Pizza

Hi Everyone!! I'm so sorry I haven't been more up to date with the blog. Life has been very busy lately, which hasn't left much time for baking. -very sad!- It's okay though, because each day I go through college without baking, I think about the fact that after school I will be able to bake everyday for the rest of my life. I spend a lot of time thinking about how I want to build my bakery, and what kind of goodies I want to sell. There's been a lot of dreaming and thinking going on up in my head lately.

But enough of my brain thoughts, I want to tell you all about my latest baking...PIZZA!! If you've been following the blog, you will know that over the past summer, my family took a liking to my pizza. It started out as just an adventure to see if I could make pizza dough on my own. I used the pizza dough recipe from Baking Illustrated, and like every other recipe I have tried from this book, it was a huge success. My family loved the pizza so much when I made it, that it became a weekly tradition at camp to make pizza for dinner. We tried many different toppings, sauces, and cheeses until we found our favorites. The reoccurring favorites were my infamous white pizza and the BBQ chicken pizza.

So, while I was home for Thanksgiving break last week, I made pizza. My mom went grocery shopping and I saw the blocks of mozzarella cheese in the bag...I knew she was going to ask me to make it!! I was very excited to get to bake, and surprisingly I had not lost any of my "pizza doing" touches. This time I made a white pizza, which is a sauce-less pizza with fresh mozzarella and garlic. And I also made a pepperoni pizza. I had forgotten how delicious it was, but obliviously my little brother didn't: He was working that night and didn't get to have any, but was begging me the rest of the time I was home to make more. Sorry, Andrew, maybe I can make it next time I come home. Take a look at the pictures above: it starts with the process of the dough rising to the final product.

Who knows...maybe The Messy Kitchen will have a Pizza Parlor attached to it?!?! I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season, and stay posted for more updates! =)

Apple Season

Not only did I have fun baking with pumpkin this past weekend, but I also tackled apples. I went apple picking with Deanna and the kiddos, and we got some great baking apples. I'm not sure exactly what type of apples they were. They're green, sweet, and HUGE (they're not Granny Smith)....but they're yummy!

So, I decided I would try making apple turnovers and tarts. They turned out delicious. These were also the first things that I have baked completely on my own without a recipe. I feel like I have accomplished a huge task in my baking career. =)

Everyone, stay posted because there is still more apply picking to come, and much more fall baking to be done!

Bring on the Pumpkins!!!

As a lot of you know I have been away at college, and despite having a lot more down time than when I was working full time, I have not been able to bake as much. I am limited as to what I can bake at school because I do not have many ingredients, but fear not my friends, I was house sitting this weekend and had full access to all my baking "stuff"! So, I decided to kick off fall in true Messy Kitchen fashion....BAKING!!!!

I had stumbled upon a new baking site called Lovin' From the Oven, which is run by a young girl who also has a strong passion for baking. She had listed a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies...DELISH! I made the whole recipe, and it is does make quite a bit. I had enough to bring some to a cook-out, some to my brother, some to a friend, some to my parents, and still have some for myself to enjoy. They were very yummy, soft, and pumpkin-y. They were so good, I had people that don't like pumpkin eating them, and I have requests for more already!

I hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as I am...Enjoy! =)

Maple Pecan Buttons

I was going through some stuff today, and I realized I never shared these delicious cookies with everyone! I made these a little while back, but they are definitely worth writing about. They are Maple Pecan Buttons, and I got the recipe from "In the Sweet Kitchen". They are tiny little cookies that are made with real maple syrup (who doesn't like real maple syrup!!) and real Pecans. After they are baked, you roll them in confectionery sugar....and then you roll them again! I know they are probably considered more of a holiday cookie than a summer cookie, but I at least know what I can make for my holiday gifts. They are really yummy, and if you own the cookbook, you should definitely make them!

Catching Up

Yes, yes, I do know it has been over a month since my last update...I am VERY sorry!! As always, I have been very busy with family, work, life, and now school!!! I do want to update you on all the things I have been baking, so here we go:

These are pumpkin chocolate brownies. (I had a fall moment!) They were delicious. If you want to attempt them, you can find the recipe on the Smitten Kitchen website.

These are the shortbread cookies, cut out with a tropical fish cookie cutter, then frosted with lemon cream cheese frosting. I used the same shortbread recipe as the baby shower cookies (see earlier posts). The lemon cream cheese frosting was a very delicious addition to the cookies. Next time I frost the cookies, though, I would like to find a recipe that will harden, or crust over better. Nevertheless, they were very yummy!!

Thank You's....So remember the gigantic golf cake I made? Well, I was invited to a thank you cookout for the volunteers that helped at the golf tournament, and of course I brought dessert!!! Here are the cupcakes I made. I made chocolate, vanilla, and coconut cupcakes. All cupcakes were frosted with cream cheese frosting, except the coconut cupcakes had chocolate cream cheese frosting. I then made white chocolates that said "Thank You" on them, and placed them on top.

I hope everyone enjoys the baking!! I still have more to come...stay posted :)

Pizza

You know when you go somewhere and have such a great time, but your pictures can barely show how wonderful it was, well...this is kinda how the pizza is. I found a recipe for pizza dough in Baking Illustrated, and really wanted to try it. We never order out for pizza when we are at our camp, so my mom suggested I try it there when we go up. The first time I made it, a friend of mine was complimenting how great it was, then we told her this was the first time I had made pizza, & the dough. Her face was priceless!!

Needless to say, pizza has become a camp ritual now. Everyone loves it! Our favorites include barbecue chicken made with Big Moe's Arkansawce (which can be bought by the bottle in and around the Portsmouth, NH area). And our other favorite is my famous white pizza...it's amazing! Who knew making pizza would be so much fun and delicious!

4th of July

Hello everyone!! Sorry for the delay in the posts. I've been super busy, but I have not forgotten about The Messy Kitchen!

For the 4th of July this year, my brother and sister decided to have a pig roast at our camp. Well, as always, I was asked to bring dessert.....This does happen to be my favorite thing :) So I made 288 cupcakes, put them all together, and made an American flag. (I said that way too casually...I made 288 cupcakes!!)They were chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, all with buttercream frosting. I used red and blue sprinkles, and made white chocolate stars to put on the blue cupcakes.

They turned out really great! I loved how it looked all put together, and had many compliments (which I always love!!) I'm still hearing stories about it: A friend of mine said every time she turned around, she saw her three year old by the table. I think she ate 6 cupcakes! I guess she didn't eat enough though, because we were still eating leftover cupcakes as of yesterday. I think I may have over estimated a little this time :)

I hope everyone enjoyed there 4th of July as much as we did! Happy Birthday America!