twd ~ Expresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

I haven't always been a fan of expresso or coffee for that matter. There was a coffee shop in the mall when I was in middle and high school, and everytime I passed it I would turn up nose - I thought it smelled awful! Even my friends who didn't like coffee liked the smell, but I couldn't stand either. Of course, I find this very strange now, as I sit here drinking my coffee, in bed, with a lovely week of vacation spread out in front of me! VACATION YAY!

So on Tuesday morning when this posts, I will be at the Southern Cross Guest Ranch enjoying a few days of swimming, mountain biking, relaxation, and (drum roll) learning how to horseback ride! I'm super excited. I've always wanted to learn and so it's my gift to myself for turning thirty. Now if only there are some cute cowboys there...

Back to the recipe, and to something else I haven't always been a huge fan of - shortbread. I mean, it's sweet and a dessert so of course I'll eat it, but it's not what I would pick-out and I've passed it up before. Someone who is a HUGE fan of shortbread AND coffee - my mom. Add chocolate and you've got something that sounds kind of strange to me, but should be right up her alley.



As it turns out, my mom came up to visit me a couple of weekends ago. She wanted to go back-to-school shopping. Nope, she's not in school (although at a petite 5'2 she's been mistaken for it), but she's an elementary school Assistant Principal. It was great to have a little shot of caffeine and sugar to keep up our shopping strenth. I was surprisingly pleased by these and thought the combination was actually pretty good...still a little strange for me...but good. I left them out to cool while I went out, and they got a little soft waiting around for me to stick them in an airtight container. Whoopsie. Otherwise, I think I did pretty well this week - no major mishaps!

Interested in making these - Donna at Life's Too Short Not to Eat Dessert First has the recipe!

twd ~ Crunchy & Custardy Peach Tart

Rachel of sweet tarte had such a great idea when she picked this! It's perfect for summer, and living in Georgia, we have some great peaches.



It was also great timing to have something that could sit in the frig overnight. My sister, who is 2.5 years older, has been living in Shanghai for the past two years. She’s truly more than a sister so I’m very excited that she is moving back to the states. She arrived on Thursday afternoon and moved to NYC on Monday. I made the tart on Wednesday, and served it to my mom, sister, and my sister’s friend Greg, after she came in from the airport. We all met at my apartment, and It was a hit – everyone had a piece and cleaned their plates!



The tart kept well in the refrigerator overnight. The streusel topping was a little soft, but otherwise, it was perfect. I ran out of butter when I was making the Sweet Nut Tart Crust, so I used oil instead. Surprisingly, it turned out really well. The texture was definitely different, and not quite as good, but it worked.

Meet Charlie! The adorable black cat who is now fully recovered from dental surgery and feeling very frisky! Well, when he's not sleeping.

twd ~ Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

Natalie of Oven Love picked Oatmeal Breakfast Bread for this week's TWD.



I knew I was going to love this. I love oatty things, and this one has raisins and cinnamon and a lovely brown sugar topping. Breakfast breads with toppings are just better. My favorite is one that has coconut, butter, and sugar for banana bread. They need to start making bread tops, and add them to the pastry cases right beside the muffin tops.



This bread is quite dense and uses applesauce in the batter. It’s quite good. If you need evidence, I baked it for a work celebration honoring two of our employees that have been with us for 10 years, and all that remained afterwards were a few crumbs. 10 years...wow!

twd ~ Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

Katrina of Bakings and Boys! picked Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream this week. It's a perfect pick for the heat wave we've been having!



I followed Dorie's advice and used dark chocolate - 88% cocoa to be exact. I added a pinch of sea salt to the mix before I put it in the ice cream maker. I couldn't actually taste the salt, but I like a little with dark chocolate - it seems to take away any bitter aftertaste. I halved the recipe, but only used one egg (instead of two) for the custard. I was making next week's oatmeal breakfast bread to take to work and only had two eggs. I could have gone to the store but...couldn't quite make myself. The ice cream was still delicious, just a bit icier than I think it would have been otherwise. I also used coconut milk instead of milk and cream. I think this would be great with caramalized nuts thrown in!

twd ~ Gingered Carrot Crunchies

Dorie set out to make carrot cake cookies, and ended up with a cookie unlike carrot cake but still very good.

I set out to make Dorie's Gingered Carrot Cookies, and ended up with a sweet unlike cookies but still very good.

I quartered the recipe, and evidently got the proportions wrong. I had an inkling when the dough was supposed to be thick, and mine wasn't. But hey, it's hot. So I popped it in the oven anyway and came back 16 minutes later to find, not four individual cookies, but a mass of crispy dessert spread thin over the pan. It was too late to try again, so I broke it up into a bowl and let it cool.

Then I munched on it as I watched the finale of The Bacholette. Oh Roberto, you are too cute! It was very good for munching, and would be very good over ice cream or added to popcorn. The problem with making again is that I'm not sure exactly where I went wrong. But either way, it was a nice mishap!

Thanks to Natalia of gatti fili e farina for the great pick this week! Check out her blog for the recipe, and the real thing as it's supposed to be.