March Madness & Spring Cleaning

March was a very intense month with a few Amtgard events and Ben starting his new job (go Honey!). We're adjusting to me being home more often well and I've made it a point to get up with him so I can make sure that he has breakfast and lunch.

Being home a lot can have drawbacks if you do not have a plan. I lay out my schedule everyday, make a to do list, review my long term to do list for future projects, and tackle what I can. I leave myself about 30 mins before Ben gets home to clean up any projects that have exploded and review the dinner plan in case I need to pop out to the store.

Yesterday my big to do was spring clean the living room. We've been discussing getting a cat, but to fit a cat tree in the living room we needed to move things around a bit. I managed to move everything, including the couch, by myself, but our oversize chair just doesn't fit well in our little apartment. I'd like to get rid of it and take one of my chairs out of storage, but we literally can't get it out of the house easily.

See when Ben moved in they had to remove the door, and then door frame to get the chair and couch into this place. They're handy downs from Ben's folks and much better suited for their large airy family room then our postage stamp apartment. To cope I am looking at Ikea for a new couch, because when we move there is no way we're taking those with us. Also, his folk's next tenants likely will not want them as they are a little rundown. Does anyone else dream about red, sturdy, couches? I certainly do.

Today I need to make something for lunches for Ben this week. Last week I made pasta with tons of vegetables and that lasted him all week. My original plan was to make fried rice for dinner and have that be his lunch all week, but there wasn't enough leftover from dinner, and I can't make rice. I know, I know, it's really simple, but I can't do it. We own a rice cooker, I make rice per the directions, but I never get nice fluffy rice. It's either pudding, or it's too dry. I blame the Harry Dresden Effect.

Today I'm making quiche, which has the added bonus of being a breakfast food, so I don't have to worry about cooking breakfast all week.

Quiche
Crust:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
5 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small slices
3 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water

In a food processor mix together the flour and salt. Slowly add butter while processor is running and once the mixture resembles sand begin to sprinkle tablespoons of water slowly. Stop when dough begins to clump. Trying not to handle the dough too long. Wrap it into a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes while you prep the other ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and immediately roll it on a lightly floured surface, applying pressure from the center to the edges until it is about 12 inches in diameter. Place in your tart or pie pan and bake in the center of the oven for 8-9 minutes. Set aside in it's pan. Turn oven down to 375F.

Filling:
1/4 pound precooked and cubed or shredded chicken
1 cup sliced squash or whatever vegetable you have on hand
6 eggs
3 tbsp cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp marjoram

Begin by layering the chicken and squash into your partially baked shell. Thoroughly mix eggs, salt, cream, and marjoram together. Pour egg mixture into your shell. Bake for 25-30 or until top is golden brown, and the filling has set.

To tell if your filling has set tap the side and if the center is jiggling it hasn't set yet.

Sweet Dreams are Made of Brie

This weekend Anna and I celebrated 10 years of friendship by doing something we've been wanting to do for about 4 years, we went to the Artisan Cheese Festival in Petaluma, CA.

We stayed at the Hotel Petaluma, that is currently being remodeled, ate at wonderful Della Fattoria for 2 meals, shopped at Copperfield's Books and the Knitterly, and had amazing food Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

The Artisan Cheese Festival is just amazing. There is wine, cider, beer, cheeses that are to die for, there were these pickles I tried that I knew I needed as soon as they touched my lips. I had my wallet out before I finished chewing a couple of things.

This was the amazing view from the room

Anna and I got a pack of 100 literary postcards and split them

Anna isn't a morning person so I grabbed coffee and toast at
 Della Fattoria while waiting for her to rise

The things that I knew I needed and couldn't live without

Woops

I was gone a little longer then expected. Work has been hectic and Ben is going through midterms, so things are crazy around here.

To bring you up to speed:

The Smokey Orchid yarn is taking a time out and is back in the stash.

It's about to rain for a couple weeks here so I've pulled my Uggs and winter coat back out (judge me all you want, but I don't care).

The high tea we at at Dori's Tea House was amazing. I bought the cookbook and made the egg salad because it was shockingly good at the tea house.


I'm currently knitting a scarf with some butter yellow lace weight yarn that uses the center panel of the Leaf and Nupp shawl.

I started by casting on 75 stitches, and knit this lace edging twice on size US3.

Your cast on will consist of the following:

2 extra stitches + 8 edge stitches + 14 stitches * 4 repeats + 7 edge stitches + 2 extra stitches

Keep in mind that you'll have 2 extra stitches on the edges of the lace edging, these I just knit. It makes the math easier then you start the center panel.

Once you knit 1 edge put it on a stitch holder, because you'll then knit the second edge, knit the center panel, and then using a kitchener stitch, attach the first edge you knit.

Also, I garter stitched the edges to match the nupp strips in the center, and added a fourth nupp to form a diamond rather then a V. You can do what you like.

After the edging just follow the directions for the center chart of the shawl.

I used one of my needles to help open up the pattern for a photo. Don't you just hate how lace just looks like a tangled mess before hard blocking? The yarn is Alpaca with a Twist, Fino (70/30 Alpaca/Silk) in colorway 5010. It's been sitting in my stash for a while, but I bought it at Green Planet Yarn.

At the Beep.....

Hi,you've reached the blog of Ka'a Christian. She is currently trying to spot river otters in Yosemite and knitting on top of rocks in the middle of rivers. Please leave a message at he beep and she'll get back to you on Wednesday. Till then enjoy this picture of her last trip to Yosemite with the girls:

Very Lemony Lemon Bread recipe

I know I'm evil. I mentioned the lemon bread recipe on Friday and didn't give you the recipe. Well I had to really search for it. I mean really search.

Years ago my best girls and I went to The Gingerbread Mansion  for Stina's birthday and my best friend Anna saw on their website a lemon cake recipe and she suggested that I bake it for a birthday cake for Stina. Well the day of the trip I printed the recipe and baked it without nuts (Stina is deathly allergic) and off we went.

It's been nearly 4 years and the website with the recipe has been redone and I found out that they had removed the recipe. Gasp! I have a hand written recipe book that has all my personally tweaked recipes in it, including this one, but that is still packed away. So what was I to do?

I thought about how I had cooked it, printed it, and where I was living at the time and about my computer. Well at the time Anna and I lived together and she was the one with the printer, so I checked my email to see if I had emailed it to her and it turns out I had, back in 2012.

Does anyone else do this? Do you ever search for a recipe and think back and try to relize the day you last made it or how you found it? I can't be the only one!



 Very Lemony Lemon Bread recipe

Ingredients
1/4 c milk
1/2 c Finely chopped nuts
1/4 c Butter
1 ts Baking Powder
2 Eggs; slightly beaten
1/2 c Flour; sifted before
1/2 c Sugar

TOPPING
1/4 ts Salt
1 c Sugar
Grated peel of 1 lemon
Lemon; (juice of)

Recipe makes 1 Loaf

Cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs. Sift flour again with baking powder and salt. Alternately add flour mixture and the milk to butter mixture, stirring constantly. Mix in the nuts and the lemon peel. Bake in greased 5 x 9-inch loaf pan for 40 to 50 minutes at 350F. Make topping while bread bakes. As soon as the bread comes out of the oven, poke holes in the top with a fork and spoon over the topping.

Lemon Cake

You didn't think I just made cookies with those lemons now did you?

I was honestly on a baking spree last weekend and while searching for a long forgotten lemon bread recipe I ran across a lovely upside down lemon cake recipe, which I then proceeded to screw around with while baking.

I think it would be perfect done as single servings in cupcake tins for Easter, but Ben protested and I'm leaving it up to his mother (the hostess) to decide if I'm bringing this or my famous carrot cake that he loves.

Isn't that an amazing yellow?

Couple things to know. After you turn it onto a plate the brown sugar syrup will drip down the sides. Be prepared by using a plate that is larger then the cake

Don't worry if it looks more brown then golden when it's done as you really want the center to be fully cooked and no one will see the bottom. I had to bake it a full 15 extra minutes then the original recipe suggested to get it fully cooked.

Also, always use a very clean stainless steel bowl and whisk when beating the eggs to get them to peak. Any grease (butter, oil, ect) will cause them not to peak, and you're cake will be as dense as a pound cake.

Lastly, use lemons that you have candied, otherwise you will have to warn guests that they are really tart, or you can watch in anticipation for who will find out how tart they are first (though this plan risks your reputation as a baker).

Upside-Down Lemon Cake

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 thin-skinned lemons, candied
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Sweetened whipped cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350°. Add 4 tablespoons of the butter to your pie pan (I use a glass one) and pop into the oven till it is melted, stir in the brown sugar until dissolved. If it's still grainy, return to oven and check and stir every 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and arrange the lemon slices in the melted brown sugar.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter with the granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the egg yolks, one at a time. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with the milk.

In a stainless steel bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar beginning at a low speed and increasing to a high speed until firm peaks form. Fold one-third of the beaten whites into the batter, then fold in the rest. Scrape the batter into the prepared pie pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert it onto a plate. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.

Lemon Tea Cookies

I bet you're wondering why my blog is named The naked Baker and why the first two posts were not about baking.

First part, I bake often in the morning on the weekends. This means I roll out of bed, toss something together to eat, and  either mix my cookie dough or bread and leave it in the fridge or to rise and go on with the rest of my morning. When I come back to check on things I'm often times fresh out of the shower, or I'm switching batches out of the oven, right before I get dressed. It's dangerous, and I've had a couple burns. Not as bad though as an old roommate that upon first meeting decided to demonstrate our clothing optional rule and whipped off his sole piece of clothing (his board shorts) while frying something. But it's how I roll.

As for the post topics, since they were made on a Wednesday and Friday I had nothing to show. I had already eaten my baked goods from the weekend. But Mondays are the days that I will show you what I cooked!

I received this recipe from a friend in Russia, and spent the better part of an hour translating it and discussing spoons and their uses.

I suggest doubling the recipe because you can't stop at just one!

Makes 32 cookies

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, melted
3 tbsp powered sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 pinch salt
zest of a lemon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp starch, corn or potato
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup powered sugar for tossing hot cookies in

While mixer is running add the butter, sugar, juice, salt, baking soda, and starch together.

Once well mixed begin to slowly add the flour till you have to knead the dough together. The dough will be greasy, but don't add extra flour!

Roll into logs that about 1-1.25" think. Wrap tightly with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator for an hour.

Top one is already wrapped

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with ungreased parchment paper.

Using a sharp knife cut the logs into coins that are about 5/16" thick and place on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 12-15 mins. Prep a baggy with the remaining powdered sugar.

Once cookies are removed from the oven pop them into the baggie with sugar and shake it up so that they are covered.

Enjoy!