Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Valentines day treats

My camera is now back in my hands, so I am able to share what I made for Valentines Day (only 9 days late!). Yay!

For this occasion, I originally planned to go to the supermarket and pick up some muffins for Adam and I. This (in my mind) transitioned to me picking up muffins or croissants ('cause really, what's more romantic than flaky pastry?). This then (again, all mental musings) transitioned to me making croissants ('cause really, what's more romantic than flaky pastry fresh out of the oven?).

I have found the correlation between time spent in the kitchen and time to ponder to be closely related. At least, personally speaking.

So yes, I made chocolate croissants for Valentines Day.

The first step was to go to said supermarket for the dough.

Don't look at me like that. I never said that they were from scratch.
I always get slightly nervous popping these open. I have no idea why.

I came up with the idea for these chocolate croissants a while ago. They are fantastically and ridiculously easy.

Ready to roll

I used mini chocolate chips in the centers of these croissants, to make sure that they would be all melted when the dough was all puffed and golden.

Before baking

Out of the oven

I couldn't decide whether to pipe chocolate over the tops or to drizzle chocolate in a careless (but still loving) fashion with a fork. I didn't like how the drizzle method (bottom left) looked, so the rest were piped with melted chocolate.

Chocolate drizzle

And then I had to try one of the croissants. For sampling purposes, you know.

Well hello there

I then dusted the remaining croissants with powdered sugar.

A dusting of sugar

So while I had been in said supermarket buying said dough, I had wandered past the bakery counter.

My eye then laid on the little bags the store provides for their bakery goods. It. Was. Perfect.

Glamour shot

(And no, I did not steal the bag.
Me holding empty bag and wax paper: Can I have this?
Cashier: Sure)

All packed up

Chocolate Croissants:

1 roll of refrigerated crescent roll dough
Mini chocolate chips
Powdered sugar

Separate crescent rolls, and lay flat. Put approximately a tablespoon of miniature chocolate chips in the wide end of each crescent roll. Roll up and bake as package instructions say.

Cool, then melt chocolate chips. Either pipe or drizzle the chocolate over the tops of the croissants. Dust with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Winter. Ugh.

Dear Winter,

Last time I ranted about your tendency to make things cold and snowy, I was kind of hoping you would take the hint and step aside gracefully for spring.

Snowy street

Not going for that plan, huh? 

Brr...

And yes, we did agree that you are pretty and sparkly, but could you make it look like this again soon?

A burst of spring!

Please?

(Note: I really did mean to talk about food-related topics this week, however, my camera with all of the related pictures on it was forgotten at Adam's house. Oops.)

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Giveaway winner!

Oh my goodness I enjoyed reading your tales of death-defying egg maneuvers, fossilized sugar sauces, oozing ice cream, and the finer details of baking soda and powder! Thank you to everyone who shared their less-discussed culinary moments. 

And the winner is...
Congratulations Hannah!!!! Hmm...butterscotch blondies do sound good, I will proceed with caution...lol. Email me (kitchenphobe@yahoo.com) the address of where you'd like the prize to be shipped, and I will send it your way!!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Giveaway update

Hi everyone,

I was alerted to some difficulty experienced with posting comments -- I changed some settings and hopefully everything is resolved now. Post away!

(Just a reminder, the giveaway is open through Wednesday, share your kitchen antics for a chance to win fun baking supplies!)

Thanks!!!
Sara

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

A celebration...and my first GIVEAWAY!

Today marks one year.

I'm not sure if this should be considered a birthday, an anniversary, or just a general auspicious occasion of sorts. A celebratory event? Sure.

Yes, I did sing a little tune before blowing out the candle. It's lucky. I think.
Celebration

One year ago today, Tales of a Kitchenphobe was begun.

This year has been filled with so much fun, laughter, and food. I've had my triumphs (
Magic!; There's always a first time for everything; Aaaaannnd....part two!; Cookies! Yay!). I've had my less-triumphant days (Back in the Kitchen; When things don't go as planned; Adding a crispy layer to already cooked food...sounds like a plan to me!). But in the end, I've always known that however good, bad, or ugly things turned out, there would be a place for it here. And that Adam would always sample it.

Okay, speech over. Now's time for the fun part.

I decided the best way to celebrate this milestone was to thank you. Yes, you, my dear readers, who have come along on this wild, usually delicious, sometimes slightly scorched, adventure. Thank you for accompanying me.

And then I decided an even better way to thank you all was through presents. Celebrate my first blogging anniversary with my first giveaway. It seemed fun and appropriate.

And so, one of you will receive a present filled with fun baking accouterments. More specifically...

Fun items

1 set of measuring cups
1 set of 4 different colored sugars (pink, orange, green, and blue)
1 container of multicolored sprinkles
1 set of 75 cupcake-themed cupcake wrappers
Baking-related stickers
(stack of blue plastic cups not included)

So for the past year, you have all heard about my cooking calamities. I'd like to hear some of your best kitchen mishap anecdotes. To enter to win the items shown above, please comment with your favorite tale. Also, please include your email address so I can contact you if you win! (I pinky-swear I will not use your email address in any other manner.) To keep things fair, one comment per person please!

The giveaway will be open for comments
until 11:59 PM (EST) on Wednesday, February 10th. I will announce the winner (chosen at random) the next day.

Are you excited? I am! Good luck to all!!!