Lucy and her friend Dale pushing around the pink Cadillac. A super cute toy Ross' mom got from Mary Kay. Having tons of fun this day and we're so happy to finally have some good weather. It's been rough.

Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Tart

I was curious about this cake. It is a recipe I would never consider making. I don't have a 10 1/2 tart pan and was not willing to drag my two young children into Bed Bath and Beyond 15 miles from here to buy a new tart pan. It just so happens that sometime last year I got a wild hair to make an upside down peach cake and HAD (I'm sure you all understand) to order this pan. So I made it in the cake pan and I'm glad I did. No overflowing.

Anyway, I was pretty skeptical. I wasn't so sure about spending money to make this cake that I was fairly certain we wouldn't like. Figs? Ricotta? Polenta?

It was awesome! Loved it.

This is why I love the whole idea of Tuesday with Dorie. And I cannot wait for the peanut butter torte. :):)

chili

So in our house we have a thing about chili. I really like it and my husband (his name is Ross) only likes Nalley out of the can. I find that to be about the most absurd thing I've ever heard and I'm always trying new recipes to persuade him away from this liking. I never works and about three years ago I stopped trying. For some reason when an issue of Cuisine at Home came with a recipe for Italian Chili I decided to try it. It wasn't very good and I ended up putting it in the freezer hoping I would eat it when Ross was away, knowing full well I probably wouldn't.

Well, when I was looking through Baking, From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan I came upon a recipe for Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins I thought to myself, 'what a perfect time to try and get Ross to eat that chili he didn't like'.

Well, the muffins were good but I was frustrated that the paper was stuck to the muffins. But the flavor was really good. Then when I was putting the kids to bed and opened the microwave to warm their milk, there was the butter I had melted and left to cool before putting it in the batter. No wonder. That's what you get for multitasking. "Mamma, I wanna take a bath, mamma, I wanna take a bath, mamma, I wanna take a bath", all the while making dinner and blogging.

So I remade them this morning and they were really good.

And the chili was so much better after sitting in my freezer for two months.

I know this is kind of a step backwards but I'm going to try and entertain my family and other friends with my new blog.

Charlie, our 15mo. old broke his leg by falling down the stairs. This is him in the Bierstube on The Big Mountain walking with his cast on. Silly boy was crawling up the same stairs he fell down four days later. And also Charlie sleeping with his cast on. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, having a 15 mo. boy with a cast. I begged the dr. to make it below his knee but he said "no way". It didn't take him long to start walking with it on. The thing was nasty when it got taken off.

Big Bill's Carrot Cake

I really love carrot cake so I was pretty excited when that was the pick this week even though I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with a whole cake without an occasion.

I should have followed my instincts from the beginning because Dorie doesn't say to line the bottoms with parchment and I know better but I tried anyway. Of course I couldn't get it out of the pans. I'll never do that again.

I tried the dried cherries because I think warm plump raisins are foul and I didn't have craisins. The cherries were delicious and a great suggestion made by someone. I acutally thought the cake had too much stuff, not enough spices, and not enough frosting. Definitely not enough to run over the edges like the notes said. I also thought the frosting was too sweet. I was concerned the recipe only called for 8 oz. cream cheese and 1 lb. confectioners sugar.

I'm really excited to be involved with TWD. Next weeks recipe is something I would never consider making. And I'm really glad to start baking and cooking again as I feel my life has only been about children in the last four years.