Daring Bakers Challenge: Caramel Cake Cupcakes

I’ve missed the Daring Bakers! When I took a bit of a sabbatical from food blogging, I also took a break from the Daring Bakers. But I’m back and just in time for a sugar rush! Challenge hosts Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex from Blondie and Brownie, Jenny of Foray into Food and Natalie of Gluten A Go Go found what can only be described as a dentist’s worst nightmare. This month’s challenge recipe is Shuna Fish Lydon’s Caramel Cake, as published on the Bay Area Bites blog, an ode to sugar at its finest. It’s a cake…with caramel in the batter…topped with a carmelized buttercream. My teeth ached just reading the recipe. For my first challenge back in the saddle, however, this was an easy yet versatile recipe…even more so since I turned them into cupcakes.

You Didn’t Think I Forgot Thanksgiving, Did You?

Want to make a stuffing that will stop Thanksgiving dinner in its tracks? Head on over to DCFoodies.com for my Apple, Sausage and Mushroom stuffing, completely made from local produce and foods. Now take that and stuff it (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Tara’s Take on Pizza…and Everything

I so love For the Love of Food’s Taste and Create monthly blog event. The concept is simple: two food bloggers are paired together and must create (and blog about, of course) a recipe from their partner’s blog. My Taste and Create partner this month was Tara over at Tara Blogs About Everything, who also happens to be a Daring Baker! This Summer, I took a bit of a break from the Daring Bakers group and was saddened to learn during said break I missed out on making pizza. But when I clicked over to Tara’s blog, I spotted the Daring Baker recipe and did a bit of a happy dance (sadly, I am not exaggerating when I say I did a dance in my living room).

Early Sunday Ramblings…with Apple Ricotta Pancakes

I love my weekends, for so many reasons. When I don’t over plan, my weekends are my own. I get to putter around my house if I choose, dressed in my favorite pajamas and pouring through my cookbooks. I have the time to try something new and then retry it if it doesn’t work the first time. I can read without the guilt of thinking “I really should be getting my gym bag/lunch/clothes ready for tomorrow”. I can play on Facebook for hours because I have no place to go (FYI, “Adventures in Shaw” has its own Facebook site, so feel free to become a fan!). I can pour over the world newspapers, mindlessly munching on a scone or bagel while reading about things outside of the United States. I get my CSA box, which for me is like getting a Christmas present every Saturday morning. I don’t have to answer my work Blackberry, but can chat all night with Liz should I choose on Pinkie Lee. But there is one very special reason my weekends have become so very precious to me…

Shameless Campaigning!

Remember the MarxFoods.com Comfort Food Recipe contest I told you about a few posts ago? Well, the good people over at Marx Foods have selected my recipe as a finalist for the contest! Now it is up to the public to vote for their favorite recipe…and this is where my abject groveling commences. Don’t you want Shaw Girl to win a $250 gift certificate to Marx Foods? It would mean I could share lovely recipes involving truffles, bison and whatever else my grubby little hands can grab. Just head over to the MarxFoods.com site (the badge to the right can get you there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail) and vote for my Roasted Winter Squash Soup!

Kindest Regards,

Shaw Girl

Chocolate Coconut Walnut Scones

Dear Santa,

I’ve been good this year…well, I mean I’ve been fairly good. Okay, I’ve been about 49 percent good this year, but considering my track record that’s like, super good. But I digress…this letter isn’t about the adult me. This is about the Shaw Girl of Christmas past. The sweet, happy, innocent little Shaw Girl who believed in you and was really, really good. Remember the letter I sent you when I was five? You must remember because I even included glitter in the envelope as an enticement (well, the glitter I didn’t eat…I had a thing for craft supplies at that age). That was the year I pleaded for an Easy Bake oven…the ultimate gift to a budding foodie. How I yearned for an Easy Bake oven…something to bring my delicious creations to life. My friend Cheryl had one but she wouldn’t let me use it…she mocked my lack of Easy Bake oven status. But I knew if I was good enough and if my letter was heart felt enough, I too would have an Easy Bake oven to call my own…boy was I wrong.

One Last Thing…

Are you busy on Wednesday night here in the Nation’s Capitol? No? Hmmmm, well I have a wee little suggestion on how to while away your evening. On November 19th (please mark your calenders accordingly) the 7th Street Garden is hosting a fundraiser at the Goethe Theater on (appropriately enough) 7th Street in the Chinatown/Penn Quarter neighborhood. The fundraiser is a screening of the recent AFI Silverdocs and Camden International Film Festival award winner for best documentary, The Garden. And not to leave your bellies empty, the 7th Street Garden will be serving up seasonal food and drink. Doors open at 6 pm and the movie starts at 6:30. For more information (including how to get tickets, which are a mere $20), go to the 7th Street Garden website!

Food for Comfort

This is the time of year where we turn to food for comfort…it’s cold, it’s snowing (at least for some…so bummed it’s not snowing here yet) and you want something that makes you feel warm and cozy. I admit it, this is the time I break out the heavy recipes and relish every last bit. Apparently the people over at Marx Foods think the exact same way about this time of year. They are hosting another one of their fabulous contests and this time it’s a call for comfort food recipes! I’m throwing my hat in with my lovely Roasted Winter Squash soup, but there are already tons of great recipes in the running. And what is the fabulous prize this time? Are you sitting down? No? Well perhaps you should because it’s a $250 MarxFoods.com gift certificate (did I mention they sell TRUFFLES)! So head on over before the contest ends on November 17th and give it the old college try!

Brioche in a Snap!

When I was little, we only had the major holidays off from school. Columbus Day? Spent sitting in Mrs. Slusher’s class listening to her find sexual content in every book we read (seriously, she even made a case for what Huck Finn and Jim were doing all that time in the boat on the river…disturbing for a high school literature class). President’s Day? Of course school had to be in! That was a perfect opportunity to learn about our presidential history. So imagine my surprise to find out as a grown up, I get such unexpected holidays off! In fact, it didn’t even hit me that I had Tuesday November 11th off until a co-worker mentioned it the day after election day. Veteran’s Day off? Sweet! Speaking of sweet, have you met a brioche yet? No? Well, let me make a formal introduction…and show you how easy it is to make.

Roasted Winter Squash Soup

I opened my front door and walked in, my bag of groceries banging at my side. I was a bit annoyed at the 25 minute wait in the grocery line (thank you Ms. “So How Much Does This Cost…Wait, Can I Put This Aside And Decide If I Want To Buy It Later?”), but all was forgiven when the smell of roasting squash hit my nose. This was definitely the smell of Autumn…and it filled my entire apartment.