Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! Today was a great one spent with my family, my sister's boyfriend, and all of the animals. I'm so thankful to have all of them in my life along with amazing friends, food on the table, and a roof over my head. God has truly blessed us.

Hope you were able to spend today with those near and dear to your heart!

<3,

Pint-Size Baker

P.S. Please see below for a snippet of the day's adventures...

Baking Adventure #8

First off, I am so sorry for not delivering your eyes with scrumptious baked goods the past couple of weeks. Life has been beyond busy and amazing and up and down. Here's a little update for ya:

My best friend and her husband came to visit for a long weekend this past weekend, and I couldn't have asked for a better time with them. I got to show her where I live (this was the 3rd time we had seen each other in 10 years mind you) and introduce her to some of my dearest friends/the loves of my life... (in addition to going to a GREAT concert put on by Phil Vassar and opened by an up-and-coming artist named Jason Jones) My heart was beyond full this past weekend. It was a little (insert: A LOT) tough when they headed home on Sunday, and feels like a piece of me is missing. However, I thank the Lord for the time we got to spend together.

[Pay no attention to Mimi Bobeck in the background.]

This week has been interesting to say the least, and it has included the possibility of my sister's attack case finally coming to a close after 2.5 years. Unfortunately, it did not come to a close just yet... To be continued on December 17th. (Check out her blog for more information on the attack and her perspective on things. She is one of the most amazingly strong people I know)

Anyways, so is life. It has its UPS and its downs, but at the end of the day we are left with God's love and our family and friends.... it's quite comforting to know those will always be there. So, in light of the comfort of love, I have decided to make this week's baking adventure be one of the most comforting things to me. It's a recipe I took 2 years to develop and perfect. I don't quite have a name yet; however, there was a suggestion for "Sweet Ashley's Choco Chip Cookies"... any thoughts?

and without further ado, this week's baking adventure is...

Sweet Ashley's Choco Chip Cookies!!!

Let me preface this adventure by saying that the recipe will not be linked to or given out on this blog as it is TOP secret and these cookies will be sold to many one day! :-)

So, first things first! PREP!

[Na na na boo boo! My secret ingredients are missing from the above picture... so sad, too bad! hehe]

Next it's time to separate dry and wet ingredients in their bowls and then combine in one big bowl.

[This is the only picture of the middle part of the process you get to see. hehe.]

This recipe itself wasn't much of an adventure since I had all of the ingredients already and have made them close to 50 times already. The adventurous part is going to be allowing new people to try them who haven't in the past. Even though, I already am pretty confident in their deliciousness, it makes me nervous each time someone new tries them. I think "Are they going to like the taste? Will my secret ingredients agree with their taste buds? Are they just saying they like them or are they just trying not to hurt my feelings?" Call it paranoia or what have you, but I love baking for people and if they don't enjoy something, I feel bad, almost guilty, for asking them to try it.

That being said though, I can pretty much guarantee that if you enjoy chocolate chip cookies, you will thoroughly enjoy these. In fact, people from North Carolina back in college still request them on occasion. :-)

Sorry to go off on that tangent... behold the final product of two years of experimenting to get them "just right"...

Hope everyone has had a great past couple of weeks! Until next time folks!...

P.S. Any suggestions on what to bake for Thanksgiving? Pumpkin pie? Apple pie? Pumpkin Cheesecake? I can't decide! Help!

Grocery Stores Count

We interrupt [Did you know interupt has two r's? Gotta love spell check] this week to bring you one of my new favorite songs/video introduced to me by none other than Meredith. If you've never heard Michael Buble's music before, I would HIGHLY recommend listening to the rest of his songs and watching his videos. His newest, "Just Haven't Met You Yet", is beyond superb!

Ok, so I realize this really has nothing to do with baking. However, he is in a grocery store (one of my favorite places), so it indirectly pertains to this blog. Pleasant viewing!

Baking Adventure #7

Buon giorno! SO sorry I neglected to post a baking adventure last week, but I'm back now and baked double this weekend to make up for it!

One of my friends/brother-from-another-mother/guy from the cigar shop has been requesting this week's baking adventure for well over a month. He is a connoisseur of this given baked good; however, I've been putting this off accidentally-on purpose, as I am not a fan of these nor have I ever made anything close to them before. BUT, I am not one to turn down a challenge or request from someone who matters to me, so I spent the last couple of weeks researching (in my spare time, don't worry boss-man) and locating the best base recipe so as to add my own twist on an otherwise simple project. Thus, without further ado, this week's baking adventure is...

CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES!!!

(These were influenced by Kashi's Cherry Dark Chocolate Granola bars, but most people think Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia... it's up to you which you prefer to relate them to.)

Conveniently, about a week ago I was watching an episode of Good Eats on the Food Network, and Alton Brown was making biscuits from scratch. During the episode he referenced how biscuits and scones are directly related to one another, and that got my mind rolling. What better person to get a basic scone recipe from than the very man who turns cooking/baking into a science and dissects each part??? He MUST have a good recipe for them! As luck would have it, his scone recipe contained over 100 reviews, almost all positive. I decided to give it a try as it was a base recipe from which you could add as many flavors or no flavors if you so choose.

Upon reading through the recipe, I noticed it doesn't give much description on what to use to bake the scones on (when in doubt, use a well greased cookie sheet) nor does it tell how the consistency should be. In addition, the ingredients called for "cream". It didn't specifically say what kind of cream... for such a simple recipe, this was going to be interesting! I had almost all of the ingredients in my cabinet except for the elusive "cream" and the dried cherries and chocolate chips. I was also going to be making another batch of the Blueberry Cornbread for my dad as a surprise, which called for Buttermilk, so while at the grocery, I phoned my mom and best friend (reference Baking Adventure #4) to ask if I could just purchase "cream" or Buttermilk and use one for both. After talking it out with Meredith, I decided "cream" would be the best option. (PROBLEM #1 SOLVED)

Here's where problem #2 came in... "CREAM" What kind of recipe just says "cream"? If you go to the grocery, you'll likely find (like I did) about 6 brands of "heavy whipping cream", one brand of "light cream" but not one single brand of just "cream". [Time to pick up the phone again.] Mom said they were different, but I opted to quit wasting time and grabbed the heavy whipping cream... it's dairy and "heavy" ... "cream"... it must work! [aka I WILL MAKE IT WORK, as I am the Pint-Size Baker after all!]

Back home, it was time to get to baking. First things first per usual... PREP!

(Neglected to put the salt in this photo but you can pretty much assume that salt will always be in a baked good unless otherwise noted. Salt helps bring out the flavors of the baked good.)

This recipe contained the SHORTEST list of directions out of any thus far, and it was pretty easy to conjure up. First you start with separating the dry and wet ingredients in their respective bowls. (DO NOT combine the two yet) Then, you cut the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients. Make sure the butter is super cold and cube it to make cutting into the dry ingredients a little easier.

(Tip for cutting butter/shortening into dry ingredients: it's best to either use a fork or your hands. I started out with a fork but it just wasn't doing the trick, so I used my hands. Don't over do it b/c the heat from your hands will melt the butter and you want a crumby texture [see photo] as your final result.)

After cutting the butter and shortening in, it's time to add the cream/egg mixture and stir until all ingredients are blended, but don't over work it.

Then, fold in whatever additives you so choose. The recipe says to add a "handful" as a good measurement for how much to add. However, I have a feeling my "handful" is about half the size of Alton Brown's (was once told I have "opossum hands"), so I added 2 handfuls of each. It worked out just fine!

Next was time to flour the counter and rolling pin and roll out the dough, then cut into round shapes and bake.

Next time I make these (if there is a next time), I will cut into triangle shapes, as the scones resemble more of a cookie or biscuit when they're in a round shape. (Remember, people eat with their eyes first!)

All in all this recipe was SUPER easy to make and quick too! Some takeaways for the next time include:

1. Add a touch more sugar than the recipe calls for as they were just under-sweetened.
2. Cut into triangle shapes instead of circles.
3. Egg-wash and sugar the tops before baking.
4. "Heavy Whipping Cream" and "cream" are interchangeable. There is a slight difference in the fat content but overall, the flavor and consistency are pretty similar.

That's pretty much it! Oh! and in case you were wondering, the Blueberry Cornbread turned out great! I added a touch more sugar than last time and substituting the cream for the called-for buttermilk made little difference. In fact! I prefer the flavor of the cornbread with the cream to that of the one with the buttermilk.

Until next time my friends!!! Have a wonderful week!