What to do? What to do?

So, I've baked a banana cake with strawberry swirl. It tastes great but now I'm wondering what to frost it with. I'm thinking strawberry italian butter cream. Mainly cause the strawberry in the cake isn't terribly strong and I would like to bring it out more. Hmmmm.... What to do? What to do?

Floating Islands

Not much to say today except that I got a major bug and got busy in the kitchen. I saw this on a whisk and a spoon awhile back and have been meaning to try it out. And I was working with egg white anyways the other day and decided to use the yolks to make the creme anglaise. Today I made the poached meringues that you see below. I didn't make the caramel that went on it but only cause I didn't feel like dirtying another pot. Like I said, I was busy in the kitchen today and that means dirty dishes too.

It was very yummy and my mom enjoyed two bowls of it. But then again, caramel was involved.

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.
--John Donne

Irish Soda Bread

A couple of weeks ago my mom handed me a sheet of paper with a recipe for Irish Soda Bread and in response I asked "Is this a hint?" and all she had to say was "Yes". I had all intentions to make it for St. Patrick's Day since every year we go all out and have corn beef and cabbage and drink Guiness (even if some of us don't like it). But we didn't have flour (HOW DOES A BAKER NOT HAVE FLOUR?!?!?!). And I was too tired to run out and get some flour so I put it off until today.

I asked my mom if the recipe sounded like what she remembered, with the raisins and caraway seeds. She said that's how she rememebered it and so I stuck with the recipe, word for word.

My daughter helped me out again this time. I'm training her for when I open my own bakery. There's not too much to this recipe. It's a two step recipe. Pour all the dry ingredients into a bowl then pour all the wet ingredients into the dry mix and stir until just combined. I've made Irish Soda Bread only once before and it wasn't as sticky and wet as this mix was but this recipe came out very soft and moist. And even though this wasn't a flavor I like, my mom loved it and that's all that counted. I'm just not a big fan of caraway. I'd try it without caraway next time but then it would just be raisin bread. So, I'm on the hunt for a recipe I like.

If you want to give this recipe a try, and I recommend it if you like caraway, you can find here at allrecipes.com.The English are not happy unless they are miserable, the Irish are not at peace unless they are at war, and the Scots are not at home unless they are abroad.
--George Orwell