My Husband's Pecan Pie

Hello everyone!

Nothing to worry about. I am still here. I haven't died, or given up on my dream. I just have been really sick lately. I've had a cold for the last three weeks, and I thought that I should give myself a well deserved break to rest and try to regain my health. But did you think a little thing like a cold would keep me from baking? No, sir. It was my husband's birthday and I surely didn't want to disappoint. I made him a pecan pie.

The funny thing about my husband and I is that we have completely different tastes when it comes to desserts. I love the classics such as chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, etc. He on the other hand loves the things I can't stand in baked goods, such as nuts and coconut. His favorite cake: German Chocolate, his favorite cookie: white chocolate macadamia nut, his favorite pie: pecan pie. It has really help me expand baking things that I don't like, but every October I know that whatever he wants, I probably won't eat.

As I was making the pecan pie, it didn't look like the classic ones I have seen. This could be the fact that I used crush pecans instead of whole. Even with this one little hiccup, my husband said it tasted like a pecan pie. He really loved it!

Being a baker, I have to try everything I make. So I tried my pecan pie and I actually liked it. I have been noticing that the things I use to dislike, such as pineapple, and nuts with sweets, I have been growing to like. Still I am not a big fan of coconut. The only thing with coconut I have tried and like are these hay stack cookies my mom makes. The other ingredients in the cookies masks the texture of the coconut.

As I continue on an other tangent, I just want to say that in my near future (starting today) I will be baking something everyday to prepare for my church's women's day event. I am making all the desserts. Please send my your encouraging thoughts, because I know I will be freaking out some days. This is my first big order and I want to make it perfect as possible. This means that I will not have any new blog post for Tuesday Tips or Wednesday Recipes until after the 2nd of November. I know it's a bummer, but not all hope is lost. I will be posting picture and possible small tidbits about the items I will be making, so stay tuned.

Kirsten

Single Serving Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

• 1 small apple
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of oats
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon of butter
  

Directions:

1. Slice the apples and place in a mixing bowl. 
2. Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1/2 tablespoon of flour, and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon.
3. Coat the apples with the dry ingredients and place in a baking dish.
4. Mix together the rest of the dry ingredients and the butter. Put on top of the apples.
5. Microwave for 60 to 90 seconds. (I baked mine for 20 minutes at 350 degrees). 

Took this recipe from http://lacreativitedelafille.blogspot.com/2012/05/single-serving-apple-crisp.html

Kirsten

Confidence

I have been told time and time again, if you are selling something, you have to believe in your product and be confident. Confidence, according to Google, is defined as the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust. So, to be confident in yourself and in your product is essentially trusting in you. Now this is just as important for me to hear as it is for some of you. I am my harshest critic. People always compliment me, but a lot of times those compliments go in one ear and out the other. 

Lately I have been practicing having confidence in myself. Why would someone want to buy my product if I don't even believe in my ability to make it? I developed my ideas on how to build confidence from a fitness video. It was basically saying that you need to love yourself exactly how you are right now and grow confidence that way. If you always think you are too fat or what have you, everything is affected by how you view you. The Bible talks about beauty being deeper and having to deal with the soul. I sometimes have to remind myself that I was made in the image of God; He handcrafted me. God doesn't make mistakes. I am not a mistake, and how I look is not a mistake.

So, I have been practicing this same sort of idea with my baking. I know when something I make tastes good. I know when I taste something bad, I can make it better. God gives us gifts to serve. He has given me the gift of combining ingredients together to make things that are just exceptionally tasty. It's like magic flowing hands, and I just have an instinct about when things are done; even if that means it is before the timer going off. The key here is to tell myself that I am great, but be humbled and grateful when I do receive complements. 

I am a great baker. What about you? What is your passion? What is something you are great at? Don't keep putting yourself down when something goes wrong, or you are your own worst critic. You are great too. Share, if you would like, in the comments on what you are great at. I would love to hear. 

Kirsten

Basic Ingredients and their Healthy Substitutes

The four most common ingredients in baking are:

Butter

Eggs

Flour 

Granulated Sugar

But the fact is that most people have dietary limitations. I think that no matter what you are allergic to, or your dietary preferences, you should be able to enjoy a treat every so often. I saw a table on Pinterest about healthy substitutes (here), but I simplified that table and created one myself. It is clear, easy to read, and the measurements are easily converted. 

I haven't figured out how to make classy tables on my computer, but I thought you might enjoy this hand written one. 

 Kirsten

Ultimate Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

I made these for my mother-in-law, who is gluten free, and she loved them!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips (10 1/2 ounces)
• 1 cup of sweet butter (I used normal butter)
• 4 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup of superfine sugar (I used normal sugar)
• 2 tablespoons of Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted (I didn't sift mine)
• 2 tablespoons of ground almonds (I didn't put almonds in mine. I use it as a garnish. I also added a raspberry on top.)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. 
2. Put the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, or medium bowl over a pan of simmering water, and stir until completely melted. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, cream the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Gently fold in the melted chocolate and the remaining ingredients. 
4. Spoon batter into the cups and bake for 20 minutes. Have them cool for 5 minutes and then remove them from the cupcake pan. Place them onto a cooling rack. 

This recipe yields about a dozen cupcakes. 

For frosting, I used a whipped frosting recipe. 
I got this recipe from 500 Cupcake Recipe book.

Kirsten

Friday: A Day of Baking

This Friday I baked three different items. One was with my two year olds at work and the other two were for my church's women Bunco Night. 

This week's letter to teach at school was the letter "M". For two year olds, we are trying to teach them recognizing real world object compared to a picture. One of my favorite children's book is If You Give a Moose a Muffin. I thought what better than to act like moose and make muffin?

During the process of making the mini-muffins we added too much milk! So in the last minute I added some more flour and sugar to help the batter. Luckily, the muffins came out tasting like muffins, and my two year olds ate about 5 of them. 

The second item I made was a prize two special ladies could win in playing Bunco. I made single apple crisp in a jar. The recipe will be showing up on Wednesday Recipes. I made it with locally grown apples and it came out looking cute!

The last creation of Friday was Strawberry Blueberry cupcakes with a gummy bear on top. One of my friends gave me the challenge to use something "gummy" in my next creation, and I stayed true to that. One of my good friends said that the gummy bear just pulled everything together. I did use a box mix for the strawberry cake, even though I have made a strawberry cake with my mom using my grandma's recipe. The frosting, however, I did make from scratch, and it came out looking a purplish pink. I would have liked it to be more purple, but it turned out that the cupcakes matched the decorations perfectly. 

Kirsten