Under the Tulip Tree

Family Pancake

A simple Dutch Baby Pancake, made by my hubby...

And a new iron skillet, given to us by my sis...

Have changed the way our family does Saturday morning breakfast.

Instead of the kids racing back and forth to the table to finish their pancakes,

We eat together, all together. Rather indulgent for a Saturday morning, but scrumptious all the same.

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Dutch Baby Pancake

1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 cups milk
6 eggs
1 tsp. salt
Approx. 1/3 stick butter

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees, with skillet in oven. Mix all ingredients except butter in a bowl.

2. Take skillet out and coat with butter. Add mixture to skillet.

3. Bake for 20 min. or until slightly brown on top. Top with confectioner's sugar if you're feeling fancy. Serve warm.

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Our Days

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Lately we've been...

Watching the rain, working on book reports, reading tons of old comic books, working on greeting card assignments, messing up the kitchen, and driving each other just a little bit batty.

That's life in a small house.

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Enjoying A Sunny Morning

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Gazing out the window, nibbling on my new favorite snack: Waffle with ricotta cheese and honey.

My goodness that winter sun feels good.

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Birthday Cheesecake

I made a vanilla cheesecake for Michael's birthday. I believe it was the first time in a very long time that I didn't screw up a very, very simple recipe. I don't know what my problem is lately but it seems that every time I go to bake something I'm adding whipping cream instead of buttermilk or two cups of something instead of one cup of something or forgetting the salt or adding too much butter or, just, screwing it up. It's driving me batty. But other than having to bake it for a whole 25 minutes more than the recipe called for (not really sure why), it was a yummy, rich, creamy, dreamy, vanilla-y success!

And my house smelled really good.

And the cheesecake is this golden color because that's the color of the sugar I use.

And I need to get some different tablecloths because this white one is boring me silly.

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Winter Kitchen

Today is my honey's 42nd birthday. I'm going to do some cooking and baking for him today. He has to work, which hardly seems fair, but expected, none the less.

He's a good one, this guy.

Happy Birthday, you. xox

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Minty New Year Wishes

What a time of year. So many tiny and not-so-tiny celebrations to help us through these winter days. And then a long stretch of nothingness until spring. I'm not feeling as reflective as I've felt in years past. Truthfully, I'm just ready to ring in the new year.

With that, I wish you a festive and joyful start to 2012 and much happiness thereafter. If only we could sit and have a slice of chocolate-peppermint cake together. That would be grand.

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Chocolate-Peppermint Cake
From Everyday Food

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Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

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Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan; line bottom with parchment or waxed paper. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.

2. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 inches water to a boil. Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl; set over (not in) water. Turn off heat; let stand until melted, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir to combine. Remove bowl; cool 5 minutes.

3. Whisk in sugar and vanilla, then eggs and buttermilk until combined. Fold in flour mixture until combined.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until cake pulls away from sides and a toothpick inserted in center has a few moist crumbs clinging to it, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert onto a wire rack (and leave inverted) to cool completely, about 1 hour.

5. Set cake on a serving platter. Tuck parchment or waxed paper under sides of cake. Pour chocolate icing onto center of cake and spread evenly over top and sides. Let set, about 40 minutes. Serve cake with whipped cream and chocolate shavings or peppermint candies, if desired.

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A Husband Who Bakes

I love a baking husband. I say things like, "Homemade pizza is on the schedule this weekend" (as if there's someone telling me what's on the schedule this weekend) and he is totally game. In fact, if you catch him on a good weekend, he's totally game for any baking challenge, including the challenges he gives himself — like soft pretzels.

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Homemade Soft Pretzels
Recipe here

1-1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4-1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Olive oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt (he used coarse salt but he wishes he used pretzel salt)

1. Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

3. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

4. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

5. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

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Of course, I do all of the clean up. But that's hardly a price to pay.

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Especially when the rewards are this good.

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