Liebster Award

Have you ever heard of the Liebster Award?? I hadn't until a fellow blogger nominated my Attainable Cuisine for it!! Thank You Summer over at Mallow and Co. for nominating me. The Liebster Award is awarded to blogs who have 200 followers or less but still seem to catch enough attention to deserve a little extra love from other bloggers and recipe searchers.

Do you know what Liebster means? It is a German word and has many different ways it can be used to describe how you feel for someone or something: dearest, darling, favorite, beloved, liked very much or preferred.

I did a little reading about the Liebster Award and I found out that this award (which really isn't an award but more of a recognition) has been making it's way through the blogging world for quite some time. It hasn't been going to only food bloggers but to all different types of blogs. And like the name of it, it started in Germany....original post from the starter of this award is unknown BUT to who ever it was that came up with this idea has started a great thing!

Rules of the Liebster Award:

1. Share 11 random facts about yourself

2. Answer the 11 questions given to you by your nominator

3. Choose 11 bloggers with less then 200 followers to pass the award to

4.  Make sure to go to your nominated blogs and let them know they have been nominated

5. And most importantly thank the person/blogger who nominated you

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So now it is my turn to share a few random facts about myself.....this should be interesting!!

1. I have never been to Disney Land or Disney World

2. I can't eat bananas once they are "too" ripe (any brown spots on the skin)

3. I spend way too much time watching America's Next Top Model reruns

4. I like working out but I absolutely find no pleasure in running or jogging and envy those who do

5. I LOVE gummi bears

6. If I ever win the jackpot in the lottery I am buying myself an apartment in Paris

7. I don't know what I did before having Pinterest....oh yeah...google/yahoo searches

8. I wish we had a place in Tucson that made Döner's like the ones in Germany

9. Doing laundry is the worst chore ever

10. I don't like reheating food....it's the smell of cooke-cold food that I don't like and the texture is usually never the same either

11. I love going to the beach BUT hate the sand

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Here are my questions from Summer:

1. What are your hobbies or things you do in your spare time?
In my spare time I like to read, go for walks or totally waste too many hours pinning on Pinterest!

2. What is your biggest pet peeve?
I really can't stand people who like to stir the point just to get attention.....especially when it's putting negative attention on to a different person to distract from their own flaws.

3. What's one of your favorite blogs of the moment?
My favorite blog at the moment is Hungry Little Girl because Jutta has a few of my favorite recipes of dishes from Germany that I haven't dared to try making on my own yet.

4. Salty or Sweet?
I like a little bit of both.....fresh popped popcorn mixed with a handful of peanut M&M's is an absolute favorite of mine.

5. What is a goal you have for 2013?
I have 2 goals right now.....pass my Praxis I Exam before the end of June and to stick with my gym schedule!

6. How many kids are in your family?
We have 3 kids, ages 8, 5 and 1....but if you count our 2 cats and 1 dog as then I have 6 kids!! ;-)

7. What is your dream job?
I dream of owning a coffee shop/diner some day.

8. What is the hardest thing about blogging?
The hardest thing for me is taking good pictures and trying to figure out the HTML codes!!

9. What is your favorite restaurant and why?
My favorite restaurant here in Tucson has to be Brush Fire BBQ.....Messy Fries....yummm

10. What would your touchdown victory dance look like if you were in the NFL?
Probably my own version of Gangam Style....LOL

11. What's your favorite season and why?
Fall time is my favorite! I love it for many different reasons....here in Tucson because I can finally open my windows up again and turn off the A/C which means I can also start baking again!!! 

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My nominations go to:

1. Tanya @ Orange Craft Cave Creations

2. No More Tees

3. Parrish @ Life with the Crust Off

4. Nicki @ The Mandatory Mooch

5. Jutta @ HungryLittleGirl

6. Sheena @ Hot Eats and Cool Reads

7. The Home Girl

8. Stephanie @ Macaroni and Cheesecake

9. Jessica @ Love, Love, Love

10. Kirsten @ One Tough Mother

11. M.J.@ I like to Bake and Cook!

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And now for my questions to you fellow nominees:

1. If your friends had to describe you with one word, what would it be?

2. If you won the jackpot in the lottery, how would you spend the money?

3. What is one thing you couldn't live without?

4. Where is the coolest place you have ever visited?

5. What do you love most about blogging?

6. Team Edward or Team Jacob?

7. What is your favorite candy?

8. What was the most recent book you read and what you thought about it?

9. What is your biggest pet peeve?

10. What is your favorite cereal?

11. How did you decide on the name of your blog?

Question of the Week #1

Today I am going to answer a few questions about flour....there are many different kinds for many different reasons. Pastry flour, cake flour, all purpose, whole wheat flour, bread flour and self-rising. I am going to cover the basic information like....what is pastry flour? What if I don't have whole wheat flour? Is there a substitute for cake flour? Does using bread flour really make a difference? What is in self-rising flour?........BUT please if you have any specific questions in regards of flour ASK!! 
If you ask me something that I did not cover not only will you learn something but it will also give me the chance to learn more too :-)


All purpose:
This is your most commonly used flour. All purpose can be used in so many different ways and in both cooking & baking. All purpose flour is one of the key components when making a roux for a stew or soup.

Self-rising flour:
As the name says it it rises without the need to add additional leavening agent (like yeast or baking powder). Typically self-rising flour can be used in recipes for scones, biscuits or muffins. You can substitute all-purpose flour for self-rising flour but I would suggest pulsing it a few times your food processor or sieving at least 3 times before adding to your mixing bowl, this loosen the flour up and will help prevent the mixture from getting to tough.

Here is the recipe to make your own self-rising flour:

1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Pastry flour:
This type of flour is not used as commonly as some of the others. Pastry flour has a higher gluten content which helps the dough be more elastic and holds up better in recipes that require a little more processing like when making croissants, pie crusts or puff pastry. Pastry flour can be made by mixing cake flour and all purpose flour but should never be substituted with either cake flour or all purpose flour alone, it will create tough dough.

Recipe to make your own pastry flour:

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cups cake flour

Cake flour:
Cake flour is commonly used in recipes that do not need to rise much. This is because of the low protein content so less gluten is formed while mixing the batter. Low protein/ low gluten means finer and softer crumbs. Cake flour can be substituted in any cake recipe that calls for all purpose flour. Since cake flour is much lighter then all purpose flour you should always sift cake flour before adding it to your mixing bowl, this will help prevent clumping.

If you do not have cake flour on hand, substitute it with this mixture (this equals 1 cup of cake flour):
1 cup all purpose minus 2 TBS

If you want to use cake flour instead of all purpose in a cake recipe:
1 cup cake flour plus 2 TBS for every cup of all purpose flour called for in a recipe.


Whole wheat flour:
When it comes to using whole wheat flour it is very important to avoid over-mixing, over-mixing will form more gluten which can make the dough tougher and chewier. I would also suggest sifting your flour, this will help prevent clumping and adds air to the flour. Depending on what you are preparing you can substitute half of your white flour with whole wheat flour. ***I personally have not had much luck with using only whole wheat flour in recipes, way to tough and not very tasty***

Bread flour:
Bread flour has the most protein content when compared to other flours, this is best when using yeast in a recipe. The higher the protein the more glutens is created during the kneading process. The more gluten the lighter and chewier the bread will be. Bread flour is not really a type of flour that can easily substituted and which I do not recommend in doing either. Bread flour is also used quite often when making bread in a bread maker. *I use bread flour to make cinnamon rolls too* So if bread flour is called for then use bread flour don't replace it with a different flour.....that is just my opinion ;-)

The start of "Question of the Week"

Thanks to a good friend of mine I have decided to add another segment to my blog. I want to do a "Question of the Week"....you post questions and I will answer them! Your questions could be anything about cooking or baking such as which oil to use, dry herbs vs fresh, shiny baking sheets vs black, what is a certain ingredient (does everyone know what a gooseberry is?) or how to prepare a certain ingredient the easiest or most efficient way. These are just few things that came to mind but don't feel limited to my ideas.....ask away!!! Remember the old saying "the only dumb question is the one you don't ask" so please don't hesitate to ask.

Linky Party Success

Thanks to all of my fans who liked my Sugar Cooke Squares recipe.....it ended up being the winner to the weekly Linky party I submit recipes too (I haven't in the past 2 weeks due to travel and being awfully sick) BUT my recipe was featured on another bloggers blog!!! YAY how exciting!!! That was my first win and I hope to have many more featured in the years to come.....with your help it will happen :-)

Sugar Cooke Squares

Surprise Germany Visit

Viele Grüsse aus Deutschland (Greetings from Germany) I just wanted to say hello to all of my friends, fans and followers out there and also wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you!!

My family and I flew to Germany this past weekend, we are here to celebrate my Grandfathers 80th birthday! The weather has been COLD especially compared to the weather in Tucson but I did take a peak at the forecast and we are supposed to have some cooler temps when we get back.

The kids were so excited to see all the snow as we left the airport in Germany

I haven't done much cooking or baking while we have been here.....totally not me but hey we are on vacation right?! We should be back in Tucson sometime next week and I already have a few new things to try out and to share in mind.


Here is a link to some great information about German Food