Chocolate Cloud Cookies From Sarabeth

myself, along with mary from ocean breezes and country sneezes and susan from beyond my kitchen window had planned on all posting a recipe out of SARABETH'S BAKERY COOKBOOK for the first day of SPRING. and i missed it. we had some trouble here with the storms that hit california yesterday at Farmhouse Kitchen...but all is well now...so here i am. late. but here nonetheless...

what makes these cookies extra special is their crisp, light, meringue-like texture....

i had a little help from Teddy...that was before his trip to The Golden Paw...i just LOVE his fuzzy face...and that's his buddy Whiskey Sour there...that big furball getting some sun before the rains hit by the kitchen door.

Chocolate Cloud Cookies adapted from Sarabeth Bakery Cookbook

1 1/3 cups superfine sugar

1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar

16 Tablespoons ( 2 sticks ) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt ( i used Maldon's)

2 cups ( 8 ounces ) toasted, sliced almonds ( i used walnuts )

2 cups ( 12 ounces ) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Position racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line sheets with parchment paper. Beat the butter in the mixing bowl. Add in superfine sugar and light brown sugar. Beat till smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and beat about 5 minutes.

2. Add in flour, baking soda and salt. Do not overbeat. Mix in nuts and chocolate chips.

3. Drop dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 15 to 18 minutes. ( here is the secret trick) about 3 minutes before the cookies are done take them out of the oven and rap the sheet on the counter to deflate the cookies. This will give them their signature cracks. Return to the oven till done. Cool cookies on the pans. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. If they last that long.

Am I In New England ?

it is so COLD here in San Luis Obispo that it is SNOWING !!! Well, it is up in the mountains...not downtown...this is actually Figueroia Mountain Road on the way to Santa Barbara. The road that Michael Jackson's Neverland is on. We have had a fire simmering away in the Farmhouse Kitchen woodstove all day today and Bolognese sauce bubbling slowly on the farm stove. Hope it's cozy at your house.

Sweet...Cream Puffs By Sarabeth Bakery

I have met the NICEST people in the world because of blogging. And on my list of great blogging buddies are Mary from Ocean Breezes And Country Sneezes and Susan from Beyond My Kitchen Window. We all have a LOVE of baking and we all have the Sarabeth Bakery Cookbook. So for Valentines Day Mary suggested that it would be FUN to do a post together by posting something that we made out of Sarabeth. I LOVE and ADORE CREAM PUFFS...so I went for that. I made a pate a choux and piped in some pastry cream and whipped cream. And because it is VALENTINES DAY I iced the tops in pink then sprinkled with some powdered sugar. I was LUCKY enough to find some beautiful fresh raspberries at the farmer's market today...so I added those.

Looks like we will have a SPECIAL Valentine Eve dessert tonight here at Farmhouse Kitchen.

This was FUN Mary and Susan .......thank you for asking me ..... and HAPPY VALENTINES DAY to all of you, my dear friends.

Sending Love,

Kary and Teddy

xxx

Teddy Turns One Today !!!!!

Teddy is celebrating his FIRST BIRTHDAY TODAY !!!! I can't believe it but my little boy is already ONE YEAR OLD. Born on February 9, 2010. Puppyhood went so fast...it was PURE PLEASURE....to be sure. Teddy LOVES to run and play on lawn...so guess what ? Yep. You guessed right... Teddy is getting a lawn....we have had a crew of guys here all week ripping up the garden and putting in a lawn. For Teddy. We still have room for the vegetable garden on the side of the house....for the tomatoes, corn, pumpkins and basil...but the rest is all for Teddy. Teddy has brought so much FUN and HAPPINESS to our home. We just couldn't imagine life without him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEDDY !!! WE LOVE YOU !!!

We're Rototilling The Garden...In Shorts !

I don't know what to say... i really don't....i was just upstairs with Teddy putting the SPRING sheets on the bed and The Weather Channel was on...i don't know what's going on...it is FREEZING out there....and it's 80 here today....again..well, to tell you the truth the whole month of January has been 80 degrees. We bbqed chicken in the garden last night...i'm not kidding you either. had beans and corn on the cob too. just like SUMMER. see that picture there...that's John..in his shorts..rototilling the garden.... had to come in because he got too hot.....

and there they are...Whiskey Sour and Teddy...in their FAVORITE spot...sunning by the kitchen door....

The Journey To Sourdough Bread Thanks To Octoberfarm

there it is...one week in the making...and it wouldn't be here if it wasn't for OCTOBERFARM. we all know blogging is FUN...but this was REALLY fun. but it did have it's moments...i would be lying if i said it was easy. it wasn't. and i almost gave up... more than once...i tried making sourdough bread a couple of years ago and i failed, miserably. and i have never tried again. until now...and it is because i had a very PATIENT and WONDERFUL teacher. Octoberfarm.

it all started one week ago...making a "seed culture". you feed it every day for 4 to 5 days depending on how bubbly it is getting...and i was pretty lucky with the heat wave...the culture loved the warm...i let it bask in the sun on the farm table for days....feeding it....loving it..although there was a couple of days that i lost interest...the bread at the bakery looked really good this morning..what am i doing? nope...i am sticking with this...i am not giving up. i want to make my own sourdough bread. right here in Farmhouse Kitchen.

after you have made the "seed culture" you turn it into a starter or barm...and let that go overnight in the fridge...

and then the bread making begins...i ran out of flour right in the middle of making the bread and had to run to the organic hippie store around the corner...i hoped this wasn't a bad sign....

it wasn't bad luck....this dough looks beautiful...i cut it in half

and rolled it into two balls....

put it to sleep last night in the fridge...and this morning was BAKE DAY. i have admit i was nervous...after a week's worth of work i hoped it would turn out...and with the help and encouragement of Octoberfarm... it did.

last night's line-up. 2 bowls of bread and a bowl of starter...gave me a good excuse for cleaning out the fridge

and there it is...i might have let it go about 5 minutes too long...but i think this is a process...learning the bread and how your oven works. i know mine does run hot. so i am so proud of my first loaf of real sourdough....THANK YOU OCTOBERFARM !!!!! what a great teacher i had....i NEVER could have done it without you, my friend. Oh, and john gets his wish...BLT'S on SOURDOUGH tonight !!!!!

octoberfarm said we are SOURDOUGH SISTERS..we are indeed, my friend

Eggplant Lasagne Love

i am always buying eggplant...i just can't help myself...i just LOVE EGGPLANT...

yesterday i decided to make an eggplant lasagne...just kind of using what was around the kitchen...so i sliced up the eggplant and floured it....

look who was helping... i was going to try and clean up the picture but decided to give it to you Full Throttle...just as it is... messy couch, piles of pillows for Teddy, newspaper, Teddy's owl upside down feet straight up...see the mess in the back on the window seat....somebody likes to get into mommy's purse and bags from shopping...the big old giant bag of Purina is for shaking out the kitchen door to the strays that come...we are about up to 5 now... they come and go...but Pixie Rose Marie and Vera Wang are a constant...

dug around the cheese box and scored a big block of gruyere...and a few other scraps...

i just floured the slices and sauteed them in my cast iron skillet ....i used olive oil...to reduce the guilt factor of all that oil.....

i didn't make the pasta this go around...didn't feel like cleaning all of that up...and i just layered it in a pie plate....

pasta, eggplant, a jar of Muir Glen sauce...how lazy is that...a jar of sauce..in my EMERGENCY section of the pantry...for just such occassions...my friend Molly calls it "DOGOMAR"....."don't go to the market"...you know those days when you just feel like staying home...making supper from what's in the pantry and fridge...

i'm gonna tell ya...if you like eggplant...this is for you. it is GOOD.

what a beauty....

since we are in the kitchen...i'll show you what's on the drainboard...SPRING.

here is my windowsill...MEZE is a new neighborhood restaurant around the corner we are dying to try... you can see my reflection in the window... you can even see the birdbath way out back in the garden through the open french door....and the window clingers...what can i say...that section in Michaels with all the seasonal window clingers makes me so HAPPY...

the darling little creamer is from my dear friend julie of julie whitmore pottery on ETSY. i have a big bouquet of baby white carnations on my piano...snuck a few out and added some pineapple sage from my garden...i get such an old fashion off of baby carnations...white or soft pink or yellow...gives me a valentines feeling...of days gone by....

there he is again...sunning himself in his favorite spot. WHISKEY SOUR is loving that sun. i snapped that this morning...

we had a COLD SNAP yesterday..it went down to 75 degrees...heat wave is back today..80 degrees...what is going on? it's January !!!! sending love, my friends.....

Eggplant Lasagne

Slice an eggplant , flour the slices and saute in olive oil till brown. salt lightly

Boil some lasagne noodles, rinse and drain

Layer pasta, red sauce, cheese and eggplant till everything is used up...in just used the cheese i had on hand...some gruyere and mozzarella...your regular lasagne type cheeses

Bake at 375 for about 40 to 45 minutes or till hot and bubbly

Let settle a few minutes before cutting

Cozy food...even if it is 80 degrees