Key Lime Squares

I bought a bag of key limes last week and I have been using the lime juice mostly on my tortilla chips, but I really wanted to make a key lime dessert. I have a great key lime pie recipe, but I wanted to try something else, something smaller, like maybe a tarlet? I wanted something a little more individual serving size-ish. Anyway, I found this recipe from Martha Stewart for Key Lime Squares. SCRUMPTIOUS! And, actually, it turns out that the filling is the exact same recipe as my Key Lime Pie recipe that I have from my mom. The hubs' only criticism was that it was possibly a little too zingy in the filling, but that was my own mistake. After squeezing all the juice from those teeny-tiny limes, I got a little too far into the zone and added 2 1/2 tsp of zest instead of just 1 1/2. So there. That should account for the extra zing. Still delicious if you ask me! Extra bonus points because my arms are so much buffer today than they were 2 days ago from extracting all that zippy juice from those miniature green globes of citrus!

I sent all the leftover squares with hubs to work to get them out of my kitchen. They call to me. But maybe I can still lose my 7 pounds if I send the extras away.

Chocolate Friands

This recipe came from a new book for me, but I'm not even going to cite it because it was nothin' great. In fact, the cake recipe was downright dull. However, the redeeming quality of this experience was that it was a fun idea to do a delicious, dense, richly chocolatey cake in a one or two bite size. I would recommend using your favorite chocolate cake recipe that is just too rich for an entire slice. Half that recipe (or even less if you are a master mathematician and worried about your hips) and then bake them in lined mini muffin tins at the temperature recommended for your recipe until a testing stick comes out clean from the center. Let them cool completely on a rack.

My recipe for this ganache is...

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 c heavy cream

Bring the cream to just under a boil in a small saucepan. Have the chocolate waiting in a heatproof bowl. When the heavy cream is ready pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute then stir it gently with a rubber spatula to combine.

Dip the tops of the mini cakes into the ganache. Return the cakes to a cooling rack and let them set up. A little drizzled caramel is delicious over the tops. Enjoy.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal raisin cookies are my hubs' favorite. He wanted to bake some this afternoon so I found us this great recipe that makes perfect, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. Now, the hubs is technically the one who made them, but I found the recipe. I scooped and dropped. I supervised the chilling and bake times. Really he only mixed a few ingredients- and, not to discredit him too much, but the KitchenAid did most of the mixing labor. Anyway, they were super delicious. This recipe yields just the perfect amount- enough that our little family can enjoy them but not so many as I have to worry about excessive amounts hanging around the kitchen and threatening my hips with extra cushioning and width.

S'mores Bars

Mm, Mm! We had some friends with small kiddies over for a casual dinner on Sunday and I made these delicious s'mores bars for our dessert. They have been my go-to treat whenever I haven't had the time to get something else together. They are delicious with chopped peanuts on top with the toasted mallows and chocolate chips or with just peanut butter chips like I used in the picture above. Sweetness!

I am definitely in a baking mood. I just ordered myself a french pastry cookbook and some new crinkle cookie cutters. I had to hurry and just do it before I talked myself out of it, seeing as how my baking repertoire is pretty plain-jane basic. French pastries are a bit ambitious, right? Well, I guess I am feeling gutsy and, for the moment, committed. I hope that I don't lose this drive before the dark brown truck backs into my driveway in 3-5 business days and Mr UPS guy hand-delivers them to my door. Meanwhile, I am tearing pages out of my favorite magazines with fun Valentine's Day ideas to adorn my nightstand and occupy my thoughts while I wait for sleep to find me at night.

Sweet Dreams!

100% Whole Wheat Goodness

So, as a first posting to this new blog, I think it is fitting for me to introduce at least a couple of my newer interests in one fabulous loaf! 100% Whole Wheat Bread!

Some of my new year's resolutions are to a) help myself and my family to a healthier eating lifestyle, b) contribute to my family's finances by saving money that would have been spent, which to me is the same as making money and c) to pick up and develop at least one new hobby during 2010.

This loaf fulfills the 3 resolutions above. Well, at least it is a vessel to carry me towards fulfillment. I am trying to use more whole grain goodness and ease my husband and little girls into the acquired taste for health. They eat this up. By baking the bread at home I am making money because I would be spending it on bread and more than it costs me to make it. And finally, I am learning the art of baking- at least a bit of it.

I got the recipe off the bag of King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour, but you can also get it here. The only thing I did differently was to add about 1 Tbs of wheat gluten.

It is tasty!