Daring Bakers' Challenge: Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge is hosted by Chris of Mele Cotte. Chris chose a Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream by Carol Walter from her book, Great Cakes. You can find the full recipe HERE at Chris's delicious blog.

This one just about wore me out, which means it was a terrific choice for The Daring Bakers! It was absolutely scrumptious. The best part was the leftover praline paste - I put it together with some chocolate chips and a little milk, melted it all together and, voila! - my own version of Nutella! The kids couldn't have been happier with that part.

Please check out the blogroll and see everyone else's wonderful versions of this delicious cake!

Local Flavor - Part II

A couple Thursdays ago a few of the kids and I made our way across town to the Bethlehem Farmers' Market. I haven't been there very often since we moved from the South Side and I was pleased to find that it was still there. The venue has changed, it used to be held in a large parking lot and now is set up at Campus Square at Lehigh University.

I was very happy to find that Suyundalla Farms was still there. They were one of the first vendors at the market and are the only surviving original vendor. Kudos! They still sell some of the finest produce and have branched out into selling fresh lamb products.

Our first stop was their stand and these are a few of their wares:

Garlic scapes

Snow peas

Beautiful red cherries

Napa cabbages

Cucumbers

We took home everything above, except for the Napa cabbage, and added some of their broccoli and fresh lamb sausages as well.

We stopped by Bechdolt's Orchard stand for fresh honey and then hit up The Flour Shop for a loaf of truly awesome semolina bread.



I could go on about that bread, but I've come to the conclusion that I need to do a full review of this bakery. If you live in the Lehigh Valley and haven't been there yet (the store is located at Macada Plaza - 2980 Linden Street ), you really need to stop by and pick up some baked goods. These guys know their stuff - trust me on that one.

So, here is what we ended up with:



Broccoli, cucumber, snow peas, garlic scapes, honey and semolina bread.

I threw the lamb sausages on the grill with the scapes, sauteed the broccoli and snow peas, sliced the bread, and we had a terrific meal that evening - well worth the just-over-3-mile-walk.

Funky Monkey Snacks

The kids and I just tried out 3 of the 4 flavors of Funky Monkey freeze dried fruit snacks. The consensus was, "Yum!". We had Bananamom, freeze dried banana chips sprinkled with cinnamon; Purple Funk, freeze dried banana chips sprinkled with acai berry; and Carnaval Mix, a mixture of freeze dried banana chips, pineapple, apple, papaya and raisins. We really liked the pineapple - so much so that everyone dug our every piece they could find before eating anything else! There's also Jivealime, freeze dried pineapple and lime juice - we have got to get our hands on that one!

I love that they travel well - we took a package on a walk and the baby loved sitting in her stroller and munching on banana chips. I loved that there are no artificial ingredients at all and no added sugar. They are gluten-free, wheat-free and dairy-free, as well. Best yet is the fact that each ounce provides 3 servings of fruit!

The website is totally cute! There are nutritional facts, a spot to order online and a wallpaper to download. Think you have a great flavor combo? Check out the website and submit your idea. How about a great recipe using Funky Monkey snacks? There's also a page where you can share that.

We liked these a lot and will be buying them often; I'll just have to hide my package from the kids, though.

Where's Tony?

Now, wouldn't that be fun? A little game based on Where's Waldo?, but with the goal being to figure out where Anthony Bourdain would be each week hosting his No Reservations show. Well, no need to guess, at least for this week. Allow me the pleasure of telling you.

This week (July 28, at 10pm EST) finds Anthony Bourdain and his brother in Uruguay. If you thought the Columbia episode was delicious, wait 'til you see this! ‘Meat the Bourdains’ is all the meat you can stand, and more. Here is a CLIP of the newest episode, and you can find a post about the trip by Anthony's brother, Chris Bourdain, HERE. As always, Tony will be posting about the trip at his blog, HERE.

Family.com New Community and Contest

Family.com has just revamped its community and made it more personal and more fun. Not only do I blog at Family.com, I also belong to, and am active in, the community there.

Make your own avatar or family portrait from personalized avatars; join a group; let everyone know what you're up to moment-by-moment throughout your day; decorate your profile, add stickers or even make some of your own to upload!

Here's the best part - From August 1 to August 31, if you join and become an active member, you'll be eligible for a PRIZE A DAY in the Way To Go! Contest. There are awesome gifts being given including a 4 person tent, a web cam, an iPod, a DeWalt cordless screwdriver, a Bluetooth headset and MORE! Full rules are HERE.

Head on over and check it out for yourself. My profile is HERE, give it a look and you'll get an idea of what's so fun about it all!