2014 Baking Challenge Update

Well, I am officially a terrible food blogger. I've actually already accomplished several of the dishes I intended to try in my personal 2014 baking challenge... and I haven't blogged about (or photographed) any of them. In summary:

 Chocolate Chess Pie



Tried this. Terribly disappointed. Have another recipe I plan to try. I probably didn't document it because it was hideous. And just okay. I did cut the recipe to a smaller size, which may have effected it. Either way, it wasn't pretty enough to document.

2. German Dark Rye Bread



Another failure. Didn't turn out at all. With that said, I had bought all this rye flour and was determined to be successful. I did find a recipe I liked, in the end. It wasn't amazing, dried out quicker than I would have liked (that could be the desert air), but it was pretty tasty. The successful recipe was from An Edible Mosaic.

6.  Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Skillet Cookie



This wasn't beautiful. I didn't have the same sized skillet, so I used two smaller ones and they spilled over a bit (I had them on a pan, so no harm to the oven!). I can't remember why I didn't take pictures, except maybe that I was too busy eating. Because this was sooooo repeatable. It was scrumptious. It was terrible--I didn't want to stop eating. Yummy. Extra good with ice cream.

So, really, I'm 3/7 on my challenge already! Go me! Now I just need to be better about the pictures!

Challenging Myself - 2014 Dessert Challenge

So I have noticed that I'm still terrible about blogging. Here's the thing though... I'm trying new recipes all the time still! So here's to my goal to get back into putting the stories of my successes/failures on the blog. I decided the best way to do this is to institute a challenge again. I liked the Cheesecake Challenge. I royally sucked at it after my son was born, but it was FUN.

In an effort to make this a productive endeavor, though (and because I'm actually in the process of losing that 15 pounds--halfway and trying to maintain...), I'm going to make a more flexible "Dessert Challenge." I know,  it doesn't sound as cool, at all. But it's probably more practical, since I avoid cheesecake like the plague (it's too good to give away and too fattening to eat all the time!).

So I've decided to make my own "Baker's Challenge." The goal is to make one of these desserts a month, on average (at least). I have 7 desserts here, enough for one a month from June-December. I even selected a wide variety of treats to suit all sorts of occasions. Let's see if I can manage it!

1. Chocolate Chess Pie



2. Tiramisu Sandwich Cookies



3. German Dark Rye Bread



4. No-Bake Nutella Cheesecakes



5. Cannoli Cupcakes



6.  Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Skillet Cookie



7. Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie