I guess it could have been the weather (50 and raining…just like home!). Or it could have been my new shoes.

Sorry, they’re a little dirty. I always hated Brooks, but when we were running shoe shopping a couple weeks ago I decided to try them. Going in I was pretty sure I wanted Newtons, but I liked these SO much more (and in the interest of full disclosure, I bought them with my own money and Brooks has no idea I’m writing about them). They’re light and feel just cushioned enough. I normally run in Asics 2170s, but these have become my shoe of choice.

Anyway, the run. I started out with a mile warm-up, then picked it up for three miles, which I ran in 6:53, 6:43, and 6:34 (whaaat?). I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast in a tempo run, and since my 5K PR is 6:51 minutes/mile I think there’s a good chance I’m in PR shape. We’ll see…I may be making an attempt this Sunday.

Lately I feel like I haven’t been baking as often as I want to, so in addition to planning my weekly dinners, I’ve been planning for a couple baked goods every week too. First up was Black Bread (um, Heidi’s pictures are about a million times better than mine).

Rye bread with carrots in it is actually pretty good, who knew?

My sister gave me The Pastry Queen cookbook for Christmas and these brownies looked completely amazing. As my mom would say, they’re so sweet they’ll make your teeth curl, but to me that’s kind of a good thing.

This is the LAST day of my maternity leave! It’s gone by really fast, and although I know I’m really going to miss Ellie, I’m really happy to be going back to work. I stopped by for a department meeting the other day and ran into several of my students from last year who are now in high school. They were some of my favorites, and they all ended up running Cross Country this fall. One of them said she never would have considered it if I hadn’t encouraged her and talked about how fun it was. She started last year hating running, and now she’s already starting to train for the track season!

I’m going again today to pick up my work laptop and some of my teaching materials, because this weekend is going to involve a lot of lesson planning. I’m kind of nervous about how I’m going to balance teaching, training, blogging, and most importantly, being Eleanor’s mom, but fortunately Mike is amazing and has no problem trading off morning duty so we can both get workouts in, so that will help a lot.

Oh, and I finished the hat! It fits Mike perfectly, yay. Next up: a stocking for Ellie. I found a pattern but I’m pretty intimidated. Thank goodness for youtube videos – any time I get stuck, I find a video of what I’m trying to do, watch it about 35 times, and attempt it myself. It worked out pretty well for the hat, but that was a ridiculously simple pattern. There’s a good chance Ellie will just end up with a stocking from Target, but I’ll do my best.

I also like graham cracker crust about a hundred times more than regular pie crust, so this recipe has that going for it too.

The recipes I found for pumpkin pie bars all had an oatmeal mixture and buterscotch chips sprinkled over the top, but I wanted to keep it simple. The filling isn’t overly sweet, but it goes perfectly with the crust. I think these should replace pumpkin pie as the standard Thanksgiving dessert.

Mike and I made the mistake of putting the pan on the table and taking turns cutting pieces. Over half the pan disappeared within about ten minutes. Oops.

I skimmed a few pages and ended up checking it out, and I’ve actually really enjoyed it! I appreciate that the author doesn’t take herself too seriously, is able to recognize her flaws, and doesn’t do anything too unrealistic. At the outset, she acknowledges that she’s not unhappy, she just wants to see if she can make herself a little bit happier, and tries various things based on her research. Some of them work, and seem like things that I would definitely do (like getting rid of clutter and finding more fun); others don’t interest me (like keeping a gratitude journal or starting a collection). But I think the thing that really stuck with me most was the concept she kept coming back to: “Be Gretchen.”

I’ve definitely noticed that the periods in my life that I was the least happy were when I was trying to be somebody else. I will never be interested in interior decorating, and that’s fine. I’d rather throw a bunch of stuff in a pan and end up with blondies than spend hours decorating sugar cookies with royal icing. I’d rather run for miles than go to Zumba.

I know it seems really obvious, but I found it really helpful to be reminded “we can chose what we do, but we can’t choose what we like to do.”

I like putting things in blondies.  Like M & Ms and pretzels, or in this case, cranberries, white chocolate chips, and toasted pecans.

The peaches at the farmers market are absolutely PERFECT right now, but I know the season is almost over. It seems like a lot of people are getting excited for fall baking with pumpkin and apples, but I still want cherries, peaches, plums and strawberries!

Somehow I managed to keep myself from eating all the peaches I bought last week and actually had a few left to bake with (for the first time all summer!) I used a mix of yellow and white because they each contribute their own flavor.

For the topping, I made sweet drop biscuits so I wouldn’t have to deal with rolling out dough and cutting it. I like the rustic look it gives, too.

Peach season, I’m going to be devastated to see you go…

Recipe:

4 medium or large peaches, peeled and sliced (here’s how to peel them)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1 tbsp corn starch

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch salt
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup whole milk

1 tbsp sugar, for sprinkling over the top

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine the sugars, spices and corn starch, and toss with the peach slices. Place in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish.

To make the topping, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Using a pastry blender, blend in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and mix with a wooden spoon.

Drop spoonfuls of dough evenly over the peaches, the sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.

Some things I’ve really come to appreciate lately:

1. Trader Joe’s and their vast selection of appealing non-alcoholic beverages

2. The elephant slippers I got at the night market in Luang Prabang, Laos. We do not have a single square inch of carpeted floor in this house, so slippers are pretty necessary.

3. Mike’s excitement about the giant Swiffer-like floor cleaner he found at Home Depot, which has WASHABLE cloth covers instead of disposable ones. Clean the floor, save the earth.

4. Squats. (I don’t have a picture for this one) When I was running all the time I never did squats because they made my legs too tired. Now that I’m stuck on the elliptical and bike, I’ve been doing a lot of squats to keep up my leg strength and I LOVE them!

5. Pinto beans. Not only to eat, but to use as pie weights.

6. Orange blossom water. Because it makes desserts taste like flowers.

7. FRESH FIGS. For a limited time only. I can’t get enough.

I have been really loving the idea of tarts lately, so I wanted to figure out a tart that incorporated figs. I made a cornmeal crust (my new favorite crust, for sure), filled it with honey pastry cream (just leave out the sugar and a little of the milk and use honey) with a little orange blossom water, and topped it with thinly sliced fresh figs. I was extremely happy with this tart, and Mike was too. So happy, in fact, that we ate half of it in one sitting. We don’t do moderation very well.

The only tart pan I have is 11″ wide, which is pretty big. This would definitely be better in a 9 or 10 inch pan, so if you have one, use it!

Recipe:

makes 1 9″ tart

crust
(adapted from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard)

1 stick butter (4 oz), chilled and cut into small cubes
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt

pastry cream
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tbsp corn starch
pinch salt
2 large eggs
2 tsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp orange blossom water

6-8 fresh black figs, sliced thinly into wedges

First, make the crust:

Whisk the egg yolks and heavy cream together in a small bowl.

Combine the flour, corn meal, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.

Add the cubes of butter and pulse until it resembles small pebbles. Add the egg yolks and cream and pulse until the dough comes together.

Press the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap (or on a floured surface) and transfer to a 9″ tart pan. Prick a few times with a fork.

Put a sheet of parchment on the crust and fill with pie weights (or dried beans). Bake for 10 minutes.

Turn the heat down to 350 F, remove the parchment and pie weights, and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let cool completely.

To make the pastry cream: Bring the milk and honey to a simmer in a small saucepan.

In a medium bowl, sift the corn starch and salt over the eggs, then whisk until smooth.

Once the milk is simmering, pour it into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return the entire mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium, whisking constantly. Once it is thick and pulling away from the sides, remove from the heat, and pour through a strainer into a clean bowl.

Stir in the butter and orange blossom water. Press plastic wrap onto the surface and chill completely. If it’s a little lumpy, give it a spin in a food processor or blender to smooth it out.

Spread the cooled pastry cream evenly in the tart shell. Arrange the sliced figs on top.

I’ve been on summer break almost a week now. I mentioned to my friend the other day that I was a little bored, and she told me I should enjoy this boredom now because after the kid comes, I’ll probably never be bored again. Good point, I should probably stop complaining…not only for that reason, but because I realize that having summers off is a huge perk that a lot of people are jealous of, and it’s kind of obnoxious to take it for granted.

So no more complaints here! I think I just had a tough time transitioning to spending my day with hundreds of teenagers to sitting quietly at home with no papers to grade or lessons to plan. But there ARE workouts to do, things to knit and bake, and books to read. Oh and that baby to get ready for…

My sister was here last weekend and she’s a better baker than I am. She doesn’t have a blog, but I keep telling her she needs to guest post on mine because she takes more pictures of food than I do and makes AMAZING cupcakes and cakes and cookies. She also happened to get the shot of me in action.

It took us FOREVER to decide what we wanted to bake when were hanging out this weekend, but the huge container of blueberries from Trader Joe’s beckoned and we settled on this. Our mom used to make something similar when we were little, and it’s delicious. I’d never made it in a tart pan before, but Mike said I have too many different pans that I never use so I had to prove him wrong. Score one point for maturity there! It would work well in either an 11″ tart pan or a regular pie pan.

Recipe:
(adapted from Notes From My Food Diary)

crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp sugar

filling and topping
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs

3 cups fresh blueberries, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp freshly-sqeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease an 11″ tart pan (or a 9″ pie pan).

Combine the cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar and press into the tart pan. If the mixture seems especially crumbly, add a little extra melted butter so it holds together. Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling and topping.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese on high until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, and mix on medium until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the zest, eggs, and sour cream, then mix on medium until smooth.

Pour into the crust and spread evenly. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until set and slightly puffed up (it will settle as it cools). Cool to room temperature, then make the topping.

Combine 1 1/2 cups of blueberries with sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium, stirring constantly, until fruit is soft and has released juices (about 5-7 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and remaining berries. Cool to room temperature, then pour over the cream cheese layer, spreading evenly. Chill about 3 hours before serving.

I was initially drawn to chocolate cupcakes with some kind of raspberry filling, and chocolate ganache on top, but when I found the recipe for chocolate raspberry ganache in The Secrets of Baking, I knew there was nothing else that would be more appealing. I wanted it to really stand out, so instead of making a chocolate cupcake, I made a buttermilk genoise from the same book.

The cupcakes initially looked like a complete failure when I pulled them from the oven. They pulled away from the sides of the pan and there were huge indentations in the tops. I found online that a bunch of other people had this problem, but realized it was actually kind of perfect because it made an ideal place to pipe the ganache.

I may try experimenting with other genoise recipes in the future, but I actually loved the way these turned out, and the flavor and texture were perfect (which to me is more important than how they look anyway). The only change I made to the ganache recipe was using chocolate chips because I had them on hand, and adding heavy cream while whipping to lighten the texture. The only thing I might change is to make 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 recipes next time, because I only had enough for a small rosette on each cupcake.

And if you happen to have any leftover raspberries or want to do something a little healthier, this mornings smoothie included a bunch of raspberries, a frozen banana, almond milk, chocolate protein powder, and chia seeds, and it was almost as good as a cupcake!
Recipe
(adapted from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard)

makes 24 cupcakes

cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
6 ounces butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line 24 cupcake tins with paper liners.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together three times.

Set a saucepan of water over medium heat and bring to a simmer (turn down the heat if it starts to boil). Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and set it over the simmering water, whisking with a wire whisk constantly until a thermometer reads 110 F.

Using the whisk attachment of the stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar on high for about 6 minutes, or until pale and fluffy and a ribbon forms when drizzled from a spatula. Beat for an additional 2 minutes on medium, then turn to low and mix in the melted butter.

Fold in 1/3 of the dry ingredients using a wire whisk. Add 1/3 of the buttermilk and fold gently. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk. Gently stir in the vanilla.

Divide evenly among the cupcake tins, filling each nearly to the top. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden on top. The cupcake should not stay indented when you press gently on it with your finger.

Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (the tops may cave in, but that’s a great place to pipe ganache!)

When completely cool, top with the whipped ganache.

ganache
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 oz butter, melted
1 cup fresh raspberries, pureed and strained (about 1/3 cup puree), at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream

24 raspberries

Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the butter until smooth. Stir in the raspberry puree and mix until smooth. Transfer to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium high until the mixture is room temperature. Pour in the heavy cream and continue whipping until stiff enough to pipe.

Pipe a rosette onto each cupcake then top with a raspberry. Store in the refrigerator.