TWD : Chocolate Chunk Muffins and trying to catch up

Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles chose Chocolate Chunk Muffins this week and certainly I'm not entitled to tell you why these are muffins and not cupcakes but from my experience they are great to bring out a smile from anyone.

I brought Them at the last wu-shu class of my childen and were a success.

I doubled the amount of chocolate, melted and in chunks, and followed the recipe otherwise. Please visit Bridget for the recipe and the TWD site for more muffins.

Now I must apologize with you my TWDers friends for being so bad in posting lately I wasn't so busy not to bake but didn't blog about it.

Let me introduce to you the main cause of my work overload, a Pontifical Zuave (1865) which is a strange thing to work on in this year where we italians celebrate the 150 anniversary of our Country due to the defeat of the Pontificial State.

And for the sweet part here we go with the past week's baking, Please visit the hosts for the recipes.

Spike of Spike Bakes chose Sour Cream Chocolate Cake Cookies I made them with dried cherries instead of raisins and made them a them 1 inch in diameter knowing they would spread. Yummy ! Especially for Anita.

Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet chose Date-Nut Loaf and was this loaf super delicious ! I really wish I had some now but ....

Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes chose Chocolate Biscotti which I baked along with the next recipe for a kid's party and were gone quite SUBITO !

Cindy of Everyday Insanity chose Blueberry-Brown Sugar Plain Cake I used a frozen berry mix and these babies where a joy to eat.

Peggy from Peggy the Baker chose Caramel Pots de Creme, I had never thought of mixing the caramel in the cream as we usually just pour it in the mold; the results were very greedily welcomed.

Patricia from Life With a Whisk chose Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones even if so many days have passed I remember how I liked the nice crunch they had.

Moosewood Mondays : Fried Green Tomatoes

I'm finally back ! I'm on vacation since 4 days and after emptying the luggages, going grocery shopping and so on (and trying to get a hold the computer for longer than five minutes) I managed to cook one of the recipes I found on the Moosewood's site (not enough room in the suitcase for cookbooks).

I had been curious about the fried green tomatoes since I saw the movie, but had never tried them; while I was preparing them my brother told me we were going to dye of too much solanine and said I could prepare arsenicum-tomatoes as well...but a few hours have passed and we are all still alive.

Please visit Natashya, the creator of Moosewood Mondays, to see what see choose today.

If you dare trying them (maybe not on a daily base) the recipe follows (you can find it along with other ones here)

RECIPE

from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant

This unusual, tangy side dish was popular in my family. Try it while you're waiting for the tomatoes in your garden to ripen. Use only tomatoes that are entirely green and unripe.

Serves 6 to 8

3 large or 4 medium unripe tomatoes (very green-not red at all)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
cayenne, Tabasco, or other hot sauce (optional)
⅓ cup unbleached white flour
2 tablespoons white or yellow cornmeal
¼ cup vegetable oil

Slice the tomatoes into quarter-inch slices. Discard the ends. Spread the slices out on a platter or cutting board and sprinkle generously with salt, black pepper, and, if desired, cayenne or Tabasco. Turn the slices over and season the other sides.

In a shallow bowl, combine the flour and cornmeal. Dredge the tomato slices in the flour mixture, one at a time, covering each side thoroughly. Using 2 forks to the this job keeps your hands neat. Shake any excess flour off the tomato slices.

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan, preferably well-seasoned cast iron. When the oil is hot but not smoking, fry the slices in batches; don't overcrowd the pan. Fry for about 3 or 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.