A Photo A Day [Days 145-147]

Busy day on Friday, so no chance to take a picture until bedtime. This is the last thing I see before I turn out the light at night.



Spent most of Saturday slaving away at the sewing machine.



Baked Thin Mint cupcakes today. Recipe coming soon.

A Photo A Day [Days 143 & 144]

Got my new 35mm lens in the mail yesterday. The delivery guy nicely left my $200 lens sitting on the front porch in plain view. Good thing I've never had a problem with packages disappearing. Wish I could say the same about the adorable Union Jack valve stem covers I once had on the tires of my car, but I digress. I'm having fun playing around with the lens using my kitties as my test subjects. They're not always so cooperative but out of 20 shots this one turned out the best.



I love that with my new lens I can take pictures in low light, especially since I live like a vampire and my house is constantly shrouded in darkness. Took a series of pictures of our crackling fire hoping to catch the sparks shooting up into the air. Theme: Mid air.

Glazed Chai Cookie Bars

I needed something easy to whip up for my book club meeting so I thumbed through the bar/cookie recipes in my collection. This time of year there's nothing I like better than downing cups of tea throughout the day to keep warm, with one of my favorites being chai. The combination of spices is one of my favorites so why not bake them into a cookie bar topped with a sweet honey glaze?

My review of the finished product is that the flavors are subtle, the bars are nicely chewy, and while the honey in the glaze works well since tea + honey is always a win I can't help but wonder if a different topping might work better. I think I'm too spoiled by cake topped with frosting and had a hard time adjusting my palate. Still, these are tasty if you're looking for a buttery cookie treat.

Glazed Chai Cookie Bars
Recipe from Crepes of Wrath

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark or light brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon garam masala
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Glaze:
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk (start with 2 tablespoons, add more as needed)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease and/or line a 9x13x2 pan. Beat together the sugars and butter until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat in the egg and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, garam masala, cloves, pepper, allspice, and nutmeg until blended. Add to butter mixture and beat gently until everything is thoroughly combined. Don’t over-mix, though. If everything isn’t quite coming together in your mixer, finish it up by hand.

3. The dough will be very similar to a cookie dough, so I found it easiest to press it into the prepared pan by hand. Don’t worry if it looks thin, it’ll puff up when baking. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes, until the dough no longer wiggles when gently shaken and the dough is a very light brown. Allow to cool completely before finishing up with the glaze.

4. To make the glaze, combine the three tablespoons of honey and powdered sugar, then beat together until combined. Add in the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the icing is a consistency that you like. Pour the glaze over the bars and allow to set (this can be sped up by putting the bars in the fridge).

A Photo A Day [Day 142]

Witness the beheading of Marie Antoinette. It's amazing that such high-quality photographic evidence of the event exists.
Theme: Mid air

A Photo A Day [Day 141]

I was trying to follow The Daily Shoot's theme of photographing something with a soft look by capturing my soft, fluffy fleece jacket. Then Bunsen came along and helped me get an even better shot.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Coffee Cake

Yup, this creation is pretty much exactly what the name suggests and it's absolutely delicious! I know that I bake a lot, which is why I try to limit myself to only one or two servings of everything I produce, but with this I somehow found the excuse to have some both for breakfast at the beginning of the day and dessert at the end. I'm surprised by how buttery the cake tasted despite only using one stick of butter. And yes, I know I just further cemented my status as delusional when I use the word "only" to describe something that contains over 800 calories and about 90 grams of fat. Not to mention that I cleverly neglected to mention the additional 1/4 cup of butter called for in the streusel.

The cake on its own would be divine as it's light, buttery, moist, and flavorful. But add oats and layer it with cinnamon brown sugar streusel, raisins, and chopped nuts and it becomes irresistible. For good measure I also threw in some white chocolate chips, not called for in the original recipe but a brilliant idea if I may say so myself. Either way this is a must-try recipe!

Note: I don't own a 9" pan (as called for in the recipe) so used my 10" springform without any ill results. In fact, the slices were so thick that even if I had the choice I'd go with the 10" pan.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Coffee Cake
Recipe adapted from Baking Bites

For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup quick cooking oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup white chocolate chips

For the streusel filling/topping
1/4 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped (I used walnuts)

1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch (or 10-inch) springform pan.
2) In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, quick cooking oatmeal, baking powder and salt.
3) In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk and the vanilla. Then, blend in add half of the remaining flour, the rest of the buttermilk, and finally the last of the flour. Fold in white chocolate chips. Set aside to prepare topping.
4) For the topping, combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl and stir well. Rub butter into the mixture with your fingertips (or by pulsing a a food processor) until mixture resembles coarse sand.
5) Pour half of the batter into the springform pan. Top with half of the topping mixture. Evenly sprinkle raisins and pecans in a single layer. Pour remaining batter on top and spread carefully to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle all remaining topping over the batter.
6) Bake in a 9-inch round springform pan
7) Bake for 45-50 minutes (adjust time if using 10-inch pan), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool on a wire rack until it is room temperature before running a knife around the edge and removing the springform. Store in an airtight container.

Serves 10.

A Photo A Day [Day 140]

Here's my tribute to The Italian Job. This is but a small sample of my extensive Mini collection. I might have a bit of an obsession. That's perfectly normal, right?

Theme: movie scene