Baking day!

Last Monday was my regular day off and it was a perfect day to bake! I spent the morning cleaning up the rest of the house and preparing for making some tasty treats! We had a staff meeting on Tuesday so that is always a good excuse for me to whip up something fun. I also planned to take some pumpkin donuts to CG Tuesday night.

Here is a photo of all the ingredients I would be needing:

Doesn't look like much...and really, the ingredients involved were rather simple. I was going to make some cinnamon rolls with caramel icing, a quick apple crisp and the pumpkin donuts.

The donuts were the most intimidating...and actually were the easiest to make. To bad I was on the phone while mixing the ingredients and forgot two of the key flavor makers so they tasted awful! Ah well, I'm going to give them another go for CG this week. :)


This is one of my favorite gadgets that I rarely have a chance to use.This fall I'm trying to find as many recipes that would require it's use as possible!



These are the fun skins of the apples after being peeled, cored and sliced--I think they're fabulous!



Here are the finished crisp and cinnamon rolls. The rolls look pretty wrecktastic, but they tasted yummy!
Actually, after another look, the photo of the crisp just looks rather boring!
If I do the crisp again I will put a little of the crumble between layers of apple for a little more texture. Always something to improve!










I have no idea why the photo of the rolls is this direction...and I can't seem to fix it!

It was a fun day in the kitchen. I really wish I could afford one of those fancy gel mats to aid in the salvation of my tootsies! Standing for a couple hours on the ceramic tile produces some serious aches! All Fine Kitchen Supply Fund Donations can be forwarded to ocm :)

My next adventure...I want to do some traditional butter cookies. I'm hoping they're yummy and not too difficult. I'd then like to venture into the world of truffles...hoping that in the end I can do some of both for some tasty and lovely Christmas gifts!

We'll see!

Monday Musings

Well, I haven't been very prompt in posting these days. I wish I had some brilliant reason...however, there is none. I've been quite busy at work and little things associated with said work as well as keeping up with the things I do in the time that is life! :)

The first photo of this post is of something I have been thoroughly enjoying...though I don't believe it can truly be seen in the picture: RAIN!!! It had been pouring rain when I thought to take a photo and by the time I returned to the porch it had begun to let up a bit. For me this is a welcome change. I have survived another summer...fall is on it's way!

Norman has been taking a bit more time, but I don't mind. He has required two baths a week with a special shampoo to cure the skin/hair loss he's been experiencing. Here is a photo of Norman preparing for a wash. Isn't he cute?? I should add here that Normie has been happy as a clam. He is however, moving like an old, old man. He has troubles backing up and turning around in small spaces. He chooses not to walk much anymore, just going out to do his business and smell the rocks, grass, trees and mud. He still squeaks his toys for a minute and asks for lots of cuddles.

Yesterday evening I had a bit of a kitchen tragedy. After washing a sinkful of dishes and setting them on the rack to dry, I heard a crash. It was one of those crashes...I immediately knew something I adored in my kitchen was now woefully unusable. What you see in the photo is how my three quart le Crueset cast iron pot now looks. Rather horrifying, don't you think? I am pleased to report I found a 2.75 le Crueset, cast iron, cobalt casserole with lid for the price of my extra snowball payment. (yes, I know I deserve a scolding for using my snowball payment for a pot but really, how am I to cook without a pot that can go from stove top to oven seamlessly??) It should be noted here that any donations to the Fine Kitchen Supply Fund can be directed this way :)

Today was a Monday. Hence the title of the post--pretty clever, eh??? It was one of those Mondays where my entire morning was spent at court. Mostly, waiting to go into court...court that ran over into the noon hour. Then of course there is the mail checking, phone call returning and outlook going through that needed to be completed before attending a late afternoon appointment. Thankfully, I had a wonderful coffee date planned for after work with my friend Amy. She is here in this photo holding the yummy mocha she made for me at Ladro, Bothell. It was a wonderful end to my rather busy day. I look forward to many more of these meetings...as well as some fine encounters with 'that flighty temptress, adventure'!!

So much for my Monday Musings...how about you? Are Mondays any different than any other day of the week for you?