Tuesdays With Dorie - Chocolate Chunkers

I really like when recipes have steps that aren't in your typical recipe. This cookie was built a little differently and I enjoyed the process. There weren't much dry ingredients at all, mostly chocolate. I say that as if it were a bad thing. HA! Some of the chocolate was melted with butter and creamed into the little bit of sugar. So you end up with a cookie that isn't overly sweet except for the sweetness in the chocolate bits inside. This is one tasty cookie.

Claudia of Fool for Food selected this week's recipe and I think I love her. :) I'm just one of 200 or so bakers who had the opportunity to make these cookies this week. Check out what other TWD-ers have done with this amazing cookie.

As I was scooping the dough onto the baking sheet I thought to myself, "These cookies should be called chunky something." I laughed when I looked at the recipe again realizing they are indeed called chunky something - chocolate chunkers. The dough is chocolaty, the bits inside are chocolaty - Chocolate Chunkers indeed. I think there are FOUR different kinds of chocolate in these cookies. What's not to love?

They reminded me of the old Chunky bars:

Chunky, chocolaty, delicious.
I skipped the raisins though. I prefer my chocolate without rotten grapes. ;)

I do like the taste and texture of this cookie. One strange thing though - it didn't flatten out at all as it baked. So the second batch I didn't let the baking sheet cool between batches as the recipe suggests. Still a perfect ball of cookie. The third batch I tried using a tablespoon to scoop the dough out rather than my trusty cookie scoop thinking it would deliver the rustic, chunky looking cookie I was seeking. I think I like the shape of these cookies without the scoop. And that's a first for me. I use my scoop for ALL the cookies I make. Not this one though. Next time I'll use just a tablespoon and I'll suffer through the complete lack of symmetry for a wonderfully chocolate cookie like this.

I don't know why mine didn't turn out like Dorie's in the book. I followed the recipe exactly. I'll be interested to see the other TWD baker's photos.

All in all though, it is a good cookie. I'd be proud to offer them to anyone. I'm thinking some home -made vanilla ice-cream with these cookie chunks would be To. Die. For.

I'm planning a cookie baking marathon today to get caught up on last week's Whopper cookies. Ken is going to LOVE those but last week I was too mad at him to bake them. :D My little way of sticking it to the man, I guess.

If I'm still in the cookie baking mood after those I'll make oatmeal cookies and maybe snickerdoodles. My nephew is in basic training and I'm thinking some home-made cookies are in order. To help make him Army strong you know. :)

TWD - Blueberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

I look forward each week to my Tuesdays with Dorie adventure. This week was almost a bust when I discovered my camera was sick. How can I do TWD without a camera? Even now, I'm having trouble getting the pictures posted because Ken's little Sony uses a mini disk as it's media and my computer doesn't like mini disks. I'm waiting for him to get them off the camera for me. We'll see how that goes.

This week Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity chose Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream as our recipe. I think I have an ice cream maker. Haven't seen it in a while. Should be in good shape once I find it considering it's one of those appliances we used hard and heavy when I first got it but since then I haven't even seen it. Don't even ask about my bread machine.

This ice cream was . . . interesting. I used mixed berries because that's what I had. I wish I'd thought to run the puree through a sieve before adding the creams to make the custard. It's pretty seedy. But the color is beautiful and the texture is smooth and creamy. Very Nice. I think it would be lovely with a lemony cake or even some sort of shortbread cookie. By itself it's pretty rich and after a few spoonfuls I was done. My favorite part of TWD isn't the actual tasting anyway - it's everything that comes before: studying the recipe, searching out the ingredients, the creation of the dish and of course, the photographs.

I was going to put up an actual video of the ice cream churning but you thought family vacation videos were boring? It was purple goo going around in circles with an annoying whirring sound in the background. You ain't missing a thing. But you might be missing a little without trying this ice cream. Check out Dolores' blog for the recipe. It's something a little fancy - a little different and real pretty. And if you know me, you know how I love me some pretty food.

What's next? Granola Grabbers. Well, now, doesn't that sound healthy? Mmmmmm (please note dripping sarcasm). Maybe we'll skip next week TWD and opt for a new cocktail recipe. Who's with me?

Tuesdays With Dorie - Black and White Banana Loaf

Blogger was being finicky about posting pictures but there is, as they say, more than one way to skin a cat. Flickr won't let you post date your posts so I uploaded the picture to my Google/Picasa album and pasted the URL rather than uploading a picture through Blogger. Take that Blogger! I love post dating. It's like blogging in my sleep. While I'm warm in my bed tonight, Blogger will post my Tuesday With Dorie post right at midnight. How rediculous is that?

This week's TWD entry was selected by Ashlee of A Year in the Kitchen. You can find the recipe on her blog. Go look how stinkin' adorable she is. And she cooks! Great choice Ashlee!

The cake is dense, moist and the flavors compliment each other so well, each bite is like a party in your mouth. I enjoyed this recipe very much. It had all the things I love about cooking - varied ingredients, new techniques, fresh aromas in the prep as well as the actual cooking and rum! What's not to love about chocolate, bananas and rum?

Next week we're making ice cream!

TWD Summer Fruit Galette

I just finished this week's Tuesday's with Dorie. Mine was a peach galette.

Michelle from Michelle in Colorado Springs selected this summer treat. Surf on over to her blog for the recipe.

I blanched the peaches to easily remove the skins. First time blancher. It worked like a dream!

I halved and pitted the fruit then prepared the crust. I elected to use my no-fail crust recipe rather than Dorie's. I'm sure hers is good but I know mine well.

perfectly combined flour shortening and salt, ready for a few tablespoons of cold water. that's the secret to a good crust, you know? Everything cold, cold, cold. I've even started storing my shortening in the fridge.

Spread the preserves onto the rolled out crust. I elected not to use the graham cracker crumbs. I'm not sure of their purpose. It just seems strange to me. So on top of the preserves, I placed the peaches, cut side down and folded the edges over. Good thing this dessert is supposed to look rustic.

My favorite part was the custard. I could (and did) drink this stuff! After the galette has cooked enough to soften the fruit, you pour in a prepared custard (sugar, butter, egg and vanilla). I liked the custard so much I took the galette out, poured the rest of the custard on top and cooked it some more. De-lish!

Tuesdays With Dorie

I love the idea of this group - a cook along. But so many of the recipes aren't practical for my family. I live with Mr. picky eater and son. I'm the only one who will eat any sort of fruit thing so all these wonderful cobblers, pies and such I didn't get to bake.

I'm thinking I need to combine this group with my weekly visits to Clementine's . Knitters get hungry. And they'll pretty much eat anything. :)

So I'll be catching up next week with the Summer Fruit Galette. Stay Tuned!

sharing the love

While sitting on my back patio tonight with the laptop (it just doesn't get any better), I came across a few new foodie sites and you know I can't keep something like this to myself!

Try The Review Lady
she's got some good looking recipes. she tries it first so you don't have to.

Or click over to RoadFood.com
if you've got a road trip coming up. They'll tell you the best places to grab a bite.

and Tastespotting is back up! I do still check food gawker but TS is the original and I feel somehow loyal. After all, they posted my no-bake cookies. Food gawker couldn't be bothered with me. But I'm not bitter.

I skipped Tuesday's with Dorie this week. None of us are really into blueberry pie. I found another cooking group that uses Barefoot Contessa recipes. If you don't know Ina Garten, shame on you. Surf on over and introduce yourself. I loved the Barefoot Contessa quote the Review Lady used on her blog, "Food is not about impressing people. In fact, it's just the opposite: it's about making them feel comfortable."

Now go cook up some comfort.

apple cheddar scones

I finally gathered all the ingredients to prepare these scones! I started with fresh apples because I couldn't find the dried apples called for in the recipe. I forgot the apple juice/cider so it was back to the store today.

I couldn't take pictures because the battery in my camera died! It was a day full of DOH! moments. I will post a picture later in the week. I've frozen the bulk of the recipe to take down to Clementine's Dry Goods on Thursday. Muh knittahs are gathering and you know we need sustenance.

I will say, as a girl who came from the pacific northwest where the Western Washington (aka Puyallup) Fair was held, these scones weren't all bad. If you're at all familiar with the Puyallup Fair, you know scones.

It's been interesting living in different geographical locations, to see the fair fare different states offer. In Indiana, it's all corn. In western Washington is all about the scones. As a kid, your summer job included the scone booth. As a fair goer, your first stop (after the burger with grilled onions booth) was the scone booth.

So you can see the competition Dorie's scones had to meet. And they're not bad. With sweetened butter they're quite tasty. I think I'd even make them again.

Happy Tuesday!

berry good/beary good day

I've been a busy girl today!

I joined a charity knit-along on Ravelry. Our bears are going to Mother Bear Project. Such a neat idea! You knit a bear, send it in and the organization sends them to children in developing countries effected by HIV/AIDS. I can't remember when I've enjoyed a knitting project more.

Besides the knitting of bears it's Tuesdays with Dorie! I feel like I'm getting this post in under the wire. Today's recipe is mixed berry cobbler. Beth was the selection committee this week. Nice choice, Beth!

I was skeptical after reading all the posts about this recipe. Seems a lot of the bakers over at TWD didn't care for how the cobbler turned out, so they were fiddling with this and that. I'm a real stickler when it comes to following a recipe and with this one I'm glad I did. The crust was flaky and tender, the berries were just the right sweetness and if I only had some ice cream this would have been the perfect dessert! The day isn't over yet so I'm still hopeful. Wipe the drool off your monitor:

and here is my beary good thing today. . .

before:

and after:

heh heh. I named him Rodger.

Check out this totally worthwhile charity, won't you?

AND there's a crochet pattern for you hookers.

Tuesdays With Dorie

I'm so excited about this new group I found! Tuesdays With Dorie is an online cooking group created by Laurie of quirky cupcake
Laurie made a new years resolution to bake one new recipe a week from a book she received as a Christmas gift. But she knew she needed some help sticking to this resolution so Tuesdays with Dorie was born. Maybe I should create a group called Wednesdays with Weight Watchers! :)

Baking: from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan is the book and it is a beauty! If you're interested in joining in on the fun, you can get a copy of the book at Amazon for $12.99! It's a forty dollar book! Thanks for the tip, Laurie!

I'm ready to get started. Hope I get my membership approval before Tuesday!