The post that never was

First my apologies for being checked out for awhile.

I have no excuse for it other than having a major writing block. My computer has been giving me dirty looks. I avoided even going in the same room with it for the last month. And as far as being in the kitchen is concerned, I didn't even make a single christmas cookie.

No, I take that back. I attempted to make a batch of christmas cookies but for some reason I used 3 sticks of butter instead of 1 1/2, like the recipe called for. Yeah, Yikes. I didn't take any pictures of that.

I traveled to my hometown, Duluth, MN, for Christmas and after a much needed break from reality, I find myself back in the very temperately climated and crowded city of LA.

We've had a bit of a game changer come about in the last 3 weeks. After 10 shorts months of living in LA for me and 2 1/2 years for K we have made the decision to move back to Wisconsin. We're both slightly unsure of what this will bring but we know that it will be nice to be back closer to family and friends and I will have to retire the Toms until summer, which really is heartbreaking, but life goes on.

And with that, I leave you with some  snap shots from the last few months of last year:

This is how you should always start thanksgiving day:

and with this too:

And then around mid afternoon rock some of this:

Right after you take these out of the oven:

and start what could possibly be the most ugly and delicious cake roll ever:

and then unleash the grill master on the main dish:

and then sit down and enjoy each-others company over an amazing meal:

Follow that up with definitely the most ugly and delicious cake roll ever:


I found some time to make some gifts:





The frozen tundra for Christmas:

It was actually in the 40's when we were on the lake this day. It was down right balmy.

I've never seen the ice this smooth and clear before:


I got to snuggle with all these cute little babies:


And I got to feast with all these wonderful people:


And when I mean feast, I mean FEAST:


We had to go play on the lake a little more to work all the feasting off:




But don't be fooled, there was a lot of napping too:


There was a visit to the north shore of the Big Lake (Lake Superior)



People were surfing. Only in Northern Minnesota:


I don't think I can do much better than people surfing on Lake Superior in December.

What about triple chocolate chip cookies? I'll be coming back at ya with some of those really soon. I promise.

On, Wisconsin!

Cheese is a big deal at our house.



There are no fewer than 5 different kinds of cheeses in our refrigerator as I write this. Not to mention milk, buttermilk, yogurt and ice cream in the freezer.
I'm originally from Minnesota but having spent the majority of my adult life in Wisconsin, it's safe to say that "The Dairy State" was not lost on me.

That being said, we were lucky enough to spend some time in our beloved Wisconsin last weekend.



That's my, "you're far too close with that camera" face.

K was a groomsman in the wedding of one of his high school buddies.



They are such a cute couple.



And they are so fun to see together. I wish them a wonderful, long and happy life as husband and wife.



The wedding was a blast, to say the least



I got to spend the weekend celebrating the start of wonderful couple's marriage with a group of our amazing friends, see the changing fall leaves, play with K's baby niece, experienced a little bit of a thunder storm and I did it all with my most favorite person.

Extreme weekend bliss!

After returning from the lovely fall weekend in Wisconsin, I found myself at the end of October and realized I hadn't done a lick of fall baking.



And what's more fall than a rosy ripe apple?



And there's not a whole lot that goes together better than a crispy tart apple and an extra sharp cheddar.



The trick to making a scone with a tender crumb is cold butter and very little fuss. I don't know if you could ask much more from a recipe.



The quicker you work the butter into the flour and the less you handle the dough, the lighter and fluffy your scone will be.



This recipe is about as close as you can get to baking instant gratification.



And I really don't think there is such a thing as too much cheese



And that is absolute contentment.



Cheddar and Apple Scones

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Makes 6 large or 8 medium scones

Preheat Oven to 450 degrees

1 3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/3 Cup Cold Butter Cubed
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 Cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese with extra for sprinkling
3/4 Cup Peeled and Diced Apples

Sift together first 5 ingredients into a large bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture until there are small pea sized pieces of butter. You can do this with a fork, pastry blender or your fingers.

With a wooden spoon, stir in buttermilk, just until moistened. There might be little bits of unincorporated flour in the bottom of the bowl. That's okay, just don't over work the dough.

Gently fold in the cheese and apples. The moisture from the apples will pick of the remaining bits of flour in the bottom of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and pat into a round about 12 inches in diameter.
There's no need to be exact or perfect at this point. Just whack it out into 6 to 8 rough triangle shapes. It will taste better the less handling you do.

Gently transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with a little extra cheese.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 15-18 mins or until light golden brown.

Cool on a rack for 10 mins. Best if served warm slathered with butter. Because of the moisture in the apples these don't keep their just baked texture very long but you can store them up to 2 days in a sealed container.

Depending on the sweetness of your apples and your sweet tooth preferences you can add more or less sugar to the dough. Because the apples I used were quite tart I used 3 tablespoons and instead of plain white sure I used raw turbinado sugar.

I would suggest a very tart baking apple that will hold up well to baking. A gala or granny smith would work just lovely for this recipe.

Bits and Bobs

This is the face I get when I've been spending too much time on the computer...

Disapproving, no?

So, I stepped back from the computer for a bit and did some other things.

Like playing with our new kitchen toy:



It's a Toddy Cold Brew Coffee System. Please disregard the knife and cutting board in the background. That has nothing to do with this post other than the fact that it had just sliced up a snack of cheese and sausage, which as you can see, there were no leftovers.



Here's K reading the directions. It was a little more intense than the standard put the coffee grounds in and add hot water method.
Check the T-Shirt. I found it highly appropriate as the Brew Crew won the final game in a 5 game series tonight that has now put them in the National League Championship Series. Go Brewers!



Look at that concentration. This cold brewing coffee is no joke, people. NO JOKE!



You put the filter in and then you add 1 cup of water.



And then you add 6 oz of coffee. 6 oz. ONLY. I'm not kidding, this is serious stuff.

Stop laughing!

I just bought a pound from Trader Joe's. Nothing fancy or expensive.



6 oz. Measured and poured carefully. Very carefully. Seriously. Come on. If you're not gonna take this seriously then you can just go to Starbucks and buy your own latte. Jerk.

And then you add 3 cups of water on top of the grounds.

And then add another 6 oz. of coffee.



And on top of that you add 3 more cups of water.



At this point in time you will need to use every ounce of your self control to restrain yourself from straight up stirring the coffee and water.

Like, seriously. Every. Single. Ounce.

If you stir it, it will cause the filter to clog and then, well, you're just SOL.

You can however use the back of a spoon to pat it down a little bit.

That's like telling a hard core sugar addict to eat a piece of fresh fruit when they're craving a cookie or slice of cake.
While we're at it, don't ever say something like that to me. I'll smack you.

OMG! JUST LET ME STIR IT!!!




If you were wondering, I didn't stir it.

It sat undisturbed in our fridge overnight.

Kev pulled the plug and let it drain the next morning. Sorry, I don't have any good post drainage pics.

But, let me tell you, it is seriously one of the best cups of regular black coffee I've ever had. EVER. I'm SERIOUS!

Let's see. Some other activities.



We hit up some wineries north of Santa Barbara while my Dad and Step-mom were here visiting.



We went to Firestone winery first and hit up a tasting of 3 whites and 3 reds.



If you were wondering the 2010 Gewurztraminer was my favorite.



From there we rolled up on Foxen winery.

My favorite was 48 bucks. That's all I remember about that.



And then we went to the Fess Parker winery.

I don't have any tasting pictures because the joint was packed and we didn't actually get to do any tasting but at least we can say that we've been to Davy Crockett's winery.


Now, I know you've all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for me to explain who Gertrude was. Sorry to leave you hanging like that.

Gertrude Littlefield was a neighbor down the street from my Grandmother's.
She was a school teacher originally from Amery, WI. Her husband Maurice (everyone just called him Morris) was originally from North Dakota but he and his brothers bought land in Amery and were farmers there until they moved to Minneapolis.

My dad says that he can remember her really liking the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and she would make her own ice cream and have all the neighborhood kids over to share.



And to top it all off, my Aunt Mary sent me a photo of the banana bread she made with Gertrude's Recipe.

Hers looks much better than mine. As you can see, it's studded with chocolate chips.

Mmmm, chocolate chips.

She used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 all purpose. All really good decisions.

Have you made Gertrude's Bread yet?