Funny Friday

 I love the Family Circus - such a cute, sweet and basic comic.

Chocolate Crossants - A Comparison

When in Las Vegas, my friend and I always go to Paris and have breakfast at Café Belle Madeleine.  

We get a Cheese Danish and a Chocolate Croissant and split them and each have half of each...mmm, très bien!!

We love both, but especially love the Chocolate Croissant, so I was happy to find some frozen varieties in the freezer cases as local grocery stores.  

I decided to do a comparison of two that I found

One at Walmart and one at Trader Joe's.  

Trader Joe's (like everything) is a little more pricey than Walmart.  Trader Joe's is $4.99, while Walmart is $3.98, so roughly a $1 difference.  Both come in a pack of 4 and they have the same baking time and temperature.

 

 

 

There is one MAJOR difference in these 2 brands.  Trader's Joe's brand needs time to prove.  The box recommends setting out the frozen croissants the night before and allow to prove overnight.  This allows the croissant to double in size.  While this is great, if you need instant gratification, you may not want to wait 8 hours or so before you bake your croissant.

The Walmart brand is ready to bake, right out of the box.

When you compare the frozen size, they are about the same.  The Walmart brand seems slightly bigger than Trader Joe's while in the frozen state.

 

Trader Joe's is on the right and is lighter colored than the browner Walmart version on the left.

 

 

However, after proving, the Trader Joe's is twice the size of the Walmart brand. You can see from this state that the Trader Joe's brand (R) is a bigger and looks flakier than the Walmart version (L)

 

 

I baked them both together at 350 degrees F for 22 minutes.  After baking, the Trader Joe's version was very brown and appeared flakier than the Walmart version, which didn't brown as much but it was fully done.

A cross-section cut shows the difference in height between Trader Joe's (top photo) and Walmart (bottom photo) - I admit that Trader Joe's looks more like what you expect a croissant to look like - flaky, fluffy and light.

BUT...how do they compare in taste?  Well...even though it doesn't look very flaky, the Walmart verson was actually quite flaky and had a good tastes.  It tasted how you expect a croissant to taste, but...honestly, it wasn't very chocolaty.  The filling almost reminded me of chocolate chip cookie dough but didn't have a strong chocolate flavor.

The Trader Joe's version also tasted flaky and you could pull the layers apart and it had a VERY strong chocolate taste...there was no denying the abundance of chocolate in this one.

 Final Results:

Trader Joe's for the win!  If you want an authentic looking and tasting Chocolate Croissant, buy Trader Joe's.  While it does require some forethought, since you have to allow proofing time, the flavor is pretty close to the fresh made croissants from Café Belle Madeleine. If serving to guest, you can impress them with your amazing croissant baking skills (hey, you don't have to tell them your secret)

If you need a quick fix and don't want to wait, the Walmart brand is pretty good, especially since you can have one in about 20 minutes, but they are not something I would be proud to serve to guest. 

WIP Wednesday - Finish Cross Stitch

This project worked up pretty quick - it was easy because it was only one color!  

I used DMC Color # 3845.  I chose this pattern because it matches my Vintage "Butterprint" Pyrex.  I love my Pyrex and I was please to find a pattern to match it.  

I just need to find a 7 1/2 inch wooden hoop to mount it and hang it up in my kitchen.  I am having trouble finding a wooden hoop that size.  I found some on Amazon, but I don't need TEN of them, I just need ONE.  I will keep searching - I would love to find one with the little picture hook at the top, but those are not as easy to find as they used to be years ago (gosh, I miss K-Mart, where I could usually find things like that).  

Anyway...I am happy with it.  Now I need to decide on my next crafty project...what will it be?  Hmm??

An the COVID-19 Pandemic Continues . . .

 

On Friday, March 13th, 2020....we were told to work from home the next two weeks because of this COVID-19 virus had hit the USA.  We thought we'd be teleworking for 2 weeks.  Then they told us to work home for 2  more weeks, then through the remainder of April, then through the month of May, then we were told...until further notice.

There were a few attempts to bring people back part time - 2 days a week and we were staggered out - that started but then a few months later, we'd be told again...go back to teleworking 100%

I never thought that 2 years later, we would still be teleworking. While teleworking has its advantages, I miss the routine and I miss my co-workers.  Mostly, I just miss the world being "normal"

 

Elvis' (& Sheree's) Banana Bread

It is a pretty well known fact that Elvis Presley (the greatest of all time), loved southern food and one of his favorite meals was Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches.  Now...don't knock it if you haven't tried it.  If you like peanut butter and you like bananas, you will like it.  Elvis knew what he was talking about.

As for me...not a big fan of bananas...I like the flavor just fine and like dried bananas and like the flavor of bananas in things but it is a texture thing for me.  Peanut Butter on the other hand, well, I probably could live off peanut butter.  

And what is the best thing to pair with peanut butter...chocolate of course. 

My sister loves chocolate chip banana bread and I admit - so do I (as long as the bananas are well mashed).  I also love peanut butter so....what better to make than Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread or "Elvis' Banana Bread"

My former boss, Margaret, made the BEST chocolate chip banana bread...I miss her.  She moved away several years ago and we lost contact.  I wish I had her recipe, but I don't...so I found a banana bread recipe and improvised.  I added some chocolate chips and some peanut butter cups.  I started to add a little bit of peanut butter to the batter, but thought it might be too much and overpower the banana bread so decided to leave it out this time.

I am making this loaf to share with my sister - hope she likes my twist on it.  It may not be the same as Cinnaholic's but hope she likes it just as much, if not more!

 

Elvis' Banana Bread

• 3-4 medium, overripe bananas
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups All Purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• dash of ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips + additional for topping 
• 4 Reese's Peanut Butter cups (2 finely chopped and 2 coarsely chopped)
  

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with banking spray

Whisk together the bananas, sugar, egg, oil, and vanilla until smooth.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and mix to combine (may be a little lumpy - that is okay)

Gently fold in the chocolate chips and 2 finely chopped peanut butter cups, careful to not over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with some chocolate chips and 2 coarsely chopped peanut butter cups).  

If desired, sprinkle with just a little bit of sugar. 

Bake for 55 minutes (start checking for done-ness at 45 minutes, cover the top with foil if needed to prevent over-browning).

Let cool before slicing.

2022 - February Recap

So...how are my goals going this year.  Fairly good on some things...not as good on other things

Seems I have been super busy with work lately and don't have much spare time and I've had some overnight guest a couple of times in the past month, but overall, things are going well.

1) Daily Bible Reading/Prayer - Excellent - I am 100% current with my daily reading.  I started reading about 2 weeks late into the year but I am up to date now.  It feels great to be current and continue to read God's word each day.

2) Weight Loss/Eat Healthier/Exercise - Ok - No weight loss last month, but no gain either.  Just progressing slowly.  I need to start exercising.

3) Watercolor - no painting in January and that is okay.  But I did take a stained glass class and made a wind chime - that was fun!

4) Crochet/Knit - None in February but I have been doing cross-stitch instead.  I do want to start back to crocheting or knitting in March.  We will see.

5)  Personal Journaling - Good - I am still not journaling daily (yet) but I am journaling on a regular basis

6) House Projects - Uhhh - well - needs improvement

7) Scrapbooking/Project Life - Excellent - I am current with my Project Life pages for the year.  I have also been working on completing a book for my cats.  Hope to have that completed and ordered before the end of March.

8) Genealogy - No progress this month - but the 1950s census is coming out next month (April) and that should provide some new insight on things.

 

Click on Project Life pages below to Enlarge

Jalapeño Popper Quiche

 

I recently made a couple of quiches.  I thought I would share this recipe first.  It was very easy to make and was a bit different than your usual quiche.  

Although this has Jalapeño Peppers, it wasn't spicy, because I removed all the seeds.  It just gave it that delicious flavor of a Jalapeño Popper.  YUM!

Jalapeño Popper Quiche
(adapted from Sarah's Kitchen)

 

1 frozen pie crust

1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2  jalapeños, diced 

1/2  jalapeño, sliced into 8 rounds

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cream

5 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork and bake for 10 minutes.

While the pie crust is baking, heat the milk and cream in a small saucepan until barely simmering and dice the Jalapeños.  

When the pie crust has baked for 10 minutes, remove from oven and lower the oven to 350.  Spread the softened cream cheese over the bottom of the crust, and top with the diced jalapenos.

 

In a bowl lightly beat the 5 eggs, and slowly add the warm milk and cream.  Stir in the spices.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust and bake for 40 minutes.

 

Remove from oven and top with grated cheese and 8 jalapeno slices, bake for 5 more minutes.  

 

 

I don't know about you, but I really enjoying dicing peppers...peppers of any kind.  I love the smell of peppers and they dice up so nicely...it is just kind of a satisfying and relaxing thing to me.

 

This quiche is good for breakfast but I prefer to eat it for dinner...as I mentioned, if you remove the seeds, it isn't spicy, but just has that tasty pepper flavor.