Something To Brighten Your Day

These days, I cannot pass up any opportunity to make my day a little brighter, a little happier even. So, when my dear friend T from Chicago shared this recipe for Key Lime Pie With Blueberry Compote, found in the Chicago Tribune and fervently (but sweetly) asked me to bake and blog about it, I could not say no.

Life has been a little tough for me lately and baking and cooking have not been on my regular repertoire, but because I knew this would actually be good for me to do and because I love T, I went out today to get all the ingredients and baked the pie today. As I was putting the recipe together, I discovered that I missed baking and being in the kitchen. I missed that sense of accomplishment and pride that comes with throwing eggs and butter and blueberries together and then coming up with something delicious to nourish our bodies and our souls with. This evening I treated myself to two slices of this creamy, tangy, yummy pie and made sure to add extra whipped cream for myself. Yes, this day was a little brighter. Thank-you, T.

Recipe for Key Lime Pie With Blueberry Compote (adapted from Chicago Tribune):

Crust: - You can purchase a graham cracker crust, or make this one:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used cinnamon graham crackers)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup fresh lime juice (I used bottle Key Lime Juice)
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup blueberries

Compote:
1 pint fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar – I cut this down to 1/4 cup for less sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Crust: Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt in a medium bowl; stir in the melted butter. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch, buttered pie pan, just even with the rim. Bake until crust just begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; set aside to cool, about 5 minutes.

Filling: Combine the condensed milk, lime juice and zest in a large bowl until blended; whisk in the eggs. Pour the filling into the baked crust. Return to oven; bake until set, about 20 minutes. Cool completely on a rack; scatter the 1/4 cup blueberries evenly over top. Cover; refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. (Pie may be refrigerated up to 3 days.)

Compote: Combine the blueberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. (Compote may be refrigerated, covered, up to 3 days.) Cut the pie into wedges; serve with compote and whipped cream

(this post is dedicated to my late father, who would have celebrated his 79th birthday today. Happy birthday, Pop).

Feeling Like Flan

For the next few weeks the theme of my food blog will be all about "soft foods". Think puddings, soups, tofu...you get the idea. Maybe you're wondering why. Well, just last week I endured two hours in the dental chair to have two new crowns placed. Right now, I've got a couple temporary crowns which are not the most comfortable things to have in one's mouth. Those of you with crowns can relate to this, I'm sure. Yet, I'm determined to make the "best" of this situation and more than that, determined to not have these temporaries fall out until my next dental visit during the first week of August. This of course means the less chewing and chomping I do, the better, and hence, the "soft food" diet is upon me. So, today I made flan. I have never been a big flan fan until a coworker brought some in for our last Cinco De Mayo potluck. It was light, creamy and not overly sweet. In fact, that was the recipe I was hoping to make today but I discovered I left the notes at work. I opted for this Vanilla Flan recipe from Epicurious instead. It's a little lighter than other flans in the fat department--you can actually use skim milk if you'd like but I chose low fat. It was deliciously smooth and yummy and the best part was, my teeth didn't have to do a lot of work to enjoy it.

BYOB

It feels so good to be baking and blogging again. These last several weeks, I have been a bit under the weather and had to take a little break from the kitchen. The good news is, I am on the mend and thought I'd "celebrate" my first post for July with a beautifully rich and moist Beer Cake from today's Los Angeles Times Food section. This cake made my whole house smell so good while it was baking and I really couldn't wait to take a bite of it as soon as it was done. Since I didn't want to burn my tongue though, I managed to wait for the cake to cool before giving it a taste this evening. Wow, this cake is delicious! It reminded me of a luscious spice cake but with a lot more rich flavor to it. The beer truly adds to this flavor but believe me, there's definitely no "beer-taste" anywhere to be found. Hope you will give it a try. Happy baking! (click here for the recipe)

Friday's Sweet Treat

I just wanted to share a quick post with you today. It's for a Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze, a recipe that can be found on the Leite's Culinaria website. The cake is loaded with a combination of both Granny Smith and Fuji apples as well as lots of pecans, then topped off with caramel. It is lusciously moist and is perfect for breakfast or dessert. I would recommend a big mug of coffee or a cold glass of milk to go with it. Click here if you would like to give this delicious recipe a try yourself.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Make a lemon cake!

Over the last three days, I have been craving lemon cake. Ever since my boyfriend described a delectable slice he had the other day at a business event, lemon cake has been on my mind. My brain cells began working overtime, trying to find a recipe that would fit my needs and satisfy my craving. First, my cake had to be luscious and moist; second, and this was a bit more challenging, I did not want a cake that was too fattening or high in calories; lastly, being the citrus-lover that I am, the cake had to pack a whopping punch of lemony flavor. Searching through my cookbook collection for something that fit the bill was a bit tricky but when I found this recipe for yogurt cake, I knew I could make it work. The recipe comes from the cookbook, “Chocolate and Zucchini” and makes a wonderful base for all sorts of flavors, particularly lemon. I loved how simple and straightforward this recipe was, and with just a few tweaks here and there, I was able to customize it to my liking. You would never know that I only used one-third cup of oil and non-fat yogurt because the texture of the cake was quite moist, luscious and delicious. Though the cake tasted so good on its own without a glaze or frosting, I chose to make a low fat lemon curd to top onto the cake. This made for a nice, refreshing, and lip-puckering touch. I would have to say that this dessert has achieved a spot on my favorite list. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Lemon Yogurt Cake (adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini by Clotilde Dusolier)
Serves 10 people:

ingredients-
1/3 cup Canola oil
1 cup plain, non-fat yogurt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon rum (optional)
Juice of one whole lemon
Zest of one whole lemon
1 and 2/3 cup AP flour
1 and ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
A pinch of sea salt

directions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the sides of a 10-inch spring form pan or a cake pan with cooking spray (line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper if not using a spring form)
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the yogurt and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla, oil, rum (if using) and mix again. Lastly, stir in the lemon juice and zest.
In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Pour the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture and whisk until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and allow to stand for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the pan to loosen or if using a spring form pan, unclasp the sides. Flip the cake onto a plate a place back on the rack.

Lemon Curd (from Alice Medrich's Chocolate and the Art of Low Fat Desserts)

ingredients-

1/3 cup strained, fresh lemon juice

fresh lemon zest from one-half of a lemon

5 tbsp sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

directions-
In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, combine sugar and lemon juice. Add the lemon zest, stir until the sugar is dissolved completely.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg. While whisking constantly, very slowly stream the hot lemon-sugar syrup into the egg. Beat for about 2 minutes , then transfer this mixture back into the saucepan by pouring through a strainer. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the curd just comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.Transfer to a small airtight container and allow to cool. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes about 2/3 cup.

Note: The cake can be eaten slightly warm or at room temperature. Once its cool you can wrap the cake in foil and keep at room temperature for several days. The flavors get more intense and delicious after a day or so.

Daring Bakers Go To The Opera

I have to admit, I was a little hesitant about completing this month’s Daring Baker’s Challenge. Well, maybe intimidated is more accurate! I mean, could I possibly pull off such a complicated sounding recipe such as this Opera Cake? I had never even heard of such a dessert until a little less than a month ago when our lovely hosts Ivonne, Lis, Fran and Shea announced that this would be our challenge for May. I initially read the recipe over a couple times and each time thought, 'this sounds too hard!’ I didn't pick up the the recipe again until a few days before the long Memorial Holiday weekend and this time, after a few more reads, I actually felt excited about attempting this challenge. This is gonna sound corny but as I was reading the recipe for the third and fourth time I began to think about what being a Daring Baker means and why I joined DB in the first place. I knew one reason I joined was to stretch and challenge myself in the baking arena; another was to learn more from others who shared a passion for baking; and most of all, I joined the DB'ers to have fun! And was this Opera Cake FUN to make! Yes, it did entail many steps, and YES, I did have some frustrating moments especially when the butter cream which turned out so lovely on Saturday night, did not look so hot on Sunday morning. Still though, this recipe allowed me to be a little more creative by choosing the flavorings which was an orange and almond theme. I chose to add some Mandarin oranges in between the layers of the jaconde, added Grand Marnier to the white chocolate ganache, almond extract was used in the syrup, and I topped the finished cake with almond slices and more oranges. Oh my gosh, this cake was delicious! The Opera Cake made its "debut" at a family get together this past Sunday and was a huge hit! The flavors worked well together and despite all the butter, cream and chocolate, there was still a lovely lightness to the cake. Are you up for the Opera Cake challenge? If so, you can find the full

recipe on Ivonne's site if you click here. I'll see you at the Opera!

Fruity Blondies

It's been a busy week as my boyfriend's nephew and his girlfriend were visiting us from Chicago. It was lots of fun showing them around the city especially because they had never been to California before. Since they were in town, I did a little baking and decided to bake up a batch of cranberry and raisin blondies, a recipe I've had my eye on for some time now. If you are a blondie fan (and I’m not talking about the 70’s rock band here), I think you will find many things to like about this bar cookie which is filled with not only luscious cranberries, but rum-soaked golden raisins too. You could probably make them even more decadent by adding some butterscotch chips or chocolate chunks, but I decided not to this time. I also left out the nuts because I wanted the focus to be more on the juicy cranberries and raisins. Coming out of the oven, I was worried that the blondies were going to be a little on the dry side. The baking time said anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes but you know how ovens can vary, so I opted for the 35 minute baking time. Still though, I prefer a chewy, gooey blondie and these were just a tad drier than I liked, almost with a tea cake-like texture. So, my recommendation is to keep an eye out on the baking time and check how they’re coming along perhaps at the 28-30 minutes mark. I enjoyed the butterscotch flavor of these blondies very much, and found the cranberries and raisins added quite a tasty and pretty touch.

Fruity Blondies (adapted from Gourmet's Best Desserts)

ingredients--

1 C cranberries, rinsed, picked over and chopped

1 and 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup raisins

1/4 cup rum (light or dark will work)

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 and 3/4 cups AP flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

directions--

1. Butter/grease an 8X8-inch pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Toss the cranberries with 2 tablespoons brown sugar in a small bowl and let the mixture stand for 15 minutes.

3. Combine the raisins and rum in a small saucepan; bring the liquid to a boil and simmer the raisins, covered, for 5 minutes or until they have absorbed the rum. Let cool.

4. Melt the butter in a saucepan over moderately low heat; add the remaining 1 and 3/4 cups brown sugar, cook the mixture, stirring, until it is just bubbly. Transfer the mixture to a heat-proof bowl and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir the batter until it is combined well. Fold in the cranberry mixture and raisins, and turn the batter into the baking pan, spreading it evenly (batter will be very thick).

5. Bake it in the middle of the oven for 35-45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (Check at 30 minute mark so you do not over bake).

6. Allow the pan to cool on a rack and cut into bars.

Yields about 30 small bars

Another Indonesian Treat

This is my second Indonesian dessert that I have posted so far (see black sticky rice), something I found on Arfi's lovely website, HomemadeS. The dish is called Kueh Klepon which translates to sticky rice coconut balls. It is made with sticky rice flour, the stuff that Japanese mochi is made from, and can be filled with either grated palm sugar or even better, if you can find it, dark brown palm sugar. I only had regular palm sugar on hand so I stuck with that. It’s a pretty simple and fun dessert to make and really didn’t take much time at all. My friend T from Chicago was visiting one weekend and we decided to make these together on a Saturday morning. I didn't have any pandan paste so mine did not have the traditional green shade that Arfi's had, but they still tasted good. If you are a fan of mochi, I think you will like these treats. If you have not tried sticky rice desserts yet, give this recipe a try. I used a brand of sticky rice flour called Mochiko which you can find at most Asian grocery stores. I added a pandan leaf to the boiling water to give it a more traditional Indonesian flavor. Pandan leaves may be a little tricky to find at your Asian grocer but the wonderful aroma and flavor that you get with them is worth the effort of seeking them out. You may have to ask around and check in the frozen food section. To see the recipe and to check out Arfi's very pretty Kueh Klepon, click here.

Lollipop, Lollipop...!

This month's Daring Baker's Challenge, Cheesecake Pops, was one of the most fun, creative, and whimsical recipes I've tried in a long while. I sort of felt like a candy maker as I dipped each cheesecake-on-a-stick into melted white and dark chocolate and then sprinkled all sorts of goodies onto the lollipops. I chose a bunch of different toppings for the pops like crushed graham crackers, chocolate and candy-coated sprinkles, crushed almond rocca, flaked coconut, and crushed chocolate wafers. This recipe makes a huge batch (I'm still making them as I type this!) so my lucky coworkers will be getting their share of lollipops come Monday morning. My boyfriend took a sample of a lollipop this morning and absolutely loved it. So a big thank-you to Deborah of Taste and Tell and Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms for choosing April's DB Challenge. And if you'd like to check out other DB'ers version of Cheesecake Pops click HERE, or to make your own, check out this recipe on Deborah's site. Enjoy!

So Berry Delicious!

Last week, Deborah from Taste and Tell posted a recipe for Blackberry Pie Bars that looked so mouth-watering good, I knew I could not pass it up. I used strawberries in place of the blackberries which resulted in a dessert that tasted like “a strawberry pie on steroids” (this is a direct quote from a friend who took a bite)! I think his words described this dessert perfectly. Not shy in the butter department, the “pie” crust was melt-in-your-mouth delectable, and the strawberry-sour cream filling was rich, sweet, and tangy. These bars are perfect for sharing with others or for bringing to your next potluck. In addition to being so darn good, the recipe yields a pretty large batch and keeps well in the fridge (that is, if they even last that long)! I’m definitely going to make these again and will probably experiment with different berries next time. By the way, don't worry if you don't have a food processor large enough to mix the crust ingredients in. I mixed everything by hand and with my pastry cutter and the results were just fine! Thanks Deborah, for sharing this great recipe (click HERE for the bars).

Not Your Mother's Pumpkin Pie

Searching for the perfect “make ahead” dessert the other day, I came across a luscious recipe for Freezer Pumpkin Pie, once again found on the Allrecipes website. Not only could I make it a couple days before a dinner party I was hosting, but boy did this come together quickly. The only rate limiting step was waiting for the pie crust to cool down. I changed a couple things on the recipe though: I used graham crackers instead of ginger snaps, and a combination of walnuts and pecans for the crust. Everything about this recipe was nice and easy, and the end result was a huge hit with my friends. The ice cream mixture really did have the flavors of delicious pumpkin pie filling and the nutty crust was scrumptious! I liked this so much that I’m already thinking about serving this for Thanksgiving dessert rather than the traditional pumpkin pie. This tasted exceptionally yummy with some whipped cream on top too. Enjoy! (click here for the recipe).

An Apple Treat

In our house, we love eating apples so there's almost always an abundance of them in our kitchen. Whether eaten raw, or cooked in a savory or sweet dish, apples are probably one of the most versatile fruits out there. So, when I came across this recipe that incorporated apples with other wonderful things like nuts and spices, I was eager to give it a shot. These Apple Squares were posted on one of my favorite food websites, http://www.allrecipes.com/. With its almost pie-like, gooey texture, they are a more delicate version of the "bar cookie". Eat them plain or topped with some whipped cream because either way, they are delicious! I hope you enjoy! (click here for the recipe)

Something Peanutty

I celebrated my blog's 1 year anniversary this week! April first, to be exact. It's been an awesome year of cooking, experimenting, trying, failing, succeeding, and best of all, getting to know some of my fellow foodies and food bloggers from all over the world. Thank-you so much for visiting my little site, and giving me your feedback and encouragement. I've appreciated all your comments and support! Tonight I really felt like making something yummy and comforting with one of my favorite food groups: peanut butter! I came across this recipe for Crunchy Peanut Butter Brownies on the Slashfood website. It had everything I was looking for and seemed like a fairly simple recipe to throw together. The topping is actually a combination of cream cheese, peanut butter, eggs and sugar that is baked with the brownie base. Hmmm...the topping was okay but I was wanting something a bit more decadent and rich. I think next time I will substitute this part with a simple cream cheese and peanut butter frosting instead, and slather this onto the brownies after baking and cooling them. Still though, the brownie had a nice chewiness which I loved and the combination of chocolate and peanut butter is always a treat. I think I'll pour me some milk to go with this one.

A Perfectly Fine Cake--Daring Baker's Challenge For March

I completed my cake this morning! Yippee. I really loved the taste of this cake—it's very chiffon-like with its light, airy texture and that hint of citrus. I pretty much followed the recipe to a tee except I decided to create mini layer cakes instead of 1 large one. I halved the butter cream

frosting recipe for this reason and unfortunately, my frosting never got thick enough during the mixing process. (Did any other DBers have similar problems with their butter cream frosting)? So, I ended up with a rather runny frosting that didn't quite make the prettiest presentation but I did my best with what I had to work with and am pretty pleased with the results. It sort of reminded me of a snowball with all the coconut flakes so I added the cherry on top to give it a bit more balance. Even though the cake did not turn out as "perfect" as I would have liked, I still had fun with this challenge and plan to serve my mini party cakes later today when my two brothers and their families come over to visit. This month's challenge for the Perfect Party Cake (a Dorie Greenspan recipe, by the way), was hosted by Morven of Food, Art, and Random Things. If you would like to bake your own party cake click here for the recipe, and party on!

Back To Baking

Unfortunately, baking and cooking have been put on the back burner lately because of my upcoming trip to Indonesia. In just 3 days we'll be flying to Jakarta and then to Bali for several weeks, so as you can imagine, I've been busily getting packed and organized, working my full-time job as usual, and trying to fit in some quality baking and cooking time whenever I could. Well, last night was one of those times. Flipping through the February 2002 issue of Bon Appetit recently, this recipe for sour cream-orange coffee cake with chocolate pecan streusel immediately caught my attention. The photograph of it in the magazine was simply mouth-watering and just thinking of the lovely combination of pecans, orange, and chocolate all in one dish made my taste buds dance and sing. Well, that ingredient list alone pretty much put me over the edge and had me running to my mixer in no time. I wish this post was one of those scratch and sniff ones because seriously, the heavenly smell of the coffeecake as it baked was just that, heavenly! I'm bringing this cake into work today to share with my co-workers. I have a pretty good suspicion that they won't last very long sitting in our kitchen area because man, are these good!

Sour Cream-Orange Coffee Cake with Chocolate Pecan Streusel (Bon Appetit, Feb. 2002)

Streusel
1 and ½ cups (packed) golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled salted butter, diced
1 and ½ cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cake
3 cups AP flour
1 and ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 and ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 and 1/3 cups sugar
¾ cups (1 and ½ sticks) salted butter at room temp
1 and ½ teaspoons grated orange peel
1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and ½ cups sour cream
¼ cup orange juice
Powdered sugar for dusting

Streusel directions:
Whisk brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl to blend; add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture holds together in small, moist clumps. Mix in pecans and chocolate chips. (can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate).

Cake directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until blended and smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then orange peel and vanilla extract. Mix in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with sour cream in 3 additions. Mix in orange juice. Spread half of the batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the streusel. Drop remaining batter over by heaping tablespoonfuls; carefully spread batter to make even layer. Sprinkle with remaining streusel.
Bake cake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, lay a sheet of foil loosely over pan and bake for an additional 35 minutes or until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Remove the foil and allow the cake to cool in the pan on rack (about 20minutes). Dust with powdered sugar; serve warm or at room temperature (can be made 2 days ahead; cool completely and store airtight at room temp).
Yields 12 servings

The Daring Bakers Pucker Up

Being the lemon-lover that I am, I was happy to find out that this month's Daring Baker's challenge was lemon meringue pie. Let me just say that I am not an experienced pie baker by any stretch of the imagination but I certainly am an experienced pie eater! And lemon meringue happens to be one of my favorites so I was eager to start baking. To make the challenge less daunting for me, I made the pie over the course of one and a half days. First I made the buttery pie crust, stored it in the fridge to chill, and then tackled the lemon filling and meringue the next day. I liked the look of my finished pie—the meringue had that light and glossy look and actually appeared slightly blow-torched after baking. Even though I found my pie to be a little on the runny side, it still tasted delicious. I loved the tanginess of the lemon filling and the crust though not perfect, was as buttery and flaky as any pie crust I've eaten before. Overall, I was pleased with my first attempt at lemon meringue pie. What a great challenge to start 2008 with! Who knows, maybe this will be the beginning of more pie baking in my future. Thank-you Jen, of the Canadian Baker, who chose this month's recipe. If you would like to give this pie a try yourself, check out her blog for the complete recipe.

The Midnight Rum

This year I'm making, and giving away rum balls as part of my Christmas baking repertoire. I actually tried making rum balls once in my life, oh, maybe two years ago but for some reason, I failed. The rum balls turned out rather runny and didn't really stay in a "ball" form at all. More like a rum pancake. And it wasn't just the appearance that didn't quite cut it; I remember giving one to my boyfriend to try and bless his heart, he did take a taste, but after a second or two, made a face that told me, 'better luck next time'. Discouraged with that, I had no interest in giving rum balls another try. That is, until I read about this recipe for Midnight Rum Balls which uses Oreo cookies in place of the traditional vanilla or chocolate wafer cookies that you may typically find. I think the key in keeping a certain degree of "firmness" in your rum ball is in the amount of rum you add. Put a little too much in there, and you just might end up with a pancake instead of a ball. Believe me, I've been there.

Midnight Rum Balls (adapted from a recipe found on Chowhound.com)

ingredients:

Oreo Cookies (or any other type of chocolate sandwich cookie)-about 24 of these

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1/3 cup rum (can substitute with whiskey if you'd like)

Extra fine granulated sugar to roll the balls in

Crushed peppermint to roll balls in (optional of course)!

directions:

1. Crush the cookies until they are fine crumbs (best to use a food processor for this)

2. In a medium bowl, combine the cookies with the powdered sugar, walnuts if using, and cocoa powder and mix.

3. Next, add the corn syrup and the rum and stir ingredients until combined.

4. Using wet hands (because the dough is very sticky), make 1 inch balls and then roll into the granulated sugar, and if you'd like, roll them in crushed peppermint sticks for that holiday look.

5. Store the rum balls in a tight-fitting container; remember, rum balls actually taste better and better a day or two after making them.

Easy As Apple Pie

Ever since I was a little kid I've had a fondness for caramel apples. Well, who doesn't right? I remember my parents used to shop at a big department store called Fedco years ago which also had a grocery store inside it. There you could find the best caramel apples: humongous sized apples, covered in thick gobs of caramel and smothered with nuts. Every time they shopped there my brother and I would get excited because we knew what treat they'd be bringing home for us. Nowadays, I don't indulge so much in caramel apples but I do enjoy having one every now and then, and so does my boyfriend. Usually, we buy them at the local Ralph's or Von's grocery store, and if we're lucky enough, we might even find them on sale that week. Recently though, I was inspired to make my own caramel apples, especially after finding this recipe called Caramel Apple Pie On A Stick from the Food Network website. It seemed pretty easy and the title of the recipe caught my attention. It also uses cinnamon sticks in place of the wooden stick you typically find on a caramel apple which I thought was pretty cute. I think the hardest part of this recipe was taking the individual caramels out of the wrappers. Boy, that was tough! Otherwise, the second hardest part might be stopping yourself from eating the entire batch of caramel apples. Hope you enjoy.

Simple and Satisfying

Apple desserts are some of my favorites to eat and to make, so when I came across a recipe that incorporated both apples and puffed pastry the other day, I wanted to give it a try. Okay, I admit, what really made me want to try it was the fact that the recipe had minimal ingredients and sounded relatively simple to prepare (the key is using prepared puffed pastry). At the same time however, the end result was a dish that looked elegant and delicious, not to mention labor intensive. The lovely food blog Ceres and Bacchus posted this recipe for tarte aux pommes (French apple tarte). I sprinkled some cinnamon over the tarte after it came out of the oven and then dolloped it with whipped cream. Dare I say that this tarte reminded me of a more sophisticated McDonald's apple turnover?? Just to clarify, that's a definite compliment! Trust me, this was good!

I've Got The Blues

Fortunately, I'm only talking about the "blues" as in blueberries here. For breakfast this morning, we had a deliciously rich blueberry buttermilk tart which I made using this recipe from Epicurious. This was my first time baking a tart and I have to say, it wasn't all that hard (even for me)! My sweet brother bought me a tart pan for my birthday last summer so this gave me the opportunity to finally test the pan out. By the way, I foresee more tart making in my future! If you're fortunate enough (like I was), to have some fresh blueberries on hand, then please use them, otherwise, you can always substitute with frozen berries. This dish is reminiscent of cheesecake but quite light and yummy and perfect for breakfast, dessert, or any time of day! Enjoy.