Yummm!

So today was day two of my baking frenzy. Maybe "frenzy" isn't the right word because I've only really baked one tasty treat a day, but by the time I'm done in the kitchen, you may think otherwise. Needless to say, neatness in the kitchen is something I'm working on, and I must say, I think I'm getting better. I've found that pre-measuring, melting, and softening ingredients makes clean up much easier. I don't know, I guess it's just less chaotic.

Anyway. Yesterday I went out and got all the goods to make s'more brownies (homemade...NOT from the box), Paula Dean's pumpkin pie, and caramel cake with made-from-scratch caramel frosting. I was going to tackle it all at once, but then thought better of it and went for the brownies first.Yeah, they were just about as delicious as they looked. I say looked because Brendan demolished the ones that I put aside for us (splitting the batch with Tristan and Emily). I definitely want to try this recipe again though. The graham cracker crust was really crumbly and basically just fell off the bottom. You can kinda see it in the picture. It just makes it kind of dry, especially since I could have pulled them out about two minutes earlier than I did. So next time I'm going to almost double the butter that the recipe calls for in the crust. I've had to do this with cheesecake crust too. I know it's not easy on the figure, but hey, who wants a crumbly s'more brownie? Not me. I'm also going use bigger marshmallows and fewer of them. The mounds of little ones, while deliciously beautiful to look at, are a bit too gooey and almost a little to thick of a consistency. I want the marshmallows to be as billowy and wonderful as the look.


Moving on to my next feat. Today was the pumpkin pie. It's a Paula Dean recipe so it's gotta be good right? Well pretty much. It's only about an hour out of the oven, so it hasn't cooled enough to tell if the texture's just right. From the trial piece I had about a half hour ago, it seems like it will cool nicely and be pretty good. The flavor is really good. I'll have to tell though later, because the flavors usually need a little while to settle. I think it's a winner though. My only complaint about this particular pie is that I bought Sarah Lee pre-made crusts in the pan. I guess they were just a little to small because I had too much filling for one pie, but not quite enough for two. If I hadn't planned on taking one over to Tristan and Emily, I would have opted for one nice thick one, but since I have to share the love, I had to split the filling. I would have also liked to decorate them a little more festively (see store-bought pie from a few Thanksgivings ago that I spruced up with handmade pie crust leaves and sliced almonds), but I'll do that on the next one.
All in all, I'd say that these two ventures were successful. The brownies looked as yummy as they tasted, and the pie...well...it tastes good, but is no aesthetic match to my dressed up store-bought. I'll have to get some extra crust for the next one to spruce it up again.

And tomorrow's caramel cake with made-from-scratch frosting, so it should be interesting. We all know what happens when I go for the icing. Ugly, ugly things. So lets hope I can stave off the urge to ice until the cake is actually ice-able. I can't handle anymore crumbly cakes.

So stay posted! More yumminess (hopefully) to come!







Oh yeah...and check out how cute Mo is napping by his new fall pillow. I know. I am crazy. I can't help it.