This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe was simple yet elegant. Layers of finely sliced apples, brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with spiced sugar. Then baked slowly for a long, long time. Like I said, simple and elegant.
Except for the fact that Australia is in the midst of a heatwave. A heat wave that is breaking records. (pictures of a dust storm off Western Australia on Ninemsn) A heatwave that would make keeping your oven on, at any temp, uncomfortable. Let alone 4 hours of baking!
So this recipe involved planning and cultivating a close relationship with the weather channel! My memories of the 43 degrees celsius (109.5 degrees farenheit) day last week were just too raw. So I waited till evening to begin baking these. My apples went in at 8.30pm and I turned the oven off and went to bed at 12.30am. My latest tv obsession, The Walking Dead, kept me entertained while I waited 🙂
The next morning, my usual oats… Became mighty fancy!
I really enjoyed this recipe. As a decadent topping for simple oats. Or on its own with a dollop of sweetened cream.
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was the perfect recipe to kick-start 2013
(after a month of posting nothing!)
I had good intentions…
But we all know where they lead you when there’s no actions to back them up!
December was chaotic.
In addition to the usual holiday madness, I had my older son finishing his last year of primary school.
After 7 years together (in Australia, kids start primary school when they are about 5 and complete a year of kindergarten followed by Years 1-6) my 12-yr-old son has now finished Year 6 and is off to high school where he will do Years 7-12!
School ended December 19th, however those last few weeks were in full party mode.
Surfing lessons, golf, tennis, camps, craft days, graduation ceremonies, concerts, dances and dinners were all arranged by the school.
My son and husband at his Year 6 graduation dinner/dance…
Then there were all the after school activities that the kids took to arranging for themselves on Skype and Instagram!
While the primary school was focused on sending their Year 6 kids off with a bunch of great memories, their respective high schools had their own orientation days and activities designed to welcome their new Year 7’s for 2013!
 And all this was just with one child!
My younger son is starting primary school in 2013 so he had a series of orientation days of his own to attend and my daughter is undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh program which meant the last couple of weeks of school were spent getting organised for a kayaking/camping trip.
So…
Visions of myself baking Buche de Noels, Gingerbread houses, Christmas themed cookies, cakes and cupcakes went out of the window.
This year, it felt like Christmas was eclipsed by… life.
I didn’t even try to fight it.
I just went with it.
The kids return to school January 30th and we usually go away for a couple of weeks at some point over this 6-week break, however this year we decided to stay in Sydney.
And days like the one in the pics below, reminded me of what an awesome place we live in!
My son went to his friend’s 5th birthday, kayaking around Manly harbour…
The kids headed out with their parents…
Then returned to cool down with a swim and a picnic lunch.
Today was a crazy 43 degrees celsius in Sydney.
But yesterday was the perfect pizza making day!
And so we kick start 2013 baking with Dorie and Julia!
We all love olives and goat’s cheese in our family, so this recipe was enjoyed by everyone.
I have been wanting to make this for a while and I love the mix of the sweet onions with the salty olives and cheese. I thought it was perfect!
I didn’t have baby sized cake pans.
Luckily though, the recipe says you can also use it to make a 10 inch sized gingerbread cake.
Umm… I don’t have one of those either…
But I do have two x 6 inch cake pans and they worked perfectly!
So I guess I made… Gingerbread Adolescent Cakes???
The first cake I kept simple, just a dusting of sugar and served with sweetened whipped cream.
The second cake, I drizzled some lemon icing over…
I think the twist of lemon added a whole new dimension of flavour to this cake.
Now, total disclosure…
I’m not a ginger lover, never have been.
However I’ve linked the smell of ginger in baked goods to Christmas.
So baking this cake, kick started the Christmas season for me!
Gingerbread seems to go hand in hand with cold weather and snowmen.
However I live in Australia, so this gingerbread cake was made in sweltering heat with lizards hanging out my bathroom window and the creek alongside our house in full tropical bloom!
So…
Not being a ginger lover, I think I liked what this cake represented more than the cake itself!
However, if you are a ginger lover, try this recipe for yourself!
Karen, from Karen’s Kitchen Stories is this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie host and has the full recipe on her site.
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe is Herbed Olives.
Ummm…
I didn’t make herbed olives.
I didn’t even register herbed olives on the November recipe schedule!
I just went to the FFWD site to get ready to link to it and there they were.
November 23rd – Herbed Olives.
I’m genuinely baffled and a little amused!
(Amused because I think my little obsession with beef cheeks has rendered me blind!)
It all started with an episode of MasterChef.
One of the contestants was cooking against a chef from Melbourne called Frank Camorra.
There was such a humbleness and graciousness in the chef’s demeanor, years later, I can still recall how uplifted and inspired I felt after that episode.
On our next trip to Melbourne, Â I googled his restaurant on a whim and before I knew it, we were having lunch at his Spanish restaurant, Movida.
I was so excited, I wanted to try everything on his Tapas style menu.
Dish after dish arrived, my husband and I were having so much fun.
The flavours were exciting and new.
And then… right at the end… it came out.
Braised Beef Cheeks in Pedro Ximenez on Cauliflower Puree.
I didn’t think food could make you feel giddy with pleasure.
But that’s what this dish did to me.
The beef cheeks melted in my mouth.
The sweetness of the dark, thick, sherry sauce was perfectly balanced and complimented by the smooth cauliflower puree.
Seriously, my words just don’t do this dish justice.
Every 2-3 months we fly to Melbourne and 2 years later, our first stop is still Movida.
So with all this flooding my mind, it’s no wonder I jumped the gun on this recipe!
Dorie’s recipe for beef cheeks was good.
Comforting.
Satisfying.
After all the jumping around it was a good meal to sit on the back deck and fill up on…
Once I realised this was not going to be anything like Movida’s beef cheeks, I let go of my expectations and enjoyed the dish. It was a good, solid, meal.
Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t help think “best ever” claims just invite trouble!
I mean, we’re all different, with different taste and preferences…
It’s what makes life interesting.
However when it comes to these brownies, I kinda sorta feel the claim is justified.
These really were the best brownies I’ve ever had!
And I’m not even a chocolate lover.
I followed the recipe to the letter.
I knew these brownies were meant to be gooey and fudgey so I fought my natural inclination to keep cooking them until I felt comfortable.
I took a deep breath and removed them from the oven at 28 minutes.
I figured my husband and kids fight over cake batter, so barely baked brownies would not go to waste!
I did not expect to love these so much!
And we all agreed the wet gooey bits were far superior to the better cooked cakey edges.
I used 2 ounces of Cadbury Milk Baking Chocolate and 4 ounces of Lindt 70% cooking chocolate.
So I’m not sure if my milder, sweeter choice in chocolate made a big difference.
But I’ll be definitely making these again.
The entire tray was gone by the next day!
These cheese puffs almost didn’t get made because I got carried away watching season 3 of the Vampire Diaries.
My husband told me anyone my age watching the show should be just plain embarrassed!
In my defence, I wanted to check out what my 15 year old and her friends were watching…
and I kind of got hooked!
Like when I joined Facebook a few years back so I could understand what it was all about before I let my daughter join.
Come to think of it, I got a bit carried away back then too…
But if it wasn’t for the kids I would never, ever have read Twilight, The Hunger Games or know what Gangnam Style was!
And there’s nothing wrong with that!
Right???
I managed to tear myself away from the Stefan, Damon, Elena love triangle long enough to get this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe done.
And lucky I did, because it’s now almost midnight and I’ve just come back home from picking up my daughter and her friends from the cinema.
They watched the last Twilight movie and are sitting with tear stained faces telling me about the “horrible shocking twist at the end” while snacking on these bite sized puffs of cheesy comfort.
(Clearly now I have to go and see the movie!)
To see more golden cheesy filled puffs click here!
I’ve always wanted to be consistent and persistent.
I hear they are wonderful qualities.
Unfortunately they have never been qualities used to describe me!
Until now.
And it’s all thanks to this blog.
I guess when you find something you enjoy, you want to keep doing it.
I’m learning to not question (too much) why I enjoy doing this?!
To not try to dissect and understand it.
To just accept that it makes me happy.
And enjoy it.
I made this cake for my son’s 5th birthday.
The recipe is from Heather Baird’s SprinkleBakes book.
The kids loved it!
It’s such a great party cake!
It occurred to me it was also the perfect cake to celebrate my 100th post!
And my venture into the crazy new world of consistency and persistence!
This muffin was simple, sweet and easy.
The way life is meant to be.
Don’t get me wrong, I love fancy cakes.
With layers, fillings and frostings.
They’re stunning to look at and exciting to cut into.
But after dealing with the everyday dramas of life, every now and then you can’t beat simple.
It’s predictable.
Comforting.
Satisfying.
The perfect snack to come home to after school.
To fill up on after jumping on the trampoline with friends.
To pick at while catching up with friends over a cup of tea.
And to grab before heading out to the evening’s futsal match.
So when you are ready for some sweet simplicity in you life, head over to Alisa’s blog, Easier Than Pie to get the recipe.
I left out the cranberries from this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. I couldn’t find fresh or frozen ones anywhere! To be honest, fresh cranberries are not something I see too often in our stores. Plenty of dried cranberries! Especially Craisins! They’re actually very popular as a healthy snack. But no fresh ones, so I left them out!
I’m also writing this waiting in line to go on the Arkham Asylum ride at movie world on Queensland’s Gold Coast…
So it’s going to be short n sweet!
I didn’t particularly like this bread.
I was excited to make it, baking with pumpkin isn’t a big Aussie thing (unless I’m missing something?)! I love the idea of desserts with pumpkin! We tend to keep pumpkin as something you serve alongside a meal or in a salad. So this recipe was new and exciting for me!
Having said that I found the taste bland. Maybe more sugar would have helped? I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s tips once we get back!
Rebecca has the full recipe for you at This Bountiful Backyard if you’d like to check it out!
T
Kitchen Therapy 