Bake 52: Spiced Pumpkin Bread (with Chocolate Chips)

 The summer has been 8000 degrees here and while I am not always ready for the idea of summer to end, I am so ready for cooler temperatures, fall baking and fall TV.  (Although it's been so long, I have forgotten which shows I am looking forward to watching.  I am sure it will all some screaming back to me.)  This was such a great recipe pick this week!  The last two recipes have been a great way to usher in the new season!

Bake 52: Make-Ahead French Toast Casserole

 I don't want to sound whiny or anything (again) BUT I don't remember a time before my computer started uploading these THREE photos!  I am about to go ballistic on the internet in general if I could just figure out a way to do that.  A hissy fit sounds like a stellar idea about now.  How did we EVER survive with dial-up internet connections?!!? I feel like I have dial-up and it's un-survivable.  It was a simpler time I guess.  But enough about that...

This is such a great fall dish!  And while I haven't totally gotten on the fall-bandwagon yet, I was excited to make it.  You should have smelled it baking!

TWD: Whole Wheat Loaves

Let me just start by saying that my internet here su-----cks.  Seriously.  I have stolen Tyler's laptop and retreated to the back corner of our apartment to try and get the best signal.  This is part of the reason my posting hasn't been as frequent--but not to worry, I finally let the landlord know that it wasn't going to work.  And you all know how non-confrontational I can be.  It must have been pretty bad for me to say something (or text something, thank goodness for texting).  Anyhow, I will make it brief....

This bread was OK.  There was a time or two during the process when I was sure it would all end in disaster.  I didn't have malt extract and that probably would have helped things.  After the dough was mixed (I only added 3 cups of white whole wheat and 3 cups of all purpose flour, I didn't even do the extra half cup let alone the optional 1/4 cup) it was pretty dry and I was sure it was too dry.  I added a couple extra tablespoons of water and I probably should have added more.  After the second rise, it looked like this:

 Have you ever seen anything more ugly?    

After baking it looked better, especially if I pretended the other side didn't exist.  And if I didn't look at the other loaf.  It was even more ghastly.

 So by the time I sliced into it I was pleasantly surprised.  I completely expected it to be inedible and not worth the effort.  But alas, it was pretty good.

Would I make this bread again?  I don't think so.  Like I said, it was just OK.  Jenn has ruined me from all other forms of whole wheat bread.  I like the taste of her bread better, not to mention it's 100% whole wheat whereas this one is 50% (Jenn's recipe HERE).  And I think if I were going to go with a bread that has white flour, I liked this multi-grain bread better.  While this wasn't a huge winner in my book, it wasn't an epic fail either.  It might have been some user error on my part, especially since I didn't have all the ingredients.  But since I like the other two recipes I mentioned so much, I don't see the need to search the globe for malt extract.

If you'd like to try the recipe if nothing else to prove you can make it better than I can, you can get the recipe at the blog of one or both of our hosts for the week:

Veggie Nom Noms

or

The Family that Bakes Together

If you'd like to see what the other TWD bakers did this week, you can go HERE.

Bake 52: Deep-Dish Pizza (Pepperoni and Veggie)

I am not really keen on picking the recipes, I just like to make what everyone else picks.  So when my week rolled around again, I decided to choose a recipe that was recommended by Courtney.  She made the pizza and said it was good and we should try it.  And I do whatever Courtney tells  me to.  And I also kinda like to have a week once in a while where the baking group counts as dinner. 

Bake 52: Tunnel of Fudge Cake

This is my kind of thing.  I know I said yesterday that I thought twice about making that recipe, but I would never think twice about something like this.  Isn't she pretty?  What is it about a bundt cake that is so lovely?  Not to mention the chocolate brownie-like cake, drizzled with chocolate and a 'tunnel' of fudge running through the middle.  It's the stuff of heaven.  I tried to make it look angelic in the photos but now I can't decide if it's angelic or hellish.  (It's tempting me right now.  I think it knows my name.)

TWD: Nectarine Upside-down Chiffon Cake

 I almost skipped this week's TWD.  I just wasn't feelin' it.  There were a few steps to this recipe.  (Normally I wouldn't be deterred by a few steps if I know the effort will be rewarded but I just wasn't sure. )  The only thing stopping me was that I haven't missed a week yet and I didn't want this stupid chiffon cake to get the best of me. :)  And guess what, it was pretty good.   The bottom of the pan is covered with brown sugar, butter and nectarines, then layered with cake batter and streusel before baking.  How could that not be good?  Now it seems silly of me.

Bake 52: Crunchy Granola Bars

We are almost completely moved out of our old place, we just have a few random things left to take care of and a bit of cleaning to do.  Tonight we were there finishing some things up and Tyler broke 4 of my pasta bowls.  My pasta bowls that we got for our wedding and I have been in love with since day 1.  Every time we have moved, I have wrapped them meticulously and marked the box, "PASTA BOWLS, BREAK AND DIE."  They made the move from Utah to South Dakota, back to Utah, (I didn't take them to Texas or Hawaii, they were in storage) and to California all in one piece.  I broke one of them a few months ago and spent a significant period of time mourning.  And now we have moved 1 mile and broken 4 more.  Leaving only 3.  We can't even have a meal with them now.  This could possibly be the worst day of my life and I am currently restraining myself from choking Tyler with my bare hands.  (I could, possibly, be acting a bit dramatic right now....)

The second worst thing that happened today was when my granola bars didn't go perfectly.  I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but they are a bit brown.  I was supposed to toast the oats for 20-25 minutes before assembling the bars until they were light golden.  I went with 20 minutes and they were more like golden, golden.  Or maybe darker.  After the final baking, they were just too done and it came through in the taste.  It might be my oven, it might be California, it might be that this day was just out to destroy me from the get-go....who knows!  

Next time, I might go with 10 minutes and see what happens.  And I will make these again.  I can tell they have serious potential if I can get it right.  I omitted the cinnamon and added about 1/4 cup of coconut and a handful of chocolate chips when I mixed everything together.  No regrets there, I would do that part again in a heart beat.  Luckily I halved the recipe so we don't have quite a many reject-bars hanging around (we do have quite a few though).  And as an added bonus, Hadlee and I had a lesson on area and what pan would work to half the batch if the recipe called for an 18x13 pan.

 If you want to try the recipe, you can visit Emily's blog for the recipe.  Thanks for hosting this week Emily, I can't wait to try these again and make them better next time!

PS.  I hope to be back to regular posting soon!  I am starting to feel like getting back in the kitchen finally!

Bake 52: Glazed Lime Cookies

If you've seen any of the other posts from our baking group today, you know these are supposed to be lemon cookies.  I could make up some great excuses why I used lime instead of lemon but the main reason, and most influential one, is simply that I am lazy.  (I tell you guys all the time, do you believe me yet?)  I had everything to make these cookies except lemons and I happen to have an abundance of limes.  I now have lime trees in my backyard!!!  It's like Christmas everyday.  Once I get my life together, I will share some pictures of the new place but for now, just know that I have lime trees.  (I hope Valerie won't be too mad at me for changing the recipe again)