Martha Monday: Coconut Balls

One of my favorite cookies is the Russian Tea Cake or the Mexican Wedding Cake.  Whatever you call it, they are buttery shortbread-like cookies filled with pecans and rolled in powdered sugar while still warm.  There is no way to secretly eat this cookie.  Evidence of powdered sugar always ends up on one's face or blouse.

So, I was looking forward to trying these Coconut Balls which are the same cookie, really.  But coconut replaces the pecans.  And . . . while the flavor was good . . . these cookies seemed dry to me.  Instead of a melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, I felt the saliva being sucked out of my mouth.  I'm not sure if it was the coconut or the cookie recipe that did it.  I'd probably  have to play with the recipe to see.  Don't get me wrong.  I still ate them.  All of them.  But I'm not sure I'd make them again.

I think I'll still with my favorite recipe for Mexican Wedding Cakes.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Battenberg!

One of my all-time favorite movies is Cold Comfort Farm.  It stars Kate Beckinsale before she became famous.  In it she plays Flora, a young woman, who goes to live with her eccentric countrified relatives and cleans up their lives.  It's very funny.

Why am I telling you this?  Because of this cake.  This Battenberg cake.  In the beginning of the movie Flora's friend orders tea.  Upon seeing the tray of cakes, she says, "Battenberg!  My favorite!"  (Follow this link to see the first part on YouTube.  The quote I use occurs right about 5 minutes 10 seconds.)

I always wondered what on earth she was talking about.  Until now.

The June Daring Bakers' Challenge cleared up the mystery.  Battenberg is a cake!  A rather charming, whimsical cake at that.  And, amazingly, not as difficult as it first appears.

Mandy of What the Fruitcake? ushered us through all the steps to make this sweet cake and thanks to her expertise mine didn't turn out half bad.  It tasted great and looked pretty good if you didn't pay attention to the lumpy long side.  I even made homemade marzipan to wrap around the cake.  Never again will I buy that supermarket tube of marzipan.  Homemade is sooooo much better.

So, the next time you want to impress your friends with tea and cakes, hop on over to The Daring Kitchen and get baking.

Martha Monday: Tuna and White Bean Salad

Thank you, Ana, for picking a wonderful recipe for Monday's challenge!  This was the perfect thing to serve for lunch to my cousin on Monday.  The children ate PB and J.  The baby - milk.  And we had this fresh, bright, and meaty salad.  Spinach, garlic, onion, beans, tuna, and parsley make up the main flavors.  (I omitted the olives.  Blech!)  You really can't feel guilty eating it.  And yet, as my cousin said, "I'm so happy we didn't go out to eat!"

Check out the recipe here!

Avocado and Mustard Seeds

I am a latecomer to the avocado fan club.  As a child, I thought avocado green was a rather putrid color and couldn't imagine it's namesake tasted any better than it looked.  Even during my brief stint in San Diego, avocado capital of the world, I refused avocados at every turn.

But lately, just lately, I dipped a chip or two into that dreaded guacamole and you know what?  I loved it! Now, I love avocados on my sandwiches, in my salads, on my tacos . . . I can't get enough.  But, avocados always seem somewhat at home in Mexican food and I would never have imagined they would pair well with any other cuisine.  Heidi Swanson proved me wrong.  Her Avocado and Mustard Seeds is flavored with Indian spices like curry and mustard and chiles.  It tastes great on pita chips or by the spoonful.  I confess to eating the whole bowlful in one sitting.  I meant to share it.  I really did.  But I couldn't help myself.

Follow this link over to Heidi's blog and download the recipe along with a few other fabulous ones.  You won't be disappointed!

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Challah

Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood hosted our May challenge and she taught us all how to make challah bread.  She grew up in a traditionally Jewish household and this was something she had every week.  She wanted to share the beautiful, tasty, and actually-not-so-hard-to-make bread with all of us.

I tested out the simplest recipe she gave us called Easy Challah.  This bread has a bit of sugar in it which gives is a delectable sweetness and a few eggs which make it richer than your typical dough.  Other than that, it's pretty much like making any other bread dough.  Once it has risen the first time you get to braid it.  That's the fun part.  I tried a six-strand braided loaf and a round braided loaf.  I think they both turned out STUNNING!  And, even better, it tasted great!  I had planned on saving some to turn into french toast the next day (Challah makes great french toast.)  but we gobbled it ALL UP!

I highly recommend giving this bread a try.  Everyone will be impressed with your baking skills if you do!  To see lots of challah pictures and to find more recipes skip on over to the Daring Kitchen.