. However, it was not to my liking at all. Where my improvised caramel icing was sickeningly sweet, this one was not sweet enough and just tasted like sweet butter. I still have it in the fridge, but I couldn't use it. I wanted to make the most delicious buttercream. So, I went to Old Faithful, the Magnolia Bakery buttercream, though I always triple the vanilla:

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Buttercream Recipe

(Makes enough for a 2-layer 9-inch cake or 2 dozen cupcakes)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
6-8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

15 minutes 15 mins prep

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add in 4 cups sugar, then the milk and vanilla. On
medium speed of an electric mixer, beat about 3-5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well (about 2 minutes) after each
addition, until the icing is thick enough for good spreading consistency (you may not need all
of the sugar).
If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. Use and store the icing at
room temperature because icing will set if chilled. The icing can be stored in an airtight con-
tainer for up to 3 days.
**If making a 3-layer cake, use the following proportions: 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, 8-10
cups confectioner's sugar, 3/4 cup milk, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

I then added some green gel paste and placed two marzipan ladybugs. My good friend, L, stayed until the wee hours of the morning making these, dying our hands black and red and cursing Martha the whole time. They came out so adorable and the completed cupcakes looked fantastic on a cupcake stand, but, even better, I thought that they were the most delicious of all that I had made.


2. Sel Your Soul cupcakes - These were directly from the Miss Martha's book. They were mini rich chocolate cupcakes, from which my mom cut a tiny cone out of the top of each, into which I poured Fleur de Sel Caramel. Then, they were topped with the richest, creamiest, most chocolatey frosting I have ever had. Martha, you more than made up for that yucky Swiss Meringue crap! BTW, I am a great baker, but not a very good decorator, and piping this slick, rich icing was quite the challenge for me, but I sprinkled each of these puppies with a little fleur de sel and they were out of this world. The definition of "To Die For".



3. Pucker Up Cupcakes - These were also from Miss Martha, though I made a combination of regular and mini sized ones. The cakes were delicious, lemony and crumbly. However, her curd did not set up right. I used her recipe exactly (8 egg yolks and 2 whole eggs, yikes!) but it did not set up. This kept me up at night and so I did some searching around and saw that there was not even close to enough butter in that recipe for it to work. I ended up adding another stick and a half of butter to Martha's recipe before my curd set up, but when it did . . . heaven! Who knew that lemon curd is one of the worst for you foods that there is? But, yum!


4. Raspberry Dream cupcakes - For my last and final cupcake, I wanted to do something in a cupcake paper that was not exactly a cupcake, so I made Martha's raspberry swirl cheesecake cupcakes. However, I had a clever twist. Later in the book, there are Oreo cheesecake cupcakes, and I used the crust from these: one whole Oreo in the bottom of the cupcake paper. Brilliant! I also substituted marscapone for half of the cream cheese. These ended up being the easiest of all, and were truly delicious.


I ended up with hundreds of cupcakes, so from Amazon (of course) I ordered a bunch of cupcake boxes so that people could bring cupcakes home to share with their kids. This was a stroke of genius on my part, as the kids got a little goody and all of the beautiful and delicious cupcakes went to good homes. In fact, we only ended up with a few the next day, definitely a very good thing after much indulgence!

And the party! Simply marvelous, darling! LL looked adorable in her French frock and managed to stay awake until about half of the guests arrived. We had friends from all different aspects of our life and it was wonderful to have them all here, mixing, at our house. We love our friends and don't get to socialize with them all that often, so it was great fun for us to have them together, meeting one another and enjoying a fun night out. Our neighbors even got a little nutty and played quarters in the entry way, always a sign of a good party.

The food was delicious, and having servers there made it so much easier for us and for all of the guests. All of the little "hors" from the coconut shrimp to the little prosciutto poblano cupcakes with goat cheese "frosting" were delicious, though I was partial to the tiny martini glasses filled with the vanilla corn chowder and a crab meat "surprise". However, my only regret was setting the bar and bartender up in the kitchen. I know that at parties people always end up in the kitchen, but I invited this to happen by having the bar here. I had set up beautiful cocktail tables with turquoise linens tied with silver sashes that set off my chocolate brown living room walls, and no one ventured into that room. Next time, I will put the bar where I want the people to be.

All in all, it was an awesome party. Happy Birthday, Little Ladybug. Daddy and I love you so much.

Tuesday with Dorie - Apple Turnover

After the utter baking frenzy and the gluttony of the Little Ladybug's first birthday party, the last thing that I wanted to do was to haul out more butter and start baking again. I was going to skip this week, I really was, but then I saw that this week's project was "Flaky Apple Turnovers". Ugh! On the one hand, I still had some butter left after buying out the Plugra aisle at Hubbell and Hudson. But, on the other hand, Apple Turnovers just happen to be DrRuckus's favorite treat. How could I deny my amazing husband his favorite treat. Plus, in reading the recipe, It looked like something that could be done in bits and pieces and thus not be another all nighter. So, of course, I decided to go for it. I just can't step away from a challenge, especially one that makes my husband so happy. (Okay, that is not entirely true. The ladies in my playgroup and I tried to initiate a 30 day "{ahem} challenge" and the furthest I got was 5 days in. Though this could partially be blamed on DrRuckus's shift schedule.) Anyways, we are talking about the other way to a man's heart.

The dough, a sort of cheater's pastry dough, was really easy. The secret was mixing sour cream with sugar and adding that to the flour and butter mixture. Did you know that sour cream mixed with sugar is totally delicious? I had no idea. DrRuckus liked it so much, that he mixed up some more and ate it with a spoon. The batter was very moist and sticky, but I just smooshed it together and wrapped it in plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge over night.



The next afternoon, during the kids' naps, I needed to roll out the dough into 9x18 rectangles and then fold these business letter style. Okay, let's discuss this. I am in waaaaayyyy better shape than most people due to my pilates and exercise routine, and therefore, I assume, way stronger than most bakers. I had done some cardio and a Body Pump class that morning, and thought that I was done for the day. Well, rolling that cold dough into rectangles was like a second workout. I really worked my shoulders and biceps and definitely broke a sweat. That done, I folded them up just in time to hear LL crying for me. (Damn it, no Mommy time yesterday!)

While the kids were playing, I whipped together a custard base to serve to my darling husband with his favorite dessert. While I am not really an ice cream person, he loves it. I figured what is better than your favorite treat than your favorite treat a la mode? I used Dorie's recipe for Cinnamon ice cream, substituting low fat buttermilk for whole milk because I had a bunch left from the cupcakes. Yum!

Then, after we got the kiddos into bed, I got to work peeling apples and dicing them into tiny pieces. While I let them marinate in cinnamon and sugar, I had to get out the rolling pin and do my third workout of the day. The first piece I rolled between two pieces of wax paper. I think that for this roll, it was a mistake. I had to get it really thin and the wax paper kept ripping and then got stuck to the thin dough. So, by the time I tried to fill the rounds, the dough was really warm and hard to form into the half moon shapes. Some of them looked fine, but others were just smooshed together. However, I put them on a silpat lined baking sheet and hoped for the best. Popped them in the oven, pressed "go" on the ice cream maker, and waited 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, I rolled the second sheet on a well floured cutting board with a well floured rolling pin and this was much more successful. I was able to cut out my circles and form my little half moons around my apple mixture much more quickly. I ended up freezing these ones, which were so much prettier, so that we can just pop them into the oven when we want a rich, apple-y treat.

These are the second batch, pre-freezer:


This is one from the first batch, on the cooling rack:


I also took some of the leftover dough scraps, put them in a small glass dish, dumped the leftover apple mixture, and then pieced together some more scraps on top.

Overall, I was quite pleased with this recipe. The dough was very tasty but much denser than your standard apple turnover. It was not very flaky, more rich and buttery. The apples were fresher and more tart than you typically find at a bakery, where the apples tend to be very soft and syrupy. The overall effect was like a portable apple pie. With the slightly tangy buttermilk cinnamon ice cream, it was a party in your mouth. DrRuckus took the mini pie to work today and thought that it was almost perfect in this form, even without the ice cream.

Dorie's Chocolate Souffle

I had actually attempted this soufflé last week before I even knew about Tuesdays with Dorie because I didn't have any butter left and wanted to make something decadent. Though it came out delicious, I had the wrong kind of pan and didn't have any dramatic rising out of the pan action. Plus, I didn't have a sauce for it that time and I was determined to do it right this time.

Since I still don't have a real soufflé dish, and since I was going to bring my soufflé to the block party, I decided to use my ramekins. I have a dozen of those suckers from the one time I decided to make molten chocolate cakes for a party and it was good to pull out more than just the one that I use daily to microwave my egg beaters .

I got the ingredients out and ready while I made the quinoa salad, so that when it came time to prepare the soufflé, it was really a cinch. This time, I beat the egg whites a little less stiffly than the previous time and this made folding the chocolate much easier. (I would say that you don't want to go all the way to stiff peaks, just shy of that.)

I put the soufflé into 8 ramekins that had been prepared and the batter did go almost to the top of each one. I then put the tray of them in the fridge so that I could pop them in the oven while I put Little Ladybug to bed.



The block party was so much fun. We live in a great neighborhood with wonderful neighbors and friends. The sweetest kids live here and they take such good care of my two who are by far the youngest on the street. The Z-Man had the time of his life running around, riding bikes and skateboards with the big kids. Ladybug was content to get passed around, at least for a little while. Then it was almost 6 and past her bedtime. (Lately, she has been going to sleep before 6 every night and sleeping until after 7 the next day. She only takes one short nap, but who am I to complain with this amazing schedule?)

While I was putting her to bed, I popped those babies into the oven. After 18 minutes, they were all puffed up and gorgeous. Nothing says "outdoor block party in the heat of a Houston summer" like a soufflé, I often say. Oven mit and tray in one hand, pitcher of creme anglaise (okay, okay, it was melted vanilla custard, I can't do everything!) in the other, I set out the door. Much to my dismay and frustration, the wagon that I was counting on to bring dessert down to the party was not there! The Z Man had taken that and all of his bikes down the street.



So, I had to carry everything down the street. Well, those soufflés had barely made it out the door in our 97% humidity before they were completely deflated. No one got to see them all puffed up and gorgeous. But, I made a big show out of puncturing a hole in the top of each one and pouring my melted custard sauce over them. And, despite not being puffy, they were adored. Yay, another success! And, I am going to post this with two minutes to spare, while it is still Tuesday, September 8.

Two minutes from now, my Ladybug will be one!

Channeling Martha

All in all, it was a much busier and much less lonely Labor Day weekend than I had anticipated. I knew that I would be alone with the kids the whole time and I dread holidays when everyone else I know is having family time but DrRuckus has to work. This time, though, he had to work the entire weekend, really extra long shifts, with very little help. This has been a hard stretch and has sucked for all of us, but especially my amazing, hard working husband. We have missed having him around and are looking forward to a few days together at home and all of the festivities surrounding Little Ladybug's first birthday.

Saturday I was very ambitious and adventurous and took both kids by myself to Houston to the Farmer's Market. There is actually a pretty great one and we had a blast and got a lot of good stuff. I had even planned ahead and brought coolers so that we could do what we wanted afterwards. From there, we went over to Hermann park where we got to do the Z-Man's favorite thing - ride the train! We timed it right, got right on, and then back to our car quickly. By now, it was lunch time and I had been wanting to try a Thai place in the Heights for a while. It is called Asia Market and is a Thai grocery store that serves made to order, out of this world Thai food at some tables in the store. Fan-frigging-tastic and the nicest people! While there, I bought some sticky rice and a sticky rice steamer so that I can make my favorite dessert at home, Mango with Sticky Rice. After lunch, we went down the street for a sweet treat at Mam's House of Snowballs, a trailer where two women serve New Orleans style Snowballs in a mind boggling array of flavors. Exhausted after this, we headed home and both kids promptly feel asleep in the car. I only wish I had been able to do the same.

Sunday morning I woke up at 4:30 to do part of my friend's 20 mile run with her before DrRuckus had to go to work. That done, I decided to use the child care at the gym to have a little Mom Me time. I sat by the pool (in the shade, bien sur) to read my book for two hours. Why hadn't I done this sooner? It was heavenly, two hours of reading and free childcare? Of course, that night, I had to try my sticky rice steamer and it worked like a charm. It is such a simple, unwieldy contraption, but it does make perfect sticky rice. I didn't have any mangos, but had mango sorbet and it was out of this world. I used the epicurious recipe but substituted maple syrup for sugar. Mmmmm, devine!)



Monday night, we had a rather impromptu block party. Well, you know me lately, that seemed like an opportunity to try some new things! We had gone to Sam's Club that day and I bought a box of mangos, so the first thing I did was use the leftover sticky rice with some fresh coconut sauce and a lovely layer of mangos on the top. This was child's play. Next, I decided to bring a quinoa salad that I had stumbled across recently. This salad was out of this world. Fresh, healthy and delicious. It will be a staple in my house from now on as it lends itself to countless variations and pairings.



But, for dessert, I had to make my Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for the week. More on that in the next post.

Two is Better than One (and Vegan Chocolate Cake)

I always thought that having two children would be exponentially more difficult than having one. For the first few months, I found this to be exponentially true. Two kids with two totally different needs, on different time schedules . . . How did I cope? But, lately, we have reached a fantastic point. My kids can actually play together!

Little Ladybug (who will be one next week) adores her brother and only wants to play with him, to do what he is doing, to be wherever he is. Z-man always wants an audience and a playmate. Well, aren't they a pair? This is them this morning, playing with one of the many big plastic toys that are throughout my house, so ugly, but so entertaining.

They were having so much fun and playing so well together without needing me to intervene, that I even attempted another baking project this morning!

I had promised my friend A, who is now the mom of three (an almost 4 year old and 7 month old twins) that I would bake a vegan cake for her birthday. A is such a devoted mom that she has given up dairy and many other foods because she is breastfeeding her babies and they do not tolerate a whole slew of things. So, in addition to being way more exhausted and overwhelmed than I can imagine (or could tolerate myself), she has also had to deprive herself of a great deal for her babies' health and well being. Of course she deserved a cake, even two weeks late.

So, I googled "vegan chocolate cake" and the first hit was "The BEST chocolate cake ever . . . that just happens to be vegan". Well, alright alright alright. This one, I almost timed right to bring to the library for story time. However, the icing took a little longer than I had thought, so, of course, I was 10 minutes late, but on time enough to give A her belated birthday cake.

However, I had to go home before lunch and A was taking her kids to meet some of our friends for lunch, so there went the second thing I had baked in 12 hours that I had not tasted.

Luckily, after lunch, A stopped by, bringing the few pieces of cake that were left for us to sample. Yay! This cake was actually really delicious! It is one of the moistest cakes I have ever had and was also extremely rich and velvety. Would I say that it was the BEST? No, but for a simple one-layer cake, it was pretty outstanding. I would definitely make it again. You would never guess that it is vegan, and never miss the eggs or dairy.

Tuesday with Dorie

Well, after having a comment from Dorie herself, I had to make sure that I followed through with my goal of baking along with the crowd at Tuesdays With Dorie. I am not an official member yet, as the group seems to be currently closed, but I am going to be a member in spirit. This group of bloggers bakes the same recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours and then blogs about it. Simple, right? Oh, and you are not supposed to post the recipes to encourage people to get the book. You should get the book; it is so great that here I am doing this. However, I am pretty sure that you are supposed to taste your own recipes, and I didn't get to do that.

You see, anyone who knows me knows that being timely is not my best quality. I have all intentions of being on time, but I never calculate correctly. I am perpetually late, usually 7 minutes, but sometimes way more. So, with baking, it is best for me to do it at night when I don't have be anywhere. Thus was the case last night, when I delved into this week's project: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies. I had picked up the cream cheese earlier in the day (and even got extra to put in the freezer for future projects) and had set out my ingredients so that everything was room temperature. I just didn't look at the clock and factor in all of the time a cheesecake needs to cool.

Because I had read a few posts that the brownies were rather lackluster, I added an extra ounce of unsweetened chocolate to the brownie mix. The brownie part was really simple and came together beautifully. The batter on the whisk was delicious.

The cheesecake layer was even easier, as my trusty Kitchenaid did all of the work and I just dumped in the ingredients. That batter, with it's espresso flavor was divine and I licked off every last bit of it from the paddle attachment before I washed it (but after I poured it into the pan :)

BTW, have I mentioned how much I love my Kitchenaid mixer? It is such a workhorse and makes doughs, icings, and batters so easily. I use it all the time and it just keeps going, strong as ever. Which, actually is rather unfortunate because I am currently lusting after Kitchenaid 90th Anniversary Mixer, in all of its candy apple red glory with the glass mixing bowl. Alas, with mine working as well as the day I got it, I can't justify it.

Anyways, the cheesecake layer was a "piece of cake" and my only challenge was swirling the last quarter of the brownie batter with the cheesecake batter. My brownie batter was too thick and didn't swirl well but I made sure that the chocolate was studded throughout.

So, here is where I ran into trouble and my lateness was a problem. I didn't account for how long it would take to cool that thing when it came out of the oven. I wanted to do it gradually, so I left it in the oven, with the oven turned off and the door ajar. After a little while, I transferred it to the counter, then to the fridge. At this point it was 10 p.m. and I was exhausted. I wanted to go to bed so badly, but I still had to put on the sour cream topping.

So, I took a bath, where instead of reading my novel, I read Cook's Illustrated 100 best recipes of all time. I really need to get my head out of the oven! Finally, at 11 p.m., I made the sour cream topping, layered it on top of the cooled cheesecake where it needed to set for an hour and went to bed. This morning, MrRuckus (or DrRuckus as he would prefer to be known) took it to a meeting. He and the Espresso Cheesecake Brownies left at 6:30 a.m.

I asked that he bring back tasting notes, but all I got was from his boss, "These things will get you high!" Well, if that isn't high praise, I don't know what is.

It's Not All About Food . . .

When I first started this blog, I didn't intend for it to be all about food, but it is becoming that way. It's just that I love food, the creation of it and the eating of it. Baking relaxes me and has become my retreat lately after I put the kids to bed. However, I do think about other things, (sometimes). It's just that I keep my laptop in the middle of my kitchen, and though I could take it anywhere, I stand here, next to the oven as I shop, plan trips, look at recipes, facebook, email and blog my day away.

If I do take a break from reading my computer screen, it is usually to read on my kindle. Lately, between the two, the dozens of magazines that I subscribe to have just been piling up. I usually love my magazines and fold down or rip out pages of what interests me. Sometimes, though, something interests me so much that I have to go straight back to the computer to look it up.

Case in point, a sweater I saw a couple of months ago in Conde Nast Traveler. It was so beautiful, a pink cardigan with huge flowers on the collar and down the front. For some reason, I can't resist anything that has three dimensional flowers on it, so I saw this and right away knew that I had to procure it. So, I looked up the designer, Katelyn Aslett to order one. Well, it turns out that Katelyn is in Australia and that she makes each of her beautiful pieces to order from hand-dyed, hand-made wool and felt. I gave her my size and color specifications, paid via PayPal, and, a few weeks later, this gorgeous confection of a sweater arrived at my house, Airmail from Austrailia.

It's a little bit funky, a little bit hippie, a little bit rock and roll, and a whole lot of pretty! Plus, it fits me perfectly and is very stylish for the coming season as peplum jackets are huge for the fall. I just hope that our weather cools off enough to wear it. So far, I have only gotten a chance to do so in Stowe.

Dorie the Great!

My next door neighbor is one of my dearest friends, and we share many things, including a passion for baking. So, a couple of days ago she gave me my "birthday" present. (I am a firm believer that it is best to give the right gift whenever you find it rather than buy just anything just to give it by a certain date. This is why you have up to a year to give a wedding gift, right?) This gift was a book (for me, always a good choice), but not just any book, a cookbook, even better a baking book! Dorie Greenspan's gorgeous, gigantic volume, Baking, From My Home to Yours. This book could be a coffee table book, it is so big and beautiful.

Dorie (as I will call her, since her style of writing is so chatty that I feel we are friends and because I now know we will be spending A LOT of time together), won a James Beard award for this tome. Not only this, but she wrote the best-selling, Baking with Julia [Childs] among others. She claims to bake at home every day, and this book is for the home baker. It feels like Dorie is right there in my kitchen, explaining the story behind every recipe and giving step by step instructions. In the past few days I have read this cover to cover and plastered the book with sticky notes. I cannot wait to try each and every recipe in the book. (I am "back on the sauce." The wheat free/dairy free diet didn't seem to help so I am trying some other remedies to my tummy troubles and, in the meantime, am back to eating some wheat and dairy. )

Tonight we are going to a friend's 40th birthday party. This great guy is so appreciative of my baking skills every time he gets to sample something that I knew that I had to make something to bring to him for his big day. (Plus, let's face it, I relish every excuse to bake.) Because we are going out for dinner before the party, a cake didn't seem like a good idea because it might get destroyed sitting in the car. Cookies seemed eminently more transportable, and just more easy going.

There are so many great sounding and looking recipes in the book, but I decided to go with Dorie's "World Peace" cookies. Apparently these are famous cookies, the recipe from which came from Pierre Hermé in Paris and were dubbed with their current name when her neighbor said that they are all "that is needed to ensure planetary peace and happiness". Well, we could all use a little peace and happiness, some days more than others.

So, last night, after the kids went to bed and I was ready for some peace, I got started. Then, I almost got stopped before I began because I was down to my last 5 Tbsp of butter, but I found a stick hiding in the freezer. (Note to self: If you are going to be baking with Dorie, by butter by the truckload, oh and lots and lots of good quality chocolate!) Crisis averted, I made this dough quickly and easily, rolled it into logs and put it into the fridge. Wait! I forgot that I would have to refrigerate for hours before baking! And, here I was all geared up to have a tasty bite to eat!

Luckily MrRuckus was happily ensconced on the couch and not going anywhere, so I decided to proceed with another project from the book. Having only 2 Tbsp of butter left in the house (minus some truffle butter, but you can't really bake with that), I needed a recipe without butter. I know that earlier in the week, I was all about dairy free, but now I wanted a Dorie recipe that fit the bill. Soufflé! Hey, why not? I don't own a soufflé pan, but found a china serving bowl with straight sides and decided to use that. Following Dorie's directions, it was actually pretty easy, rose gorgeously in its vessel and tasted divine. I only wish that I had a sauce or melted ice cream to go on top, but I was quite pleased with my effort. It was crusty on top but rich and fudgey on the inside. It is supposed to still be very good leftover, but my rule is that I only have a little taste of whatever I make and then send it on its way, usually to work with MrRuckus.

Anyways, back to my World Peace-ers . . . I got back from the gym, put the Ladybug down for her nap, and turned on the oven. I was all prepared for the cookies to be difficult to slice and keep together, but mine sliced perfectly. Maybe the secret is having them in the fridge for 15 hours and not the 3 called for in the recipe?



I think that I made them smaller than I was supposed to, though I followed the measurements in the recipe with an actual measuring tape. The recipe says that it makes 36 cookies, but I ended up with 58, which is fine with me since at that size they are only 1 WW point each! True to Dorie's instructions, they do not look done when they come out, but should come out anyways.


Now cool, they have a rich, buttery, sandy crumb like shortbread. The chocolate is rich and deep. Plus, the little bit of fleur de sel with the chocolate adds just the right bit of sophistication and oomph! I am loving these cookies. Our friend is one lucky birthday boy! (Though he will not be getting all 58 since we have people here installing my new plantation shutters and I have promised them milk and cookies when they are done. That and my family should be able to have a few, right?)

Catching Up . . .

Despite the completely NON luxury house that we rented from Our Rental Paradise (Ha!) at 911 Notchbrook, our trip to Stowe was pretty fabulous.

Yes, though the house had such features as this {attractive and safe} pool deck


and this {beautiful} window,



it did have absolutely amazing views of Mt. Mansfield and was in a gorgeous location.


Vermont is great, but there is something magical about Stowe.

Mt. Mansfield stands over the top of town, beckoning you up the road. As you make your way through town and up the mountain road, you find that there is so much to see, do and explore. Stowe has the 5.5 mile rec path, on which you wind your way through fields, trees, over bridges, and up towards the mountain. There are good restaurants, good shopping, tons of outdoor activities, lots of places to stay and enough to keep you busy for weeks on end. It can be totally relaxin or totally active, though I prefer a mix of both.

It was so great to get out of the oppressive heat and humidity of Houston, and to be in a place where mornings and evenings were cool enough for sweaters. Even the heat of the afternoon was bearable (as long as you were not sitting in the kitchen of the NON luxury house with it's lack of airflow). We had a fantastic time running, biking, swimming, cooking, eating and drinking wine. Friends and family came and went and we enjoyed having long days to catch up and relax with people we love. Z Man and Little Ladybug had a blast being loved and adored by their aunts and grandparents (okay well, that was sort of an issue for a few days for LL and Grandma) and had so much fun with their cousins and friend Sam.




I really loved having the time (and the climate) to challenge myself to go faster and farther, even running the path round trip one day (11 miles). I also amazed myself with how much I enjoyed biking, something I never do, and how I was strong enough to bike one mile up hill to the house.

We spent two Sunday afternoons at the wonderful Farmers Market, which is like a big community festival, complete with live music and face painting, in addition to food and crafts.

There an incredible array of food to picnic on there and to bring home to make marvelous meals (such as huge fresh veggie frittatas with farm fresh eggs and steel cut oatmeal risotto with beets and fresh goat cheese).

MrRuckus and I also had a chance to get away by ourselves for one perfect meal at Hen of The Wood in Waterbury. Everything about this restaurant was exquisite. The location at the bottom of a waterfall in an old grist mill. Inside is warm and rustic, with an open kitchen, while still being completely modern. The food was divine - fresh, simple, perfectly prepared. I had been dying to go here for over a year and am now dying to go back.

Speaking of restaurants, we left the kids with a sitter one night and went to my favorite restaurant IN THE WORLD, American Flatbread, in Waitsfield, a place so yummy, laid back, fresh, creative, innovative, fun, unique and just plain Vermonty, that I will might have to devote an entire blog entry to how much I love it.

Our trip to Stowe was wonderful. Being there made us want to move there. It is just that great. Maybe someday!

Tolerant Dessert #2

I still have to catch up on other things, but again, FOOD! I am really trying to be wheat and dairy free for a while longer as I try to heal my tummy and figure out what is distressing it, but I need sweets!

Tonight we took the kids over to Waterway Square where, on Friday and Saturday nights, they have entertainment for the little ones and their parents. Today there was live music, a caricature artist, and a face painting clown. Plus, both kids actually enjoyed the dancing fountains! (Of course, it was 95 degrees at 7 p.m. Hell, I wanted to jump in fully clothed myself!) Z Man has never been all that into the fountains before but was all over it tonight, smearing his face paint two seconds after the clown had finished. Ladybug delighted in sitting in the spray in her sodden diaper. Then, of course, Z man had to sit observing the fountains and figuring out the water patterns and determine from where the water would come next. My little genius!

Afterwards we all wanted dessert. I had to forgo my beloved Berripop where the rest of them got frozen yogurt delicousness but figured that Hubbell and Hudson across the street would have some sorbetto amongst its incredible gelato selections. Alas, all contained dairy. So, I perused the market but didn't buy knowing that my Tolerant Cookies from yesterday were at home. However, on my way out, near the fruit, I spied some fresh juices and I saw one that caught my eye due to its hot pink color: beet, watermelon, basil juice. Yum, three of my favorite flavors. Plus, I just happened to have roasted my two bunches of beets today so that I would have those ruby jewels ready for a variety of uses over the next few days and a watermelon that I had cut up this afternoon. On the way, home, I decided that I would try to make that juice into a sorbet.

Unfortunately, I forgot that I was out of basil, but I still made a gorgeous and delicious sorbet.

Watermelon and Beet Sorbet

1 Medium Roasted Beet
1 cup watermelon
2/3 cups water with 1/3 cup sugar cooked into simple syrup
zest and juice of one small lime
pinch of sea salt
1 TBSP of Cointreau (homemade sorbet and ice cream freeze better with a little bit of alcohol added. You can use vanilla or vodka but I thought that the citrusy Cointreau would be a good addition here)

Put it all in the blender. Chill until very cold (I forgot this step and mine was not quite scoopable, though still cold and spoonable) and then put in the ice cream maker and let it whir. Well, mine doesn't whir as much as make a deafening whine so I do it in the laundry room. Came out a gorgeous purply pink color, with a sweet but earthy flavor. If I had the basil, I would have just thrown some sprigs in the blender and I think it would have been a perfect addition.

Oh, but I still had one of those Tolerant Cookies and am thinking of grabbing another right now!