marcia muffins

I've been making english muffins for years. But recently I switched to mixing the dough in Jay's big bread dough mixer, and what a difference a mixer makes. They are the english muffins of my dreams, brown and crisp on the top and bottom, and light and fluffy on the inside, fork split of course. The texture is quite amazing with the new method, never gooey inside, but smooth and soft. Today I made a few extra large ones to try out as burger buns. Ah, I can't wait to try them out.

One of today's tarts is the apple nougatine tart, recipe from Tartine Bakery cookbook. The apples are sauteed in a butter and sugar mixture that has been carmelized, then heaped into the almond flour shell and topped with a nougatine of sliced almonds, sugar, and egg whites. Baked to be slightly brown, the nougatine forms a satisfyingly crunchy top.

My sister bought some English muffins by Stone and SKillet at Whole Foods in Boston, hoping they would be a good substitute when she ran out of mine. But alas, the review was not positive, so I must get on a schedule of sending her some fresh ones.

Have you tried mine? You'll never go back to Thomason's.

Molasses Cookies

This winter I started a project of family remembrances. One of our common memories is the molasses cookies my grandmother made. They were dark, cakey cookies that had a sticky outside once they were a few days old. There was always a batch of them in the glass cookie jar with the peanut handle on top. My mother also made them, and they came out almost exactly the same. She told me the trick was to use half bacon grease and half Crisco. When I tried to make them, I had forgotten to save my bacon grease, so I used all Crisco. Note the less than dark color- could it really make that big a difference? Jay never even liked the originals, so was less than thrilled with my trial batch. I threw them away, but I really enjoyed the smell when they were baking. It brought me back to the kitchen in Orange, and my grandma in her fancy apron.