Essential refrigerator baking items

Every morning I literally have to tell myself to stay positive and be happy.  I hope one day this will come natural for me and I don't have to tell myself.  Rock bottom is not where I want to ever re-visit.

I don't know if I mentioned that the reason I am doing this baking challenge is because I have literally watched Julie and Julia 1,000,013 times!!!!  I absolutely adore that movie.  I used to watch Julia Childs when I was younger.  

Alright moving on, this is not a complete list of all the items you could possibly need, just what you should have on hand when baking.

BUTTERMILK- I use the cultured lowfat version which can be purchased at any grocery store.  Also if you are in a bind you can make your own buttermilk at home by taking one cup of milk and mixing in one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice.  I actually tried this one and it worked great.  

BUTTER- I have used sooooooo much butter these last two weeks, like five pounds.  There are basically two types of butter salted and unsalted.  My recipes all call for unsalted so that is all I have on hand.  NEVER use margarine in place of salt, you will be cheating yourself, real butter makes everything taste better.

EGGS- I use regular large eggs from the grocery store.  I actually used dozen in one day making two recipes. So back to the store I went to get more.

HEAVY CREAM- I keep a small container on hand because a lot of other meals I cook call for heavy cream.

PLAIN YOGURT- Many of the quick bread recipes use yogurt to keep the bread moist.

That is pretty much all you really need to have on hand in your refrigerator for many recipes!!!!

Guess what I have planned today!!!!!  Long run wohoo!!

What do you eat on your long run? I love gummy bears

Do you eat everything in your house when you get back from a run?

Do you use butter or margarine?

Day eleven is pure heaven!!!

After going to the grocery store and stocking up on by baking essentials, 5 pounds of flour, 8 pounds of sugar, heavy whipping cream, eggs, butter (of course) chocolate chips and a few other things I came home to conquer day 11.  

I found a new brand of spices and they are bottled in these really neatly printed bottles.  

Morton&Bassett out of San Francisco.  I have not seen whole nutmeg since I was a kid so I was super excited to find these bad boys.  

I doubled up on recipes because I was feeling super productive.  

First recipe was Lemon squares.  No lie these took for ever to make and I was sweating, which made me wonder what level of fitness I am really at!!!!

The recipe called for 2/3 cup of lemon juice and 1/4 cup lemon zest.  This is where the sweating took place.  If you have never hand juiced or zested lemons this was a time consuming, making me wonder what the hell I was thinking moment. IT TOOK AN HOUR.  

First you had to compose a "crust" for the lemon filling to sit on top of which was the easiest part of this recipe.  I just combined all purpose flour, salt, powdered sugar and butter with a pastry blender and pressed it into the bottom of a pan to bake, while the filling was being made.

Look very closely you will see the hand squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest.  I am very proud of that.

Oh and lets not let the seven egg yolks plus two whole eggs not be mentioned. The filling had to be cooked over medium heat and constantly stirred.  Butter, sugar, pinch of salt, lemon juice, lemon zest, heavy cream, and a lot of eggs comprised the filling.  After it started to turn into a "gelatin like," texture I  poured it into the crust I had already made. Final product review, definitely worth the time, best lemon bars I have ever had.

I contemplated calling it a day after the lemon bars, but I had already committed to the chocolate chip recipes, plus I had a helper.  I pulled Zachary off the video games and made him help.

I have always been a Nestle tollhouse chocolate chip girl and thought there was no better.  There is better. 

Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies.  While the end product was not thick they were awesome.

My helper really like the chocolate chips.  The hand was not part of the ingredients.  I used all purpose flour, melted butter, 1 yolk, 1whole egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt, brown and white sugar, and handless chocolate chips.  Maybe it was because extra love went into these cookies, but they will be my go to chocolate chip cookies from now on.

 

I used almost a pound of butter, almost a dozen eggs, and about 10 lemons.  I frozed most of the lemon bars because they will be so refereshing frozen.  It is so much fun to try new recipes.  I hope I feel the same way in about six months.  Day 11 twelve recipes down.  

Not much planned for this weekend, getting ready to go to my double spin class to work off the treats from yesterday.  I hope everybody has a great Saturday!!!

Have you ever had to juice/zest a ton of lemons? Did you sweat?

What is your favorite type of cookie? Peanut butter for me

What are you Saturday plans?

Day one!!! Classic yellow bundt cake, and a new running record

I really did not know where to start with 700 recipes, so I just turned to a page.  Classic yellow bundt cake, it is in the oven now and it smells so good.  It was a pretty simple recipe with basic ingredients that most people already have in their pantry.  

Usually when I bake I don't use precise measurements, I just eyeball it, however I want to follow every step and use exactly what each recipe calls for.  In the picture above, there are 3 eggs plus an extra yolk.  The egg situation was different because I usually throw the yolk out and eat only egg whites. Oops... Also ther is vanilla, lemon juice, white all purpose flour, unsalted butter, buttermilk, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  The eggs, butter, and buttermilk were room temperature per the recipe.

This challenge requires me to taste everything, I mean that is what all the professional chefs do!!! Yes, I licked the beater and the bowl and it was perfect.  I use a Kitchenmaid Artisan mixer. I have had it for twelve years, it is an important part of my life.  People laugh because when I move, it sits in the front seat next to me.  Hopefully, I won't have to move anytime soon.

Finished product. 699 more to go 364 days!!!

As I took on this challenge, I realized that none of the recipes are conducive to maintaining my "girlish" figure. In order to negate all the "extra" baked goods, I have decided to increase my mileage and incorporate a two-a-day workout when possible.

This morning I took to the sidewalks and knocked out a seven mile run.  When I got home and downloaded my Garmin I got an alert

This made me so happy!!!!! 

Should I do a step by step of my recipes or just an overview?

Do you bake? What is your favorite baked good? 

Do you have any fall races scheduled?