Best of 2009? Me? Really?

Yes! :)

Two of my projects posted on Craftster were voted best of 2009!


I'm a Craftster Best of 2009 Winner!

Conquer Those Fears

No matter who you are, we all have fears. Last week I decided to beat one of my fears. Now, this was not anything major, but simply a fear of failure.

My fear of failure was in trying to make something, and having it be a complete bust. Now mind you I am no stranger to making and failing, so this was not a baseless fear.

So what was this thing I was afraid of failing at? Making Bobka. You can stop laughing now.

Seriously I've wanted to make bobka, but was afraid it would be a a huge cooking fail. Well, low and behold it was a success!



The recipe made four loaves, and they are all gone!



Lesson learned: Go slay those dragons! ~: )

Spring = Flour

Yes, you read that right. Flour.

Getting ready for Pesach (Passover) we have to use up all our flour/chometz. Today I made extra challah in an effort to get a jump on my Pesach preparations and use up my flour.

This post has a second purpose, too. A ringing endorsement of a flour brand. King Arthur Flour. In this time when companies are struggling I wanted to do my part to say what a great product I've found.

This flour is such a quality product and comes from a company that clearly cares what they are putting out into the stores, it is so worth the time to let others (or at least the one person who may read this post), know.

Making challah (bread) is a huge part of my baking every week. With this flour I've found a significant difference in the results achieved. Using the same recipe I've used for a very long time, the challah comes out so much lighter and better tasting, even my guests have noticed.

The proof is in the pictures:










Yummy!!!

Applesauce

Due to a combination of not having much spare time, nor the inclination I've not been creating anything for about two weeks. So cooking in preparation for Shabbos was about as close as I've come to being creative.

My Dad loves applesauce. There can be 20 different things on the Shabbos table, but one of those better be my homemade applesauce or the meal will not be complete for him.

In my effort to keep it from becoming boring I've got about three to four recipe versions of applesauce to rotate through. Some with raisins, some with cranberry, some with nuts, some with pears.

This weeks recipe is made from 5 Granny Smith apples, 1/4 cup turbinado sugar, dash of fresh nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 cup of plump raisins and about 2 T. of water. Cook in a sauce pan till apples are just starting to get soft. We like ours chunky. ~: )

Now people who come here for a meal know there will be some form of applesauce on our table. The kids always love it, and it is sometimes the only thing the picky eaters will have.

This week's parsha is Eikev.