baking

Tasty Tuesday–A Year of Cheesecakes

This has kind of been “The Year of the Cheesecake” around here. I didn’t set out to make 12 cheesecakes (averaging one a month), but I reached a point in the late summer where I realized that I had already made so many, I might as well go for a year’s worth. I didn’t make exactly 12 of them…there was a repeat because Turkey liked one so much he asked me to make it again for his birthday. And there was one failure (a cranberry cheesecake with a gingersnap crust) that we won’t talk about. I also didn’t literally make one a month…some months I made more (and once I made two in one week!), and I didn’t make a single cheesecake the entire summer. But in the end, I had 12 unique successes, starting with a delightful eggnog variety early in the year:

The Black Forest was one of the most popular…this is the flavor I made again for Turkey’s birthday.

S’mores is a natural cheesecake flavor because so many already have a graham cracker crust, and chocolate cheesecakes are also very popular…just add marshmallows and you’re done!

I won’t even tell you how many Oreos went into this cookies ‘n’ cream cheesecake!

I made a traditional Chicago style cheesecake, which was plain except for a simple topping of fresh raspberries…I think it had the best texture of all the cheesecakes I made!

I was in my matcha-lavender era during the spring:

My first autumn cheesecake was inspired by cinnamon rolls:

The Biscoff cookie butter cheesecake was one of my all-time favorites!

I’ve made a pumpkin cheesecake in the past, but never pumpkin chocolate chip (until this fall):

Butterscotch is another great flavor for fall!

I’m currently in my Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake era, and luckily for me, they had a recipe utilizing my favorite holiday snack cakes on their website!

And finally, another favorite that I made once last year…a gingerbread cheesecake with a gingersnap crust and topped with a gingerbread mousse that’s so delicious, it could stand on its own as a dessert!

I know 12 cheesecakes stretched out over the course of a year doesn’t sound like much, but they are a big commitment of both time and money, and I’ve never put so much effort into baking them regularly before! It was a fun little baking project for 2024!

Tasty Tuesday–A Sonic and Shadow Celebration

Our family was very excited about the release of the new Sonic X Shadow Generations video game last week, so of course we had to have a meal featuring recipes from Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Cookbook! Turkey is the Sonic expert in our house, so he planned the menu, as well as how the food was styled. He decided on two Sonic recipes and two Shadow recipes, displayed on either side of the central dish:

The main course was the “Big Ring Party Platter”…with a twist. Instead of shaping it like the rings Sonic is famous for, I turned into an “X” like the game logo.

For the Sonic side of the menu, we had two blue dishes. One we had tried previously…the “Pure Hydrocity” drink. New was “My Sweet Passion,” a cake roll made with blue spirulina powder, a new and fun ingredient for me…I couldn’t believe how vibrant the color was!

On the Shadow side of things, we had “Caffeine Control,” a drink made with coconut milk and topped with a mixture of cream plus cocoa and espresso powders, and “Edge of Darkness,” a coffee-flavored crème brûlée that was divine!

We also watched Turkey play through the game, and it was a lot of fun…I’m glad we had the time to make a special little celebration!

Oktoberfest 2024

It’s time for a look back at all of the Oktoberfest fun we’ve enjoyed over the last month or so!

We started close to home toward the end of September, with Belleville Oktoberfest, which begins even before the big celebration in Munich. It’s not my favorite Oktoberfest, but it’s easy to attend, and I love any reason to wear a dirndl!

Next up was my favorite area Oktoberfest, in St. Charles, MO. This year’s event was interesting because it was super muddy, but still a lot of fun, with music, dancing, food, and shopping.

We went back to Zootoberfest at the St. Louis Zoo…they still have the best pretzels!

New to us this year was Soulard’s Oktoberfest in St. Louis. There was more good music with the added bonus of a stroll through the Soulard Market.

And finally, our family Oktoberfest, once all of the other area celebrations had wrapped up. We started with an Oktoberfest Eve meal of brats and sauerkraut, plus German tater tots inspired by the ones we tried in Soulard, and apple strudel made by Ladybug for dessert.

Of course I had to put together one more look featuring Rare Dirndl, and it was also a bit of a Disney Bound, as a nod to the Disney Princess with my favorite fashion sense, Rapunzel!

We made pretzels, and instead of fondue, I made Obatzda, a German cheese spread that’s great on the pretzels.

For dinner we had all of my German favorites…Schweineschnitzel, spaetzle, and rotkohl….all homemade, too!

Every good holiday deserves a special drink…I made an apple pie mocktail with apple cider, caramel syrup, cinnamon, and ginger beer. It tasted like fall in a glass, and I even learned how to make an apple fan for a garnish!

And for dessert, one of our family’s all-time favorites–Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte!

I’m kind of sad that Oktoberfest season is over already…it’s become something I really look forward to every year!

Tasty Tuesday–Cooking with The Wizard of Oz

If you’ve been following my homeschool weekly summaries, you may have noticed that we’ve been having a lot of fun with The Wizard of Oz: The Official Cookbook. We’ve made quite a few recipes so far, so I thought I’d take a look back at everything we’ve tried.

  • Ruby-Red Punch
  • Dinner on the Farm Rolls
  • Marvelous Campfire Spread
  • Twister Shakes
  • Savory Pinwheel Lollipops
  • Auntie Em’s Crullers
  • Wicked Cruel-lers
  • Old-Fashioned Lemonade
  • Good Witch Pink Lemonade
  • Wicked Lemonade
  • Peach Iced Tea
  • I’m Losing My Hay
  • Grilled Sausages with Marvelous Campfire Spread
  • Follow the Spiral Omelet
  • Cornstalk Cheese Straws
  • Glinda Strawberry Jasmine Bubble Tea
  • What a World Spheres
  • Wicked Black Bread
  • Badwitches

I really like how many drink recipes there are in this cookbook, especially because they’re all non-alcoholic. That can be a struggle when looking for fun and different beverages for a family with underage children (or teetotalers for that matter). I have also really enjoyed learning some new cooking techniques while using this book…I do a lot of cooking, so anytime something I haven’t tried before comes my way, I think it’s pretty exciting! There are still plenty of recipes left, too, so we still have lots to look forward to!

Tasty Tuesday–Breakfast-for-Dinner Week

Following the success of “Sandwich Week,” I decided to go with another themed series of meals, this time one of our family’s favorites, breakfast-for-dinner! We started with a pair of recipes from The Wizard of Oz: The Official Cookbook…”Follow the Spiral Omelets” with “Cornstalk Cheese Straws.”

We were originally going to have waffles the second night, but I found out my German recipe for the month was Kaiserschmarren (the Kaiser’s torn pancakes), so I made that instead, with a homemade cherry compote on top:

Of course we had breakfast sandwiches, this time on croissants with a side of tater tots:

I made one of our old Disney dinners of “Chef Mickey’s Breakfast Pizza” with tropical fruit on the side:

And we had breakfast burritos with blueberry-peach smoothies:

It’s been quite some time since I made breakfast casserole, so we had that with homemade blueberry muffins:

And for the finale I made French toast and bacon.

I’m trying to decide what theme I might do next…Tex-Mex is looking popular!

Tasty Tuesday–Sandwich Week

Last week, when I was trying to plan the week’s menu and write my grocery list, I threatened that if I didn’t find some inspiration quickly, I was going to serve sandwiches all week. That in itself was all the inspiration I needed, and “Sandwich Week” was born. Now, I was actually threatening to serve cold sandwiches, but no one can run with a theme like I can, so I came up with seven sandwich-based dinners, and seven sandwich-themed desserts, as well!

We started with fish fillet sandwiches for dinner and classic ice cream sandwiches for dessert on Monday:

Night two was the classic American sandwich, the cheeseburger, plus fancy French macarons (a sandwich cookie), made by Ladybug for dessert:

We did have cold sandwiches one night, but I went with a whole sandwich bar theme, with lots of lunchmeat and cheeses, plus breads and spreads, and everyone built their own. I had turkey and gouda on potato bread with hot pepper jelly. And for dessert…well, have you ever noticed how many desserts claim to be pies but are actually sandwiches, like these oatmeal creme pies? Total soft sandwich cookie!

I love breakfast-for dinner, so of course we had breakfast sandwiches. Instead of making scrambled eggs, (which are notorious for escaping the sandwich), like I usually do, I made two six-egg omelettes, and cut each in thirds, making sandwich squares which worked out perfectly…I’ll definitely be using that trick in the future! Chickadee and I also made brownie ice cream sandwiches from The My Little Pony Baking Book for dessert:

You can’t have “Sandwich Week” without BLTs! I added more of my favorite hot pepper jelly to mine…it’s such a good addition to so many things! For dessert, we had the classic sandwich cookie, the Oreo, with a Halloween twist:

On Saturday, I decided that we also needed a special sandwich for lunch, so I made egg salad. We also had some leftover bacon in the fridge, and what goes better with eggs than bacon?

For our penultimate “Sandwich Week” dinner, we had our favorite chicken patties, and for dessert, I made another sandwich masquerading as a pie, pumpkin whoppie pies:

The last day of “Sandwich Week” featured what might be our family’s favorite sandwich, which we have come to call “Stitch’s Sandwiches”…pork tenderloin with Hawaiian BBQ sauce served on Hawaiian buns with bacon, sliced pepper jack, pineapple rings, and a spicy slaw. For dessert, I made my favorite German sandwich cookies, Spitzbuben, filled with strawberry jam:

This was a really fun theme that helped me plan out a week’s worth of dinners, but I’m not going to lie, in the end, it was quite a bit of work! I’ll have to remember that the next time I start making threats when I’m meal planning!

Tasty Tuesday–A Dessert 11 Years in the Making

This is a story about not giving up, at least not permanently. Taking a break for over a decade is a different matter, however!

I am no stranger to making cream puffs. As a matter of fact, we’ve made them in school with a recipe from The Little Women Cookbook, and I’ve made a special version for May the Fourth, too. A Pâte à Choux dough is just not that intimidating to me.

But there is one presentation of cream puffs that has eluded me since 2013…the Croquembouche. Back then, I wanted to make the fancy tower of cream puffs for Christmas dessert. But I couldn’t get it to hold together, so we had plain old cream puffs instead.

I’ve thought about this dessert off and on over the years, and I’ve thought about making it again many times, but the thought of failing at it again always put me off. I knew though, when Paris 2024 came around, I would have to give it a try, and this time, I was successful!

It took me a long time, but the point is, I didn’t give up, and we were rewarded with a delicious and fancy dessert!

Summer School 2024

I can’t believe that both the Olympics and summer vacation are over, but here we are. There were so many great moments, and today I’m taking a look back at our Paris 2024-themed summer school, starting with our visit to the Olympic Spectacular right here in St. Louis:

We made our favorite edible Olympic torches, and had a lovely toast to Paris 2024 with sparkling cider. I’m not going to lie, I was a little mad that we had already built the Lego Eiffel Tower years ago, because it would have been a nice summer school activity, but at least we had a ready-made centerpiece!

Our big activity for the summer was trying out some French recipes. We cooked a lot of different things, starting with a special series of meals for the Opening Ceremonies, and culminating with the pièce de résistance of the summer (and maybe my culinary career!), the Croquembouche. It’s nice that we’re finally at a point where both Ladybug and Chickadee can do a lot in the kitchen!

  • Croissants
  • Salade Niçoise
  • Vichyssoise
  • Bœuf Bourgignon
  • Macarons
  • Crepes
  • Salade Lyonnaise
  • Quiche Lorraine
  • Chocolate Soufflé
  • Gougères
  • Lavender Madeleines
  • Steak au Poivre with Red Wine Pan Sauce
  • Plateau de Fromages
  • Lemon-glazed French Sable Cookies
  • Croquembouche

I had a good book list, but coming up with crafts beyond cooking was a bit of a challenge. We did try to be fashion designers…do you think we’re ready for French haute couture?

And of course we made medals:

We had a lot of fun being creative with cooking and crafts!

I’m so glad Ticket to Ride Paris came out in time for us to play this summer! And we also played Ticket to Ride France (and watched all of the episodes of Rick Steves’ Europe we have set in France), which educated us on just how little we know about French geography!

Here’s a look at our complete medal table…Team USA definitely won!

Summer wrapped up quickly…on Monday, we begin the 2024-25 school year!

Tasty Tuesday–Captain Picard Day

My fellow Star Trek fans might know that Captain Picard Day is traditionally celebrated on June 16, but it’s been a busy summer, so we just got around to it last week. I made 10 new recipes from The Star Trek Cookbook, starting with Andorian Spice Bread (a sweet bread with the unexpected but delicious addition of cumin), with either Raktajino (based on the recipe for Swedish egg coffee) or Spiced Enyak’s Milk (a type of chamomile tea) for breakfast.

During the day, I worked on a Delvan Fluff Pastry, which is a type of puff pastry dough, for our dessert.

For dinner, I made a Lingta Roast (pork tenderloin with pears), which I served with Fettran Sauce (a sweet and sour sauce flavored with sage).

The side dishes I chose were Leola Rice Pilaf and Argelian Coleslaw, both of which were excellent and paired well with the pork.

Our beverage of choice was Slug-o-Cola, which had both orange and cucumber juice, and a dash of both turmeric and anise extract. It looked a little scary, but was surprisingly delicious!

Finally, for dessert, I used the Delvan Fluff Pastry to make Uttaberry Cruffins, a fancy type of croissant, which were accompanied by homemade blueberry jam.

This was the second themed meal I’ve put together using recipes from The Star Trek Cookbook, and I’ve been pretty impressed with everything we’ve tried so far!

A French Feast for the Opening Ceremonies

Mesdames et Messieurs, la Cérémonie d’ouverture de Paris 2024!

Today is the Olympics Opening Ceremony I’ve been waiting for for eight years! While I enjoyed the Tokyo 2020(1) Games, it just wasn’t the same, and we all know it. But Paris 2024 is going to be the Olympics we all remember from pre-Covid days, and I can’t wait. Of course I planned a day full of French recipes to get us in the proper spirt, beginning with homemade croissants for breakfast, served with butter, Nutella, and homemade blueberry jam:

For lunch, I made Salade Niçoise. I liked it, but the best I can say for everybody else is that they found aspects of the salad they enjoyed. We did discover that we really like seven-and-a-half minute eggs, though!

For the soup course, I made Vichyssoise, which I thought was really interesting. The flavor was excellent, but it is a different experience eating cold soup!

I made the classic French dish, Bœuf Bourgignon, for dinner. It was A LOT of work, but really delicious!

We didn’t have champagne, but we did still have a toast to Paris 2024!

For dessert, Ladybug made macarons. I tried to help, but as it turns out, macarons are above my pay grade. She kindly let me help fill them, though. They’re so delicious, and we’re looking forward to making them again!

I have a few other French recipes I want to try over the next two weeks, but mostly, I’m just ready to watch the Olympic Games!!!