rain = baking

I'm so in love with this weather. If it could stay this way until September, I'd be really happy. Maybe with less rain and more cool. Yeah. Definitely more cool. Even a nice 20 degrees would be perfect. Those blistering 27 degree days do not make me happy.

Because of the weather, I made bread yesterday. Pretty much any time it's been cool like this, I've opted to make bread. I don't care if I need any, as long as there's space in the freezer, it's getting made. Lately, we've barely been eating bread (probably due to past root canal pains), so when I noticed we were down to half a loaf in the fridge, it kinda pissed me off and changed my baking plans it kinda surprised me that I didn't have any back-up loaves frozen. 

Recipe here

I also made granola. Actually, there isn't a week that goes by where I don't find myself making granola. A while back, I opted to double the recipe thinking that would at least spare me one week, but it totally didn't. Now I eat double the amount. That's probably not a good thing. This version, I used coconut extract (instead of vanilla), shredded coconut, and slivered almonds. I think it's my favourite mix yet. I'll probably be done it by Friday the way things are looking so far. You know, cuz I don't just eat it with my plain yogurt and honey for breakfast. I also throw some in my mouth for lunch. Then around 4-ish, I stand in the pantry and shovel it in. Because I'm really super hungry by then and I still have at least 2 hours to wait until dinner.

I didn't think I would, but I made this granola bar recipe again. I really don't want to call it a granola bar. I think it's more like a granola bar cookie and it kind of baffled me the first time I made it. It did not look anything like the picture in the recipe which seriously looks like some sort of amazing Kashi bar. I don't know how she did that. This is why it baffles me so much. I followed the directions completely and  I used all the ingredients exactly (except for a substitution of more chocolate chips instead of peanut butter chips). I don't get it. Anyway, that doesn't mean it's not good. It's good. It's just not what I'd consider to be a granola bar.

The second time around, I thought I'd be bold and substitute peanut butter for half the oil and I added raisins along with the chocolate chips (whoa -- raisins. that's going off the deep end). It's something nice to keep packaged up in the fridge so I can throw it in Idle Husband's lunch while I'm making it at 11 o'clock at night, half asleep, and wishing I'd have remembered to make it earlier (which is also why I filled some little gladware pots with cherry jello yesterday, too).

The search for a Greek pita recipe continues. While I did not hate this recipe, it tasted a lot sweeter than I'd like. I don't think we'd even call this a pita. In fact, I've taken to calling it an Olga due to it's origins. I've never eaten there (actually I'd never heard of this restaurant before finding the recipe), but the "sandwiches" look a helluva lot like "pitas" from "Greece." All the way down to the fillings and the special Olgasauce -- what's Olgasauce you say? Well, apparently, it's described as a "milder form of tzatziki." Sooo you can see why I kinda thought I had a winner here. Total. Let down. Why is it that every recipe that's super easy (and actually kinda fun) turns out tasting wrong? At least this one folds really well and seems to keep it's pliability after being in the fridge overnight.

Here's another teaser project for this week:

I scoured the internet for cake ideas today. The recipe I want to use is on the left. The recipe on the right is my back-up plan. Thankfully, I had a little too much batter from the left recipe, so I was able to make one single cupcake. Hmm...taste test!

Sweet jebus, that's sinfully delicious. Thank goodness I'm only doing two smaller layers. Otherwise, you might find us in sugar comas on Thursday.