Highlights (or lowlights) of the holidays thus far

I don't know about you all, but the holidays here are filled with lots of family, lots of eating, lots of cooking and lots of unexpectedness (if that's not a word, it should be!), in no particular order:

1. The 2 year old's first trip to the ER a couple of days before Xmas.  Looks like a possible food allergy, but he behaved like a champ!
2.  Broke and burned 5 (yes, F-I-V-E) wooden spoons in 1 (yes, O-N-E) day.
3.  Last minute Xmas shopping, always makes me stressful!
4. One 5 year old's bday party right after Xmas.  The theme was ducks, complete with a homemade 3-D duck cake
5.  An Xmas eve service fit for a funeral.
6.  Santa almost screwing up presents for BOTH boys, AGAIN!
7.  And, I almost forgot, the hot water heater went out Xmas night.  For almost 4 days!

Resolutions for 2011 (in no particular order):

1.  Get party decorations for 6 year old's bday party before Xmas (like by Thanksgiving!)
2.  Find another church for Xmas Eve service
3.Shop early for Xmas!!
4. Buy better wooden spoons!

Here's to a better 2011! Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all had a great Christmas!  The kids got lots of presents (which require lots of batteries), ate lots of cookies and had a few meltdowns. I received lots of PJs, warm slippers, clothes and gift cards to my favorite place...amazon.com!  Haven't decided which cookbooks to add to the collection yet, but I think Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table may be close to the top of the list, as well as Mark Bittman's The Food Matters Cookbook.

Anyway, one of the things that we made for Christmas was Chocolate Bread Pudding.  I used the chocolate bread recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible, made 2 loaves which we froze then thawed.  Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Bread Pudding

2 loaves of chocolate bread, cubed
310 g heavy cream
310 g whole milk
90 g granulated sugar
6 oz bittersweet (or unsweetened) chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

1. Freeze bread overnight, thaw, then cube (freezing the bread makes it easier to cut, less crumbs, but not necessary)
2. Preheat oven to 350F and spray 13x9 pan.
3. Combine cream, milk and sugar in heavy saucepan.  Heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and about to come to a boil.
4. Remove from heat and let cool 1 minute. Add chocolate and stir until melted.  Add vanilla.
5. Beat the eggs with a wisk in a large bowl.  Gradually beat in chocolate.
6. Pour over the cubed bread you put in your 13x9 pan.  Cover.
7.  Can refrigerate overnight or bake right away.  If refrigerating overnight, put pan in cold oven, then turn it on and bake about 45 min.  If baking right away, bake for 35-40 min.  Serve with mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Yum!

Check out January's Bon Appetit!

Starting on page 100 they ask the question, Which is the next cupcake?  The French macaroon or the Whoopie pie?    Should I keep you in suspense and force you to leaf through your own copy of the magazine?  Naahh.  They chose the macaroon! For all of you followers out there (all one of you, hi!) who are wondering why we are calling our macaroon the snackeroon, let me enlighten you.  The traditional French macaroon is a sandwich cookie with filling, a little bit more decadent than the standard Oreo.  They are made from almond flour, egg whites and sugar.  Although my macaroons can be sandwiched (and look so pretty!), I chose not to sell them that way.  Why?  Well, shelf life is the big reason.  Once you add the filling, the cookies starts to get soggy and  no one likes a soggy cookie.  Also, making and adding filling is another step.  If you just have the cookie part, you can pretty much do anything you like with them.  You can dip them in chocolate sauce (go to http://www.kokkugourmet.com/ for some awesome chocolate), you can make your own sandwich (try nutella or buttercream or jam or pudding) or just eat them plain by the handful (my husband and kids are experts at that).

One by-product of making all those macaroons is all of the egg yolks I have left over.  I seriously have at least 18 holding court in my fridge right now!  Ideas?  Bon Appetit gave me a good idea.  Right after they printed the recipe for their version of macaroons, they print their whoopie pie recipe, and it uses 2 yolks per batch.  Any guesses as to what I may start baking next?

Back to my quest to try to bake something from the avalance of cookbooks and magazines I have.  I think I found a recipe to try (that the picky family might actually eat).  We are going to try the Coriander Chicken Tostadas with Refried Beans and Grilled Fennel on page 85 of January's Bon Appetit, and possibly the S'mores cupcakes on page 14 and maybe the Sweet and Spicy Bourbon Sauce on page 98. 

There you are....your bit of nonsense rambling for the day.

Why "The Cracked Baker"?

Well, my friend and partner in crime thought it up and, as it turns out, fits me PERFECTLY!  Have any of you tried cooking anything, even boiling water, with 2 lovable but very energetic boys under your feet (literally)?  Leaves my mental status feeling, well, a little cracked, to put it mildly.  As a side note:  I just finished cleaning up their basement/play room.  I just heard the mother of all crashes as toy bins are being dumped over.

So we're here to show some of my offerings such as Snackeroons which is my take on the French macaron, old fashioned pound cake and biscotti, to start off with.  There will also be musings on baking at home with 2 boys under the age of 5.  I'm sure I will also do a lot of talking about some of the 80ish cookbooks currently on my shelves (and hoping to get more for Xmas.  Santa, are you there?  Santa?  Helloooo?)  I think one of my resolutions for the new year should be to cook 1 new recipe a week from one of those books.  And also 1 from the avalanche of cooking magazines that come to my door (thank you mail man!)

So, hopefully, you'll see more posts here coming up.  Although my friend, Kevin from Kokku Gourmet, is keeping me very busy making tons of Snackeroons.  If any of you are in the greater Chicagoland area, I highly recommend taking in one of his parties.  Delicious!

Yummy goodness

A big shout out to my friend, Kevin, with Kokku Gourmet. He is the one who put my snackeroons out there for all of you to enjoy.  Some of my other offerings....

Cinnamon Spice Biscotti with dark chocolate drizzle

Our biscotti are toasted to perfection then accented with hand drizzled chocolate.  A perfect accompaniment to espresso, cappuccino or hot chocolate.

Rustic pound cake

five simple ingredients, one scruptious taste

Please contact me if you are interested in pricing/availability. 

Why The Cracked Baker? 

Local - our product is made in Riverside, IL

Preservative Free

Homemade

Items are packaged for giving or for you to enjoy!

Portion of all proceeds are donated to help childhood hunger in America.

Disclaimer:  Products may have come in contact with milk and nut products.

Welcome!

Our first post (of many we hope).