Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Catching Up with Tuesdays with Dorie

You know, every Tuesday that I was away in Europe, I felt a small twinge of longing. Before I left on my trip, I faithfully made all of the Tuesdays with Dorie assignments, and fully planned to post them as I traveled along. After a frustrating night of spotty Internet in Rome with an Italian keyboard, I realized that my time would be much better spent in enjoying the moment. And still, on Tuesdays I wished I could participate with my posts but even more so, I longed to peek at all the other TWD posts. So here's what I missed while I was away. Rice pudding. It's quite pretty, true. It doesn't make me do a back flip or shout Hallelujah, but it's better than I remember. When I lived in South America, I had cinnamon rice pudding at least twice weekly, and I learned to tolerate it. Dark chocolate rice pudding and white chocolate raspberry rice pudding are more palatable, sure, but my picky mouth still wonders why there are roly-poly bits of rice in my beautiful chocolate. It's like orange juice with pulp; I wanted to strain it with my teeth.
Next up was the Kugelhopf, a pleasant mix of yeast risen bread and cake. I made mine with shredded apples and a buttery cinnamon sugar coating. And while it was pleasing to the palate, I bemoaned the fact that it wasn't a bit sweeter. Honestly, I put more sugar in my dinner rolls than the bitty 3 tablespoons used in the dough. The outside of the cake is brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with sugar, which is delicious, but only made me want to skin the cake and skip the middle. Which is what I did. It saves calories to eat only the yummiest part. Then with your saved calories, you can eat even more of the yummiest part.
My favorite, by far, of this month's assignments was today's Twofer pie, a happy marriage of two Thanksgiving favorites-pecan and pumpkin. Baking pie on the Monday night before the holiday seemed like an excessively premature thing to do, so I skipped the crust, halved the recipe , and baked the filling in three little custard cups. IT'S GOOD! Really and truly good. So good that now in addition to the apple ginger, mixed berry, pecan chocolate, pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin streusel pies that I'll be making tomorrow, now I'll be making a big TWOFER pie too. You can get the recipe here at Vibi's gorgeous French blog. Scroll down and you'll find the recipe in English, never fear. Ay mamacita! Thank goodness there will be nearly 30 of us to devour them.
And here's a naughty little secret: we always devour at least one pie on Wednesday night. Tomorrow night's going to be wild at our house. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.
Happy Birthday to two of my little sisters today. Heidi and Catherine, born three years apart but on the same day.
Come Back Tomorrow:
Our Fun Night Before Thanksgiving Dinner Tradition

45 comments:

Cristine said...

All 3 look great! Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

AMAZING TREATS!!! Prudy, please come bake for me :-D

Happy birthday to your sisters!!

chocolatechic said...

So glad your back.

I guess I missed where you were going to be out of the country, and I was beginning to be just a tad concerned about you.

vibi said...

OH! Prudy! How nice of you to mention ...never fear!
Thank you so much for participating with me this week! ...it was a great idea for you to bake it without the crust... as rushed as you were! But ah! ha! you got caught by its great taste and must now, make a big one now! Ummm... I'm not even surprised! LOL
A very happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Laura said...

Welcome back! What a wonderful opportunity you had to visit Europe. You were missed greatly here though!

All your TWD creations look wonderful! I agree about the best part of the kugelhopf was the crust - and I didn't even think about the calories I saved! The twofer custard cups are a brilliant idea too - and a calorie saver to boot. I may try those this winter when I need something sweet and warm and cozy!

Kirsten said...

Those all look great! Can't wait to see some of your Thanksgiving treats! Enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Glad you had such a great time! WE missed you. Happy Thanksgiving!

Maria said...

You are so dedicated! Glad you made all three, everything looks wonderful!! Sounds like your family knows how to celebrate. Can't wait for tomorrow's post! Happy b-day to your sisters!!

Mary Ann said...

Prudy- You are a trooper! Of course, I should have known that you would pull through and make all the recipes ahead of time. I loved the rice pudding, but had to make it twice to get it right. I skipped the Kugelhopf because of Operation Baking GALS. and I am making the Twofer tomorrow. Everything turned out looking delicious- It seems this was a month of mixed reviews though. The rice pudding and Kugelhopf weren't really too popular all around.
We are staying put for Thanksgiving but have a couple of my cousins and there kids coming down. My aunt and uncle usually get together with us, but they are on a mission right now.
My dad is pretty traditional about Thanksgiving dinner, so we are doing a compromise. I talked him into a couple new sides, but mostly we are going the traditional route. It should be fun and I am sure someday I will be able to have my own fun menu! Hope you have a great time. I am so glad you are back, seriously- I missed you!
p.s. did you eat some yummy cheese, bread, and chocolate for me??

Engineer Baker said...

Nice to see you got to make all of the recipes even though you were gone! The kugelhopf looks awesome, and your twofer is so pretty and cute :) Confession time: pie becomes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert for me the day after Thanksgiving!

Melissa said...

Welcome back! Your creations look yummy! I love the idea of making mini twofer pies, and your rice puddings look so delicious.

Allie said...

Glad to have you back, but didn't seem like you rest at all when you got home! Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!!

Patsyk said...

Boy, you jumped right back in didn't you? :) they all look wonderful, so you really didn't miss out.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Di said...

Again, welcome back! I totally agree with you about the bits of stuff in your beautiful chocolate. =) I like the idea of apples in the kugelhopf--mine definitely seemed like it needed more fruit. And the ramekins sounds like a great way to experiment with the pie--I may have to try that first to see if I like it, since I'm not overly fond of either pumpkin or pecan pie.

Marjie said...

Lucky you, with a house full of sibs! I'm so happy that my kids get along famously, also, so they'll have friends like I never have. Love your desserts!

Jessica said...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving - it's great to see all of your wonderful thoughts again!

Smart move with the Twofer pie by using custard dishes.

Anonymous said...

Your TWD recipes look great. The twofer was my favorite of the bunch. I hope you had a great time in Europe and didn't let the Tuesday twinges get you down. :P

Catherine said...

Hello Prudy,
I can't wait to devour pies with you all weekend! I'm so glad we're coming! Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Marthe said...

They all look amazing!! I agree with you on the Kugelhopf: should be much sweeter!! I haven't made the Twofer Pie yet, it's planned for tomorrow!

Tanji said...

Oh my! What a fun-packed month of family time. That wouldn't be so fun with all families, you know. You are lucky! I like rice pudding, but if I spent a few weeks in Europe and ate lots of yummy European treats - rice pudding would not really be on my mind. I do prefer the Grovestand super-pulpy orange juice though. Glad you had a care-free/blog-free vacation.

Michal said...

sounds like it will be a smaller than usual thanksgiving at your house. i suppose that you may have some travel weary people after all that traipsing around europe earlier in the month. i was thinking about heidi this morning.

Rosie said...

Welcome back Prudy!

Awesome treats here and I can't wait to view your Thanksgiving treats!

Rosie x

Beth (jamandcream) said...

You are so dedicated!!! It all looks fantastic

Fantastic Mr. R said...

Thanks for the birthday shout out. I'm so glad you are back on the blogging train. I can't wait for pies on Weds.--somehow they taste better the night before.

Darius T. Williams said...

Looks great - I love these treats...welcome back!

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

CB said...

Hurray! Prudy's back! Don't ever leave again! Nice TWD recap. You are such a good little baker. You and me agree on the kugelhopf. Sadly its my least favorite TWD so far. Oh well... can't win them all right? Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

Heather B said...

wow! Look at all of the goodies! yum!

Pamela said...

You know, it never seems to fail. When I stop at your blog, I always see something that makes me think, "Now, why didn't I think of that?" And baking the filling for the TWD is one of those times. Great idea. Hope you enjoy the pie. We are having it this weekend. Most importantly, I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy.

Sherry Trifle - Lovely Cats said...

Gosh! I can't believe all this wonderful baking you've been doing and you have only just got back. Everything looks delicious.

The Blonde Duck said...

I have that same castle cake pan! Hooray! We're twinkies!

That pie looks so good! I can't believe you did everything before hand.

I made pecan pie bars and brownies and biscuits tonight and thought I over did it. I got nothing on you!

hoagiefest 2020 said...

Welcome back! You managed to outdo virtually everyone yet again, and this is just a "catch-up" post!

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Welcome back Prudy! I was wondering were you were!!! Good planning, but yes the italian keyboards can leave anyone frustated, ahahah! You did better enjoying the moment and post them all now. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Pam said...

You're back! I've missed your posts. All three of these TWD treats look amazing!

What a wonderful trip to take with your family - your father is so generous.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Cathy said...

Welcome back Prudy!!! I and the rest of the food blogosphere missed you! Can't wait to hear about your trip in the coming weeks. I am now traveling with "spotty blackberry connection" so I'll cut off my comment now since who knows if it will post anyway - but just wanted to let you know that I'm thrilled that you are back! Happy Thanksgiving!

The Food Librarian said...

Welcome back Prudy! We missed you. What a trooper to make all these!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Marie Rayner said...

Congrats on cooking all three of the challenges! Well done you and they all look fabulous too!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

wow--you have been busy in the kitchen! love the pie-custards!!

Jaime said...

love your mini version! hope you had a wonderful time in europe :)

happy thanksgiving

Anonymous said...

It is amazing all the things you come up with in all these recipes...goodness you are creative! I love your photos...each one of those was divine. I am still laughing over "skinning" the Kugelhopf...you are too funny. Great post.

anudivya said...

These look amazing Prudy.
Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Unknown said...

Wow I love how yummy the Pecan pumpkin pie looked, what a cute idea! I made a simple apple pie for my first thanksgiving with my hubby and his parents.

After he proposed to me with a gorgeous diamond engagement ring from www.idonowidont.com I needed to impress them with a simple sweet dessert.

Good thing it worked! Next year, I will try the pecan pumpkin pie!

Chef Jeena said...

It all looks so wonderful Prudy. :-)

Anonymous said...

Haha. I know everyone missed you... but seriously... I'm SO glad you just went along and enjoyed your trip. We're all still here... right where we left off. That trip is a once in a lifetime kinda thing. No worries.
~Cat

Peggy said...

Wow - you did great catching up! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love your kugelhopf pan. I am going to have to ask Santa for one I think. I have a lot of cooking to do to catch up after last week being out of commission! We all missed you, but I'm so jealous of your trip. We are planning to go to Italy in the spring. I can't wait.

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