Epic Waffle Fail

If you're thinking this is a picture of an epic waffle fail, you'd be right. I was betrayed by a new recipe last night.

While flipping through an old cookbook, Burt Wolf's "Eating Well", I came across a recipe for some oatmeal waffles. The batter seemed to have all of the necessary ingredients, and I was intrigued by the mix of whole wheat flour, cornmeal and rolled oats. But, darned if they weren't a squirrel-y bunch of waffles. They all wanted to stick ... even though I have a non-stick waffle iron.

Eventually, I got it right and we did dine upon waffles and Irish bacon for dinner last night. They were tasty, but I'm not going to offer the recipe. The batter was a bit too thick and I have a feeling it needed more fat. I'm going to play around with it before I post it here, because I do so love cornmeal in my waffles.

In the meantime, I will direct you to two other waffle recipes that recently peaked my interest. The first is Astra Libris' Perfect Whole Wheat Waffle ... these are the waffles I should have made! And the second is a delicious looking Multi-grain Waffle found on 101 Cookbooks - which boasts the addition of poppy seeds for a unique twist.

So, have you had any epic failures lately? Do tell. Hungry Diva wants to know.

Bon appetite!

Kitchen Disasters: Flying Pot Pie Edition

Have you ever wondered how far flying pot pie goo can travel? Me neither. Yet, sadly, I found out last night. The answer is 5 or 6 feet.

Its on the walls. Its on my pictures ...

its on the kitchen door ...

and on the refrigerator. Its on my jeans and in my hair. Don't even ask about my socks.

Why it even traveled a not insubstantial distance into the dining room. I get the feeling I'll be finding spots of this pie well into the New Year.

~insert string of the most vile profanity imaginable here~

Indeed, I dropped the gd pie while transferring it to the fridge. It hit the deck and hit it hard! This is what happens when I'm trying to do too many things at once. Above (top picture) you can see my lovingly crafted pie ... that's the "before" shot. This ...

is the "after". I am not amused.

For the record, its a turkey pot pie and it was spectacular. I had a slice before the disaster occurred ... the husband was not so fortunate. He had take-out. Ole.

So there you have it, proof positive I'm completely human. I'll post the recipe sometime next week. Really, I'm just looking for sympathy here. ;)

Tip of the Day: a bench scraper is indispensable for cleaning up pot pie goo. You heard it here first.

Bon appetite!

The Great Tahini Experiment: Or, A Trip to the Land of Meh

People, there's a reason we use butter when baking ... it makes things taste good. While I'm all for eating well, meaning with an eye towards health, I do require my healthy foods to be delicious. If I wanted to snack on biscuits of wheat and hay, I'd have been born a cow. Moo.

I had such high hopes for these tahini based cookies ... yet the finished product was decidedly UN-spectacular. One bite and I was instantly transported to the 1970's; a time before we realized that health food could be and should be delicious.

Such a shame, because the ingredients were promising: a bunch of rolled oats, a bit of whole wheat pastry flour, some dark brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, a couple of egg whites, etc. I added pecans, because I like nutty cookies. They should have been yummy. They were not. This fact was confirmed when the husband tasted them and stopped after only two cookies. Normally, he's eating as fast as I'm baking. He did not return for another round. Feh.

The recipe came straight out of The Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, and I will not offer it here. They simply aren't worth baking. The texture is odd, and the after-taste is revolting. So much so that they're destined to become food for the birds that visit my kitchen window each morning. I wonder if they'll turn their collective beaks up at them?

So, have you ever baked with tahini? Have your efforts been successful? If so, please share. I'm not ready to give up on tahini based baked goods ... the search continues!

Bon appetit!

When Good Cookies Turn Bad ...

Its a cold and rainy day, the husband has taken ill, and I've got a huge can of pumpkin mocking me every time I open the fridge. So what's a Diva to do when such miseries ensue? Why bake cookies of course! Pumpkin cookies to be exact.

Bound and determined to complete my wonderful and terrifying journey toward pumpkin-acceptance, I've been busy devising ways to use up the open can. Intrigued as I am by that scotch laced pie I mentioned on Monday, I'm still not ready to take the pie plunge. I'm just not there ... yet. Cookies seem like a far friendlier, more gentle even, introduction to this fearsome ingredient ... especially if they're topped with chocolate.

Sadly, said cookies broke my heart. The flavor combination is a winner to be sure, but the texture ... ugh ... not at all what I had anticipated. The inspiration for this failed cookie came from a spice cookie featured in this month's issue of Woman's Day. While I did not use their recipe, I was completely charmed by their use of "Snowcaps" to top the cookies. I constructed a fairly standard dough, baked them off and topped each with a nonpareil. They looked great and tasted great, but I just can't get past the texture ... this is a cookie that thinks its a muffin. What the ...?

I'll post the recipe here, but not because I think you should try it. Rather, I'm asking you pumpkin using people, what went wrong? The finished cookie is entirely too soft and cake-like. Was it the whole wheat flour? Should I have used more butter? Help!

Rejected Pumpkin Cookie Muffins:

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. Chinese Five Spice Powder
  
• generous grating of fresh nutmeg
• 1/2 cup of butter, softened
• scant 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg, room temperature
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup of canned solid pack pumpkin, room temperature
• Snowcaps for topping
  

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugars together in the bowl of your standing electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and pumpkin and beat until well combined. Reserve.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices until well combined. Add the flour to the pumpkin mixture, by thirds, beating on medium speed until just combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet and bake in the middle of the oven for 12 to 14 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked throughout. Immediately press a Snowcap into the top of the cookie. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

I was so confused by the resulting cookies, that I decided to bake the second batch in a mini-muffin tin. The husband liked those better and I think I agree. We'll eat them, of course, but suffice it to say this was not my vision of the perfect pumpkin cookie. Sad.

For only the second time I will not end this post with the phrase: "I hope you'll try it!" I hope you won't. What I do hope is that you'll send me a better recipe for pumpkin cookies. If you've got one, let me know in the comments or email me. I'm heartbroken.

Meanwhile, I've still got left-over pumpkin in the fridge. Is this a bottomless can? Next up: pumpkin waffles. Stay tuned and lets hope they won't disappoint!

Bon appetite!