Baking & Relaxing

I've got the baking bug!

It's been awhile since I last baked anything ... I think the last was an apple coffee cake a few weeks back when I found myself with almost 20 apples and nothing to do with them. I made some "apple sauce" (not so much sauce as just very pureed apples) and used that in the cake. I also improvised and made sort of an apple-caramel bottom which went over well.

I'm currently letting my challah dough rise and have oatmeal-coffee cookies* in the oven.

I went to Sugar Mountain on my way home from work and after eating half of the bag I decided I should use up the rest of the chocolate before I gave myself an aching rounded tummy.
I also bought Chocolate (!) Lucky Charms because I'm going to make "rice krispy" squares with it. Should be delicious. But I need more butter/margarine...hmmm...better text the roommate so he can pick some up for me on his way home from work.

Tomorrow after work I'm headed up to Algonquin park with some friends for a weekend of camping, canoeing, and good times. I bought my box of wine today (4 L of an autumn blush that should last the 3 days and then some) and will pack up tonight! Quite excited. There really is something to be said for losing track of time in the great outdoors.

The Apple & Honey Challah Loaf

*Oatmeal-Coffee Cookies

3/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup each all purpose flour & Whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 tbsp bran

1 tbsp strong coffee

2 cups rolled oats

1 1/3 cups chocolate chips (I omitted this and instead put dark chocolate covered espresso beans on top)

• Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C) and grease 2 large cookies sheets (I prefer to use parchment paper).
• Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl then add the egg, beating well.
• Sift in a seperate bowl: flour, baking soda, salt and bran. Mix into the egg mixture then add chocolate chips, oats and coffee.
• Drop a tbsp of dough onto cookie sheet, leaving room in between cookies.
• Bake for 16-18 minutes ir until golden brown.

Since I will be on a lake/in the bush this weekend I won't be able to post again until Monday. If you're looking for something to do this weekend I highly recommend picking this book up and giving it a read.

THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak.

Definitely the best book I've read so far this year. It's a story about a girl named Leisel in Nazi Germany, told from the perspective of Death. It centers around her relationship with her foster parents, her best friend Rudy, the other families on her street, and a Jewish man named Max. I finished the last few pages last night and sobbed for about half an hour. It's a story about beauty where you wouldn't expect to find it and it is AMAZING. It's Jamie's Book Club pick for September.

And if you're looking for something sweet to accompany your reading I suggest you try out the oatmeal-coffee cookie recipe!

When I return on Monday I'll post all about the camping trip and put up the recipe for the Chocolate Lucky Charm Squares - assuming they taste as good as I'm expecting them too.

Have a wonderful weekend :)

J, Martha-in-Training