The Daring Baker's Challenge: Orange Tian

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

An Orange What!? Yep, that was exactly what I was thinking when I read what the March dessert was going to be. That and it is going to take a lot of convincing that these challenges are even worth it.

I knew I wasn't going to start my argument with the preparation time...just look at that list:
Preparation time:
- Pate Sablee: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to rest, 15 minutes to roll out, 20 minutes to bake
- Marmalade: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to blanch
- Orange segments: 20 minutes, overnight to sit
- Caramel: 15 minutes, overnight to sit
- Whipped Cream: 15 minutes
- Assembling: 20 minutes
- Freezer to Set: 10 minutes

Blah, Blah, Yikes! Even in my not so busy life I still felt this dessert was a little too "needy". I kept thinking to myself this dish better be good...or we've got some problems Daring Kitchen.


Thank goodness it was excellent! It was the perfect first-week-of-spring dessert. The only thing I would change about the dessert was the fact that I couldn't find Florida oranges in our grocery store...so I had to settle for a Texas one. I guess it was for the best, I'm sure eating a Florida orange would send me into a deep home(state)-sick depression.

P & I enjoyed this dessert all week long as it was kept frozen until ready to be eaten each night. I don't think I will be making this one again in a long time, unless it's someone's birthday and they beg, a lot. I am very happy I am expanding my kitchen skills and our bellies each month with the Daring Kitchen, I cannot wait to see what next month's challenge will be.

The Daring Cooks Challenge: Risotto

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

I have always wanted to make risotto, however its reputation for being tricky to master has kept me far away.

The rules of this challenge were very flexible. The only requirements were: You MUST make your own stock and the risotto base. The base consists of wine, rice, oil, stock, cheese, and butter.

Make my own stock? Never done that before. I began to wonder what I was getting myself into, but I guess that is the main reason I signed up for the Daring Cooks/Bakers Challenges.

Stock was easy but time consuming. It consisted of bone-in chicken, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, flat-leaf parsley, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns, and water.


We used the cooked chicken to make Chicken and Rice for dinner and then Chicken Salad for lunches.

P & I decided to stick with a very basic Risotto recipe and made Parmesan and Parsley Risotto. It consisted of: onions, butter, wine, rice, oil, stock, LOTS of parmesan cheese and parsley. Unfortunately we added too much stock and ended up with risotto soup, but it still tasted excellent and lesson learned: be careful when adding stock towards the end of the recipe.


Although my first attempt of making Risotto was partially unsuccessful, I will definitely be trying this one again.

What I've Been Up To...

Found a cute treasure at an antique shop...

(He & She owls)

Expanded the list of things I can cook...

(Roasted Peppers)

(Homemade Pizza Dough)

Enjoyed some "I really want it to be spring" carnations...


and P, well he studies...


but at least we have Lucy-cat to keep us entertained...

(Climbing all the way up the wall to the ceiling)

It's A Celebration!

I passed my test! I am officially an RN!

Image: http://www.taganrogcity.com/images/307celebration11.jpg

A Little Distraction

Most of you knew that today I was taking the exam for my RN License. It has a bad reputation for being one of the hardest tests. ever. And it was exactly that. I have a hard time listening to teachers and review courses (and my mom) when they say not to study the day before a big standardized exam. I become like a studying addict, thinking if I could study a little more then everything will be alright. I stopped studying around 5 pm yesterday and promised P I wouldn't pick up any review materials today (the exam day). Well, seeing how my test was not until 1 pm, it took every bit of me not to pick up that last review sheet. I decided I needed a little distraction.

I have been making beaded jewelry for a long time now, but it wasn't until Nursing School when I really found a love for it. It quickly became the perfect distraction from school and studying. I toy around with the idea of opening an etsy store of my own (for those unfamiliar, etsy.com if a place where thousands sell handmade items online), but for now I just make pieces for friends and family, and of course, myself. I was able to mindlessly and quickly pass time this morning while making 3 different pairs of earrings.


I snapped a few photos of Lucy "helping" me.


Although her idea of "helping" quickly turned to this:


1.25 hours and 75 questions later, the fate of my RN license is now out of my hands. I will find out tomorrow and I hope to bring good news.

Do You Dare?

In my quest to become a more frequent blogger I have decided to partake in a cooking/baking challenge. This will serve many purposes: (1) I will update this blog more often, (2) I will be forced to expand my kitchen skills, (3) P & I will have delicious new recipes to eat, (4) You will all take pity on my poor quality photos and help me convince P that I desperately need a new camera.

This challenge is hosted by http://thedaringkitchen.com/ which has nearly 4000 other members completing the same recipes monthly. Previous dishes include: Nanaimo Bars, Satay, Beef Wellington, Gingerbread Houses, Sushi, Cannoli, Chicken Pho, French Macarons, Indian Dosas, and Vols-au-vent. I am not sure what I just got myself into and hopefully there will be more successes than failures, but I am very excited to share this experience with you all.

I found a couple of older photos of P & I's quality kitchen skills to share with you.

P attempting to "soften" the sound of his homemade peanut butter with a towel. Oh the joys of apartment living.

Crock-pot chicken. It was moist and yummy, but the fact that we had to pan sear the chicken before putting it in the pot annoyed me. I am a firm believer that crock-pot recipes should be that and nothing more.
Signing up for the daring kitchen was very easy, although there is a waiting period before you are able to join in the fun. My first secret recipe will be announced February 17th by the Daring Cooks and I will have one month to complete the challenge. You will have to wait until March 14th (the designated reveal date) to see if it was a kitchen disaster or a recipe keeper. Time to get out the old camera and its charger...it will make its permanent home in our kitchen. So have I persuaded you to join the fun?

8 Months

Image courtesy of: Pure Photography by Lindsey Tropf
http://www.purebylindsey.com/

I cannot believe it has been 8 months since I last posted on this blog. 8 months! No surely not 8 months. Oh wait yes 8 months. Oh boy...I'm getting married in 8 months and the last 8 months flew by. (Panicking begins NOW!)

Our engagement photos surfaced the internet last week and I contemplated either writing an email to our parents or posting on this blog (this blog that I'm not even sure they look at anymore). So because I love our parents dearly and wanted them to see the pictures right away I chose the email route...but I loved the email so much I wanted to go ahead and post it anyways. :)

Without further ado...

After eating some delicious made-by-erin Lasagna (I know WOW right!) and watching a couple of favorite shows I decided it was time for bed...until Patrick told me to check my facebook. He knew I had become quite addicted at looking at the new updates. (I know this doesn't make much sense to some, but I am trying to paint the whole picture). I sadly had become obsessed at when Lindsey (our photographer) was going to surprise us with a couple of preview shots of our engagement shoot and ladies and gentlemen, tonight was the night. I knew right away that the only reason Patrick would say a sentence like that was because the pictures were here.

I am still trying to figure out how to show the non-facebook members these amazing preview shots (Lindsey shared 16 on facebook...mind you she told us she took WELL beyond 500 photos). I am able to share the one I made my "profile" picture.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=64573460&l=79b5d037eb&id=2005889

This was taken at The Cellon Oak Park. It is located in the very NW part of Gainesville (I would barely consider it in Gainesville, but Mapquest says otherwise). It is Florida largest Oak Tree. Which I think is very cool.

Enjoy! and stay tuned for more, when I figure out how to show them to you all.

And there you have it...the end of the email. I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope I can find the inspiration to post more often.

I want to wish two of my greatest friends Julianne and Alyssa a very Happy Birthday today. They have recently started a blog of their own. (and so far are really good at the whole posting thing) Check them out: http://twoeatphilly.blogspot.com/