another rug

I was looking around the house on Saturday.  Okay, so I was sitting in my rocking chair reading and realized I had never posted about the most recent rug I made.  It is a very thick alpaca yarn that uses a S crochet hook.  Purl Soho showed this pattern and I thought it would be cool.  The yarn is very expensive but the texture on the feet if pretty fabulous.  It still sheds a bit but....  It is just a large hexagon, the top of a crocheted hat.  

I think I will try one in a cotton or wool fabric next.

macarons with marscapone filling

I have been wanting to try making macarons.  The seem to be all the rage but they are also gluten free.  I read Tartelette and Helene Dujardin has written a great tutorial on the ins and outs of making macarons.  My insight?  It is all about the planning.  My egg whites sat in the refrigerator for more then three days.  Longer then they were really were supposed to actually but that is a key.  Also, I let my macarons sit for almost two hours before baking.  I was also baking bread the night I was making these and I needed to let the oven cool down.

What do I think?  I think they are good but I liked them the next day better then the first day because they did not taste as sweet to me.  My Beloved just thought they were too sweet.  The Tall Short Person would have eaten every single one if possible.  I can just make them for her.  My Beloved and myself like sweets that are not as sweet as these.  

I will probably make them again at some point because they are not a big deal.  I am the person who bakes bread three or four times a week using sourdough as my yeast so I am truly not the best person to ask (You should smell the house right now.  King Cake just came out of the oven)

Macarons with marscapone filling

100 grams egg whites (about three eggs) having sat in the refrigerator for a minimum of three days

25 grams granulated sugar

200 grams powdered sugar

110 grams whole almonds (you can use almond meal but you want as fresh as possible)

8 ounces marscapone cheese

2 to 4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a food processor, combine the powdered sugar and almonds.  Processes them until the almonds are meal and the sugar is mixed through.  i did this for close to two minutes.

In a large bowl, pour in the egg whites.  With a whisk, whisk until frothy.  Add the sugar a bit at a time until the egg whites are glossy and can hold a sharp peak.  Helene made the comment that her grandmother would say they were done if you could hold the bowl upside down above your head and the egg whites do not come out.  I put the bowl upside down but not above my head.  The beaten egg whites did not come out of the bowl.

Add the almond/sugar mixture to the egg whites.  Fold the mixture into the egg whites.  You want to fold and not mix so you do not beat out the air.  The first couple strokes should be fast but all others should be slow and gentle.  Make sure to scrape the bottom.  When you put a bit of the mixture on a saucer, you want the "cookie" to be lightly domed, no sharp edges.  If there are sharp edges, fold a bit more.

On a cookie sheet that has been covered with silpat or parchment paper, pipe or drop small mounds of batter.  I thought mine were a bit big.  Let sit at least an hour.  Because of my bread baking, mine sat probably over two.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes at 275 degrees Fahrenheit.  They will be golden brown.  Let cool completely.

Mix the cheese, 2 to 4 tablespoons of sugar, and vanilla together.

Take a cooled cookie and spread the cheese mixture on it.  Cover with another cookie.  Do this to all of the cookies.

Pretty yummy.  They just take planning.  And I really need skill on making each one the same size.  I dropped them on to the cookie sheet like chocolate chip cookies.  Next time, smaller cookies.  Which means I need to buy parchament paper.

Joy!

sourdough crescent rolls

You find me typing with the Smallest Short Person asleep on my chest.  It reminds me of doing differential equation homework with his momma on my chest.  Different but very much the same.  It is a nice same.

I have been told recently that I need to make Danica Soup.  It is a simple beef soup that I realized I have not written the recipe down for.  It is on the list!  (sigh, does anyone else have the issue of forgetting what they wish to write about?)  When the Tall Short Person was small, I used to serve her Danica Soup and croissants.  They were just frozen croissants that I baked.  I did not wish to do that anymore and I have not been very happy with croissant recipes.  I tweaked a crescent recipe by crossing it with a Parker House roll recipe and using a sourdough starter as the yeast.  I was told "you have to make these for ME more often" by the Tall Short Person.  That got a laugh!

Crescent Rolls

Sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

1 cup hempmilk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup butter, softened

Eight hours or the night before, refresh you starter with the 1 cup flour and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl.  Let it sit until very bubbly.

Once bubbly, remove about two tablespoons of the starter and put it in the refrigerator for next time.  To the starter left in the bowl, add the hempmilk, sugar, 1/2 cup butter, and egg.  Mix well.  Mix in the salt.  Mix in enough flour to make a very stiff dough.  Turn out on a floured surface and knead until smooth.  Cover and let rise until double.

When double, divide into halves, thirds, or fourths.  This will control the size of your rolls.  The more divisions, the smaller the roll size.  Take one of the portions and roll out into a circle.  Spread with softened butter. Cut into 8 triangles.  Roll up from the long end to the point.

Put on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or a silpat.  Do this with the rest of the dough.   Let rise for about an hour, covered.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

This are very good with Danica Soup.  And they keep disappearing out of my kitchen so I know they are very good by themselves.  I thought I might have one with me tea for breakfast but it is not looking that way.  It is a good thing for full bellies tonight.

alpaca mitts

I finished these while watching videos.  They are to go in a Christmas box that is not quite finished yet.  The mitts go with a hat from my homespun wool.  I just did not have quite enough for mitts as well.  But these are very soft and will make warm hands while writing.

It has been a busy evening:  ice skating lesson, eating a family meal, tangoing with the Smallest Short Person.  I still need to knead a batch of bread tonight so there might be bread for breakfast in the morning.  Maybe I can talk my Beloved into a turn around the living room.  He knows how to lead.  The Smalles Short Person does not quite know what to think about the Argentine tango.

bittersweet chocolate cookies - gluten free

Over the weekend, we ate rather simply.  Part of that was the healing of the crud.  There was just not a lot of energy.  I did get to try a few recipes that I wished to try.  I saw a recipe for Bittersweet Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Preserves in the Country Living Magazine December/January 2012.  I never fuss with sandwich cookies but the bittersweet piece sounded interesting.  I did have to make it gluten free though.

After making these, they really are not bittersweet but they are good.  The vanilla really stands out with the chocolate.  They also worked well baked after the dough was frozen in a roll.

Bittersweet Chocolate Cookies

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

3 tablespoons cocoa

90 grams sorghum flour

90 grams teff flour

90 grams almond flour

90 grams arrowroot flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream butter and sugar together.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  Stir in cocoa, flours, baking soda, and salt.

This dough was really stiff.  I had to finish mixing it with my hands (yes, I use a wooden spoon not a mixer).

Drop by teaspoons on a cookie sheet prepared with a silpat or parchament paper.

Bake for 12 minutes.

This was a  lovely cookie.  Very similar to the chocolate coin cookie I shared but not as rich.  Make sure the vanilla is a good vanilla because it really does support the chocolate in this one.