Uncompleted Challenge:Daring Bakers Challenge #2

I regret to say I was unable to complete this month's challenge. Although it seemed quite intense for a novice baker like myself I was looking forward to the challenge. I am happy to share the reason I didn't participate this month- I'm in New Zealand. For the Christmas and New Year's my boyfriend and I are travelling around New Zealand and Australia. Look for pictures when I return in January.
Well please support those that were able to complete the challenge by going to

http://daringbakersblogroll.blogspot.com/

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.
They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

Hope you all had a delicious holiday!

Daring Bakers and My First Challenge, Kim: 1, The Kitchen :0

My first month's challenge was hosted by Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater (http://eggbeater.typepad.com/) with the assistance of Alex of Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo and Jenny of Foray into Food. The recipe was by Shuna Fish Lydon and her recipe can be found at http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006 … he-recipe/. Many other versions of this cake can be found on the Daring Baker's blog roll.
I must say that this recipe came a warning for the carmel syrup which left me feeling rather intimidated. But other then the small speckles of hardened carmel all over my kitchen it went pretty well.

The carmel starts off innocently enough but soon...


Anyways my baking talents are more then lacking but I worked hard to follow this recipe exactly and to measure everything, the cake originally was supposed to be enjoyed by my coworkers but I got scared I was going to feed them something horrible so I saved it for Thanksgiving and full blown criticism of my friends. Feel free to ridicule and mock my cake decorating style but I think its pretty damn good for my first attempt at doing more then just slapping frosting on. So here it is ready and awaiting.


I ended up cutting the cake in half and putting in fresh strawberries. This cake almost didn't "pan" out because my spring-form cake pan seemed to have left the house. So I cooked the cake in a glass pyrex which worked out pretty well. All in all I am very pleased with the way this challenge went and the taste testers enjoyed this challenge as well.

Alone and Hungry.

Alone and hungry is not a fun state to be for someone who likes cooking. Cooking for one is a difficult task. Today I opened the fridge and the pantry trying to find something delicious to eat. This is what I came up with....


Basically I took a portabella mushroom and put in a pan with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Smothered the mushroom with garlic butter and place sliced cherry tomatoes inside the cap. Then I topped the cap with a mixture of smashed potatoes and broccolli. I sprinkled ground almonds on the top before baking to give it a crust.
Well, it was delicious, filling and easy to make. My dinner for one was successful. Although I'll be happy when the boyfriend comes home on Saturday, cooking for two is much more fun.

Mmh, hummus.

I love hummus. It's tasty, easy to make, healthy and it makes a nice "while I'm making my actual dinner" snack. My favorite kind is sold at Trader Joe's, I forget the brand but I particularly like the roasted garlic and olive flavors. I realized at about $4 a container, it was much more economical to make my own. My first attempt was disastrous, I used bulk dried chick peas and didn't cook them for long enough and my blender was horribly outdated and I ended up with a chunk, hard and disgusting mass.
Here's my latest recipe, I have a lovely new food processor which makes the job easier, in addition to using canned chick peas.

1 can (15oz) chick peas
3 large cloves of roasted garlic
Juice of 1 lemon (give or take depending on amount of juice)
2 tablespoons of tahini
1 and 1/2 extra virgin olive oil
That's the basic recipe, I like the flavor of roasted garlic better then fresh, I find it blends in better and doesn't over power the hummus.
I made two variations...
Variation #1 = 1/2 can (about 7-8) artichoke hearts
Variation #2 = 1/2 tsp of chipotle powder

My pre-dinner snack...

Yay to my first posting!