Wow I've been back for over two weeks and have not had time to post about my competition/vacation. I am finally caught up with my food posts and baking for the weekend so now a bit about my trip. DH and I went to Pittsburgh for my first masters figure competition; figure is between bodybuilding and fitness. This is the first competition I have competed in that has an age class for 55 and over, I'm 58. The oldest age class out here on the West coast is 45 and over; I really wanted to compete in a class that was more even in age and I had a blast. I enter these events hoping to place but never expect to place, this sport is like other subjectively judged sports, you have to pay your dues and there are some politics involved. But, that said, I won't give up!!! Yes, I work out all year, eat clean all year, have a nutritionist/coach all year; all this for one or two competitions a year. No, I'm not crazy, I enjoy pushing my body to the max and I didn't start working out until I was 52; so I'm a late starter. Anyway, to make a long story short, I didn't place but learned what I need to work on for next year and next year will be here before I know what hit me. I have had two weeks off and tomorrow it all starts over!!!
Pennsylvania is beautiful, I'm ready to move there, LOL. Ya, ya, ya....wait for winter; is it really that bad? I mean, I get tired of no seasons except, well I guess we have them, Hot, Warm, Cool and Warm, maybe those don't qualify. We stayed a few days in Lancaster County and drove all over the Amish areas, I actually saw a covered bridge.
I loved the farms, fresh eggs and homemade root beer. Very simple and clean; I fell in love with a small town called Lititz. Went to the chocolate museum and pretzel museum, what fun!!!
Saw many horse and buggies; finally got to see fire flies and ate shoo fly pie; I'll give the pie an OK, maybe homemade is better. Then on to Philadelphia for just a day, not enough time, but I saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Basically I ate my way through Pennsylvania and it was so nice to just eat what I wanted.
It's always good to get home, but in the back of my mind I see a home somewhere East of the Mississippi with my name on it.
The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.
I decided to make a half recipe, which I am very happy I did, it was wonderful and so rich!!! I just made one large layer in my sheet pan and used a 4 1/2" cutter to cut out the six layers. The chocolate buttercream icing was to die for; this was the first "true" buttercream I have made. The icing was so easy to make and turned out like silk, just melted on the tongue, yummy! The caramel was another easy recipe, just sugar, water and some lemon juice. The tricky part was pouring the caramel on one of the layers for the decorations on top of the cake, but with great instructions it wasn't all that hard! Cake was delicious and is all gone!!!
Our Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe for this week were Snickerdoodles, chosen by 
I made the recipe on the back of the flour bag for biscuits, I had one, and DH ate the rest with some of the preserves we made a few weeks ago. The biscuits were very good!!! The flour really is soft and has a different texture than regular flour; will hoard this flour as long as possible!!!
Another client asked if would make the desserts for a party she is having next week, of course I said yes!!! She wanted mini pineapple upside down cakes, lemon mini cheese cakes and mini cupcakes for the children. I did a test for the pineapple upside down cakes and they turned out GREAT!!! They are a perfect two bite dessert, not too much and there is always room for more.
I suppose I could have cleaned the crumbs off the cake plate for the picture, but why wast such yummy crumbs? After I packed the cake for DH to take to work (seriously, I could have eaten the whole cake myself), I licked the plate clean!!! This is a 
These are thick and chewy with a pronounced peanut flavor; a definate thumbs up from DH. I always enjoy trying out new recipes, even if I have a tried and true, never fail recipe that I have used for years; you just never know when you will find an even better recipe.
There were several good reasons to buy our home, good neighborhood, great schools and all the rest; but the single thing that stood out was in the kitchen, not the kitchen itself. That one thing that sold me was a walk in pantry, god bless the builder in 1963 who thought a pantry might be nice; I could kiss him!!! 
