parsley sage sweet

Raspberry Mousse Almond Praline Napoleons (Mille Feuille) for Pink October

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Lisa

This is the second Halloween in a row that I don’t have a Halloween post. I have had the most ghoulish, bloody cake idea braising in my brain fluids for two years, based on the movie, The Shining, but I have yet to create it. With work burn-out and lack of motivation, I’ve been a very bad food blogger.

I walk into the kitchen, and as I start pulling out ingredients, I’m overwhelmed. This is not me, since I usually take great joy in prepping and creating. Does someone have a pill that can bring it back? An elixir? A motivational kick in the butt?

Raspberry Mousse Almond Praline Mille Feuille aka Napoleons #breastcancerawareness
Everything has been so hard the past 6 or 7 months. It takes me ages to write one post..even without the BBFL memoir. Writing emails longer than three sentences is like hauling boulders, and sometimes it takes me weeks to return comments when I used to be able to whip ’em out in an hour or less. The conundrum is, how can I be burnt out when I don’t post very often? I’ve been very tired for a long time now. No idea why.

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Posted in Daring Bakers, Dessert, Fruit, Jams/Jellies, Pastry | Tagged #breastcancerawareness, Almond Praline, Breast Cancer, Creme Patisserie, Mille Feuille, Millefeuille, mousse, Napoleons, Pastry cream, Pate feuilletee, Pink October, Puff Pastry, Raspberry Cream, Raspberry Mousse Almond Praline Napoleons, Raspberry Napoleon | 61 Comments

The GREATEST Sriracha Egg Salad and Honey Oatmeal Walnut Bread with Poppy Seeds

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Lisa

OK, OK…the greatest egg salad IF you like medium soft-boiled eggs and Asian hot chile sauce!

This Chunky Sriracha Egg Salad is my new favorite way to eat egg salad, only second to the way my Mom made it when I was a kid (one of like two or three things she made well. She despised cooking!), but that’s a whole other post.

So World Bread Day was two days ago. Does it count since I put my post up two days late? Of course not, but for those who participated, please know I was there with you in spirit while this bread sat in a photo program for a week. I actually made this bread for this month’s (October) Twelve Loaves theme, seeds and grains, hosted by Lora of Cake Duchess, Jamie of Life’s a Feast and Barbara of Creative Culinary, but there’s a reason for the that little gem ‘Breaking Bread’; bread and food in general is meant to be shared and enjoyed with, and by all.

I love baking bread, and I loved baking bread even before I knew how to bake bread and would watch my grandmothers do it. The first time I ever dabbled in yeast was in the second grade. My elementary school set aside one half day each year to teach all second grade classes how to prepare a breakfast from scratch, including the bread for the toast. There was an egg station, a bacon station (that would never go over today), a freshly squeezed orange juice station, and a homemade bread station. Once everyone learned how to make each food/drink at their station, they’d assign new partners, then move us to another station so we got to learn how to make all of the above.

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Posted in Breads, Lunch, Salads, Sandwiches, Twelve Loaves, Yeastspotting | Tagged Bread, Egg Salad, eggs, greatest egg salad, Greek Yogurt, honey oatmeal walnut bread, Mayonnaise, medium boiled eggs, Poppy Seeds, Red Star Yeast, Soft-Boiled Eggs, Sriracha, Sriracha Egg Salad, Walnuts | 87 Comments

Chocolate Marble Pepita Pumpkin Bark on a Krispy Nutella Cookie Base

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Lisa

What better come Fall than a crispy nutella cookie bar and pumpkin chocolate bark in one!?! But, first we start with a delicious, delectable, KRISPY No-Bake Nutella Cookie, that’ll blow yer mind, all by its ‘lil ol self!

All that being said…

I have never made any kind of chocolate bark. No idea why since it’s one of simplest treats you can cobble together in no time, and the add-in possibilities are endless. I’ve also never met or known a guy named Nigel who isn’t British or tried fried pickles, rhubarb, or Mochi (whaa??), but that’s beside the point. We all have a lot of nevers in our lives and some of them should stay nevers, but chocolate bark isn’t one that should ever stay a never.

Well..I just sort of crossed the chocolate bark never off my list. BUT, this did not come about until I made a no bake cookie by my Secret Recipe Club blog assignment..Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic. I love her blog, and I loved all the goodies I could choose from, but in the end, I especially loved her no bake Nutella cookies, so I chose those.

Pumpkin White and Dark Chocolate Bark with a KRISPY No-Bake Nutella cookie Base and Salted Pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

Since I already told you what I chose, here’s some recipes I almost chose; Caramel Coconut Bars and these luscious looking meatballs..not to mention her array of other no bake treats, (I was feeling the no bake this month). However, the two former choices were guest posts, so even if she made their recipes, I figured I would stick with something that was 100% hers, or something she adapted or decided on herself.

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