fur duckers

Cudfruckers. Duckrudders. Fuddruckers.


What a silly name. Silly but catchy.

Have you been to one? I've found that they're hit-or-miss. One visit I'll have a moist and luscious and flavorful burger (I usually go for the turkey burger), and the next, I'll be served a dry hunk of yuck (not worthy of being called a burger at all). However, as far as burger chains go, one of my qualifying standards is that they have a pepperjack cheese option. Fuddrucker's is one of the few that does, so I can't stay mad.

Other good aspects? They toast the bun and have a toppings bar with all the lettuce, tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers anyone could ever want. Oh, and they have brown mustard, which is also an important part of my ideal burger.

Yep, my dry-burger rage has completely fizzled out now.

Meanwhile, some of you asked about the brand of mandoline that I used for my sweet potater chips. It's an Orka, which is apparently an extremely obscure brand--they don't even have a website. Mambalaya got it for $20 at TJ Maxx, and yes, it's a little rickety, but so far I have zero complaints.


Reminder: You have one more week to send me your cinnamon goodness. I haven't received a lot of entries, but the ones I've gotten have been stellar. Keep 'em coming!

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what a tool

No, I don't mean that derogatorily. It really is a marvelous, marvelous tool.


How did I get by without a mandoline? Perhaps if I boasted stellar knife skills it wouldn't be so surprising, but alas, my cutlery talents are pretty lacking. Until now, I've just had to make do with thick, uneven slices of various fruits and vegetables.

Mammicus Maximus got me a mandoline for Christmas, and I've used it many, many times in the month since. My apple chips are much improved, and my latest endeavor was sweet potato chips.


The blade had no trouble slicing up the big orange tater, and the resulting chips were wonderfully-seasoned and perfectly crisp. I may have even sprinkled some cinnamon on a few most of the chips.

Oh, and points for me--I haven't sliced myself at all.*

Baked Sweet Potater Chips
1 potater, 2 potaters, 3 potaters, 4 (depending on how much chippage you crave)
cooking spray
salt, pepper, cinnamon, spice/herb of choice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Slice your tater(s) pretty thinly, either with a mandoline or any fantastic knife skills you may possess. Spray a cookie sheet or two or three with the cooking spray and spread the slices out in a single layer. Spritz the tops of the taters as well, and sprinkle with your seasonings.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, turning the chips over about halfway through; season the other side. Depending on the heat dispersion of your oven, you may need to remove some chips before the others are completely done. Also, I noticed that even though I pulled some out when they weren't quite browned (lest they burn to a crisp), they still ended up crunchy and delightful.

*Now it's pretty much guaranteed that I draw blood on the next go-round.

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dare i say it?

Dare I?


Yes, I dare.

The snickerdoodle is my favorite cookie.*

There. I said it. I couldn't pick a favorite candy bar, but as of this instant, I can pick a favorite cookie.


*This declaration is subject to change.

It's hard to narrow down all the cookies in all the lands to even a few favorites, but I simply can't deny how strongly I feel about snickerdoodles. The nudge that sent me over the edge into absolute certainty was the addition of my freshly-grated Vietnamese cinnamon. It added a whole new level of tastiness to the already luscious and so-buttery-it-melts-right-on-your-tongue cookie.


I'm sure nearly everyone has a go-to snickerdoodle recipe, and I do too, but as I am currently cream-of-tartar-less, I opted to try a new recipe using baking powder instead. Although the resulting cookie was good (the utter excellence of the cinnamon-sugar coating aside), it just wasn't as praiseworthy as my tried-and-true. Combining that recipe with the fresh cinnamon would be extremely detrimental to my wardrobe...


Don't forget about my Cinnamon Celebration--the deadline is in two weeks. Just a spoonful of cinnamon helps the aliment go down. :)

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i've got a lovely bunch of coconuts

I could never, ever pick a favorite candy bar. No way, no how.


Three Musketeers Mint, Reese's anything, Milky Way Midnight, Skor & Heath (is there a difference between those two?), Whatchamacallit, NutRageous. I don't discriminate.

Another winner in my book? Mounds.

Sweet, chewy coconut. Rich, dark chocolate. A whole lotta yum.


Eb needed something to do, so I went looking for and found a new recipe using sourdough. I made two changes to the enticing muffin recipe that I found; one was intentional and one was by mistake. First of all, having been inspired by the Mounds bar, I opted to flavor the muffins with coconut rather than include walnuts. Secondly, I failed to read ahead, so instead of melting the chocolate and stirring it in, I simply tossed the chopped chocolate into the batter willy-nilly. That'll teach me to ass-u-me.


I was extremely pleased with these muffins. My error had no adverse effects on the final products; in fact, I don't think they could've been better. I happen to be a fan of chocolate chunkage, but if you're not, feel free to follow the original recipe exactly. A future project using this recipe might be creating a black-bottom-type cupcake, flavoring the cream cheese with coconut. Decadence? I think so.

When all is said and done, though, I think I'd still rather have a Mounds.

Mounds Muffins
(based on these beauties)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sourdough starter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup coconut, toasted if it pleases you

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line two muffins trays.
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, soda, and salt in a medium
bowl; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing to blend between each addition. Add the starter and vanilla and mix to blend. Mix in half of the dry ingredients, then the milk, then the remaining dry ingredients. Toss in your chopped chocolate and coconut and stir just until evenly mixed.
Fill the muffin cups with 1/4 cup batter each and bake for 20 minutes,
rotating halfway through baking. The muffins are done when puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool 10 minutes in the pans, then transfer them to racks to cool completely.

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what else have you been hiding?

I've been a fan of Australia for as long as I can remember...


...even when all I knew about the place was that the people had the most awesome accents.

Now I find that, until recently, they've been keeping some delightful cookies all to themselves. How many other fabulous things do they have over there to which I've been completely oblivious?

I received an offer to sample and review Pepperidge Farm Tim Tams. After a bit of research, I found that they've only been available to Americans for a short time. People, we were missing out--they are delicious!

The batch I got was Chocolate Creme--chocolate on top of chocolate on top of chocolate (two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate, to be more specific), and it's good chocolate to boot. Creamy, rich, melt-in-your-mouth (and on your fingers) good.

Other variations include Chewy Caramel, Mocha, Double Coat, Chili Chocolate, Classic Dark Chocolate, Black Forest Fantasy, Creamy Truffle Temptation, and even Chocolate Orange. The only types currently available in the US are Chocolate Creme and Chewy Caramel, and apparently that's only for a limited time (through March 2009). I'd like to see Tim Tams become a permanent addition to the cookie shelf, and in all varieties.

After my Tim Tams were long gone, I came across the practice of the Tim Tam Slam. It sounds like a tasty experience, and it's more than enough motivation for me to purchase a sleeve or thirteen for myself...before they're taken from us.

And hey, even though I totally didn't plan this ahead of time--happy Australia Day!!

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freaky fruity phenomenon

Some people sing in the shower. Me? I sing in the kitchen (when no one is within hearing distance, that is--ear trauma could probably be an actionable offense...).

The song that popped into my head while dealing with this bread?


"Magic," by Pilot (a song well before my time, yet still completely appreciated).

No, there wasn't any voodoo involved, and no rabbits were harmed in the making of this treat. It's magical for two reasons. First of all, one loaf spent a month in the freezer and came out about 27 times better than the loaf consumed fresh out of the oven. I kid you not. It's as though the cold temperature enhanced the spices and encouraged canoodling amongst all the flavors.


The second reason I consider this bread to be of the magical persuasion is because the pink hue seemed to migrate to the top center of the loaf. Why? Beats the heck out of me, but I like it. To me, that was the best-tasting portion of the bread, even though it very well could've been no different from the rest of the loaf flavor-wise.


Can you see that concentrated berry color? Oh, oh, it's...

Magical Mixed Berry Bread
(makes 2 loaves)

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups mixed berry applesauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the dry ingredients (minus the sugar) in a small bowl and mix well. In a large bowl, thoroughly blend the oil, sugar, and applesauce until smooth. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir just until incorporated. Spoon the thick batter into two greased 9x5" loaf pans.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, using a toothpick to test for doneness.

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an easier way to eat pie

As if I needed any help in that endeavor...

Note to self: Seal better.

I was feeling brave and adventurous the other day and decided to tackle hand pies--first, I would tackle the recipe with my mind and mad baking skills (hmm...), then I'd tackle the actual pies with my teeth. Good plan.

This undertaking required courage on my part mostly because hand pies or turnovers are not something I've attempted, and I'm usually hesitant to try new things. Dealing with finicky doughs is always a little risky, especially when said dough requires more handling than for your typical pie.


Regardless of the risks, I jumped in and met with great success. Beginner's luck? Probably. The crust was delicious (the freshly-grated Vietnamese cinnamon sprinkled on top had a lot to do with that), and the blueberry filling was perfectly sweet and only a wee bit too juicy (as evidenced by the overflowing ooze).


I'll be making these again posthaste. Here's hoping it wasn't actually beginner's luck, but simply a display of my growing competency in the kitchen. :)

Blueberry Hand Pies
(based on this recipe)

1 batch of sweet butter pie dough (recipe below)
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease a large baking sheet.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine berries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon; mix well. Microwave for 5 minutes and stir, then microwave in one-minute increments until all the berries burst and the mixture begins to thicken.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide in two; rewrap one half and place it back in fridge to stay cold. Roll the pie dough out until it reaches a thickness of about 1/8". Using round pastry cutter (or a bowl, if that happens to be all that you have...), cut out about 4-5" rounds. Place rounds onto the baking sheet and back into the fridge if necessary. If not, place about 2-3 tablespoons of the blueberry mixture into center of each round.

Using a pastry brush dipped in a small amount of egg, brush the edge of half of each round. Fold dry edge onto egg-brushed half, forming semicircle shape, and press edges together with a fork to seal in an aesthetically-pleasing manner. Brush the top of each pie with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Use a small knife to make a 1 inch slit in the top of the pie for steam to escape. Repeat with remaining pastry dough.

Place the pies in the oven and bake until tops are beginning to turn golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 7-10 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature, preferably smothered in vanilla ice cream.

Sweet Butter Pie Dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons cold buttermilk (or milk with a bit of lemon juice)

In a small bowl, combine vanilla and buttermilk, stir to combine and set aside. In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, and salt and whisk to combine. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the buttermilk mixture a bit at a time and stir in until dough comes together.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and shape into a flat disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.

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