Daring Baker, I am not...this month

I am so disappointed in myself this month....the November edition of the Daring Bakers, Tender Potato Bread. I have never tasted this, or have even attempted to make it before. So, I was really excited to try it. I will get to it, just not by today. Time just went by too fast. So, with that said go and check out all of the other wonderful Daring Bakers and check out their experience with the bread.

Pumpkin Bread and Marshmallows

I am still continuing my bake sale frenzy and now I have pumpkin bread baked in loaves, packaged and my house smells wonderful! Now all I need is some cream cheese to spread on a slice!

Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp nutmeg

3/4 Cup water

4 eggs

1 Cup oil

3/4 Cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1 tsp cinnamon

3 Cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

Mix all of the ingredients together...I just throw them all into a mixing bowl at one time..and pour into well greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, until toothpick comes out clean.

This makes 2 regular loaves.

Next, I have marshmallows, I have made these before and the recipe that I use is from the very talented Tartlette. This recipe has not failed me yet. After making and eating homemade marshmallows, I cannot bring myself to buy another bag of these. You can find the recipe here.

Pay it Forward

Today, I am going through some of my Daring Baker's friends blog and came across The Feast Within, who got this idea from someone who got it from someone, and I thought I would become involved. I have only been a "blogger" for a couple of months now and I am intrigued by how many people you meet, and all the swaps, challenges that you can become involved in..so here it is:

"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, which is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

If you would like to join in, just leave a comment. It should be a ton of fun, and I am curious to see how long it will continue to go!

Oh Christmas Tea! and turtles....

This Saturday the church that I attend is having our annual Christmas Tea. This is a day of just girl time, where you can host a table of 8, decorate your table until you are just sick about it, and the best part is..the men serve you!! Let me just tell you, this only happens once a year for me, and I take full advantage of my girly day. Every year we have a theme, and this years theme is "Christmas around the world" all the money raised for the tea will go to the Haiti missionary trip that my husband will be part of in a couple of weeks. Within the tea, we are having "the Market in Bethlehem" with a bake sale, and other goodies. All of this money will go to the children of Haiti that are in orphanages. It is such an exciting day, I will have pics after Saturday to show of all of the other table decorations. So, where does this "Santa Turtle" come in? It is for the bake sale, of course.



My turtle is a mold, filled with a shell of tempered chocolate, filled with caramel and pecans and topped with another layer of chocolate to seal in the inside "guts." Then with white chocolate with a little bit of red food coloring and a little of just white chocolate makes the little hats that make my turtles little "santa's."



To make the caramel, I used a can of sweetened condensed milk, removed the label, put it in a pot of water--make sure the can is completely covered with water at all times--and boil for 3 hours. Let it cool completely, open the can and you have great caramel!! Use 3 cans of this and you can make a caramel pie that is just like O'Charley's. Yum!!




Next, I have Coconut Joys. These are so simple to make!

Coconut Joys:

1 stick of butter

2 Cups of powdered sugar

3 Cups of sweetened coconut

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan, remove from heat. Add the powdered sugar and coconut and mix until it is all combined well. Roll into balls and let set to "dry" for a few minutes. Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle over the tops of the coconut balls.

Stay tuned for more bake sale items.....

Dutch Apple Pancake

I had never had a Dutch Apple Pancake before and always wanted to try it. I still have granny smith apples that I had bought at the Asheville Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago, and thought that this would be the perfect time to try it. My kids loved it. It is not too sweet and the apples give you just enough sweetness that it needs.

Where is the time going? I can't believe that we are into our 2nd week of November and less than 2 weeks until Thanksgiving, which then puts me to less than 3 weeks until my husband leaves for Haiti for a week on a missionary trip...and then we all know what is in less than 2 months! yep....the big day that kids live for, and if you are like me...adults too. Too many things that need to be baked and posted about, but not enough time. Hopefully, I can organize myself to get it all done. The one thing that I liked about this pancake was that it was quick and easy, and that is definitely what I need right now to make sure that I can get all of the other things done.

Apple Dutch Pancake

6 eggs

1 1/2 Cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 Cup unsalted butter, room temp

4 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

1 Tbsp light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine eggs, milk and vanilla, mix until well combined. Add flour, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until dry ingredients are well incorporated, set aside.

Place butter in a 9X13 inch baking dish. Transfer dish to oven and heat until butter has just melted. Carefully remove from oven and place apples in a single layer in a baking dish. Return to oven and cook until butter begins to bubble, about 4 minutes. Remove from oven and pour batter over apples, sprinkle with brown sugar and continue baking until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.

*The pancake will puff in the last 5 minutes of baking.