Apple Pie

It's almost October and that means the fall festival season is upon us once again! We're looking forward to the excitement of the outdoor markets in our town. Oct. 1 is the Moravian Academy Fall Festival, and Oct. 8 is the Downtown Bethlehem Harvest Festival.  This is our second year at both festivals and we just can't say enough about how much we enjoy them. We'll have lots of pumpkin this and apple that, dog biscuits, and of course some new cookies and brownies.

After that is the Southside Bethlehem Just Desserts Festival on Oct. 21. Our desserts will be served at Fox Optical and Cleo's. We'll be wandering about, so stop by and say hi!

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We just love to be outside. At a festival, a farmers' market, or just about any reason at all - as long as it's warm and sunny, we're smiling. This weekend is the kickoff of the 2011 Downtown Bethlehem Artwalk. Now in its fourth season, the Artwalk "is a great opportunity for artists and musicians to showcase their talents to visitors to Bethlehem’s Main and Broad Streets" - according to the Downtown Bethlehem association website.

Luckily for us, Bucky and John at the Historic Sun Inn love our cookies and brownies, and so they've asked us to set up shop on Main Street in front of the Inn.

We kind of have our own little artists' enclave - Sharon Merkel illustrator/photographer (http://www.skmerkel.com), Dina Hall singer/songwriter (http://www.dinahall.com), and Back Door Bakeshop - Gail Lehman.

You just never know who's gonna stop by, so mark the dates and join us please.

May 28, June 26, July 30 and August 27  - See you on Saturday.

dina artwalk 2009

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Once again, it's time for the Bethlehem Farmers' Market. We've been part of this for a few years now, and the market just gets better each year.

Our products have expanded, and we're sampling new stuff all the time. We know that once you taste, you'll be hooked. Even your pets have fallen in cookie love. Last spring we introduced Dog Biscuits - both cheesy and peanut butter - and well, we couldn't keep up with sales. Later in the summer we brought you Granola. That was a huge hit. Since then we've been making fresh batches every week.

Once summer rolled in you went wild for our fresh Blueberry Preserves and Blueberry Coffee Bread. Peach season came around and we wowed you with Peach Crumb Coffee Cake and Peach Jam. That was followed by apple season and that can only mean the most delicious Apple Streusel Pie on the planet (IMHO). And then it was fall. Pumpkin, oh great pumpkin. Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Roll.

Well, guess what? The market starts this week!

What are you craving? Tell us.

See you every Thursday, 11-3pm - Lehigh University Campus Square, Bethlehem, Pa

2011 Vendors: Key Ingredient Market (spreads and dips), Earth’s Phocas (fresh flowers), York Moor Farm (fresh eggs and produce) and Around the World in 80 Cakes, Easton Salsa Co., The Popcorn Pit, A Natural Alternative (soaps and toiletries), Back Door Bakeshop, Humdinger Alpacas (wool products), Tasty Pastry, Lettuce Alone Farm (produce), Bechdolt Orchards (produce) and The Flour Shop Bakery

If you want more info, just drop us a note: info@backdoorbakeshop.com

- Dina and Gail

brownie tasting

We're about to begin our second season of Brownie Tastings. Gail likes to experiment with different varieties and truthfully, I just can't eat one more morsel of chocolate. That's where you come in. We need tasters - lovers of chocolate who don't mind testing the recipes. So we're throwing a little party or two. The first one is Sunday, Mar. 27, 2-4 p.m. at Terra Cafe in Bethlehem. There will be live music by yours truly and my pal Beth Sherby.

As for the brownies, I don't know what Gail has going in the oven yet, but I have been instructed to get some Bethlehem Brew Works Insidious Imperial Stout. Superb idea!

About Terra Cafe: We've been supplying the Easton cafe with carrot cake, cookies, banana bread, lemon squares and the like, for over a year now. The Bethlehem cafe is at 326 S. New St. (formerly Wildflower Cafe) and serves sandwiches wraps and salads, fresh fruit smoothies, fair trade coffee, and tea.

So, we encourage you to have lunch, enjoy the music and sample those brownies. Bring a friend, or two.

- Dina

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Everyone knows cookies are full of unhealthy stuff. That's why we love 'em, right. But wouldn't it be great if you could have a snack that was a little sweet, a little salty, soft but kinda chunky, and loaded with goodness? That's the Mother Earth cookie. Each cookie is a single serving of healthy grains, nuts and dried fruit. All-natural ingredients make this a great snack choice for health-conscious families.

What's in it? Whole wheat flour, wheat germ, rolled oats, brown sugar, raisins, dried cranberries, apricots, pecans, almonds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds.

You gotta try it.

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Announcing the Aardvark Baar. The Back Door Bakeshop granola bar, packaged for Aardvark Sports Shop is available at both the Downtown Bethlehem and Stroudsburg locations. Visit www.aardvarksportsshop.com for store information.

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Many of you have asked us if we make sheet cakes. To be honest, it's not our specialty. We're much better at creating small, simple cakes for intimate events. Here's a photo of one we made for a wedding this past summer. It's a lemon cake with butter cream frosting. All of the flowers are fresh, and edible.

Granola

Suddenly, there's a whole lot of buzz about our Granola. First introduced this summer at the Bethlehem Farmer's Market, this stuff has people calling every few days to order it. We're making weekly batches and it's for sale at the bakeshop. Call ahead or email to make sure it isn't all gone! Back Door Bakeshop Granola contains perfect amounts of cashews, coconut, raisins, almonds, sunflower seeds, rolled oats, honey, dark brown sugar, vegetable oil and salt. That's it. All-natural and fresh-baked.

Gail likes it with yogurt, and I like it with Special K cereal.

- Dina

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If these cupcakes could talk, they would be shouting "I love springtime!"

Last week, we created these especially for Sophia's birthday. Fresh berries and a sprig of mint from the garden tastefully (and sweetly) sit atop the tangy lemon frosting.

For the first time in weeks, we had an entire weekend off. Well, almost. Dina had back-to-back gigs in Rehoboh, DE, so technically, one of was working. The forecast for the weekend was promising spring-like temps and clear skies, so we decided to camp at Cape Henlopen State Park, just north of Rehoboth. We arrived on Friday night, chose one of the tent sites - away from the RVs, and close to the dunes. It was the beach, and it was beautiful. We were so excited for the warm weather, and couldn't wait for Saturday to park our chairs on the beach. Well, that did not happen!

Nonetheless, we cooked up a good old fashioned breakfast over an open fire. Scrambled eggs and bacon, with skillet potatoes and onions. Here's how we do it:

1. Get the fire hot! and then gather it in a tight space under the cooking grate

2. We heat up two cast iron skillets, place bacon in one, and some butter in the other

3. Chop up half of a sweet onion and add to the sizzling butter.

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eggs

4. Once the onions start to get soft, add potatoes. To make it easy, we always pre-cook the potatoes at home.

5. As the bacon starts to get crisp, remove it from the skillet and keep it warm. We just put it in an empty pan near the fire. Dump the bacon grease into the fire, add water to the hot skillet and scrape it clean with a metal spatula. Put the skillet back on the cooking grate to get hot again.

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coffee press

6. We have a set of nesting camping pots, and use the smallest one to scramble up the eggs. Once the empty skillet is hot, add butter. It should sizzle. When this happens pour the eggs into the skillet.

7. Coffee gets brewed in a small French press - two cups at a time, so it's always hot, fresh and strong. We boil the water on top of a vintage Coleman camp stove. It's been in the family since the early 70's.

8. Time to enjoy!

By the time we're done, we've discarded all food waste into the fire, and all we have left is a few dishes to wash.

plating

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gift basket

Sometime in late November we introduced a new product - Sustainable Business Gift Baskets. The concept was created as a way to keep in step with the local business community, not just during the winter holiday season, but year-round. No doubt the timing was just right - the model of a sustainable business community is growing in leaps and bounds. Sure, we could have purchased the coffee and tea from a catalog, or even a membership club store, but we like the idea of buying from our neighbors. It feels great.

When someone opens one of our baskets at their workplace, it gets everyone talking about each product that's in there. They share the cookies, and the chocolates, and that's when the magic happens. People love good food - they love to eat it, and they love to talk about it. Just try biting into one of Gail's brownies without saying "mmm..." And of course, the coffee smells great.

Back Door Bakeshop Sustainable Business Gift Baskets are available in three sizes - petite $22, mid-size $25, and colossal $55. Each cellophane wrapped basket is eco-friendly and proudly feature these products:

• Tallarico's Chocolates

• Counter Culture Coffee from Perk on Main and Wired Cafe

• Tea from Christine's Secret Garden

• Cookies, bars and brownies from Back Door Bakeshop

If you're interested in ordering a basket, send us an email info@backdoorbakeshop.com, or call us at 610-625-0987.

These baskets were featured on p. 57 of Lehigh Valley Marketplace "Early Spring Issue 2010" published on April 1, 2010.