Anyway, wattleseeds are, in my opinion, an under-utilised ingredient in Australian kitchens. They have a taste that is a hybrid of hazelnut, coffee and chocolate with a slight liquor after taste. In ground form (the form that I purchased from my health food store and is from the Vic Cherikoff range of aussie ingredients) is probably the easiest form to include in cooking. In the friands* below I included 1/8 C of ground wattleseeds to an adapted VCTOTW vanilla cupcake recipe, used homemade vanilla extract and also used 1tsp of homemade wattleseed extract that has been curing away in the depths of my pantry for three months**. As a finishing touch, after pouring the batter into my pretty friand tin, I added ~1tsp blueberry conserve to the centre of the batter.

You can just see the jumper of my friend from work as she was impatiently waiting for me to take a picture so she could eat one. She and the rest of my lab seemed to really like them, but I'm thinking they need a bit of work, especially as they didn't contain nut meal of any kind* and really are just muffins in friand- shaped moulds. One of my work friends suggested using hazelnut meal, which I think would be a perfect way of complementing the wattleseeds.

*Friands, or financiers as they are known in France, are usually golden buttery tea cakes. They're a popular type of morning tea here in Australia.

** I recently made several extracts (lavender, vanilla, hazelnut, wattleseed and coffee) using a handful of the product I wanted to extract flavour from, 2 cups of vodka, a glass jar and 1 TBSP of agave nectar. They take two months to cure and need to be kept in a dark place and shaken for a couple of seconds every day. The two month wait certainly pays off, as the extracts tend to be stronger than store bought and significantly cheaper per mL

I’m currently rediscovering one of my favorite desserts. Cantucci and  vin santo.Cantucci are best known as biscotti outside of Italy, which is actually surprisingly accurate and would probably get the tick of approval from your average Tuscan.  I say surprisingly because  we keepers of the great linguistic swamp mutant known as the English language show a general contempt for other tongues and usually do unspeakable things to their words  if  left alone with them for long. Anyway I digress; a good cantucco or biscotto is a fine thing. I use a slightly modified version of  Antonio Carluccio’s  recipe from  The Carluccio Collection: Baking .  It’s a very basic recipe that I will not provide here out of respect for Proffesori Carluccio and my general laziness.  The net will supply you with hundreds of recipes if you care to trawl. Instead of orange essence, I add orange flower water. This gives the biscuits a lovely elusive fragrance rather than the an orange cordial reek. I use un-roasted, un-blanched almonds, which despite the instructions of most recipes, should be added at the very end of the mixing process unless you want your biscuits full of pulverized nuts. I guess if you’re one of those ‘everything by hand’ weirdos it might work but I’m so deeply in love with my Kitchen Aid that Im bound to auto-mix. Don’t skimp on the double baking, that’s why they are called Bi-scotti [as in Bi=twise and Cotto=cook. The 'S' however remains great mystery to me] and likewise don’t walk away from the oven. They burn very, very quickly.While these biscuits are best know to most of us as the overpriced rusks  you dip into your coffee, this is not, by any means their best use. Far better to dip them in a luscious dessert wine, preferably sexy, silky, vin santo.

 Vin santo [meaning sacred or holy wine] is an ancient and revered Tuscan tipple made from grapes which are hung on racks and allowed to partially dry before pressing. It is then aged for at least a couple of years in small oak barrels. The finished wine has a rich, raisiny flavor and a silky but not syrupy texture. Various stories are used to explain the name, vin santo but mostly likely it started as a sacramental wine. Shame it isn’t used for this locally as I’m sure it would help me find God in a flash.

I was given [by my best beloved who has the good sense to ask me what I want in the way of gifts] a bottle of the very first New Zealand produced vin santo. Produced by Enzo Bettio, at Vin Alto[ http://www.vinalto.com/ ]  , the Italian specialist wine producers at Clevdon south of Auckland, this is a bold effort indeed. Notoriously expensive and temperamental to make but at least with the 2004 vintage vin santo, Enzo Bettio has done an outstanding job. Although not cheap [at about NZ$40_] by normal dessert wine standards, this is an exceptional product and a lot cheaper than even mid-range imported vin santo. All I can suggest is that you buy some and start baking. The cantucci with the wine may sound simple or even odd, but trust me, it’s a sublime combination.

Very simple but very good.

The last scones recipe I tried requires a lot of ingredients, especially the one cup of heavy cream and have many more steps during preparation. I didn't really like the heavy texture and thought I will put off baking scones till I saw this one from a Hong Kong website. I finally have the chance to prepare it for breakfast today. All I need is 20 mins of preparation and 15 mins of baking, it's so hassle-free that you won't mind preparing early in the morning. The dough isn't sticky and it's so easy to cut them into round shapes, I did heart shape in this case :) Added some sugar cos I realise the original recipe has none which mean it will be tasteless, also added vanilla essence for the fragrance. And yes, this is what I've been looking for, the light butter fragrant, the little moist texture and with a slab of strawberry jam = just nice to start a weekend!

Ingredients :
50g unsalted butter (I use Lurpak in this case as this will be the main ingredient to bring out the flavour)
150g self-raising flour
20g caster sugar
56g milk
30g raisins
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
Milk to brush

Method :
1. Sift self-raising flour and mix with caster sugar.
2. Rub butter into flour/sugar till fine crumbs.
3. Make a well in the center and add in the milk/vanilla (Stir vanilla into milk before pouring).
4. Lightly form a dough.
5. Roll out on a lightly dusted surface and cut into desired shape.
6. Brush the surface with milk and bake at 200 degrees for 15 mins.

Notes :
1. Make 12 small scones.
2. I added 10g flour as I feel it's a little wet.
3. I added sugar and vanilla essence.
4. Recipe adapted from here http://www.rthk.org.hk/elearning/dessert/cake_scones.htm

Recipe Ingredients:

1/2 cup Margerine, (1 stick)
2/3 cup Sugar
Dry sugar substitute equal
-to equal to 1/4 cup sugar
(optional)
1/4 cup Egg, (whites)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Black Walnut flavering
1/4 cup Water
2 cup All-purpose flour
1/3 cup Black Walnuts (chopped)
2 tsp Dry buttermilk
1 tsp Baking soda
1/4 tsp Salt

Recipe Instructions:

Cream margarine, sugar and dry sugar substitute together at medium speed until lightly and creamy. Add egg whites, flavoring and water, and mix at medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl before
and after adding egg whites, flavorings and water. Stir flour, nuts, dry buttermilk, baking soda and salt together to blend well, and add to creamy mixture. Mix at medium speed to blend. Drop dough by 1 1/2
tablespoonful onto cookie sheets that have been sprayed with pan spray or lined with aluminum foil. Press each cookie down to 1/2 thick with the back of a tablespoon dipped in cold water. Bake at 350 for 12 to 14 minutes, or until cookies are browned on the bottom. Remove them to a wire rack and cool room temperature.

Food Exchanges servings: 1 bread and 1 fat Calories: 107, CHO: 14g,
PRO: 2g, FAT: 5g, Na: 108mg, Cholesterol: 0

Source: Desserts for Diabetics by Mabel Cavaiani, R. D.

Brought to you and yours via Nancy O'Brion and her Meal-Master

Servings: 24

Unfortunately I can't think of anything that fascinating to share. But since when did that stop a blogger? I've been trying to red up the house this week. Nina has been here a few days, which really allowed me to gitter done. Hawk came home the other night and said, "Where's all the clutter?" Ah, that's what a gal likes to hear. Much better than "Where'd my shit go?"

I could talk about "Project Runway." I could talk about the guys trying to be Uberqueeny and the one who looks like the long-lost child of the OB who delivered Holden trying to make his little catchphrases catch on (Blayne -- that's not a name! That's a major appliance!) . I could talk about all the edgy, crafty chica girls (Emily, Kenley, Kelli) being so cut from the same cloth (heh) that the more mainstream girls (Leanne, Jennifer) seem like the true outsiders. I do think the Betty Page lookalike (Kenley) is nifty though.And I loved Kelli's ideas in the grocery challenge. Of course I like the edgy, crafty chicas. I'm just saying that there's more of them.

Have you seen Stella's headshot? Yikes. She seems to hate everyone and everything. Usually I'm cool with that but she really seems to just hate being there and doing the challenges. I'm like, Isn't this what you signed up for? Didn't you know what was involved? And the trash bag dress? She could have at least unfolded the bags. It's the same reason I don't like Johnny Rotten/Lydon/whatever he's calling himself today. I get him and I get Stella. It's just unenjoyable to watch them. Fashion is fun. It's fashion for chrissakes. Loosen up.

I was disappointed with Korto this week. Her grocery gown was amazing but the green fabrics, not so much. I'm glad she's still around b/c I want to see her work some more. And everytime I see her, I covet her hair.

What bugs me about this season so far is everyone sitting around and bitching. Bitching about the tablecloths from the grocery challenge (we shouldn't have picked fabric? but... but... that makes it hard!). Bitching about the satin from the green challenge (models is so stupid; they won't know how much to buy, to get thread and notions, etc.). That's part of the game, no? Finding a way to "make it work?"

Instead of kvetching that two other people have the same fabric, do something (gasp) creative with it! Or bitching that the colors "don't go together." So? Are you obliged to use both? And maybe they do go  together if you'd be (gasp) creative with what you're designing. Look what Suede did. Hawk called it "the Cherry Pie dress." At first I was all "ack" but then I was all "I dig." Then I was all "whoah."

So anyway...

I tried to make peanut butter cookies today & they burned. First batch: burned. Second batch, I took out sooner: slightly less burned. Third batch, I checked the oven thermometer. Oven: set at 375. Thermometer: 425. So I turned it down to 350 and the final cookies did somewhat better. I knew our oven was off. 375 seems to be the magic number. I also made some non-hash brownies (again) but I haven't had any of those yet. Hawk said they were good.

We're supposedly seeing Dark Knight on Monday. I told Hawk I wasn't putting out until I saw Dark Knight. Stuff like that, he sees as a challenge. My ultimatim lasted about half an hour. But it's on again. He's off at D&D night w/ S, B and the boyz. B was in Vegas recently so they'll probably have stuff to talk about. He even took a ride in onenna dem helee-copters. Okay, that's my third Mater reference in this post (and one Crush).

Sheriff: Mater! What did I tell you about talking to the accused?
Mater: Tuh not to.

Lightning McQueen: I'm serious! He's won three Piston Cups!
Mater: [spits out fuel] He did WHAT in his cup?

Mater: I'm happier 'n a tornado in a trailer park!

Mater: I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there.

Heh. I like that last one so much, I'ma make it mah post title. Now I is off tuh have a brownie and possibly watching that Prime Suspect DVD I didn't last week.

I don't think I'll ever be able to eat store bought hamburger buns again . . . ever. I knew when I started I shouldn't have made these. The moment I got the June issue of Gourmet magazine, I could think of little else. They were calling me like a siren's song. I ignored the little warning voice in my head and pulled out the Kitchen Aid from its place on the shelf. There was no turning back.

I baked these on a sweltering July day, which made for a bit of misery in the kitchen but the rising dough filled the house with that comforting yeasty smell of fresh bread. I admit that I was a bit nervous at the start. Any time I work with yeast, I always question whether the yeast and sugar mixture is foamy enough to begin. Do I start over? Is it all dissolved? Will it rise? That being said this was the first time that I had no question that my yeast was alive and ready to work. I mixed the warm water, sugar, and yeast together and turned around to work on something else. When I turned back around to check its progress, the yeast had gone to work and the mixture was fluffy and foamy, rising high in the bottom of the mixing bowl. I was encouraged.

Since it happened to be a sweltering July day, I figured I would place the dough on the balcony outside where it would be free from draft and air conditioning. This, I believe, was the key to my success. The dough bubbled up and out of the large bowl where it was placed. The heat seemed to have the perfect effect. I've never had dough rise so high so quickly (granted it was still a couple of hours). I was encouraged further.

Back inside, the dough was easily rolled out and cut into the buns. My dough happened to be very sticky, which explains the thick layer of flour covering my counter top. I was taking no chances. The last thing I wanted after waiting two hours for the dough to rise was to have it all stick to the counter.

The pretty dough now in the shape of buns was placed onto cookie sheets ready for the second rise. And quite to my delight, the second rise was as successful as the first. The little buns pushed upward and outward. Right before my eyes they bloomed into beautiful, full, fluffy buns ready for the oven. An egg wash was applied and into the hot oven they went. The waiting seemed so long. They smelled so good. The hamburgers were on the grill. The feast was ready to commence and out of the oven emerged golden, soft hamburger buns. That was the best hamburger I have ever eaten. As the juice of the first summer tomato was dripping down my arm from my hamburger, I commented to S that we could have been eating hours earlier. But it just wouldn't have been the same and it never will be. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat store bought hamburger buns again . . . ever.

Hamburger Buns
Gourmet June 2008

2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup war water (105-115 degrees)
2 (1/4 oz) packages active dry yeast
1/4 cup plus 1/2 tsp sugar, divided
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into TBSP pieces and softened
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 TBSP salt
6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 large egg mixed with 1 TBSP water for egg wash
Equipment: a stand mixer with paddle and dough-hook attachments; a 3-inch round cookie cutter

1. Bring milk to a bare simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and cool to 105 to 115 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, stir together warm water, yeast, and 1/2 tsp sugar in mixer bowl until yeast has dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, start over with new yeast).
3. Add butter, warm milk, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar to yeast mixture and mix with paddle attachment at low speed until butter has melted, then mix in eggs until combined well. Add salt and 4 cups flour and mix, scraping down side of bowl as necessary, until flour is incorporated. Beat at medium speed 1 minute.
4. Switch to dough hook and beat in remaining 2 cups of flour at medium speed until dough pulls away from side of bowl, about 2 minutes; if necessary, add more flour, 1 TBSP at a time. Beat 5 minutes more. (Dough will be sticky).
5. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled large bowl and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm draft-free place until doubled, about 2 1/2 hours.
6. Butter 2 large baking sheets. Punch down dough, then roll out on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 14 inch round (about 1/2 thick). Cut out as many rounds as possible with floured cutter and arrange 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Gather and reroll scraps, then cut out more rounds.
7. Loosely cover buns with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until they hold a finger mark when gently poked-1 1/2 to 2 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds.
9. Brush buns with egg wash and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are golden and undersides are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, 14 to 20 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool completely.
*Buns can be frozen, wrapped well, up to 1 month.

I saw the recipe on www.foodtv.com also and it gets so many rave reviews.

The whole process was fairly easy. Ingridients are easy to find and directions are easy to follow. After the cakes baked, I found 2 problems.

1. Cake tops are hard.

2. Cakes stuck on the bottom of the pans. I  baked them in non-stick loaf pans and I even sprayed the pans with cooking sprays.

Other than those two problems, everything else is great. The cakes taste SOOOOOOOOO good. Without a doubt this is the best Pound Cake I ever tasted. I am just not sure what I did wrong that the cake tops harden and the cake bottoms stuck on the bottom of the pans.

If you have any advice on how to avoid those two problems, would you let me know. Thanks in advance!!!

Well, I was having a full-on PMS day: grumpy, moody, craving that unknown something. I took a shower, thinking that would help me shake off my bad mood. When I got out of the shower, my house smelled like cookies. Like the Keebler Elves snuck in while I was in the bathroom and whipped up a batch of something yummy.

Well, it was better than that. My Sweetie had baked peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! I followed my nose down the stairs, and found these waiting for me.

The recipe is from the Foster's Market Cookbook, a perennial favorite of mine. It has everything from simple summer salads to savory roasts and delightful desserts. Definitely worth checking out. (Note:while looking up the link I noticed she has some new books--must check them out!)

These peanut butter cookies turn out great every time, and with the addition of some mini chocolate chips are sure not to last long in my house. Thank you, Sweetness!

Wineberry pie is a part of my "food culture," to quote Michael Pollan.  My great-grandmother, who we called Grandma Rose, would make wineberry pie once a year, and we would all enjoy it while it lasted.  There's a very short period of time each year between when the wineberries ripen and when the birds have eaten them all.  To take advantage of that time while it lasted, we'd pick the raspberry-like berries, being careful not to eat any (okay, we ate some), and bring them to Grandma to make her pie.  I remember making a wineberry pie with her one summer, probably when I was about 12 years old.  Rolling out the crust, mixing the wineberries with sugar and flour, using a fork to crimp the edges of the crust, cutting slits in the top to let out the steam, and being sure to place the pie on a tray to bake in the oven.  You see, wineberry pies aren't officially baked until the rich, red syrup has bubbled over the edge.

In my botany class, when we learned to identify the plant, I shared stories with my fellow students about wineberry pie and Grandma Rose.  Everyone wished I would make them a pie, but of course it wasn't the right season.  Interestingly, we learned that wineberries are an invasive species from Asia.  To learn more about the plant, you can visit this site.

The other night, I noticed the wineberries were beginning to ripen.  I made a date with my mom to go pick some, as I noticed quite a few growing up the road at an old, abandoned house.  We walked up the quiet road, picking berries, chatting and joking about what we'd do if a black bear came upon us.  Mom said she'd give it the berries, but I wasn't so sure...  Then we saw a deer and figured we were safe, since if there was a bear around, the deer wouldn't be there.  The birds hadn't yet gotten to the wineberries, and picking went quickly.  Before we knew it, we had three quarts full and decided that was enough for today.  I've thought about freezing some, but I really enjoy that they're only available once a year.  That's what makes them such a special treat.

This afternoon, I turned the wineberries into two pies, one large one for my mom, dad and brothers, and a smaller one for me and Ed.  I have photocopies of Grandma Rose's journals of recipes, and in her 99 1/2 years she was constantly cooking.  Most of her recipes are just lists of ingredients, with a baking temperature thrown in every so often.  The techniques and cook's notes were in her head, so it is left up to me to fill those in.  Of course, nothing I make is the exact same as Grandma Rose's, but my creations are always reminiscent of hers, which makes my cooking taste all the better.

Grandma Rose's Wineberry Pie

• 2 pie crusts
• 1 quart wineberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp butter, cut in small pieces

The ingredients are hers, but the directions are mine, the best I can do after a few years worth of trying to replicate her pie.  Put one crust in the bottom of a 8" pie pan.  Combine wineberries, sugar and flour in a bowl, and pour into the bottom crust.  Dot with butter, then lay the top crust over the berries.  Crimp the edges, using a fork or your fingers, and cut slits in the top or a hole in the middle.  Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for about 40-50 minutes more, until the crust is golden brown and the red juices spill out.  Cool and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.  If you want to make a bigger or smaller pie, adjust ingredients accordingly (depending on how many berries you can pick).

My pal Naomi, her other half Mark & their little boy Josh all moved to Devon yesterday :(

It hasn't really sunk in yet that they've gone... I expect that will happen over the next few weeks... More cake was needed to ease the sorrows so a variation of the chocolate cake was created. We all had a piece cut with a spoon as I forgot to take a knife out with me! Shortly after Lisa noticed I was coming out in horrendous hives... they look and itch like nettle rash. Unfortunately it seems I have developed an allergy to chocolate... arrgh! I had suspected it for a while (due to the regular appearance of hives) but was resistant to accepting it... So I went cold turkey on the chocolate only to discover that chocolate wasn't the only culprit... and have had to stop eating cheese and citrus fruit as well. What's going on?!?! until a few months ago I ate all of them without a problem... sigh... no more cheesecake either... sob...! Right I feel a bit better to get that out of my system... so onto the recipes :)

Chocolate cake/ Chocolate orange cake...

(my personalised/ammended version of the chocolate mud cake recipe found in Jane Price's guide to cake decorating)

Ingredients will make a 7 inch square or a 8 inch round cake

• 190g/6oz unsalted butter
• 190g/6oz dark chocolate/orange dark chocolate
• 140ml/5fl oz water
• 110g/3 1/2oz self raising flour
• 110g/3 1/2oz plain (all purpose) flour
• 40g/1 1/2oz cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 420g/14oz caster sugar
• 3 very large eggs
• 6 tsp vegetable oil
• 95mls/3fl oz buttermilk

Method

• Put the chocolate, butter & water in a pan over a low heat and stir gently until everything is melted... being careful not overheat it & remove the pan from heat as soon as everything is combined.
• Sift flours, cocoa powder & bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir in the caster sugar & make a well in the middle. Add the melted chocolate/butter/water, buttermilk, eggs & oil to the flours etc and stir until completely combined.
• Pour into your desired greased/baking parchment lined tin and pop into a pre heated oven at 160C/315F/gas mark 2~3 for about 1hr 40mins. My oven cooked it about 10mins quicker as my cake tin has very thin walls and cooks very fast. You can test whether the cake is done... towards the end of the baking time.. by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean... not with gloopy mix on it... it is most likely ready!

Leave your chocolate cake to cool completely then generously fill and top with either the.....

The White chocolate & sour cream icing from her cappuccino cupcakes in How to be a domestic goddess by Nigella Lawson & after applying icing to cake... dust it with a tiny bit of cocoa powder.

Or go for serious chocolate overload with dark chocolate ganache in Nigella Lawson's Feast

...I got to try out my new cake pan to bake a treat for the twins' two week birthday.

It's no Charm City Cake, but it's certainly the cutest cake I've ever made.

It reminds me of these cupcakes that our friend Andee painted for our nursery.

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix (enough for a 13x9 size cake)
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
2 eggs
1 14.oz-can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine cake mix, peanut butter, eggs and 1/2 cup melted butter by hand. Pat 2/3 of the mixture into bottom of ungreased 13x9 pan. In a saucepan, combine chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and 2 Tbsp. butter over low heat until melted, stirring until smooth. Remove and pour over cake mixture. Use remaining dough to cover filling. Work slowly and carefully by putting pieces of flattened batter on top of the chocolate. Some of the chocolate filling will show through and that's fine. Bake for 20-25 minutes (don't overbake.) Cool before cutting.

My birthday is technically tomorrow, but I didn't think I would have time to bake muffins, so I did some today. They are really sweet, in fact they might make you a little hyper if you had one.

I put one bar of white chocolate, one bar of milk chocolate, one bag of chocolate chips and one bag of white chocolate chips. On top I drizzled homemade icing and put sugar shapes. A neat trick is to not melt the chocolate beforehand, instead break into pieces and make sure some oozes out the center of the muffin as a filling.

I currently have about 50 muffins lying around here. CRAZY!!

Confiture de lait - France's version of dulce de leche.  It couldn't be easier to make and it's great for drowning sorrows.  A couple of cans of condensed milk, a couple of splashes of vanilla, and a couple of pinches of grey sea salt stirred together in glass pie plate.  Cover with  foil and place in a water bath in 400 degree oven for about 2 hours.  I will caution you to keep a close eye on the water level.  If it runs dry, bad things happen to the good things in the pie plate.  Pull it carefully out of the oven, uncover and give it a little whisking to make sure it's nice and smooth.  Once it's cooled spread it on a hunk of a baguette, pour it over ice cream, drizzle it into a cup of coffee or tea, and have a spoonful straight from the glass. 

I feel a little better now.

I picked up these beautiful currants at the Palisades Farmers Market last weekend. I love when the currants start ripening - it's the sure sign that the tomatoes (the most coveted summer fruit) are getting close (mine are all still green).

There are actually two different fruits that we call currants: the tiny little dried grapes, which are often mistaken for currants and the tiny fresh berries seen above that are actually currants! They are usually named after their color - red currants, black currants or the rare, coveted white currants. Currants are closely related to the gooseberry, which puts them in that family of tart, but very flavorful berries.  They aren't around for long, so if you see them this weekend, be sure to pick some up!

Here are some of our favorite recipes for currants:

Red Currant & Lemon Tartlets from Martha Stewart

Zucchini Tart with Curried Custard & Dried Currants from 101 Cookbooks

Semolina Bread with Currants, Fennel & Pine Nuts from Wild Yeast

We heartily endorse community here. This isn't a typical North-sponsored event, but this is a community event. It's easy to meet new people if you have something in common, so take this opportunity to meet some people from North who have the same interests as you.

It's a very thin dough, and does take quite a bit of work. But the outcome is wonderful! You can roll the dough around a small tube, let it cool, and then fill with chocolate, whip cream, cream cheese, or any other filling you like. You can make little baskets with them to fill with ice cream, pudding, or any other "filling" dessert. You can click here for a recipe.

I will say, if you decide to make these cookies, go into it with a lot of time and a lot of patience. Expesially your first time. Frustration and a contraint on time will get you nowhere with these tasty little tid-bits.

When you've finished, take a picture and send it to me! I'd love to post it here.

Happy Baking!

Tiffany
Owner
Ohma’s Cookies

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http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Crumb-Muffins/Detail.aspx

The one note I have on the following recipe is that I think it asks you to bake the bread too long, so I would start checking the loaf for done-ness around 45 minutes, don't wait until an hour 15. . . you might have charred banana bread then!

Recipe for Tyler Florence's Banana Bread with Pecans

Off to make apple cream turnovers later - and I'll make sure I upload plenty of photos.

Individual Apple and Berry Crumble
serves one studious loner

about half a cup of frozen berries (any kind, I used mixed)
about half an apple, sliced thinly
1 heaped tbsp oats
1 heaped tbsp wholemeal flour
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp nuttelex
sprinkle of cinnamon

Fill a small oven proof ramekin almost to the top with the frozen berries and apple.
In a small bowl mix the remaining ingredients with your fingertips til it gets crumbly.
Press onto the berry/apple mix so it stays put.
Cook about 30 mins at 200.

Recipe Ingredients:

2 cups sifted cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp softened margarine
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar-free strawberry jam
1 cup nondairy whipped topping

Recipe Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 8 inch round cake pans with parchment paper or waxed paper. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer at medium speed, cream together margarine, vanilla and almond extract until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating constantly. Add egg; beat until mixture is fluffy. Then, stirring with a spoon, add the dry ingredients alternately with milk, stirring after each addition until batter is smooth.

Turn into the prepared pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until done. When cool spread the strawberry jam between the layers. Spread whipped topping on the top. Store in refrigerator until just before serving. If you want you can add a drop of red food coloring to the whipped topping before putting it on top of cake.

Servings: 4

Last week we picked Ranier, Bing and Van cherries and brought home over 50 pounds. Since then, we've made 4 cherry pies (don't worry- we gave all but one away), 3 batches of cherry freezer jam, cherry crisp (not the tastiest recipe, but it worked) and cherry clafoutis (CLA-foo-tea). I didn't use Alicia's recipe, but used one from our favorite French cookbook. Chris loves this book and has tried many recipes and *all* of them have been superb.

This week we hit one farm and came home with marionberries, boysenberries, raspberries, and blueberries. I have enough for at least 5 pies (pre-measured in baggies) and enough for pancakes, muffins, crepes and snacking. These frozen bags of goodness help us get through all those rainy winter months. We also grabbed some snow peas, beets (my favorite), and pole beans. Morning Shade Farm is wonderful because they have it all! I was mad I had just bought a gigantic jar of honey from Costco because the farm had fresh honey too! Chris even gave the kids a quick honeybee lesson because the hives were next to the berries and we all got a chance to sit and watch them work. It was a great day.

I plan on hitting the farm again next week and stocking up on more of the summer's harvest because before I know it, fall will be here. We're going to enjoy every bit of our NW's freshness in the meantime!

휴~~드뎌 완성했습니다..흐흐흐

이번주말에 competition 이 있거덩여...^^

저번 주말부터 이거 하느라...꼼지락 꼼지락...집에서도 학교에서도

오늘 다 만들고..내일은 시카고로 놀러갑니다...휘리릭~~~