TWD: sweet cream biscuits

I have a love/hate relationship with biscuits. I love to eat them and I hate to make them. The past few times I've made biscuits they resemble hockey pucks or hardtack. No one enjoys biting into a hard dry piece of cardboard. If they do than they probably have bigger problems than liking bad biscuits. I like to eat biscuits when they are all fluffy and soft and melt in your mouth with tastiness.

Despite my dread of making these biscuits I persevered (mostly because the recipe was so simple) and attempted to give biscuits another try. This recipe is insanely simple and has very little ingredients (always a bonus). I rolled out my dough and proceeded to cut a lot of biscuits. I think I may have grabbed a smaller biscuit cutter than recommended. These turned into two bite biscuits. I also froze some to enjoy later.

So how did these little guys turnout? Surprisingly good. I watched them rise up in the oven and when I tasted one I didn't break a tooth off. That equals total success in my book. They were even good a few hours later at room temperature. I didn't do anything creative with them. I just ate them. Pete ate a few with eggs. We live an exciting life over here.

Thanks to Melissa of Love at First Bite (super cute blog name) for picking this recipe. Check out her blog for the recipe. The recipe is quick and simple and worth a try. Also see what all the other Tuesday with Dorie bakers thought of these biscuits.

(P.S. I apologize for not commenting last week. I was (1) tired, (2) sick with a cold, (3) super busy at work, and (4) busy growing a baby. Enough excuses or do you need more? I'll try to be better this week.)

TWD: swedish visiting cake

Between work and baby building, Kim asked if I could find time in my unemployed schedule to take over blog duties this week. Seeing how much I enjoyed the Swedish Visiting Cake, I felt like I could give the blog a fair shake.

I'll admit that when Kim said we were having another cake this week I was not the most enthused husband. I'm feeling a little caked-out. But as soon as the lemon zest and almond extract started hitting my nose I was all in. The cake turned out great and within 24 hours of it coming out of the oven, there isn't a slice left in the house. Kim's older brother is in town this week so he had a hand in finishing this off so quickly, but I think I could have managed to clear this cake out even without the extra help.

When I was uploading Kim's pictures a lot of them reminded me of Pac-Man (see above). So I thought I'd make an animation for her blog with Pac-Man replaced by the Swedish Visiting Cake. Sounded simple enough. I spent about an hour working on it, transferred the pictures to the animation windows, then realized I didn't have them in the right order. So I closed the animation window to go back to the photo editor. Little did I know that when I open the animation window, the photo editor disappears. Little did I also know that if I close the animation window it doesn't save a draft of my photo edits. So the following graphic is extra nice because I made it twice. So much for getting ahead on my reading in economics. Making an animated picture of cake is WAY more important.

Thanks to Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs for picking such a great recipe. Be sure to check out how the other Dorie bakers treated their Swedish visitors.

TWD: mocha-walnut marbled bundt cake

Another bundt cake this week. Bundt cakes are great. No fussy frosting needed as the bundt pan does all the decorating work for you. I was a little hesitant with this cake since it has coffee and espresso powder in it but I was pleasantly surprised. Pete liked it too. When I told him what I was making this week he just made a grunting noise. I think he is getting spoiled. But after having a bite he changed his tune and actually said it was tasty. I'm enjoying the cake too and the little caffeine jolt makes the little guy in my belly dance A LOT. He likes it too.

This cake was pretty simple to make. I ground up the walnuts in my mini-chopper since Trader Joe's does not sell walnut meal (just almond meal). The walnut flavor is pretty mild but it adds a nice taste to the cake. I tried to follow Dorie's marbling technique of alternating spoonfuls of the chocolate/coffee batter and the plain batter. I then zig-zagged a knife through the cake. It mixed together a bit more than I would have liked so I'll have to keep practicing.

We have some squatters taking up residence at our house. These two are slowly moving into the ant moat. The papa bird likes to sit on top of the hummingbird feeder and sing sweet love songs to his lady bird. He has a nice voice but he is driving Charlie crazy. He's been staring out the sliding door making his cat bark noises for most of the day. Hopefully the bird family will continue to build their nest and take up residence. We'll give them a discount on the rent.

In other news here is an updated tummy photo from a week ago. I'm a tiny bit bigger this week.

Thanks to Erin of When in Doubt...Leave it at 350 for picking out this delicious cake. Go to her blog to get the recipe. Also head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to see what the other bakers thought of this cake. I hope everyone had a nice Easter.

TWD: coconut tea cake

Short and sweet this week. This cake was wonderful. I made the lemon version and the addition of lemon zest and juice were the perfect accompaniment to the mild coconut flavor. Everyone really enjoyed this and we are quickly working our way through the full bundt. This cake was especially delicious with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. So yummy. Make this cake you won't be disappointed.

Thanks to Carmen of Carmen Cooks for picking this delicious treat. Head over to her blog for the recipe. Check out what all the other bakers thought of this cake at Tuesdays with Dorie.

TWD: dulce de leche duos

Who knew cookie sandwiches could be so tasty? Who knew you could make dulce de leche from condensed milk in a crock pot? Who knew those cans of condensed milk would leave rust stains in said crock pot? We know all of this now.

Kim and I just got home from our first pregnancy class and she is nursing a strawberry milkshake while casually instructing me on what to write. We are pulling off a team post while doing the Kegel exercises that were strongly recommended at the class. I was able to bond with a group of expectant fathers by telling them about a traumatic phone call I received from a crying Kim this morning. Kim made it all the way into work before realizing her lunch bag only made it to the counter top. I didn't notice her lunch sitting there until she called. The reason this was traumatic was because of how excited she was about her lunch. She made an amazing eggplant pizza last night which made up the main part of the lunch. Then she had a bunch of yummy snacks. She even talked about how excited she was about her lunch before going to bed last night. Other guys in the class were talking about the hormonal mood swings of their pregnant wives and I shared this story to help strengthen our manly bond.

As much as I'd like to finish telling you about my manly bonding experience, Kim just informed me that I need to talk about the cookies. So, back to the cookies. Aside from the new rust rings in the crock pot, they turned out great. I've been snacking on them for two days now and they're just as good as they were when Kim first stuck them together. Kim is partial to the cookies on their own, but I'm definitely a fan of the cookie sandwich.

Thanks to Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake for picking out these delicious treats. You can find the recipe for these cookies on her blog. Also head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to see what the other bakers thought of these cookies.

TWD: soft chocolate and blackberry tart

Pete was so very excited when he found out this week's recipe had chocolate in it. He's been craving chocolate. I am happy to say that this didn't disappoint. Let's just say I made a full size tart on Saturday and there is only a sliver left. He's good about eating sweets. He takes his taste testing job very seriously.

I ended up using fresh blackberries for this recipe since they were cheaper than raspberries. They looked so pretty in the grocery store.

The mix of bittersweet and milk chocolate was a nice combo and I must agree with Dorie that this was the best room temperature the day it was made. No nice pictures of the full tart because it got out of the oven a bit late and I couldn't make Pete wait until the next day to try a piece. That would be mean. This tart is delicious and it will make anyone craving chocolate very happy. My favorite bites were the ones with the juicy blackberries.

Thanks to Rachelle of Mommy? I'm Hungry! for picking out this delicious treat. Check out her blog for the recipe and to see what else she has been baking up. You should also go to Tuesdays with Dorie and see what all the other bakers thought. I'm thinking this one was probably a hit. How can you go wrong with chocolate and berries in a yummy crust?

Tummy Update - 24 Weeks

For all those interested in my ever expanding tummy here it is in all its glory at 24 weeks. The baby boy is getting big and he's kicking and punching like crazy. I have no idea what I'm doing in this picture. I may be laughing really hard at one of Pete's jokes, staring up at the spider webs on our porch, or maybe I was thinking that if I stretched out I would look skinnier.

We are slowly putting the nursery together. This past week our crib came and Pete put it together while I was at work. It looks great and Charlie the cat has been giving it some test runs. Lifting him out of the crib is probably the same as lifting a baby out. Although Charlie probably has 10 pounds on the average newborn. I figured he would be way too fat to jump into it. Unfortunately, no. He's pretty nimble for being such a chunk. I'll post some nursery pictures at a later time. Maybe Charlie will oblige and let me dress him up in a onesie. I can dream.