California and a haircut

Matt and I are in Istanbul as I type. It's fairly early in the morning. So far, the trip has been wonderful! The only gripe would be the voltage conversion issues I've been having, but no other complaints! This is a quick post and I promise to have pictures of Turkey in the next post. I thought I should catch everyone up on the goings ons in M & M world. Last week, we went to Napa, San Francisco, Sacramento, and St Helena. Here are some photo highlights (oh! and many haircut pictures!)

Woodhouse... our favorite chocolates.

Break at the cafe for refreshments.

New short hair!

Lots of bounce!

It was hot in California... over 100 degrees! I was sweating!
More pictures to come!

Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies...The Addiction Continues

What a long day! The new washing machine stopped draining (of course, the machine is digital so you can not just take something apart). I am working outside and the weather is back to being cold, rainy, and gusts of wind are shooting from all directions. I am also missing my little girl. Ashley, my daughter, just passed her driving test and received her license last Friday. She is 18 and decided to go for the weekend with friends. Today is the first day I have seen her since Friday and I feel heart broken and hoping she stays safe. I don't have words to put down that describe trying to let go and let her grow. Great, I am getting teary eyed again. Baking cookies and staying busy helps me from driving the dog, 2 cats and my hubby nuts. I am picking everything up before the item is even set down, fed the dog twice on accident, and the cats sense me contemplating giving them a bath. Cookies sound so much safer.

So here we are with another chocolate and caramel dessert to share with friends and send off to work. Did I mention that Ashley came home, stayed for about 1 hour and left because she had friends waiting soooo, of course, I called with bribery of freshly baked cookies for her to come and pick up whenever. I can see this bribery thing is my next new skill set. Hopefully Ashley is not reading this but if you are kiddo, just kidding! LOVE YOUUUU....!
Oh yes, cookies. Here is the recipe and may I say YUM!!! in advance. While Ash was here, she unwrapped all the Rolos for me.

Caramel-filled Chocolate Cookies With White Chocolate Drizzle
These yummy chocolate cookies have a tasty caramel surprise inside. With crushed pecans on top and a contrasting white chocolate drizzle, They are almost to pretty to be eaten but it can be done.

Ingredients:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. plus 1 Tablespoon sugar, divided
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
1 t. baking soda
1 1/4 c. chopped pecans, divided
1 package (13 oz.) Rolo candies
4 squares (1 oz. each) white baking chocolate, melted

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter, 1 cup sugar and brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in 1/2 c. pecans.

Shape a tablespoonful of dough around each candy, forming a ball. In a small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and pecans; dip each cookie halfway. Place nut side up 2-inches apart on greased baking sheets.
Bake at 375 degrees F. for 7-10 minutes or until tops are slightly cracked. Cool for 3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle with melted white chocolate.
This recipe should make about 3 dozen cookies =D

Tuesday with Dorie: Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart plus Chocolate Caramel Bars

Carla of Chocolate Moosey chose Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart for this Tuesday with Dorie group baking event and what a great selection! Caramel made from scratch, mixed with honey toasted peanuts (coarsely chopped) and topped with a dark and shiny ganache...the kind of dessert to show off to anyone who will pay attention and who wouldn't? I made my tarts into miniatures just because. Alright, I have several reasons. I have these adorable little tart pans with removable bottoms "and" small tarts are easier to transport and share at work. The adorable-ness (is this a word?) factor brought in high points!

Baking with the TWD group has helped my self-confidence in the kitchen beyond words. There are times I see an aspect of a recipe and my first reaction will be to shy away because I know the recipe will go beyond my comfort zone in the kitchen. Making real caramel is one of the challenges I have backed away from in the past. Following Dorie's directions for advanced preparation really made the caramel process approachable and once I read the recipe about 150 times, I was ready to jump in.
The butter was frozen ahead of time and ready to be chopped.

I made Dorie's Almond Sweet Tart Dough on page 444 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking book, pressed the dough into the tartlet pans, froze the dough for about 1 hour, then baked the shells.

All ingredient for the caramel were assembled, including a heatproof bowl. I was surprised at still being a little nervous. Other fellow baker's low points when making caramel have stuck with me so I was really hoping for success.
Stage 1 of making the caramel was melting the sugar and getting a little golden color.
Stage 2 was adding the corn syrup and boiling the syrup until the color reached a deep caramel hue.

Stage 3, and last part to the caramel process, was adding the butter and salt (I used unsalted butter), lowering the temperature and allowing to boil for 2 minutes. The caramel is poured into the heatproof bowl, my heart is no longer racing and guess what? We made caramel! The fear factor was so much worse. I know it is silly to be worried over such things but we are dealing with molten lava here!
Semi-sweet Callebaut chocolate was chopped, put into a bowl with hot, heavy cream poured over the pieces, and chunks of butter swirled in leaving a shiny and smooth finish. The wooden spoon was taste tested after completing this process.
Chopped honey roasted peanuts were added to the caramel and the assembly of the tarts is almost over. The final step was pouring the delicious ganache to the tart's crust edge and Ta Daaa....we all now have Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tarts!

To get the recipe now, goto Carla of Chocolate Moosey's blog or buy Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours cookbook. To see how all the rest of the TWD bakers did, check out the TWD baker blogroll.

A chocolate fix must have been in order because I also baked Super Chocolate Caramel Bars. These Kraft caramels have been sitting in the kitchen, taunting me to do something with them for over a month. Well, I did something with them! A friend from Group Recipes posted this and stated that she found the recipe on cdkitchen.com. Delicious and gooey.

Super Chocolate Caramel Bars

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Miracle Whip (found in the salad dressing section)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
1 package (14oz size) caramels
1/4 cup milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F
Beat eggs, sugars, Miracle Whip and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer; add flour and baking soda.
Set aside 1 cup of the batter.
Spread remaining batter into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool 10 minutes.
Melt caramels with milk in heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth.

Top crust with caramel mixture; sprinkle with chocolate chips and pecans.
Spoon reserved 1 cup batter by teaspoonfuls over pecans
Continue baking 12 - 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool, refrigerate for about 1 hour, then cut into squares.

Long Black Scene Girl Hairstyles

Scene hairstyles are currently becoming one of the most popular trendy hairstyles among young women.

These long black scene hairstyles are quite unique and can be rather difficult to archive without a professional or someone who is skilled with scissors and blow drier.

Here we have some really nice long black scene hairstyles, modeled by some trendy scene girls. Perhaps these pictures will give you some ideas for a great scene hairstyles of your own.

Beautiful and Delicious Breakfast ~ Torta Rustica

My first torta and the recipe comes from Gale Gand. She was among the first chefs for Food Network as the program was getting off the ground. Such a talented and personable chef with recipes and flavors I can relate too and strive to duplicate or slightly alter to my own family and friend's taste buds. This Torta Rustica is no exception. A Great breakfast or brunch dish with flavors, aroma, color, and presentation that will knock the socks off of anyone given the pleasure of sharing such a wonderful dish!

When you cut the torta rustica, you will see all the layers for a wonderful presentation and the recipe could not be easier to put together.

Torta Rustica
9 large eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 t. unsalted butter, plus more for the cake pan
One 10-ounce package frozen whole-leaf spinach, thawed
4 t. Olive oil
4 cups sliced white or cremini mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup heavy cream
One 16-ounce box frozen all-butter puff pastry, thawed overnight in the refrigerator
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
6 ounces sliced ham
One 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained

Directions:
In a medium bowl, beat 8 of the eggs with 4 teaspoons water and season with salt and pepper. Melt 1 teaspoon of the butter in a skillet over medium heat, add the eggs, and scramble them loosely, stirring with a wooden spoon until they're barely cooked through, about 2 minutes. (They will cook more in the oven.) Spoon the eggs onto a plate and let them cool.

Place the thawed spinach in a colander and use your hands to press out as much moisture as possible.

Heat 2 teaspoons of the butter and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat and saute the sliced mushrooms until tender, 3 to 4 minutes, seasoning them lightly with salt and pepper. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and set aside to cool.

Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons butter and 2 teaspoons olive oil in the same saute pan over medium-high heat and saute the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the drained spinach and heat through. Add the heavy cream and cook, stirring to combine, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool. (You can prepare the spinach and mushrooms a day in advance and refrigerate them until ready to use.)

Generously butter a 9-inch round cake pan.

Unfold 1 pastry sheet onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to remove the creases, and then cut a round of dough the same size as the cake pan, using the bottom of the pan as a guide. Place the pastry on a baking sheet and chill it until you're ready to use it.

Roll out the second pastry sheet and cut out a slightly larger round (Big enough to line the cake pan and have about 1 inch of dough hanging over the edges of the pan). If the dough becomes too warm and pliable, place it on a baking sheet and chill it for 15 minutes to make it easier to handle. Line the cake pan with this larger pastry round, gently easing the dough into the corners of the pan, leaving any excess dough to be trimmed later. Chill the dough in the cake pan in the freezer for 15 minutes.

To assemble the torta, remove the cake pan from the freezer and trim the overhanging dough to 1 inch. Spread half of the cooled eggs over the pastry in the pan. Spread half of the spinach over the egg, then half of the cheese, half of the mushrooms, half of the ham, and finally all of the peppers.

Repeat in inverse order, layering the remaining ham, mushrooms, cheese, spinach, and ending with the remaining eggs.

Fold the overhanging dough in over the filling. Make an egg wash by beating the remaining egg with 1 Tablespoon water, and brush the edge of the pastry with egg wash. Place the refrigerated pastry round on top, and press down gently to join the edge of the round with the egg-washed edge of the pastry in the pan. Brush the top layer of pastry with egg wash. Use a knife to cut a small hole in the center of the top pastry layer, to allow steam to escape during baking; then score radiating lines away from the hole for decoration, if desired. With the decorative design, don't cut through the pastry; just scratch the surface. Chill the entire torta for 30 minutes to let the layers settle.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the cake pan on a baking sheet and bake the torta for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, until golden brown on the top. Let it cool for 10 minutes. Then cut it into wedges and serve.