Merry Christmas

Rick, Chewy, Frieda and I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

I also wanted to share with you the annual Christmas polar bear dip photos with you all ( My uncle and I in Pensacola, FL). If you are in San Antonio next Christmas time and want to join in send me a line.

Wendi

I scream, You scream, Yeah!

Ok, first I want to say thank you to Kieran at icecreamireland for the ice cream party challenge. I took the challenge to make some of his recipes and to have a party. Well, the recipes and party were both a big success. I made the cookies and cream and strawberry sage ice cream recipes. They were both fantastic. Being in America I thought there might be issues with conversion but everything worked wonderfully. The only suggestions I had for the recipes were to add more cookies than the suggested four and also to add maybe one more sage leaf and a little more sugar to the strawberries if they aren't in season and not as sweet. The extra sage just helps it have a little more of the different flavor. Of the two recipes I really loved the strawberry sage. It tasted like really good strawberry ice cream with something extra that you couldn't really place. What I did love about these recipes was the way Kieran tells you to whip the cream before you add it to the cool custard. I have never heard of doing this with ice cream recipes and will do this with all future ice cream recipes. The whipped cream makes the final texture really smooth and luxurious. That said I can't wait until his book comes out and I can make some more of his recipes. His Irish ice cream recipes will no have a special place in south Texas. Thanks!

Tagged!

I've been tagged by my friends Brian and Gry at Woodward and Rick Wedding Photography to tell "8 things about myself that you might not know about me". Well here we go:

1. I wanted to be a doctor for a long time and still debated it in college for photojournalism, alas I decided I loved photography more. But, my junior year in college I got to spend a week following an open heart surgeon in and out of the operating room. Watching someone hold a person's heart in their hands and then watch the person wake up later is awe inspiring. I still watch ER reruns at the gym and think about how cool it would be. This was a God thing too because within six months my dad had to have a heart vavle replaced and I was able to comfort him and myself after seeing first hand what the surgery was like.

2. I grew up in a house full of pinball machines and juxboxes that my dad collected and was surprised to go to an arcade and have to pay to play the machines.

3. I started baking for the first time as a way to destress in college. I used to bring the food up to the photolab. They used to know when I had a big test due to the amount of baked goods in the lab the next morning.

4. The first time I met my husband Rick, I thought that is the guy I am going to marry. Five years later we started dating and six and a half years later we got married.

5. I still read comic books and am a bit of a sci-fi geek. I blame an older brother who I always looked up to for that.

6. I love candy! And I am a bit OCD about it. Every holiday has a specific candy that I associate with it. I buy a lot of that candy and eat it and then I make sure I have enough to hide away in the freezer so I can have some all year round. Examples, Halloween=Candy Corn, I likie the harvest corn the best now and the best is the mini pumpkins; Christmas=those chewy peperments with the trees on them; Valentine's day=Conversation Hearts; and Easter=Cadbury Mini eggs, I love these things and I also get a few creme eggs but they are a bit overwhelming. The most OCD thing about candy that I do though is how I eat it. Every candy has a specific way to eat it and I really can't take a bite out of candy bar. The main thing I do is I eat the chocolate on the outside first starting with the ends, then the sides and then the top and bottom. If it has layers, like a kit kat, I separate a layer at a time eating each one. I am a freak but it makes the candy last longer.

7. I once was rather large and lost close to 40 pounds in college and when I went home for holidays people didn't recognize me. I became a bit of a gym rat and still am, it relaxes me.

8. I am a bit spontaneous due to how I grew up. My parents are both teachers so we had the summers off and we used to go on long road trips that really were never plannned. The best example is the time we decided to take a two week trip up the east coast from our home in florida with the final destination, Maine. We decided to do it the night before and some how convinced my grandmother to come with us. I am always up for a road trip no matter what the notice.

Whew! I am done. It was really hard to come up with eight things, I feel like I am pretty open about myself. Hopefully some of this is new to some of you.

pretty sky

pretty-sky
Originally uploaded by WendiLeigh

The sky Wednesday night from my backyard! God is awesome. We have had beautiful skies this summer in Texas. It almost looked like a painting to me.

Lego music video

I know this is another non food related post but I have been busy and my husband is trying to loose weight. Oh Well. I love the Ok Go video however corny it might be. When I saw the lego version I smiled so I thought I'd pass a smile on to you. Check it out here

A new Addition

In T-7.5 days we will have a new member of the Poole family. A fluffy little bear who is yet to be named. So if you can think of a cool name let me know. I like Chewy as in chewbacca, because I think chewing will be a favorite pass time. So, if you can think of something better let me know. Heck, I might just make him his own blog. I'll let you know.

Pink!

On a lighter note I bring you Sugar! These yellow cupcakes with very pink frosting are very yummy. My friend Terry needed help makeing some cupcakes for a bacholerette party and I said sure. So, I made a couple dozen of these guys. Terry gave me the recipe which is from the Magnola Bakery cookbook. I am now saving the yellow cake recipe I used for the cupcakes because it is one of the best yellow cakes I made. Oh so moist and delicious. Pink is the brides favorite color, not my choice but I think they looked cool. Also this is the first time I've gotten paid to make anything. Yeah.

Goodbye

This is the hard. This isn't about food or photos really and not at all happy. I guess I putting this up here are therapy for me and a tribute. A little over a week ago we had to say goodbye to a member of our family, our dog, Jake. We had four short years with him but they were good years. I miss him so much and that is one of the reasons it has taken me so long to get this up. The photo was taken the morning he died. And as usual I am crying as I write this. It is so hard hard to say goodbye. I know some people say, it's only a dog, but Jake was a member of our family and my husband and I are missing him terribly. He was my best friend. I told him at the vet's that he would be out of pain soon and that he'd soon be in tennis ball heaven. There it would rain tennis balls and he could run from one, to the next, to the next and so on. And I know that God is now smiling as he watches a beautiful dog run a catch tennis balls in the air all day. I can't describe how hard things have been for me but I do thank God for blessing us with such a wonderful friend for the time we had him.

We love you Jake.

Blueberries!

I love this time of year. The blueberries are in season and they are oh so yummy. I saw them in large quanities, cheap and I did a little dance right there in the HEB Store. SO I decided it was muffin time. I have made these muffins before and I like them but this time they weren't quite as delicious as I remembered. The recipe is from the CIA's Baking at home cookbook. They turned out well but they were a bit too cakey and sweet for me. I still have lots of berries though and if I can stop eating them straight out of the fridge I'll try and make some more muffins or maybe a pie. yum yum.

You Scream!

For Ice Cream!
I got an ice cream maker a few weeks ago and have been obsessed. It is so fun and easy to use. I have made cinnamon, spicy hot chocolate, five spice chocolate and blackberry ice cream so far. The blackberry was a lot of fun. I went up to the hill country and picked the berries with my mother-in-law and had a blast. They are yummy. Then I used a recipe I found on the web at http://nosheteria.com/dailyspecial/2005/09/fresh-blackberry-ice-cream.html. The original recpe is from the Greenmarket Cookbook and it is heavenly. It tastes like fresh blackberries but is very smooth and creamy. yum yum. Anyway I am always up for new ice cream flavor ideas so if you have some let me know.

Brownies

These are so GOOD! They are the praline topped brownies from Alice Medrich's book "Bittersweet." They have a thin layer of rich fudgey chocolate and are topped with a carmel like topping chock full of chopped pecans. They are really easy to make and you can do it all by hand. They truly are the best brownies I've ever had or made.

Birthday Yeah!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!
Today is my 27th 'B'day, Yeah! This is the birthday cake I made for my friend Misty and I's birthday party. It is cake on the cover of Alice Medrich's book "Bittersweet." This is the third time I've made this cake and it is getting easier each time. That said, this is a time consuming recipe but the results are very yummy and impressive.

Easter!

Ah! I have taken a while to post. Work has gotten busy and I decided to paint my kitchen. The kitchen is only half done and it seems like it might stay like that for the time being. Back to food. I abked the Lemon Sables, or shortbread cookies, from Greenspan's "Baking From My Home to Yours." This was my second time making them and they turned out awesome and were very easy. A great stand by recipe and you can store the dough in rolls in the freezer and take them out to bake when you need them. Too Cool. I also made the super easy yeast rolls from the Betty Crocker cookbook. As always a big hit and very simple. Yum Yum.

To Souffle or not to Souffle?

I made my first Souffle today. Well, these are souffles that you allow to fall so they aren't so special for height. They taste wonderful though. They are Fallen Chocolate Souffle with Chocolate Bavarian Cream with Carmel sauce from The Royal Chef, Darren McGrady, www.theroyalchef.com. These taste like gooey brownies with yumminess. The thing I thought funny was that there are port soaked prunes in the souffles. I thought they would taste funny, but they are very good and you would have no idea they were prunes.

Red!

cake 2
Originally uploaded by WendiLeigh.

In honor of Valentine's day I decide to try my hand at the reddest dessert around. Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese frosting. The cake is from the Lee Brother's cookbook I got for Christmas. It turned out beautiful, but the flavor was lacking somewhat. The cake was rich and flavoriful but it was dry. I will try it again, but add some oil and liquid to make it moister. I did ace the cream cheese frosting for the first time.

ginger snaps!

These are the Sugar Topped Molasses Spice cookies in Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking From My Home to Yours." They are great giant ginger snaps. At first when they were hot I loved them and then when they got cool they were very, very crisp. I didn't like how hard they were. Now I seem to keep snacking on them. They really are good and spicy and better than the store bought ginger snaps I seem to enjoy. Next time I might make them smaller so they are more snacky. They would also be good dipping cookies.

lemon creme

I made this on Christmas day. Actually I made the parts a couple of days in advance and just baked the crust and put it together on Christmas. This is the Lemon Creme Tart from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking from My Home to Yours." I love this thing and I mean it. It is the best tart/lemon pie I've ever tasted. The white stuff on top is whipped Creme Fraiche with a pinch of sugar added. It's a nice touch to the lemon. I will definately make this again but next time I'll bake it in the approraite 9" tart pan versus the 11" one I made it in so the filling comes up to the top.