Some people buy clothes, I buy flour...

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

2012-01-23T18:54:00.000-06:00

Its cold out and I work all day, so nothing could be better than a good, easy to make bowl of soup. I think, in theory, soups are supposed to be easy, but often times they involved a lot of chopping and waiting and simmering and sometimes I just don't have time for that.

This recipe was so good I had to jump right on here and tell you about it. The ingredients are minimal and the chopping will take you five minutes at the most. Prep and actual involved cooking time is minimal, there is some waiting, just watch some tv or do some yoga or sit and stare at your oven while the cauliflower bakes.

It is pretty low calorie, but not low fat (remember, fat doesn't make you fat!). I think it approximately 300 calories per serving (makes 4 servings). The fat will keep you full for a long time, longer than low cal, low fat, high carb! Now, before this turns into a rant or a lecture, the recipe!!

Roasted Cauliflower Soup
adapted from: Elana's Pantry

1 large head of cauliflower
1 medium onion, chopped
1 or two cloves of garlic, minced (honestly, I used the jarred stuff!)
4 cups of chick stock (or 4 cups of water and some Better than Bouillon, love this stuff!)
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (not low fat, remember?)
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper (Max likes lots of pepper, but season to taste)

Preheat oven to 375.
Take off the green stalk of your cauliflower. Chop the head in half and then slice it. Put on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil and sprinkle with one tablespoon of olive oil. Bake until brown and caramelized, about 30-45 minutes. This step is important because the flavor it develops is outstanding.
Once the cauliflower is done cooking (and you are done with that show you were watching), heat the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauce pot on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add chopped onion.
Cook the onion for about five minutes, or until onion starts to become translucent. Add garlic and cook for about one more minute.
Chop your cooked and cooling cauliflower into slightly smaller pieces (rough chop or do like I did and hack at it with your wooden spoon) and add to pot. Add your chicken stock now as well.
Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer on low for about 10-15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is very soft (like over-cooked broccoli).
Now, you can use a immersion blender or a regular one for the next part (have you gotten an immersion blender yet? You should). Turn the heat off and blend soup until smooth and creamy. While you are blending, add the heavy cream.
Turn the stove back onto low just to make sure the soup is nice and hot before serving. Top with bacon, cheese, or eat as is and enjoy!

Banana Bread Lara Bar

2012-01-22T19:45:00.000-06:00

Last week the local "health food" store had a sale on Larabars, which I love, but I can't eat most of them because of the nuts they use and they are usually very expensive. I looked at the ingredients and did some searching online and found out that they whole process of making these wouldn't be very hard and I could customize them with non-allergy causing ingredients.

I hope you try these; they are especially good for breakfast and will keep you full for a long time. Although I highly recommend trying the real thing, this is a great recipe and ends up being a lot cheaper.

Banana Bread Lara Bars

3 cups dates (make sure you pit them, I initially forgot this step!)
1/2 cup banana chips
1 cup walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Chop up the dates in a food processor (a blender may work, but you might burn out the engine, not sure).
Remove the dates from the food processor and put in the banana chips and walnuts. Pulse the nuts and fruit a few times until chopped into little pieces.
Place the dates, walnuts, and bananas into a bowl and sprinkle with cinnamon. Mix with your hands until fully combined.
On parchment or wax paper, spread the mixture out into a rectangle. It should be about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into eight pieces. They should look like granola bars, or similar to that. If you have ever had a Lara Bar, it should look pretty similar. If you haven't had one, well, I probably should have taken a picture!!!

Heavenly Chocolate Mousse

2012-01-10T18:49:00.001-06:00

Another post already? Why, yes! I have made this chocolate mousse three times now and it is so yummy. I have not made it the same way twice because sometimes I have one type of chocolate and sometimes I am missing eggs (oops!) and sometimes I really want a dark chocolate orange mousse, which was the case tonight.

For those of you who don't know, I work at a chocolate factory. Because of this, I usually have a surplus of chocolate on hand and I don't usually eat any of it. If you're lucky enough to live close to me, you've probably benefited from this, and if you haven't then I apologize. I had some wonderful orange dark chocolate (which is one of my favorites) and was craving a dessert.

Now this is not low fat or low anything in fact, but it a nice indulgence at the end of a long day. I'm going to post the original recipe, but feel free to play with the flavors a bit. Even if you mess this up, it will be a delicious mistake!

Heavenly Chocolate Mousse
from: All Recipes

Ingredients

8 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (if you prefer milk, use it, if you like flavored chocolate, use it!!)
1/2 cup water, divided
2 tablespoons butter (no substitutes)
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar (If you use a sweeter chocolate, such as milk, reduce to 1 tablespoon)
1 1/4 cups whipping cream, whipped

Directions

In a microwave or double boiler, heat chocolate, 1/4 cup water and butter until the chocolate and butter are melted. Cool for 10 minutes.
In a small heavy saucepan, whisk egg yolks, sugar and remaining water. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees F (it will feel slightly thicker under your whisk), about 1-2 minutes.
Remove from the heat; whisk in chocolate mixture. Set saucepan in ice and stir until cooled, about 5-10 minutes (or, as I did, whisk egg mixture into chocolate and place in fridge, whisking every few minutes. Don't forget about it or your chocolate may seize up).
Fold in whipped cream (Don't use cool whip or the stuff from a can! It won't work or taste good. Tip for great whipped cream: place whisk and bowl in freezer for 15 minutes before making). Spoon into dessert dishes. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Then lick the bowl!!!

I'm back again!

2012-01-09T18:25:00.000-06:00

Hello there! Its been a long while and things have changed so much. Max and I are now living in our own little apartment with our kitty, Lela. It is a small, one bedroom apartment, that is often messier than it should be and I'm pretty happy here! As much as I love my parents, its nice to be on our own again.

Now, reason for my absence this time: I haven't been baking much. Shocking, I know. The reason for my lack of baking: I have lost twenty pounds. Part of the reason for my weight loss is cutting back on the carbs and I have gone gluten free for the most part (with some MAJOR lapses during Christmas). I also use a website called myfitnesspal.com, which is an awesome place for losing weight (as Allison and Joann can also attest to).

I will be playing with some gluten free baking soon, but for now I've been making some delicious, healthy, real food for dinner, breakfast and lunch. I have not gone low fat or vegetarian or anything like that. I am eating the realest foods that I can, which I am finding much more filling than processed food. Real fats and protein also help with satiety, making this weight loss effort much easier than previous.

I am planning on sharing more healthy foods and I will share my gluten free baking ventures when I get a chance to try them!! Enjoy!

Carrot Soup
from: All Recipes

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (or more)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 cups chicken broth
plain yogurt (optional)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon of agave nectar (or sweetener of your choice)

Directions

Melt the butter in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Place the chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, apple, and onion in the pot. Stir and cook the apples and vegetables until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
Stir the lentils, ginger, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and chicken broth into the pot with the apple and vegetable mixture. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils and vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes.
Working in batches, pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.
Return the pureed soup to the cooking pot. Bring back to a simmer over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes. Add cream, agave nectar, and milk as needed to thin the soup to your preferred consistency. Serve with yogurt for garnish if you would like.

This recipe has great reviews on All recipes. I thought it was really delicious, you can taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. I made some adjustments from the website's version and I added them above. If you would like the original version, following the link above.

Sweet and Spicy Candied Walnuts

2011-07-11T17:10:00.001-05:00

Healthy eating: not always very exciting. I am trying to eat more healthy fats, which includes nuts. I can't eat some nuts (almonds and hazelnuts, sad right?) so I was eating plain, un-roasted walnuts. Well, that got boring very quickly, but they were filling and good for me.

I decided I needed to make them more exciting and did a quick search for sweet and spicy walnuts. This recipe does have a lot of sugar, but you don't add any extra oil and I always feel like homemade is better than store bought. A quarter of a cup of these is filling, crunchy, sweet, salty, and so yummy!!! The added cayenne pepper adds a little kick at the end, which you could leave out if you want (bought don't, please!).

Sweet and Spicy Candied Walnuts
by:Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

1/3 cup dark-brown sugar
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
11/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pound walnut or pecan halves or whole peeled hazelnuts (or a mix)
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tablespoon water

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix sugars, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps; set aside.
Beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Add walnuts, and stir to coat evenly.
Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture, and toss until evenly coated.
Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper.
Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven, and separate nuts as they cool.
When completely cool, pour the nuts into a bowl, breaking up any that stick together.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

2011-07-07T09:28:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to eat healthy and make a general lifestyle change lately. I think I mentioned that in the last post. It has been going pretty well, but I haven't been baking as much because it is so hard to find light baked goods that taste goods and use good ingredients.

Since I went strawbery picking a few weeks ago, I had an abundance. I found this recipe from Cooks Illustrated and figured it must be good since it was on their list of best light recipes. I was right!! I used rhubarb, but you don't have to. I forgot to add the cinnamon and sugar to the top of the biscuits, but it was still delish! Also, I found that I need about double the cornstarch that the recipe called for because the fruit was extremely juicy; you can adjust this after it cooks for a bit in the oven. I hope you enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
from: Swim Bake Run

Filling

1 quart fresh strawberries , rinsed and hulled
10 ounces rhubarb , cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Biscuit Topping

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces)
3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar plus 2 teaspoons
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/3 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the fruit filling ingredients together in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Place the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the fruit releases its liquid and is hot and bubbling around the edges, 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, cornmeal, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, butter, and vanilla together; set aside. In a third small bowl, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar with the cinnamon; set aside.
3. When the filling is ready, stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined and no pockets of flour remain. Remove the cobbler filling from the oven and stir. Pinch off 8 equal pieces of the biscuit dough and arrange them on top of the hot filling, spaced 1/2 inch apart. Sprinkle the tops of the biscuits with the cinnamon sugar.
4. Continue to bake the cobbler until the biscuits are golden brown on top and cooked through and the filling is again hot and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the cobbler on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

2011-06-26T10:05:00.001-05:00

[Channeling Michael from the Office] "There has been....a MURDER!!!"

This weekend Max and I went to a murder mystery. It was set in the 1920s, so me and Max got to dress up fancy and make some Prohibition era cocktails. I was Torchy, the lounge singer, and Max was Ernie G. Ambler.

We wanted to stay true to the times, so I searched foods that were popular in the '20s. Apparently jello molds were a big hit, but I was not really interested in making one of those. Another popular dessert choice was Pineapple Upside Down Cake. That sounded much more interesting. Deviled eggs were also a big hit in the '20s, so Max whipped up a batch of those and everyone loved them.

Since I thought individual sizes would be much more manageable for a party, I found this recipe for mini pineapple upside down cakes. Enjoy!!

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes
from: AllRecipes

Ingredients

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 (20 ounce) cans sliced pineapple (save the juice)
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
24 maraschino cherries

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and butter; mix well. Spoon into 24 greased muffin cups. Drain pineapple, reserving the juice. Trim pineapple to fit the muffin cups; place one ring in each cup. Place one cherry in the center of the pineapple ring.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, oils and 1-1/4 cups of the reserved pineapple juice; mix well. Spoon over pineapple, filling each cup two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Wait 3-5 minutes. Run a knife around the cake to loosen it. Place a cooling rack on top of the muffin pan and then invert to free the cakes.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

2011-06-05T18:02:00.005-05:00

So after my long hiatus, I'm going to update already! Its nice to be baking and creating again. I've been cooking dinners for my family almost every night and I've been experimenting with healthy desserts.

I've been trying to create less of me, but I can't stop baking! So far, I've made low-fat banana muffins and this delicious strawberry-rhubarb crisp.

I've never made anything with rhubarb before and, I hate to admit this, but I'm pretty sure I've never even eaten rhubarb before. I'm glad to report that I loved it! It was tart and soft, not what I expected at all. Rhubarb is pretty seasonal, so make this while its still around!

Sorry for the lack of pics lately, I keep eating the dessert before I get a chance to take a picture. I'm not crazy about pictures of half eaten desserts...

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
From: Cooking Light

Ingredients

Filling:

6 cups (1/2-inch) slices rhubarb (about 2 pounds)

2 1/2 cups halved strawberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cooking spray

Topping:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup regular oats

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash of salt

6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. To prepare filling, combine the first 6 ingredients. Spoon into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
3. To prepare topping, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (including salt) in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle topping over filling. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-06-04T15:57:00.000-05:00

So...I haven't updated in forever.

Since the last time I updated, I moved back to New Hampshire and am living in my parents' basement with Max. All of my baking things are in boxes and...(sorry mom) my parents' kitchen is lacking many of the things I usually use. There is a great gas oven/stove in their kitchen, but I got so used to my other itty-bitty oven that most of the things that I've baked so far have looked...weird. Things taste great, just aren't pretty at all.

So, to the recipe. My grandparents came over the other day and my mom is the queen of baking from boxes. Not that their is anything wrong with that! Every time we have people over, she makes a cake. It became a joke when Max and I were dating that she would make a cake every time he came over.

Anyways, my mom wanted to make a red velvet cake. Its not my favorite cake (I know! sorry!!!), but I do love the cream cheese frosting that accompanies it. Every cream cheese frosting that I have had from a tub is too sweet and lacks that real cream cheese tang. So, I convinced my mom that it was a good idea to let me make a frosting for her boxed cake (again, nothing against boxed desserts!). Not sure why it took convincing, but she was hesitant.

This frosting is amazing. It is nice and tangy, not too sweet. I hope that you take the 5 minutes to make this frosting for your next cake, whether it is from a box or not.

Cream Cheese Frosting
from: All Recipes

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy.
Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Chicken Tikka Masala Take 2

2011-03-23T21:03:00.001-05:00

I have been on a quest to make a really good Indian dish. I love Indian food and have wanted to recreate the flavors that I love from restaurants. I posted a recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala before and that was good, but I think this recipe was better. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs, but I would recommend the thighs so that the chicken doesn't dry out. I also chose to cook the chicken in the oven because I was feeling ultra lazy and didn't feel like skewering the chicken and grilling it. I hope you give this a try!

Chicken Tikka Masala
from: Indian Simmer
Ingredients:
For Chicken Tikka:
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into cubes)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper1 1/2 tsp ginger, very finely chopped or in a paste
1 tsp garlic, minced1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup yogurt (any fat % is fine)
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Salt

For the tomato sauce:
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (pureed)
1 tbsp garlic paste (I used minced garlic)
1 tbsp ginger paste (again, I used minced)
1 tbsp onion powder (optional)
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 1/2 tsp powdered black pepper
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp powdered fennel seeds
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped cilantro (for garnish)
Salt

Method:

For Chicken Tikka:

Mix all the dry ingredients into the mixture of yogurt and lemon juice to prepare a marinade.
Add chicken pieces into the marinade.
Mix everything well. Cover the bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour, but as long as overnight.
Thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers.
Grill the skewered chicken until done or pop it into the oven for 15-20 minutes at a temperature of 400 deg. F.

For the Masala:

Pour oil in a thick bottom pan. Add ginger garlic paste.Turn on the heat and let the paste slowly cook as the oil heats up. This perfumes the oil.
When the oil is hot, add onion, coriander, fennel, black pepper powder and garam masala. Mix it all together.
Add tomato puree and mix it very well with all the spices. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes until the sauce starts reducing and the excess water evaporates. Stir occasionally scraping the bottom.
Add cooked chicken pieces along with the drippings if cooked in an oven and cream. Mix it all together and let it simmer for another 5-7 minutes.
Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Garnish with some chopped cilantro and serve with naan, roti, or Rice Pulao (from Indian Simmer).

Profiteroles with Whipped Cream and Ganache

2011-03-08T22:21:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine, Brittani, had a small get together this weekend where she fried up some fresh fish from the Gulf, made cabbage salad, and put me in charge of dessert.

We had been gardening that day, so I wanted to make something fairly easy that looked kind of impressive. I kept hearing that profiteroles (which are essentially the shells that make up cream puffs and eclairs, I believe) were easy. Let me just tell you, these were very easy and the results are so impressive. My husband told me that I was just showing off! Fill them up with a little whipped cream or cut them in half and stuff with ice cream. I made a chocolate ganache to go with them, too. Yum!

The chocolate was still wet and everyone had started eating already!

Profiteroles

from: Food Network

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
Pinch kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 extra-large eggs (I used 4 large eggs and they turned out well)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat the milk, butter, and salt over medium heat until scalded.
When the butter is melted, add the flour all at once and beat it with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and forms a dough. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat for 2 minutes. The flour will begin to coat the bottom of the pan.
Dump the hot mixture into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.
Add the eggs and pulse until the eggs are incorporated into the dough and the mixture is thick.
Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. (You can use a gallon bag with a corner cut out like me!)
Pipe in mounds 1 1/2 inches wide and 1-inch high onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You should have about 18 puffs.
With a wet finger, lightly press down the swirl at the top of each puff. (You can also use 2 spoons to scoop out the mixture and shape the puffs with damp fingers.)
Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned, then turn off the oven and allow them to sit for another 10 minutes, until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. (I took mine out after the first 20 minutes and they were fine for the first batch) Make a small slit in the side of each puff to allow the steam to escape. Set aside to cool.

Whipped Cream

2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup of sugar

Put your bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
Pour in the whipping cream and sugar and turn on mixer. Beat cream until you get stiff peaks. You don't want it to be too soft because it will turn your puffs into mush.
To fill the cream puffs: put the whipped cream into a pastry bag or a gallon bag fitted with a small decorating tip. Insert the tip into the slit you cut earlier, and squeeze gently until whipped cream starts to come out the sides a bit.
You can also make a ganache and dip the puffs into this when you are done filling them with whipped cream.

No chocolate for Brittani's kitties! Sorry, Zoe.

Lemon Iced Cookies

2011-03-03T17:59:00.002-06:00

I had the urge to bake again yesterday (but really, when do I not have this urge?) and I had bought way too many lemons for lemon bars that I made last Friday. Feeling like I should probably share whatever I made with the lovely people I work with, I searched tastespotting and found some quick, easy cookies that called for lemon. These cookies are cake-y and light and remind me of spring. Even though citrus is a winter fruit, it still always reminds me of warm weather. These were gone the same night I made them; I brought most of them to work and Max finished off the rest, so you know they must be good!

Lemon Iced Cookies
from: Do Better

for the cookies:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
juice from half a lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

for the icing:

1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 T light corn syrup
juice of half a lemon
zest of a whole lemon
1 T water

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a measuring cup, combine milk, lemon juice and vanilla.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Mix in flour mixture, alternating with milk on low speed. Mix until smooth.
Scoop out batter onto a silpat lined baking sheet, about 6 to a sheet as they do spread. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 11-13 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Allow to cool two minutes on a tray and then transfer to a cooling rack.
While the cookies are baking, mix the confectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest and water. Once the cookies have cooled slightly, spread the icing over the cookies.

Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Frosting

2011-02-22T17:50:00.001-06:00

This semester has been so much better for baking and blogging. I'm glad that I get to share all of my delicious creations with you and I'm glad that I get to eat them all.

The other night I was bored and really wanted to bake. I didn't have too many ingredients on my counter, but I did have three very, very ripe bananas. I'm talkin' almost no yellow left on them. If I didn't use them soon, then they would definitely start to turn into something inedible. Since I just made those banana espresso chocolate chip muffins, I wanted to do something a little different. I searched banana cupcakes and, voila!, Martha Stewart provided this delicious sounding banana delight.

The frosting has a pinkish hue in this picture, but is really a lovely tan color from the honey and cinnamon.

Banana Cupcakes with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting

from: Martha Stewart

Cupcake Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas), plus 1 whole banana, for garnish (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Make a well in center of flour mixture

In a separate bowl, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into flour well. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. (Check at about 20 minutes, mine finished quickly) Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Spread tops with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice banana into rounds, and place one on each cupcake, if desired.

Frosting Ingredients

1 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (don't microwave, but make sure it is very soft)

1 tablespoon honey

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I added more, just taste and see if you would like more or not)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners’ sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes (your frosting may look chunky at first, but give it time).
Frost cupcakes.
Don't refrigerate frosting until after you frost, but I would recommend putting the frosted cupcakes in the fridge, since the frosting is pure butter.

Chicken Tikka Masala

2011-02-19T10:16:00.000-06:00

In the last month, we have had five days off from school because of snow and now it is seventy five degrees and sunny. That is one thing I like about Oklahoma: if its cold, you know it will be warmer soon. Even though its warming up, I am still in the mood for warm, comforting food.

One comfort food for me is definitely Indian food, with its rich flavors and tantalizing scents. I found this recipe for chicken tikka masala while browsing tastespotting a while ago and finally got around to make it. The version in the link is far too salty. I made this version and had to add more cream in order to de-saltify it. I am going to give you a version with far less salt and slightly less fat and you can then at more salt if you want. This dish is very good over jasmine rice. A little flatbread or naan wouldn't hurt either!

Chicken Tikka Masala

from: The Cooking Photographer

Chicken Prep:
1 cup plain fat free yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoons salt, or to taste
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
4 long skewers

1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Preheat a grill for high heat. You can use a griddle if you have one.

3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side. Set aside.

Sauce Prep:
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup fat free half and half
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Sauté garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in tomato sauce and half and half. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes.

2. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve over rice.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-02-10T22:29:00.003-06:00

Wow that is a mouthful! A mouthful of deliciousness! Okay, corny, I know. Anyway, after my sixth snow day this year, I had to bake more delicious things. This whole snow thing is really killing my diet, but it is leading to some delicious desserts.

I had no motivation to make dinner last night, but really wanted to bake something. So we ended up with Hamburger Helper and these muffins. I had about four bananas in the freezer (they turned brown, so I peeled them and froze them) and I also got some amazing silicone muffin holders (usually I would call them tins, but doesn't that require them to be, well, tin?) that are the size of a muffin you would buy at the store. Sure that means more calories, but it always means that this muffin is more of a meal. The recipe I'm putting below is for 12 muffins, but I only made six giant muffins. You'll need to bake them longer if you want a meal-sized muffin. Make these please, you will not regret it.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
from: Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

1-1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (*not the same as ground espresso that you would brew and optional but recommended*)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg.
In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Fill each cup about 3/4 full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack. Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

*Note: you will see that there are large sugar crystals on top of my muffins. I added a sprinkle of muffin sugar (for lack of a more accurate name) like you would find in a store to add that muffin-top crunch.

Yield: 12 muffins

Why yes, that is an OU snuggie in the background!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

2011-02-07T21:25:00.002-06:00

After the 6 day vacation I got (but didn't necessarily want) I managed to bake quite a bit. I made brownies, pita, and this amazing Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie.

Brittani had a Super Bowl party yesterday and I volunteered to bring the dessert. I had this pie bookmarked on my tastespotting favorites forever and finally decided it was time to try it (the 8lbs of chocolate my dad sent me also influenced my decision!). The ingredient list is short and simple, but I had to go to 2 stores to get everything because all the supermarkets around here were out of everything (eggs, milk, cream cheese, butter)!! This pie is indulgent, rich, and tastes like a giant peanut butter cup! Enjoy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

adapted from: The Nesting Project

Ingredients

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3/4 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup for whipping cream

1 8 oz package of cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla extracted

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips (or 1/2 a cup for drizzling which is what I did)

1 chocolate cracker (or graham cracker) crust

Procedure

Combine the peanut butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and cream cheese until smooth and combined.
Transfer to a bowl and then with a clean beater - whip up heavy cream and the rest of the sugar. *Hint: use a really cold bowl and it will whip up faster.
Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture and add into the pie shell.
Melt the choc chips in the microwave for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes (You may want to do this in 20 second intervals so you don't over microwave it) and either drizzle on top or cover the entire top.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

2011-02-04T17:52:00.001-06:00

I made this slow cooker spicy buffalo chicken recently and people seemed really interested in the recipe, so I thought I would share. I've been stuck in the house quite a bit lately because of all of this snow, so I've been cooking and baking more than usual. This is a fairly healthy recipe and it is pretty fast for a slow cooker recipe. It cooks on high for 4 hours in your crock-pot. Also, I made a few changes. I used all white meat chicken breasts and I used about a 1/2 cup of Frank's Hot Sauce instead of just 1/4 cup. Either way, it will be yummy :)

Slow Cooker Spicy Buffalo Chicken
from What's for Dinner

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 and 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 and 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup hot-pepper sauce, such as Frank's
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
8 hamburger buns

Procedure

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add chicken thighs, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring once, until meat is golden brown, 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a slow cooker, leaving as much oil behind as possible. Repeat with chicken breasts.
To skillet, add onion, garlic, and bell pepper and cook over medium, stirring constantly, until onion is translucent, 6 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from skillet, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to slow cooker.
To slow cooker, add crushed tomatoes, hot-pepper sauce, Worcestershire, mustard, and molasses; stir to combine. Cover and cook on high until chicken is very tender, 4 hours.
Shred chicken (Use a potato masher) and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on buns (preferably whole wheat)

Apple Crisp

2010-12-01T19:09:00.002-06:00

I made two trays of this apple crisp for my class the other day and it was almost all gone! I had a few people ask for the recipe, so I thought I would share. Apples are in season right now and taste so good, this is a great fall dessert for that reason. I hope you try this, its so very easy! I'm even including the recipe for the whipped cream I made to go with it.

Apple Crisp
by: Betty Crocker

medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)*I used a combo of Macintosh and another tart cooking apple

3/4

cup packed brown sugar

1/2

cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1/2

cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats

1/3

cup butter or margarine, softened

3/4

teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4

teaspoon ground nutmeg **I also added about 1/2 tsp of cloves

Cream or Ice cream, if desired



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Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.
Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream (or warm with the whipped cream below).

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
by: me :)

8 oz heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar (or more if you think its not sweet enough)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Put a metal bowl in the freezer for about ten minutes so it is nice and cold. This helps that whipped cream whip faster (it really does work!).
You can use a hand mixer or electric mixer for this (or a whisk if you are really brave).
Pour all the ingredients into the cold bowl.
Turn your mixer on high and whip until stiff peaks form. Don't whip too long, or you'll end up with butter.
Put in the fridge until you are ready to use it and resist the urge to eat all of it with a spoon.

Chicken Fricassee with Mashed Potatoes

2010-11-29T22:50:00.001-06:00

This is a meal my mom would make a lot when I was a kid. It is great for those leftovers you may be getting sick of or if you want a good comfort meal. My mom calls it chicken fricassee, but I don't know what the real name of it may be, all I know is it is delish!

Chicken Fricassee
from: my mom

Ingredients:

1/2 an onion, diced
1/3 cup of butter
1/3 cup of flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup or more of peas and corn (or whatever your preference may be)
2 cups chicken (or turkey) torn up into bite size pieces (precooked!)

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat. When butter is melted, add onions and saute until translucent.
Sprinkle flour over this mixture once onions are ready. Whisk until all of the flour is absorbed. Cook this mixture and stir very often for about 3-5 minutes. You want to make sure that you cook it long enough to get all of the raw flour flavor out.
Whisk in milk and broth. You will want to whisk it good, or there might be lumps!
Stir often over medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble. You will also notice that the gravy will begin to thicken at this point, like magic!
When it gets pretty thick (like it would coat the back of a spoon), turn the heat to low. Now, add the peas and corn (frozen still is fine, that's why the heat is still on!) and chicken.
Finally, add salt and pepper to taste. Don't add too much salt without tasting it because broth can be kind of salty!
Pour over your favorite mashed potatoes on each individual plate (homemade or boxed, I won't tell!), but don't combine it all until you are ready to eat, it might get a little soupy.
Leftovers are super good :)

Thanks Mom!

Pumpkin Cream Pie

2010-11-27T18:12:00.001-06:00

I love this time of year and all of the pumpkin goodies. Me and my friend Hope cooked almost all of Thanksgiving dinner on our own (Max put some butter on the turkey). Instead of the traditional pumpkin pie, I made this pumpkin cream pie that I found on the Pioneer Woman's website. I love her and her food always looks amazing! I missed her when she came and visited OU :(

Ree's recipe called for a homemade graham cracker crust, but I already had so much today that I used a shortbread crust that I got at Target. They had run out of graham cracker crusts already! I probably shouldn't have done my shopping the day before Thanksgiving! Also, I didn't use the whiskey that is optional.

Pumpkin Cream Pie
from: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUST:
1-½ package Graham Crackers (about 15 Cookie Sheets)
½ cups Powdered Sugar
1 stick Butter, Melted
FOR THE FILLING:
1 box (3 Oz. Box) Vanilla Pudding (Cook And Serve Variety)
1 cup Half-and-half
½ cups Heavy Cream
Pinch Of Cinnamon
Pinch Of Nutmeg
Pinch Of Ground Cloves
2 Tablespoons Whiskey (optional)
½ cups (plus 3 Tablespoons) Pumpkin Puree
½ cups (additional) Heavy Cream
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
Extra Graham Cracker Crumbs, For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Grind graham crackers in a food processor (or, if you don’t have a food processor, place them in a large ziploc and pound ‘em with a rolling pin.) Add powdered sugar and melted butter and process until totally combined. Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan until nice and firm. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until warm and “set.” Remove from oven and allow crust to cool completely.
In a medium saucepan, mix dry pudding mix with half-and-half and cream. Add spices. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly and thick. Remove from heat and stir in whiskey, if using. Add pumpkin and stir to combine. Place lid on pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough, place pot in the fridge to cool completely.
When mixture is cool, remove from the fridge. In a mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and brown sugar. Beat until very light and fluffy. Fold in pumpkin cream mixture until combined. Pour into cooled crust.
Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Serve with graham crackers crumbled on top.

Pumpkin Bars

2010-11-07T17:19:00.002-06:00

Hello again. I know its been a while. I'm more than halfway through my student teaching and I have really been enjoying it. I had a little time last weekend and was hanging out with Brittani, so I made some pumpkin bars in honor of Fall!! I love pumpkin and all things pumpkin related. These bars are very yummy and have the perfect balance of frosting and cake. I hope you get to try these and enjoy them!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
from: How to Simplify

Ingredients:
Bars

4 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3-4 cups confectioners' sugar
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
Mix the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin with a mixer until light and fluffy.
Pour flour, powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda into another bowl and mix.
Pour flour mixture into pumpkin mixture and mix until incorporated and smooth.
Pour the batter into the baking dish and level out the batter.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the dish or frosting.
Frost the bars when they have cooled -- To make the frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add the sugar slowly until you reach the desired consistency. Stir in the vanilla.

Hiatus

2010-09-14T21:36:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I am currently doing my student teaching and working from 5-11 every night. I'm only at home and awake for about an hour a day, so there hasn't been much baking or cooking for me. I might be posting every once in a while, but not very often. Wish me luck!

Berry Crumble

2010-08-11T16:16:00.002-05:00

Its been so hot in Oklahoma lately that I haven't been baking too much. Our little apartment gets so hot once the oven is turned on and our air conditioner barely works. So, I'm going to post this recipe for berry crumble that I made for some friends in June and for Max's family in July. It was a real hit with everyone and there were no leftovers either time I made it. This recipe is very easy and the only thing you will probably have to buy are berries. I hope you enjoy!

Berry Crumble
adapted from Playing House

6 cups of berries of your choice (I like to use half frozen, mixed berries and half fresh berries such as strawberries or blueberries)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or apple pie spice
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits, plus some for the pan
1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for juicy fruit
Dash salt

1. Heat the oven to 400 F. Toss the fruit with half the cinnamon or apple pie spice, the lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon brown sugar (and a tablespoon of flour if your fruit is juicy) and spread it in a lightly buttered 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan.

2. Combine all the other ingredients, including the remaining cinnamon or apple pie spice and brown sugar, in a food processor and pulse a few times, then process a few seconds more, until everything is well incorporated but not uniform. To mix the ingredients by hand, soften the butter slightly, toss together the dry ingredients, then work in the butter with your fingertips, a pastry blender, or a fork).

3. Crumble the topping over the fruit and bake until the topping is browned and the fruit is tender and bubbling, 30-40 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. (I really like to serve this with vanilla ice cream when the crumble is hot, yum!)

Summer Veggie Lasagna (No Bake)

2010-08-09T16:49:00.001-05:00

As you may have noticed from my previous post, I have indulged a bit over the past few weeks. Max and I needed to start eating some more veggies so I combined a few recipes for Summer Veggie Lasagna that I found online. This is nice for the summer too because you don't have to bake it in the oven so you don't heat up your whole house.

Summer Veggie Lasagna
adapted from a bunch of places

1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 small summer squash, thinly sliced
1 small eggplant (optional), peeled and thinly sliced
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1 diced onion
1-2 tsp of minced garlic
3 tsp chopped, fresh basil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cups part skim ricotta
lasagna sheets
olive oil

Boil salted water for the lasagna sheets. The number of lasagna sheets you need depends on how many people you are feeding. You will need two sheets per plate. Boil lasagna for the time stated on the box. Set aside.
Saute onion in olive oil until almost translucent. Add garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Remove onion and garlic from the pan and set aside.
Add summer squash, zucchini, and eggplant to the same saute pan. Cook until the squash starts to become translucent. Add salt and pepper. You may need more olive oil to cook these.
In a bowl, mix ricotta, onion and garlic mixture, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Taste the mixture to make sure it is seasoned well.
To create the lasagna: cut one sheet in half and put on the plate. Spread with ricotta mixture. Layer with squash, eggplant, and tomato. Cut another lasagna sheet in half and put it on top of the tomatoes. If you want, you can sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and microwave for about a minute to melt it. Enjoy!

Cruise of the Baltic July 2010

2010-08-06T18:39:00.000-05:00

We (Mark, Joann, Allison, Matt, Joseph, Max, and I) recently went on a Cruise of the Baltic Sea. We lived on a big boat for 12 days. We started in Amsterdam and continued on to: Rostock and Warnemunde, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki and Porvoo, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; Tallin, Estonia; and Copenhagen, Denmark. During this time we ate some fabulous food and, since this is a food blog, I thought I would share some of our culinary pleasures during our travels.

Pancake with bacon and cheese in Amsterdam.

Croquettes in Amsterdam. Tasted like deep-fried biscuits and gravy.

A little bird, I can't remember which kind right now!

Cheese and bread in Warnemunde, Germany.

Potato pancakes and fresh sauerkraut in Warnemunde, Germany.

Seafood risotto on the boat.

Strawberry soup with creme fraiche.

Steak with a cream sauce on pasta.

Crepe with a Grand Marnier sauce and vanilla ice cream that was made fresh on the boat.

Raspberry cream with peach sauce and whipped cream in Finland.

Escargot! It was so delicious that I ordered it three times on the boat.

Chicken spring rolls.

Seafood linguine with shrimp, scallops, calamari, and mussels.

Crepe cigar with pastry cream filling and a dulce de leche sauce.

Chocolate mousse with raspberry creme and Chambord topping.

I believe this was a mushroom and goat cheese puffed pastry.

Chilled butternut squash soup with sage.

Petite filet mignon with pea flan and fresh potato chips.

Another rich, delicious chocolate dessert.

Sorry this is crooked. This was a popular dish in Copenhagen, an open faced sandwich. This one had salmon, caviar, onion, and an aioli.

Steak tartare. This was very delicious.

Mushroom and pearl onions within a puff pastry.

A palate cleanser during a formal dinner. This one was passionfruit.

Lobster tail with shrimp and scallops and a lobster risotto.

Lamb shank with carrot mashed potatoes, baked apple, and cooked red cabbage.

Chocolate mousse pit with chocolate sauce.

I don't remember the name of this one, but it was like a light cheesecake with a coconut crust and passionfruit topping.

You'll notice that I have an abundance of dessert pictures. Most nights, desserts looked so good that I ordered two. I couldn't help myself! Sometimes, I felt as if I was eating my way through Europe, but that is not a bad thing! I tried a lot of things that I hadn't tried before, including steak tartare, escargot, and pate. I hope you enjoyed this small taste of my culinary trip through Europe.

I'm back!

2010-07-31T10:26:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the long break! I took a long trip to Europe and haven't been cooking much (but I have been eating a lot). I'll be updating soon with pictures of food from the trip and when I get a chance to cook next, I will post some recipes again! Hang in there; I will be back!

Spicy Orange Chicken

2010-06-15T17:13:00.002-05:00

I've been having to make dinners quickly before I work at 5 every day. I found this the other day on a blog that I follow and it sounded quick, easy, and I had most of the ingredients. This Spicy Orange Chicken is like takeout, without the high cost and it takes about as long as you would have to wait for them to deliver anyways!

Spicy Orange Chicken
adapted from: This Week for Dinner

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 C flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
3 T butter
broccoli (optional, or any other veggies that you like)

Sauce:

3T brown sugar
3T vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1.5 C orange juice
1.5 t. nutmeg
1.5 t. dried basil
1 t ground ginger
1-2 t red pepper flakes
1 small can mandarin oranges (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Combine flour, salt and pepper in bag. Shake chicken pieces until coated. Brown on both sides in butter in skillet over medium heat. Drain off fat. The chicken probably won't be cooked all the way through, but that is okay!
Combine sauce ingredients and add to skillet. Cover, turn the heat down to low, and simmer ~30 minutes or until tender. Make sure it is not simmering too violently, or you will end up with tough chicken. For a “sophisticated touch” add drained mandarin oranges and heat about 5 mins.
If using (frozen) veggies, add about 5 minutes before finished cooking. (I added mine too soon and ended up with tough, brown broccoli, oops!) You may need to turn the heat up a bit to bring the sauce back to a simmer.
Note: cook chicken and sauce in covered skillet, but tip the cover a little to thicken sauce towards the end of cooking time. Sauce will also thicken if you let it stand about 5 minutes before serving.
Serve over rice, or grain of your choice. Enjoy!

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

2010-06-14T15:13:00.002-05:00

Me and Brittani have been baking a lot together and I don't mind because her kitchen is much bigger than mine :)
We made these on Saturday to go along with the alligator burgers and butternut squash fries that she and her husband made, yum. I had never had alligator before and I was quite surprised! It was very tasty, especially with the barbecue sauce and bacon from the butcher we put on them!

On to the recipe: these Strawberry Lemonade bars were really tasty and a nice, light dessert for a hot summer night. These were a bit tart, so if you want a sweeter bar, I would recommend using 1 1/2 cups of sugar instead of the called for 1 1/4. Also, the crust is a little thin on these, so if you like a nice, thick shortbread crust you may want to consider multiplying the crust ingredients by 1.5.

Strawberry Lemonade Bars
from: Playing House
Crust

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Filling

1 cup fresh lemon juice (Amy's note: I used an entire 3 lb. bag of small lemons to get a cup of juice)
2-3 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup pureed strawberries (about 3/4 cup berries)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Powdered sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

2. Begin by making the crust. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until smooth and fluffy. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly. Pour into prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for about 17 minutes, until set at the edges.

3. While the crust bakes, prepare the filling. In the bowl of a food processor (or blender!!), combine lemon juice, lemon zest, strawberry puree, sugar and eggs and process until smooth. Add in flour, baking powder and salt, then pulse until smooth. Gently pour the filling over the hot crust when it has finished baking. Return pan to oven and bake for 23-26 minutes, until the filling is set (There will be a light colored “crust” on top from the sugar in the custard - nothing to worry about).

4. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Cool completely before slicing and use a damp knife to ensure clean slices. Store bars in the refrigerator, especially on a hot day.

Makes 24 bars.

June Garden

2010-06-13T13:43:00.000-05:00

I posted some pictures of my garden about a month ago. Its amazing how quickly these plants grow. I have tomatoes that are still green, but they are there! The squash are getting out of control and the pepper plants have little baby peppers on them! I also finally uploaded the picture of the Oreo Cheesecake Bars I posted a while back. Those disappeared really quickly...

Spaghetti squash on the left and sugar pumpkins on the right. The are getting out of control!

Tomatoes, jalapenos, and basil which have gotten so big!

See what they used to look like?

Acorn squash and popcorn in the left corner. Luckily, squash and corn get along because the squash is heading straight for them!

Finally, the tiny little tomatoes! I'm not sure if these are the cherry tomatoes or the big ones, but I'll find out soon, I guess.

I'll keep you updated as things get bigger. I forgot to take a picture of the cucumbers, they aren't much to look at right now anyways. I'll be excited to finally start eating things I have grown. I've eat things that Janine has grown (she's my friend I'm gardening with) which is exciting and everything is so yummy!

Tortilla Pizzas

2010-06-10T12:03:00.001-05:00

Since I've started my new job at night, I've had to make dinner for me and Max before I leave or I would be very hungry when I got back at 8. I was browsing some of the food blogs that I frequently follow and I came across this recipe. I went to the store after class and intended to buy some pitas, but the store didn't have any!! They did have some big, wrap-sized tortillas that I thought would work really well. I was right and now I am sharing this yummy recipe with you :)

Tortilla Pizza
adapted from: gimmesomeoven

wrap-sized tortillas (any flavor, I used spinach-herb)
mozzarella cheese
pizza sauce
Parmesan cheese (if you like a little extra cheese)
any toppings you like!

I used Canadian bacon and pineapple

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees with your pizza stone in it.
Put on the sauce, cheese, then toppings.
Put in oven and bake for about 10 minutes, but check on it because the crust is so thin.
Pull out of the oven and enjoy!

I made one of these for each of us. Because the crust is so thin, they may not be as filling as normal pizza, but are super-duper yummy!!! This is a quick dinner that I think most people will enjoy!

Quinoa Salad

2010-06-04T18:48:00.001-05:00

I start my new job next week as night time coordinator at the Writing Center and I am very excited. That doesn't really have anything to do with the recipe for today, but I thought I'd share :)

Today's recipe, quinoa salad, is something I kind of made up. I was inspired by a recipe for quinoa stuffed peppers. I made this to bring to a friend's house the other day and she asked for the recipe, so I thought I would share it with everyone here too! Max loves this, so its not a girly meal; he finished everything that was left over from Brittani and Chris's house, I didn't get to have any!

Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water (or chicken broth)
1-2 avocados, diced into cubes (depending on taste or availability)
6-10 scallions, thinly sliced
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can Rotel (I used the kind with cilantro and lime juice)
lime juice (however much tastes good to you, it also helps stop the avocado from browning)
cilantro (optional)
salt and pepper

To cook the quinoa: bring 2 cups of water (or broth) to a boil. Add the quinoa. Turn heat to medium and simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. Let it cool for a while before you add all of the other ingredients.
Add all of the ingredients to the quinoa. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill and enjoy!

I usually eat this for lunch. Quinoa is very filling and is considered a complete protein. If you haven't had it before, you really should try it. It looks a little like couscous, except bigger. It has more flavor than couscous or rice. I usually make it with Better than Bouillon because it adds a bit more flavor.

Oreo Cheesecake Bars

2010-06-01T10:44:00.003-05:00

I've kind of been on an Oreo kick lately. Lemon was the theme a few months ago, now I've moved on. Oreos are delicious on their own, but adding them to other things multiplies their deliciousness in my opinion.

Max and I went to our friends' house yesterday for Memorial Day. Brittani and Chris just moved into a new house and it has an amazing backyard, which we enjoyed a great dinner in. We had buffalo chicken legs, salad, and quinoa salad (which I will post the recipe for soon). We also had Oreo Cheesecake Bars. These are really easy because you can do the whole thing in a food processor and you don't need a springform pan (although I really want an excuse to use mine!).

I took a picture, but I forgot to put in on my computer, so I will add it later.

Oreo Cheesecake Bars
adapted from: Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
For the crust:

23 Oreo cookies
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. sour cream, at room temperature
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
12 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with foil.
To make the crust, place the Oreos in the bowl of a food processor. Process, pulsing, until the cookies are finely ground. Add in the melted butter and pulse until the cookie crumbs are moistened. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan. Press the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside and prepare the filling while maintaining the oven temperature.
To make the filling, add the cream cheese to the bowl of the food processor and process until light and smooth, about 2 minutes (you don't need to clean out your processor bowl since you'll be adding more Oreos soon). Mix in the sugar until well combined. Blend in the sour cream, vanilla and salt. Beat in the egg and egg yolk until incorporated and very smooth looking, scraping down the bowl as needed. Stir in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula (or if you want smaller pieces, you can add them in the food processor).
Pour the cheesecake batter over the prepared crust, smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the cheesecake is set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool about 1 hour to room temperature. Cover the pan and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.
To cut the bars, pull the cake from the pan by lifting the foil up out of the pan. Place on a cutting board, peel away the foil, and slice into bars. Clean the knife blade between each slice to keep the edges neat. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Strawberry Smoothies

2010-05-26T09:47:00.001-05:00

Today's post isn't so much a recipe as it is a bunch of stuff you throw in a blender. Every morning, recently, I've been having one of these for breakfast because I have this job where I have to go to class and take notes. This is quick and it helps keep me full through the 3.5 hour class. I kind of made this smoothie recipe up by looking at a mixture of other smoothie recipes online. For this recipe, you can use any fruit you want and any juice you want. The frozen fruit gives it a nice thick texture. This is my favorite version, so far!

Strawberry Smoothie

1/2 of an avocado (I put the other half in the fridge with some lime juice spread on it. That stops it from getting brown before the next day.)
5-7 frozen strawberries
a few spoons full of plain low fat or fat free yogurt (maybe about a 1/2 cup)
a few glugs Orange-pineapple juice (or whatever juice you like or milk)
a palm full of fiber powder (this helps me stay full longer, but its totally not necessary)

Throw all the ingredients into a blender and blend away!
If you find that your smoothie is too thick and your blender is struggling (as mine often does) then add more liquid.

That's all there is to it! This is really yummy and you can make it your own. If you need more sweetness, you can add sugar or honey, but I find the juice adds all the sweetness I need. Enjoy :)

Scones

2010-05-24T20:35:00.001-05:00

Three posts in three days? That's gotta be a record or something! Like I said in an earlier post, I've made some really good things lately and they are pretty easy too. I think I have shared my love for King Arthur Flour before, but I don't know if I have told you how great their recipes are! I have made a few things from them before, but their scones are real winners.

You can make these scones with anything you like. I have used chocolate chips and another time I used craisins and a citrus-vanilla extract from King Arthur. I have only made the drop version, which I will post here. If you want to make pretty triangle ones, you should head over to their website. Actually, you should probably go over to their website anyways, its pretty great. On to the recipe...

Scones
from: King Arthur Flour

Dough

2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup cold butter

1 cup to 2 cups chopped dried fruit, chocolate or other flavored chips, nuts, or a combination, optional

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract or the flavoring of your choice

3/4 cup half and half or milk (I use milk, it works fine)

Topping

2 teaspoons milk
2 tablespoons sparkling white sugar or cinnamon sugar, optional

Instructions

1) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.(I use my stand mixer to make these)

2) Work in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; it's OK for some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.

3) Stir in the fruit, chips, and/or nuts, if you're using them.

4) In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla or other flavor, and half and half or milk.

5) Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together.

6) Using a large ice cream scoop or spoon, dollop the scone dough in 1/3-cupfuls onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes, or in the refrigerator overnight if you want to make hot fresh scones in the morning.
7) Bake the scones in a preheated 375°F oven for about 30 minutes (my oven usually cooks them faster, so watch them after 20 minutes).
8) Remove the scones from the oven, and cool briefly on the pan. Serve warm. When they're completely cool, wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to several days.

*my notes are in italics

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

2010-05-23T19:01:00.001-05:00

Today's recipe is absolutely amazing. Max said: a cookie that you turned into another cookie? That's weird. It might seem weird, but these Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies are so delicious. That's right, they are chocolate chip cookies with crushed up Oreos inside of them. Sometimes you get a little bit of filling in your bite and it is delicious. No pictures, sorry, but I promise you these cookies are worth it :)

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies
from: Lovin' From the Oven

1 stick softened butter

6 Tablespoons sugar

6 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ¼ cup flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

11 broken pieces Oreo Cookies (or more if you want!)

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla until mixed well.

2. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stir to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients then stir in oreos and chocolate chips until just combined.

3. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked, but still soft. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Honey Beer Bread

2010-05-22T12:33:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone, sorry I've been missing for a while. Over the past few weeks I've had some exciting things happen. Brian came to visit us for a whole week and we had a lot of fun, started partying around 1pm every day! My parents came to visit last weekend for my graduation!! After five years, I am finally done with my undergrad! I have one semester left for student teaching and then I will finally be able to join the work force.

I have been baking a lot lately and I have some awesome recipes to share with you soon. The one I'm going to share today is Honey Beer Bread. This is one of my favorite quick breads to make because it is so delicious and sooooo fast!! There is a Mulberry Tree growing in the garden so I picked some of those the other day and decided to add them to this recipe. If you don't have mulberries, you could use any other type of berry or just leave them out, it is so good without anything added.

I ate some before I remember to take a picture, oops!

Honey Beer Bread

adapted from: Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. honey or agave nectar
1 bottle (12 ounces) beer (I prefer Sam Adams Blackberry Witbier, it goes so well with the mulberries)
4 Tbsp. (half stick) butter, melted
1 cup of mulberries, or berry of your choice (optional)

Method:
(Makes 1 loaf)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9″ x 5″ x 3″ inch loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, berries, and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed. (I like to spray my measuring spoon with Pam so that it comes out really easily)
Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter. (Use a pastry brush to spread it around if you’d like.)
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve immediately.

*If you leave the berries out and use a less sweet beer this goes really well with dinner.

Garden

2010-05-02T16:43:00.000-05:00

This post doesn't have any recipes (sorry), but I wanted to show off my garden a bit. I planted things at the local community garden and things have been going pretty well so far. We had a bit of a mishap the other day; someone moved my tomato plants for some unknown reason. I'm sure they had good intentions, but I moved them back to where I had them. I caged them too, maybe they'll get the message and not move them again.

What I'm growing:

Box Car Willie Tomatoes (a heirloom variety)
Cherry Tomatoes
Acorn Squash
Jalapenos
Spaghetti Squash
Sugar Pumpkins (to make pumpkin pie)
Basil (Sweet and Piston varieties)

Acorn Squash, tomatoes, and jalapenos. This was before I put my stolen tomato plants back. See that little poof of green right before the hay ends? That's piston basil. It's tiny little basil leaves and I thought it was very cute so I had to buy it!!

Most of the garden, with Janine and her friend gardening. In this picture you can see spinach, cucumbers, flowers, rosemary, sage, and lots of other things! It was cloudy this day.

Okay, this doesn't look like much yet, but it's Janine's popcorn. I really hope it grows, because I think it is really cool.

I'm really enjoying this adventure so far. Sometimes I feel like a little kid, especially when the buds start coming up or I find something I didn't expect. I'll keep you guys updated as things progress. Cross your fingers that I have some veggies in a few months!

Pulled Pork

2010-04-27T13:53:00.002-05:00

I've been totally slacking lately. Not only have I not posted much, I haven't been baking much either. And it seems like everything I have baked lately is a repeat from the past few weeks. I made those grapefruit lemon bars two nights ago, but this time just with lemon. They are a bit too tart. So, I am going to share another dinner that I have made recently that Max and I thought was very yummy. Crockpot Pulled Pork!!! If that doesn't sound delicious, you need to get your taste buds checked.

This is a super easy, super yummy way to make pulled pork at home without a fancy smoker. The ingredients are really easy, and you will most likely have many of them in your pantry already. The one thing you may have to buy is a pork butt (pork shoulder, etc. There are a lot of different names but just something good for pulled pork). I got mine at the butcher, but a grocery store may sell them. We just don't have a lot of really good grocery stores in town and its sad :(

Now for the recipe:

Crockpot Pulled Pork
adapted from: A Year of Slow Cooking
*my notes in italics

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder*
1 onion, sliced in rings
2 cups ketchup (a 24oz bottle seems to be exactly 2 cups)
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (I probably added about a tablespoon)
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (again, I added about a tablespoon and I used the Chipotle kind)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or more depending on taste)
1-2 tsp liquid smoke

Use a 6 quart crockpot.
Trim meat, and place into your crockpot. Add sliced onion.
Squeeze in 2 cups of ketchup, and then pour 1/2 cup warm water into the ketchup bottle and shake. Pour the ketchup-y water into your crock.
Add vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire, Tabasco and salt.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork.
Take the meat out and shred with two forks. Pour some sauce over the meat and then more over it when you make a sandwich. I wouldn't recommend shredding the meat in the pot with the sauce because it may become too "sauced."
Serve over rice, or make sandwiches on rolls or sliced bread.

*Note: Make sure you trim the fat off of your meat. I made the mistake of not doing this and the sauce was a little greasy. It should still be nice and tender since it is braising for such a long time in so much liquid.

Grapefruit Lemon Bars

2010-04-18T18:46:00.002-05:00

I went to the farmer's market a couple of weeks ago and bought two grapefruits. I ate one and didn't feel like eating the other one. So what do you do with one grapefruit and one lemon? Make Grapefruit Lemon Bars! I've been on a huge citrus kick lately. This is the third tray of lemon bars I have made in the past two weeks. They are addictive and I'm sad that citrus and quickly going out of season :( I am happy, however, that lots of other fruits will be coming into season soon!

About these bars: they have a wonderful shortbread crust with a creamy, yellow grapefruit and lemon curd. Making the curd is a little time consuming (you have to whisk for a while) but the results are SO worth it. I had to grab a spoon and scrape the bowl when I had poured all of the curd onto the crust. I even bought more lemons today so I can make a big batch of this stuff to put on toast, cookies, a spoon....

By the way, Max and our friend Luke gave these a big thumbs up!

Grapefruit Lemon Bars
From: OB Cookie

Shortbread Crust
Adopted from Joy of Cooking

¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) softened
2 tbsp sour cream
¼ cup confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
2 tbsp granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In large bowl beat all ingredients minus flour. Stir in flour. Light knead until blended.
In 8x8 baking pan with fingers press dough into bottom and up around the edges about ¾ in.
Bake for about 35 minutes or until lightly browned and darker at the edges.
While baking, make the curd filling.
Allow to cool slightly for about 5 minutes and add the curd. Refrigerate for 4-5 hours or until cool and set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Grapefruit Curd
Adopted from James Peterson’s Baking

Juice and zest from one ruby red grapefruit (about 1 cup juice)
Juice and zest from one lemon
4 eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter cut into tablespoon pieces

Set a saucepan of water over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
In a heatproof bowl that will fit over pan, whisk together eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes until pale.
Then whisk zests and juice.
Set the bowl over the saucepan. Stir constantly with a whisk for about 8 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken (this took me about 12 minutes, be patient!).
Add the sliced butter, one piece at a time and stir constantly.
Cook for about 2 minutes longed. Remove from heat.

Hoppy Easter!

2010-04-04T20:15:00.002-05:00

Happy Easter everyone! I didn't make anything Easter themed this year except for an amazing carrot cake. Max and I went to a local Chinese food restaurant for my birthday celebration/Easter dinner. It was really yummy and it was nice to have a quiet dinner with just me and Max.
So, back to this carrot cake. This is from the Pioneer Woman, yet again, because her recipes are awesome. It has a cream cheese frosting, which is supposed to have pecans in it but I usually leave nuts out of all my recipes because of my allergies and those of my family. The frosting can be made in like 3 minutes. The cake is moist and fluffy and so pretty with the carrot pieces. I made this in a 9x13 Pyrex pan, but you can make it in pretty much any pan you want, just be sure to adjust your baking time.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

from: Pioneer Woman

FOR CAKE:
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Vegetable Oil
4 whole Eggs
2 cups All-purpose Flour
½ teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 cups Grated Carrots

For Icing
1 stick Regular Butter, Softened
1 package (8 Oz) Cream Cheese (I used fat free because its all they had left at the store the day before Easter!!)
1 pound Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 cup Pecans, Chopped Finely

Preparation Instructions

Cake:

Mix together the sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl.
In another bowl sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add to first mixture and combine. Then add carrots and mix well.
Pour into a greased and floured (Baker’s Joyed) pan (bundt, sheet cake, 9 x 13 pyrex) and bake until done, 25 to 50 minutes, depending on the pan you use at 350.
Cool completely.

Icing:

In larger bowl, cream butter and cream cheese.
Add sugar and vanilla and blend, then mix in the nuts.
Spread on cooled carrot cake.

*Again, leave the nuts out if you want, I didn't miss them!!
**You may want to cut the frosting recipe in half. I liked it, but Max thought it was WAY too much, so go with your preference.

Birthday Post!

2010-03-31T15:43:00.006-05:00

I haven't posted in a while! I have been so busy with the fourth grade class and so tired when I come home that not much has gotten baked the past two weeks. During spring break I made pretzels, those were super yummy and I might post that recipe soon. Yesterday I made cupcakes for the class today, but I used the recipe for chocolate cake and vanilla frosting that I posted a little bit ago. So, today I am going to share a recipe I got from the Pioneer Woman (if you have never visited her site, you should and you may just fall in love) for Lemon Squares.

Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares
from: Pioneer Woman

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 25 Minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 12

Ingredients

1-⅓ cup All-purpose Flour
½ teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 stick (1/2 Cup) Butter, Slightly Softened
1 cup Brown Sugar (lightly Packed)
1 cup Oats
1 can (14 Ounce) Sweetened Condensed Milk (you can use fat free!)
½ cups Lemon Juice
Zest Of 1 Lemon

Preparation Instructions

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES.
Mix butter and brown sugar until well combined.
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.
Add oats and flour to butter/sugar mixture and mix to combine.
Press half of crumb mixture into the bottom of an 8 x 11 inch pan.
Mix together condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Spread onto the bottom layer of the crumb mixture. Top with the other half of the crumb mixture, but don’t press.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Allow pan to sit on counter for 30 minutes after baking. Cut into squares and refrigerate for a couple of hours or until cool.
Serve cool. They really taste better cold, the lemon shines!

Pumpkin Soup

2010-03-21T20:28:00.001-05:00

Max and I were watching Food Network the other day and on one of the competition shows someone made pumpkin soup. Max said that he really likes squash soup, so I went online, bookmarked the recipe, and made it today. This recipe only takes about 30 minutes and is pretty cheap, especially if you have a decent collection of spices on hand. This was super filling too; I only had one bowl and was satisfied 2 hours later. I didn't take a picture because I forgot!

On a side note, it snowed here yesterday! It was 65 on Friday, snowed on Saturday, and tomorrow its supposed to be 65 again! It wasn't a ton of snow, but very odd for March in Oklahoma.

Sweet and Savory Pumpkin Soup
From: Food Network

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1/3 cup finely chopped carrot
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup half-and-half (I used fat-free)
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 cups chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat, and cook, whisking frequently, until the butter starts to brown and foam, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir in the onion, carrot, celery, sage, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, and cook until tender, stirring frequently, until tender.
Stir in the garlic and cook an additional minute.
Stir together the half-and-half and cornstarch in a liquid measuring cup, and pour it into the pot, along with the chicken broth, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. When the soup starts to thicken reduce the heat to low.
Using an immersion blender*, puree the soup until a smooth consistency is reached and simmer until ready to serve. Ladle the soup into serving bowls.

* If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender. Just remember, hot soup expands when you blend it so don't overfill the blender.

St. Patrick's Day Cake

2010-03-17T16:29:00.002-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I was going to make Irish soda bread today, but I really wanted to make something challenging so I decided on cake. It doesn't have any Bailey's or Guinness in it, but OH MY GOODNESS is it tasty!!! I do have a recipe for Irish car bomb cupcakes...maybe I'll make those next week.

This chocolate cake with vanilla frosting was really easy and had super simple ingredients. I didn't even use my stand mixer for the cake part! I used it for the frosting though, because that makes life soooo much easier. The only "odd" ingredient is buttermilk, but I think I've mentioned before that they sell powdered buttermilk that works just as well and lasts so much longer. I had some green sprinkles left over from Christmas sugar cookies, so, ta-da!, the cake is now St. Patty's Day themed!

Awesome Chocolate Cake

from: Tasty Kitchen

2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
½ cups Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

Wicked Awesome Vanilla Frosting
from: Tasty Kitchen

1 cup Milk
5 Tablespoons Flour
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens.
Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (Make sure you let it cool all the way, you don't want to melt the butter, if you are in a rush put the pot in a pool of ice water to cool faster but make sure no water gets in the mix!)
Stir in vanilla.
While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Then add the cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.

Orange Brownies

2010-03-16T14:25:00.002-05:00

When I get stressed, or bored, or antsy, or if I have anything else I should be doing, I usually end up baking. One time, when I was stressed, Max looked over to me and said, "do you need to bake something?" This week has been one of those weeks. I'm on spring break so I'm bored and I feel stuck in the house. So, I made chocolate orange brownies. I really wanted to make a cake, but we were missing some ingredients. I think I will need to try something more challenging soon because as soon as the brownies were done, I wanted to make something else.

These Chocolate Orange Brownies were good, but a little dry. I think I overcooked them a little because they had set all of the way when I took them out and a toothpick came out clean. I even cooked them for five minutes less than the recipe called for, but I've mentioned my crazy oven before, right?

Chocolate Orange Brownies
From: Rock Recipes

3/4cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4teaspoon salt
1/2cup butter
5 squares unsweetened chocolate
3/4cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light-brown sugar
3large eggs
1teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4cup semisweet chocolate chips
zest of one large orange

Sift together flour, cocoa and salt. Melt together butter and unsweetened chocolate over low heat (either in the microwave or a double boiler). Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Add eggs,vanilla and sugars. Stir very well until sugars are dissolved.
Gently fold in dry ingredients. Then fold in: zest of one large orange, finely grated and chopped
Pour batter into a 9 inch square baking pan that has been greased and lined with parchment paper (or just greased like I did). Sprinkle the top of the batter with the chocolate chips.
Bake for about a half hour (I baked for 25 minutes and they were overcooked, start at 20) at 350 degrees F or until the surface of the center of the brownies appears dry and firm. Toothpick test will not work for this recipe but it will tell you if the middle is still liquid. Do not over bake these brownies or they will be dry rather than moist and chewy.
Cut into squares when still slightly warm, they cut more cleanly.

English Muffins

2010-03-14T15:22:00.001-05:00

Today is Pi Day! That means it is March 14, or 3.14. I feel like I should probably make pie later, we'll see if that happens.

This week was my first in the fourth grade classroom. I was there everyday and I got to teach a few lessons. The week went really well and re-confirmed that this is what I really want to do. I did make a kid cry, but that was an accident...

Last weekend I made English Muffins. Its one of those food that people, including me, never think of making from scratch. I think it was worth it, the flavor was really good. There weren't the nooks and crannies that are associated with English muffins, but they had a slightly flaky texture which made up for it. If you have a griddle or cast iron skillet, I highly recommend trying these at least once to see what you think.

I liked this recipe because you don't need a collection of empty tuna cans or round cookie cutters to shape them and I had all of these ingredients sitting around. I used powdered buttermilk for this. I used to buy buttermilk, but I would only need a cup or so and the rest would sit around and spoil until I threw it out.

English Muffins
from: A Sweet Spoonful
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups bread flour
2 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 tbsp. shortening or unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4-1 cup milk or buttermilk, at room temperature
Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Mix in the butter (or shortening) and 3/4 cup of milk (or buttermilk). If the dry ingredients are not yet fully incorporated, add enough of the remaining milk so a dough forms. Stop mixing right when this occurs: don’t over mix! Sprinkle flour on a dry surface and turn the dough out of the mixer, and knead by hand for about 9-10 minutes. The dough should be tacky (but not sticky), and register 77 to 81 F.
Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and roll the ball of dough around the bowl to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for at least an hour, or until the dough doubles in size. It helps to keep the dough (in terms of rising) in a relatively warm place–away from cold, drafty windows or open doors.
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape into small balls. Lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and spray lightly with oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal.
Move the dough balls to the baking sheet, spacing them evenly with enough room to rise and double in size. Mist them lightly with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal then cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise another hour, or until the rolls are nearly double in size. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Heat a flat griddle to medium (350 F) (you can also use a skillet on the stove top if you don’t have a griddle). Brush the griddle lightly with oil and gently transfer the dough balls to the griddle. Allow them to cook for 5-8 minutes or until the bottoms are a rich golden brown color. Be careful not to burn. Carefully flip and cook the other side for the same amount of time. They should flatten as they cook.
Remove the muffins from the skillet and transfer them to a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes.Transfer the baked muffins to a cooling rack and let cool at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving.

Makes: 6 English muffins

mmmm enchiladas

2010-03-08T21:09:00.001-06:00

Tonight I made enchiladas. They were amazing, and vegetarian. Not that that really matters, but I'm trying to eat healthier and these were filling. I think the ingredients were pretty cheap, didn't really add it up. If I had bought more cheese then I could have made almost a whole other 13x9 pan of these because there was extra filling. Since I had extra filling, I made some quinoa and made quinoa salad. I like to mix veggies with quinoa. Max and I really like this and it will make a good lunch tomorrow to bring to school.

Black Bean and Spinach Enchiladas
from: The Cooking Photographer
10 to 12 small flour or corn tortillas (I like corn, kinda reminds me of tamales)
10 oz package chopped spinach, thawed (I do this in the microwave)
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles and spices, drained
¾ cup scallions, chopped
19 oz can green chile enchilada sauce
8 oz sour cream
3 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
Garlic powder and onion powder
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and get out a 9x13 inch Pyrex baking dish.

2. In a colander, squeeze out as much water from the spinach as you can by pressing the spinach with the back of a spoon. Place the spinach in a large bowl. Add the rinsed beans, drained tomatoes, most of the scallions, and dash of garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

3. Mix together the sour cream and green chile enchilada sauce. Spread about 1/3 of the sauce mixture into the 9x13 inch dish.

4. On a plate, place a tortilla and top with some of the spinach mixture and a small amount of pepper jack cheese. Roll into cigar shape and place into the baking dish seam side down. Repeat until the dish is full.

5. Spread the rest of the sauce on top of the enchiladas and top with the remaining cheese and scallions. Bake for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Wait a few minutes and serve.

No picture of these because, even though they are yummy, enchiladas don't photograph that well.

Oatmeal Cookies

2010-03-07T16:51:00.002-06:00

This coming week I'm started what I like to call pre-student teaching. I'll be in a fourth grade class for three weeks, every day. Sometimes I'll teach lessons, but I'll also be observing and helping out around the class. I'm nervous, but I'm excited. I'm really close to being done with school, next semester is student teaching! I'm also excited for this week because it means I'll be home every night for dinner. I finally get to make dinner more than once a week!!
Last week I made Oatmeal Craisin Cookies. I don't like raisins, so I replaced them with craisins. They have a nice tanginess. Usually, I add white chocolate chips to this recipe, but with all the sugar I decided to leave them out. Plus, I don't think I have any in the cabinet. I froze half of this batch, but I already thawed it and baked the cookies. This is the Quaker Oats recipe, but not the one you can find on the website. I guess they have changed the recipe, this is the one I cut off the top of a can of oats a few years ago.

Vanishing Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt (kosher is preferable)
3 cups quick cook or old fashioned oats (I use old fashioned)
1 cup craisins (or as many as you want)

Heat oven to 350F.
Beat together butter and sugars until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.
Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.
Stir in oats and craisins. Mix well, probably need to do this by hand.
Drop rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet (don't use parchment or silpat, they spread out too much).
Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn the pan halfway through if your oven has a hotspot like mine. If you are using a non-stick cookie sheet, only preheat the oven to 325 because the bottoms might burn.
Cool one minute on a cookie sheet and then cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack.

Orange Cranberry Bread

2010-03-02T14:48:00.001-06:00

Sorry about the slight lull in recipes and pictures, when you are out of essentials like milk and eggs, baking becomes difficult. I bought 2 dozen eggs this week, though we are already out of milk again! Max drinks so much milk, I bought two gallons on Friday and we are already out. We should probably just go ahead and buy a cow.

Our math class had a little bit of a tiff with the teacher last week, so to make amends we decided to bring a breakfast feast to class. Everyone pitched in and I ended up eating what probably amounted to 3 days worth of carbs. I don't even know when the last time I ate 2 donuts was... Anyways, I made Orange Cranberry Bread for class because I had just bought a huge bag of oranges and it is delicious. I have made this recipe at least three times and it has become one of my favorites. I stocked up on fresh cranberries during Thanksgiving when they were 99 cents a bag. Max thought I was a little insane, but they are coming in useful now, especially when frozen cranberries are like $4 a bag now.

Last year my mom got me a citrus juicer which makes getting the orange juice for this recipe really easy. If you don't have one of these, try to get one. They are really helpful, especially if you use a lot of lemons and limes in recipes.

Orange Cranberry Bread
from: Baking Bites

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest
2 tbsp canola oil
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen (unthawed) cranberries
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375F and lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in in orange juice, orange zest, oil and egg and mix until just combined. Stir in whole and dried cranberries. Spread evenly in loaf pan.
Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.
Makes 1 loaf.

*And I didn't burn it this time!!!!!!!

Also, here is a picture of the valentine brownies I made a few weeks ago. I finally uploaded them onto my computer!

Bread

2010-02-23T18:58:00.002-06:00

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I have recently started making all of the bread that Max and I eat. I use a book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It is an awesome book because you can make a bunch of dough at the beginning of the week and keep it in your fridge until you need it and it lasts two weeks! The dough doesn't usually last that long with us, especially not this week since we're running a little low on food.

I had a request for an easy bread recipe, so this is the one I wanted to share. To make this recipe wheat bread, I discovered that you replace 2 of the cups of regular flour with 2 cups of whole wheat flour. If you make it with all wheat flour, it turns out too dense and dry. I'm only going to post a link to the recipe because you should really explore the website a little bit. I also highly encourage you to buy this book. It has lots of awesome recipes besides the master recipe. You can also turn the master recipe into pita bread and baguettes.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

PS: if you have any questions or need any tips, leave a comment here or on facebook and I'll try to help :)

taco soup

2010-02-17T21:36:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the lack of pictures in these last two posts, but today's food wasn't pretty, however it was delicious! I made taco soup for dinner. It couldn't be easier: the prep is about ten minutes and then the crock-pot does the rest of the work. I adapted it a little, not much. I'll give you the original recipe, but I used ground turkey, yellow onion, hot and spicy taco seasoning, and an extra can of drained kidney beans. I wish I could remember where I got this, but thank you to whoever created this!!

Taco Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 red onion, chopped
1 can corn, undrained
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can kidney beans, undrained
2 cans Rotel (chopped tomatoes and chiles)
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 envelope taco seasoning.

Brown beef in a large skillet. When it is close to done, add chopped onions and mix well. You can drain the beef before you add the onions if you want. Cover the pan, lower the heat to medium, and cook until the onions are soft.
Dumb onion and beef with the remaining ingredients into a large crockpot. Mix well. Cook on high for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally (or not if you aren't home).
Serving options: grated cheese, sour cream, or tortilla chips.

Granola and Brownies

2010-02-16T19:55:00.002-06:00

Another busy week, but I managed to make a few things. I made a really bad soup this week, I won't share that recipe. I did make some awesome brownies for Valentine's Day. They had cherry chips in them; they're like chocolate chips, but cherry flavored. I also made some maple-pumpkin granola this weekend. I managed not to burn it, which was good. I love granola and always want to buy it, but it is so expensive! It was so cheap to make :)
I also started my block student teaching last week. I am helping out in a fourth grade class room with a partner. It is supposed to ease us into student teaching. I will do two more Fridays in the class and then I'll be there for three full weeks. I'll get to teach and help out kids!

Here are the recipes for the brownies and granola. Sorry there are no pictures!!!

Brownies
adapted from Aaron Sanchez's Mexican Brownies

2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Press the paper into the corners of the pan and lightly grease the paper with butter.
Melt the 2 sticks of butter in a nonstick saucepan over medium-low heat; do not boil. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla to the saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
Add the cocoa, flour, cinnamon, chili powder, salt and baking powder and mix until smooth. Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out fudgy, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack, then use the parchment paper to lift out the brownies before slicing.

*I added cherry chips. If you add these or regular chips, add them last.

Maple Pumpkin Granola
adapted from Sugar Plum

1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/4-1/2 cup Craisins

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together, pumpkin, brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, vanilla and salt until combined; stir in oats and sunflower seeds until combined. Spread onto cookie sheet.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and slightly crisp. Remove from oven and stir in craisins and cool.

Pound Cake #2

2010-02-09T17:23:00.001-06:00

So, I attempted pound cake again for Luke's Superbowl party this weekend. I used a different recipe in hopes that I would not burn it, and guess what!? I didn't! I managed not to undercook it also! I was really happy with the results and made another loaf after the first one came out of the oven so that Max and I would have something to snack on during the week. I also made the chocolate chip cookies with orange from the previous post again this weekend for a friend's birthday. I realized as I was making the cookies that I forgot half of the butter last time! Although I wouldn't recommend it just in case, the cookies were really good even though they were missing half of their fat and no one noticed the difference.

On to the recipe:

Condensed Milk Pound Cake

Tracy's Culinary Adventures

1 cup (8 oz, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups (7 oz) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (3 3/4 oz) sugar
1 vanilla bean, chopped, or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (8 1/2 oz) sweetened condensed milk
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.
Sift together the flour and baking powder; set aside. Put the sugar and the chopped vanilla bean, if using, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse until the vanilla bean is finely ground and then sift the sugar/bean mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, returning the mixture to the food processor afterward. (If you aren't using the vanilla bean put only the sugar in the bowl of the food processor at this point.)
Add the butter and salt to the food processor. Process until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then add the condensed milk and pulse until well incorporated, about 15 times. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again. Add the dry ingredients and pulse until no traces of the flour remain, about 10 times. Add the eggs and pulse just until combined, about 5 times. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. (If you are using vanilla extract, add it now.) Finish mixing by hand to fully incorporate the ingredients.
Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until a tested inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool completely in the loaf pan on a rack.

Make sure to start checking on it at the 50 minute mark, some ovens have higher or lower temperatures. If you are baking in a nonstick loaf pan, lower the temperature of your oven by 25 degrees. I did this and I think its why I managed not to burn it again!

another busy week

2010-02-03T19:52:00.002-06:00

This week has been another busy one. I haven't even been able to make dinner this week, as I'm writing my stomach is growling. I had a bowl of rice with peas for dinner because it was the only thing I could scrounge up in my house, I really need to do a better job food shopping this weekend.

I did manage to make some cookies this weekend. I made the dough on Sunday so that I could stick some in the oven when I had time on Monday. I felt bad for my class because I had promised them dessert at some point and I hadn't delivered yet. I made a double batch of Martha Stewart's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I split the batch in half so that I could add different things. I added orange zest to one half and coconut to the other half of the dough. They were really successful, though the orange ones more so. One of my teachers even asked for the recipe. I'll post the recipe later with pictures, but I'm at work and can't find the right recipe online.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Martha Stewart
Makes about 3 dozen

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

*I added the zest of one orange to these and it was excellent. Add this at the same time that you add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Make sure you wash your orange well first!!

day 2 of the winter storm

2010-01-29T19:59:00.001-06:00

Yesterday it started sleeting around 3 while I was in Target buying some much needed groceries. Today it started snowing sometime in the early afternoon and kept at it for quite a few hours. I think we ended up with 4-6 inches of snow, I couldn't really tell. OU likes to over-react a bit about the snow and they canceled class yesterday before any weather even started, but it turns out that was probably a good idea.

Today, since I was basically stuck inside and Max was monopolizing the tv, I decided that I had an excuse to bake (not that I ever need one). I finally got out my new kitchenaid mixer that Allison and Matt got us for our wedding/Christmas. I think I fell in love...

Isn't it pretty? It certainly made quick work of creaming butter and sugar and bringing a batter together. I made honey vanilla pound cake today. Last night, Max and I were watching Alton Brown and he was making his pound cake. I had been meaning to make pound cake for a while and this recipe sounded really good, plus Max said it was his favorite. So, I mixed up the batter..

Cooked it for 60 minutes because the middle just wasn't setting...

And proceeded to burn it. I had it set at the right temperature, but I think I needed to turn it down because I used a non-stick pan. The inside is a little dry, but the taste is really good and I will make this again and try not to burn it.

Had I not burned it, I think that the outside would have been crispy and sweet, like the top was. Max and I both agreed that I should make this again, so that is why I am telling you guys about it even though I messed it up.

Honey vanilla pound cake
from familyfriendlyfood
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 cups sifted cake flour*
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees (180°C.) Grease the bottom of an 8½ x 4½ x 2½ inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, put the eggs, honey, vanilla and lemon zest but do not combine. With the mixer on medium low speed, add the egg mixture, one egg at a time, allowing each egg to become incorporated and scraping the bowl with a spatula before adding the next one.
Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. With the mixer on low speed, add it slowly to the batter until just combined.
Finish mixing the batter with a spatula and pour it into the prepared pan. Smooth the top.
Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, turn out onto a baking rack, and cool completely.

She also provided a link for a cake flour substitute so that you don't have to go out and buy it :)

Books

2010-01-27T21:47:00.000-06:00

So this post is a little about food, but I haven't been able to cook for the past few days (except pita) because my schedule is crazy and max has been sick. I'm going to tell you about the cookbook that I think I have used the most since I got it.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg is an awesome guide to making homemade bread. The way it works: you make dough that rises for two hours and then put it in your fridge. As you need it, you cut off pieces and let them rise for 20-40 minutes before baking for 30-35. It takes some waiting, but there is almost no effort involved. From the master recipe you can make boule, baguettes, pita bread, and some other types of bread. There are four ingredients (salt, flour, water, and yeast). I highly recommend this book, at least check it out from your library. Also, the dough is good for 14 days! So you only have to put effort in every two weeks, or at least as long as it takes you to eat 4 loaves of bread.

Baguettes rising in my fancy baguette pan (don't worry, you don't need one of these). I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

Also, not food related. I just finished two books by Margaret Atwood and I think she is one of my new favorite authors. I just read The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake. The first is about a future where women are highly protected and limited in their freedoms and its based in the US, kinda creepy, but excellent. The other was a sci-fi type book about the future, again. Its after a sort-of end of the world scenario and you follow one character as he reminisces about the past and survives the present. Again, check out the library and read one of these books because it is worth it.

I'll provide some food soon. I have some time and there is supposed to be a snow storm tomorrow so I hope I get to bake and cook :)

Productive Sunday

2010-01-24T20:04:00.001-06:00

Today was a pretty productive day, food wise. I managed a little laundry in between the cooking, but who enjoys that? The other day I bought pizza ingredients and I decided that today was a good day to do that. I had realized that I had never actually made my own pizza dough for pizza, only for calzones. I used a recipe that I had used before for calzones because I remembered it had tasted really good, but I can't remember where I got it. It made enough for 2 pizzas, so I froze the other half. We had green pepper pizza tonight, next time it'll probably be artichokes 'cause I have a can of those sitting in my cabinet.

The dough after about an hour of rising. I got a little excited and started this much earlier than I needed to.

I forgot to take a picture of the pizza sans toppings. This was the last slice and I had already put chipotle tabasco on it. If you haven't tried the chipotle tabasco, I highly recommend it.

I was pretty bored today, so at some point I decided we needed something sweet. I ate the last of the chocolate chip cookies tonight and had just seen a picture of some really yummy looking banana bread on tastespotting.com (this is my FAVORITE website for recipes). I had 4 very ripe bananas in my freezer, so I made cinnamon swirl banana bread. Something I learned today: don't add melted butter to slightly frozen bananas, it kind of defeats the purpose of melting the butter. The final product was really good, but the batter looked a bit funny with butter chunks in it.

Yes, that is cinnamon and sugar on top. There is another layer inside.

This was the finished product. The cinnamon-sugar layer on the top got flaky and yummy. Although, careful taking it out of the pan, the topping might fall off. The outside looks a little dark because I use a non-stick pan and my oven is the worst...

Recipes after the jump...

Pizza Crust

1/2 cup warm water

1 packet yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)

1 1/4 cups water

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cups bread flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

Combine the 1/2 cup warm water and yeast in a small bowl. Let bloom for five minutes.*
Add 1 1/4 cup room temperature water and oil. Combine
Stir flour and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add the liquid to the flour mix. Don't add it all at once.
Use your hands to knead the mixture together. It takes a few minutes to get all of the flour incorporated into the dough.
Cover the dough with a damp paper towel. Let rise for 1 hour.
After the hour, punch down the dough and then split in half. Put cornmeal on a pizza peel (a really great tool for making bread and pizza). Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little flour and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until its as thin as you think you would like it, mine was probably 1/4 inch.
Add toppings and place in a 400 degree oven on a pizza stone that has preheated with the oven.

*Blooming is when the yeast starts to get all excited in the warm water. It gets foamy and this process is used to make sure you live yeast I believe.

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
From: Sandwich Hoss

For the bread:
3-4 over-ripe bananas, smooshed up (I used 4, for extreme moistness)
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (I think I used more like 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 1/2 cups flour

For the swirl:
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and four a loaf pan. Mine was 9 x 5, but you could use any sort, I suppose. Just keep a close eye on it in the oven, and adjust the time as needed
Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the banana mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!
In a small dish, mix together the 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbs cinnamon.
Add 1/2 of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle half, or a little more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the leftover cinnamon-sugar on top.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, but remember, if you’re using a different-sized loaf pan, be careful and keep a close eyeball on it!

King Arthur Flour

2010-01-22T15:54:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago I went to King Arthur Flour up in Vermont. It was an amazing trip. I went with my mom, Allison, Joseph, Mark and Joann. We spent a little time at the factory store, exploring the glory that is King Arthur Flour, sampling desserts and enjoying the delicious smells that came from the bakery section. While we were up there, we went to a restaurant called Murphy's in Hanover (I think) and a Co-op.

I got so many awesome things at King Arthur and the Co-op including a shirt, cake flour, sourdough flavoring, a mug, and the tahini that I made hummus with yesterday. They even threw in some pina colada scone mix since I spent $25. When we went to the co-op, I discovered that they sell King Arthur's cake flour for like 45 cents a lb! That's significantly less than I paid at King Arthur, but everything else was so unique that I'm okay with that.

Pictures after the jump

Some pictures from our day...

Joseph was saying "no cheese"

Collecting the goodies

Joe was saying cheese, just not looking in the right direction

They had this set up in the entry way, had to take a picture of course!

Before Joseph took every book in reach off of the shelf.

If you ever get a chance to go up to King Arthur, it is worth the trip. The whole area is gorgeous, even in the winter. Dartmouth is about 2 minutes away from the factory and it seemed like every bakery made their products with King Arthur flour.

First Post

2010-01-21T21:28:00.011-06:00

Hi everyone! I created this blog to share pictures of my food creations with family and friends. I've found myself baking a lot lately (and that may be an understatement) and keep getting requests for recipes. This is an easier way to share these things than facebook, that's for sure!! I bake about three times a week and I plan on taking pictures and sharing these experiences with all of you!

I have a small back-log of photos that I've taken since Christmas with my new camera (thanks Max :)) and I'll post those and some recipes as soon as I figure out the picture thing. For today, I'll just tell you what I made. I decided I would try hummus today with the tahini I bought at the co-op in norther NH. I got it after our trip to the mecca of baking, King Arthur Flour (more about that later). I also made some pita bread. I made some yesterday and Max liked it so much that I made another batch today (I think today's turned out better). So, here are the recipes. Hope you give them a try and enjoy!

It doesn't look appetizing, but trust me, its good!!

Hummus
1 15-19 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cups water
2 tbs olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
juice of 1 lemon (or 2 if its not a juicy one)
1/2-1 tsp of salt
1-2 tsp of cumin
2 tbs tahini

Put garlic in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until the garlic is chopped
Put all other ingredients, except water, into the food processor. Blend until everything looks combined, it'll probably look a little dry.
Slowly add water while blending until the mixture has a smooth, but slightly gritty, look.
You have now made hummus, enjoy!

Pita Bread
from Making Fresh Bread
3 cups bread flour
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp superfine sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 scant cup lukewarm water

Sift the flour and salt together into a bowl and whisk in the sugar and yeast. Make a well in the center and pour in the oil and water. Stir well with a wooden spoon (or your hands) until the dough begins to come together. Knead a little with your hands until it leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Or, use the dough hook attachment of your mixer and knead for slightly less time.

Brush (or spray) the bowl you used before with oil. Shape the dough into a ball and put it in the bowl, covering with a damp dish towel or paper towel. Let rise in a warm place for an hour when the dough has doubled in size.

After an hour, punch down the dough (you can do this is the bowl). Divide into 6-8 pieces using a bowl scraper or butter knife. Shape each piece into a ball, put onto a cookie sheet, cover with the damp towel, and let rise for 10 minutes.

Slightly flatten each dough ball and roll out on a lightly floured surface into an oval that is approx. 6 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Place on a lightly flour towel (or again, a paper towel) and cover with another towel. Let all the pieces rise for another 30 minutes.

While those are rising, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Make sure you do this 20-30 minutes ahead so that your oven gets really hot. Put 2 cookie sheets in the oven so that they get hot too. Put pita dough onto the cookie sheets with space in between. It says bake for five minutes, but mine needed 4-5 minutes longer each time. Cook until they are lightly browned and they should puff up. Cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack and then put them in a towel again so they stay soft. Store in a big zip-top bag for a few days.

Note: this recipe uses a lot of dish towels and since I didn't feel like doing that much laundry I just resorted to paper towels. They worked fine and you can use them to clean the flour off your counters when you are done baking.

If you don't feel like making the hummus, put on some butter and jelly or make a sandwich!

So, let me know what you think so far and leave me a comment to let me know you've visited.

Some people buy clothes, I buy flour...

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

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Heavenly Chocolate Mousse

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Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

Ingredients

2/3 cup packed brown sugar1/3 cup butter, melted2 (20 ounce) cans sliced pineapple (save the juice)1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix3 eggs1/3 cup vegetable oil24 maraschino cherries

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Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

from: Pioneer Woman

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Directions

Pound Cake #2

another busy week

day 2 of the winter storm

Books

Productive Sunday

King Arthur Flour

First Post

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 (20 ounce) cans sliced pineapple (save the juice)
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
24 maraschino cherries