Back to Baking

A few years ago, I got this wonderful cookbook from a friend of mine. What made it more special is it was signed by Anna Olson.

Back to Baking is a really great book, the brownie recipe in there is to die for! It has 3 different types of chocolate and it's melt in your mouth! My absolute favorite brownie recipe. Saying that, it of course has sugar and white flour, but every once in a while doesn't hurt. I decided this morning to try her chocolate chip cookies and banana walnut muffins, although hers is a loaf, I decided to make muffins instead. Both are very delicious! The muffins have brown sugar only, and I got to use my almond milk and there's no egg in this recipe. The cookies have both brown and white sugar, and it called for cornstarch, which I don't have, so I used arrowroot, and they still turned out delicious! Arrowroot is more natural, it comes from a plant, so when I need to thicken something, I always use that instead of cornstarch. Here's a picture of both

I definitely recommend this cookbook, it's great for that occasional treat. I do love the food network, I just wish there was more actual cooking shows. Right now it's more about competitions, and makeovers, so I don't watch that channel as much. One show I have been watching quite a bit lately though, which a friend of mine told me I had to watch, and she's right, it's really good. It's called Pioneer Woman. Ree Drummond has a wonderful life, she lives on a farm, has a wonderful family, she's a blogger, writer and  photographer. Her meals look delicious, and although I haven't tried any of her recipes yet, it's a wonderful show to watch. I'm also a fan of Michael Smith, Guy, Chuck, Rachael Ray, and of course Anna Olson. There are other chef's I love, but don't watch quite as often. I really do miss seeing Emeral on the food channel, but do see him from time to time on the Rachael Ray show.

Life has been pretty hectic, but I do hope to share more recipes soon. I haven't been out there running so much either, but I do need to get into gear because I am signed up for the half marathon in September (army run). Stay tuned for more recipes and my progress on running.