apple bacon crepes

I can't keep this recipe to myself.  It's just too darn good.  In a moment of desperation, as I looked in my bare refrigerator, I decided to make crepes for dinner yesterday.  We never have spare chicken in the house but bacon always seems to be in the freezer.  I had eggs, flour, milk...so I just got to thinking crepes would be nice. And they were.  I will be making them again.  Most likely for breakfast or brunch but soon I'm sure.

Crepes (makes 6)
1 egg beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 Tbsp oil
pinch salt

Mix all the ingredients together and spread 4 Tbsp batter on a hot greased 9 inch non-stick skillet.  Let it brown for a few minutes.  No need to flip just peel it off the pan with a spatula and keep warm in a low oven under a damp paper towel.  Or you can let them cool to room temp and reheat them in the microwave when needed.

Somewhere along the road, I got it in my head that crepes were difficult and time consuming to make.  It's true you make them one at a time and they don't always turn out perfect but I found this recipe to be a piece of cake.  The trick is to keep your pan nice and hot and greased well.  Crepes are not hard!  Hooray for this realization.

Filling
1 green apple sliced, peels on
8-10 strips bacon
1/4 cup finely chopped purple onion

Cook bacon on medium heat until crisp.  Remove from pan.  Add apples and onion to saute in a little of the bacon fat for a few minutes.  Remove from pan.  I like the apples still a bit crunchy but the onions should be soft.

Cheese sauce (the stuff that ties it all together)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
3 slices provolone cheese (cheddar or Fontina would be niceas well)
1/4 cup grated Pecorino or Romano
pepper
nutmeg

Heat oil in a stainless steel skillet on medium heat.  Add flour and whisk to combine.  It should make a smooth paste. If the flour is clumpy and dry, Add a bit of oil until it's smooth.  Whisk for a minute until the paste is a light brown.  Add milk whisking to combine.  Turn heat down to medium low and whisk the bubbly mixture until thick.  Add the cheese and combine.  Turn heat to low.  Add a pinch of pepper and nutmeg to taste.  This mixture is best used right away because it will thicken as it cools.  I just microwaved it later that night when I assembled Justin's dinner when he got home and it worked just fine.

To assemble the crepes, spread a layer of the cheese sauce on the crepe and then add the apple, bacon, onion mixture.  Wrap it up and munch away.  Sometimes breakfast for dinner is fun.  If you aren't into sweet things at dinner save this recipe for your next brunch.  I think the only thing that could have made this dinner better was a nice salad and a glass of crisp white wine.  But that's in a perfect world when my fridge isn't bare!

Kid note:  The girls dug the idea of "pancakes" for dinner but only wanted bacon on the inside.  I still haven't convinced them that mixing salt and sweet is a good thing.  The idea that apples would touch their bacon was uncool.  That's OK, they ate some leftovers and Justin and I got the crepes!

Mama photographed

I, along with Moms everywhere, read The Mom Stays in the Picture, an article by Alliston Tate published in the Huffington Post this week.  It's a lovely article about a Mother who decides that she needs her children to have a record of her in photographs.  It's a wonderfully honest look at the strains of motherhood and how it can take a toll on the image of a Mom in her own eyes.  So much so, that she avoids being photographed.  The kids are the cute ones right!? Haven't we all said that as we slip out of the photo and let the cameras click away at our beloved children looking adorable as always.  Mama's are the ones to take the photos of the kids.  Not often are Moms in the photo too.

I can relate with the author on many levels.  Those postpartum month are tough.  I don't have a ton of photos of myself with the children during that stage because I was ashamed of the extra weight I was carrying.  But now I'll never get that time back with the girls so any photos I have of us together is precious.  I wish I would have suffered through a few more photos with my chubby face just so the kids could see their Mom during the baby phase.

I don't want to look back after my children are grown and wish we had more photos together.  It's true that photos are just snapshots of a moment in time.  But I'll take a snapshot of myself with them while they are little, over just the memory.  Memories can fade over time and I want my girls to see me as I am right now.  In all my imperfect just-woke-up-and-still-lounging-in-my-PJs glory.  I'm a real woman.  I'm their mother.  Most days I need a facial and a Pilates instructor.  At this moment my girls love me as I am.  I want to remember this and I want them to remember it too.  This time, Mama stays in the photograph!

my tips for baking at high altitude

While selling my goodies at Market Days on Fridays, I'm fielding more and more questions about baking at high altitude.  No, I don't own Pie in the Sky.  I don't use special high altitude recipes because the idea of giving up my all time favorite recipes for new ones at this point in my life is craziness.  I adjust all my recipes for high altitude.  Every recipe is different and it may take time to tweak things before you get it right but here are my rules for adjusting a recipe.

Addis Ababa is at 7500 ft above sea level

For cookies:
Increase the temperature of your oven by 10-15 degrees
Decrease the sugar by 1 Tbsp per 1 cup called for in the recipe
Increase liquids 1Tbs
Decrease baking powders or sodas.  If recipe calls for 1 tsp, I only add 1/4 tsp
Increase flour by 1 Tbsp at 3500 ft and 1 more Tbsp for every additional 1,000 ft
Note: I don't really follow the flour rule all the time. I tried adding the additional 5 Tbsp and it was just too much.  I like to add about 3 Tbsp of flour for my cookie recipes for every one cup of flour called for.

For cakes and other baking goods:
Increase flour 3-4 Tbsp per 1 cup called for in the recipe
Decrease baking powder or sodas by 1 1/2-1/2 tsp  (at my altitude I decrease 1 tsp to 1/4 tsp)
Increase liquid 1 Tbsp per cup called for (sometimes this can be adding an egg)
Decrease sugar by 3-4 Tbsp per cup called for

For yeast breads, dough and bagels: I don't adjust anything

I've cobbled together these rules of thumbs from multiple websites but the tricky part is that every recipe requires slightly different alterations.  Some of my cakes I add a bit of flour and decrease the BP and that's it.  Other recipes require additional liquid.

My advice is to think about your very favorite recipes and just try adjusting a few small things in trials.  Start with decreasing the BP or soda, remove a Tbsp of sugar and add some flour.  For cookies, the increased temp on the oven will help as well.  Just these few things make a world of difference but if you still aren't happy with the results try something different next time.

Paying attention to baking times is key as well.  Notice when your cookies rise and then fall.  Once they fall you need to pay close attention to the moment they are ready to be taken out.  You'll find at high altitude, your baking time may be a bit less because the liquids boil off quicker meaning your baked goods will rise and fall fast and when all those liquids are gone your treats will get dry really fast (hence the addition of more liquids and decrease in BP to compensate).

Baking is a science (which is why I love it-I bet you didn't know I have a B.S. in Chemistry).  Tinkering with your recipe is like making adjustments to your experiments in a laboratory-which in this case, is your kitchen.  Don't be afraid to make a few mistakes.  Worse case scenario is that your cookies are too crunchy and dry or your cake falls and is simply really dense instead of airy.  These items are still tasty and edible.  Crush up your cookies for a pie crust and chop up the cake and mix it in a batch of ice cream.  One time my cupcakes went concave on me and I just used the indentation as a little nest for a pretty flower dollop of frosting  (frosting saves everything).

I also recommend taking notes.  Write down all your adjustments to a recipe and make observations as you go.  Especially when it comes to baking time and temp.  What is the texture?  Did the cookies spread too much?  Did the additional flour make your cake too bland?

It may seem like a very messy way of doing things.  On the contrary, working with your recipes in this fashion is quite scientific!  Good luck and I'm always happy to field any questions.

carrot cupcakes

These are definitely the easiest cupcake I've made.  The maple cream cheese frosting is a really nice change from the basic cream cheese frosting that normally accompanies this type of cake.  Instead of adding vanilla flavoring to the butter cream/cream cheese frosting I added maple flavoring.  Perfection!

the ice cream cake experiement

A friend of mine here in Addis Ababa entrusted me with the important task of creating a cake for her son's tenth birthday party coming up this Saturday.  It was officially the first special order I received for Ladytroupe Sweets.  The request was for an ice cream cake!  I've never made one but that didn't stop me from taking on the challenge.  I figured, I make good ice cream and great cake, I'm certain I can combine the two.  What I found over the last few days of creating this masterpiece, is that ice cream cake is about planning and logistics...as well as good ingredients!

This cake used the following:
parchment paper
A 9 inch spring form pan
1 batch of homemade chocolate wafer cookies crumbled and frozen
1 batch of vanilla chocolate chip ice cream
1 batch of vanilla ice cream
1 9 inch chocolate cake sliced horizontally
candy for decorating

The spring form pan worked really well for the ice cream cake.  I lined it with parchment paper and pressed half the crumbled chocolate wafers into the bottom of the pan.  Then cover with foil and place a heavy plate on top and freeze overnight.

The ice cream has to be made a few hours in advance.  You want the ice cream to be spreadable but not too soft.  I layered half the ice cream onto the cookie crust, then a layer of my chocolate cake, ice cream again and cake on top.  After each layered addition I froze the cake for a few hours. This is not a cake to rush through.  Patience to let every layer freeze before the next addition is key.

 The sides and top of the cake were "frosted" with the vanilla ice cream just as I would frost a cake with frosting.  The remaining cookie crumbles were pressed into the sides and around the outer edge on top of the cake.  The birthday boy is turning ten so it only seemed appropriate to decorate the top in this fashion.

I hope he loves it!  It was a blast to make.

baby owl

Ashlynn Olivia is an owl for Halloween this year.  I'm super impressed with Old Navy Halloween costumes. It's well constructed with soft material.  It came with fleece pants in case you needed extra warmth.  She doesn't seem bothered by the hat either.  Best of all it was cheap!  

Halloween sneak peak

I usually wait on posting any photos of the kids in their costumes until much closer to Halloween, but I can't help myself.  The girls tried Tinker Bell and Woody on the other day and not only did they fit great the quality was much better than some of the crummy costumes we've owned in the past.  Bella is thrilled with her Woody hat and holster, which she calls a "pocket".  Addie flitted around outside with her glittery wings.  I am extra pleased that the Tinker Bell costume is more woodland fairy than Disney fairy. Now the trick is to keep the costumes in good condition for Halloween.