My three year old Carter is going through a knock-knock joke phase. I'd like to think it's the stage between the terrible two's (and let's be honest, the terrible threes) and the teenager-like fours. So we are living it up before he becomes moody and bossy. His favorite thing to do right now is tell knock-knock jokes. We've tried to teach him some classics; knock-knock, who's there, boo, boo who? dont cry, it's only a joke. But he mostly likes to make up his own. They start out pretty legit, then they become random and silly. He really likes to joke about police since that's his other favorite thing right now. It comes out something like this: Knock-knock, who's there, police, police who? the policeman is taking you to jail! The best part about Carter's jokes is they always end with: GET IT?!
One of Carter's favorite jokes is the knock-knock joke about the orange and the banana. You know this one, you keep saying that banana is there until finally you say orange you glad I didnt say banana? This is a very long joke for a three year old to memorize. So instead Carter's version goes something like this: Knock-knock. who's there? Banana. Banana who? Orange you glad I didnt say Banana? Oh well, he will get it someday. Until then, here is my very own banana bread recipe. Perfect for nice mushy bananas. You can halve it and also make it into muffins if you dont want to do the bread. I've developed this recipe over the years. It's super easy and great to eat while listening to a three year old comedian.
Banana Bread
2 Cups All purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
.5 tsp salt
4 Bananas
1 Cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat Oven to 350F. Grease a loaf pan. (dark metal loaf pans may make your bottom burn before the center cooks. Glass, light metal and ceramic are preferred.) Whip 2 mashed bananas with the sugar. Drizzle in the oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth and mixed. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and then add to the egg mix. Mix only until just incorporated. Too much mixing at this point will result in a tough, dry, chewy bread and who wants that? Mash the other two bananas and fold into the batter. This will give you delicious chunks of banana and help keep the bread moist. Bake for about 1 hour until a toothpick in the center comes out clean or with crumbs on it. Keep in mind the pan you use will affect the cooking time. Muffins will only take about 10 minutes, an 8x8 pan may take 30 minutes. Always underestimate the time, you can always add minutes if it's not done. Enjoy!
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Apple Pie Confessions
Our annual apple picking trip this month means one thing in my house- apple pie season has begun!!! Our family went with our church to an apple orchard to pick apples. Thirty three dollars and two huge bags of apples later (and little bellies aching with too many apples eaten, not put in the bag...), we are ready for some apple pie!!!! I have been making apple pies for as long as I can remember (especially because this is my husband's favorite dessert).
Now, I know that I've informed everyone out there that baking is "a science" and recipes have to be followed exactly. For apple pie, throw that all out the window.
Let me explain. Each apple is a different size, taste and texture. No two apples are alike. Apple pie is mostly made up of apples so this has a huge effect on your final product. I will try to give you a recipe at the end of this post but keep in mind that this is one of the only baked goods I dont really use a recipe to make.
Lets discuss type of apples to use first. In general, the best baking apple in my opinion (despite what my sister-in-law says...Sorry Lisa) is Granny Smith. They are tart and crisp. They have what I call a meaty flesh that holds up well after baking without getting too mushy. I love my apple pie to be a little crunchy. If I wanted apple sauce I would eat apple sauce. The tartness also allows you to add as much (or as little) sugar as you want. Again, I prefer my pie to be not overly sweet. The WORST apple to bake with is Red Delicious. Delicious to eat, terrible from the oven. They lose their flavor and get very mushy. Making a pie with just Granny Smith works just fine but if you like, you can mix other apples in with them. I like a blend of Granny Smith and Gala apples. Yum. Now, on to how to cut them.
Another factor in how your pie turns out is how thick you make the slices. Usually I cut softer textured apples such as Gala, cortland or empire pretty thick. Granny Smith apples should be slice fairly thin.
Next, additions. I add about a cup of sugar to my pie but adjust based on the sweetness of the apples. I then add a sprinkle of cinnamon and about 1/2 c of flour. I would add a touch more flour for very juicy apples. Stir it up and taste it. If you get a nice sweet bite, taste the cinnamon and its not too watery, then its ready for the pie.
Put the apples in a ready to go pie crust, I usually use a deep dish pie pan. And make sure to stack those apples high! They will shrink as they cook. Dot the top with some butter and then top with either a crumb topping or another layer of crust to make a double crust pie. Seal the edges and make sure to cut slits in the top to let the steam escape. Brush with an egg whipped with a little water and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Ready to bake, let the magic happen! Your whole house will smell like fall. If you dont listen to any of my advice when making apple pie, please take my advice on this one: put a big piece of aluminum foil on the rack below your pie to catch drippings. You dont know how many times I've had to clean sugary apple juice off the bottom of my oven. And instead of having fall smell in your house, you'll have burnt sugar smell which is gross. You know the pie is done when its bubbling thick apple goop from the top and when you stick a knife in, it glides with little resistance. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section below and I will answer them as best I can.
Enjoy one of my favorite times of the year, and in case you were wondering, yes, my kids did bring apples to their teachers...brown-nosers!
Andrea's Apple Pie
1 double pie crust
6-8 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 C sugar
1/2C flour
1TB cinnamon
Butter to dot the top (around 2TB)
Egg wash for the top
Mix apples, flour, sugar and cinnamon in a big bowl adding extra sugar as needed. Layer the apples into an unbaked pie crust in a deep dish pie plate if you have it. Stack them high and tight. Dot top of apple pile with butter chunks. Cover with second crust. Make sure to take time to seal the edges and crimp as desired. Cut about four slits in top to allow steam to escape. Mix one egg and a little water and brush on top. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake in oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour, checking occasionally to make sure pie edges arent burning. Pie is done when bubbling from the top and a knife glides through the apples with little resistance.
Now, I know that I've informed everyone out there that baking is "a science" and recipes have to be followed exactly. For apple pie, throw that all out the window.
Let me explain. Each apple is a different size, taste and texture. No two apples are alike. Apple pie is mostly made up of apples so this has a huge effect on your final product. I will try to give you a recipe at the end of this post but keep in mind that this is one of the only baked goods I dont really use a recipe to make.
Lets discuss type of apples to use first. In general, the best baking apple in my opinion (despite what my sister-in-law says...Sorry Lisa) is Granny Smith. They are tart and crisp. They have what I call a meaty flesh that holds up well after baking without getting too mushy. I love my apple pie to be a little crunchy. If I wanted apple sauce I would eat apple sauce. The tartness also allows you to add as much (or as little) sugar as you want. Again, I prefer my pie to be not overly sweet. The WORST apple to bake with is Red Delicious. Delicious to eat, terrible from the oven. They lose their flavor and get very mushy. Making a pie with just Granny Smith works just fine but if you like, you can mix other apples in with them. I like a blend of Granny Smith and Gala apples. Yum. Now, on to how to cut them.
Another factor in how your pie turns out is how thick you make the slices. Usually I cut softer textured apples such as Gala, cortland or empire pretty thick. Granny Smith apples should be slice fairly thin.
Next, additions. I add about a cup of sugar to my pie but adjust based on the sweetness of the apples. I then add a sprinkle of cinnamon and about 1/2 c of flour. I would add a touch more flour for very juicy apples. Stir it up and taste it. If you get a nice sweet bite, taste the cinnamon and its not too watery, then its ready for the pie.
Put the apples in a ready to go pie crust, I usually use a deep dish pie pan. And make sure to stack those apples high! They will shrink as they cook. Dot the top with some butter and then top with either a crumb topping or another layer of crust to make a double crust pie. Seal the edges and make sure to cut slits in the top to let the steam escape. Brush with an egg whipped with a little water and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Ready to bake, let the magic happen! Your whole house will smell like fall. If you dont listen to any of my advice when making apple pie, please take my advice on this one: put a big piece of aluminum foil on the rack below your pie to catch drippings. You dont know how many times I've had to clean sugary apple juice off the bottom of my oven. And instead of having fall smell in your house, you'll have burnt sugar smell which is gross. You know the pie is done when its bubbling thick apple goop from the top and when you stick a knife in, it glides with little resistance. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section below and I will answer them as best I can.
Enjoy one of my favorite times of the year, and in case you were wondering, yes, my kids did bring apples to their teachers...brown-nosers!
Andrea's Apple Pie
1 double pie crust
6-8 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 C sugar
1/2C flour
1TB cinnamon
Butter to dot the top (around 2TB)
Egg wash for the top
Mix apples, flour, sugar and cinnamon in a big bowl adding extra sugar as needed. Layer the apples into an unbaked pie crust in a deep dish pie plate if you have it. Stack them high and tight. Dot top of apple pile with butter chunks. Cover with second crust. Make sure to take time to seal the edges and crimp as desired. Cut about four slits in top to allow steam to escape. Mix one egg and a little water and brush on top. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake in oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour, checking occasionally to make sure pie edges arent burning. Pie is done when bubbling from the top and a knife glides through the apples with little resistance.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Teachers dont want Apples, they want Scones!
My son Carter is just finishing up his second week at preschool. This is his first away-from-mommy school experience. I'd be lying if I said it was going well...
Each day at drop off, there is a lot of screaming, crying, clinging like a monkey to my leg. It's pretty bad. The worst part is he's the only one in his class that seems to have a problem. And to add to it, my Mom is a teacher there so it's very embarrassing that everyone knows me pretty well and its my kid that doesnt want to be in school. It was so bad on Monday that a neighbor of the school actually came and knocked on the door to make sure that everything was ok. He could hear Carter screaming from his house!!! So I decided that I could help all the teachers forget about the fact that my child is the one causing all the ruckus by distracting them with yummy baked goods.
Carter's teacher had my eldest son Oliver as well. When Oliver was in her class I baked scones for them. His teacher jokingly asked for scones again, I said no problem. So today I made a batch of strawberry scones for the teachers of the school to enjoy and hopefully forgive...
You will see pretty quickly reading this blog that I ADORE Alton Brown. He is a chef who has a show on Food Network. If you've ever seen his show, Good Eats, you'd know that Alton focuses on the science, chemistry and process of cooking and baking. Baking is very much a science. Everything has to be exact. Unlike cooking you cant just add a dash of this and a pinch of that. In fact, in culinary school, recipes are called formulas. That's one of the main reasons why I love baking and hate cooking.
So, here is Alton's recipe for scones. It's easy and basic. You can add whatever you like to the base to change the flavor. Today I added chopped up strawberries because that's what I had (and they were already pretty chopped up thanks to the lady at the supermarket who put them in the bottom of the bag). You could add nuts, any kind of fruit (dried or fresh), spices like cinnamon or ginger, lemon and poppy seeds, chocolate chips, the possibilities are endless. Just beware that if you add something pretty liquidy dont over mix the dough. Like my mushy strawberries. ENJOY!!!!!
Scones
2 cups Flour
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter --------> I used 6TB of Butter instead of the shortening because I never use the stuff.
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup cream
1 egg
Handful dried currants or dried cranberries (or anything you want, see above!)
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Cut in butter and shortening. In a separate bowl, combine cream with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients. Stir in fruit. (Dont over mix!!! The less you work the dough the more tender the scone.) Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Roll dough out and cut into biscuit size rounds. (I skip this step and keep my counter clean by just scooping big scoops with a large cookie scoop. Its easier and less to clean up!) Bake for 15 minutes or until brown.
Each day at drop off, there is a lot of screaming, crying, clinging like a monkey to my leg. It's pretty bad. The worst part is he's the only one in his class that seems to have a problem. And to add to it, my Mom is a teacher there so it's very embarrassing that everyone knows me pretty well and its my kid that doesnt want to be in school. It was so bad on Monday that a neighbor of the school actually came and knocked on the door to make sure that everything was ok. He could hear Carter screaming from his house!!! So I decided that I could help all the teachers forget about the fact that my child is the one causing all the ruckus by distracting them with yummy baked goods.
Carter's teacher had my eldest son Oliver as well. When Oliver was in her class I baked scones for them. His teacher jokingly asked for scones again, I said no problem. So today I made a batch of strawberry scones for the teachers of the school to enjoy and hopefully forgive...
You will see pretty quickly reading this blog that I ADORE Alton Brown. He is a chef who has a show on Food Network. If you've ever seen his show, Good Eats, you'd know that Alton focuses on the science, chemistry and process of cooking and baking. Baking is very much a science. Everything has to be exact. Unlike cooking you cant just add a dash of this and a pinch of that. In fact, in culinary school, recipes are called formulas. That's one of the main reasons why I love baking and hate cooking.
So, here is Alton's recipe for scones. It's easy and basic. You can add whatever you like to the base to change the flavor. Today I added chopped up strawberries because that's what I had (and they were already pretty chopped up thanks to the lady at the supermarket who put them in the bottom of the bag). You could add nuts, any kind of fruit (dried or fresh), spices like cinnamon or ginger, lemon and poppy seeds, chocolate chips, the possibilities are endless. Just beware that if you add something pretty liquidy dont over mix the dough. Like my mushy strawberries. ENJOY!!!!!
Scones
2 cups Flour
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter --------> I used 6TB of Butter instead of the shortening because I never use the stuff.
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup cream
1 egg
Handful dried currants or dried cranberries (or anything you want, see above!)
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Cut in butter and shortening. In a separate bowl, combine cream with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients. Stir in fruit. (Dont over mix!!! The less you work the dough the more tender the scone.) Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Roll dough out and cut into biscuit size rounds. (I skip this step and keep my counter clean by just scooping big scoops with a large cookie scoop. Its easier and less to clean up!) Bake for 15 minutes or until brown.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Oh no, another SAHM starting a blog...
Ok, I know what you're thinking. This stay-at-home mom (SAHM for future reference) has nothing better to do than start a blog-how creative!!!! I have very little free time as other SAHMs and definitely working moms understand. But my only sanity during my week is the small amount of time I get to do my ultimate passion: Baking. For me this is not just a hobby, its my profession.
Way back when I was in my first year of college at Stony Brook University I realized I was not loving any of the classes I was taking and didn't see myself sitting at a desk my whole life. I was always the creative sort, painting, drawing, sculpting. I told my concerns about my future to my friend Jasmine and she ended up giving me the best advice. She said, "think about what you do at home as a hobby that you love". I told her I've always loved baking. She said, "why don't you go to school to do that?" So I finished that year, moved back home, started working at a deli in my hometown to get the experience I needed and began my culinary journey.
Three years later I graduated from The Culinary Institute of America (C.I.A. for the cool kids) with an Associates Degree in Baking and Pastry. I knew I had found a way to work doing something I loved. (Insert cheesy line about never working a day in your life....)
So.....There is just a snippet of my background and how I got here. Now I will explain why I decided to start this blog.
At least once a week I bake something. Usually something I've never tried before or haven't made since graduating from school. I get ideas from TV, magazines, a craving....whatever it may be. I usually poll my family (all of them live in my apartment building) to see what specific flavors or ingredients they would or wouldn't like because they get to be the taste testers. I get my recipes from all kinds of places: the internet, my cookbooks, magazines, school textbooks and then I adjust some things if I need to make it more of my own. Then after I bake, I usually end up posting a picture of the final item on facebook. I get lots of "likes" and comments from my family and friends. Some asking for the recipe, some just asking for me to ship it to their house!
I want to be able to share my recipes, ideas, failures (and there are some...) and crazy life with anyone who's willing to read it.
Please feel free to request recipes, cakes, cookies, breads, whatever it may be that you would like me to try and I'll give it a go. And I will always give credit to the original recipe authors.
Thanks for listening and enjoy the Blog!!!
Andrea
Way back when I was in my first year of college at Stony Brook University I realized I was not loving any of the classes I was taking and didn't see myself sitting at a desk my whole life. I was always the creative sort, painting, drawing, sculpting. I told my concerns about my future to my friend Jasmine and she ended up giving me the best advice. She said, "think about what you do at home as a hobby that you love". I told her I've always loved baking. She said, "why don't you go to school to do that?" So I finished that year, moved back home, started working at a deli in my hometown to get the experience I needed and began my culinary journey.
Three years later I graduated from The Culinary Institute of America (C.I.A. for the cool kids) with an Associates Degree in Baking and Pastry. I knew I had found a way to work doing something I loved. (Insert cheesy line about never working a day in your life....)
So.....There is just a snippet of my background and how I got here. Now I will explain why I decided to start this blog.
At least once a week I bake something. Usually something I've never tried before or haven't made since graduating from school. I get ideas from TV, magazines, a craving....whatever it may be. I usually poll my family (all of them live in my apartment building) to see what specific flavors or ingredients they would or wouldn't like because they get to be the taste testers. I get my recipes from all kinds of places: the internet, my cookbooks, magazines, school textbooks and then I adjust some things if I need to make it more of my own. Then after I bake, I usually end up posting a picture of the final item on facebook. I get lots of "likes" and comments from my family and friends. Some asking for the recipe, some just asking for me to ship it to their house!
I want to be able to share my recipes, ideas, failures (and there are some...) and crazy life with anyone who's willing to read it.
Please feel free to request recipes, cakes, cookies, breads, whatever it may be that you would like me to try and I'll give it a go. And I will always give credit to the original recipe authors.
Thanks for listening and enjoy the Blog!!!
Andrea
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