Last year, when I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon, I figured it was a one and done race. I was there to get my Coast to Coast medal and had no plans on going back. That was until runDisney announced the Dumbo Double Dare – a 10K race on Saturday followed by a half marathon on Sunday. It’s an inaugural race and with a little bit of peer pressure, I found myself signed up. What else is new? Continue reading “Maple Bacon Biscuits”
The other day, someone asked me why I wasn’t posting recipes anymore. I didn’t think much of it until someone else asked me and then another person asked. So why haven’t I been baking? For starters, I’ve been trying to clean up my eating. Then I was also busy training for Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge in January. Training? What’s up with that? I know there have been recent blog posts that make it seem the races are a walk in the park (pardon the pun) and not a whole lot of training is required. But believe me, you do have to train to complete a marathon, Disney or otherwise. Behind the theme parks, characters and the fluff of the tutus, you are out there walking or running 13.1 miles for a half marathon and double that distance for the marathon. It’s not like you can wake up, jump into the race at mile 25 and claim that you’ve run an entire marathon. And while it is true that you’ll get a medal regardless of whether you officially finish a Disney race, that isn’t the point. Anyway, I digress. If you are seriously training, then you know how little time and energy you have on the weekend for things besides running and napping. That’s where I’ve been and that’s what I’ve been doing. And if you’re looking to start running, here’s a good spot – 10 Tips for New Runners.
But enough about that, let’s talk about the good stuff! The kind of stuff you can eat and not feel guilty about after a good long run – muffins.
Cherries are in season and I came home with a big bag of them a few days ago. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them all but I knew I wanted to try something different. I had just finished making a focaccia and thought it would be interesting to see how a normally savoury bread would work with sweet ingredients. I still wanted to keep the savoury element so I added fresh rosemary and some fleur de sel for sprinkling on top.
The focaccia dough proofs in the olive oil but don’t let that throw you off. The oil gives the bread a really nice hint of rosemary flavor – it doesn’t make the bread heavy or too oily. Finally, the cherries add a bright freshness to the bread. Not something you’d normally expect to find in a focaccia.So give this recipe a try the next time you’re looking for a slightly sweeter bread to serve during your breakfast or brunch. Enjoy!
And now to decide what to do with the rest of these cherries… Continue reading “Cherry and Rosemary Focaccia Bread”
Fans of Disney World know that when you plan a trip to see the mouse, you have to book your dining reservations 180 days in advance. It might seem a little strange but if you don’t make those reservations, you may not get to eat where you want, when you want. Many of you know that I’m going back to Disney World in January for marathon weekend to do Goofy’s Race and Half Challenge with my running group. Which means our 180-day window is coming up and it’s time to get organized. One of our group meals is going to be at the Polynesian resort. It’s my favorite resort at Disney – I love the theming of the resort and I think it has some of the best restaurants on property. That got me thinking about some of my favorite foods from the Polynesian. One of those is ‘Ohana’s Pineapple Breakfast Bread.
My friend Elizabeth recently asked me for a muffin recipe. I had to think about that one for a minute because it’s been a while since I’ve made any. But it didn’t take me long to dig out one of my favorites. This is one for lemon blueberry buttermilk muffins. And since I’m sharing it with her, I’m going to share them with you as well. Continue reading “Lemon blueberry buttermilk muffins”
You know that moment when you take something out of the oven and it’s looks exactly the way it should? That squeal moment that puts a big smile on your face! That’s what I had when this bread came out of the oven. It looked so perfect and pretty! You have to love it when a recipe works exactly the way it’s supposed to the first time. With that, I give to you this recipe for Six Grain Bread. Continue reading “Six Grain Bread”
My friend Debra is over in the UK on a business trip of sorts: not like the business trip I wrote about last week. She’s got a tour guide and is touring the local sights. However, she does have 20+ students with her so there’s probably a bit of wrangling and babysitting involved. But she’s a tough girl and I know she can handle them and anything else thrown her way! Including the scones recipes she was baking up before she left. Now it seems like I see recipes for scones everywhere along with recipes for strawberries … Can you guess what’s coming next? Continue reading “Strawberry basil scones”
I was in Whole Foods earlier this week, when I happened to walk by their cheese counter and noticed a sale on triple cream brie. Whole Foods is one of those stores I go into, intending only to buy a select few items but always walk out with an armful of goodies. How do they do that? I had my shopping list and I was just minding my own business. Anyway, I ♥ cheese, especially triple cream brie! As I headed home, I realized that I had forgotten to pick up some bread to go with it. Oops. See what happened was, I walked by the breads but heard some other goodies calling out to me. I also love their banana chocolate chip muffins but brie and a banana chocolate chip muffin don’t exactly go together, you know what I mean? What to do? Well, I have some compressed yeast and flour so let’s make some French sticks! Continue reading “French sticks”
You might be asking “Another recipe for white bread?” Didn’t you already make that? Yup. However, this one is different from the Classic Sandwich Bread recipe: it has slightly more proofing time and it uses compressed yeast. Well, what exactly is compressed yeast? Continue reading “Basic White Bread Loaves”
I came across this recipe for bagel bombs while researching savory alternatives for a Mother’s Day brunch. Crowds of people at restaurants… waiting forever for a table… forgotten reservations… more crowds? Forget it! We’re staying in because nothing beats a home cooked brunch. More time to spend with each other and no elbow to elbow seating with strangers. The recipe comes from Adam over at Amateur Gourmet but can also be found in the Momofuku Milk Bar book. I’m sure many of you are familiar with Christina Tosi and her wonderful creations such as Compost cookies and Blueberry Cream cookies. So what exactly is a bagel bomb? Continue reading “Bagel Bombs and Brunch Ideas”
menubyvicky 