Christmas gifts... filled with hints

I opened up Xmas gifts with the roomie last night.  My gifts were all baking themed.  I received the following:
- a new vegan cookie cookbook: The vegan cookie connoisseur from the lady at this website
- a madeleine pan

I am really excited to bake up some fresh madeleines.  They are so expensive at stores so I figure that means they are going to be a pain to make, but I am up to the challenge.  Since I am moving this week I have decided that I will christen my new oven with these cookies.

A few days before xmas, my best buddy Joseph and I had breakfast together and exchanged gifts.  He presented me with a Trader Joe's bag full of baking necessities.  There was flour and chocolate chips, a bag of peanut flour and a TJ's gift card.  I am trying to come up with what to make with the peanut flour.  Obviously it will be some kind of peanut butter cookie.

Now all this baking paraphernalia says two things to me.  1. My friends know that this is something that I really like to do.  How nice that they have paid attention. 2. They all want to benefit from this hobby.  Nothing like giving a gift that is partially for you too.

Bake-a-thon

Today, after Zumba, a final Xmas shopping stop and a trip to the grocery store, I decided I was going to bake something.  Ok, ok.  I decided I was going to bake several somethings.  I ended up making 3 items out of the 4 that I was considering for the menu.

First up was the vegan cookies & creme cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World.

Then there was the magic bars that seem to be plentiful around the holidays but I have never made.  I pulled the recipe up from allrecipes.com but it was super stingy on the measurements.  I had to add more graham cracker crumbs, coconut and pecans, BUT should have taken the chocolate chip measurement down a 1/2 cup.

When all that was said and done, I whipped up (literally) an orange pound cake recipe that came from a Saveur magazine.  As I was making it (and modifying the damn directions - who beats flour and sugar and butter all at once?  Sugar and butter, yes. But all the flour flies everywhere.) I realized that I forgot most of my oranges at work.  I have to glaze it tomorrow. Oh well.  I am sure that it will still taste good.

PICS:

Inagurual bake - AKA Beet pie challenge

What:
Beet pie
From:
Pie of the Month website.  recipe found here - http://www.pieofthemonthclub.org/archives/arch_1_beet.html
Why:
Joseph found out he liked beets.  Then he thought "someone should make a pie with them."  The challenge was then issued to me.

Process:

here are the beets after I cooked the shit out of them.  It took soooo long to get these suckers tender enough. Now, I don't actually know how long that was because i kept going back and checking them, but my guess was at least 45 min, but could have been up to an hour and a scosh. 

After cooking them, I had to remove the peels.  How did I do this? With my hands of course.  I proceeded to stain my hands several shades of red/purple, wash them, and stain them again since i had to grate the suckers.  It all looked so gory.  Blood and viscera and a big mess.

"No officer, I swear.  It's not human. It's beets."

 Once all the dirty work was done, I could put together the pie.  Now, really, it was more work then it should have been.  If you (the Royal You) decided to make this then you should make the following changes.
1. dont boil anything. just mix it up in a bowl.
2. substitute some vanilla extract for the damn bean.  I'd say anywhere from a 1/2 tsp to a whole one.
Also know that this makes more then will actually fit in the standard deep dish pie crust, so you can cut everything down a bit

 Now here is the final product. Looked pretty good and smelled really good.

Final Verdict:

Meh.  It tasted like you would think a beet pie tastes.  If you are a person that likes beets, nay, loves beets then this is for you.  It was creamy and vanillay and full of beets. 

I dont think that I will make this again, but I had fun trying.