Black and White Banana Loaf - TWD

This recipe was chosen back in August for the TWD group. The recipe can be found HERE or on page 232 in the cookbook.

My banana bread turned out almost cake-like and very moist. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips. The recipe also called for dark rum, lemon zest and a squirt of fresh lemon. I don't know if I used too big of a squirt of lemon or what. The taste, for me anyway, was OK. I couldn't tell if it was because of the lemon or the rum. Maybe I just don't care for banana bread? The Hubster and kids seemed to like it though and it disappeared rather quickly.

The bread was marbled after I divided the batter in half and mixed the melted semi-sweet chocolate chips in it. It is a very nice looking loaf of bread I will add. I think that I just prefer zucchini or strawberry bread better.

Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins - TWD

The recipe this week was chosen by Rebecca at Ezra Pound Cake. The recipe can be found HERE or on page 6 in Dorie's cookbook.

I put off making these muffins for the entire week and then decided to make them with chili tonight for supper. I think that A LOT of TWD bakers made chili to accompany their corn muffins. I also divided the recipe in half and omitted the chili powder, bell pepper, black pepper and jalapenos from half the recipe. I didn't know if I would like them with the spicier component. I normally am a huge fun of cornbread and like it very sweet.

Unfortunately, these muffins didn't really do anything for me. The Hubster liked them but called them "bland". They were not sweet enough for me in the slightest. We haven't eaten the chili yet but it smells delicious bubbling away in the slow cooker. Maybe I will like them better with the chili.

The meal is a perfect choice for this evening though. It is getting COLD here and by the end of the week we should have seen temperatures dip way below zero with wind chills of -30 something. Oh how I wish that I lived in California!!

Fried Rice with Scallions, Edamame, and Tofu - CEiMB

This week's recipe was chosen by Running with Food. I knew that tofu would not go over well in our house. I have never tried it and would have been willing to give it a shot, however, I knew that the Hubster would not. I also had no clue what edamame was until I went to the grocery store in search of it. I kind of thought it would be some sort of onion. WRONG! Soy beans. Interesting.



I substituted 1.25 lbs. of chicken for the tofu. I also used white rice (probably 4.5 cups) instead of brown because I wanted to use up some stuff in our pantry instead of buy more. Plus, I know that I don't really care for brown rice. I could only find a 10 oz. of package of edamame beans in their pod as well. I just peeled the beans out of the shells after cooking them and used the entire package. I increased the amount of ginger, garlic and corn as well and didn't use a "less sodium" soy sauce.
I was very skeptical about scrambling the eggs in the well of fried rice and thought that this runny egg would go everywhere. But I was wrong. The 2 eggs scrambled great in their little well.

As you can see, I completely made this recipe less healthy than it is supposed to be. However, we enjoyed it and my husband was very happy with how it tasted.

French Pear Tart - TWD

This week Mrs. Greenspan herself chose the recipe. Yes....Dorie! Yup...The author of the cookbook. How cool is that?! In celebration of TWD's 1st anniversary Dorie chose her pear tart.

The Hubster has been very excited about this dessert. He loves pears and almonds so I knew that this was going to be right up his alley. I was right. His exact words were, "Dude, this is SO good"! He then continued to inhale 2 pieces.

This delicious little tart was not hard to put together at all. I used fresh pears and poached them in water, sugar and lemon juice. I did boil them for longer than the recipe called for (15 minutes) because I wanted them to be soft and not at all crunchy (about 25 minutes). Dorie suggests that when using canned pears, the tart turns out just as good. I thought it would be fun to try and poach the pears because I have never done anything like that before.

The shortbread crust had me worried though. Mine was quite crumbly and didn't appear to form as the recipe stated. No worries though. It tasted absolutely delicious. It seriously tasted like a shortbread cookie. So. Ridiculously. Good!

The almond pasty cream was just as excellent. I really liked the almond taste and the slight chewiness was simply yum. Paired with the pears on top this is one FABULOUS dessert. I am sure to be making this one again for the Hubster. He was quite impressed.

Once again, this is the reason I love TWD. Just browsing through this wonderful cookbook I would have never picked this recipe to bake. However, this fun little baking group "forces" me to look outside the box and try new things.

THANKS DORIE! Not only for the great choice this week but also for my favorite baking cookbook!

Chocolate Cherry Almond Biscotti - CEiMB

Better late than never!

This recipe was chosen by Leanne from Enjoying My Favorite Things. Very nice choice Leanne! She has the recipe posted on her blog or if you click HERE you can find it. The recipe is also on page 302 in Ellie's cookbook.

This is only the second batch of biscotti I have ever made. The first being Lenox Almond Biscotti for TWD. I made this healthier version of biscotti tonight. The recipe calls for olive oil in place of butter. It also calls for dried cherries, almonds and dark chocolate. I used semi-sweet mini chips in place of the dark chocolate. I may have also put in a little extra mini chips as well.

This biscotti is OK. I wouldn't say that it is outstanding. I'm not sure that I really like the olive oil taste to it or not? You can definetely taste it in there though. I also remember that I liked the lenox almond biscotti much better the second day so I am thinking that I will enjoy this a lot more tomorrow. We'll see I guess. The Hubster even said that it was good.

For the life of me I can't figure out why my biscotti look like pieces of bread. I followed the recipe to a tee and made my log 10 inches long by 3 inches wide. The biscotti sure don't look like others that I have seen.

Biscotti for CEiMB

I apologize. You will not be seeing the biscotti today. Hopefully tomorrow.

My household was sick this past weekend. It started on Friday with my oldest. He has been under the weather ever since. My youngest was sick most of the day Saturday and seems to be a little better today. I received this wonderful bug early this AM and am hoping that it steers clear of the Hubster.

The biscotti will be coming soon. I promise!

Peanut Butter Torte - TWD

Another completed recipe down, 24 more to go!

I baked this extremely rich and chocolately peanut butter torte for a dinner with some friends last week. I apologize for no photos. My pictures turned out terrible and I didn't want to post the fuzzy and blurry ones that I did get. But trust me...I did make the torte.

The recipe can be found HERE. The torte was originally chosen for the TWD group back in May.

It was good. Just very rich. I forgot to add the whole milk that the recipe called for. I don't think that by adding the milk the dessert would have gotten any lighter though. I also decided that I can't talk myself into liking dark, bittersweet chocolate. I am a chocolate lover...but only milk or semi-sweet. It seems that most of Dorie's recipes that involve chocolate call for bittersweet. I am just going to have to alter the recipes to fit my tastes. Everyone who tried the torte liked it though.

Coming tomorrow: Chocolate Cherry-Almond Biscotti