Proceeds from all these handpicked items go to help oil spill relief funds.

Instead of complaining about the sublime ineptitude of BP and the unfathomable, astronomical damage this spill is causing each day, I will attempt to heed the words of Mother Teresa as per The Secret and the Law of Attraction: “I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.”  Yes, let’s all try to attract positive energy and not marinate in this catastrophe which affects many things including… (since I must relate my rant to food for this blog) the seafood industry! I don’t want crude in my shrimp gumbo! According to the NY Times Diners Journal blog, many are worried about the havoc on our seafood…

KnitsYoursKnotMine

Recently, three lovely Etsy treasuries have included me.

All of them chose my Southern Pecan Pralines.

Corky Crafts

Thank you again to Corky Crafts and KnitsYoursKnotMine (unfortunately treasuries expire, so these ones aren’t viewable anymore).

Kudos to you on some skilled hand-picking of theme items!  Current treasury featuring Adore a Jar Bakery:

1. Sweet Tea, Spanish Moss, and Steamy Nights- Curator: Sweet Delaney

Readers: Do check out these Etsy treasuries, and if you have an idea for a treasury of your own, go ahead and create one on Etsy!  You may have Favoritized several items that fit under one theme- for example, your favorite color, tree-related knick knacks, or summertime handmade items… you name it.  Go for it!  It’s a great way to contribute to the community and boost visibility of sellers you like.

Which cocktail below would you most like to try?

Check this out- Anvil is upcycled! From their About section:

“Anvil is located in a Bridgestone-Firestone tire store built in the late 1950’s. Designed and remodeled by the partners, the finished space reflects the same respect for history, elegant simplicity, and raw ingredients as the cocktails that are served there. The building was completely gutted, revealing original brick walls, high ceilings and industrial ductwork, all of which remain untouched. Reclaimed materials and locally salvaged artifacts were discovered at antique stores and thrift shops and then retooled to craft the bar, shelving and tables. The result is a modern industrial design softened by the rich, recycled natural materials that furnish Anvil. Even the glassware is vintage, reminiscent of grandmother’s fancy glasses, all unearthed at small local stores.”

Two other great shops featured at Craftcount:

Here is the most eye-catching icon and an excellent shop.  Lori offers beads of all kinds, and nursing necklaces, too.  Check out the graphics on her icon!:

<—-And this gal at Piddix on Etsy has a pinup (she wins in my book) and neat Scrabble pieces (I love Scrabble).

I have several chocolate cake varieties in my bakery and the plain old chocolate and vanilla were getting boring. I’ve always loved the combo of orange and dark chocolate (remember the retired Baskin Robbins ice cream flavor?) so I created a special edition Real Orange Frosting to compliment my Chocolate Tennessee Whiskey Cake.

Little Mermaid by Cake Stylist

Note: If you want to make icing, here is an excellent recipe for Royal Icing from the helpful Diary of a Cake Stylist.  There, you can learn how to create buttercream chrysanthemums and a Mario cake, etc.  Here she explains the uses for three different icing consistencies (E.g., are you decorating with stiff flower petals (thick), stars (medium), or dots/lettering (thin)?)

Anyway, here’s my recipe for Real Orange Frosting (warning, this uses shortening which contains partially hydrogenated oils. Buy the brands that don’t contain these nasty oils, or make a real butter based frosting and substitute the orange extract where vanilla or almond extract is called for):

Em’s Real Orange Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup shortening
1/4 cup orange juice (water works too)
1 tsp. real orange extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Several drops of orange food coloring (or 2 parts red, 1 part yellow = orange)

1. Cream the shortening and powdered sugar (ideally with an electric hand mixer).
2. Gradually add the orange juice and extracts, continue creaming.
3. Add about 4-5 drops of food color and blend in- if you want a darker orange, add more!

Oh and here’s the word to convo me for 15% off your purchase in my Etsy store: mobility.

Chocolate Tennessee Whiskey Jar Cake with Orange Frosting

A. I can’t give away my secret whiskey cake recipe and B. Many people are looking for lighter desserts (which this frosting is not!), so here is a recipe for chocolate cake I found on sparkrecipes.com (click link for nutritional info and original recipe). It uses MAYO and has no eggs or oil. It’s is actually pretty good… for a diet cake!

Light Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake (from DakotaTurtle)

1. In a large bowl, with a metal sieve/sifter, sift  the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together.
2. In a separate medium bowl, cream the sugar, mayonnaise, water and vanilla together.
3. Add the dries to the creamed wet mixture and stir to combine.
4. Pour batter into greased and floured 9 x 13 inch pan (lightly sprinkle a pinch of flour over the pan- the higher your hand is, the finer the sprinkle- a good thing).
5. Bake at 350°F. for about 25-30 minutes.

Serves 12

Store cake covered tightly to retain its moistness, and ideally refrigerate after 1-2 days.  Top with my above orange frosting or just some powdered sugar lightly sprinkled over it.

I tried pickled watermelon rind at a favorite haunt of mine, (almost all the Yelp reviews are accurate, so if you live in ATL or come here to visit, DO check it out!  The owner Michael, who I have nicknamed Patagonia due to his mountain man appearance and evident traveling past, is incredibly friendly and generous.

Darts at Ormsby's (Self, Dec. 2009)

( He also has impeccable taste in decor- the pub has a modern/rustic feel with handmade solid wood everything, perfect greenish light, and two levels split by a central staircase where servers hoist gourmet carnival fare on trays ascending and descending toward wide-eyed and happy tipsy dart and pool players. )

The second night Captain and I drank/dined there, Michael was kind enough to bring us samples of the vinegar deviled eggs and pickled watermelon rind.  (We had sweat a lot that day?)  I about died- so amazing and so foreign to me, pickling a fruit rind into salty heaven.  So being me, I had to make it myself (granted I resolved to do so in December and hello April but here we go anyway).

Here’s the recipe I used (quartered and doctored a bit with one from epicurious.com which I hate to admit using, but I have to be honestbaker):

Ingredients

• 1 pound watermelon rind (use fresh, firm watermelon, not mushy/old melon!)
  
• 1 cup sugar/Splenda
  
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 mini orange
• 1 small lemon
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves

(I was missing allspice and the orange and I only had ground cinnamon.  In retrospect I see that having all the true whole ingredients really makes a difference.  And cinna sticks in that mason jar would look sick.  Additionally, proportions are key in pickling- this relates to my entry on precision and left-brained baking vs. right-brained cooking.  Anyway I wanted to experiment for my first (small) rind batch.)

Directions (adapted)

• Scrape off any pink flesh from rind.
  
• Cut rind into 3/4″ squares or rectangles/slivers (not that important to have perfect size).
  
• Cover with cold, salted water (1/4 cup salt to 1 quart (or 4 cups) water), and leave out overnight loosely covered.
  
• Drain, cover with fresh water and cook 1/2 hour over low stove heat, or until just tender.
  
• Drain again.
  
• Stir together sugar, vinegar and water in a large pot.
  
• Slice oranges and lemons thinly, discard pits and add fruit to the pot.
  
• Tie cinnamon, cloves and allspice in a cheesecloth bag and add to the pot (if using ground spices, just sprinkle them in).
  
• Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves (about 10-15min).
  
• Add watermelon rind and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the rind is translucent and the juices syrupy.
• Ladle all contents into hot sterilized preserving jars.
• Open cheesecloth, place a piece of cinnamon in each jar, cover and seal.
• Consume now or later.

My rind turned out a bit too sweet but it ya gotta love the look: 

And the texture was brilliant!  Very soft.  I’ll definitely have another go at it.  The directions seem long or hard but really it’s just long- the steps are quite simple.  Give it a shot and let me know your results!  If you do so and leave a comment, you’ll receive 10% off in my Etsy store (remind me when you purchase something).  If you tweet about this blog post, same deal.  And if you don’t care to buy anything or tweet, that’s cool– you’ll receive my respect for being awesome and trying the picklin’! Yahoo

-E

This is what I have always complained about when eating out- the hidden calories so many restaurants put into their food.  Of course  it tastes better with 400 extra calories from unnecessary oil. (Well, that depends on your palette and definition of better.) But no one orders a Caesar salad expecting it to actually near 1000 calories (Cheesecake Factory). The deceit! No wonder we are all so fat.

I usually loathe the fact that menus don’t list ingredients and calories (Caveat: this would be inappropriate at high-end eateries. Rule of thumb to my complaint: If salt and pepper are not present on the table, restaurant isn’t held responsible for calories.) I.e., McDonald’s should prominently display reality. Whereas a   or  (my current favorite restaurants in Atlanta) are simply not expected to.

My baking viewpoint:

Bakeries? I think the information should be available in pamphlets but not “prominently displayed” article terminology.  I provide nutritional information on my fit foods on Etsy (protein bars and granola) but don’t automatically provide it on the other sweets unless requested.  All ingredients are listed.  Anyway, you are better off eating a homemade goodie from Etsy than a Twinkie anyday, and I think Etsy’ers know this!

Comment with your thoughts on calorie disclosure and receive 10% off any purchase from adoreajarbakery.etsy.com

Ingredients:
1. Cupcake batter (use any recipe you like)
2. 12 sugar cones (I haven’t tried waffle cones but their shape suggests they would fare poorly)
3. 12 muffin pan
4. Frosting (use any recipe), sprinkles, cake decorations

Directions:
1. Make any cake or cupcake batter.
2. Cut 12 2x2in squares of aluminum foil.
3. Wrap the bases of the cones with the foil (don’t worry if it’s not perfect, just prevent the touching of cone base to cupcake pan).
4. Fill each cone 3/4 full (get to about 2cm from the top)
5. Bake for about 18min at 350 (depending on your oven)
6. Cool the cupcakes and frost/decorate as you like!

SCARF

Have any of you tried Honest Foods products? What do you think of their granola? I wonder if it beats mine? They certainly have more variety and excellent flavor combos! I dig their website and the company philosophy. They use responsibly farmed ingredients.  Check check