baking

This week on the Great British Baking Show challenge

It was caramel week on the Great British Baking Show challenge I’m doing on Facebook, and the organizer chose Millionaire Bars as our bake du jour. I made a peanut butter shortbread and a coconut caramel with semi-sweet chocolate.

Friends, Paul Hollywood would be greatly disappointed in my Millionaire Bars.

The shortbread was too thick and the caramel was too squishy. I wish I’d put a little flaked sea salt on the top, because they are Wonkarificly sweet.

But they are delicious.

I’d like to smash them up and sprinkle them over some vanilla ice cream.

National Blog Posting Month

Hey it’s November

Hey, it’s November! And you know what that means, right? It means it’s National Blog Posting Month, and that means I’m going to try to post something here every day in November.

What kind of content can you expect to find here in the next 30 days? Why, you could read:

  • about some times when I made horrible errors in the kitchen!
  • a poem I wrote!
  • about shopping!
  • about my brother!

    So clearly it’s going to be a very exciting month. I hope you’ll stick around. Or come back. You know what I mean.

    Happy November! Happy NaBloPoMo! And happy National Novel Writing Month, too!

    • menu plan Monday

    Parsley is native to the Mediterranean

    Pete had a three-day weekend, and while he was the only family member that did it is still making today feel like Monday for me. And it was a pretty busy weekend, complete with the annual chili cook-off at church (I placed third), a fly-fishing trip for Rockford (he dropped his phone and himself in the river), and auditions for a performance of “A Christmas Carol” for the children (no word on whether or not they got parts).

    This week is going to be busy but not any more so than our normal weeks. Here’s what we’ll be eating, sort of.

    Tuesday: German lentils and sausages
    I’m not sure what makes this recipe from Five Heart Home a German dish — the sausages, I guess? Is parsley German? — but I’ve been on a lentil kick lately and this will be 95 percent done when we get home from soccer practice so its nationality nomenclature is really a secondary concern. I started this in the CrockPot this morning, and the house currently smells like a garlic factory.

    Wednesday: DIY
    It’s one of those Everyone Is Everywhere At Every Hour of the Day days. There’s food in the kitchen, happily, and all members of the family know how to access it.

    Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs
    Pete’s going to be assisting on this one.

    Friday: Something Poppy doesn’t like
    Poppy will be dining with her friends at a homeschool dance (yes! they exist! and not in the family basement, “Good Luck Charlie”!), so we’ll be having something she especially doesn’t like but the rest of us do. Possibly Chipotle.

    According to Britannica.com, our pal parsley is native to the Mediterranean. Our Herb Garden has a lot of information about parsley in folk lore, including that the Ancient Greeks associated it with death! I’m so glad to have learned that just after adding a tablespoon of it to tonight’s meal!

    Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.