I get weirdly anxious about volume measurements and always worry I am going to wreck the whole thing with a bad ratio.  Even things like "baseball sized" and walnut sized are helpful, but weights leave little to chance. I came across this site and knew it was the cure for my demand for precision in an imprecise world:

Ingredient Equivalents 

Red pepper – 1/2 cup diced – 3 ounces = 1/4 pepper

Yellow pepper – 1/2 cup diced – 3 ounces = 1/4 pepper

A large pepper is about 6.5 ounces

A smaller pepper like a poblano is 3 ounces 

Small onion – 3.5 ounces whole

Small onion = 3 ounces = 2/3 cup

Medium onion – 5.5 ounces whole

Medium onion – 1 cup diced – 4.5 ounces

Large onion – 8 ounces whole

Large onion – 1 1/4 cup diced – 7 ounces

1 medium shallot = 1 ounce = 1/4 cup mince

1 large shallot = 2 ounce = 1/2 cup mince

1 rib celery = 2 ounces = 1/2 cup dice

1 small carrot 2 ounces = 1/3 cup dice

1 medium carrot = 3 ounces = 1/2 cup dice

1 large carrot = 4 ounces = 3/4 cup dice

10 mushrooms = 4 ounces

1 medium tomato = 4 ounces

1 ear of corn makes about 1.5 cups kernels

1 medium spear asparagus = 1/2 ounce

1 19 ounce can black beans = 2 cups

1 medium leaf napa cabbage = 1 ounce

4 cups arugula = 5 ounces

1 Tbsp. pine nuts = 10 grams

1 Tbsp. minced ginger = 3/8 ounce

1 lb. Mussels in shell = 3.5 ounces cooked and shucked

1 lime juiced = 1/4 cup lime juice

1 medium beet = 8 ounces

15 ounce can garbanzos = 1 1/5 cups

8 ounce tomato seeded = 5 ounces

1/2 cup diced pickle = 2.5 ounces

1 medium banana = 1/2 cup mashed

1/4 cup wasabi peas = 1 ounce

Cream Cheese Cookies

i had exactly 5 oz of cream cheese after making the velvet pound cake so I searched for recipes to use it up. This sounded tasty and easy: Cream Cheese Cookies

Cream Cheese Cookies

Ingredients

5 oz cream cheese, soft
3 oz cup butter, soft
8 oz cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
8 oz all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325F and prepare a baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and the cream cheese. Slowly, mix in sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy. Finally, beat in the egg, the vanilla extract and the salt.

In a small bowl, mix together the baking powder and the flour and slowly add them to the cream cheese mixture.

Spoon the batter onto the baking pan. Bake at 325F for 12-14 minutes, or until the bottom edge just barely turns brown.

Baking Tip: Make sure you do not over bake them. When the bottom edge starts to turn brown they still seem not cooked at all on top but they actually are! After 10 minutes I usually move them on a higher rack in the oven.

Makes about 30 cookies.

Raspberry Popsicles

Recipe from People's Pops - it's fantastic!  Such amazing flavor and leaving the seeds in gave it a great texture.

1 lb raspberries - I was lucky enough to score mine at the farmers market!
9 fl oz. simple syrup

That's it!

Nordic Ware!!!

I've always kind of loved it - the molds are so intricate and detailed and shouldn't baked goods look as good as they taste?  Nordic Ware makes that so!

It's not cheap and thus I didn't own any until recently.  Scott found me the Sweetheart Rose muffin pan while he was poking around the bargain box, I found a great price on the Grand Popover pan and when I saw a good price on the Harvest Bites Cakelet Pan I grabbed it.

King Arthur Flour seemed to have a nice result using their Velvet Poundcake recipe, so I think I will start with that recipe.

Be sure to read the article on the King Arthur site to get their notes.

This pound cake — a rich dark brown outside, with a fine, golden crumb — is the perfect base for sliced fruit and a dollop of whipped cream.

The recipe is for pound cake, but can be used to make cakelets/mini muffins.  Bake the acorns for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the nuts comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for about 2 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

• 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3-ounce package cream cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 5 eggs

Directions

1. 1) In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese, at high speed, until they're very light and fluffy. Add the salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder, and mix to combine; the batter will be stiff. Add the extracts, and 1 egg. Beat well. Continue to add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg is added; the finished batter should be extremely light and fluffy.
2. 2) Spoon the batter into a greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. Bake the cake in a preheated 325°F oven for 90 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after 60 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan to cool on a rack. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature; store it well-wrapped at room temperature.

Boozy Popsicles

http://www.endlesssimmer.com/featured/endless-poptails/

Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Pops

The first recipe I am trying from People's Pops!

18 oz fresh blueberries - wash, clean, purée in food processor and strain through sieve into large container, preferably with a pour spout (this is what I use.)

Add 

2 Tbsp of FRESH lemon juice & 

2/3 cup simple syrup (2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup water, heat over medium until boiling and sugar dissolved - store in fridge) 

stir the mixture, add 

1/2 cup cold buttermilk, 

stir and pour into molds. (For these I used the Tovolo bug molds described in this post - it filled all 6 and most of one of the silicon tube pop molds.) 

Freeze 5+ hours.

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Pops

It is not normal how good these are. I expected to like them, but I can't even handle how much I love these. Not gonna lie ... they may well replace my morning coffee (or at least the first one) - I made these in the FoodWorks Silicone tubes (details in previous post) so they would be portable and neat in the car and they are re sealable too ... not sure I have the guts to be commuting while sucking on a brightly colored 6" tube ...

Anyway ...

They are as easy as they are delicious! 2 cups of strong coffee, stir in 1- 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk, pour into molds, freeze for at least 5 hours. I left about.05" room at the top, but it seems unnecessary for this recipe - I filled 6 silicone tubes and had a little left over so I froze that to eat like an Italian ice! Maybe without leaving the extra room it will make an even 6. Or maybe I will freeze this in serving cups because the portions I froze that way turned out perfectly! It's the texture of a Fudgesicle and the flavor and texture is consistent throughout- no separation or chunks of ice.

I used French Press Coffee and it worked really well - it's richer and stronger than drip coffee and I wanted something that would really stand up to the sweetened condensed milk ... I have a legendary sweet tooth, but I have my limits! My favorite coffee is Cafe Bustelo - one of my grocery stores lumps it in with all of the other coffees and the other puts it in the "ethnic" aisle. No matter where it is shelved, it is cheap and really good! When made in a French Press it takes on an almost chocolatey taste and even without milk or sugar, it feels more substantial. I can't say you won't get equally amazing results using another brand or another brewing method, but I can say 2 cups cooled Cafe Bustelo brewed exactly as described in the link combined with 14 oz Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk and frozen for 5+ hours creates a ridiculously delicious ice pop.

Ice Pops

I've recently upgraded some things in my kitchen - some were little things like a soap dispenser, pans - mini madeleines and popovers, ceramic knives, etc. but the best upgrades tend to be gifts from my parents! I'm spoiled and even at 38 I am asked for gift ideas for Christmas and my birthday. The bread maker I got for Christmas has been wonderful and the Cuisinart 8 cup food processor I got for my birthday was the missing piece that brought my whole kitchen up a level! I make pie crust now! And tasks that used to be a bit odious to do by hand just got easier - this will make some of my more labor intensive meals good for week nights!

I love ice pops and now that I have a really great food processor, why not make my own? I prefer the ones that use whole fruits and other good for you ingredients and those are just the kind to make yourself! So, I purchased some supplies and I am seeing where it takes me.

FoodWorks Silicone Popsicle Molds - set of 6
Nice quality - they seal well and can be stored on their side or upside down even. Perfect for a small, crowded apartment freezer.

People's Pops
Beautiful recipe book with lots of great tips on everything from materials and ingredients to how to create your own flavors

Nor pro Ice Pop Maker
Love the silicone molds, but those are not freed up until the pop is eaten - these along with popsicle sticks will allow me to make a new batch as soon as the previous set is done freezing.

Tovolo Bug Pops
They were really cheap at Homegoods and the only ice pop molds in the store - snapped them up in case I had extra ice pop mix (before I ordered the Norpro) but wound up not needing them (yet!!!) They are very cute and the stands work  REALLY well!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

http://www.driscolls.com/recipes/view/4173/Blueberry-Whole-Wheat-Pancakes

I will swap the margarine out for butter or oil, but otherwise sounds perfect!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cups natural sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups low-fat buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cups low-fat margarine, melted
• 2 packages (6 ounces each) Driscoll's Blueberries, plus more for garnish if desired

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl until well combined. Set aside.
   
   In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk with eggs. Using a wooden spoon, stir egg mixture into flour mixture just until combined. Add melted margarine and blueberries and stir gently.
   
   Preheat oven to 200°F. Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat. Let a few drops of cold water fall on the surface. If water bounces, sputters and instantly evaporates, griddle is ready. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto the skillet. Cook 2 minutes, or until bubbles that appear on the surface begin to break and the bottom is golden. Flip pancake and cook 1 minute longer or until lightly golden. Place pancakes on a heatproof platter and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining batter. Garnish with additional blueberries if desired.

Buttermilk waffles

• 
  
• From here: 
• http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/09/06/my-favorite-buttermilk-waffles/

My notes in parentheses 

• 
  
• 1 and 3/4 cups (210g) all-purpose flour (weigh into bowl large enough to mix batter together)
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (add directly to flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (add directly to flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (add directly to flour)
• 3 large eggs, separated (yolks into small bowl that can also accommodate sugar and extract - whites into GLASS container sized to allow for whipping with hand blender/equivalent - I use a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup- and make sure the beaters are clean when whipping whites!)
• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (1 stick - melt in heat safe mixing bowl large enough to accommodate buttermilk, egg yolks, sugar, extract over pot of gently boiling water)
• 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar (add to yolks)
• 1 and 3/4 cups buttermilk (I keep buttermilk powder on hand - I mix 3.5Tbsp buttermilk powder to 1.5 Cups water - then I add to cooled melted butter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 1 tsp Almond extract- really nice! I added it to the yolks and sugar then mixed really well, then added that to the butter/milk and mixed. From there, mix that into flour bowl, then fold in whites gently. 1/3 Cup (on the generous side) per each of 4 waffles per press yields 12-14 waffles which take about 5 min to cook - when the steaming slows/stops, usually waffles are done)

My Fish

 That is Fourtinbras - he was #4 of 6 of the original guppies

 That is Five-el - he was #5 of 6 of the original guppies

 Jeff (White) and Maude (Orange and White) are the goldfish

This is poor Mr. Fighty - RIP little buddy.

Not pictured = Team Green (4 Kubotai), Gary the snail (Nerite) Rammstein the snail (ramshorn) and the descendants of Rammstein.

Lemon Curd

Lemon curd

Banana bread

This doubled really nicely!


Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Spread slices with honey or serve with ice cream.

Bread Machine

I got a bread machine for Christmas! The unit doesn't bake so Oster is sending me a new one and a return label for the broken one, but it mixes, kneads and allows for a nice rise, so I have been mixing doughs to bake in the oven until the replacement arrives. I need a place to stick ideas and resources for the bread machine, so here it is!

Dinner rolls
Recipes
Flour weights and measures