in case you were wondering.

this is what i did with that challah:

it's the baked baked french toast. with blueberry-cherry sugary awesomeness on top. and a veggie sausage. you can make this--it's so crazy easy. 

rosemary-apricot loveliness.

this week's baked sunday recipe: rosemary-apricot squares.

but, matt and renato, this recipe has WAY too many appliances. a food processor, a stand mixer, and cooking on the stovetop, in addition to the oven?! it's a lot to handwash. and a couple of hours in the kitchen just preparing and cooking.

luckily, they are absolutely delicious.

the pecans were stupid expensive, so i used almonds, which i like better anyhow. additionally, i had no brandy so i left it out, but i think that's ok. the apricot portion is really fruity and full of honey.

the most decadent breakfast.

yeehaw.

i am back, kids. back to the baked sundays. this week, cowboy cookies. with pretzels and chocolate chips. but i bet you could put practically anything in them--potato chips, nuts, candies.

you have to think about these ahead of time, as the dough is to be refrigerated for 4 hours(!) before baking.

 

also, the recipe calls for espresso powder but i didn't have any, so i just left it out. i am sure they would be EVEN BETTER with it, but they are pretty awesome as is.

 

and! last night, casey was a super helper in the kitchen, making mint juleps as i got everything ready and decided it was "the night" to learn to use the stand mixer. all very exciting.  we're off to a cook-out in a bit so i am taking this trove of cookies with me.

adult oreos.

salt and pepper cookies. yeah, i said it.

this week's baked adventure was salt and pepper cookies. pretty easy except for a dough glitch. i prepared the cookie dough the night before and put it in the fridge for hours like the authors said. but then it was too hard to roll out! one of the baked kids told me to just try my hardest, that if i smushed it hard enough, it would get soft and ready to roll. he was absolutely right. i just needed to use my body weight to do it.

and they are great, except for the fact that there's quite a bit of crisco in that filling. not my favorite product to incorporate but it certainly made the icing easy to put inside the cookies.

so, yes. an adult oreo, if you will.

and sunday lunch: grilled cheese with two kinds of cheddar and tomato, anjou pear slices, seeded corn chips and a dollop of hummus.

sorry so late. the weather was so nice i eventually just had to get out of the kitchen.

practically leap day.

shira's birthday.

1. she claimed that she didn't want me to make a cake. or ice cream. i had been *threatening* to make the mississippi mud pie from the baked explorations cookbook. but she kept telling me no, no, no. i bought 3 pints of ben and jerry's (cherry garcia, mint chocolate cookie, willie nelson's peach cobbler) from the shop using one of a million coupons on the fridge.

2. and then! i ran into her friend marcia, who informed me that shira said i was making it. yes, she did.

so i did. for shira's study group. and i have no real photographs. if you REALLY want the recipe, shoot me an email and i will type it out or buy baked explorations. you will not regret it.

the short version: a sugar wafer cookie crust, topped with a thick layer of fudge chocolate yum, smashed coffee ice cream, concluding with another layer of chocolate (this one more cocoa-y).

3. the actual birthday. my late class was canceled and so i was able to cook us dinner, enjoyed with one of our favorite north carolina beers, shotgun betty.

i had been hungry for this smitten kitchen recipe: lemon pasta with olive oil. shira's birthday was the perfect excuse for decadence. and we already had pasta and cream and so i really did not have to buy too much. we sauteed some leeks in olive oil and tossed them in as well.

yum. yum. yum.
and a salad of cucumbers, carrots, and roasted beets.

4. shira is likely to hate this picture. i think that's ok.

baked late. whoopie!

this week's baked project was red velvet whoopie pies. as mentioned earlier this week, i decided to make them on thursday, not sunday, so i could bring them to lisa's birthday party.

the recipe was super easy and not time-consuming and completely delicious. renato + matt really know how to write a recipe. no wonder they get so much press.

this was the third time in my life making whoopie pies and i would totally make use this recipe again. courtney and i were remembering how ahead of the curve i was the first time--10 years ago in tracy's teeny efficiency!
on another note, maine is trying to figure if it wants the state dessert to be blueberry pie or whoopie pies. such pressing problems in these times. so much pride at stake in this battle.

don't worry.

i am baking my "baked" goods this week. however, i will be late, as i am making the red velvet whoopie pies for lisa's birthday friday night. oh, yes, yes. yes.

baked chocolate yum.

baked sunday (#4 for me, #6 for everyone else).

double chocolate loaf with creamy peanut butter spread.
so easy. so delicious. you will want to make this all the time; it's just so awesome.

you can get the recipe via the link above.
i hand-chopped what seemed like tons of chocolate. opening all those bars made me feel as though i worked in veruca salt's father's company, searching for her golden ticket. (she's, easily, my favorite character. i LOVE that movie.)
and there you go! the cake. on my marimekko plate that matches my childhood sheets. weird, huh? i found those plates in the thrift store yesterday and almost died.
i also thrifted these fancy glass plates with matching glasses that fit onto them. PERFECT for double chocolate loaf with peanut butter cream cheese spread. and coffee.

but the cake! the cake! the loaf. the oversized brownie. whatever you want to call it. fantastic.

a bit more than one hour 15 minutes in the oven, but the house smelled so sweet the entire way.

my week is going to taste delicious.

never baked.

dear baked explorations team,

i was vacationing (in brooklyn!) during our last exploration. i apologize for my inability to participate in the adventure. unfortunately, i am moving during the next one so it's unsure if my baking gear will be accessible at the time. i swear i will be back.

thank you for understanding,
smashedgoods

a baked deviation.

so, today was supposed to be my third baked sunday, but the monkey bubble bread required only items that i did not have. and with few people in town, it was never going to be eaten in its entirety.

and then, shira came over and brought a challah. so it was settled: baked french toast. the best thing i've had for breakfast in ages. (yes, still by the bakery baked.)
it calls for a raspberry sauce, but we did it with blueberry. the recipe also said to soak the bread in the egg-milk-cream-vanilla-cinnamon mixture overnight, but we did it for about 20 minutes and it went unharmed.
and i have tons of hazelnuts so i broke them up and added them to the almonds. yes.
i mean, don't you want to eat it now? the above photograph is immediately after it came out of the oven. insane beauty and deliciousness.
like dessert for breakfast. maybe better. (recipe to come.)

to die for.

week 2 of the baked baking adventure: sweet & salty brownies.
this recipe was incredibly easy, and oh-so-delicious. they took a little longer than indicated, but it might be my oven. i had some extra caramel so i drizzled it over the top of the batch. i am not even a huge fan of caramel but this one is especially light and delectable.

on another note, i am in need of a proper double boiler. i am tired of always being so makeshift.

bake. it. up.

so it begins. the baked explorations adventure. this morning, nutella scones. no skimping in this book--dark cocoa, lots of nutella (they even tell you how to make your own!), toasted hazelnuts, heavy cream. mmmm.

this was a pretty easy recipe; you don't even need a stand mixer. or a mixer at all. but, the dough was especially dry and wouldn't stick so i added some extra cream. i know, the problems of the first world...

but really, they are pretty awesome. see everyone's here.
this adventure is going to be really fun. i have to make sure i don't stop riding my bike; my belly is going to get HUGE.