Kid's Thumprint Cookies- The Very Last Tuesdays with Dorie Recipe and Goodbye from me!

I made these kid's thumbprints to celebrate the last week of Tuesdays with Dorie. TWD is/was a baking blog started by the wonderful blogger, Laurie Woodward. She decided to bake a different recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book Baking every single week until she baked through the entire thing. I joined later in 2008 and have made almost every single recipe in the whole book. I have met wonderful people both online and in person and really improved my baking skills. I am so happy I participate in this group and am grateful to Dorie Greenspan for writing a book that added so much joy to my kitchen and my family/friends. This week, I decided to actually bake and post in the same week. (I filled them with Sarabeth's strawberry jam and loved the combo of the sweet jam and crunchy nuts. It is a testament to the strength of the book that the last recipe chosen was as good as the first.) I have been a lazy blogger recently and have been cooking the books but not photographing them or writing them up. I am so busy now with my regular non-blogging life that I will continue with French Fridays with Dorie (where we cook through Around my French Table) and Baking with Julia (where will bake through this book, starting in February of 2012) but won't be blogging about it publicly anymore. I look forward to following all of the other bloggers online and learning even more skills as I follow along silently at home. As Laurie always says to us on the Tuesdays with Dorie web site, "Bake on!" Hugs to all!!!!!

TWD: Bittersweet Brownies and Alsatian Apple Tart

I guess I am more of an eater than a blogger. I made both of the treats selected for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie posting but didn't photograph either one of them. Oops. I know we enjoyed them and ate them quickly but I wish I had charged the batteries in my camera. I made the bittersweet brownies with Callebaut chocolate and added some toasted marshmallows to the chopped walnuts. Visit the Lovely Leslie of Lethally Delicious for the entire recipe. Leslie was lucky and got to make these brownies with Nancy of The Dog eats the Crumbs. I love it when bloggers meet in real life and I wish I had been there too!

Next, Jessica of cookbookhabit chose the Alsatian Apple Tart. In this recipe, I loved how the filling was creamy and custard-like. I will make this again and again. Visit Jessica's blog for the entire recipe and actual photos.

TWD: Apple Nut Muffin Cake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is the Apple Nut Muffin Cake. Take all the ingredients of a fall muffin (chopped apples, nuts, raisins) and dump the whole batter into an 8 by 8 pan instead of muffin tins. I liked the flavor of the almond extract mixed with fresh fruit and nuts. This recipe was exceptionally easy because the stick of butter is melted and cooled (i.e. no waiting for the butter to come to room temp) and the ingredients are hand mixed in a bowl so there is no mixer to clean. This is the perfect post-apple picking snack. We had nibbles for breakfast and afternoon snacks. Visit Katrina's blog, Baking and Boys, for the entire recipe. I really enjoy Katrina's blog because she often writes about the joys of cooking for and feeding her sons, which is near and dear to my heart.