If Ms. Fitzgerald Only Knew How Good She Sounds with Pie

Classic Chocolat with Vanilla Icing
Decorated by Emma

My sister Emma and I have been enjoying the kitchen a lot lately.  We sing along with Frank, Ella and Sammy Davis while we bake.  Now that the beloved Fall has set in, baking is ten times more delightful than ever before.  I am in love with a lot things this time of year: food, drink, sitting on the porch wrapped in a blanket, book in hand.  Oh what a world this world would be if it were Autumn every day!  

So, on a more serious note, as one may have noticed, I have issues committing to one thing for very long it seems.  Prime example, my blog.  I promised to blog about my adventures every day and I have yet to see that happen.  See?  Even now, I am using the passive voice!  My life has been a bit "thrown together" lately.
I don't have much to do except wait around for something to happen.  I mean, I always have "things" I am doing; I'm never bored, but I guess I am holding out for magic.  You know, when the fairy swoops in and spreads the dust all over me and I find out what I want to do with my life.  Well, I realize I have been tragically misinformed.  Okay, maybe I misinformed myself.  This figuring out your life stuff takes work and lots of it.  So does baking.
I thought that I would never want to stop baking, at least not after the first few weeks, but it gets tiring.  I am usually great up until the part where I have to make the icing, or wash dishes or cool the cake or something.
So, I come to yet another life lesson.  I hate doing the dirty work, but it's necessary.  Everyone has to do work and lots of it in order to make things happen.  I intend then to work HARD! 

Bon Iver

This my excavation and today is kumran
Everything that happens is from now on
This is pouring rain
This is paralyzed

I keep throwing it down two-hundred at a time
It's hard to find it when you knew it
When your money's gone
And you're drunk as hell

On your back with your racks as the stacks as your load
In the back and the racks and the stacks are your load
In the back with your racks and you're un-stacking your load

I've twisting to the sun I needed to replace
The fountain in the front yard is rusted out
All my love was down
In a frozen ground

There's a black crow sitting across from me; his wiry legs are crossed
And he's dangling my keys he even fakes a toss
Whatever could it be
That has brought me to this loss?

On your back with your racks as the stacks as your load
In the back and the racks and the stacks of your load
In the back with your racks and you're un-stacking your load

This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization
It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away
Your love will be
Safe with me

My monthly quote

Nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment.

- Benjamin Disraeli

Tres Leche

Tres Leche Cupcakes with Fresh Whipped Cream Cinnamon

Dessert 2: Cardamom Palmiers

     I made Cardamom Palmiers today. The cardamom was an interesting replacement for something like cinnamon or nutmeg, I suppose.  It was a good kind of interesting.  This flaky, cookie-like pastry was my first and last French pastry during my time living in France.  That's right folks, NOT a croissant, but a palmier.  I love them.

The dough was very tricky as I really wasn't supposed to touch it much.  I messed up when it came time to slice the palmiers.  I read the directions wrong about three times.  Finally, by the fourth try, I got it right.  Cut one-inch apart and then cut each inch into thirds.  Don't you think that's a roundabout way to say cut one third of an inch apart?  Anyway, the lesson for today was to walk away from the cookbook for a few minutes when you just aren't getting it. Maybe I'm just an imbecile!

Dessert 1

Twice-baked Shortbread

     This is my first recipe. I made the dough, composed mainly of butter and flour and of course, a bit of vanilla, and then just pressed it into a pan and let it set for two hours. This is the trick to shortbread. Let it sit for two hours or overnight before baking to enhance the flavor and texture that makes this simple treat so wonderful. I will be twice-baking it before I return from my awful, dreadful, no good, lab work I have to get done. I am having surgery Tuesday and I have to get my blood drawn today. I figured that if I left the baking for after I get back from this unhappy outing then I will have a reason to come back to life. You, see I HATE, no LOATHE having my blood taken. I pass out, cry, pass out again, cry a little more, well you get the point. I make a complete fool/baby out of myself and there's no fixing it. So, for the first time, I am going to be active about overcoming this fear. I will focus only on making it back home to my shortbread which will need to be stuffed into the oven promptly upon my arrival home,. So I must not throw up on the side of the road or do anymore of this nonsense. I am making shortbread! I'll let you know how it turns out.......

     Okay so, here's the shortbread.  I made it back from the doctor in one piece, despite my ghostly white skin which seemed to summon a lot of sympathy in the bank teller and the office lady at the hospital.  But, success was had today and I triumphed!  This shortbread calls the hearts of all my fellow butter lovers to mange!  I like it as a mid-afternoon treat with a cup of PG Tips tea and milk...English style!

Le Dessert et Moi!

       So after seeing the film, Julie and Julia, I started to consider my own culinary interests. I thought about how much I love baking, something like the thrill I get when the crust of a chocolate Ganache torte crumbles just right. It's the one place in my life where I get to obsess over precision and perfection and get rewarded for it. I know this is completely unoriginal now that the film is out, but I am taking Julie and Julia's example and striking out on a delicious adventure. I am going to bake my way through Alice Medrich's, Pure Dessert. I will teach myself the basics of baking and share the details with you all...whoever that may be. Like Julie, I lack the ability to finish all of the millions of projects I start. I am hoping for a lesson in creation and completion; to prove that I can be disciplined and enjoy using my hands to make something delicious and definitely to make some messes. So here we go!

Pictured: Mocha Cupcakes with Vanilla Meringue Cream