the day after thanksgiving (black friday)....

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving.  we did here.  i hosted dinner for 21 family members yesterday....it was chaotic and loud and wonderful.  the food was fantastic and plentiful....i still feel like jabba the hut this morning.  the day went by in a blink as it always does. 

 these pictures were taken at the very beginning of my thanksgiving morning as i prepped the turkey, stuffed to the brim and wearing his cheesecloth diaper.  gotta keep all of that gorgeous stuffing inside, right?   and as the day was so chaotic, these were the only pictures i took. but be assured the turkey was beautiful when he came out of the oven and provided us with a meal to be truly thankful for.

i woke up in a total fog after taking two benadryl tablets before bed the night before.  my friend had told me that she takes them to help her sleep and she sleeps good and hard every night...her doctor told her that it was perfectly okay as they are non-addicting and harmless....

it didn't work for me....

it had the opposite effect and i was up half the night with my brain buzzing and feeling like i wanted to crawl out of my skin.....

never.ever.again

don woke me up at 8:00 am which was the time i had wanted to get my turkey into the oven.

c'est la vie.  

the turkey got into the oven at 9:45.  

in the end, the fog lifted, the turkey was done to perfection and the 

day went off without a hitch.  the sides and the desserts were fantastic.

 and as hostess, my refrigerator is filled with leftovers...

we will be doing some shopping later today after the crazy crowds have dispersed.

you may have noticed the bottom cabinets were finished being painted and our new flooring is in. 

more on that later.

enjoy the day after and all of those tasty leftovers.  i know we will.

fall baking.....

the weather yesterday was rainy, cold dark and dank....

you know,  typical michigan weather when winter is near....

i hate winter.

so what is a girl to do?  

hmmmm. i know what would make me feel better.

how about this....

upside-down pear gingerbread.

i had a few pears left in the fridge that were getting old fast. i haven't made something like this before

and to be honest, i just thought about cutting the pears up into cubes and

just mixing them into the batter.  

it was really easy to do this though

and i love the way it looked.  

warm spicy syrupy pear sauce on the top

and moist gingery cake on the bottom....

come to mama.....

now, my husband despises gingerbread. and pears.  

my son won't eat it either. but his friend jake came over last night and

had a nice healthy slice.  

at least someone appreciates my baking so half of what was left went home with him. 

(well, i couldn't just leave it lying around for me to eat, could i??)

anyway, here is the recipe, modified from epicurious.com.  you are supposed to make this in a 12 inch  iron skillet but i don't have one of those.  i used a 9 inch cake pan and had a little bit of batter and a half of a pear left over.  i diced the pear and added it to the batter and used a mini loaf pan.  i had to adjust the baking time of the loaf to about 38 minutes.  just keep checking... 

• For topping
• 2 1/2 firm pears (preferably Bosc)
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• whisk the brown sugar and spices together. 

For cake

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup molasses (preferably mild)
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

• 
  

preparatioPerMake topping:

Prepare pears:

Peel and core pears and cut each into 8 wedges.

Melt butter in skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Reduce heat to low, then sprinkle brown sugar spice mixture over bottom of skillet and cook, undisturbed, 3 minutes (not all sugar will be melted). Arrange pears decoratively over sugar and cook, undisturbed, 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Make cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together molasses and boiling water in a small bowl. Beat together butter, brown sugar, and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes, then alternately mix in flour mixture and molasses in 3 batches at low speed until smooth.

Pour batter over topping in skillet, spreading evenly and being careful not to disturb pears, and bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. (mine took about 55-60 minutes in the 9 inch cake pan).

Cool cake in skillet on a rack 5 minutes. Run a thin knife around edge of skillet, then invert a large plate with a lip over skillet and, using pot holders to hold skillet and plate tightly together, invert cake onto plate. Replace any pears that stick to skillet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

***recipe modified from epicurious****

taking a chance again.....

once upon a time,  a long, long time ago, i tried making bread.  from scratch. with yeast.

i failed miserably.  

it was hard, gummy and weighed a ton.....and i hated the kneading process because 

i never felt the spongy and soft dough that it was supposed to become.

since that time, i have never attempted to make a yeast bread again...

because i was too scared of failing miserably.

i don't know how i plucked up the courage to try again, but i did.

the sam's club near my house sells a rosemary and sea salt focaccia.  

it rocks my world.  

and makes my pants tighter....

i wanted to try and make my own. 

i used a recipe i found in one of my favorite cookbooks

apples for jam

i am a sucker for a good cookbook and tessa kiros is also a photographer. 

just about each recipe had a picture and she writes the story of the recipes of her childhood.  

it is a beautiful cookbook and i adore the title....what's not to love? 

anyway,

it was a very simple recipe with very simple instructions

and, now i have a kitchen aid mixer with a dough hook

something i didn't have the first go around....so it kneaded right in the mixer.

i couldn't believe how easy it was.  

ridiculously easy.

the dough rose just like it was supposed to. 

i just pushed my fingers into the dough like the recipe said 

to make little craters for all of the olive oil.

i sprinkled it with sea salt and fresh chopped rosemary from my garden. 

looks great huh?  i will admit that it was a little tough and the outside edges of the crust were really hard and crunchy. and it was a little dry for my taste.

since i am not any kind of a baker, i am not sure how to rectify that

 but i think if i take it out of the oven a few minutes earlier and maybe spray some water in the oven while it is baking that could improve it...

if you are a baker, can you give me some suggestions on how to make it more tender?

but it tasted delicious and i have finally conquered my fear of yeast.....

my next challenge will be cinnamon rolls....


(i don't know what the deal is with the font....sorry, i can't fix it....)

14 days of valentine.....

one heart a day until valentine's day....

shannon came over last week and we made homemade chicken pot pie.  while it was baking, the pie from the top shelf of the oven overflowed and dripped on this one on the bottom shelf....

if you look at the top left side of the pie, the bubbled up sauce is heart shaped too!!

14 days of valentine.....

one heart a day until valentine's day...

i have to explain about this heart.   a while back i was busy painting a piece of furniture when i asked austen to make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  my wonderful 13 year-old brought it to me
 cut like the one above and my heart went all pitter-patter.
he really loves his mama!!!