Monday Morning Musings

Before we get to our weekend recap I want to say a heart felt thank you to all of the men and women who've served this land I love in some branch of the armed services. I have so much respect and admiration for those who take this path and for the many sacrifices they make. Their families too. My dad was a career marine and my son-in-law was in the Army, and I'm both proud and grateful today for their service. 

Linking this post with Holly and Sarah and their Hello Monday party happening today-

Our weekend kicked off with a trip to the lawyer's office Friday morning. Hubs and I had some financial stuff we needed to deal with and we finally made ourselves book an appointment. Who else loathes talking about anything related to taxes, wills, estate planning, and such? 

We had new wills made about fifteen years ago, but our girls were in college then, and we lived in another state, and so much has changed that it just made sense to update. We also spent some time figuring out if we need a trust or don't need a trust, or if you're me, what even is a trust? 

These are the sorts of things I want someone else to figure out and then just tell me where to sign, but I adult-ed like an adult and we got it done. We spent an hour and a half with the lawyer and he did let me know he won't charge us for the twenty minute sidebar he and hubs had discussing their mutual love of bourbon. We got home just in time for hubs to meet a tree guy about a big tree (sob) that needs to come out. 

The fun never ends 'round here. 

Friday afternoon I baked a batch of mini cupcakes to take to an evening event. I did minis because I feel like a sweet bite as opposed to a whole cupcake is what most people want at something like our once a month Friday evening socials. In November the organizers always recognize and honor any Veterans and active duty military in the neighborhood which I love to see. 

These are banana cupcakes with a peanut butter frosting and I used this recipe- Peanut Butter Banana Cupcakes. The icing is fabulous, so light, and I think would be really good on a chocolate cake or cupcake too. I had a big bottle of fall sprinkles so why not

Saturday morning hubs went to our quarterly HOA meeting and I went grocery shopping.  Like I said...it was a weekend chock a block full of excitement. Have you seen this in your market? 

I know pickle juice is supposed to be good for you and we always put some in our Bloody Marys, but that might not be what they mean when they say it's good for you -ha! It's also good for leg cramps, electrolyte replenishment, and your gut, but this is quite the jug isn't it? I can't imagine how long it would take me to consume all of that. 

I don't like grocery shopping on the weekend, but since I didn't do my pre-weekend shop I had no choice. Also, I wore shorts. The weather has been so warm it's hard to know how to dress. 

We've been walking most days, and while it doesn't feel like summer it's warm for fall. My basil plant is happy though, and still going strong, so Saturday afternoon I snipped a bunch and made pesto to use on Sunday. We watched a lot of college football and hubs and I went out for Thai food Saturday night. 

Daughter2 and her hubs and kiddos had been at my son-in-law's university homecoming all weekend long, and we were sort of on their way home so they made us an overnight stop. I hadn't seen these grands in two months and was so happy to have some in person time together. 

I might come back and add pictures to this post later, but they arrived close to dinner time Sunday, and Sugar was not feeling her best. Big brother made a beeline for the toy box and then we ate and did baths  and I kind of forgot about taking any pictures. 

Daughter2 and I have been baking along with The Great British Bakeoff this season and had this crazy idea we'd be able to do the week 4 bake (caramel) while we were together. No way that was happening Sunday night. 

We might try to add this one in at the end or somewhere in the middle when a bake pops up that we're unable to complete for our own 'technical' reasons. We make the rules and we say it's okay. 

We didn't do a lot but somehow the weekend flew right on by. And I love waking up to Monday morning coffee with a daughter in the house. 

Have a great week everyone!

Rolling In The Dough -Week Three Of The At Home British Bakeoff

It's Bread Week in our at home version of The Great British Baking Show. If you don't know what I'm talking about read this post-Bamboozled By A Battenberg followed by this post-Waltzing In To Bakeoff Week 2 to catch up. 

This week's technical challenge had contestants baking a 7-strand plaited bread wreath in two hours, thirty minutes. They weren't given a recipe, just a list of ingredients. Paul demonstrated the plaiting technique before they got started and daughter2 and I agreed we'd probably watch that bit at least ten times before we tried it on our own. 

Okay, first of all we're not on the clock-ha! 

Secondly, we used a recipe. Our house, our rules. 

Neither of us are bread bakers on a regular basis and we were excited to try this. Plus fresh bread? Yes please. 

Not exactly like braiding hair, but it's the same general idea. Rolling out the 'octopus' was the hardest part of the process. I didn't feel like my strands rolled as easily as the contestant's did, but I got there 

Look at me all official with my proving bag.

my finished wreath

I have to say this turned out surprisingly well. I credit years of raising daughters who regularly wanted their hair braided. 

My daughter’s wreath 

I told my daughter she was star baker this week. 

Now,  did  I make a kitchen mess? You betcha. In fact hubs may have stated he hopes we don't do this again next year lol. Except I think he was serious? Whatever. He's not turning down freshly baked bread, and it's been fun baking with my daughter, comparing notes, trying something new, and realizing I could never be an actual contestant on the show-ha.  

I'm sure Paul Hollywood would say mine was 'slightly underbaked' but I tapped it like an honest to goodness contestant and it sounded hollow, which apparently is the sound you need. The texture was really good. 

Next up-caramel week. We're going to hold off on the actual bake for another week because we both have some travel scheduled and we don't need the extra pressure. Plus! we anticipate being in the same kitchen next weekend so our plan is to do the caramel bake together. Double the fun...

No doubt double the mess too. Enjoy your weekend everyone! 

Waltzing In To Bake Off Week 2

We didn't exactly waltz but we managed. 

I shared last week that my daughter2 and I are long time fans of The Great British Baking Show and we've committed to baking the technical challenge each week on our own. If you don't know what I'm talking about read Week One's post here-Bamboozled By A Battenberg. 

Fun random bit of trivia for you...The UK calls this show The Great British Bakeoff. I read that in the US they have to call it The Great British Baking Show because apparently Pillsbury called dibs on the term bake off. 

Moving on to Week Two-Biscuit Week. Or as we say in the US of A-Cookie week. We were excited about the theme because we are big cookie bakers here. If you know my mama you know we come by it honestly. 

The technical challenge in Week Two was something called a Mint Creme Biscuit. It's basically a thin buttery cookie base with a mint cream disc on top, then the whole thing is coated in tempered chocolate so it has some shine. We both immediately turned our nose up at that, not so much at the difficulty but more the taste. While I do love a little bit of peppermint in a cookie it can sometimes be too much. One of the contestants used the word toothpaste and I get it. 

Since we're the boss of us we decided to try the signature bake instead-Viennese Whirl. These are shortbread cookies piped into a spiral shape, then sandwiched with jam and buttercream. Prue (one of the judges) did warn these sound easier than they actually are, but we're game. 

Another week of baking, another mess in the kitchen. Even my phone is sticky. Here's how it went-

Daughter2 did her bake before me so she was able to give me a few helpful tips. I still made a mess but at least I knew to expect it. Also, you're not going to get a lot of pictures. It might not be a Battenberg but the Viennese Swirls were also pretty labor intensive. 

Daughter2's Viennese Swirls

Here's the good news-they are absolutely scrumptious!! 

my Viennese Swirls

And they look pretty good too. We admit Paul Hollywood would say ours are not uniform in size but we're calling this a win. 

I feel like mine were a little large. If I were to make them again (I won't) I'd make them smaller and the swirl higher. Hubs took one bite, swooned, then took another declaring them delicious. Daughter2's taste tester, my 2-year old grandson, agreed. 

A couple of things...I have not mastered the art of piping. In my defense this dough is super thick and no matter how much or how little you put in the bag it still wanted to pop. I'd read some comments beforehand and everyone said the same.  You cannot pipe with a baggie on this one. I ordered this piping set (Amazon) for my daughter and one for myself before we got started to be sure we'd have enough-

It was a good thing too, since I think I went through six bags by the time I'd finished the cookie plus the filling. 

The final verdict? We both said we absolutely loved the flavor and texture of this cookie. Would we make it again? Probably not. It's a lot of work for just a few cookies. Would we buy one in a bakery? Definitely.

I will also add that to me the swirl was similar in taste to a Thumbprint which I make every year at Christmas time. The swirl has a slightly lighter and more buttery flavor, but it's close. And thumbprints are a lot less work…no piping! 

Next up is bread week and my daughter already told me she's sent me proofing bags because she thinks we'll need them. I'm not a bread baker on the regular but at least there's no piping. There will be plaiting but I have daughters so surely I can braid some dough. 

Have a nice weekend everyone! 

Bamboozled By A Battenberg

Do you watch The Great British Baking Show? My daughter2 and I have watched every season together apart. By that I mean she's in her house and I'm in mine, but we start the program at the same minute and then text throughout the show. 

We decided this season we were going to attempt to bake the 'technical challenge' from each week's show. Both of my girls love to bake and are excellent bakers, but daughter1 is currently in a rental home several time zones away so she's not joining us in our little kitchen endeavor.  

If you don't watch the show here's the 411...

The season begins with 12 home bakers and then each week one is eliminated until a 'star baker' is named. There are three parts to each episode-

• the signature challenge (where the bakers put their own spin on the same dish; they've been able to practice this one ahead of time at home)

• the technical challenge (where the bakers follow a surprise recipe, usually an incomplete one at that)

• the show stopper (showcasing their talent in a showstopping bake, also one they've been able to practice at home). 

We're doing this at our own pace and a week ago watched the first episode. In the technical challenge contestants had to taste a mini Battenberg cake, then replicate it without a recipe. 

prepping the pan...two batters, one pan

Spoiler alert! We used a recipe. In fact at one point I was working with pieces of three different recipes because whew, this was not easy. I had to watch a youtube video just to get the pan set up. 

If you don't know what a Battenberg is it's a light sponge with various colored sections held together with jam and then covered in marzipan. The cake calls for homemade jam and homemade marzipan but we both bought the apricot jam and tried making the marzipan ourselves. Three ingredients. How hard can it be? 

Harder than it should have been that's for certain. 

I do not care for marzipan. After making this cake I especially don't like it. In fact I use almond paste to make macaroons at Christmas time and I told my daughter I'm not sure I'll make them this year because I may never get the smell of almond paste out of my head. 

I had this notion I'd snap pictures documenting the process but y'all! Ain't nobody got time to take pictures when they're trying to put a Battenberg together. I was three quarters of the way through when company dropped by so I paused. The cakes were baked (that was simple) and I'd made one batch of marzipan that was so sticky you couldn't work with it so I froze the cakes and figured I'd deal with the rest another day. 

Hubs took the spackle knife to the countertop (only slightly kidding) and then it was actually something like four days before I could face it again. And I waited til hubs was going out because he for sure couldn't face it again-ha! 

The TV bakers got it all done in two hours and mostly succeeded (although theirs weren't perfect either). Watching them make their cakes had us thinking it wouldn't be too hard, but we both struggled. We sent a million hilarious (to us) texts, our kitchens and ourselves were a hot mess, and while we wouldn't call the finished product a complete disaster it came awfully close. 

my finished cake

My daughter set hers in front of her 2-year old son who asked her to 'take the lid off' (that would be the marzipan) and then he left the cake and enjoyed the lid. Pure sugar so of course. 

my daughter's finished cake

This is not a cake I would ever make again, order in a restaurant, or serve to a guest. Unless maybe I bought it from a British bakery. 

Week 2 is Biscuit (Cookie) week. We consider this our wheelhouse so here's hoping!