When I first got my mixer I knew I would be making bread, but I didn’t think it would be this often. Since August I’ve made 5 breads out of The Bread Bible. I’ve spoiled Movie Man with fresh baked bread and he gives me this sad look when the homemade bread is almost done.

The bread above is the “Levy’s” Real Jewish Rye Bread. I didn’t have bread flour so I used all-purpose flour…bleached and it still turned out fine. Maybe because Canadian flour is hardier? I’ve heard that all-purpose can be used in lieu of bread flour.

There aren’t any caraway seeds in this bread either, I opted to leave them out so I wouldn’t have to put another dent in the wallet.

Do you have a store where unless you show some remarkable feat of strength you always come home with something? Tealish is that store for me. I have about 10 of their teas and I could be easily persuaded to buy more. Their tea lattes are amazing, my favourite being the Walnut Ave. Green tea latte.

Some of my favourite teas include:

- Toasty Almond: I cannot get enough of this tea! It’s almost like juice, very flavourful.

- Earl Grey Cream: I am not a black tea fan, but this tea changed my mind! An intoxicating smell and a delicious tea. The most requested tea when people come over to my place. They also have an Earl Green Cream available too which is good.

- Patisserie: Another favourite of mine. It has a creamy taste to it.

If you have a chance, check out their store front. The people there are always so friendly and helpful (with over 130 teas, it can be overwhelming!). They also carry a wonderful selection of tea tins, teapots, and cups. I bought my first teapot there (as shown above) and they have classic cast iron teapots as well. I’ve also been eyeing the baby buddha bowls which I’ve wanted for awhile.

Here are the pumpkins! You can have a better look at them in my flickr set and also check out pumpkin carving archives done by my amazing and talented better half.

I didn’t mean to go so long without posting. I have been baking and cooking up new things and will get posted up. Halloween was great! The day before, my dear friend came over and we had delicious sugar cookies decorated all nicely by Movie Man and watched a not-so-scary movie (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The consistency for icing was hard to achieve which I’ll have to work on if I plan on icing and decorating my wedding favours (more sugar cookies!).

Waffles with peach preserves from the future father-in-law and crème fraîche

Movie Man and I got a gift card to Williams-Sonoma as an engagement present from our lovely friends. Instead of using it on something practical such as a blender or a food processor, we used it on a waffle maker. I have to admit that we’ve probably used this waffle maker more than we would use a blender or food processor. I love making a batch of waffles and then freezing them ready to be put into the toaster for a quick breakfast. I’ve worked my way through the recipe book and I’ve also made seasonal waffles (pumpkin with cardamom — yum!).

The waffle iron is awesome with the catch tray and it beeps whenever it’s ready. The waffles come out nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Even the Aunt Jemima mix came out great when all I did was add water (I know, blasphemy, but I brought it along to our friend’s cottage and I wanted something simple).

I have only made a cake when there was an event going on that involves a crowd of people. Making an entire cake for just two people doesn’t make sense. Although with a bunch of neighbours to consume the edibles, I can break this rule from time to time.

It was my neighbour’s birthday and when birthdays roll around I get an itch to make a cake. I made a devil’s food cake with whipped chocolate ganache for the filling and a ganache to glaze the cake. As usual, I was short on time so while I was getting ready I made Movie Man pour the glaze and decorate it (i.e. write happy birthday). Although to be honest, even if I had the time to do it, I’d still make him write out the greeting. He has the nicer writing (guess who is writing wedding thank you cards?). I didn’t have time to trim the cake so the glaze on the sides are a bit wonky. I’m okay with not having perfect cakes, I’m not a professional cake decorator. Cake making does make me want to take cake decorating lessons.

The weather has suddenly turned cooler and my balcony is being used less and less. This summer had quite a bit of rain and I’m hoping that history won’t repeat for next summer (my outdoor wedding!). I’m looking forward to the fall and making hearty soups. I’ll also be tackling butternut squash with my sweet sweet knife.

This was the first summer spent in our new place and we bought a grill that was used religiously.

We spent the weekend at a friend’s cottage which was the perfect way to close the summer.  Best of all, my dog who does not like the water (he’s not afraid, he’s just not  a water dog) turned into a water loving dog there!  Swimming, fetching (another thing he doesn’t do), and romping around.

Sweet potato fries recipe here

At first I thought there was a mistake in the recipe by not including milk, but it’s all made with sour cream. It’s very moist and delicious.

You can find an adapted version here.

I think my obsession with bread is getting a little scary. For the past few days I have been dreaming about dough and loaf pans. I’m sure part of this is due to agonizing over what to register for at Williams-Sonoma. Do I get the plain ones or the non-stick Goldtouch ones that Cook’s Illustrated gave praise to? In the end, I ended up putting both on the registry, the more the merrier. Will it all fit in our small space? That might be the tricky part.

I have made this grilled focaccia bread from The Bread Bible twice this week. Twice in 3 days actually. It’s good, it’s one of the few breads that I can make in the same day (most of the breads suggest popping the sponge in the fridge overnight for the most flavour), and it’s easy. I like how I can use the grill which is perfect for a hot summer’s day and the bread is small enough for 2 people to finish off in a day. There’s a step where you slide the bread off a baking sheet and put it straight on the grill for grill marks, then place it on the sheet to finish baking. I find that the grill marks get lost once it goes back on the pan and I’m thinking it’s an unnecessary step.

I plan on making the Challah from the book as it’s been on my list for the longest time. Sour dough is also on my list of things to do including making the starter from scratch. I’m not sure if I want to be that committed though…sour dough starter is more effort than taking care of fish. I won’t buy starter either, I want the full experience.

I’m a wee bit late for Sugar High Friday, but it’s been a busy week. I made this on Monday, but didn’t have time to post until now. I really wanted to do the meringue theme that’s hosted by One Messy Kitchen (which is the current state of mine). I had been eyeing the Gateau Diane recipe since I had bought the Bittersweet cook book years ago and this was my chance of trying it.

Meringues aren’t usually an issue for me. They’ve been pretty successful every time except for one recipe. This time, I made the meringues twice and I wasn’t happy with both results. The first time I made the recipe it was pretty humid. The egg whites after whipping to stiff peaks seemed to have melted by the time I folded in the chocolate/walnut mixture. I don’t know if it’s because I underwhipped, overwhipped, the humidity, or that I took too long to mix. The meringue came out very flat so I tried it again with the a/c on. The second one turned out a bit better but still a bit too flat for my liking. I think next time I’ll double the meringue recipe to make it taller and I’ll bake it on a silpat marking the rounds with icing sugar. The parchment paper was a pain in the ass and my meringues cracked trying to peel them off.

The cake flavour-wise is amazing! Meringues which are usually very sweet aren’t due to the bittersweet chocolate flecks speckled throughout. The dark chocolate whipped ganache also lessens the sweetness of the meringues. I made my neighbours come by and eat this cake at 9:30pm which they were quite happy to do.

Despite all this trouble I would make this again. I love cakes with meringue layers so I need more practice to make something more presentable.