Daring Bakers' Challenge: Filipino Desserts

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a tradition Filipino dessert - the delicious Sans Rival cake!  And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.  

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a staple on our Thanksgiving table, candied sweet potatoes to be exact.  But this year I wanted to try something different.  I’ve been experimenting some stuffed Hasselback sweet potatoes.  A Hasselback potato is one that’s thinly sliced, topped with bread crumbs and herbs, and then roasted.  Traditionally, it made with russet potatoes but I’m fond of tweaking tradition a little so I went with sweet potatoes instead.  Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods and considered to be a “superfood” on all of those “foods you should eat” lists. Then, there’s also the fact that I’m allergic to all other potatoes.  I was curious about the origins of the name and from what I’ve read, Hasselback potatoes came from the restaurant of the Hasselbacken Hotel in Stockholm Sweden some time in the 1940’s.

Lentils with Fruit

Here is the second in a series of recipes I copied from a cook book owned by a friend who lives in Mexico.  The book is called “ Mexico The Beautiful Cookbook” and this recipe, Lentejas con Fruta is from the region of Oaxaca.  It caught my eye because of the unusual combination of lentils and tropical fruits.  The combination of flavors was so intriguing that I knew I had to try it.  It would never have occurred to me to cook lentils with bananas and mangoes and yet it was delicious.  

The End of the Summer Garden

Frost has been teasing me for days with small snow flake like crystals of ice on the windshield of my car in the morning.  There have also been some very cold nights.  So cold in fact, I was forced to put away the summer bedspread and get out the down blanket.  But this morning, the ice on my windshield was no longer teasing me.  It was one of those mornings when you just have to wait until your defroster can melt the ice so you can see to pull out of your driveway.  Summer is definitely over, even here in northern California.

Happy Halloween!!

My Director of Pest Management would like to wish you a very Happy Halloween! 

Fudge and Pumpkin Pie Popsicles

I bought these BPA free plastic Popsicle molds and never got around to actually making any Popsicles.  Luck for me, we get summer weather well into October here in northern California and this year is no exception.  The temperature has gotten as high as 80°, hot windless days, what I like to call earth quake weather.  (In fact we’ve had three minor quakes already this month)  Inspired by the weather and my apparent current fascination with pumpkin, I made some pumpkin pie Popsicles.  When I mentioned to Mr RK that I was going to make pumpkin Popsicles, he didn’t look interested until I offered to make him some fudge pops as well.  

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Povitica

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk.  Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat! 

Povitica (pronounced po-va-teet-sa) is traditionally served during the holiday season.  The best description would be: amazingly tender cinnamon nut swirl bread.  I would imagine that you could get very creative with the filling, maybe substituting with poppy seeds or by adding some chocolate chips or cranberries and it would be just as good.