Is there an easier way to blog?

Anyone?

Please excuse this tangent, but I have had so many problems blogging lately! I've had whole posts disappear, and then instantly blogger will save the deleted post so all my information is gone. Then, I started blogging in Word, which I love. However, my pictures won't upload from word (learned that one the hard way!). Now I'm blogging in word, uploading my photos to Flickr, and then linking the html from Flickr to my blog. Also, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to widen the area on my page where I post. My postings look so narrow. There has to be an easier way to do this, right?

If anyone has any insight, please let me know. I would love to post in Word and have my whole post (including pictures) uploaded in one easy step.

TWD Marshmallows

Marshmallows are one of those sweet items that I feel people either love or hate. Joe doesn't care for them, but I on the other hand, I REALLY care for them. Leave me alone in the house with a bag of marshmallows and I'm pretty sure at least 50% of that bag will be gone by the end of the day. The only reason I drink hot chocolate is because it's a vehicle for marshmallows. Don't even get me started on why I can no longer purchase large tubs of Fluff. Hey, they're fat free, right?

Back in August my friends and I got together for a big night of eating. I decided to make home made smores for the event. I made the Charles Chocolate graham cracker recipe (posted on chow.com), and I made Dorie's Marshmallows. Those were by far the best smores I've ever had. When I saw that TWD was making marshmallows this week, I was really excited to make them again.

This time around I decided to make espresso marshmallows. I have a small bottle of Trablit that I love to add to different desserts for a great coffee flavor. My kitchen was really cold today, so I had to heat my whites over my stovetop (very carefully!) to warm them up. From that point on I followed the recipe pretty much according to the directions. The one thing I noticed is that the recipe called for an extra tablespoon of sugar, but there was no mention of it in the method. I assumed that it was supposed to go into the whites when they were frothy, so that's what I did.

Here are some pictures of the process and of the final product. I can't wait to add these marshmallows to my hot chocolate tomorrow J

TWD Russian Grandmother’s Apple Pie Cake

This week and next; my posts will be on the shorter side. It's restaurant week here in Boston, and that means I'll be working many extra hours. The upside of restaurant week is that Joe and I will be eating dinner at Excelsior on Friday night. I can't wait for that!

This apple pie cake was fantastic. I found the dough fun to work with and quite tasty. I loved the way the dough hugged the apples as it was baking, revealing the fruit within. I baked this cake with Cortland apples, and I found the flavor of them worked well with the dough.

Luckily, there isn't much to say about this cake/pie other than I will make it again!

TWD Snickery Squares

I can't think of anything more exciting than a bar or cookie that might taste even remotely like a snickers bar. I make pastries for a living, but give me a snickers bar over crème Brule any day! When I saw that Erin of Dinner and Desserts had chosen the Snickery Squares I was delighted. So happy in fact, that I made them for a dinner party on Friday.

These squares were super easy to make. First I made short dough in the food processor, and baked it off. Next, I candied some salted peanuts. Finally I melted some chocolate with some butter. After a quick assembly, you have an absolutely addicting treat. Now, that being said; production wise there are some things I will do differently next time I make these. First, I will line my square baking pan with parchment paper going up and over the sides. Even though I buttered my dish, the short dough still stuck to my pan. It wasn't a huge problem, but it made my squares slightly less picture worthy. Second, I will add a tiny bit of melted butter to the nuts after I caramelize them (when they're still in the pan), just to get the caramel coating the nuts a little more evenly. Last, I will make two times the recipe because these were so good. I am not lying when I say that I almost got into a fight with my husband when I came home from work on Sunday night and (gasp!) he had eaten the rest of the squares! I was so disappointed, but I guess it's for the best. Swimsuit season is just a few months away J

One note about the Dulche De Leche called for in this recipe. I used the brand La Salamandra Farmhouse Dulce De Leche. I purchased it at Whole Foods for $6.99, which I thought was a bit expensive. After opening the jar, I realized I had struck gold. The flavor of the dulce de leche was the perfect balance of caramel and vanilla. I will buy this brand again if I don't have time to make the dulce de leche myself. The only downside of using this brand is that the caramel never really sets up when you refrigerate it. Personally, I love gooey desserts, so it was perfect for me. It just made them a bit messy.

I promise pictures will be up soon. Somewhere between California and Massachusetts lies a USB cord to connect my camera to my computer. If anyone finds it please let me know J I hope to get a cord by the end of this week, so hopefully pictures will be up by Sunday latest.

TWD Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits

Tuesdays with Dorie's recipe for today is Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits. The weather in Boston right now is perfect for biscuit baking. It's cold with huge wet snowflakes coming down. I just had the pleasure of eating a biscuit fresh from the oven with a cup of Earl Grey. Comfort in a cup and on a plate, food experiences like this are what it's all about. This is also my first blog post since Joe and I moved from California back to Boston. I can't think of a better way to start blogging again, with such a nice, homey recipe. Speaking of California, my friend had made these back in April when I first decided to put together a baking blog. The concept of my blog, baking from one cookbook with a group of friends certainly changed quickly after my first post. Practically everyone in the original post moved away (including myself at the end!). I decided to stick with the blog though and post my own baking and cooking experiences. In addition to baking with TWD, I will continue to post my own experiences. I've been baking and cooking from two great cookbooks, so expect some new posts soon.

The Pecan Sour Cream Biscuit recipe was very straight forward. Combine dries, cut in butter, add liquid and then pecans. Whenever I make biscuits, I get nervous that I'm going to over mix the dough. After making and baking off my biscuits, I think I could have used one more fold to get the dough a bit more cohesive. The biscuits came out awesome, but instead of baking straight up, they all seemed to lean over a bit. I have a feeling that's because the dough was a bit loose. Regardless, the biscuits were delicious, and I will certainly make them again. I loved the tang the sour cream produced in the biscuits, and the pecans added a nice texture to the dough.

(Pictures to come soon… )