Bubbling Brain

This is my last post for awhile but before I vanish, I wanted to say thanks for the laughs, the fun, your time and for always telling me what you're eating. I love my blog. But now, I have to bow out for a bit so that I can focus on a few projects that are bubbling in my brain.

And with that, I wish you Boogerbutts and Buttfaces a healthy 2016. Cheers with the biggest side of boogie boogie, in the history of ever. Over and out.

PS: I lied about the hint.

What Am I?

I'm doing two posts at once to close out my goal of 444. You'll find a clue to this What Am I?, in the following post, along with a fun video.

Thanks guys. I'll catch ya'll on the flipside.

Gandalf & Bilbo

I almost forgot to post this one. To those of you celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, enjoy. And this brings me to only two more posts to go before I hit my blogging goal for the year.

444. Yeah, baby. Almost there.

Based on Pass/Fail

Based on a pass/fail, yesterday's bake was a fail. Even though I balanced the weight of the dry ingredients with the leavening agents and liquid (to achieve the correct rise), the texture of the sponge was wrong. Lucky for me, troubleshooting is where I shine. So it's back to the lab.

But not yet.

First, it's Aldi (our location is clean and wonderful), for the new sales and maybe the tractor store for stinky hooves for the pups. As for getting done by 4PM yesterday, I wasn't even in the ballpark. But I slept good, don't have any rashes.

Go me. Rah.

Would Ya' Take a Look at THIS

Fresh from my oven and cooling. Photo taken from my tablet. Expands to 800px. Cannot wait until they are cooled.

I love baking.

Over and out.

WHAT ARE YOU EATING?

Rice Rice, Baby

Today, I've got lots and lots of chores to do, along with a few new bakes. My goal is to have everything done by 4PM. It's almost 7:30AM now, so if I get crackin' I might make goal.

Rice flour is the correct answer to yesterday's post. I needed it for a new recipe (not mine). I am not a fan of baking with rice because whilst rice is not without nutritional benefit, I personally do not consider it a safe baking ingredient. Rice contains arsenic, is known to spike blood sugar, and for others bloats the belly. Yet, given all this, rice flour is often overly relied upon for some gluten-free bakers.

I used rice flour out of curiosity as to how it bakes. However, it remains doubtful that I will incorporate rice flour or rice milk (which I also made at home), into any of my own formulas, when there are so many better options available.

Time is ticking away. I'm still in my jams, so I best get crackin'. If I'm honest, I really want to hide in the Lemon Tart Room, under a fluffy blanket and watch a movie.

Before & After

Yesterday's raisin bread called for an ingredient that I didn't have. So I made it myself. Here's a hint, this second picture is often OVERLY used in gluten-free baking and small bags of it can run anywhere from $3 to $16.

What did I make?

BEFORE & AFTER

BAKING !!!!

Wow. Did your weekend whoosh by? Ours did. Now it's Sunday night at The Manor, Tim is enjoying his new xbox one and I'm tinkering about the house. Soon to get into my jams, and call it a night.

Tomorrow, BAKING!

I've got two things going. One, learning from a new bake book that Tim gifted me and two, my own formula for cranberry orange muffins using all kinds of fun homemade flours, that I ground from nuts, seeds, grains and whatever else I fancy.

I love BAKING! How 'bout you? You bake?

Sunday Bake

It's the last day of our mini Christmas staycation. To kick things off, I moved the Lemon Tart Room around. Tim doesn't know it yet because he's finishing up on his map work (that he sells online). Plus, he's got the pregame cranked so he couldn't hear me.

After I hit dish, I'm gonna bake something. I think maybe raisin bread from that new bake book I wrote about yesterday. I love my own raisin bread but I'm curious to learn new methods and use two new to me ingredients. More on that another day. Game is on now and I want to get my walk in, dish done and to my baking.

Happy Sunday (or Monday) and .....

I'M ON THE HUNT

FRIDAY ANSWERS (+ Flour C is a go)

I'm happy to report that the formula C (aka flour C), works brilliantly in my new Christmas palacsinta pans. I've used many, many different pans for making Hungarian pancakes and so far, these new skillets are the best.

Even better, I used formula C again this morning for breakfast and it worked for the second day in a row, making it not a fluke.

Yeah, Baby. I rule.

Now, let's get to the answers to Friday's Questions. Pickled ears to all who played. For those who don't eat ears, we have pickled toes, but fair warning, the toes aren't as tangy.

FQ: What Are We? (4 of 4): Allspice
FQ: What Are We? (3 of 4): Tef/Teff/T'ef
FQ: What Are We? (2 of 4): Cellophane Noodles
FQ: What Are We? (1 of 4): Dried Chili/Chile peppers

PS: For those new to my blog, I make homemade flours by grinding ingredients like nuts, seeds and grains. Then I label formulas for testing and THEN, I go play.

FQ: What Are We? (4 of 4)

Lastly, this Christmas gift is something that I've never ground at home before. Super looking forward to it. They smell lovely. Tell us what they are and win two pair of stinky elf socks and three eye boogers. Hint, as I write this post, the bowl of apples next to me smells heavenly. These little buggers will work nicely in my next apple bake.

What are we?

And that my lovely Boogerbutts concludes my 4 of 4 posts. And believe it or not, it really is four in the morning. We are finally headed to bed. It's been a great night.

Thanks for reading and Happy Christmas.

Update: For the answers click, ANSWERS.

FQ: What Are We? (3 of 4)

Here's another gift that I've been dying to crack open. I picked it out, so I knew I was getting them. They are tiny and I've NEVER eaten them, ever. Hint: These are also made into flour. What are we?

Update: For the answers click, ANSWERS.

FQ: What Are We? (2 of 4)

This is something I got last night that I cannot recall if I've eaten before or not. I thought I had, but when I tasted them, I though, maybe this wasn't what I thought it was. Either way, totally fun and I'll be making them again.

What are we?

Update: For the answers click, ANSWERS.

FQ: What Are We? (1 of 4)

Hello and Happy Christmas. Here are four different what are we, posts because one, I got them for Christmas (we do our gifts at Christmas Eve) and two, I'm trying to hit 444 posts for the year.

This is post, 1 of 4.

PS: For those of you that do gifts, when do you open yours? We do ours midnight Christmas. With the exception of this year, when Frankenberry talked me into opening his main gift, early. But to be fair, I cracked into some of mine, too.

Update: For the answers click, ANSWERS.

Raise Your Hand If ....

We LOVE Christmas. We're like little kids and it's just buckets of fun. And sometimes, a gift comes along that's just too good to wait until midnight.

Happy Christmas to you and an Oogie Boogie New Year.

 

HOLD UP, SANTA

Dear Santa

That Should Do It

Oh Shit (Thanks, Martha)

What Are You Eating?

I'm hungry but I don't know what I want. Maybe an apple with peanut butter and medjool dates. Or maybe I'll swap out the dates for prune. Or maybe pancakes. Waffles sound good too. But I still have a wee bit of papaya to finish.

What did/are you having?

GETTING MY BUTT OUT THE DOOR

After much farting around and a few afternoon naps, I finally got my butt out the door and picked up our Winter Solstice gifts. The stores weren't as bad as I thought they were gonna be, which was nice.

As I type, in the oven bakes a cinnamon and clove apple and it smells heavenly. Anyway, hope you all had a great holiday (for those of us that celebrate the seasons).

It feels more like the first day of spring but I'll take it. Snow, sun, rain, I don't care. I'm just happy that after tomorrow, Frankenberry will have FOUR DAYS off. 

Hot dog and Happy Solstice.

Poor Santa

Fried Elf Legs

The answer to Friday's Question was organic prunes. To all who played, I award you a bowl of fried elf legs with a side of reindeer Pâté. For my veghead friends, we have a mock version made with veggies. Tastes almost the same, if not better.

Enjoy and Happy Winter (or Summer), depending on where you live. As for me, I'm headed into the Lemon Tart Room to rest, which really, I want to go shopping, but thanks to an autoimmune response to chemicals yesterday, I'm gonna have to sit the morning out.

This makes me cranky.

But as soon as I pop in a movie and hide under the Christmas blanket, it'll wash the cranks away. Because if I have to spend the morning resting, I might as well enjoy it. And I just spied a new box of herbal tea. Okay, I'm good.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back later.

FAKE FUDGE

Guess what? That almond coconut and cacao butter stuff that I made yesterday, where I chucked a bunch of stuff in the food processor. Well, let me tell you, from the fridge today, it's nothing like a nut butter or chocolate nut spread. More like a fake fudge of sorts, but without the sickly sweet or grainy texture.

It's delicious.

I'll make it again and take pictures because next go, I'll pour it into a traybake and cut it into squares. It's neat, sometimes I'll go to make one thing, say a nut butter but end up with something completely different but equally as fun.

In other news, we finally got a nice Saturday filled with snow. Granted, it's not buckets of snow, but it is just enough to bring on that Christmassy kinda magic.

I love it.

Date Night Canceled and Flour A, Flop

Our original date night plans to hit Barnes armed with coupons and gift cards, got squashed. That's okay, a night in sounds pretty darn good too. So we picked up a Redbox movie.

In other news, Flour A didn't work on my chicken tenders. However, this morning, Flour B worked pretty good on American-style pancakes and that gave me an idea for a pancake, cake - layered with coconut frosted goodness. More on that when I give it a go.

Earlier, I told you about making coconut butter. Well, after I did that I also made an almond butter, cacao and coconut butter mix. It was pretty darn good and less expensive than me buying hazelnuts.

It's just about supper time here at The Manor. Chicken legs, tots and organic baby arugula (rocket). Enjoy your weekend and I'll catch ya' on the flipside.

Raise Your Hand If ...

Raise your hand if you're ignoring your chores today. I am. That's me. Instead, I made coconut butter and I'm soon to drain the 13 hour chicken stock pot. The house smells lovely.

I'll be back Monday with the answer to Friday's Question. Meanwhile, I gotta get dressed. I'm still in my Captain America shirt, Valentine jam bottoms and Tim's over-sized slippers. Whilst I do make this look good, I'd like to be more dressed and less stinky for Barnes later. It's date night. And we have killer coupons plus gift cards.

That's all from me, time to drain the stock. Have a yummy night and an oogie boogie weekend. Cheers.

FQ: What Am I?

Hey Guys: I just posted the answer, here. Thanks for playing and boogie boogie.

Whooshing My Way Through

I woke super late today and have been buzzing about the house, whooshing through chores so that I can go ingredient shopping. Something came up yesterday, and I never went. But today, I shop.

I'm super duper excited because Tim just called and my shipment of tomorrow's Friday Question came in. Yum, yum, yum. More on that tomorrow.

In other food news, Flour B worked nicely in palacsintas (Hungarian pancakes that I ate for lunch). Up next, the double butt waffle iron. Will Flour B work? Won't know until I try, but hey, that's where the fun is at.

That's all for now. Over and out, Buttfaces.

My Flour Can Beat Up Your Flour

I've been playing with Flour A for a bit now. It's a formula I made from mostly home-ground nuts, seeds and anything else I can make into a flour. Although there remains one component that I still buy. But it won't be long until I'm making that at home as well. Because home-ground flours beat the ever lovin' snot out of anything, shoppe-bought.

But I digress.

This afternoon, I was struggling with Flour A and I thought, wait a cotton' pickin' minute. How about I add my beloved sorghum flour and call this batch, Flour B.

Voila! Flour B is born.

Now, for more testing. Let's see how she does in my double butt waffle iron. But first, I'm off to Aldi to see what's on offer this week. Tim had the car all last week and now that I am not housebound, I'm going ingredient shopping.

Muwhahahahaha.

What Are You Eating?

I really didn't get much done but rest and watch food on streaming video on the big screen, in the movie room. But I'm okay with needing a day of rest. And tonight, nothing fancy, just gonna bake a few organic chicken legs (for both) and heat up leftover homemade pizza (for Tim).

What are you having? Something yummy?

No Wig, No Glasses - Tada

Ah, remember back in the days when detectives (and Wonder Woman), only needed to change their hair and wear glasses as a disguise? Yep, yep. Nothing beats that.

Now for the prizes. Broken candy canes to ALL who played. And to Stacy, Debra, Alex,  Bethany and Lori who were the closest (Stacy even closer) I award each of you a bonus box of peppermint flavoured toe jam and ear wax. Goes great mixed in hot chocolate or tea. For some reason, it curdles in coffee. No one knows why?

Scroll down to see the correct answer.

The DVD collection was Charlie's Angels and Jill was the Who Am I?

Who Am I? (bad guy quiz cont.)

Here's a hint to the earlier Bad Guy Quiz. The person below is trying to locate the bad guy but must do so in disguise.  Unless, I watched two episodes in one day, in that case, she's not trying to catch THAT bad guy, but she's from the same collection, and this is my blog, so close enough.

Anyway, who is she? If you know, then you'll know the DVD collection that said bad guy, came from. Players walk away with several broken candy canes and a bag of ear wax.

In other news, just put the lamb on. Such a simple dish and oh my word, delicious. Then Tim has game tonight and I will hide away in the movie room watching a DVD. Maybe even do a little hand-quilting.

Wishing you all a yummy night :-)

Bad Guy Quiz

Welcome to my first ever, Bad Guy Quiz. Or at least, I think this is my first one. Who knows? Not me. Anyway, tell us what DVD collection this bad guy comes from and win something useless and gross.

In other news, yesterday, I made 250 vanilla pizzelles for Tim's job because today is their goody day.  And not a single allergic reaction (no throat closing, no rash). I still won't take a chance and eat any but that's okay with me. I'm just thrilled to be making them again.

And that my lovely Boogerbutts about concludes this post. I just started the bedding as it looks like another beautiful spring day. Perfect for hanging sheets and blankets outside.

Cheers and boogie boogie.

Hot Dog - I Win

Hey Guys. Yesterday was a success. Hot dog, I win.

Today, I'm crankin' the Christmas music as I boogie my way through the afternoon, gutting the bake boxes and redefining my storage area in the lab.

Muwhahaha ....

Wish Me Luck - I'm Going In

I've been awake since five this morning, just staring at the ceiling. So I figured, eh, might as well get cracking on today's project which includes making pizzelles. Usually, I make them year-round, all the flippin' time. But because of recent health issues and the fact that melted butter (this time last year anyway), sent my skin into rash and itching, I haven't made any.

For Tim's job next week, they have Goody Day and I am the pizzelle maker. Which brings me to today, when I test if I can handle melted butter or not. Health-wise, much has improved over the last year. Even when sprinkled with setbacks, overgrowth, infections and other buggers, on the whole -- many great leaps forward.

For instance, I no longer have chronic spinal issues. After years of being bent like a pretzel (born that way), I now rarely hurt. I haven't had a problem walking in forever (knock on a skeleton's skull), and I can eat more than two bites of food each meal. Which is a bonus because with all the cooking and baking, it's a relief to eat my foods again.

But I digress. And I just heard Frankenberry's alarm go off. Gonna whisk up a batch of fresh palacsintas (Hungarian pancakes), for breakfast and then get crackin' on a small test batch of pizzelles to see if I pass the melted butter test.

Wish me luck, I'm going in.

Magic in a Bowl

We missed our Sunday roast (bird with fixins), so the plan was to do it tonight, but I changed my mind. I'll go with more soup for me and maybe chicken chunked salad with potatoes for Frankenberry.

Yesterday, Jan asked what ingredients were in my soup and basically, I start with a homemade stock or broth (this week it's green veggie broth), then I chuck in fresh ginger, garlic and whatever vedge I have have. But that's how soups are for me. No set ingredients list. No rules. Just chuck it in, taste and voila. Magic in a bowl.

So, whatcha eating today? Is it yummy? Do tell. Do tell.

Super Secret Project

Today was a full day.  Lots of writing, cooking and I worked on my super secret project -- which aside from health, is also part of the reason I was off the grid last week.  More on that super secret project later in the New Year because as of right now, I'm done with my walk and headed to the showers.  I like these kinds of days.  Done by 2:30 PM.  Ready to shower and get into my jams.

Not too shabby.

Cavemen Club

I'm doing a post to say howdy, as Tim waits for his meat-filled sub. He's part of the Cavemen Club, here at Wegmans.  Me, not so much. But I did recently make lamb at home twice and LOVED it.

Anyway, health took a leap forward and then quickly mocked me with a few stumbles back. That's the way of things, I suppose. Then I had a few house projects that needed my full attention.  Anyway, I'm back. Hope you're all well. Have a great rest of your night and I'll catch ya'll again soon.

PS: Here's a shot of my supper, as I wait for Frankenberry.  Eating out isn't an option for me, so I picked through the bulk bins. The dried, organic mango is heaven.

Heaven, I say, heaven.

Not Found

Magic Shoes

Those boxes are still haunting us. But today (you can't see me but I just sat up a little taller and puffed out my chest), we finish the job.

The answer to Friday's Question: Stevia powder extract, grown & harvested in Paraguay, South America and manufactured in the USA by a family owned business. The stevia is UNCUT, as in ZERO fillers and I love it. Love it.

Okay, Tim's back from the post with my new herbal medicine. Which means, time for me to get offline and put on my magic shoes.

Friday Question: New Foods

When I go to the market I'm always on the hunt for a new ingredient. Spice, herb (fresh or dried), fruit, vegetable, it doesn't matter. Just something new and fun to play with.

Friday Question: How often to explore new foods? And if you do, what's the last new thing you tasted?

Speaking of new ingredients, if you're looking to win a kilo of dehydrated eye boogers to sprinkle of popcorn, then click Have You Eaten This, and submit your answer. Thanks for playing.

Friday Question: Have You Eaten This?