This is our grocery store haul.

When I was a kid, those red boxes of Duncan Hines cake mix were like the Holy Grail.  My mom didn’t cook or bake, but my grandmother and Aunt Jessie did.  They mostly baked from scratch, but there were a few recipes that they used boxed cake mix for.  For me and my sisters, when we weren’t at Grandma’s house we relied on boxed cake mixes (when we could afford them) to satisfy our sweet tooth.

I won my first baking contest with a boxed mix.  We had moved yet again and on the block we lived on was a small community center, library (I adored that library!) and park.  I don’t quite remember how I found out about the baking contest, but I was determined to enter it.  I was ten years old.

I somehow talked my mother into letting me buy a Duncan Hines cake mix (yellow cake) and used what we had in the kitchen to bake a pineapple upside down cake.  I carefully pressed in the brown sugar and added rings of pineapple and maraschino cherries to my buttered pan, then poured in that lovely golden cake batter.  I remember the looks on the judges faces when they ate my cake and somehow, a ten year old kid with a boxed cake mix beat out experienced bakers and grownups.  I went home with the blue ribbon!  My Grandma Lupe treasured that ribbon and kept it till the day she died.

Now I’m teaching Jasmine and Aiden to bake, and while we often bake from scratch we also use boxed mixes and dress them up.  Recently, Foodbuzz, Comstock and Duncan Hines offered me an opportunity to try out some of their new products and I jumped at it.  Jasmine, Aiden and I excitedly went to the market, used our coupon plus some of our own money because they saw a bunch of other stuff, and came home with way too many baking goodies.

We made a plain  yellow cake, marbled with a little chocolate batter topped chocolate frosting which was what Aiden wanted and the next day, made brownies with a filling of Comstock cherries.  They went fast. The kids were wired for sound with all that sugar but they had a blast.  There is nothing like seeing the faces of two little kids excited about cooking or baking.

I loved taking a step back in time to my share my childhood memories of baking from boxed mixes with my grandchildren.  They had just as much fun and excitement as they do when we measure out flour, cream butter, and other “from scratch” stuff.

*Note: As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received free samples from Duncan-Hines and one from Comstock in the form of coupons.  Duncan-Hines also provided a few extra coupons to give out to family and friends which we decided to use as Christmas stocking stuffers.

Did you ever have a serious yearning for cookies and need to make them NOW?

That was me today around four o’clock.

I wanted cookies and nothing else would do.  I was sure I had the ingredients for a basic sugar cookie dough so I got started.  I found some nuts and chopped them up finely; dug butter out from behind all the Thanksgiving leftovers and also chopped some maraschino cherries (no idea why, it just seemed like a good idea).  I opened the freezer and saw the blueberries I’d bought on sale and froze so I grabbed a few of those as well.

I creamed together butter and sugar; added the eggs and vanilla and went to get the flour.  There was NO FLOUR!

This never happens.  I ALWAYS have flour.  So I freaked out a little and started hunting.  Nope, no flour.  This was seriously a kitchen disaster.  I couldn’t run out to the store because I just paid some bills and had no money left.  Not even for flour.  And, I had those eggs and butter mixed up already in a bowl on the counter.  *Note to self: Next time make sure you have ALL the ingredients!

I should know better.  I’ve preached mis en place to my kids and grandkids for years.  I was never going to live this one down.  Frantically, I gave the kitchen one more pass through.  I found not flour, but Maseca.  Um, could I make cookies out of corn flour?  My tastebuds rebelled.  I found pancake mix.  Hmmmmm.

There’s flour in pancake mix.  That’s it.  I used pancake mix substituting the two and a half cups of flour for two cups of pancake mix.  I hesitated for a moment wondering if I should omit the baking powder, then at the last minute added it.  It looked like cookie dough.  It tasted like cookie dough, so feeling brave; I added the chopped nuts and cherries.

I didn’t chill it.  I figured rolling out sugar cookies with this batch could go badly.  So I made them drop cookies and carefully dropped them into the pan, topping each in the center with a blueberry.  I popped them into the oven and crossed my fingers.

Soon, the kitchen smelled heavenly and like cookies but I still had my doubts.  Taste would tell.  The cookies stuck a little to the pan and folded over almost like a tuille cookie.  Hmm.  I picked up one of the broken pieces and popped it into my mouth.  YUM!  The cookie tasted like a combination of a Mexican wedding cookie and shortbread.  I adore both so these cookies were absolutely delicious.  I shaped one quickly while it was still warm and sure enough, it cooled in the shape.  They’d work as tuilles.  Cool!  The cherries and blueberries as an accent gave them a light, fruity pop.

All that is left of my experiment is crumbs.  I will be making these again WITH the pancake mix and trying them out as tuilles.

Sometimes, a kitchen disaster can turn into something absolutely delish.

Basic Sugar Cookie Dough

October brings many things and is also a month of memory for me.  My grandmother Lupe for whom this blog is in honor of was born in October so this month always makes me think of her.  It is also the time in Los Angeles, when pumpkins make their way into the markets for Halloween.  More and more I see the heirloom ones, all knobby and in a beautiful array of colors popping up everywhere.  I love the Cinderella pumpkins for all their squished beauty and wish I had had one as a child to dream about turning it into a magic coach to take me to the ball.  The one’s I gravitate most to in the stores though are the big regular Halloween pumpkins.

When I go to the market with the grandkids, they see jack-o-lanterns and I see pies, pasta, ravioli filling, grilled pumpkin in salads, soups, empanadas, muffins, and more.  The season is brutally short though.  I can never find a single pumpkin past Halloween and I wonder where they go.  Solution:  buy them all at once!

As money allows, I tend to buy up as many big pumpkins as I can and fill the freezer.  There are a TON of recipes on the internet for things to do with pumpkin and it just makes sense to me to put up a little money upfront and a lot of work in order to have pumpkin in my pantry and freezer all year round.  Why buy canned when you can preserve your own?  It’s economical and it makes sense, especially if you love to cook.

My favorite thing to do with pumpkin is make empanadas.  The filling is simple and delicious.  I’m sure there are many different ways to do it, but this is mine.

Cinnamon-Steamed Pumpkin for Empanadas

1 large pumpkin
Water
2 cinnamon sticks

In a large stock pot with a steamer basket, add just enough water to come below the steamer basket.  Add the cinnamon sticks and turn on the heat to low.  Add chunks of un-peeled pumpkin to the steamer basket and cover.

Depending on how big your chunks are (I tend to cut the pumpkin into quarters because it’s easier) the steaming can take anywhere from 20 minutes if you have small bits to a few hours with the big pieces.

Keep adding water as it evaporates – that’s important.  You want to keep the cinnamon steam going.

Steam until the pumpkin flesh is translucent and soft.

Once it cools you can just scoop along the rind with a spoon and get all the pulp into a large mixing bowl.

Pumpkin Empanada filling

Not measured, everything is to taste for me with this.

Pumpkin pulp
Sugar – to taste
Cinnamon – to taste
Dash Ginger
Dash Mace

Mash the pumpkin pulp until is is smooth.  Add sugar, powdered cinnamon, ginger and mace to taste.

That’s it!  Simple, delicious and it fills the empanadas nicely.  You want to be sure to strain it though and not get the residual juice into your empanadas or they will be soggy.  I use the juice for liquados or put it into cakes, etc.  It freezes nicely too.

Well, they didn’t walk in and there was no bar, it was empanadas.  I had about 12 pounds of figs left from the last few days of fig harvest on our tree, bought some apples and a nice sized pumpkin the other day at the market.  As soon as I saw the pumpkins, I knew empanadas were happening.  I didn’t count on there being apple and fig ones too but the pumpkin ones were a no-brainer.  Grandkids were coming for the weekend and there was going to be an empanada bakeathon in my kitchen.

A couple of days ago when I bought the pumpkin it was cold.  In fact, I was wearing my Ugg boots and sweater on that market trip.  Even last night when I cooked down the pumpkin it was a bit chilly.  I couldn’t sleep so for some crazy reason, I hopped up at 1a.m threw the whole basket of figs into a pot with some cinnamon and sugar and turned it down to simmer then finally snuggled in with Jasmine, Aiden and Ozzy and eventually slept.  I woke bright and early and got the kids breakfast, took the dog out and surveyed my figs which had cooked down perfectly while I was in dreamland.  When I went to the fridge to get the butter for the masa, I saw the apples and they ended up on the chopping board.  I’m a little obsessed about baking.  Then it hit me that the sun was blazing and I had an oven pre-heating.  Fun.  Oh well – empanadas were happening.

We baked all day.  Empanada after empanada was rolled, filled, pinched, poked, egg washed and baked.  Jasmine turned out to be quite the expert at rolling and forming them.  I’m so proud of her.  Her little rounds fell off her rolling pin in perfect circles.  She is SUCH a baker!  Aiden on the other hand, hmmm.

Aiden decided to take a mixing bowl, fill it with Maseca (corn masa), cinnamon, sugar, salt, milk, warm water, some butter and some mace.  Then he mixed it all up, asking me every so often to taste; which I did reluctantly.  I deserve the Grandma of the Year Award for that one.  When he’d decided it was perfect, he dipped corn tortilla chips in it, pronounced it his gourmet dipping sauce and asked, “I’m a weely good chef, aren’t I Gwaaaamy?”  I said yes, choked down a few more of those chips with as little of the “dipping sauce” as possible and tried to foist the rest off on my son Phillip who wasn’t having any of it.  Wimp.

By the time Marissa got here to pick up her kids the house was filled with the smell of baking, she had two very exhausted kids (they’ll be asleep before they get home) and a basket full of empanadas to go.  I get the messy kitchen and a sad-eyed dog who’s just lost his litter mates (my grandkids).  Sorry Ozzy, it’s going to be a long, lonely week till they’re back again for Wepa Weekend with Grammy.

Empanada Dough

4 cups of flour
1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup of butter
Warm water
Egg wash

Mix the dry ingredients well, then cut in the butter.  Add the eggs and enough warm water to mix the dough into a smooth ball.  I add it about 1/4 cup at a time.  You don’t want to work the dough too much, just enough to get it smooth and elastic.  It seems to vary each time I make it depending on the weather or the flour’s absorbency.  My grandmother did the same, worked the water in bit by bit rather than a set amount.  Kinda like pie dough.

Once you have a nice smooth ball, cover it with a damp cloth.  I tend to prefer flour sack because it’s what my grandmother used and it works really well.  It keeps the dough from drying out and since I usually make tons of empanadas whenever I make them, the dough tends to sit for a long time.  Every time the towel dries I just sprinkle a little more water on it.

Form small balls of dough by pinching off a piece.  I say about the size for tortillas.  Keep those covered under the damp cloth as well.  Roll the each ball out to about a 4-inch diameter.  We like our empanadas big here but you can do them smaller.

Scoop a bit of filling into the center, then brush a little water on the edges of the dough.  Fold over.

Press down with your fingers all around the semi-circle then fold the dough over and pinch. Keep doing that all the way around.  It gives the empanadas a double seal and helps keep the filling in.

Take a fork and poke a few air holes into the center of the empanada, then brush with egg wash and place on a greased baking sheet.  Repeat until your baking sheet is full.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.  I go by smell so I never time them.  You want the empanadas golden brown.

Try to wait at least 20 minutes for them to cool or you’ll burn your tongue on the hot filling.

You can fill empanadas with pumpkin, cherries, pineapple, apples, pretty much anything.  Ours were filled with pumpkin, apples and a fig jam.  Some of them were a combination of fig jam and apple and some plain.

Buen provecho!

I have the little fig tree that could growing in our backyard.  This place we moved into had been left in disrepair and the yard was buried under 6 foot tall weeds and dry brush.  My son Phillip and my roommate David took turns with the weed whacker and one day, we found a fig tree.  It was small, literally buried under weeds, bone dry and yet it was brimming with little green figs.  My heart stopped.  I LOVE figs.

Growing up, whenever we’d go to my Tia Luz’ house she’d have peaches and figs fresh from her trees and they were always so delicious.  Like eating warm candy when you picked them from the tree.  She’d always send my grandmother over baskets full of delicious black mission figs and whenever they’d show up, I’d be jumping up and down dying to get one into my mouth.

We weeded around the little tree, watered it faithfully and it astounded us with it’s bounty.  At first, it was giving about a pound a day which disappeared as soon as we’d pick them.  The following week it was giving about two pounds a day and I made jam.  Just the other day, I went out and picked at least ten pounds.  I sent five of those pounds to a friend in Chicago and we’re still brimming with figs.  More jam is planned.  I want to try a fig marmalade with lemon rind.  The grandkids were here and I felt like making pastry, so I thought, “why not a tart?”

My recipes called for custard with the tart but I wanted something lighter and then I found a Greek-based custard recipe here with one of my fellow Foodbuzz Featured Publishers.  It was almost what I wanted, but of course I changed it.  I can’t help myself.  Can never leave a recipe alone.

I used Julia Child’s perfect pie crust recipe because it’s my favorite flaky pie dough and is uber simple.  I didn’t use honey for the custard, I used a syrupy balsamic with agua de azahares (orange flower water) and tangerine zest.  I loved the tart but the next time I make it, I’ll slice the figs thinner like I would for a French Apple Tart.  I halved these and while it was good and everyone loved it, it was a little much.

Custard (adapted from Gastronomer’s Guide)

2 pounds ripe black Mission Figs, sliced
16 ounces of plain Greek yogurt
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
3 tablespoons balsamic cream plus more to drizzle on figs
Zest of two tangerines or oranges
1 tsp. Orange flower water

Mix together the yogurt, eggs and 1/4 cup of the sugar till well blended.  Add the balsamic creme, tangerine zest and orange flower water and mix.  If the mixture seems runny, don’t worry it will set just fine.

Pour the mixture into a pre-baked tart shell – I used a large oval baking dish so if you are using a smaller one you will have enough batter for two possibly.  Arrange the sliced figs all over the custard, slightly layering them.  Drizzle more balsamic cream over the figs and sprinkle with the remaining two tablespoons of sugar.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the custard is set and the crust and figs are well browned.

Allow tart to cool for about 15-20 minutes before serving to give the custard time to set firmly and the juices from the figs to soak in.  Serve warm.

Amaranth

Amaranth or amaranto in Spanish is an ancient grain.  For the Aztec/Mexica people, it was a staple along with corn and beans.  Some amaranth species are considered to have a 30% higher protein value than cereals like rice, wheat flour and oats.

This nutritious food was actually outlawed by the Spanish during the conquest of Mexico so I take great pleasure in eating it just on principle.  Don’t get me started on the Conquista…but the people were absolutely forbidden to cultivate it or consume it.  It is reported to contain between 75% and 87% of total human nutritional requirements!  The Mexica were so cognizant of its high nutritional value that The Mendocino Codez indicates that over 4,000 tons of it arrived every year in the captial city of Tenochitlan.

The grain isn’t the only good part of the Amaranth plant.  The leaves are spinach-like and absolutely delicious.  In Ancient Mexico, they were often a part of tamales and still are to this day in certain parts of Mexico.  I use them in tamales, salads, cook them like spinach and have even used them in a quiche, that’s how versatile they are.

I find whole amaranth stalks at Mexican markets, the grain I find in the bulk section at Whole Foods Market.  I’m also working on growing it in raised beds for next summer.  We moved into the Camellia house too late to start a summer garden, but I’m determined to have a full veggie/herb garden by next year.

Amaranth is an essential part of my pantry and I’m always looking for new ways to cook it.  I make sure to always feed it to the grandkids when they are here just so they get that high nutritional content.  I mean seriously this grain is a POWERHOUSE.  It has protein, vitamins like A, B, C, B1, B2, B3, minerals like calcium, phosphorus and iron.  It has a high amino acid content as well.

Dating back from Aztec times is the ubiquitous (in Mexico) Alegria candy.  Alegria means happiness and I know these Rice Krispy-like treats make us happy here at home.  The ingredients are simple and it’s fun to make.  Toasted amaranth grain, pecans, piloncillo, lemon juice and water.  Thats all it takes to make a candy that is pleasing and fun for the kids, economical and packed with nutrition.  It beats the heck out of Rice Krispy treats that are packed with sugar and lacking in nutrition.  Oh and one more thing for my gluten-free friends, amaranth is absolutely lacking in gluten!

Alegrias

3 c. toasted amaranth grains
2 lbs, piloncillo (Mexican cane sugar cones)
4 cups of water
Juice of two lemons
Chopped pecans

Toast the amaranth grains in a heavy skillet on a medium flame until they pop.  They pop like popcorn so I recommend using a bacon grease screen.  You want them very lightly toasted, don’t let it burn.  Pour into a large heat-resistant bowl or a big pot.

In a saucepan bring the water to a boil and add in the piloncillo cones and lemon juice.  Lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened enough to where a little ball forms if you drip a bit of the syrup into a glass of water.   When that happens, stir a bit more then remove from the heat.

Carefully pour the hot syrup over the amaranth grain and stir it in slowly, making sure it’s completely mixed through.  Add in the chopped pecans and mix well.  I use a wooden spoon and mix it quickly as it cools fast.

Scoop into a square cake pan (in Mexico there are special squares made of wood for it) and smooth it from side to side.  Use a rolling pin with no handles or a bottle to roll across and press down to make sure it’s packed tight and even.

Cut into squares with a wet knife and let cool.  You’ll have to wet the knife after each cut to prevent sticking.  Once the alegrias are cooled, serve just like a puffed rice treat.  My grandkids love eating them with a big glass of cold milk.

Buen provecho!

*Photo by Kurt Stueber licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

I recently had the pleasure of being asked to review Lovin’ Scoopful ice cream, a product I was extremely interested in not only because of my love of ice cream but because the company donates 25% ($50,000 minimum annually) of its post-tax profits to the Special Olympics. Full disclosure: I received two coupons for free ice cream, a t-shirt and some $1.00 coupons.

As most of my readers know, I live in Los Angeles and you would think it would be easy enough to find this ice cream. Once I had my free coupons in hand, I roamed every Albertson’s and Ralph’s searching for it to no avail. I was starting to get a little desperate for ice cream when I finally found it at the Albertson’s on Central and Chevy Chase in Glendale. I was really drooling and looking forward to the Raspberry Cheesecake flavor but the market I found it at only carried chocolate and vanilla so that’s what I got.

I was expecting a not so creamy, kinda diet flavor in the ice cream given it has half the calories but was absolutely blown away by the rich, creaminess to it as well as a luscious taste. There were some incredibly happy people in my household. We want more!! We’re dying to try the other flavors and are begging our local markets to carry the brand and more than just chocolate and vanilla. Raspberry Cheesecake please!

I highly recommend the ice cream if you can find it. It not only tastes great and is less calories for your hips, but it’s ice cream for a cause and a good one. Think of it as socially responsible ice cream. You’re not cheating on your diet, you’re helping your community.

***************************************************

For a map and a full list of stores carrying Lovin’ Scoopful ice cream, visit the brand’s official website. For areas not yet served, consumers are encouraged to request that Lovin’ Scoopful be added to ice cream shelves of your favorite store by simply asking the manager in charge.

Lovin’ Scoopful is very excited to announce its newest social media tool to the world, a brand new Facebook application called: What Flavor Ice Cream Are You? Lovin’ Scoopful has created a new Facebook application designed to be fun and engaging for new and existing fans of the brand. Facebook fans will be able to interact directly with Lovin’ Scoopful through a series of playful and light-hearted questions. This quiz app will allow fans to tag themselves and their friends as specific Lovin’ Scoopful ice cream flavors, based on their answers. This app provides fans with an entertaining way to match their personalities with ice cream flavors that best represents them. Fans will be able to invite their friends to participate and challenge them to take the quiz to see how well they match-up.

Join the conversation!
Find us on Facebook and become a fan: http://www.facebook.com/lovinscoopful
Find out what flavor of ice cream you are by trying our new Facebook application:
What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LovinScoopful

ABOUT LOVIN’ SCOOPFUL
Lovin’ Scoopful is a premium ice cream company operating with the objective of making not only its customers happy, but making many others happy as well through significant contributions to causes that help empower the human spirit. Tim and Maria Shriver, Angelo Moratti and Dan Samson, launched Lovin’ Scoopful in 2008 with the intent of offering a high quality, fun and health conscious product that would also serve as an ongoing source of revenue for worthy causes. Currently, the company is proud to donate 25% ($50,000 minimum annually) of its post-tax profits to Special Olympics. As the company’s creative director, Maria has been involved in every step of the product development process. “I’ve loved having a hand in all aspects of the company, from creating the sumptuous flavors and coming up with the product names and logo, to ensuring that the quality of our ice cream is the best our customers have ever experienced.”

Lovin’ Scoopful – “Loves you as much as you love it!”
For the full scoop on all Lovin’ Scoopful fabulous flavors, visit www.lovinscoopful.com

ABOUT SPECIAL OLYMPICS
The Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives by promoting understanding, acceptance and inclusion among people with and without intellectual disabilities. Through year-round sports training and athletic competition and other related programming for 2.8 million children and adults with intellectual disabilities in more than 180 countries, Special Olympics has created a model community that celebrates peoples’ diverse gifts. Founded in 1968 by the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics provides people with intellectual disabilities continuing opportunities to realize their potential, develop physical fitness, and demonstrate courage and experience joy and friendship. Visit Special Olympics at www.specialolympics.org.

You see them in the markets sometimes individually wrapped in plastic. Green, bumpy looking things that are oddly shaped. Chayotes. What is it? A squash? What the heck do I do with it?
Chayotes were a big part of my growing up. We didn’t find them in the market, they grew on fences in great abundance and we were always excited when it was time to pick them. Chayotes are springtime in a squash. Light green skin, translucent green insides and in a word delicious. You can make them in any number of ways but my two favorites are very simple and show the versatility of the squash.

The first thing we did with chayotes was slice them in half, toss them in boiling salted water and wait till they softened. We’d fish them out of the hot water with a slotted spoon, place them on a plate, sprinkle with salt and fresh squeezed lemon and just dig in. They tasted like nothing else. Fresh, springy and piquant they just screamed out healthy and good. We loved them and would eat one after another. I still make chayotes that way and still love them. I also slice them into soups, use chopped, cooked chayotes in salads or meat dishes. They are even used in desserts like my favorite below.

Chayotes con crema y uvas (Chayotes with Cream and Green Grapes)

3-4 chayotes, peeled, cored, diced into chunks
1/2 pound green, seedless grapes
Crema Mexicana or heavy cream, whipped
1 tsp. Vanilla
Sugar to taste
Dash nutmeg

Boil the chayotes in unsalted water till softened, about 10 minutes. You want them firm but cooked through. Strain out and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside to drain.
Wash and hull the grapes and place in a large bowl, add in the drained chayote.

Whip the cream to stiff peaks, slowly adding sugar to taste (you want just a hint of sweetness), the vanilla and the nutmeg. Scrape it out into the bowl with the grapes and chayotes and gently fold in.

Serve in parfait cups or on top of pound cake. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

This is a really simple, homey recipe.  There are no quantities listed because it all depends on how many you want to make and sweet potatoes vary in size.   These tacos are slightly sweet and the orange-honey dipping sauce gives them an extra kick.  Very good on on a cold day.

Sweet potatoes
Water
Cinnamon stick
Corn tortillas
Olive oil

Peel and slice sweet potatoes into large chunks.  Put in saucepan with just enough water to cover them.  Add cinnamon stick.
Bring to boil, then lower heat.  Cook until soft enough to mash but still firm.

Strain the cooked sweet potatoes and reserve the liquid they boiled in.

When the potatoes are completely drained, mash and set aside.

Heat corn tortillas on a griddle and scoop a spoonful of sweet potato into each one.  Fold over and squish it so that it holds together.  Assemble until you’re out of sweet potato.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Add enough to cover tacos.

When oil is hot enough slide in the tacos and fry until hard and crispy on each side.

Remove from oil and drain excess oil.

Serve with dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce

Juice of an orange
Honey
Reserved liquid from sweet potatoes

Mix the juice of an orange with some of the reserved liquid from the sweet potatoes and add enough honey so that you get a syrupy mixture.  That’s it.

So there was this chocolate sauce just sitting in my fridge, left over from the eclairs.  The chocolate glaze was in there too.  Seriously, they were calling me, begging not to be left in there on their own.  Several times, i walked over and thought maybe I should make more eclairs.  Maybe creampuffs.  No, it’s too hot. Then today it got to be too much.  I finished the chapter in the book I was reading and headed for the kitchen .  I sat at the table with the recipe and my cup of coffee and decided to go for it.

The chocolate glaze had hardened so I set it in simmering water.  I decided to do the same lavender-orange pastry cream since it turned out so delicious and decided at the last moment to pour a little lavender into the chocolate glaze.  I love lavender chocolate.

The pâte à choux was easier to do work with this time.  I’m not sure why but it was.  In fact, the whole thing was so simple, I am worried for my hips.  I could easily make these all the time.

I piped big fat circles onto parchment paper covered baking sheets and set them to bake.  I know!  Baking again in August.  Crazy I tell you.  Estoy pero bien loca.  That means I’m pretty crazy in Spanish.

The circles puffed beautifully, everything went like clockwork.  I decided to scoop the remaining chocolate sauce on the bottom of each cream puff, then load it with the cream and top with glaze.  They were delicious, rich and sinfully decadent.

I think I’m going to live to regret having these in my repertoire…you see my dilemna.