TWD: Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

Awesomeness! I was surprised because of containing a fair amount of ginger, and being quite
spicy the whole family loved them.



Like another TWD Blogger said, "they're like Thanksgiving in a bowl" and I agree with cinnamon, allspice, ginger and molasses. Much to the kids' disappointment we baked up a sheet and rolled the rest into balls:



and bagged them up to be baked for a gift, or for a special guest, to make the house smell good, or just to eat!




Plus, now I feel like I have a tiny headstart on the holiday season by having these gems in the freezer. I added a little bit of shortening, since several bakers talked about the batter spreading, and that tends to really happen at high altitude. My mother-in-law taught me that trick, and she probably learned it from growing up in Lake Tahoe. Thanks for stopping by and happy baking!

TWD: Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake

I've started a blogging and baking group, called Tuesdays With Dorie. Each week we bake something from "Baking from My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan. It's a gorgeous cookbook, and while I've been following but not baking along with this group for som etime, have been drooling over some of the things they bake. So, an opportunity opened and I'm in!

Unfortunately, not knowing that we can switch up the order of the recipes during November, I baked what is in my opinion one of the most difficult cakes. I would have saved this one for Thanksgiving week, or another special occasion.

Anyway, the recipe was pretty much a fail. I used hazelnut spread instead of the chestnut spread called for in the recipe and chopped hazelnuts instead of the chestnuts I could not find in my grocery store. The cake turned out fine, and tastes like a slightly nutty chocolate cake. I fell in love with the chocolate caramel ganache used for the filling, but would not have added so much butter in the final step. It is very thick in the cake, almost like a candybar in the middle. The last step is the glaze, and this really didn't work for me. It's basic components are cream, sugar and chocolate. The recipe said it was supposed to thicken to a spreading consistency at room temperature and it never did. So, I put it in the fridge and it still didn't thicken enough. When I attempted to glaze the cake, it ran off, leaving a very thin layer on the cake.

We've eaten some of it, but because the glaze did not thicken enough to cover the ganache the cake really doesn't look good enough to share. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, as this is the first week of something I was looking so forward to. The other recipes for November look fallish and yummy, so next week will be a fresh start-stay tuned!

Stop by here to see what the others have baked up, or to read more about TWD!

Math

Conner: Mom, what does a 9 and a 10 make?
Me: 910. (we've been working on reading numbers)
Conner: No it's not, it's 19!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Chatter

Conner: "How many sleeps until school?"
Me: "Two. I'm glad you like school so much."
Conner:"Yeah that's because of recess."
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

First Snow!

Playing catchup is not fun, but it's the perfect day to do it:


(Thanks to the folks at NCAR's Earth Observing Laboratory for our favorite current weather tool).

After a little bit of this...


And this...


We hope you are enjoying your Saturday too!

SSWC09 Durango, CO

That's Single Speed World Championships which Rob raced in September.

I raced, hiked, had some beer, ate bacon, and then fell down, got stitches and drove home the next day. Bacon? Sure. After the 3rd or 4th beer station, there was a guy who had a giant pan full of bacon. If you wanted bacon, you were encouraged to drink a shot of Jack Daniels. Luckily, I was able to get away from him without the whiskey, but I did have a few pieces of meat. The story is best told in photos


The one and only DeJay Birtch. 2007 NUE National Single Speed Champion. Somewhere there is an interview of me conducted by DeJay which kind of scares me. Notice the camera on his helmet.


While talking with Birtch we were spotted by the NUE 2008 Single Speed National Champion John "Fuzzy" Mylne. I met him in Tahoe last year, and had a few PBR's with him. (yes, I do idolize both of these guys, but not as much when they are dressed like this.)


The first real hike-a-bike of the race. It looked like this for awhile.


Nothing fancy here, BUT you have to see the riders/hikers accending to the top of the ridge. See em'?


After making it to the top of the ridge, we encountered the 3rd? beer station. No roads anywhere near here, so I don't know how the keg made it up there.


My favorite shot. If you LOOK real close, you will see the train of riders coming up the ridge. Look in the middle of the photo. I was killing it seeing that all these folks were behind me!


On top of the ridge looking west toward the town. The lake you see is actually on top of a plateau, and main street is near the base of the "haystack" looking mountain you see in the distance. The lake is approximately 1000' higher than the town. (according to some locals)

Hope you enjoyed.

Fyi- Fuzzy and DeJay are the type of riders who get paid good money to ride bikes, that is their job. Some of the most interesting riders I have ever met. Here is more info you want it.
http://www.ninerbikes.com/fly.aspx?layout=team&taxid=247

Busy Busy!

I started an awesome new job at a company called Lijit.com, which is also one of the reasons I started this blog. A new job addded to an already busy September with Rob and I both traveling to separate places during the month, and it sill only being the 3rd week of school for the kids.

And, the job is a completely different pace than what I had been used to, but that is part of what makes it really fun. Add to that everyone's excitement about our product, and our publisher's excitement. I switched jobs in part to have a more customer-facing role and that is already happening which makes my job really fun. I also work closely with the marketing team and they are a great group of people as well.

At home, Rob is doing an awesome job holding down the fort. Luckily, although unfortunately for the company REI is pretty slow right now, so Rob is working a shift or two every couple of weeks. That is perfect right now, as he can still get pro deals and discounts, but mainly takes great care of all of us.

And, the kids are doing great in school. Emily's class size dropped by about 10 kids this year and she is thriving in that environment! We just had a conference which she led with her teacher and both of us, and he said she is really 'getting things' this year, and working really hard when she doesn't. She's in a book group, where they all read the same book then discuss it. They choose the format on their own, and everyone's roles.

Conner loves school and can hardly stand the "5 sleeps" between each Thursday and Tuesday. On the other hand, that and riding his two-wheeler back and forth to school each day to pick up his sis, he is really tired many days so I think the schedule is perfect.

That's a snapshot of what's been going on with us. Today is the first snow, so more on that when I get some photos uploaded-because you know we're loving that!