I'm a Daring Baker!

Daring Bakers are an online group that agree to bake one item a month following the exact same recipe with no changes. It's a fantastic way to bring new zest into your baking life and your human life. Any worries I had on my first challenge, Julia Child's French Bread, recipe here- http://breadchick.com/?p=336 -dissolved when I read the encouraging comments given to others & felt the commaraderie. Alright!

I've worked with yeast breads and double risings before so I began my recipe feeling a bit confident but not cocky. The 15 page recipe gave me pause until I read it & started organizing my ingredients and equipment. The estimated time for the bread was 7-9 hours. I set aside one of my days off work for the baking. I live in Southern California so my house was pretty cool inside. I ended up puuting the dough in the laundry room with the dryer running for its risings. My antique KA was not up to the challenge, so I did the kneading by hand. The only problem I had was that my sharp knives weren't sharp enough to properly mark the dough before baking. Next time I'll try the razor blades mentioned in the recipe. The bread was amazing & all gone in a poof! I'll definitely make this again...I don't think I can wait long, drool, drool. Many thanks to the Daring Bakers founders, Lisa & Ivonne & to this month's hosts, Mary & Sara for a wonderful experience!

Kendall

(c) Flourbuttereggs 2008 All Rights Reserved.

Kung Pao Tofu

A family favorite!

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Ginger Cookies

I tried a new recipe hoping to find a great ginger cookie that didn't involve rolling the dough out. These were a success & are from Cooking Light, to boot, so are healthier than a typical cookie.

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Zarafina

I'm a tea person. I only have 1-2 cups a day but they are mandatory. For my b'day, my mum gave me the best thing a tea drinker could dream of....Zarafina (TM)! It's a tea brewing sytem that boils the water, steeps the tea leaves, and then decants the tea into the included pitcher. This way, the tea doesn't sit & stew in it's leaves forever. Best of all, there are separate settings for black, green, oolong, and white teas as well as for loose tea vs. bag tea. No more waiting for my boiled water to cool enough to start steeping my green tea-Zarafina does it all! My son, who's obsessed with all machinery & things with buttons and levers, said it was "the best present ever!" xox to mum! (c) Flourbuttereggs 2008 All Rights Reserved.