I am starting to feel frustrated with being out of my kitchen. I think today I will try to get in there and maintain enough momentum to actually finish something. I have an idea for ….well never mind. You should see it soon. I am so ready to be back to full energy that I can’ t stand it. The last surgery I had was when I was 27 and I was definitely back at it before now..of course that was over 20 years ago…Surely I couldn’t be slowing down? The horror!

I was so excited this week because Marc and the kids built a small run for the one, lone chick we hatched. It was the only chick that hatched out of the great “incubation experiment” of 2009 and had been living in the house in a large, metal horse tank tub. It was time for it to move outside, it is half grown and the kids were taking it out everyday for sunshine. It has become a pet, following them around and standing on their feet chirping at them intently. The other chickens would have killed it..and so now it has its very own home. I am hoping to add to it soon.

My scar is healing finally, and it doesn’t look too bad. So much for it being small, though. It is about five inches long, taking up most of the front of my neck. Looks like a five year old sewed it up. I am thinking of getting some black leather and going for a tough-girl look. Thoughts?

O.k… ready to see what I have found?

• Susan at Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy created a homemade version of the 100 Grand Bar, one of my favorites. I am hoping she does Milky Way next.
• I am so going to try Lori’s Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Ben, at What’s Cooking made a Cantaloupe Ginger Ice Cream and reminded me that I need a new ice cream maker.
• Need something savory to clear the palate after all that dessert? Check out Valli’s Roasted Red Pepper Salad with Goat Cheese Croutons.
• Looking for something for back to school lunches? Peanut Butter and Jelly bars from Emily at Sugar Plum look like they would do the trick.

That’s it for me…I hope you have a great weekend, and I hope I get to do some baking!

image:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the BakingDelights Flickr group. Some awesome stuff there. Ben of What’s Cooking added images from his Food Buzz 24-24-24. Sarah from What Smells SO Good has some images of biscotti…and on and on!

Cookie Madness- Sour CreamFilled Chocolate Cookies with Dried Cherries. Yum

Linette from She Knows Parties has an entire party based on lemons. Lemons!

Rhubarb has always been a pie ingredient to me but Dorie Greenspan roasts it and then plops it atop ice cream. Yum. Personally I am thinking of what it would be like over cherry and white chocolate ice cream.

Zoe again. Plum Cupcakes with Sweet Corn Ice Cream. Uh huh.

Just look at the pictures of bread here and be very amazed.

Speaking of bread…Seven Grain Honey Bread from one of my favorite bakers.

I sorta wish Maybelle’s Mom would feed me if she is making this Roast Chicken and Dandelion Salad with Dried Cherries and Almonds

Image: Brambleberry Cottage

Post from: Baking Delights

Yeah..I just could not get to it yesterday.

So…let’s see what’s out there for Thanksgiving weeks shall we?

• Sweet Potato Pie on Homesick Texan.  Man are these things GOOD.
• Cookie Baker Lynn has the same food philosophy as me…and she made some awesome carrot cupcakes.  I think chef Kyrie would try to convince me they were a side dish.
• Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy..one of my favorites…check out the Pumpkin Cheese Pie wi th Toffee and Caramel Swirl
• Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart from Recipe Girl
• Baking Bites has something a little different with this Cherry Cornmeal Cobbler
• Ezra Poundcake…glorious Mashed Potatoes. Yum
• Another Potato dish from Grandma’s Kitchen Table: Potato Gratin with Garlic and Cream
• Pressure cookers are Grandma’s microwaves and Kalyn’s Kitchen shows us how to use it in Vegetable Soup with Beans and Ham.
• Becke at Columbus Foodie does comfort food so well with Grown Up Mac and Cheese.
• Holler has the No Croutons Required Round-Up posted. Glorious pasta soups perfect for this time of year.

And that’s it for me today.Don’t forget to check in tomorrow for the new Hershey’s basket giveaway.

Image:Hershey’s, used with permission

Post from: Baking Delights

So, how was your fourth of July? Ours was somewhat quiet…Great food, great friends…you know..the usual.

I think that I need to be more aware of my time and how I spend it. Sometimes I seem to just be focused on writing and researching for writing and I forget that there is an entire summer passing me by.  I mean, yes we do need to be able to eat but I think I just need to take a day and head out to Waxahachie to go antiquing, or to the Brazos to float on an innertube…or even to Canton to pick blueberries.  Do you feel the same?

Take a look at what I have found this week:

My friend Marla sent me the link to these wacky food sculptures. I love them! Get ready to laugh.

If you are in the market for an amazing and beautiful sight today then head over to African Vanielje for a look at her gorgeous beetroot pasta.

Must have been cupcake week. I baked them twice but MArie has some incredible lemon ones on her blog that are worth a look. A Year From Oak Cottage is a refreshing read. Check it out.

How do Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes sound to you? Yeah.  I thought so.  Well they are just as beautiful as they sound.

Marc is addicted to Whoppers so when I saw this Chocolate  Malted Cake at Engineer Baker I knew I had to bookmark it!

I KNOW How to Eat a Cupcake and I could sure scarf down a dozen of these S’Mores Cupcakes! Maybe more.  Great job on those, Cassie.

When I was in high school we protested many things from girls not being able to wear pants to school (yes.  It’s true. And it was a public school) to guys not being able to grow their hair past thier collar.  We protested by walking out of class and staging a sit in in front of the school.  It was rebellious and exciting and sometimes it meant that some rules got changed.   Well Jenn at Leftover Queen is protesting, although I don’t think it is with a sit in.  She has had it with awful bread.  LOL! Check out her rant and get inspired to bake more bread int he coming months.

The Tuedays with Dorie crowd made some fantastic looking Apple Cheddar Scones this week.  Head over to their headquarters (lol!) and check out the blogroll.

If you haven’t heard, congrats are in order for Helene,  who blogs at Tartelette.  She just signed a contract to write a cookbook! Congrats and best wishes!

Remember the cheesecake pops Daring Bakers did a few months ago? Well, Lori at Recipe Girl has brought them back for the cutest Fourth of July snacks around!

Have a great rest of the weekend.  Take some time to rest, relax and enjoy summer before it is gone!

Image:MaryeAudet 

Post from: Baking Delights

Here it is, the round up for , What to do with Leftover……

This month it is eggs. Whether you make a pound cake, or an angel food cake or even a fritter batter you can end up with leftover egg whites or leftover egg yolks. If you have chickens, like we do, sometimes leftover eggs means that the chickens laid more than usual and there are 5 or 6 dozen in the fridge!

Being eco-friendly, taking care of the environment also means not being wasteful. Frugality is cool! Besides, those chickens work HARD to give you those eggs, trust me.

Here are some ideas to help with using them up!

We didn’t get a lot of entries for this but the ones we got were amazing! Thanks to everyone who participated. If I missed you please email me and let me know so I can get you on here!

Marija from Palachinka creates this beautiful Komisbrot .It looks fantastic, doesn’t it?

Esther at The Lilac Kitchen took another approach with Brazil nut and Coconut Financiere (Bankers Cake). I can just imagine these on a tea table with lots of other breads and cakes.

Shoba, from Nangil Girl’s Adventures went with a fantastic sounding Raspberry Custard. MMMMMM…. Raspberry!It is probably one of my favorite berries and the one I have the least.

Becke from Columbus Foodie shares my penchant for slow food and local ingredients where possible. She created this Truffled Egg Salad on Baguette Rounds. They look delicious!

She also posted a recipe for salmon deviled eggs . Obviously another over achiever on the loose!

And my entry is a cake that I did a few months ago and is still one of my favorites. It takes a dozen egg yolks but the texture is incredible.

Orange Gold cake

I will be announcing next month’s ingredient, so check back!

All images used by permission of the websites involved.

Post from: Baking Delights

 Image:Marye Audet     Frozen Music

Hey look! My spinach is up!!

Today is an awesome day for surfing here at Baking Delights…The very first blog I read was A Cracking Good Egg and what did I find?  Coconut Lemon Twinkies. Yeah.  Right? I mentioned them in passing to my family who was sitting at the table eating a lovely lunch I had only just prepared for them and they all stopped with their forks in midair and asked if that was what we were having for dessert.  I just looked at them…Geez, it’s SATURDAY.

Daring Bakers is famous.  The Washington Post wrote a bit about us in this article. No mention of Baking Delights specifically but you know, it is a matter of time until I have my own food network show, right? Sort of a combo of This Old House, Leave It to Beaver, Saturday Night Live, and Jacques Pepin.

At What Did You Eat Sher makes a fantastic pasta salad with oranges and all kinds of awesomeness.

Laura from The Spiced Life made these incredible looking milk chocolate chip and caramel blondies. Is that brilliant or what?

Lori definitely IS The Recipe Girl, at least this week. She made Dorrie Greenspan’s Quintuple Chocolate brownies.

I am still looking at the blogs that did the Daring Baker Challenge, and The Canadian Baker’s version with lemon and blueberry is incredible. Check it out.

Deborah on Taste and Tell is doing 7 Days with Rachel Ray and has a fantastic recipe for garlicky bean enchiladas.

If you have not checked out the Daily Tiffin yet, you need to.  It is a group blog, written by some of the most talented food bloggers on the internet and is always a great read.

Ruth at Once Upon A Feast has been doing Presto Pasta Night simply forever.  If you have never visited her blog to check the amazing array of pasta recipes on fridays, please…do so without delay!

Megan, over at Megan’s Cooking, has a recipe up for raspberry chocolate dream bars..and that right there is a great reason to check out her blog.

All righty then..I am outta here for now…have an awesome weekend.

Post from: Baking Delights