Dutch Baby Blob

I came across ANGRY CHICKEN's post on a Dutch Baby. Click here for the recipe. I'd heard of it before and always wanted to try it. First you make a pancake like batter. Very easy.

I melted butter in a glass pie plate in the oven to heat up the dish--more on what I SHOULD HAVE DONE later. You just pour the batter in the dish and bake it.

It puffs up and up and up while it bakes. Kids will love it.

Tastes great too, like french toast and popovers mixed together. I put a little melted butter on mine. You can also do syrup or jam. But please don't sprinkle with powdered sugar. That's my pet peeve of baking. The phrase "pet peeve" is also a pet peeve of mine.

OK, back to the pan. As you can see it stuck to the bottom. I made this on a weeknight with a recipe I found on the internet. Wouldn't you know that on Saturday, Cook's Country TV did an episode on it? They used an AC stainless steel pan (which I gave away because mine was warped...errrr) and added lemon juice and rind. Next time I will try that. Here's the link to their version.

UPDATE: March 4th

Today I tried the Cook's Country Dutch Baby recipe (Feb/Mar 2010 issue, pg 19). The results were quite different. Their recipe called for lemon rind mixed in with the batter. My daughter was not a fan of that addition...I was ok with it being an adult and all, but she's right. No need for it. I like it when it just tastes like popovers.

The recipe called for vegetable oil and a GOOD-LY amount as Martha Stewart would say. Preheat oil in pan in very HOT oven 10 minutes. I used a non-stick skillet since it's remotely close to what the recipe called for. 

The result was quite different than using the glass pie plate. Only the sides puffed up and not the center. Very dramatic in a different kind of way. The GOOD-LY amount of oil was actually a GOOD THING (ha ha), as it easily slid out of the pan onto the cutting board. 

IN CONCLUSION:

If you are going to do ANGRY CHICKEN's recipe, just add more oil/butter to the glass pie plate. 

And if you make Cook's Country's recipe, skip the lemon.

happy valentine's day

first a sketch, then a quick tree makeover. i hung hearts that i had made (in the days before blogging) from my grandma in willmar's quilting project that didn't lie flat. I simply sandwiched cut fabric hearts (edges left raw) with batting and hand sewed the three layers together with pink embroidery floss.

then i went upstairs to fold some towels and ended up organizing my pins:

these were quickly taken with my iphone

reactionary post

Walker Art Center - Graphic Design Exhibit

TV show posters in back wall are a reminder of how simple design can be.
They can be purchased here.

 There was equipment to make your own poster.

 So we did.  The lady with the cool braid made one too.

Who was this chair designed for?

Inked art should read "too".

 I don't like posters that tell you what to do, or remind you of our crappy economy. But i do like the color and they remind me of how much i like white frames on white walls.

Liked this info graphic so much that i had to overlook how out of focus it is.

As much as i liked the voting aspect of this part of the show,
i've seen all of these before/afters on brand new blog.

by bob barton. of course i like anything hand drawn.
and drawn badly in a good kind of way.

 like how i positioned the relections of the overhead lights on this cover?

i appreciate how much work went into this cover that the average person would dismiss in one brief glance. note to self: where are my old spy magazines? Guess i can skip the spider-filled crawl space. You can find them here.

 lizzy this is for you. a blinged out cover but of course only released in england:

 i can only image how many years it took to die cut this book:

The wallpaper as i exited the show just made me smile in an IKEA kind of way.

Drawer Safety (FIFMNoodle)

BH&G's Almond Icebox Rounds Review

I spied this cookie on pinterest and had to try it.

From the Better Homes & Gardens website, it's called Almond Icebox Rounds. You can get the recipe here. First you mix up the dough. 

I used Trader Joe's Just Almond Meal instead of "3/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted and chopped". I did not toast the almond meal.

The dough tasted devine!

Plop half of dough on plastic wrap.

Form a log by rolling it back and forth in the plastic wrap. Then coat with sliced almonds and chill.

Slice and bake. They don't spread out much so you can fit all of them on 2 cookie sheets. There is no egg or leaveners in the recipe.

I swept stray almonds "under the cookies".

This recipe is definitely a KEEPER. Freezes well, too.