The Imitation Chef

Don't Speak Too Soon

2012-02-22T12:08:00.001-08:00

It seems as though the transition into spring has begun. Granted, we will probably see snow a few more times, but hopefully nothing significant. Hey, we've made it this far without everything screeching to a halt from the snow, I think mother nature can manage a few more weeks.

You can smell it in the air. It's crisp and fresh, with a hint of worm:). Soon it will start to smell green, I love when you can smell the green! I can't think of many things that make me happier than the first time I'm driving around and notice all the buds are bursting and color is back!

But for now, on the grey and gloomy, rainy days I relish in the opportunity to grab a blanket, a good book and a bowl of hot creamy broccoli cheddar soup :).

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

You will need:

2 cups chopped broccoli florets, about 1 large head of broccoli
3/4 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Combine broccoli, carrots and chicken broth in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Melt butter over medium heat in a medium pot. Add onion and cook until translucent, stirring frequently. Add garlic and cook one minute. Add flour and stir to combine with onion mixture. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly.

Pour broccoli, carrots and reserved cooking liquid into pot with onion mixture. Add milk and heat until piping hot, but not boiling. Reduce heat to medium low. Add shredded cheese a little at a time, stirring after each addition. Remove from heat once all cheese has melted.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, maybe a dash of red pepper flakes if you want to give it a kick. Serve with crusty bread or crackers.

Making sure you add the cheese in small additions over a medium-low heat is vital to the creaminess of your soup, and the cheese melting properly! Thanks to ommynoms for that! No more soups with unincorporated clumps of cheese for me.

Source: OmmyNoms, adapted from Allrecipes

*Edit* Of course it was pretty much a blizzard last night after I wrote this post. Not much as far as accumulation goes, but the driving was horrible.

Also, I feel like I should add that this recipe only makes about 4 servings. So if you're planning it for company I would double the recipe. You can sort of tell from the picture that it just barely filled up my 4 qt. pot half way. We got dinner for the both of us, then lunch twice for me out of it.

It's That Time Of The Week Again

2012-02-17T12:14:00.000-08:00

I actually made this drink a couple of days ago but figured I'd wait until today to post, given the nature of the drink:).

Matt picked up a bottle of Disaronno a couple of weeks ago and I sort of love it. It's a fruity amaretto with a bittersweet almond taste. I'm not always in the mood for a strong drink, sometimes I want something sweet. Plus, I love the almond flavor. It reminds me of bear claws on Saturday mornings at the bakery.

You can go to their website here for tons of great sounding recipes.

Disaronno Mocha Italiano

You will need:

1 1/2 parts Disaronno
1 tsp instant hot cocoa mix
3 parts fresh hot coffee
whipped cream and chocolate shavings

Stir hot cocoa mix into hot coffee until thoroughly dissolved. Add Disaronno. Top with fresh whipped heavy cream and chocolate shavings.

The answer to your question is: Yes, it does taste as good as it looks.

Source: Disaronno

When Life Gives You Lemons

2012-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

Make Lemony Slice-and-Bake Cookies!

I'm not going to lie, I was a wee bit nervous when I made the dough for these cookies last night. It seemed so dry with only 4 egg yolks and 1 tsp of vanilla as the only liquids. I sort of set myself up for failure, only to be pleasantly surprised when they turned out well this morning!

I used to get reeeally angry when I would mess something up in the kitchen. Like, fuming mad and wanting to strangle something angry. I think this blog has helped me in that area. I've had the opportunity to try a lot of new and different recipes and have experienced a lot more successes and a few more failures. I think I'm becoming a little more....well rounded in the kitchen, and more low key about the results.

Lemony Slice-and-Bake Cookies

You will need:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks

For the icing:

1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
food coloring (optional)
sanding sugar (optional)

Whisk flour, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla in a large bowl, occasionally scraping down the sides, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolks; beat just to blend. Reduce speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat, occasionally scraping down the sides, just to blend.

Divide dough in half; roll each half into a 10"-long log about 1 3/4" in diameter on a lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 1 hour. Do Ahead: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Arrange racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap 1 dough log. Using a sharp knife, cut log into 1/4"-thick rounds. Transfer to prepared baking sheets, 1" apart.

Bake until cookies are firm and golden brown around the edges, 16-18 minutes. I baked for 9 minutes, rotated the sheets, and baked for 9 more. Let cool for 1 minute, then transfer to wire racks and let cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough log. Makes about 50 cookies.

To make the icing, whisk sugar and 2 tbsp lemon juice in a small bowl. Add coloring, if desired. Spread or drizzle the icing over cookies. Decorate as desired. Let stand until icing sets, about 10 minutes.

I spread the icing, but I think next time I would drizzle it. It has a very strong lemon flavor, and is a bit tart, which is good but too much can be over powering. The cookies are also delicious by themselves warm, right out of the oven!

Source : Bon Appetit magazine

Foil Baked Basil Pesto Salmon

2012-02-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

I think I've officially been converted to foil baking. I don't know why I've never cooked fish like this before? It cooks perfectly, keeps the fish so moist and the flavors are incredible.

Whenever I'm not sure what to make for dinner I usually pick 2 or 3 ingredients that I have, put them into google search and let the ideas come to me. This was the first hit I got when I put in salmon and basil pesto recipe. Matt and I both really liked it.

When I'm in a rush it's nice to buy the prepackaged fish entrees, but I really like finding new recipes and making them myself. Fish may be my new favorite meat to work with.

Interesting fact:

Pescetarians: One whose diet contains fish, but no meat. They eat fish and other seafood, but no mammals or birds. I never hear people say, "I'm a pescetarian". But I always hear people say, "I'm a vegetarian. But I eat fish!"....

Foil Baked Basil Pesto Salmon

You will need:

2 4-6 oz salmon fillets
2 tbsp olive oil
4tbsp basil pesto
6 small tomatoes, sliced or halved
handful of four cheese blend

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and place baking sheet in to heat up. Tear two large sheets of aluminum foil and layer them. Pour 2 tbsp olive oil in the center and place salmon on top. Spread 2 tbs basil pesto on each piece and lay sliced tomatoes on top.

Top with cheese. Fold over sides and double the seams and ends so it is sealed completely. Place on preheated baking sheet and bakes for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. Unfold the foil carefully and serve immediately.

This smelled so good!

We just had it with white rice and a small side salad. We loved this, and Matt even ate some of the warm tomatoes! (warm tomatoes are not his thing) Whoa.

Source: Kalyn's Kitchen

Another Friday

2012-02-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

Unlike most people, Friday is not a day that I really look forward to. Granted I don't dread it, but it's not awesome either. But this Friday is exciting for another reason. Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D!

I think I'm in the minority when I say that out of the 3 new movies, this one is my favorite. I don't have really deep, knowledgeable reasons as to why it's my favorite, it just is. I like the pod racing scene, I also don't like Hayden Christensen in the 2nd and 3rd- he gives me the creeps ~~a little~~ a lot. Also, I like Darth Maul in a weird sith, dark side sort of way...so yea, hate if you must, makes no difference to me:).

Clearly I should not go into the movie critiquing field.

Now, on to food related things, seeing as how this is primarily a food blog after all.

Another thing that makes up for Friday being a less than average day is Friday Cocktails! This week I made a Blushin' Russian. I suggest all of you go to the store, buy these ingredients and make this drink. Pronto!

Blushin' Russian

You will need:

1/4 oz vodka
1 oz Kahlua (or any other coffee liqueur)
2 scoops vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
4 large strawberries, quartered

Add all the ingredients to a blender or emulsifier and blend til smooth. Garnish with a strawberry and top with whipped cream.

Source: Bartender app

World Nutella Day

2012-02-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

Were you aware that this was even a thing? I didn't, that was until I saw a post on Angie's Sweet Natured Treats. Now I think I will be a yearly participant :).

Nutella seems to have almost a cult following, people are literally obsessed. It's kind of fascinating. I enjoy some on my toast every once in a while (with sliced bananas-soooo good), as a filling in a cupcake, or made into truffles.

I laugh at the commercial with the mom who's all like "It's so hard to get my kids to eat breakfast, but when I put some Nutella on whole wheat toast they come running, and it's a great healthy way to start the day!" Yea, with 21g sugar, 22g carbs and 11g of fat in 2 tbsp. To the moms who are passing that up as a great breakfast- you're kidding yourself. But that doesn't mean it's not great as a treat once in a while!

So to...commemorate? World Nutella Day here is my Nutella treat I enjoyed:).

Nutella Latte

You will need:

2 cups milk
1 cup strong black coffee
1-2 tbsp Nutella
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour milk into a small saucepan and heat til it's simmering. Add hot coffee and whisk. Reduce heat and add in a glorious glob of Nutella, whisk until melted and combined. Take off heat and whisk in vanilla extract. Pour into 2 mugs and top with whipped cream and sifted Coco powder. I didn't have any whipped cream, but I did have a brand spankin' new tub of marshmallow fluff!

OK! We're pausing to take a trip down memory lane.

"Before I drink something, often times I eat something too!"

"They're fluffity! They're puffity! 1 2 3 4 5"

Click here Fluffy Puff Marshmallows

Happy Nutella eating:)

Source: Lawfully Wedded Wife

An Old Standby

2012-02-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

This is one of those desserts that I know I can throw together last minute to take to a party or to dinner at a friends house. It doesn't require much time, great skill, or numerous ingredients and is relatively inexpensive. You would never know it by the taste or presentation, which is what makes it so awesome!

I usually make it with just a whipped cream frosting, but this time I wanted to give it a little something extra so I made a mascarpone-whipped cream frosting. If you want to cut down on the cost (and calories), you can omit the cheese. It can be pricey, but I find that it's on sale a lot.

Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting

You will need:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1-8 oz container mascarpone cheese, softened
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Whip cream and confectioners sugar until soft peaks form. Add vanilla, zest and cheese and whip until stiff.

See, I told you this is easy.

I always buy an angel food cake premade at the store, it's just easier that way (we're going for easy here people). But if you're feeling special you can make one yourself. Otherwise, just run a knife along the outside of the cake and around the inside hole and turn over onto a plate. Use a serrated knife to cut into two layers. Spread a layer of cream in the middle and line with thinly sliced strawberries. Place the top half on it.

Use an offset spatula to frost the edges and top of the cake. Pipe a border on the top and bottom if you'd like and decorate with fresh strawberries, raspberries and blackberries (you can really use any berries you'd like). Garnish with some lemon curls.

No matter the time of year, it's always summer when you serve this cake :).

Everybody Loves A Cookie Exchange!

2012-02-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine hosted a cookie exchange this past weekend. There were 10 or 11 of us, 5 dozen cookies each, about 140 cookies in total. Daaangerous! ( I lost 2 lbs last week, ask me if I gained them back? Go ahead, ask, I dare you). It was so much fun though :). The variety of cookies was great- just to name a few: Italian chocolate cookies, fruit pillow cookies, chocolate mint crinkles, ginger cookies, Mexican wedding cookies and on and on.

My cookies were a bit of an adventure, and almost a complete failure! I was close to tears on the Friday before the party, thinking I was going to go to Wegmans and buy 5 dozen cookies. Thankfully I gave it another shot on Saturday (day of the party) and found my error. A 1/2 cup of butter is ONE stick NOT two. I don't know what I was thinking? I ended up with 40 useless, cranberry orange shortbread cookies. It was a definite face-palm moment, which ended with a lot of flour on my face...

Needless to say, once I realized my mistake and made two more batches using only 1 stick of butter each, they came out great, super tasty and smelled soooo good.

Cranberry Orange Biscotti

You will need:

1/2 cup butter, unsalted and softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp orange zest
2 tbsp orange liqueur
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
3/4 cup almonds, toasted and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in the orange zest and liqueur. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir into creamed mixture until combined. Stir in almonds and cranberries.

Lightly flour your surface and hands and form your batter into a disk. Cut it in half and set one half aside.

Roll each half into a log about 1 1/2 inches wide and 10 inches long. Set the rolls lengthwise on a baking sheet with parchment paper at least 3 inches apart, and flatten slightly.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm to the touch and slightly brown on top. Cool for 10-15 minutes, the transfer to cutting board and slice each log crosswise, at a diagonal, into 1/2 inch wide slices.

Lay them cut side down on baking sheet and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes, turn them over and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks and dip or drizzle with chocolate if desired.

Enjoy!

Source: allrecipes.com

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2012-01-30T11:52:00.000-08:00

I've got some serious making up to do. Poor Matt, the other night he asked me all sad like why I haven't been making dinner lately...like for almost two weeks. Oops! It's true, I have been tired and unmotivated and really have not been making dinner for us. We've either gone out or had like....granola bars and bananas.

I don't feel bad about not having a home made meal once in while, I have never claimed to be kin to Mrs. Cleaver, but this streak of no dinners was getting a bit out of hand.

So this week I have a whole line up of dinners! Our grocery bill was a little high today, due to me not shopping for almost two weeks (except for some bare essentials) and our fridge and cupboards being bare!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

You will need:

1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup celery
1 cup onions, diced
1 diced garlic clove
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp oil
4 (15 oz) cans chicken broth
1 (15 oz) can tomatoes, diced
1 (10 oz) can tomatoes and green chilies, diced
1 packet taco seasoning
1 package tortillas
12 oz chicken cooked and shredded
1 cup milk
8 oz Mexican blend cheese
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 frozen corn

Cut the chicken breasts into strips and season with 2 tbsp of the taco seasoning. Cook in a preheated 350 degree oven until cooked through.

Meanwhile, saute the carrots, celery, onion in canola oil with garlic, salt and pepper until the vegetables are tender.

Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Add tomatoes, tomatoes with chilies, taco seasoning and shredded chicken. Bring back to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes. Reduce heat at add cheese, drained and rinsed black beans and corn. Stir well and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add milk and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and top with cut up flour tortillas and Mexican cheese.

Enjoy!

Source: Adapted from food.com

Never Ending Pecans

2012-01-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

I made these pecan bars a couple weeks ago. I know, mooore pecan bars?! I've been on a pecan kick lately that I can't explain. Then this morning on America's Test Kitchen they made the "perfect" pecan pie and I was salivating just watching them make it. Oh, and they served it with bourbon whipped cream- Yes please!

As we all know I am a maple lover, so when I saw this recipe using maple syrup and I had some pecans leftover from the vegan cookies, I figured it was only right that I make them:).

Maple Pecan Shortbread Squares

You will need:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 egg
additional 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven the 350 degrees. Combine the flour and 1/3 cup pressed brown sugar in a mixer. Mix in the softened butter until a dough has formed. Press into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch baking dish, and prick with a fork.

Bake the shortbread until golden brown, about 20 minutes. While the shortbread is baking, beat the egg in a mixing bowl along with other 1.3 cup brown sugar, maple syrup and pecans. Pour the pecan mixture over the hot crust and return to the oven. Continue baking until firmed, 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately run a knife around the edges to prevent sticking.

Cool completely and then cut into 1 inch squares to serve.

Source: allrecipes.com

Sorry again for my lack of posts, it's been hard to find time to get on the computer. Not to mention have time to actually make things. I'm going to be making more of an effort to get on here more again!

I'm going to attempt making a rack of lamb this coming week so you'll be seeing that soon. That is unless it's a disaster lol:). It kind of can't go wrong though, lamb is not exactly cheap!

My stomach is starting to hate me- I'm off to get some lunch!

Happy Baking :)

Time For Another Swap

2012-01-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

This time, instead of a recipe swap, it was a blog swap. This was nice because you were able to browse someones blog and choose any recipe you'd like. I had very good intentions of not procrastinating and getting this done right away. How did that work out for me you ask? Not so well :(.

The blog I got assigned to was doughseedough. There are tons of great recipes to pick from, but since I could only pick one I decided on Sea Salt Caramels. I was excited to make these and wrap them up. They look so cute in her picture in the little parchment paper wrappers. I thought they would be a nice treat to give to people as well.

Well....it was sort of a bust. I don't know what I did wrong, but I messed up somewhere and had to toss the whole bunch, and frantically find something else to make that I already had the ingredients for (which wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't procrastinated!).

It worked out that for a couple days I've been watching a bunch of bananas go from just right to past ripe and spotty, thinking- "I should really make some banana bread with those, or something."

This was my opportunity! I searched through her blog and came across a recipe for Banana Crumb Muffins. Peeerfect:). So I cleaned my kitchen from the first mess I had made today, and got ready to make a second mess.

Banana Crumb Muffins

You will need:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 bananas, mashed
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped (I didn't have walnuts, so I substituted pecans)
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (I had these on hand and figured I'd throw them in, not in original recipe)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cold butter

Pre heat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl mix together banana, egg, sugar and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture, chocolate chips and nuts into the flour mixture until just moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour, cinnamon and cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle over the batter.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick, inserted into the center of a muffin, comes out clean.

Given the kind of day I had today, I was compelled to indulge in a second muffin after I had eaten one. I don't regret it.

As bummed out as I was about the caramels not coming out right, I am really happy it lead to me making these muffins. They are delicious!

Source: doughseedough, who adapted from allrecipes

I'm also going to take this opportunity to show off this really cute cake tester my mom got me awhile back from Crate and Barrel. I had put in my utensil drawer and kind of forgot about it (sorry mom!). I need to use this more often, instead of boring toothpicks :).

Thanks again to Sarah from A Taste of Home Cooking for organizing the swap!

"C" Is For Cookie

2012-01-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

I made these cookies a couple of weeks ago for a get together. There's something you should know about these cookies, they are the first thing I have ever made that were intentionally vegan. Woah! Crazy, I know. It really wasn't hard at all, I just had to sub margarine in for butter. I think it's the simplest vegan cookie recipe on the face of the earth actually.

I didn't mind the flavor but I think it would take me awhile to get used to the taste of margarine and I think I'd always miss butter and have a special little place in my heart for it.

I don't know if people really liked them ha! But when we left the plate only had 2 left, where there had been 20 or so. So if that's any indication then I guess they went over pretty well :).

Pecan Butter Balls

(The name is a bit misleading, wouldn't you say? Pecan margarine balls doesn't sound quite as appetizing though)

You will need:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup margarine, softened
2 cups chopped pecans
1/3 cup confectioners sugar for decoration

Put cubed margarine, flour, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl and combine until the dough has come together. Place on a flat surface and kneed in pecans. Form the dough into a disk, using additional flour if needed.

Cut in half and roll into 2 logs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight. Afterwards, take it out and cut into 3/4" pieces and roll into balls. Place onto 2 baking sheets, covered in parchment paper. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned and firm to the touch.

When they are cooled, roll them in confectioners sugar and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. If I made these again I would add some cinnamon and nutmeg, to give them a little more flavor and to mask the margarine taste, for those who aren't used to it.

Source: yummly.com

Chocolate Martini

2012-01-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the month of January. I have a feeling I won't be around here very much, but I'll try to get on at least once a week.

The weather is looking like it's finally going to get bad and my weeks are busier then normal this month. Bear with me, and join me in enjoying this delicious drink to kick it all off.

Combine 2 oz Bailys Irish Cream, 1 1/2 oz vodka and 1 1/2 oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur with ice. Shake and strain into martini glass decorated with chocolate syrup or chocolate shavings. Garnish with cherry or halved strawberry.

Godiva also sells White Chocolate Liqueur, Milk Chocolate, Caramel and Mocha. Gotta Catch 'Em All! lol :). You can go here for other great drink recipes using any Godiva Liqueur or Bailys.

I Have To Share This!

2011-12-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

I made this meal last week and it took everything I had to not inhale it because I loved it so much! I got the recipe from Wegmans. They were featuring it in their stores by the seafood section and I went on-line to get the recipe in full. The original called for Cod but the price per lb. of Cod was a bit steep for me, so I went with Tilapia instead. I also omitted the sauce that they called for in the recipe and was glad that I did, I feel like it would have masked the flavor of the fish and prosciutto, which in my opinion is flavor enough.

Pan-Seared Prosciutto-Wrapped Tilapia

You will need:

4 slices prosciutto
2 fresh sage leaves
2 fillets tilapia (about 6 oz each)
pepper
pan searing flour
olive oil
butter
garlic

Lay 2 slices of prosciutto on clean working surface. Place sage leaf on each and place fish on top. Wrap the prosciutto around the Tilapia and use your second slice of prosciutto to cover over the top and overlap on the sides. Dust both sides with pan-searing flour.

Heat olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Add Tilapia packet, sage leaf side down. Turn over when Tilapia has changed color one quarter of the way up and seared side has turned paper bag brown, about 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium and cook about 4 minutes longer, until internal temp has reached 120 degrees. Add one tbsp butter, 1 tsp parsley and 1 tsp minced garlic to pan and swirl around. Baste for 1-3 minutes until internal temp reaches 130 degrees.

Transfer to clean platter and let rest for 2 minutes before serving.

Source: Wegmans

Every time I buy prosciutto I end up using only half of a package and I end up tossing the rest because it never gets used. I was determined to not let that happen this time. I ended up making strip steaks 2 days later and I picked up some asparagus to go with it. Matt is not a huge fan of asparagus but....wrapped in prosciutto, anything tastes good :).

I wrapped the asparagus in bunches of two and drizzled them with some olive oil and put some salt and pepper on the ends. Bake them at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

As a bit of a product review, I got this cast iron grill pan at Macy's two weeks ago. It's the Emril 10 inch grill pan. We have a George Foreman that I like to use for burgers and such during the cold weather months, but it doesn't give the meat a nice color and I feel like it doesn't hold the seasoning very well.

This pan worked really great, and it's nice to be able to cook the meat on high heat to get a nice browned crusty outside and then stick the whole thing into the oven and slow cook the middle. At $20 (on sale) you can't go wrong. I think it comes out to $1 per pound hah, this thing is heavy! I finally returned my dutch oven that was recalled and received a gift card for the value, so I was able to get this and a few other things!

Sorry, this picture is really crappy. The food was delicious though- not pictured is the glass of red wine that you have to have with steak, I mean come on! We don't eat steak very often so when we do it tastes extra good :).

Sugar Overload!

2011-12-24T11:05:00.000-08:00

I sort of got caught up in a sweets frenzy and all I want to do is make cute sugary things. Maybe this is a precursor to a vegetable frenzy...yea I didn't think so either :). It's been fun though, I've enjoyed making new things and trying out new flavors and decorations. So long as I'm able to give the majority of what I make away I'm good with it!

This post contains a few things I've made over the past few days. Some pretty easy, some super easy, but all really good!

Oreo Truffles

You will need:

1 package Oreos
1- 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
2-3 cups chocolate discs, milk or dark chocolate

Crush all but 7 cookies in a food processor, or in a bag with a hammer if you're having that sort of day. Blend in cream cheese until it comes together in loose chunks.

Roll into 1" balls and place on a baking sheet covered in wax paper and put them in the freezer.

On a double boiler, melt down your chocolate discs and then dip the balls into chocolate, tap of excess and lay on wax paper to dry. You can sprinkle them with the remaining cookies crushed, crushed candy canes, sprinkles- the options are endless. Make sure you sprinkle as you go because the chocolate will begin to harden quickly since they were in the freezer for a while.

Some of mine were a bit bigger then an inch. Oops :) I sprinkled them with white non-perils.

I happened to have some pretzel rods laying around and I didn't want the leftover chocolate going to waste. How convenient! I topped them with some non-perils and crushed candy canes.

These chocolate laden treats should be enjoyed sparingly. Don't want to get chocolate wasted now, do we friends?

Source: Bakerella

On to more cupcakes, cause you know, I can't get enough of them! It's a sickness. They're on my mind all the time and now that I went to the new cupcake shop in Orchard Park my mind is reeling with ideas for cupcakes...and how much better then theirs they'd be...There! I said it.

Turtle Cupcakes

Make your favorite chocolate cupcake and icing recipe, at this point I'm not going to post chocolate cupcake recipes, it seems redundant. If it were a special recipe I would but these are just plain chocolate cupcakes.

You will need:

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp caramel sauce
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, roasted or not.

I made a caramel whipped cream to fill the cupcakes and topped them with a mound of frosting. Sprinkle chopped pecans over top. Fill a bag with caramel sauce and cut a teeny tiny hole and crisscross the caramel over top.

That's for about 12 cupcakes, double for a batch of 24.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

You will need:

1/8 tsp mint extract
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
red food coloring
crushed peppermint candies
sprinkles

This is pretty much the same deal, except I mixed the extract and food coloring into the whipped cream, filled the cupcakes, frosted them and then sprinkled sugar crystals and crushed candy canes over top. You could also make these and chop up refrigerated Andes Candies and put those on top, and make the filling green to match instead of red.

I pretty much go to Olive Garden for the Andes Candies :).

I made these a day ahead of time for the flavors to intensify. Make sure you don't store them together, otherwise you'll get some strange turtle cupcakes with a hint of mint. Yuck. Keep them refrigerated due to the cream filling.

Treat Yourself!

2011-12-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

Look at these cute cupcakes!

Black Forest Cupcakes

I filled 24 chocolate cupcakes with a cherry whipped cream. I just whipped up some cream and blended about 2-3 tbsp of cherry pastry filling into it. Make sure your filling doesn't have large chunks of cherry, you may want to chop it up some if it does.

I topped them with a creamy whipped frosting. A Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting works well.

Some mini chocolate chips.

And a maraschino cherry that's been drained and patted dry with a paper towel.

They're so adorable!

Here's a photo of the center. These were best the second day, the cherry flavor had some time to seep into the chocolate cupcake.

How easy is that? I love the way they look almost as much as the way they taste :). Oh, and make sure to keep them refrigerated!

Recipe Swap: Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

2011-12-16T06:16:00.000-08:00

This was my first time participating in the recipe swap, put together by Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous. Both about how my submission would be received and about what recipe I would receive. I submitted the oatmeal cookies I did a couple posts ago, and got these chocolate gingerbread cookies from Cathy at Cathy's Kitchen Journey.

So, without further ado...

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

You will need:

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp flour
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger (I actually did 1/4 tsp by accident, but it didn't leave them lacking any flavor)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder (I used Hershey's cocoa powder...it's what I had, sorry!)
1 stick butter at room temperature
1/2-1 tbsp freshly grated peeled ginger
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1.2 cup unsulfered molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp boiling water
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips ( I used mini)
2 tbsp sugar, for rolling

In a bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In your mixer, using the paddle atachment, beat butter and grated ginger for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar to combine well, then beat in molasses.

Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well.

Combine baking soda with boiling water. Beat into batter. Add the remaining flour to the batter and beat to combine. Mix in chocolate chips.

Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray two cookies with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper.

Using cookie scoop, scoop out dough and roll into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll them into sugar and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven, rotating half way through, until surface begins to crack. -My cookies were on the large side and ended up taking about 15 minutes.- Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature.

Makes about 2 -2 1/2 dozen.

This is actually my breakfast this morning as I type this post:).

These cookies are a great spicy treat! They have a nice kick from the ginger, cloves and molasses, and a gooey sweetness from the chocolate chips. Matt and I both enjoyed a couple right out of the oven Mmmm:).

A big thanks to Sarah for arranging the swap and Cathy for the delicious cookie recipe!

Source: Cathy's Kitchen Journey, adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies

What Was I Thinking?

2011-12-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

Have you ever agreed to something, volunteered for something, been volunteered by someone else for something? Then you realize all those things are in the same week and your mind explodes?

*raises hand*

I've gone through so much butter, sugar, eggs and flour in the past week and a half it's ridiculous. My mixer has been getting a good work-out, unlike me:). This past Saturday I made pecan bars for the lunch for the pioneers (This was one of the things someone volunteered me for:), I was happy to help though). I was a little nervous since I have never made them before, but I think they turned out really well.

When I think of a pecan bar I picture a flaky buttery crust, a soft sugary center (preferably with bourbon in it- yum!), and then a nutty crunchy top. These were a little more crispy/crunchy, the nuts were mixed into the sugar and butter topping so it was two layers instead of three. The crust was just as I imagined though, melt-in-your-mouth good:) I would like to try another recipe I found for them at some point, just to compare.

Pecan Bars

For the crust you will need:

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed, plus more for dish
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt

Filling:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
pinch salt
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 all-purpose flour
3 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a 13 by 9 inch baking dish with tin foil allowing an overhang about 2 inches off the sides. Butter the foil.

In a food processor, blend together flour, sugar, butter and salt until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add 2 tbsp cold water and mix until the down just holds together.

Press the dough into the bottom of the buttered dish and bake in oven until golden in color, about 20-25 minutes. *A big thanks to Matt, who found the piece that fits over the shute in the lid so things don't go flying out of it whenever I run it.*

Meanwhile, make the filling. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, brown sugar and a pinch of salt and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the corn syrup, flour and pecans and mix until just combined.

I need to show Matt that I actually use that Nut Chopper we registered for:)!! It is pretty nifty.

Spread the filling over the baked crust and bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes. remove the dish from the oven and allow it to cool completely in the pan.

Remove from pan by pulling up the foil sides and putting it on a cutting board. Cut bars in desired size with a sharp knife and arrange them on a serving tray.

Tips and Reminders:

Make sure your butter for the crust is cold. Try not to handle it too much while cubing it, allowing it to soften.
Fill a cup with cold water and a couple ice cubes to use for the crust. I added 1 tsp extra for it to come together.
I checked it at 30 minutes and let it go to 35. This was a mistake. The edges were a little overcooked and I had to trim them off. Depending on your oven, I would go with the shorter time, it will continue to cook a little in the pan after you take it out of the oven anyway.

Enjoy!

Source: Claire Robinson at FoodNetwork.com

Lighten The Load

2011-12-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

As you know, I'm a sucker for Starbucks seasonal drinks. Lately Matt and I have been going a lot and I'm starting to feel the guilt from all those peppermint mochas. I still haven't gotten over all the pumpkin spice latte guilt from Fall.

I thought I'd do a lighter version of the Caramel Brulee Latte. This is Matt's seasonal drink of choice right now and although the calories don't mean a thing to him, I thought it'd be fun to make them at home and lighten them up a bit.

I actually don't even like the Caramel Brulee Latte at SB. It's way to sweet for my liking and the flavors are a little too chemically tasting for me. I really enjoyed this at home though. It had just the right amount of sweetening for me, the caramel flavor was strong and it had just a hint of vanilla.

A tall 12 oz Caramel Brulee Latte at Starbucks, made with whole milk and no whipped cream is 300 calories. After doing some math (eek!)- this drink is roughly 160 calories. You're also getting more then the 12 ounces you'd get in a tall drink at SB. All in all, I think it's a great substitute. Also, you can always use 1 or 2% milk instead of whole and that will reduce the calories by about 30 more. As a side note, I didn't use espresso. I'm eyeing this espresso maker right now. It was on sale a couple weeks ago for a really good price, I probably missed my opportunity :(. For the time being, I just brewed coffee on the strong setting. You could also make it in a french press and that will give you a stronger brewed coffee.

Caramel Brulee Latte

You will need:

1 cup strong brewed coffee
1/2 cup steamed milk
1 tbsp caramel sauce
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
additional sugar, if desired (I added 1 tsp sugar in the raw)

Simply brew your coffee and fill your mug 1/2 way, approximately 1 cup, depending on the size of your mug. Add caramel sauce, vanilla, sugar and stir.

Heat the milk and froth it, you can whisk it to help froth it up if you don't have a frother or emulsifier with whisk attachment, but you may not get a very good amount of foam (look here for an idea on how to froth without a frother!). Add milk, holding back foam. Spoon the foam onto your coffee and drizzle with caramel if you'd like. Enjoy!

I give it an A+. It was really great :). Just think- you have two and it'll still only be as bad as one from SB!

Bon Appetit!

2011-12-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

This months Bon Appetit magazine is full of cookies to die for. One of my favorite being Meringue Cookies! I made a batch, according to their recipe, although I did half peppermint and half plain.

Peppermint Meringues

You will need:

3 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp peppermint extract
red food coloring

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until white and foamy, about 1 minute on high. With mixer running, add the sugar in three additions, beating for 2 minutes in between each addition. Beat until firm peaks form, about 2-3 minutes longer. Add powdered sugar and peppermint extract and beat to blend. (I held off on adding the peppermint extract in order to do half of them plain.)

Spoon meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch tip. Twist top; pipe 1 inch rounds onto prepared baking sheet.

Once I did half of the meringue, I then added the peppermint extract (a little less then1/8 tsp) and blended it. I took a clean paint brush and painted stripes up the sides of a new pastry bag. If you don't want to do this you can just put a couple drops of coloring into the bowl and swirl it, but not blend.

Fill the bag with the remaining meringue and continue piping your 1 inch rounds onto the baking sheet. Makes about 60. Bake meringues until dry, about 2 1/2 hours. Let cool completely, about 1 hour (meringues will crisp as they cool).

They can be made 2 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

These cookies are great for a sweet, low calorie and fat free treat! You don't have to feel to bad about eating one, and then 6 more:).

Mac 'n' Cheese! Mac 'n' Cheese!

2011-12-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

**Edited** After re-reading what I had here a few times I realized it sounded...weird.

Today I decided to make some cholesterol raising, artery blocking, heart attack inducing mac 'n' cheese. It's not really that bad, it could be worse for you.

Macaroni and Cheese

You will need:

vegetable oil
kosher salt
1 lb elbow noodles
1 qt whole milk (4 cups)
8 tbsp unsalted butter (divided)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
12 ounces Gruyere, 4 cups grated
8 ounces extra sharp cheddar, 2 cups shredded- I used Yancey's Fancy xxx sharp white cheddar cheese, soooo good:)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 lb fresh tomatoes (4 small)
1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs- I used panko bread crumbs instead

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package. Drain well.

Mean while, heat the milk in a saucepan, but do not bring it to a boil. Melt 6 tbsp of butter in a large 4 qt pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for two minutes, stirring with a whisk. Add the hot milk while whisking continually and cook for an additional one or two minutes more, until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in both cheeses, 1 tbsp of salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3 qt baking dish.

Slice tomatoes thinly and arrange on top.

Melt remaining butter, combine it with the breadcrumbs, and sprinkle over the top. Bake for 30 or 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubble and the top is browned on top.

I actually cut this recipe in half when I made it and it worked out just fine. The recipe I put here serves 6-8. Matt and I obviously don't need that much mac 'n' cheese laying around. Well, maybe Matt does, but I don't!
It was easy to halve everything since all the measurements are pretty even, nothing to obscure that requires too much math:).

Dig in!

Source: Ina Garten: Food Network- I know, I know. I can't stay away from her.

Perfect Oatmeal Cookies

2011-12-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

I've been craving oatmeal cookies lately. I think they are the perfect cookie for when you want something sweet, but not overkill. A cookie that you don't have to feel to guilty about indulging in:). A hearty, homey, good old fashion oatmeal cookie!

I think these are a great cookie to make with kids. There's minimal mess, a few simple ingredients and you can let them get their hands into it a little bit (washed of course!!).

Martha Stewart came to the rescue with a good recipe that I tweaked a little, just to make them a bit more interesting.

Oatmeal Cookies

You will need:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1/4 cup craisins
1/4 cup golden raisins

Makes about 12-15 cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl combine the flours, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside. In a large bowl combine the oil, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir to combine.

Mix in the craisin, raisins and oats until they are fully incorporated.

Using about 2 tbsp of dough per cookie, roll into balls; place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 1 1/2 inches apart. It helps if you put a little cooking spray onto your hands before you roll the dough, that way it won't stick all over your hands. Bake until lightly browned, 15-17 minutes, spinning the sheet half way through. Cool 5 minutes on sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

You'll know how good they will taste by how amazing your house will smell:)

And then you'll eat them and your suspicion of their tastiness will be confirmed.

Source: Martha Stewart

Ooey Gooey Goodness

2011-11-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

Oh Ina Garten, you've done it again. You've won me over with your delectable desserts. I may find you unbearable to watch but I can't deny that you know what you're doing in the kitchen.

I thought this recipe was a nice variation of your typical apple crisp, with the addition of pears. I intended to add golden raisins but completely forgot about it until I had put the topping on. I was pretty bummed about that, I really think it would have given it a lot more flavor, but it was very good without them also.

Apple and Pear Crisp

You will need:

2 lbs ripe Bosc pears (4) (mine were pretty firm but it made them easy to peel and keep their form during baking)
2 lbs firm Macoun apples (6)
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

For the topping:

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup old fashion oatmeal (not instant)
1/2 lb (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel, core and cut the pears and apples into large chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl and add zest, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Combine until fruit is evenly covered. Pour into a 4 qt. baking dish.

For the topping, combine flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed for one minute, or until mixture is in large crumbles. Spread evenly over fruit, covering it completely.

Place the baking dish on a sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top in brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm with fresh whipped cream or ice cream.

I made it a day ahead of time and then we reheated it for about 30 minutes at 200 degrees. I think that may have caused it to get a bit liquidy but it was worth it to have warm crisp with ice cream :).

Source: Ina Garten- The Barefoot Contessa

There's Nothing Cuter Than A Cupcake!

2011-11-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

I love a perfectly frosted cupcake. There are beautiful cakes and delicious looking pies and tarts, but nothing beats a cupcake for me.

I had the cupcake itch earlier this week and Matt suggested lemon raspberry cupcakes (his favorite combination). I really wanted to do a black forest cupcake, but I decided on the lemon/rasp. I'm a good wife like that ;).

For the decoration I wanted to do something other then just flowers, pearls or dragees. I thought it would look nice and simple to make candied lemon peel and use that for decoration.

Candied Lemon Peel

You will need:

3 lemons
2 cups water
2 cups sugar

Peel your lemons with a veggie peeler, make sure to not peel any of the pith (white sour part under the peel).

Meanwhile, bring your 2 cups of water to a boil. When it's reached a boil, add the lemon peels and boil for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Remove the peels and add in your 2 cups of sugar. Once it has returned to a boil, add the lemon peels back in and boil until translucent. Mine could have been cooked a little while longer maybe. Remove the peels and let dry completely before storing. I sprinkled them with some additional sugar to give them a little extra sparkle.

The syrup can be save and used as lemon simple syrup for recipes or cocktails. I grabbed an empty liqueur bottle, washed it out and funneled the syrup into it after it had cooled for a while. That night I made a lemon drop cocktail. Yum!

Source: allrecipes.com

On to the cupcakes! I just made a box recipe of lemon cupcakes. After they had cooled, I took my tip #230 and filled a pastry bag with raspberry jam. I was nervous about exploding one or two of them but thankfully that didn't happen. It was pretty easy to see the cupcake rise a little as it was filling out with the jam.

Here they are, all filled and ready to be frosted!

I used the Wilton butter cream recipe. Normally I use shortening and water, but I had some softened unsalted butter so I made one batch with butter and milk and a second with shortening and milk. I think the milk gives it a better flavor than the water, but to be honest I prefer the shortening to butter. I just whipped the two batches together at the end.

Cupcakes are just so happy to me:).

I sprinkled some Wilton white sparkling sugar on the cupcakes and then topped them each with a candied lemon peel.

"Eat Me!"

I will edit this post later today. Matt's going to eat one before we take them to the party and I'll post a picture of it cut in half to see what the filling looks like from the inside.

Here's a picture of the cupcake cut down the center. Matt gives them 2 thumbs up.

I'm Married to a Serious Carnivore

2011-11-14T21:09:00.000-08:00

Therefore, not many of the meals I make don't contain meat. I've made this veggie chili a few times though, and it's gone over pretty well. I've made other veggie chilis and they have not been nearly as good as this one. It's sort of my vegetarian standby. I'm going to try and branch out a bit more to expand my vegetarian repertoire.

Veggie Chili

You will need:

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 cans (tomato paste) of water
pinch of cayenne pepper
3 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 cup frozen corn
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion chopped

Heat olive oil in your pot and add onions, celery, mushrooms and garlic. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until veggies are tender.

Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 cans water, cayenne pepper, chili pepper and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes.

Add both cans of beans and frozen corn. Bring back to a simmer and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Top with cheese, sour cream or if you really like to live on the edge-both! We had them with Garden of Eatin' Blue Chips. Go to their website for a $1 off coupon!

As you can tell, it's super simple. Most chili's are I think, but it really is quite good, and very filling.

Source: I've adapted it from a recipe that Janine gave me. It was her Aunts recipe, but I have no idea of it's origin before that.

Comfort Food

2011-11-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

I was so excited for a nice, cozy, hot soup on a chilly fall day. Then the day I made it ended up being super sunny and warm. What gives?

As you'll soon see, this recipe calls for sweet potatoes. I always knew there was a difference between yams and sweet potatoes, but I never really knew what it is. And, although I knew there was a difference, that didn't stop me from believing that they are interchangeable. So, I've done some research aaaaand I'm more confused then when I started. Sometimes the internet can seem pretty useless.

So I got out my handy dandy Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking Copyright @ 1959. It was my grandmas and it makes me miss her. I really need to use this thing more often, it's a gem.

This is what it told me.

So, yea. I'm still a little confused, but it seems like it's not a huge deal if you use yams, when sweet potatoes are called for, or vise versa because you aren't going to find any "real" yams around these parts anyway.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

You will need:

2 tbsp Olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups half and half
1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups chopped broccoli florets
1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 1/3 cup)
croutons for topping

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes, chicken broth, half and half, bay leaf, 2 cups of water, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and let simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile steam your broccoli. I used the frozen Wegmans Organic Broccoli that steams in the bag.

When the potatoes are tender, remove the bay leaf from the soup and either transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth, leaving the filler cap slightly open to release steam (you may have to do this in batches), or puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender. Return the soup to the pot (if using the blender), and thin with water if necessary. Return to a simmer over medium low heat; stir in broccoli and season with salt and pepper.

Add the cheese and stir until melted. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with extra cheese and croutons if desired.

I feel like next time I would add more cheese and maybe two different types of cheese, to give it a more cheesy taste and creamy texture.

Source: Food Network Magazine

It Takes, On Average, 66 Days To Form A Habit.

2011-11-09T06:28:00.000-08:00

I usually don't make it past day 4. I've become increasingly aware of this lately.

Fennel-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Potatoes

You will need:

Lemon, 1 large
Fennel seeds, 1 1/2 tbsp
Salt, 1 tsp
Black Peppercorn, 2 1/2 tsp coarsely crushed
Garlic, 3 large cloves, chopped
Olive oil, 1 1/2 tbsp
Pork tenderloin, 1 1/4 lb
2 Yams
2 Russet potatoes
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and chop yams and potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Coat evenly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning often.

Grate 1 1/2 tsp zest from the lemon and squeeze 1 tbsp juice into a small bowl. Add the fennel seeds, salt, pepper, garlic and oil and stir to combine. Place the pork in a roasting pan and rub all over with the spice mixture. Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes, or cover and refrigerate up to overnight.

Turn the oven up to 450 degrees. Remove potatoes and cook pork until it is brown outside and barely pink inside and the temp reads 145-150 degrees. About 15-20 minutes. Put the potatoes back in the oven for the last 5-10 minutes.

Cut on the diagonal into slices 1/2 inch thick, and serve with potatoes.

Roasted yams are one of my new favorite things:).

Source: Williams Sonoma Weeknight Cookbook

"This is no ordinary apple, it's a magic wishing apple...

2011-11-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

One bite and all your dreams will come true."
Snow White should have known better, that old lady was creeeepy.

For some reason I was afraid of baked apples. I don't know why? Maybe it was just because I hadn't made them before and I chose to make them for the first time when people were coming over. I really should stick with making things I've made at least once before when other people have to eat it too:). Maybe one day I'll learn my lesson. Needless to say they came out really well! I didn't fall in love with any recipe I saw on-line so I kind of made it up as I went.

Baked Apples

You will need:

4-6 medium sized Gala apples
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup golden raisins

You can also add walnuts or pecans. When I make these again I will probably add some oats, make it sort of apple crispy-ish:).

Wash your apples and peel the top inch or so from the stem. Core the apples, not going all the way through to the bottom. I don't have an apple corer so I used a sharp knife, cutting into the top diagonally. Then I used the blunt end of a spoon and surprisingly the core came out pretty easily, in one chunk. Make sure all the seeds are removed.

These are the apples only cored half way.

Cut the very bottom off of your apple to give it a flat surface to sit on. Remember to make sure you're not cutting too much off so that you make a hole in the bottom, allowing the filling to leak out!

Mix together your brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins and any other fillings you're using. Fill each apple with approximately 2 tbsp of filling. Pour 1/2-1 cup of apple cider into the bottom of your 3-4 quart baking dish and place your apples in. Put a pad of unsalted butter on each apple.

Cover with foil and poke a few small hold in the foil with your knife. Bake for 45min to an hour at 350 degrees.

Test your apples by sticking them with a fork, when they are tender and the fork goes in easily, they're finished.

You could pair these with so many things. We had them with Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice cream. But it would be good with a caramel ice cream, caramel drizzle, whipped cream- the list goes on (or top them off with a little rum, or bourbon or some Navan from the apple pie martini drink last week:))! One recipe I saw had you drizzle maple syrup over them before you baked them, which sounds amazing to me, but I know some don't like maple as much as others:).

Any way you make them, and anyway you serve them, I hope you enjoy!

(p.s. Props to Stephanie for getting her baked apple into my blog!)

Cold Weather Dinner

2011-10-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

I feel like Winter is right around the corner. I'm not ready!!!!! We haven't even taken out our fall/winter clothes from the basement yet(mental note: Do that today.) There's a couple more things to do for the car to be "winterized" and um, I'd like my two new kitchen windows Window World! What's the hold up? These things should have been rush ordered seeing as how they messed up. I don't want the first snowfall to come with these drafty/leaky windows still here! Oh, and I need to waterproof my boots.

Here's hoping we have a mild Winter this year.

Anyway, here's a great meal to make on these chilly days.

Braised Chicken, Tomatoes & Bacon

You will need:

Thick sliced bacon, 4 slices, chopped
Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, 6
Salt and freshly ground Pepper
Yellow onion, 1, chopped
Garlic, 2 cloves, minced
Dry white wine, 1/4 cup
Fresh oregano 1 tbsp
Red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp
Diced tomatoes, 1 can, 14 oz, with juice

Cook the bacon in a large frying pan or Dutch Oven over medium heat, turning often, until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a small plate. Drain off all but 2 tbsp drippings from the pan. Yes, that's more then 4 slices of bacon. What can I say? We love bacon!

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the chicken, and cook, turning once or twice, until golden brown on both sides, about 8 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a plate.

I only made 2 chicken thighs but kept all the other ingredients the same except for the onion. I used 1/2 of an onion, chopped.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and saute until softened, about 4 minutes. Pour in the wine and stir to scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan. Here is when you pour yourself a glass of wine as well. Never cook with wine you wouldn't drink:).

Stir in the oregano, pepper flakes and tomatoes and their juices. Return the chicken and any juices from the plate to the pan, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low, and braise until the chicken in cooked through, 25-30 minutes.

Uncover, raise heat to medium-high, brig to a simmer, and stir in the crumbled bacon. Transfer the chicken to dinner plates, top with sauce and serve.

So good:). You're house will smell so good too, while this simmers on the stove. Serves great with mashed or roasted potatoes- yum!

Source: Williams-Sonoma: Simple Suppers

There's Just Something About Bundt Pans

2011-10-25T07:36:00.000-07:00

That something being, they are awesome. Don't believe me? Check it out!

See, I told you:). If I had kids I would be in so much trouble, I would buy so many bundt pans haha (that would actually be the least of my problems I'm sure). You can find all those and more here.

I used the Pro Cast Original Bundt Pan.

Fresh Apple Bundt Cake

You will need:

1 1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (I omitted these)
4 cups chopped apples

Peel, core and chop 2-3 medium sized apples. Combine oil, sugars, eggs and vanilla in a bowl and mix well.

Sift flour, salt, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg on to parchment paper or into a bowl. Gradually add into egg mixture. The batter will be pretty thick, don't be alarmed :).

Add nuts and apples and mix well. Pour into a greased 10 cup bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. The cake will be very moist so be careful trying to flip it onto a cooling rack. Mine may, or may not have broke in two because the pan slipped out of my hand...it all goes to the same place though, right?! (Don't worry, it landed on the counter, not the floor!)

Because of the minor mishap with the cake I didn't get a picture of the whole thing, but it still looks good by the slice :).

Source: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,196,155165-237198,00.html

Drink Of the Future!

2011-10-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

Matt made up this drink the other day and I promised I would share it. It was very fun and futuristic looking, it belonged at our Star Wars party!

We call it....

Future Glo

You will need:

1 1/2 oz. cirtus vodka (any will do, we used Belvedere Orange for this drink)
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
1 oz Midori
1 oz Sours mix
1/2 oz sweetened lime juice
4-5 ice cubes

Build ingredients over ice in a blender. Blend until smooth and serve!

Green maraschino cherries kind of scare me, but they look so cool. They can't possibly have any nutritional value to them. They probably take away any nutrients you already have-ha.

Drink up, my friends:).

***Side note

Look at this tiny little baby! It feels like forever ago. I can't believe how much she's changed. Love you Evie!

Have You Ever Wondered?

2011-10-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to drink an apple pie? Well let me tell you, it's pretty stinkin' good.

We have had some Navan Natural Vanilla Liqueur sitting around for a long time and haven't really used it at all. Sometimes I will open it and just smell it, it smells soooo good:). It doesn't do me any good just sitting there, smelling good though. So I googled it to find some good recipes to try out and here's what I got.

Natural Apple Pie Martini

You will need:

1 part(s) Navan Natural Vanilla Liqueur
1 part(s) Vodka
3 part(s) Apple Cider
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 squirt lime juice
1 tbsp sugar, fine or sugar in the raw

Run a lime wedge around the rim and coat rim in sugar. Combine first 5 ingredients over ice in a shaker and shakeshakeshake. Strain into your martini glass.

It also suggested warming the cider and serving it in a mug.

Adapted from: Barnonedrinks.com

I apologize for my extremely messy kitchen table (I feel like I could apologize for that in every picture..oh well:)). This drink is amazing. It really truly tastes and smells like apple pie. Maybe next time I'll add a little nutmeg. Go make one, or come over and I'll make you one. Apple Pie Martinis for everyone!!!!

Not Everything Is A Winner

2011-10-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

Not everything I make at home is a success. Some things I totally screw up and some things come out just the way they are supposed to, but Matt thinks it's gross and I'm ...well...not too fond of it myself. I'm not quick to jump on the gross train, I find most things at least tolerable. I've only made two things since we got married that I said "this is disgusting!!!!" and immediately threw out the whole thing. One being some weirdo Chinese thing that made me want to puke and another being a pesto turkey meatloaf that also made me want to puke *shivers*.

All of that being said, this dish came out perfectly well, and I found it tolerable, while Matt took one bite and said "Nope". There's no fault in the recipe, it's just not a good match for our taste buds. There are certain foods I wish I loved. Such as cottage cheese. Once a year I try cottage cheese, hoping I'll love it, and I have yet to. Anyway, I know there are people out there that will like this, so I'm posting it.

Israeli Couscous with Apples, Cranberries and Herbs

For the couscous you will need:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups Israeli couscous (or barley or orzo)

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 medium green apple, diced

1 cup dried cranberries

For the vinaigrette you will need:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

For the couscous: In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the couscous and cook, stirring occasionally until slightly browned and aromatic, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 to12 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated. Transfer the cooked couscous to a large bowl and set aside to cool. Add the parsley, rosemary, thyme, apple, dried cranberries, and almonds.

For the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil until smooth. Pour the vinaigrette over the couscous and toss to coat evenly.

It gets a 10 for looks:).

We "had" it with braised pork chops and sauteed mushrooms. I thought it would be a good combo between the pork chops and the apples and cranberries. I looove pork chops and applesauce:). If you ever get a chance to go to Olivers Restaurant I highly recommend the pork chops with apple sauce and potato pancakes. To.die.for. Then top it off with their berry cobbler, or better yet, the creme brulee. *sigh*:).

I won't knock this, because for the right person this is a really good recipe. So I hope someone can try it and love it!

Source: Giada De Laurentiis

p.s. I omitted the almonds when I made this.

Motivation!

2011-10-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

That is something I am seriously lacking lately. I either can't even get up the energy to do something, or I do, and then get half way through it and fizzle out. So I apologize. I've been more uninteresting then usual lately- ha!

I thought I'd do a post on wreaths since I transitioned into Autumn...a month ago now (really I wanted to do this post earlier but the motivation thing..yea).

Here is my Autumn wreath. I made this one last year. I picked up the flowers and berries at A.C. Moore, along with a branch wreath all for about $20 (with a coupon, hello!?). The pine cones I just picked up off the ground for no $'s at all.

I had this wreath up for most of the summer. I assembled it in early spring but it got set aside and it didn't get hot glue gun'd(?) until July. I picked the flowers up from JoAnns, along with the branch wreath. I spent about $80 on that trip to JoAnns but I bought enough bases and flowers for 4 wreaths. So it works out to about $20 per wreath again.

Here are some links to other blogs with wreaths that are pretty adorable/awesome and include tutorials.

Moving on...

I know there are a lot of Trader Joe's fans out there. Have you heard the news!? That's right folks- Pittsford, NY is getting a Trader Joe's. It's a little south of Rochester, a mere hour and a half away. I'll confess, I'll probably make the trip out there every once in awhile. With the nearest one currently about 3 hours away I could not get on board. This seems much more doable/worth it though.

Estimates are late summer/early fall of 2012. Start saving your pennies now ladies for some major hauls at Trader Joe's! Okay, that was a bit much, sorry:).

Anyway, in honor of the up and coming T.J.'s here's a little taste. My mom brought this back for me when she went last month while they were at unassigned territory.

They were pretty awesome. I added chocolate chips to half of them and it added a little somethin' somethin'. I'm curious if this is a seasonal thing or they have them all year round because they would definitely be on my 'to buy" list.

This is making me want to take out the bunch I put in the freezer and eat them...all...in one sitting:).

Some Food For Thought

2011-10-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

This recipe is great, so I'm going to share it with you:). I adapted it a little to feed Matt and and I.

Salmon Fillets over Couscous

You will need:

2- 5 oz. fillets of salmon
lime
salt
pepper
garlic powder
butter
olive oil
1 cup couscous
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup feta
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tbsp. butter

Bring the chicken broth to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling add 2 tbsp. of butter and couscous. Stir, remove from heat and cover. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then fluff it with a fork.

Meanwhile, chop up tomato and green onions (1 1/2 stalks).

Mix tomatoes, onions and feta cheese into couscous.

To cook the salmon, drizzle some olive oil in a glass pan and place salmon in pan. Squeeze the juice of half of a lime over the fillets.

Mix together 1 tbsp. salt, 2 tsp. pepper and 2 tsp. garlic powder and sprinkle with seasoning mixture. Top each fillet with a pat of butter. Wrap in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Serve on a bed of couscous...or next to a pile of it:).

Matt and I liked this A Lot. I was surprised at how reasonably priced this was too. I really wanted to make it but was nervous about going to the seafood counter and gasping at the price. But at $10.99/lb it only came to $7.00- totally worth it!

In other slightly food related news...I have been buying Wegmans brand decaf tea for a long time now. This week I splurged and bought Red Rose (I had a coupon). I can't drink a cup of Red Rose tea without thinking about my grandma (tea always tasted best at grandmas...who am I kidding? Everything always tasted better at grandmas house!). I was all excited about what figurine I would get....So I searched and searched and searched and then I checked out the box and it said Figurines are no longer included in boxes!!!!!!! What the heck Red Rose? Good thing I love you anyway.

Need Some Quick, Easy Desserts?

2011-09-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

I need to start gearing my blog more towards healthy foods, this stuff is killing me. But in the meantime, here are 2 dessert recipes that are great for when you're in a rush, don't want to buy a gazzilion ingredients and want to impress for less!

Pumpkin Cream Pie

You will need:

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup whipped cream
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 packages vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups crush gingersnaps
1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
2 tbsp. brown sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Food process the gingersnaps and mix with melted butter and brown sugar. Pour into pie dish and press out the mixture to evenly cover the sides and bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Let cool.

Whip together pudding mixes, milk, pumpkin puree, whipped cream and spices for 2 minutes on low speed. Pour into cooled pie shell and let it sit for 3 hours in refrigerator.

And you have a super delicious pumpkin cream pie! Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I didn't have enough whipped cream left over but I would have piped out a pretty border on the top if I did...oh well, tastes just the same:).

Next up is an Apple Tart that I've made a ton of times. I found it on The Pioneer Woman and I love making it. It looks really pretty, requires only a handful of ingredients and is so fast to make.

You will need:

1 whole sheet Puff Pastry, cut into thirds or halves
4 whole apples, cored, halved, sliced thinly but not peeled (this seems to be a lot of apples to me, I've cut down to 3 and had more then enough)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 315 degrees. Thaw puff pastry on baking sheet for approximately 20 minutes, or until you can unfold it without breaking it. Meanwhile, core and slice your apples and mix in a bowl with salt and brown sugar. Let them sit for a few minutes. You may want to throw your pastry back in the freezer on the pan for a couples minutes if it's getting to soft.

Slice the apples as thinly as you can. Watch out for your fingers!

Place the pastry on parchment paper and layer the apples down the center. I cut the recipe in half for this and only made one that was a little bigger then half of the pastry. Bake at 315 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Keep on eye on them towards the end, they tend to bake quickly once they get going.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

I hope these are helpful for anyone in a pinch, looking for an easy, tasty dessert to make:).

Not Quite a Can of Pumpkin

2011-09-26T06:26:00.000-07:00

I had a surprisingly hard time finding a recipe that uses less then 1 whole 15 oz can of pumpkin. After the lattes I didn't want the leftover to go to waste. I finally came across one yesterday. So, if you have a tupperware container sitting in your fridge of leftover pumpkin puree that normally would just be thrown out when you find it in there 2 months later (oh wait, that's just me), make this instead!

Pumpkin Pancakes

You will need:

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tbsp veggie oil
1 tbsp vinegar

Combine the milk, egg, pumpkin, oil and vinegar in a bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.

Stir dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture just enough to combine. It's pretty thick for a pancake batter, but don't fret:).

Pour about 1/4 cup of batter at a time on a heated and oiled pan/skillet. *Sidepoint* I'm in the market for a nice cast iron skillet, if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations. After I poured the batter it was just a blob so I spread it around a little with a spoon.

They took about 4-5 minutes on each side on medium heat. You'll think they are done after 2 but they aren't, so just leave them on the pan. Hah the first one I did I said, "oh this is totally done by now". I cut it open and it was batter inside:(. They fluff up so much that it takes awhile to cook through.

It made 8 (minus the one I messed up). I threw these in freezer bags by 2's to have as a quick, yummy, filling breakfast. They reheat nicely and are sooo good:).

They are best when eaten on classy paper plates:)

Source: So Tasty, So Yummy
I want to make the pumpkin donuts she has on her blog so bad but I don't have a donut pan:(. It's on the list:).

Okay, this weeks nail color is Oui Madame by Essie. It's very bridal (matt agrees), I like it. Last pedi I got I choose Anniversary by OPI and it's very similar to this but this has more of a pearl look to it, as opposed to Anniversary, which was glittery. This one wins because the OPI polish was killer/impossible to get off and ended up murdering my poor little toe nails because I gave up and left it on for a very very...very long time.

Liane and I just went Saturday to Blu Spa and got pedis. The September specials are good, there's not much time left, but check it out if you have time before the end of the month. Anyway, I got French Quarter for Your Thoughts. It's a really nice gray color, I like it.

Ok, I'm going to finish eating my pumpkin pancakes before they get cold!!!

Baaaaxter!

2011-09-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

Matt and I are watching Baxter for two weeks while Rose and Al are out of town and I thought I would share some pictures of him because he's soooo cute!

He pretty much gets spoiled out of his mind while he's here, and we are happy to do it:).

He loves to snuggle under blankets. If there's a blanket, he's under it.

"Squirrel?!"

He loves hanging out with his best friend Matt:).

We love you Baxter!!!

Welcome Fall, Welcome!

2011-09-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

I know it's not officially Fall yet but I think the season is to short, so I start it early. Really, I just start it whenever Starbucks decides to start it by bringing back the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

I know there are a lot of Pumpkin Spice haters out there and they're all like "what's the big deal? it's not that good!". But we're not friends:). (just kidding!)

Anyway, I decided to try and make my own at home so I'm not shelling out $3.50 for a PSL every day (no I don't actually have one every day). Here's what I ended up with.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

You will need:

1/3 cup pumpkin puree (canned and not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup whole milk (you can use any milk really, I just had this on hand)
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon, plus more for spinkle
1 cup strong coffee
whipped cream

Combine milk, pumpkin, vanilla, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon in a small pot. Whisk together over low heat until heated.

Meanwhile, make your coffee. I sort of cheated here and made instant espresso. I was going to use the french press and make coffee but the thought of having to clean the french press changed my mind. I need to dirty as few dishes as possible here people. So anyway I did about 2/3 cup boiling water and a heaping tbsp of instant espresso. Voila!

Once your pumpkin milk is heated through transfer 1 cup of it to a measuring cup. I used our Bonjour Primo Latte Milk Frother and frothed it up. You can also just use a whisk if you want and give it a good last mix.

Pour your coffee into your mug of choice and sweeten to your liking. The pump-milk isn't going to add any sweetness to your drink so you will have to add sugar. Pour the pumpkin milk over top. Add a cinnamon stick just for fun:).

Top it with some whipped cream and a little sprinkle of cinnamon.

Lean in and enjoy the aroma...

The recipe makes enough pump-milk for two drinks so you can either make double the coffee for two drinks, or refrigerate the rest and use it in the next day or so. You can taste the difference between this and a Starbuck PSL for sure, but I think it's in a good way:). It's nice to be able to control your ingredients and how much goes into your drink. You can buy the Pumpkin Spice syrup from Torani and use that but...I'm going to stick with this recipe. It may be more work but it's worth it!

Enjoy! And Happy Fall!

Pork Tonkatsu and Painted Nails

2011-09-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe here and it looked so good I had to make it. I give it two thumbs up!

Pork Tonkatsu

You will need:

1 egg
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 boneless center cut pork chops, pounded to 1/4-1/8 thickness
vegetable oil

Combine egg and mustard in a bowl and dip the pork in the mixture.

Follow by dipping it in the the Panko mixure (panko crumbs, salt and pepper). Press to adhere.

Heat a few tbsp. of oil in a pan and cook pork until golden brown and cooked through. About 2-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness of pork. I couldn't find my meat tenderizer so I used the handle of my can opener...it did not have the desired affect. I had to cook mine for about 8 minutes per side.

But look how golden, crispy and delicious it turned out!

We had it with white rice and a tomato-cucumber salad with basil, parsley, one clove minced garlic, salt, pepper, o.o. and red wine vinegar.

Source: So Tasty, So Yummy

Warning: If toes/feet gross you out do NOT proceed!!

Okay, on to some non-food related things. Nail Polish! For the past 4 years or so I've pretty much worn pink or red nail polish, with the occasional silver just for kicks. I decided I need to spruce up my nail polish collection so today I went out and got a couple Crrraaazy colors. I live on the edge. Essie nail polish is on sale at Walgreens right now for $7.99 a bottle and then I got an extra $1 off each bottle at the register from a manufactures coupon (coupons are awesome).

The first color is Merino Cool. I kind of love it. It looks a bit more purpleish in real life but in a really good way.

The second color I got is Trophy Wife. It's a really fun color. I've been wanting a teal nail polish color for awhile now. Apparently it's a hot fall color this season, oh boy, who am I?!? I really don't know if it is??? I think I heard that somewhere. I bet you never thought you'd get up close and personal with my toes:)

Okay, enough of this. Go cook something:).

I Need An Excuse To Make These Things

2011-09-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

Nutella-Mallow Pillow Pocket

Vidalia Onion Dip

Apple Pie

Chocolate Cupcake with Cherry Icing

Martha's Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

PSA: As of September 7th you can shop online at ZARA!!! woo-hoo:)

I'm also really liking Oasis

That is all:)

Beans Beans, They're Good For Your Heart

2011-09-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

:)

Garden Three-Bean Salad with Fresh French Dressing

You will need:

2 cups Green Beans
8 cups Mixed Greens
2 cups frozen shelled sweet Soybeans (edamame), thawed
1 cup canned Cannellini, thoroughly rinsed and drained
1 cup radishes, quartered or sliced

In a microwave safe bowl combine green beans with 1/4 cup water and 1 tsp salt. Toss to distribute salt among beans. Microcook, uncovered, on 100% power for 3-5 minutes or until just tender. Set aside and allow to cool.

Place salad greens in a large salad bowl; add green beans, edamame, white beans, and radishes. Add about half of the dressing. Sprinkle with pepper and toss gently.

Fresh French Dressing: In a blender combine 2 medium tomatoes, halved and seeded; 1/4 cup olive oil; 2 to 3 tbsp red wine vinegar; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tbsp snipped fresh tarragon; and 2 tsp Dijon mustard. Cover and process until thoroughly blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Tomatoes vary in juiciness; if dressing is to thin add in more tomato paste. Store in refrigerator.

Each serving with 1 tbsp dressing- 175 cal, 9 g fat, 380 mg sodium, 18 g carb, 7 g fiber, 8 g protein.

Source: Healthy Living Magazine

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

2011-09-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

What exactly does that saying mean?

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
The legend tells that years ago every casino in Las Vegas had a three-piece chicken dinner with a potato and a veggie for $1.79. A standard bet back then was $2, hence when you won a bet you had enough for a chicken dinner. !”

Urban Dictionary told me this, so it must be so.

Anyway, you guessed it right, today's recipe calls for chicken. It's chicken salad sandwiches! Now, I'm not one to toot my own horn but these were really really good. I guess if I'm tooting anyone's horn it's Ina Garten's horn (as much as I hate to because I find her totally uptight and snooty). But, she makes good chicken salad!

Chicken Salad

You will need:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
"Good" Olive Oil (the snootyness ensues)
Salt and Pepper
3/4 cup "Good" mayonnaise (see what I mean? my hellmans isn't good enough for her)
1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh Tarragon
1 cup small diced celery (about 2 stalks)
1/4 cup craisins

Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken on a pan with foil, rub them with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. roast for 30-40 minutes, or until cooked through. When the chicken is cool cut it into 3/4-inch dice and place in a bowl.

Add the mayo, tarragon, celery, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, craisins and toss well.

To assemble, spread a little mayo on bread and top with chicken salad, lettuce and tomato. Then top it off with another slice!

This was a little messy but awesome, especially when put on tomato basil bread from Panera! (thanks Liane:)) That salad will be my next post so stay tuned!

Source: adapted from The Barefoot Contessa

Did Someone Say Spiced Lemon Cake?

2011-08-31T12:42:00.000-07:00

You will need:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest plus 6 tbsp lemon juice (takes 2 lemons)
3/4 tsp ground cardamom*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, zest and cardamom* with a mixer on medium high speed til light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in 3 tbsp lemon juice. Reduce speed to medium low; beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour.

Pour batter into cake pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack. Let cool, top side up.

Whisk confectioners sugar with remaining 3 tbsp lemon juice until smooth; pour over cooled cake.

And enjoy!

Don't forget, if you have a garbage disposal put the rinds and pulp down it with a handful of baking soda to clean it and eliminate odors.

* I did not have cardamom and did not want to buy a $12 jar so I used 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg.

Source: Real Simple Magazine

Cupcake Decorations

2011-08-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

So I checked my e-mail this morning and had 2 mysterious e-mails to me, from me. I opened them and found 2 photos of cupcakes I made about a year and a half ago that I sent myself from my phone...about 3 months ago. Yes, I need a new phone.

So since I haven't had anything to post in a few days I figured I'd throw these up here.

These were for Megan's going away party. You know, the one she had pneumonia during and didn't come to? What a bum. Kidding!:)

Liane helped me make all the roses. We used the Sizzix Big Shot with the 3-D flower die for roses(we got it during black friday sales for a really good price). They were a bit time consuming to make, maybe 2 hours, but came out really cute and the time goes by fast when you do it with someone else. They are just glued to toothpicks and stuck in the cupcake. I love the blue color and the little non perils also:).

"Stop the Presses!"

2011-08-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

How did I not know about the new Muppet Movie coming out soon??????

This looks awesome, I'm not gonna lie.

"I've got cabin fever. I think I've lost my grip! I'd like to get my hands on whoever wrote this script. Si!"

Pepe, you are my Muppet crush. *swoon*

"If You Like Pina Coladas, And Getting Caught In the Rain"

2011-08-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

Oh Jimmy Buffet.....

First off, I HATE that song.

Secondly, I've never actually had a pina colada.

Third, I used to hate coconut, until I worked at Butterwoods.

Pina Colada Cake

You will need:

White Cake (Use a box mix, or make it. Don't matter none to me.)
White Frosting (2 cans or make it)
1/2 pint Heavy Cream plus 1 tbsp confectioners sugar
2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/4 tsp Coconut Extract
1 can Crushed Pineapple (well drained)
Rum

I used a boxed cake mix for the white cake. Work these days has been long and hard. Wait, why am I trying to justify this? There's nothing wrong with a box cake!

Once they are cooled use a serrated knife or cake leveler to level off the top of the cakes(then eat it!). They don't have to be perfect, you just don't want a mound on top.

Whip up your cream and confectioners sugar. After it is whipped add the coconut extract. You can add less or more according to your taste.

It was at this point that Matt woke up abruptly and said. "Allison!!! Was there an earthquake?" to which I replied, "What???" He said, "There was an earthquake!" I said, "Did you feel one?" He said, "Yea...I felt it." Then he zonked out again. I'll have to watch the news today, but I felt no earthquake.

To toast the coconut, lay a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and spread the coconut flakes out evenly. Heat your oven to 350 degrees (or just leave it on from the cakes). Toast the flakes for 10-12 minutes. The outer edge flakes toast first so I sort of shifted them around after 8 minutes. Keep a close eye on these. They can go from perfectly toasted to burnt to a crisp in a matter of seconds.

They make your house smell sooo good:). Add about a quarter cup of the flakes to your whipped cream once they have cooled.

I put a dam around the bottom layer of cake to help hold the filling in. You can use a pastry bag or a ziplock and just put a ring of frosting around the edge.

I omitted the rum because this is for the Pioneer School lunch ahah. But you could just brush some on the cake before you spread the pineapple on top. I used maybe a third of a cup of the crushed pineapple for a bottom layer. Then spread a layer of the coconut whipped cream on top of that.

Don't make it to high or else the top layer will slide around or the filling will ooze out the sides.

Place the top layer top side down on the bottom layer.

Use an offset spatula to frost the cake. I think it's easiest to use the top side of the spatula to frost the sides. Make sure you fill in any gaps between the two layers. Work your way around the cake holding the spatula at a 90 degree angle. Make sure the frosting goes a little higher then the top of the cake.

Put a big blob of frosting on top and I use the bottom side of the spatula to work my way from the center and spread out to the sides, spinning it as I go.

Meet the edge and close the gap between the top frosting and the sides.

Use the bottom side of your spatula (holding it evenly) and go from the edge, grab the lip of frosting and pull in over the top, scraping off excess frosting. Go back around the sides, evening them out and over the top again if you have to. The nice thing about this cake is that it doesn't have to look perfect because it's all getting covered in the coconut!

Hold the cake over the bowl of toasted coconut, take a handful and press it onto the sides of the cake. Brush off extra as you go. Once the sides are done, cover the top. Go back around and cover up any missed/thin spots. This is messy. But just look at the result! oooo-aaaaa:)

I had enough frosting left over for a bottom border so I used a large star tip and just did a scallop border.

Yummy!!

***EDIT***

So there was a 5.9 earthquake this afternoon centered near Richmond VA...Matt was right I guess hahah.

I Don't Know What To Believe?

2011-08-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

So I just gulped a Sencha Shot....I'm waiting for my belly fat to disappear...Oh wait, that's not how it works? Crap!

I saw this at Wegmans today and thought I would give it a go and then share it with you. I've made the mistake before of seeing something new and interesting at the store and being like, "Hmmm...I'll get 5 of these!" Only to get home, have one and wonder, "What was I thinking, this is disgusting."

We've all heard the numerous benefits of green tea- prevents cancer!, helps cholesterol levels!, aids in weight loss!, antioxidants!, fights free radicals! All very promising things. As to whether or not they are true, I can't say. Overall though, drinking this was not a particularly bad experience. In fact, it was even bearable enough that I'm considering making this an every other day thing. As for the benefits I'll get back to you when my belly fat has vanished (with the aid of some pilates unfortunately) and I have porcelain skin:).

I added maybe 2 tsp of honey to help it go down for the first time. And yes, I am crazy and googled "does honey counteract benefits of green tea". Hey, I'm not doing this for nothing! I couldn't find anything that said yes it does but I will probably wean myself off of it just in case. You could always drink it down and then have a teaspoon of honey as sort of an apology to your taste buds:). Kidding! It really isn't that bad. Pour it over ice and down the hatch it goes.

One immediate result is that even though it's only been about 10 minutes I've noticed I'm feeling more energetic. I was dragging before I had it. It has 40mgs of caffeine per can. So not quite so much as a cup of coffee but enough to make a difference(enough to get me up off my butt to make dinner).

All in all, I would recommend this if you're looking to try something new that's easy and healthy for your body.

(I think it was $1.29 a can if you're wondering. Go Here for more info.)

The Coveted Monkey Bread

2011-08-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

I've owed Eric monkey bread for...a very long time now. Since today we're having a dinner for their 5th Anniversary I figured I'd finally come through on my promise (sorry for the long wait Eric).

It's been a really long time since I've made this, but it came back to me like riding a bike. Actually better then riding bike! I believe I'm one of few people who the saying "it's like riding a bike" does not apply to.

Monkey Bread

You will need:

2 (1lb.) loaves of frozen white bread dough (please do the world, and your taste buds, a favor and DON'T use biscuit dough. I don't understand why anyone would?)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp butter
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Place 2 frozen loaves on a plate sprayed with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap.Thaw the 2 loaves of dough in the fridge for 12 hours.

Combine 1 cup sugar and the next 4 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to boil, cook one minute. Remove sugar syrup from heat and let cool. (A special Thank You to Steph for the cute heart shaped brown sugar:) made from the heart measuring cups!)

Cut each loaf into approximately 24 equal portions.

I think I ended up with a few more then 48 pieces.

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in dish; stir well. Roll each piece in mixture and layer dough in a bowl or bundt pan coated with cooking spray. I ended up leaving 5 or 6 pieces out. I felt like there was enough and I didn't want it overflowing once it had risen and was baked. So just use your own judgement.

As you can see, I used a bundt pan. I used to make this in a large glass bowl but it's been years and my mom, sister and I all don't know what happened to the bowl. Just make sure you do NOT use a bundt pan with a removable bottom. You will have a ginormous mess in your oven and a really smelly house.

Pour the sugar syrup over the dough; cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 35 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

This was after 30 minutes. Uncover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

This baked for 30 minutes because half way through I put a baking sheet under it. It was getting awfully high and I didn't want the syrup to bubble over and burn on my oven(it didn't end up doing that anyway). Immediately loosen from sides. Put serving dish on top of monkey bread and flip it over (be careful! It's very hot!!).

Ta-da!!!

Serve it warm. Everyone can help themselves and pull it apart.

I couldn't let those pieces of dough go to waste that I hadn't used for the monkey bread! So I kneaded out the pieces in the cinnamon and sugar mixture and heated up about a 1/4-1/2 inch of oil in a frying pan.

Mmmmm Fried Dough:). This makes me so happy. Let the oil heat up on medium heat til you can see the oil swirling from the heat. Drop in your pieces with tongs and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. Let them sit on a paper towel for a couples minutes to soak up some of the oil and then eat them!!!!

*sizzle*sizzle*

I might actually say it...this was better then the fair. You could fry them plain and then shake them in cinn/sugar or dust them with confectioners sugar. Or even make a chocolate sauce to dip them in. Are you drooling? Sorry:).

I learned when you are making anything amazing and sugary and bad for you to always have a snack sitting nearby to have. It helps you not to ~~pick at~~ devour what you just made.

And as mouthwatering good the fried dough was, a tomato with salt hit the spot and I didn't over indulge.

Now go make yourself some monkey bread and invite some people over to share it with! Monkey Bread is always better with friends:).

A Rose By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet

2011-08-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

I apologize, I'm not a very good teacher. Here is a relatively simple how-to for a buttercream rose.

Hold the broad end of the rose icing tip (#104) at the center of the platform. Squeeze out enough icing to form a small cone with a wide base, twirling the tip as you rise.

Rotating the rose platform slowly as you work, squeeze out a second cone about halfway up the sides of the first cone, broad side of the tip down, holding the bag at a 45 degree angle.

To shape the small petals of the icing rose at the center, hold the end of the icing tube horizontal to the platform and squeeze three over lapping bands of icing around the second cone. Make sure your petals are curling out rather than in. If they curl in, or slat in, you end up with a cabbage:).

Squeeze out a second row of five icing rose petals just below the first row, turning the tube away from the cone as you work so the petals stand out slightly.

A traditional Wilton rose is 3-5-7. That is, 3 petals then a row of 5 then a row of 7. But really any combination will work. This frosting was a bit too soft so it was difficult to do that many. I also am a bit rusty:(. But you get the idea. Now practice, practice, practice!!

This makes me want to whip up a batch of frosting and completely cover a cake with dozens of roses!!

I made these this morning with some left over frosting. It was easier to work with because it was more stiff. Just thought I'd add a couple more examples. The second one is made with tip #101, it makes a much smaller rose.

Zucchini Muffins: Round 1

2011-08-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of vegetables that I don't use on a regular basis...more like at all. So, in an effort to expand my vegetable use, and do it in a way that isn't completely boring I decided to test out some zucchini bread/muffin recipes.

This first one is on the healthier side. I'm sad to say it, but my brain and my taste buds are not geared for thinking "yummm this is healthy and so delicious!"

I give these a B+. They aren't eyes-roll-back-when-you-take-a-bite awesome, but they're pretty healthy, so what do you expect.
****Edit**** I had one of these the next day for breakfast and I'm bumping it up to an A! I think my problem was eating it warm with butter last night...not a good idea.

Kathie's Zucchini Muffins

You will need:

1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup fat free milk
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp honey
1 large egg
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Sorry for the crappy pictures, I made this at night and the lighting was particularly awful. One of these days I'll take some time to work on my photography skills.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grate zucchini and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the first seven ingredients (through salt), and mix together with a whisk.

In a separate bowl combine the zucchini and next 4 ingredients (through egg) and mix well. Looks yummy huh?:)

Make a well in the center of flour mixture and pour in milk mixture, stirring just until moist. Spray 12 baking cups or line with cupcake liners. Spoon in batter. Mix together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over top of the muffins. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Remove from pan immediately and cool on a wire rack.

They seem like they'd be good for a mid-morning snack or with some fruit for breakfast. I may freeze them in baggies of two so I can defrost them as I want them.

Source

Look out for Round 2! I'll be making zucchini lemon muffins with not quite so much attention to my caloric intake:):).

I Want Me Some Quesadillas

2011-08-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

Chicken & Spinach Quesadillas

You will need:

1 1/2 - 2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese

1 cup chopped Spinach

handful chopped Parsley

1 cup shredded Roasted Chicken

4- 10" Flour Tortillas

This is really simple to make and was very filling. It's perfect for a day when you don't have a lot of time to prep and need it to get you through a long night. We both couldn't even finish all of ours. I'm not complaining though, I had lunch for today:). I used a plain rotisserie chicken from Wegmans for this meal.

Just chop up your spinach and parsley, shred your chicken and make yourself some quesadillas, simple enough huh? This amount made two (stuffed) quesadillas. Of course you can mix up the ingredients to make anything you'd like, but this combination was yummy:).

We had it with some salsa since both of us despise sour cream *cringe*.

Okay, that's my lazy Tuesday dinner, on my lazy Wednesday post. Cut me some slack I didn't get to sleep til 2 am :(.

An Oldie But A Goodie

2011-08-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

My stomach actually turned when I saw this picture because I miss that kitchen so much...I take comfort in that fact that maybe it's one of those things that you see 10 years later and you're like "meh, it's not that great". But 10 years does not erase the memories, which is probably why I miss it so much...So anyway, before I'm crying over this stupid blog post.

Craisin Maple Bread Pudding

You will need:

2 cups half and half
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp maple syrup
3-4 cups cubed day old bread

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat the half and half. When the foam forms on top add butter and stir until melted. Then cool to lukewarm.

Combine sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and syrup. Beat with electric mixer one minute and then add to the half and half and egg mixture.

Put cubed bread in casserole dish, cover with craisins and pour mixture over top. Cook at 350 for 45-50 minutes. I probably should have covered it with foil for the last 15 minutes or so, it looks a little dark on top. I have a really good sounding bread pudding recipe from Panera that I'll be trying as soon as the weather turns, I'm excited:).

Where Did This Week Go???

2011-07-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

I feel like summer is flying by and I haven't decided if I'm sad about it or not. I'm excited for hot cider every morning, fall decorations and warm sweaters, baking more often (if nothing else just to warm the apt up a little more:)) and changing leaves. But, at the same time, the closer fall comes-the closer winter comes "ugh". And the closer my 24th birthday comes and that kinda scares me. I know 24 is not "old", but it's older, and older is never any fun. I don't think/hope I'll ever make a show of getting older and hating it outwardly, but inside I will dread it I'm sure.

AnyWay!!!!! It's Friday:) Not my favorite day of the week personally, but it is the day I feature a cocktail. So here we go.

I still have some blueberries left over so I thought I would try and find a drink that incorporates them. I found one but the name is...shall we say....a bit vulgar. So much so that we will simply call this drink "Drink X".

You will need

1/2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Melon Liqueur
1/2 oz Blue Caruaco
1/2 oz Blueberries
Orange Juice

Mix ingredients over ice, pour into highball glass, top with orange juice.
Easy enough.

I just made this one over ice because I didn't feel like shaking it. I poured in the Carauco and Midori first and they swirled together and looked really cool. It had combined somewhat by the time I took this but you can see the blue below the ice.

Finished product. It's really good *sip*. It didn't come out very good in the pictures I took, but you know the color of the Aliens blood in Alien Vs. Predator????? Anyone??? Anyone at all?...Well it's the same exact color as this drink. Now I bet you really want to make this:).

It kinda looks like a kiwi too...that's better then alien blood.

Remember When?

2011-07-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

Probably not, this book- The Book of Household Management written by Isabella Beeton was published in 1861. I find it absolutely fascinating the amount of work and time that was put into preparing meals. To know that all the butter that was used was churned and meat butchered and vegetables grown, fish caught and so on (mind you, by you or your family). Nothing was easy, and just about everything was cooked in lard haha. If you have a few minutes click on the link and scroll through the pages (scroll a lot, the appendix is really long. Or click on contents at the top and choose where you want to go in the book). I think it's interesting anyway...

Here are a few samples from the book.

A GOOD FAMILY SOUP

190. Ingredients- Remains of a cold tongue 2 lbs of shin of beef any cold pieces of meat or beef bones 2 turnips 2 carrots 2 onions 1 parsnip 1 head of celery 4 quarts of water 1 teacupful of rice salt and pepper to taste
Mode- Put all the ingredients in a stewpan and simmer gently for 4 hours or until all the goodness is drawn from the meat Strain off the soup and let it stand to get cold The kernels and soft parts of the tongue must be saved When the soup is wanted for use skim off all the fat put in the kernels and soft parts of the tongue slice in a small quantity of fresh carrot turnip and onion stew till the vegetables are tender and serve with toasted bread.
Time 5 hours Average cost 3d per quart Seasonable at any time Sufficient for 12 persons

SHOULDER OF LAMB STUFFED

756. Ingredients- Shoulder of lamb forcemeatNo 417 trimmings of veal or beef a onions 1 head of celery 1 faggot of savoury herbs a few slices of fat bacon 1 quart of stock No 105
Mode- Take the blade bone out of a shoulder of lamb fill up its place with forcemeat and sew it up with coarse thread Put it into a stewpan with a few slices of bacon under and over the lamb and add the remaining ingredients Stew very gently for rather more than 2 hours Reduce the gravy with which glaze the meat and serve with peas stewed cucumbers or sorrel sauce
Time Rather more than 2 hours Average cost lOd to Is per lb Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons Seasonable from Easter to Michaelmas

They did a weekly meal plan too!!

PLAIN FAMILY DINNERS FOR JANUARY

1895 Sunday- 1. Boiled turbot and oyster sauce potatoes 2. Roast leg or griskin of pork apple sauce brocoli potatoes 3. Cabinet pudding and damson tart made with preserved damsons

1896 Monday- 1. The remains of turbot warmed in oyster sauco potatoes 2. Cold pork stewed steak 3. Open jam tart which should have been made with the pieces of paste left from the damson tart baked arrowrpot pudding

1897 Tuesday- 1. Boiled neck of mutton carrots mashed turnips suet dumplings and caper sauce the broth should be served first and a little rice or pearl barley should be boiled with it along with the meat 2. Rolled jam pudding

1898 Wednesday- 1. Boast rolled ribs of beef greens potatoes and horseradish sauce 2. Bread and butter pudding cheesecakes

1899 Thursday- .1 Vegetable soup the bones from the ribs of beef should be boiled down with this soup cold beef mashed potatoes 2. Pheasants, gravy bread sauce 3 Macaroni

1900 Friday- 1. Fried whitings or soles 2. Boiled rabbit and onion sauce, minced beef potatoes 3 Currant dumplings

1901 Saturday- 1. Rump steak pudding or pie greens and potatoes 2. Baked custard pudding and stewed apples

It's Worth Whaaaaat?!

2011-07-25T19:52:00.001-07:00

Just a few things.

I've come to the conclusion that there will never be nothing else to make a TV show about. Maybe nothing worth watching, but never nothing all together. Also, I'm super depressed that Borders is closing. Matt and I love Borders and this news bums us out big time. Not to mention it will just mean 2 more empty buildings, never to be used again. Darn you internet, you've ruined everything.

Anyway, I made this today for dinner.

Mediterranean Couscous

You will need:

1 cup Couscous
1 1/4 cup water
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
handful of basil
handful of parsley
1/4 cup feta (more or less, w/e you want)
large handful of spinach
1 cup chopped english cucumber
Balsamic dressing

Bring 1 1/4 cup of water to boil. Add 2 tbsp butter and 1 cup couscous. Stir, cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes and fluff with fork. Move to bowl and let cool in fridge for 30 min - 1 hour.

Chop up spinach, basil, parsley, tomatoes. Cut cucumber into quarters and dice thinly.

Mixing, mixing, mixing

Chopping, chopping, chopping

Mix all ingredients together, pour 1/4 of dressing over salad and mix thoroughly. You could also add olives, peppers, red onion...If you're adding much more extras I would make a recipe and half of the couscous. This salad could easily feed 6 people though.

Let it sit for a few minutes to let the couscous soak up some of the dressing. I seared some chicken to have with this, it was crazy good and flavorful. The only thing that would have made it better is a pita.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Heaven

2011-07-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

In an effort to use some of the blueberries I still have I made this. Do yourself and favor, make it too:). You won't regret it.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

You will need:

1/2 stick of unsalted butter (room temp)
1 tbsp additional butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 whole egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2- 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole milk
2 cups fresh blueberries

For the topping

3/4 sticks unsalted butter (cold)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

Cream together 1/2 stick plus 1 tbsp butter and sugar.

Add egg and mix until combined. Add vanilla and mix. Add flour mixture and milk alternately until totally incorporated. Do not over beat.

Stir in blueberries until evenly distributed. Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Pour in batter and spread.

In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients and cut together using two knives or a pastry cutter.

There will be pieces the size of small pebbles.

Sprinkle over the top of the batter and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, or until lightly browned and crisp on top.

After you remove it from the oven sprinkle 1 or 2 tbsp of sugar over the top.

I figured I should probably taste it before serving it to company later today so I went ahead and cut a piece and had it with some whipped cream:).

Two minutes later (if that).

This cake was sooooo good. Especially being still warm from the oven. We'll have it with vanilla ice cream after dinner tonight. Can't wait for more!

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Fast and Easy Pasta Dish

2011-07-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

I'm doing this post as I slowly melt away. I don't know exactly how hot it is right now, but I probably don't want to know because it would only make me hotter. All I know is, it's too stinkin' hot to have my hands in steaming water washing dishes, or lugging laundry up and down from the laundry room, or heaven forbid vacuum (what the wha kind of word is vacuum anyway??? So weird when you have to look at it.) But it is hot enough to post last nights dinner with a tall glass of water.

Farfalle with Salsa Cruda

You will need:

Tomatoes, 1 1/2 lb cored and coarsely chopped
Garlic, 2 cloves, minced
Fresh basil, 1/2 cup slivered
Olive oil, 1/2 cup
Balsamic vinegar, 3 tbsp
Red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp
Smoked or regular mozzarella cheese, 1/2 lb cubed
Pine nuts, 1/4 cup
Salt and pepper
Farfalle, penne or other medium sized pasta, 1 lb
Prosciutto, 2 oz, thinly sliced and chopped

Just wanted to add a close up of these, I love the colors of summer food!

Excuse me, there's a stupid bird in our window. Okay, there were six of them!! I feel like I'm in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. For some reason the birds have taken a liking to our window sills. I don't know if there's bugs in there or what the heck they are doing but it's annoying. Anyway, I digress.

Put a large pot of water on to boil and in a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil, oil, balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes. Stir well and let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes to blend the flavors.

Here's a pic of slivering (is that a word?) basil. An easy way to do it is to lay out your biggest leaf and layer the rest on top then roll them up in a tight bunch and cut them into thin slivers.

Mmmm, watch those flavors blend:).

Meanwhile, in a small, dry frying pan over medium high heat, toast the pine nuts, stirring often, until fragrant and pale gold. 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside. You'll notice I don't have a picture of this. The last time I made this I added them but this time, I was just to lazy to buy pine nuts and I'll tell you, it was just fine without them.

Stir in the mozzarella and let stand for 10 minutes longer.

I fried up the prosciutto a little in a pan with some evoo.

After the pasta has cooked until al dente, drain well and add the pasta to the sauce, along with the prosciutto. Toss to combine and slightly soften the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the pasta warm or at room temp.

We ate it at room temp because it was to hot to eat anything warm. It was scrumptious (I say delicious too much so I'm working on using other adj to describe food). It's also going to be leftovers today and I'm going to eat it cold.

Source: Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Weeknight

Okay, time to scream at some birds again.

Blueberry Picking

2011-07-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

So we didn't get the 75 degree, partly cloudy, breezy day that I had hoped for but berry picking was a success non-the-less. If nothing else I ~~think~~ hope everyone had a really good time! Here are some pics and I'm sure some blueberry recipes will be in this blogs future.

The babies did very well. They were all lathered up in sun screen and had their cute little hats on. From far away you'd think Liane and Steph were a couple of rough tough country women slinging their babies around the blueberry field. Then you'd get closer and hear them asking "When are we going to Dairy Queen!!!???" :) :)

Jen and her super awesome homemade berry fanny pack.

Liane had an interesting technique:) I didn't have the heart to tell her she ended up with smashed blueberries on her butt....Sorry Liane!

Kathryn off doing her thing. Somehow she ended ended up like a mile away in a matter of minutes. Perhaps she was escaping the certain odor that we all acquired within 5 minutes of being in the sweltering heat haha.

Yummy! They weren't the biggest blueberries I've seen but I'll tell you what, everyone I've eaten so far has been sweet and delicious.

Half way there!

Evie may or may not have been traumatized by the whole experience. She was one cranky baby on the way home. Maybe she didn't like the hairdo I gave her????

Besides grabbing handfuls and popping them like candy, I haven't made anything with them. But I did throw some in my oatmeal this morning with some brown sugar. It was so good. If you don't make your own oatmeal I encourage you to. It's really easy. These are Bob's Red Mill rolled oats from Weggies, in the natural/organic section. I love oatmeal and I feel better about eating it now that I make this because I can control the amount of sugar in it (I don't like plain oatmeal so there has to be something in it, usually a tsp or two of brown sugar) and then add extra of whatever I want. It seems more filling also. I cut the recipe in half that's on the back of the bag.

Cream Puff, or if you're a snob Profiterole :)

2011-07-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

I spent many hours at the bakery piping out hundreds and hundreds of cream puffs. I don't know how it became my job. I think, like many other things, I offered once and then from then on I just did it.

Anyway, the recipe for these is incredibly easy. It took me a while to figure this out since I was used to a recipe with 32 eggs and so on that made about 400 puffs. But with some help from the calculator I got it.

Cream Puffs

You will need:

2 cups water
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups flour
8 eggs
1 pint heavy cream
2 tbsp confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla

Bring the water and 2 sticks butter to a boil. After it's reached a nice bubbly boil turn off the heat and immediately add 2 cups flour.

Stir it up quick and it will form into a nice ball of dough, choux paste, to be fancy.

It's mixed up good once it pulls away from the sides nicely and holds it shape.

Let it stand for a minute or two and then transfer it into the bowl for the stand mixer. Mix at a low speed, adding each egg one at a time, letting the egg become incorporated before you add the next one. I had half large eggs and half extra large eggs so I ended up only using 7 of them.

Have your baking sheets ready. After you've put some of the dough into a piping bag put a little dab in the corners of the sheet. This will keep the parchment paper from curling up. Next put parchment paper on:).

I used a #1A tip I think. But really you could use a freezer bag and cut a hole in the corner about the size in between a penny and a nickle and that would work fine. It helps to do a row across and then a row down and go from there. You get nice straight lines that way. Repeat on second baking sheet. I think I ended up with somewhere between 80 and 90 puffs.

Have your oven pre-heated to 400 degrees and bake them for 40 minutes. Rotate and swap half way through. These could have used like 2 or 3 more minutes but oh well. They're good, I just prefer them a little crustier:).

Mmmmm:)

Fast forward one day. You'll notice the change in scenery. It was approximately 1,000,000 degrees out today so I fill them in the air conditioned oasis that is my parents house. Now, chop their tops off! Set the tops aside and line the bottoms on a tray of your choice.

Like so.

Make some whipped cream using the heavy cream, vanilla, and conf. sugar. At this point you can also add some raspberry jam to half of it or stir some melted white chocolate into half, or mix all of it. Pretty much do whatever you want. I kept these simple with plain whipped cream. You could even make some vanilla pudding and mix it with the whipped cream and make a sort of pastry cream, that would be delicious.

Anyway, using a star tip I piped a little dollop on each bottom.

And then put their tops back on. Don't worry about them getting mixed up, they will. As long as all your puffs are about the same size it won't matter one bit.

Next I melted some dark chocolate pieces and put them in a plastic pastry bag. Put it in a tall glass so you have two hands to pour with if you'd like. Then snip a small hole in the bag, test it out in the bowl and make it bigger if you need to.

And drizzle. (if you're thinking what I'm thinking (liane and tab) you'll be laughing right now)

You don't have to do the chocolate if you don't want. You can do confectioners sugar or caramel or a chocolate glaze. The options are endless.

This picture shows the ones I made for Liane's baby shower. They were raspberry cream filled with chocolate. One day I'd like to make a croquembouche! That would be awesome.

Happy Baking!

*******Edit*******

I feel like I should add that if you're making cream puffs you can just as easily make eclairs. Instead of a little puff just squeeze the pastry bag and continue squeezing as you drag. Stop squeezing and pull up. I know this probably sounds confusing but it's really not. I'm bad at explaining some things...just make a log:), that's simpler haha. Also, if you don't want to cut the tops off use a small round tip in a pastry bag and inject them till they feel firm in your hand. Some might explode, but you just get to eat those! I'm not sure this would work without a metal tip since it has to puncture the puff or eclair. Anyway, just a little extra info.

Moonshine, White Lightning, Hooch... whatever you want to call it

2011-07-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

I've neglected Mixed Drink Friday. Fridays have been very busy lately. Not to mention I've realized I drink too many calories. Got to keep...make that regain my girlish figure, you know?

Anyway, tonight it's simple, straight to the point. Wild Turkey American Honey Whiskey. I'm a bit to lightweight to drink straight whiskey and if you are too (or just don't enjoy having your throat burned), you have to try this stuff. You can literally see the honey swirling around in your glass. So delicious:).

Don't judge, we've had that bottle for a long time haha.

Also, this is very good if you put a splash (or two) into hot black tea with a bit of lemon juice for when you have a cold/sore throat. It really does wonders.

Matt wants to get Whiskey Stones. They are a pretty neat-o invention. No one likes diluted whiskey.

Okay, this post has taken me way longer then it should have, Good Night.

Brain Food

2011-07-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

So I did a menu plan this week. I'm not very consistent with menu plans but when I do them I love it. It helps a ton with grocery shopping and I'm less likely to wimp out on cooking dinner. On the menu for tonight: Grilled Fish Kebabs With Cherry Tomatoes and Quinoa and Cucumber Salad. I made the quinoa salad earlier in the day.

Quinoa and Cuke Salad

You will need

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 cup water
2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 tbsp evoo
1/ english cuke, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 shallot
1/4 cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
salt and pepper

Combine quinoa and the water in a medium saucepan; add salt, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover, and let simmer until quinoa is tender and has absorbed all liquid, 11 to 13 minutes. (The germ ring should be visible along the outer edge of the grain.)

Transfer to a medium bowl, and cool to room temperature.

Add vinegar, oil, cuke, shallots and parsley to quinoa; season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Grilled Fish Kebabs with Cherry Tomatoes

You will need:

Vegetable oil, for grill
1/2 lb - 1 lb skinless salmon fillet
dozen cherry tomatoes
1 cup packed fresh basil
1 garlic clove
salt and pepper
1/2 cup evoo

Soak the skewers in water for 15-20 minutes before assembling kebabs. Cut salmon into 1 inch pieces. Dividing evenly, thread fish against the grain on 2 skewers, alternating with tomatoes. (Double or triple for more servings, also you can use multiple types of fish. The original recipe called for salmon and swordfish)

Meanwhile in a blender combine evoo, basil and garlic and blend. Brush 1/2 of mixture over the kebabs. Grill on high heat for 6-8 minutes, or until fish is opaque throughout and tomatoes are softened, turning half way through. With a clean brush, coat kebabs with reserved basil oil. Serve immediately.

I was really happy with both of these recipes and would definitely make them both again. Also, the salad recipe made a lot and even though we both had big servings with dinner it will be nice to have for lunch the next day:).

p.s. I always spelled kebabs: kabobs....anyone else think that's how it was spelled???

Source: both recipes adapted from Fresh Flavor Fast

Baby Evie!!

2011-07-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

This post has nothing to do with food, I just want to show off my incrediably adorable neice Evie!

Liane had her all dressed up to see me:)

Yay! I got a smile!! I had to distract her with the sock monkey while I took this. It's like she knows when there's a camera around.

Just hanging out, looking cute. Love you Evie!

Pork 2 Ways

2011-07-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty proud of myself. Going from hardly ever using up leftovers to two posts about it! This was dinner last week, but with conventions and work and...well life I guess, I didn't get around to posting. Both these dinners were soooo good (in my humble opinion). Seriously though, they were crazy easy, hardly any ingredients and pretty fast.

Honey Herb Glazed Pork Tenderloin

You'll need:

1 1/2-2 lb. pork tenderloin
basil, chives, rosemary
1 tbsp honey
corn on the cob
green beans
almonds

Soak the corn on the cob (in husks) for 20-30 minutes in a pot of cold water. Wrap them in foil. While they're soaking rub tenderloin with salt, pepper, chives, rosemary and basil. Pour honey over top and brush or rub on. Stick tenderloin on the grill on high heat for a few minutes on each side then lower to medium and put corn on the top rack.

While Those are grilling trim your beans and throw them in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Chop up some almonds. I've made these before with bacon in them too and they were amazing but my bacon was frozen solid because I didn't remember to take it out.

The corn and tenderloin cooked together for about 15-20 minutes. The honey made an amazingly delicious carmalized crust on the outside of the pork and the inside was so juicy and fell apart when you chewed it. I was nervous about the corn, it hasn't seemed to be good lately, but this was perfectly sweet and the texture was great.

Enjoy!

Part Two

This dinner is full of cheats but it was the best stir fry I've ever had!!! I had it 3 times because it made so much and I loved it each time. I had a little less then half of the tenderloin left over so I chopped it up, threw it in a deep pan with Wegmans tariyaki sauce and heated it though. Then I threw in a bag of the Wegmans frozen Japanese Style stir fry veggies (follow directions on bag). In the meantime I had been making white rice.We use Nishiki white rice (it's awesome). You could do brown rice to make it a little healthier, but due to my husbands love for white sticky rice, we don't.

Serve over rice. I add extra soy sauce to mine (I love soy sauce, I could drink it!) but it's not necessary. The End!

Simplifying: Our Closet

2011-07-09T06:43:00.000-07:00

How many of us have had bags full of clothes sitting around for months waiting to go to Goodwill? Please tell me I'm not the only one! In an effort to continue getting rid of things and organizing our apartment I've decided to finally take care of them. And why not be rewarded for your efforts with a tax receipt? Hey, every little bit counts.

Matt 'discovered' a cool new second hand store the other day when he was out with his mom. It's called Savers and it's in the old Circuit City building by the McKinley Mall. You can donate Housewares, clothing, books, appliances, furniture...and the list goes on. The cool things is, they partner with local non-profits and pay them for all the donated items they receive. The featured non-profit at the McKinley location is the Epilepsy Foundation.

I went through all of our clothes, shoes and bags and took out anything that doesn't fit or we just haven't worn in the past 6 months and added it to what I have already collected. Then I went through and made a list of all the items and their condition (all are good, or very good. I wouldn't donate something if it wasn't any good, chances are they wouldn't take it anyway). I read that this is a good thing to do and staple it to the receipt for a tax deduction, just to cover your bases.

I plan on taking everything over on Monday, and here's hoping I don't come home with anything! Matt already came home with some things from there the other day. We're supposed to be getting rid of things!!! I guess I'll overlook it since he got me some cute bracelets:).

Berry Picking

2011-07-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

Even though this year I was going to be all about going and picking all sorts of fruits I've already missed strawberries. I really should have printed out a seasons guide for everything so that wouldn't have happened. But I haven't missed blueberries and raspberries and I'm determined to go picking!

If anyone is interested in going please let me know, I think it would be really fun! I've been looking at local places to go (within an hours drive) and I found Awald Farms. They're open every day from 8am to 6pm and pretty close by, maybe 40 minutes from my house (closer for those of you in OP). I'm thinking of going in about a week or so. I'll call ahead of time to make sure everything is ready for picking and get all the details. Message here if you'd like to join or text me:).

I can't remember the last time I had a blueberry pie. I think I'm due:)

Just Call Me Paula Dean...

2011-07-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

This all started a few days ago when I had an intense craving for maple, maple Anything! That lead to memories of going to the Erie County Fair with my parents as a little kid, and being dragged through the boring buildings. The only up-side, getting free samples of maple butter :). Then I read this post and was inspired to make all sorts of flavored butter.

Blackberry Butter, Raspberry Butter and Maple Butter

You will need:

6 sticks of unsalted butter
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp. brown sugar
8-4 oz. mason jars (mason jars, I know, right. Looking back I should have gotten 8 oz. jars)

Whip 2 sticks of butter on high speed with whisk attachment. Add 1/2 cup raspberries and mix on low speed with beater attachment for 5-10 seconds (until berries just begin to break apart). Add a pinch of salt. Also you can add some confectioners sugar to sweeten it further if you'd like.

Follow the same directions for the blackberries :).

For the maple butter cream together 2 sticks of butter with 1/2 cup maple syrup and 1 tsp. brown sugar. Next time I may add some cinnamon to half the batch and see how that tastes.

A perfect topping for waffles, pancakes, french toast or just an english muffin. I froze one of the maple ones and a blackberry/raspberry one (I had a little left over from each so I just mixed them together). We'll see how they freeze. I'd assume they'll be fine but there's no telling until I take them out and defrost them :).

Yum!

Organization and Simplification

2011-07-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

These are two things our apartment needs desperately. We have roughly 840 square feet to work with and I feel like we're not working with it wisely.

So, in a sudden burst of motivation today I decided to take action! I've been looking for a solution for the many bags of flour, wheat flour, oats, confectioners sugar, granulated sugar, brown sugar!!! Ahhhh!!! Then I read this post awhile ago and found my solution. Mason jars! That was it.

Then at my in-laws the other day it came up that I wanted to go to the Super Flea with hopes of finding cheap ones (they're a bit pricey at the grocery store) and Rose said she had a ton and to take some. Score! So I came home with 8 large mason jars last night and went and bought new rims and lids today and got to work.

I gave them a good wash and got out all my random bags of flour, sugar and everything else I have. As soon as they were dry as a bone (moisture=bad news) I got to filling.

And this is what I ended up with. Eight jars, neat as a pin. I'd like to go back and get even more to store rice and pasta in. Silly me, I almost only took 4 and was talked into eight and now I want more!

I know it may not seem like a big thing, and it may not be saving me tons of space, but I feel good about it. And hey! you've got to start somewhere.

Double Duty

2011-07-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

Sirloin Steak with Bearnaise Butter, Mushrooms and an Herb Salad

For the Bearnaise you'll need:

1/2 cup chopped shallots
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon, divided
3 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, room temp
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

Place shallots, vinegar, half of the tarragon and half of the parsley in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat until vinegar is reduced to 3 tbsp, about 3 minutes. Strain into a small bowl, pressing on solids to release any liquid. Discard solids, cool tarragon vinegar mixture. Mix butter, lemon peel and remaining chopped tarragon and parsley in medium bowl to blend. Mix in cooled tarragon vinegar. Cover and refrigerate, it can be kept for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Source: Epicurious

Sear steaks on high heat on the grill on both sides for a about 3 min each side. Lower heat to medium-low and finish cooking steaks til they are to your liking. (My camera died so I have a whopping 2 pictures of this meal. One of mushrooms and one of the finished product.)

While the steaks are resting melt 3 tbsp butter in a frying pan. Add washed and sliced mushrooms to the melted butter and saute until tender. Mmmm, just thinking of this makes me drool :).

Mushrooms:)

For the herb salad I washed and chopped up a handful of parsley, basil and a few stalks of chives and mixed them with chopped green leaf lettuce. Add some chopped heirloom tomatoes, cukes and crasins and you've got yourself a yummy salad. Slice steak and serve with bearnaise butter and mushrooms.

Enjoy!

Now, ready for this creative genius? It's pretty intense. Two days later, in an effort to use the left overs and not let them go to waste like I so often do, I made this:). It's the steak...on TOP of a salad. But the steak is chopped up and it's on a pretty plate so it's totally different:)

Bridal Shower Cupcakes

2011-06-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

*Sigh*

They're done!!! It's such a good feeling when you've finished a job and you can sit down and relax knowing everything went well. I'd like to thank the weather for not being a pain in my butt. I was anticipating 85 degrees and muggy for today, but it's actually perfect weather for baking and icing. So here are some pics. There's no recipes really but I'll add little bits of information along the way.

In the end I had 45 cupcakes, 22 vanilla and 23 chocolate. There has to be a gadget or a tool that perfectly measures out cupcake batter. No matter what I do I never end up with 24. I'm always 1 or 2 short. Thankfully it's not a huge deal in this case because I only needed around 40. I think I will look for an ice cream scoop, you know the old fashion kind with the lever, and that should fix my poor judgement skills when it comes to measuring out batter.

I used a large star tip #1M for the frosting, which was colored with a little bit of buttercup yellow and a little bit of lemon yellow. For the cupcakes with small white flowers I used a small straight tip #5.

I used Wilton White Nonpareils with Wilton pearlized Sugar Pearls on about half of the cupcakes. Then on the ones with little flowers I used the nonpareils and put a Wilton pearlized Yellow Sugar Pearl in the center of the flower. They're really simple but I think they are dainty and cute:).

They'll be put on my cupcake stands for the shower. I'm really happy these things have gotten so much use since I bought them for our wedding. They've been at bridal showers, baby shower, going away parties, retirement parties.... these stands sure do get around. I just threw a few on one to take a picture to get a feel of what they'll look like.

Alright, let's do a little product test. This is the Martha Stewart cupcake holder. In a word, it's awesome. It holds 24 cupcakes, is very secure, has a handy little handle. I bought this one awhile ago at the Macy's Home Store (confession: I bought it on black friday at like 6 in the morning) and have used it a few times and really like it.

When making the cupcakes for my sisters baby shower I needed two but didn't buy another and just put the others in a box. Since these are for a friend and I won't be delivering them and they're going to be traveling a few hours I thought they should all be in a carrier. Well, Martha's is $25.00. So, I was cheap and bought a Rubbermaid one at Target on sale for $17.99. It's fine and all but I should have spent the extra $7 and got another Martha one. The Rubbermaid one doesn't feel as sturdy and there's not as much room for taller cupcakes, frosting-wise. Also the bottom cupcakes sit in a tin and I have a feeling it'll be difficult to get them out w/o touching the frosting because they sit so low.

So yea- if you're in the market for a cupcake holder, get the Martha Stewart one, it's cuter anyway. Or just call me and borrow mine.

Now who wants to come and clean my kitchen!!!!!!????

Please and Thank You :)

Another Friday, Another Drink

2011-06-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

I'm crawling out of my pit of sickness to do a Friday post. I'll be honest with you I could use a drink right now, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea given the amount of Ibuprofen and Amoxicillin I've been consuming in the past 5 days. I can't deny anyone else a drink though!

Grey Goose L'Orange Buonasola

Ingredients:

1 part Grey Goose L'Orange flavored vodka
3/4 part limoncello
3/4 part dry Vermouth
1 tsp superfine sugar
3 parts orange juice

Fill cocktail shaker with ice and add all ingredients. Shake vigorously and strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with an orange slice.

Excuse my messy kitchen table....I'm sick!

Enjoy and Happy Friday!

*crawls back down into pit of sickness to watch UP*

"I told you no. N-O!"

The mother-load of all desserts

2011-06-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for this? I think you are, I believe in you. You CAN do this!

Baklava

You will need

1 lb. Filo Pastry Dough (Buy it in the frozen section at grocery store. Remember it needs to thaw for up to 8 hours or overnight, I have forgotten this once and believe me, microwave thawing it-doesn't work)
3/4 lb Sweet Butter (unsalted), melted
2 and 1/2 - 3 cups Walnuts and/or Almonds, finely chopped or ground
2 tbsp. Granulated Sugar
2 tsp. Cinnamon

Syrup Ingredients

2 cups Granulated Sugar
1 cup Water
1 Cinnamon Stick
Juice from 1 Lemon slice
1/2 cup Honey

In a saucepan, combine sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon juice over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add honey and return to boiling. Remove immediately from heat and set aside. Skim any foam off the top of the syrup if it's formed during heating.

In a small mixing bowl combine nuts with sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

Look at this glorious picture! That my friends, is 3 sticks of butter. Take it all in....and yes, you will be using all of it:).

Side note: When you unroll your Filo(Phyllo) Dough you can't leave it uncovered or else it becomes brittle quickly. I lay mine out on plastic wrap and cover it with more plastic wrap and then put wrung out paper towels over top of the plastic wrap. Also, make sure the wet paper towels don't touch it because it also gets gooey quickly and will all stick together. I also cut the dough in half before I start. Usually the first few sheets are scored and tear but after that you'll get one really long sheet. Just cut them down the middle.

Butter a 9" by 13" oven proof baking dish. Place a sheet of dough on the bottom of the pan and brush with the melted butter. Fold over any excess dough. Repeat process for another 8 sheets, buttering each.

Sprinke about 1/4 cu of the nut mixture evenly over the Filo and cover with 2 more sheets, buttering each. Continue sprinkling nuts every 2-sheet layer for about 4-5 layers. Use up your remaining nut mixture on last layer.

Use 8 sheets for the top layer, buttering each. Before buttering the last sheet, tuck in all loose edges or trim neatly and press down the layers with the palm of your hands. Pour remaining butter over top. I didn't really trim mine, but it all works out in the end. My favorite part is the edges anyway because they are extra crispy!

Cut into 5 strips lengthwise, about 1/2 inch deep. (just don't hit the bottom) Bake at 350 degrees for about 50-60 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately pour cooled syrup over baklava. Allow to cool thoroughly. Cut strips diagonally to form diamond shapes and serve!

I may or may not have snuck a piece before realizing I didn't take a picture of it. Oops!

Enjoy!

Summertime Cake

2011-06-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a tasty summertime cake to make that's simple and refreshing. You can buy the Boden cake or make one yourself...if you have a Boden tin.(I bought mine) The recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk

Throughly grease boden tin and preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl beat together butter and sugar til white and creamy; add egg and beat til mixed in thoroughly. Sift together flour and baking powder and fold into the butter mixture, adding milk til it holds together in a ball. Press dough into a well greased boden torte pan (wet your hands with a little water to keep the dough from sticking to your hands). Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert on a cake plate or other large plate.

For the filling I sliced some strawberries and mixed them with sugar and let them sit to do their thing and get all juicy.

Meanwhile I whipped up a half pint of heavy cream with two tbsp. confectioners sugar. I chopped up some mint and stirred it in with the strawberries.

I put a layer of whipped cream down on the cake and arranged the strawberries over top. Then poured the extra juice over it. Then filled a pastry bag, with star tip #18, up with whipped cream and piped a border.

This is a good dessert to make for a bbq or cookout, it cools you down on a hot day, and looks awfully pretty too.

It's Friday, go ahead, make yourself a drink

2011-06-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

We'll pretend it's your first one this week, it's totally my first one... :). I'm going to try to do a weekly Friday segment featuring a different drink each week. Of course I have to start with my favorite- a Margarita! yummm. They are pretty simple to make.

1 1/2 oz premium tequila ( I like Silver Patron. I've had margaritas with less expensive tequila and ones with more expensive tequila and Patron just makes a good margarita)
1 oz Cointreau or triple sec (I use triple sec, only because we don't have cointreau, it's on the to-get list)
juice of half a lime and half a lemon
ice cubes
garnish: lime wedge

Shake the ingredients with ice and serve in a salt-rimmed margarita glass on the rocks, or strain to serve 'up' in a chilled, salt-rimmed cocktail glass. Garnish with the lime wedge.

You can also use a margarita mix such as margaritaville (one of my all time hated songs btw). Just follow the instructions on the label. It makes a good margarita when you don't have all the ingredients or the patience to squeeze lemons and limes.

I've tried a few different rimming salts and sugars and I just bought Franco's Cocktail Mixes margarita salt at Wegmans last week and it's pretty much awesome. Cut a little slit in your lime wedge and run in around the rim of the glass and then dip it in the salt and you get a perfectly salt-rimmed glass.

For those of you who are pregnant or breast feeding and want a drink without the alcohol here's a recipe for you.

2 oz sour mix
1 splash lime juice
1 splash orange juice
ice cubes
garnish: lime wedge

Blend the ingredients with ice. Serve in a salt-rimmed margarita glass. Garnish with lime.

Enjoy and Happy Friday!