My Bathroom...

 Okay, So I figure that I can't keep up with my blog unless I incorporate more of my life into this... Not just food. And so, I am going to share a few of my projects... a few weeks ago, I cleaned/organized and made my bathroom pretty. This is pretty much the room of our house that made us say "YES, we will pay you a crap-ton of money every month just to live here" ... Seriously, look at the bathtub...

 This is the before picture of above the toilet... Before I put a shelf up, so I have somewhere to put my towels.

I made this to help mix up the walls...


Its pretty yes?? Pretty good for a rental property.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Roll

So a while ago, I printed off one of Joy's recipes to try... Her Chocolate Peppermint Roll with Chocolate Ganache

And as I have started to type this post, I am in the midst of the most excruciating part of trying a new recipe.. WAITING

I would consider myself a patient person... IF you are a horse... if you are human (which i am assuming you are, if you are reading this) Then you are SOL... My patience is reserved for horses... and mostly other animals... DEFINITELY not for chocolate cake that smells amazing, and the Baileys whipped cream I made for the middle of it..

So for the cake... (gluten free by the way), I didn't change a thing from Joy's recipe... 6 egg yolks beat into submission, and 6 egg whites beaten til stiff peaks form, then mixed together very carefully and baked on a large cake roll pan that has been sprayed with canola oil spray, parchment papered, sprayed again and then floured (just so the cake wont stick and you can actually roll it... Don't skip the paper... you are going to need it).

cake batter, BEFORE oven

For the filling, I made Whipped cream, as per her recipe, but without the peppermint extract. I had some Bailey's coffee liqure... a 50ml Sample that comes on other large bottles of alcohol... so I dumped that in with the cream ,and added a couple pinches of instant coffee too.

Cake with whipped cream filling... BEFORE rolling

Rather than put Ganache on top, I am going to put more coffee whipped cream.... Mostly because I am out of chocolate and almost out of whipping cream too...

I am mostly interested to see how this gluten free... no flour what-so-ever cake is going to taste... hopefully not like eggs, although that is what I am leaning towards, since It is make almost completely of eggs.  Next up on my list of Joy the Baker's recipes to try: Chocolate Beet Cake with Beet Cream Cheese Frosting
If I wasn't determined to stay in the house all day, I would be on my way to get some Beets!!! Maybe I will try this next weekend for my Parent's anniversary!


Did I tell you that Swiss Cake Roll is on my Baking/Cooking Bucket List? I am not going to check this off just yet, I want to try a regular recipe still, but I am glad to have tried this one! Thanks Joy!!

AND the results are in!
Boyfriend's reaction " Wow"... long pause "wow"... longer pause "is there more?"
Boyfriend's reaction when I told him it was gluten free: "what's gluten?"  haha,... So he couldn't really tell that there was no flour in the cake... and to be honest, once I got everything assembled, you definatly couldn't taste that the predominant ingredient was eggs... The cake on it's own, had a bit of an egg taste, but it completely mellows out after you put the whipped cream and roll it all up.
And the Bailey's Whipped Cream... delish!  But unless you are like me and don't intend on leaving the house... maybe don't eat this and then drive... Its pretty happy.
This recipe is a keeper!! Thanks again Joy!!! Can't wait for your cookbook to come out!!

Brought to you by Eggs.... and Bailey's

January 2012 Daring Baker Challenge - Biscuits

Biscuits... scones... same thing.... sort of... but not really at all.
I am having flash-backs to arguements with my English friends (when I was living over there) about cookies and biscuts and scones and tea all mean different things... And how I say Saturday...   And aparently one time in the whole 6 months that I was with the Australian (who I now refuse to aknowledge the existance of) I said "a-boot" and never lived it down (except that I totally didn't).

This months challenge was Biscuits... Or scones... depending on what part of the world you hail from. If you want a more in-depth explanation of the difference... head over to The recipe archive at the Daring Kitchen and see Audax's explanation..





I love biscuits.. They are comfort food, and EASY  and FAST to make all by yourself comfort food. Easy, fast, and with very few ingredients... and those ingredients are things that you are probably going to have in your fridge/pantry anyway...

At the beginning of the month I had grand plans of how this year was going to be different and I was going to take better care of my blog, and try out a bunch of my favourite biscuit recipes to compare to each other, in addition to the challenge recipe (which is quickly becoming my most favourite)... But life keeps getting in the way... I broke some ribs, i injured my hip flexor, and now im trying to decide what next step is the right choice, and so my blog, and my kitchen has taken a back seat... But I at least got a few of the challenge recipes in, although I didn't get a chance to play around with the recipe and do some alterations, I do think I found a new favourite recipe.  The one thing that I did do, was add more butter that Audax called for

But I will stop rambling now and get to the challenge. Audax was our host this month... and if you aren't a daring baker/cook... then you should be...EVERY month I go and check the forums, Audax has helpful, and SUPER-knowledgeable posts for everyone. He helps solve problems anyone is having, and it is inspiring to see his first attempts at every monthly challenge).. Thanks Audax!

On thing I would like to put out there... If any other daring bakers (or anyone who reads this for that matter) have any tips for higher- alititude baking, I would be greatly appreciative! 

Blog-checking lines: Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Rather than copy and paste the recipe (as I didn't change anything) I'm sending you to the Daring Kitchen. Download the pdf file of this month's challenge and you too can read all of Audax's well researched and tested information on Biscuits.
Here are my photos... and there would be more, but I may or may not have accidental deleted them on my phone before I uploaded them onto my computer (oops)

Biscuits go GREAT with beef stew when there are wind chill warnings of -45 to -50 (BRRRRRRRR)

Ava

If you have read any of my posts in the past, you have probably seen a picture of my puppy... Today is her birthday, and I wanted to share the last year of her life with you. Because she is pretty awesome, and a constant part of my life... The longest I have been away from her is 8 hours when I left her home one day instead of bringing her to the barn with me...  Plus I'm a pretty lucky puppy owner because I have been able to know her for her entire life... ANYWAY... this is my puppy:

 

Day 1 - Guinea Pig stage... Still wet... not all the puppies are born yet. Ava is the brown one drinking... infront of the brown one with white on her. There were 9 all together... NINE!!!... Poor Cori (the mom)

Look at that big butt.. No wonder she ended up being the biggest puppy in the the litter!

This picture makes me smile EVERY SINGLE TIME... and it melts my heart and brings a little tear to my eye...

"seriously... stop taking my picture"

Ava makes a good pillow

Puppy nap time!

She was the first one to be able to get out of the puppy stall... climbed her way over 2 bales of hay. Sometimes she just chilled out on top of them.  Fun fact- she used to ride on the bale of hay that I was lifting into the wheelbarrow when she was this size... She STILL tries to go for hay bale rides some days. Except that now she is almost bigger than the bale of hay.

ABOVE: back view

BELOW: front view

<3 Long day of work <3

Tippy Supervising Puppy-Play-Time

Icicles don't make very good bones

First collar... and she was not very stoked about it!

It's pretty awesome when you get to cuddle with your brother...

... and your friend Scarlet

...Or both of them...

First hike

Trying to master getting out of the car by herself (its a long way down)

Helping in the kitchen

Playing in the mud  (that face is priceless)

stealing Fire-wood from the stack when you have perfectly good bones and dog toys to chew on... not cool

...helping at work...

"Hiking" at Barrier Lake (and by hiking, I mean, we intended to hike, but instead sat on the beach and let the dogs run around in the sand)

 Sourdough Bread AND Croisont assistant(s)

Sibling love (notice Ava's paw on Wilson's back)

Meeting her real Bio-daddy

CUDDLES.

"Helping" move hay during a wind storm

"Hey Carl, 'sup?"

"Helping" my mom make Lefse

Tasting the Lefse... It was Ava approved

Bath time... SO not impressed... EVERY time she has a bath... She tolerates it, but that is all.

WINTER... (was) here...

The best decision I have made in a while was taking Ava home with me... She is my best friend, and constant companion... We go everywhere together (to home, to work, to sleep... not shopping though , the store people would frown upon that).  There will be a ton more pictures of her on here... AND on intsagram... my new favourite iPhone addiction... FOLLOW ME THERE:

wlizardbreath