Recipes from the Pickle Boat

BBQ Chicken Calzone

2012-02-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

I know that typical American calzones are much more stuffed and overflowing with cheese than the one pictured above, but don't let the simplicity fool you. This baby was jam-packed with amazing flavor and was the perfect texture. My flavor-addict husband raved about it and even my picky eaters asked for seconds.

If you've been keeping up on recent posts, you'll know that pizza is like crack to me. Seriously - does life get better than warm, fluffy pizza crust slathered with tomatoes and cheese? Throw in some pineapples and I might just marry you. *drool* So, if you are as pizza-addicted as I am, I know you'll love this calzone.

Have you ever seen someone eat a slice of pizza folded in half like a taco? My dad ate his pizza like that and I always thought it was so funny. It just seemed like he was trying to find the most efficient way to get the pizza into his stomach, instead of savoring each bite. Kind of like when my husband throws a whole handful of M&M's in his mouth. He can go through a bag in 5 minutes. It takes me at least a week.

Back to folding pizza in half... a calzone is the perfect solution to you efficient pizza folders because it's basically just a pizza folded in half. Pizza dough is used, but instead of spreading the toppings all over the pizza, the toppings are spread on one half and the other half is folded over and sealed, trapping all of the yumminess inside. For this version, I used BBQ Sauce (and bacon!!!), but traditional pizza sauce and mozzarella make a really good meal, too.

This recipe makes 2 large calzones... which I thought would serve my family for two nights. Wrong. It was so delicious they all went back for seconds... and thirds... They would have gone for fourths but it was long gone by then!

INGREDIENTS:
10 slices bacon
1 small onion, chopped
4 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast meat (about 2 lbs)
1 cup barbecue sauce + more for dipping
1 recipe perfect pizza dough made just until the 1 1/2 hours of rising time is over
8-16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (we did 8 ounces to be a little healthier, but cheesier always tastes better!)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
olive oil

Directions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone (or pizza pan) inside.
Fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove from the pan to drain on paper towels; crumble. Add the onion to the hot bacon grease in the pan. Fry over medium heat until onion is tender. Add and shredded chicken and stir in 1 cup of barbecue sauce, and remove from the heat. Mix in the cooked bacon.
On a sheet of parchment paper, roll one pizza dough into a 16"circle.* Do the same to the second pizza dough. Divide the chicken mixture between the two circles of dough, spreading on only half of each piece to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Sprinkle the cheese and cilantro over the top. Wet the uncovered edges of the pizza circle. Fold the uncovered portion of dough over the filling, and press the edges together with your fingers or a fork to seal. Spread oilive oil over surface with a basting brush. Cut two slits in the top for air to escape.
Lift parchment paper with one calzone onto hot pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned to your liking. Cool for a few minutes, then slice and serve with extra barbecue sauce for dipping.

*You can just roll it out onto a counter sprinkled generously with cornmeal or flour, but the parchment paper makes transferring to and removing from the hot pizza pan so much easier.

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

2012-02-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

There are some recipes that I am just SO excited to share with you that I bump right to the top of my list. This is one of them. A couple of days ago I was needing a sweet fix, but not having the energy to actually make anything. Usually when I have food cravings, but can't/won't/don't want to cook, I fill those cravings by planning to cook something. I know, there's something wrong with me. Finding and planning to cook a fabulous recipe is almost as good to me as actually eating one. Weird, right?

Weird or not, you'll be grateful for my quirky habits when you bite into one of these babies. While searching for a fluffy and sweet cupcake, I found these. Root Beer Float Cupcakes??? Does life get any better? They have Vanilla Frosting on top and are stuffed with super flavorful Root Beer Frosting. It's like a soda party in your mouth. But better because it comes with a cupcake. Heaven...

I'm thinking of finding a reason for a pizza party (wait... do I need a reason?), with these as the dessert. Pizza with root beer is in my top 5 favorite meals. If I was ever stranded on an island and could only bring one food, it would be pizza. If I could have a drink with my pizza it would be orange juice (I said I was weird!). But second choice would be root beer. And if I could have a dessert? Cupcakes!

These were super fun to make and everyone loved them!

Makes 12-15 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/8 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons root beer concentrate (at the grocery store next to the vanilla)
1/3 cup root beer
1/2 cup
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add cream, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Add root beer concentrate and root beer. Mix until batter is smooth. Line a muffin tin with liners and add 1/4 cup batter to each cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool before frosting.

Vanilla and Root Beer Frosting
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon root beer extract

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream butter until smooth. On low speed, add powdered sugar one cup at a time, increasing speed to bring the frosting together. Add milk and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Remove almost all of the vanilla frosting, leaving behind about 1/2 cup in the mixer. Set vanilla frosting aside. Add root beer extract to remaining frosting in the bowl and beat until it comes together.

Prep two pastry bags (or you can simply use spoons) and fill one with vanilla frosting and the other with root beer frosting. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, fill each one with root beer frosting (I simply plunge the pastry tip into the cupcake and squeeze), then top with vanilla frosting. Top with chocolate sauce.

I liked these best kept in the fridge, but they were also super yummy when I first made them. And remember, I'm weird.

Filled with Root Beer Frosting

Topped with Vanilla Frosting

Drizzling the amazing chocolate sauce.

recipe adapted from how sweet it is.

Chocolate Sauce

2012-02-04T12:18:00.000-08:00

INGREDIENTS:
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
3 Tablespoons milk
1 1/12 ounces dark or unsweetened chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
Mix the cocoa powder and cornstarch in a bowl. Stir in the milk.

Place chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup in a small saucepan on medium/low heat. Mix and melt ingredients until well blended. Add the cocoa mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously. Simmer for one minute, remove from heat, and add vanilla.

Serve warm or store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

(serve over crepes, ice cream, cupcakes, waffles, pancakes, strawberries, etc.)

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

2012-02-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

My seven-year-old daughter and I were looking through a magazine and she saw an ad for store-bought Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread and asked if we could buy it. Being the ~~stingy~~ creative mom I am, I instead told her we'd find a way to make it! After not loving any of the recipes I found, we came up with this one. She loved it so much (as did everyone else) that we instantly made it again the next day. It's amazing just fresh out of the oven, but also toasted with a little of butter, made into french toast, or slathered with cream cheese.

INGREDIENTS:

Bread:

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 Tablespoons milk

2 Tablespoons shortening

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

5 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons yeast

1 cup raisins

Swirl Filling:

1 egg, beaten

4 Tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Place all bread ingredients - except raisins - in Bread Machine in order recommended by the manufacturer. Select the dough setting. If your bread machine has an alarm for when it's time to add nuts or raisins, add the raisins then. If not, just add them in the last five minutes of the kneading cycle .

When dough is ready, remove and place on a surface sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Roll dough out into a large rectangle - approximately 18 inches by 30 inches (I just went as deep as my counter would let me):

Spread beaten egg on dough, followed by butter. Be sure that every surface is covered. Then spread with brown sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Starting at the short end, roll dough. If using regular 9" x 5" loaf pans, slice bread roll in half, and place each loaf in a well greased 9" x 5" pan. I have a 16" pan so I just put the whole roll in the pan:

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size - about one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 30-40 minutes or until crust is brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped.

French Toast:

Shrimp Pasta with Orange Sauce

2012-02-02T14:15:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine had some shrimp and scallops sitting in her freezer all lonely because her husband isn't a big seafood fan. Luckily, we are! So she passed them along to us and my husband whipped up this fancy dish. Super yummy and could be made with just shrimp, just scallops, shrimp and scallops, a white fish, or even some chicken.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound of cooked shrimp, washed and patted dry
2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium onion - diced
1 Tablespoon of flour
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup white wine
1 lb pasta noodles (we used bowtie, but anything would do)
1 small bunch fresh dill
1 tablespoon fine orange zest
1/2 cup orange juice
salt
pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the butter in a pan over medium-high heat and brown the shrimp for about 1 minute on each side, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon.

2. Add onions to the same pan and cook until translucent. Sprinkle the flour over them, stir, and brown lightly. Pour in the cream and wine. Reduce heat to low and simmer for ten minutes.

3. While sauce is cooking, boil water and cook pasta according to package directions until al dente.

4. Add the shrimp to the sauce and heat for 2 minutes. Rinse and shake dry the dill, setting aside a few sprigs for garnish, then chop the rest. Add the chopped dill, orange zest, and orange juice to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Drain the noodles. Serve with orange sauce and garnished with remaining dill.

Sugared Cardamom Bacon

2012-01-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

Mmmmm bacon! I thought bacon couldn't get any better... until I made this! It's from Jessica over at How Sweet It Is. I added less cardamom because - let's be realistic here - how many of you even know what cardamom is? It kind of intimidates me. I've only used it one other time in my life and it was too overpowering and ruined the dish. I think it smells lovely, but I was nervous about its strength, so we went with a low dose. If you are a lover of cardamom, then feel free to double it. This bacon is super simple and absolutely AMAZING!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb sliced bacon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil, then top with a wire rack.

Combine brown sugar and cardamom and spread on a large plate. Dredge bacon slices through the mix, lightly patting the sugar on top but not overdoing it. Lay strips on wire rack and bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping the bacon once halfway through.

Remove and cool on wire rack for 1 minute. Do not cool on paper towels - they will stick.

Best Bacon Ever!!

Recipe Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Stoup

2012-01-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Yep, you read that right - it's called Stoup. It's thicker than soup but thinner than stew, so it's stoup! As an adult, it seems like such a silly thing to say. But growing up, there was nothing silly about it.

This is home to me. It's another recipe passed to my mom from her mom and then passed on down to me. Actually, I don't remember ever seeing an actual recipe. I know I watched and helped my mom make it and when I went to college I had to call my mom to verify that I was making it right. But, it's super simple. It's an easy crock pot/cook all day kind of dish, so it's great for busy days.

Plus, I've had a few requests for healthier recipes (I don't know why no one else lives on dessert and breakfast foods alone??) and since this uses a less fatty cut of meat and lots of veggies - I'm hoping my ~~whinier~~ healthier friends will be happy!

And, of course, with all of the snow blowing around, it's nice to come home to a hot pot of soup. Or stew. Stoup!

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs stew beef (usually chuck roast cut into bite size pieces)
1 large onion
1 lb carrots (either baby carrots or sliced carrots)
8 ounces frozen peas
8 ounces frozen corn
2 cans diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
water
6 medium potatoes cut into bite-size pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Optional:
1 cup red wine to de-glaze the pan after removing the beef and onions
1/2 cup pearl barley added to pot with potatoes - makes it a bit thicker

DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet over high heat, brown beef and onion in oil until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a crock pot (slow cooker). Add water, carrots, peas, corn, tomatoes, oregano, red pepper flakes, paprika and basil. Add water to pot until ingredients are just covered. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Add the potatoes. Cover and cook on low 1-2 hours longer or until beef and vegetables are tender.

And The Winner Is...

2012-01-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

My cute friend, Nori (AKA KilaMOMjaro)! Congrats, my fellow baker! Just send me a message with your addy and I'll send the super cute spoons off right away! Thanks, everyone for entering. Any ideas as to what the next contest prize should be?

Homemade S'mores

2012-01-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

I know that S'mores are as easy as PB&J or a bowl of cereal, but you haven't lived until you've made your own mallows and grahams... and then toasted them and slathered them with mana from heaven (AKA Nutella). Plus, you get to cut the marshmallow to whatever size and shape you want! Just bear with me on this post. Then follow the directions. Then bake me cookies to thank me. Or maybe just buy me stuff from Trader Joe's.

INGREDIENTS:
Homemade Marshmallows
Homemade Graham Crackers
Nutella (or chocolate chips, or Hershey's... but I loved the Nutella best!)

DIRECTIONS:
Turn oven on Broil. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place desired amount of Graham crackers on parchment paper. Put a whopping-ly huge marshmallow on half of the graham crackers. Leave the other crackers bare.

Broil in the oven until tops of the marshmallows just begin to smoke. Remove the pans from the oven, turn the marshmallows upside-down and return to broil the other side. Broil until it's nice and crispy. You may want to catch a few on fire (and blow them out super fast!).

Add your chocolate to the marshmallow-less cracker. Smoosh the two together.

Yummmmmm.

Then eat them!!! And lick the yummy deliciousness as it oozes out of the S'more. Don't forget to lick your plate. Heaven, right? That's the best part - all of the gooey slop that drips onto your plate.

Then have S'more!

Homemade Graham Crackers

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from my second attempt at making graham crackers. My first attempt was successful and delicious, just a bit more time consuming than I thought it should be (recipe is here: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000126.html ). Plus, my hubs said the crackers weren't crunchy enough - like regular graham crackers are. So then I came up with this recipe! I liked the flavor of the first recipe better, but I might try the one I posted below with a little bit of honey or molasses - which will hopefully add more flavor. After you make these, try some Homemade S'mores with Homemade Marshmallows! Amazing! Or just dip them in milk... equally awesome!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and brown sugar. Stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Cover and chill dough 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough into quarters. Place one quarter of dough onto a strip of parchment paper or a silicone mat large enough to fit on a cookie sheet. Lightly flour top of dough and rolling pin. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Trim sides until you have one large rectangle. With a pizza cutter, slice dough vertically into four rectangles, and then horizontally into 8 total:

Poke 9 holes (I used the back end of a little paintbrush). Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp. Edges will be golden brown. Immediately remove parchment or silicone mat from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

Homemade Marshmallows

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Holy marshmallows, Batman. These things are ridiculous. And by ridiculous, I mean you will want to shove 10 of them in your mouth and try to say "Chubby Bunny." Except you'll be too busy trying to swallow them to make room for more of them in your fluffy mouth. Or maybe you'll be like me and you'll stare at them trying to come up with all of the different ways to eat them. With just one batch we had...

Hot Cocoa...

S'mores on Homemade Graham Crackers (stayed tuned, folks... those will be on the blog tomorrow!):

(This is pre-toasted)

Chocolate Peppermint Marshmallows:

S'more S'mores:

And a whole lot of eating them plain! (Plus a few more S'mores... a few more times!)

The process was much easier than I thought marshmallow making would be. Plus, who doesn't love licking marshmallow ooze off a spatula? (Just make sure your hair is pulled far away from your mouth... marshmallow hair? Not so lovely.)

INGREDIENTS:
About 1 cup powdered sugar
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some powdered sugar.

In bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using a stand mixer or about 10 minutes if using a hand-held mixer. (Some reviewers felt this took even longer with a hand mixer, but still eventually whipped up nicely.)

In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan. Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.

Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.

Do ahead: Marshmallows keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 1 week.

Recipe adapted from smitten kitchen.

100th Post + Giveaway!

2012-01-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

***Sorry, contest is closed. Stay tuned for more fun contests!***

This is the 100th post on my little food blog! To celebrate, I'm going to do a little giveaway! But first, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite recipes! Here are my top ten favorite recipes (click the name of the recipe to go to that recipe page!):

An Easter Favorite - Lemon Cake with Lemon Filling and Lemon Frosting:

Just about the most ooey gooey chocolate-y dessert you'll ever find - Best Brownies:

Cinnamon & Sugar Doughnut Muffins:

The BEST pizza I've EVER had - Margherita Pizza:

Heaven in a bar - Homemade Twix Bars:

Equally fantastical - Homemade Butterfingers:

My new Halloween Doughnut - Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

A super simple, super family friendly meal - Sweet and Sour Meatballs:

Christmas in a cupcake: Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

And my #1 Recipe from all 100 of them...

Snickers Caramel Corn!

So, my sweet friends... I'd like to thank you all for reading my rambles, commenting on my posts, and using my recipes to fill your tummies! I love hearing from you and seeing what you think of the recipes I post. Because of that, I'm giving away these ADORABLE Cupcake Measuring Spoons by Ganz! I think they are just about the cutest thing I could have in my kitchen. And I'd love to share them with you!

Seriously... how cute?!?!

Love love love!

To enter, leave a comment below telling me which of my recipes is your favorite. If you post on your blog about my giveaway, leave another comment below with a link to your post. I will close the contest on Sunday, January 15th at 9pm PST. Limit of 2 entries per person... please just be honest. :) Sunday evening I'll randomly pick a winner and Monday morning I'll announce the winner! Then, I'll mail the lucky winner their new set of super cute Cupcake Measuring Spoons! Good luck friends!

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

2012-01-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to talk about this amazing cake too much because there's plenty of recipe verbiage about to happen up in this joint. All you need to know that it is a party in your mouth just waiting to happen. Like the party of the year. The exclusive one that only cool people get invited to. And you're invited. 'Cuz it's in your mouth. Okay I'll stop now.

P.S. Just kidding, I'm still talking. Be sure to read the recipe all the way through before you make it. The filling is supposed to chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before you assemble the cake, and the cake is supposed to hang out in the freezer while the filling is chilling (ha!) in the fridge. In other words... make this early in the day.

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

INGREDIENTS:

Cake:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs - at room temperature
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup milk

butter for greasing the pans

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with a circle of parchment or wax paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and slowly add the sugar. Continue beating until light and smooth, about 4 minutes. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and beat at medium speed for 1 minute more. (Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl again, if needed.) With the mixer running at medium-low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Combine the water and milk in a saucepan and bring just to a boil. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture, about a 1/4 cup at a time. Carefully pour the hot liquid into the batter. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a large rubber spatula, finish combining the batter until smooth. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Lightly drop each pan onto the counter to settle the batter.

Set the pans on the middle rack in the oven. Bake until the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pans and the center springs back when touched lightly, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Cool the cakes, in the pans, on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cake layers out of the pans and cool on the rack. (If not assembling the cake right away, wrap the layers in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 1 day, or freeze for up to 2 months.)

Assembly and Decorating:

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup finely crushed peppermint candies

1/2 (10.5 oz bag) miniature marshmallows

2 (12 oz) cartons Cool Whip

15-20 starlight mints

1/2 package crushed Oreo's

When cakes are cool, slice each layer in half horizontally to make four thin layers, total. Place a piece of wax paper between each layer and put sliced cake in the freezer while you make the filling.

To make filling, combine peppermint candies, marshmallows, and one container of the Cool Whip. Mix until smooth. Chill, covered in refrigerator 2-3 hours. Remove cake layers from the freezer and separate. Spread one-third of the filling on the first layer and then place another layer of cake on top of the filling. Repeat this process with the next two layers. Place the last layer on top and frost the sides and top with the second container of whipped topping. Take a handful of cookie crumbs and gently pat (or, like my husband did: throw) on to the side of the cake. Repeat until sides of cake are covered with crumbs. Garnish with rosettes of whipped topping, starlight mints, and cookie crumbs. Serve cold.

Recipe adapted from Food Network and Lion House Bakery.

Savory Cheese Ball - Guest Post!

2012-01-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

I am so excited that my sweet friend, Jennie has swapped blogs with me for today! You can find my post for today on her amazing blog: Mommy's Kitchen Creations. She's whipped up an awesome Super Bowl cheese ball to share with you guys. I hope you enjoy!

Hey Pickle Boat readers! My name is Jennie from Mommy's Kitchen Creations. You all are so lucky to have found Megan's blog. Isn't she amazing? I've had her food, and let me tell you...Its even better than it looks!

For all of you football fans out there... here is an awesome recipe for you today. It's time to start planning your menu for that super bowl party you are hosting this year. This cheese ball is a definite must for your appetizer spread. My sweet neighbor used to make this for me every Christmas. I think I was more excited about the anticipation of the cheese ball showing up at my door, than all of the gifts under the tree. Yeah, it's seriously that good! I would always make her and her husband, my famous cinnamon rolls. I have since moved away and lost hope of ever seeing that cheese ball again. I can't believe I never asked her for the recipe. I ended up running into her while I was Black Friday shopping. We both blurted out across the masses, almost simultaneously, that we missed each other's treats. We made our way over to each other and I was finally able to get her recipe.
Ahh, my palate is at peace once again.

Savory Cheese Ball

2 (8 oz) blocks of cream cheese (softened)

1/2 green bell pepper chopped

1/2 small yellow onion chopped

1 (2 oz) package of corned beef (deli meat) chopped

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Separate mixture into two balls and roll into crushed pecans or walnuts. Serve with crackers.

Tip: feel free to play around with the amount of peppers and onions depending on your tastes

Philadelphia Sticky Buns

2012-01-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know about everyone else's upbringing, but there is nothing in my childhood that was more constant than holiday traditions. Christmas was a big deal in our home and my favorite memories of my mom are all related in some way to that time of year. Whether it was decorating, baking, or gifting, my mom went all out... The baking part is actually pretty amazing since I can literally count on one hand the foods my mom actually cooked well throughout the rest of the year.

My two favorite holiday dishes are recipes that my mom got from her mom. Amazing, again, because my Grandmom, Polly, was also not the best cook in the world. Everyone always told the story of how Grandmom's house was the last house on the block to finally get a microwave... Grandmom knew that microwaves cook food faster, so she assumed that meant that she would just burn her food faster. Shockingly, though, holiday meals were always a huge success.

And every Christmas morning meant Philadelphia Sticky Buns. They can be assembled quickly the night before and left in the fridge until morning. Then, just take them out to rise while the presents are being unwrapped and bake them when you're ready.

I'm going to post an ingredient list, because my recipe doesn't have it. Hopefully it's helpful!

INGREDIENTS:

1 loaf frozen white bread dough (I just get the Rhodes brand 3-pack in the freezer aisle)

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (divided) butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

raisins (optional)

cinnamon and sugar mixture

The directions below are verbatim from my Grandmom's recipe card:

Philadelphia Sticky Buns - Frozen Bread Recipe

Let frozen loaf thaw at room temp (2 to 3 hrs) or in refridge (6 to 10 hrs). Roll dough to size 8" x 12' starting on 12" side. Brish wish 2 tbl melted butter & sprinkle with cinnamon sugar & raisins. Roll up like a jelly roll & cut into 10 or 12 slices. Put in 9" square or round pan in which 1/4 c butter, 1/2 c packed brown sugar have been melted. Stir first & add a few raisins, if desired. Let rise in a warm place (slightly warmed oven, turned off is a good place - no drafts) until doubled in size (3/4-1 hr). Bake at 375 for 25-30 min. Turn out of pan IMMEDIATELY.

Pumpkin Ginger Scones

2012-01-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

My sweet husband surprised us with these yummy scones for breakfast. My daughter has been wanting us to make this style of scones for almost a year. The hubby finally delivered. And boy were they yummy! Not too sweet, not too dense, a little kick (ginger), and pumpkin! Plus they're a lot healthier than any doughnut or cinnamon roll you could make. We sliced them open and slathered on some homemade apple butter. Yum!

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup pumpkin purée, well drained, canned or made from 1/2 pound fresh*
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sift together the flours, salt, ginger, baking powder and baking soda. Place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.

2. Add the butter to the food processor, and pulse several times until it is distributed throughout the flour. The mixture should have the consistency of coarse cornmeal.

3. Beat together the pumpkin purée, buttermilk and maple syrup in a small bowl, and scrape into the food processor. Process just until the dough comes together.

4. Scrape onto a lightly floured surface, and gently shape into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into six squares, then cut the squares in half on the diagonal to form 12 triangular pieces. Place on the baking sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on a rack.

*To roast the pumpkin: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Place the pumpkin pieces on the baking sheet, drizzle 2 teaspoons of olive or canola oil on top, cover tightly with foil and place in the oven. Roast for 1 1/2 hours or until thoroughly tender. Remove from the heat, transfer to a strainer or a colander set over a bowl or in the sink, and allow to cool and drain. Peel the pieces, and purée in a food processor fitted with the steel blade.

recipe adapted from NY Times

Buttermilk Pie

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

If you ever happen to pass through Utah, you MUST go to Magleby's. It's a mom and pop restaurant started by an amazing dessert cook mom and a motorcycle enthusiast pop. Sounds familiar, no? It has a super home-y feel and very flavorful dishes. My two favorites are their Parmesan Crusted Breadsticks (copycat recipe coming soon) and their Buttermilk Pie. I've tried to recreate their pie many times. This recipe is the closest I've found yet. It's basically a thick custard-like pie with a hint of spice. It's best served with some crushed raspberries, fresh whipped cream, and a little mint. My husband surprised me for my 30th birthday this year by making and bringing two of these to my party at a delicious restaurant here in town.

INGREDIENTS:
6T unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
3 Tablespoons flour
1Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk - room temperature
1 baked 9 inch deep dish pie shell

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine butter and sugar until sugar is incorporated fully. Add egg yolks and mix well until combined. Add flour, lemon juice, nutmeg and salt. Slowly add buttermilk. Mix well and set aside.
In another bowl, whip egg whites until they form soft peaks. Pour small amount of buttermilk mixture into the whites. Fold gently until just combined.
Pour custard into baked pie shell. Bake in the middle of the oven until filling is slightly browned and barely moves when pie is jiggled - approximately 45-50 minutes.
Cool and serve warm.
Refrigerate leftovers.

Not-Soggy Bread Pudding

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

Happy New Year! I have the perfect way to welcome 2012...

I'm not quite sure what to call this recipe since it's not really bread pudding. Bread pudding is mushy and soggy. This is not. It's more like a combination of French Toast and Cinnamon Rolls. But I can't really call it French Rolls because that's something totally different. Plus there isn't any rolling involved. Also, I can't call it Cinnamon Toast, because that's something else, too. The original recipe was bread pudding, and the technique is for bread pudding... but I've changed it to be much more delicious - and much less soggy - than traditional bread pudding. Très chic! Even my bread-pudding-hating sister loved it!

INGREDIENTS:

10 slices white bread sliced in 1" cubes - I prefer to use Grandma Sycamore's white bread, but if you can't find that, any thick, heavy white bread will do. The thicker the bread, the less soggy the bread pudding.
1/4 c butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups HOT milk
ground nutmeg
more cinnamon
1 apple cider packet (about 1 tablespoon mix)
1 cup powdered sugar
water

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In large bowl, combine melted butter, raisins, and cinnamon. Add bread cubes and toss well to coat. Transfer to a large baking dish. The bigger and more shallow the better. Be sure to spread the raisins around evenly.
Use same mixing bowl to beat eggs. Stir in sugar, vanilla, and salt until sugar is dissolved. Slowly whisk in hot milk. Pour mixture over bread cubes, sprinkling with cinnamon and nutmeg. Let soak for 5 minutes. Bake 25- 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Mix powdered sugar and apple cider mix in small bowl and add water a little at a time until glaze consistency is reached. Drizzle over bread pudding just before serving. Serve warm.

Spinach and Tomato Tortellini and Cheddar Puffs

2011-12-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

Ugh. Another one of the no-daylight-savings-I-wish-I-had-a-DSLR-camera series. But this is actually a pretty fancy looking meal. I like to serve it with a Waldorf salad. I've made it a few times for new moms home from the hospital and every time the recipe has been requested. The cheddar puffs are very similar to a cream puff, but with cheese and without the cream (duh!). Light and fluffy, but a savory flavor.

Spinach and Tomato Tortellini

INGREDIENTS
1 (19 ounce) package frozen cheese tortellini
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup shredded (not grated!) Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil (you'll add the tortellini to the water later).
Combine the tomatoes, spinach, salt, pepper, basil and garlic in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until the mixture begins to bubble.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, milk and cream. Stir this mixture into the saucepan along with the Parmesan cheese. Heat through, then reduce heat to low, and simmer until thick, about 2 minutes.

Add tortellini to the boiling water and cook 3-4 minutes. Drain, but do not rinse.

Pour the tortellini into the saucepan with the sauce. Stir to coat, and serve.

Cheddar Puffs

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:

In a saucepan, bring milk and butter to a boil. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the cheese, onion, garlic powder and pepper; beat until mixture is smooth and shiny. Use a medium cookie scoop to drop dough 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets (or spoon out ~2 tablespoons). Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

Snickers Caramel Corn

2011-12-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

I had a thought this morning that I feel is important to share with all of you. It's part confession/part illustration of how amazing this popcorn is. I was listening to the amazing Jason Mraz and I thought, "I need him to move in to my house. I need a permanent serenade-r. How could I get him to do this? The POPCORN!!! If I just pay him in this popcorn, he'll be sure to stay. Right? Then I could pretend I live in a movie where the perfect theme music comes on in all of the important moments of my life." True story. Morale of the story? This popcorn is amazing enough to convince Jason Mraz to move in with my family of 6. He totally would, ya know. Wouldn't you want to dive in to this and stuff your face, too?

And it's whole grain (as all popcorn is) so it's totally healthy too. Right? The whole grain-ness cancels out all of the other stuff. Especially the butter. Oh and the sugar. And of course the chocolate, too. See? Guilt free never looked so good.

If I still haven't convinced you by my mindless blabbering (or if you just got distracted by the words chocolate, butter, and Jason Mraz) then just look at the pictures. And wipe the drool off your chin.

Snickers Caramel Corn
(adapted from How Sweet Eats)

1/2 cup unsalted butter*
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 cups air-popped popcorn (about 6 tablespoons before popping)
25 fun size Snickers

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Slice candy bars into sixths (in half, then into thirds).

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add in sugar and corn syrup, whisking until dissolved, then let simmer (without mixing) until mixture begins to bubble – about 4 minutes. Cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes more until caramel is amber in color, this time stirring every 30 seconds or so in order for the sugar to not burn.

Turn off heat and whisk in vanilla, salt and baking soda. Gently fold in popcorn, turning it over and over again until it’s coated. Fold in about 1 1/2 cups of the candy bars, then spread popcorn on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping every few minutes to ensure that all the popcorn is coated. Remove from oven and top with remaining candy bars. Let cool completely, then break into bite-sized pieces. Or just eat while it's all ooey gooey. With a big glass of milk.

* If you don't have unsalted butter, just don't add the salt later in the recipe. Trust me on this...

*Featured on this sweets for saturday post. Thanks Lisa!

Cake Mix Oreos

2011-12-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

This is one of the easiest recipes you'll ever make! I am super anti-cake-mix as a rule, but this is one exception. Cake mixes are chock full or gross chemicals and things I can't pronounce... but so are Oreos, right? And even though I don't use cake mixes for baking cakes I'll never turn down an Oreo! These only use 3 ingredients for the cookie part and 4 for the filling. Super simple, super yum.

Homemade Oreos:
INGREDIENTS:
1 box Devil's Food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all 3 ingredients until a dough forms. Roll dough into balls approximately 1 tablespoon each. I just use my medium cookie scoop and then slice each scoop in half. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for approximately 8 minutes, or until edges are firm. Don't over cook! Allow to cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes, then remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire wrack until room temperature. Match similar sized cookies into pairs. Make filling:

Filling:
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
Mix butter and shortening in stand mixer. On low speed, slowly add powdered sugar until combined. Add vanilla. Beat on low speed 1 minute, then high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Using a pastry bag with 1/2 inch round tip, or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off, pipe about a teaspoon of filling on half of cookies. Place similar sized cookie on top. Smoosh while lightly twisting (kind of the opposite of opening an Oreo!) to make filling spread to the edges of the sandwiches. Dip in milk and devour!

*I love refrigerating these for about 2 hours before serving. The cookies absorb some of the moisture from the filling and they become softer and yummier.

Southwest Corn Chowder + Lion House Angel Biscuits

2011-12-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law made this yummy soup for Christmas Eve a few years ago and I've been loving it ever since. She got the recipe from her sister-in-law in more of a "little of this, little of that" kind of format. I've cleaned it up a bit and added these fantastic Lion House Angel Biscuits. This is a large recipe so either serve it to a large crowd, or plan to have awesome leftovers. It freezes well, too! The soup is super creamy with sweet corn and a lot of flavor. The biscuits are light and buttery and amazing. This is the perfect way to heat up these cold, winter nights.

Southwest Corn Chowder

INGREDIENTS:
2 medium onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 T olive oil

1 rotisserie chicken

2 (26 oz) family size cans cream of mushroom soup

32 oz frozen corn
1 (7 oz) can green chilies [or two (4 oz) cans]

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes

3 cups milk

3 cups water
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
16 oz monterey jack cheese
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:
Sauté onions in olive oil on medium heat until translucent and fragrant. Add garlic and sauté 2-3 minutes more.

Remove meat from rotisserie chicken and add to pot, along with soup, corn, chilis, tomatoes, milk, and water. Cook on medium heat until heated through and slightly bubbly. Remove from heat and add cilantro, cheese, chili powder, and red pepper flakes. Stir until smooth. Serve hot.

Lion House Angel Biscuits

(my notes are in italics)

INGREDIENTS:

1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

5 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups buttermilk

3 tablespoons butter, melted (I use a whole dang stick... don't hold back!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a cookie sheet.

Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. Measure all the dry ingredients and stir together. Cut in the shortening with a pasty cutter or two knives. Add yeast to the buttermilk, then add this to the first mixture. Mix well with a fork, wooden spoon, or your hands. Turn out on floured counter and pat to desired thickness. (I make them about 3/4" thick.) Cut biscuits with a round biscuit cutter or glass cup. Dip biscuits in melted butter and place on greased pan. (Don't bother greasing... you've got plenty of butter going on.) Bake 12 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Note: You may bake these at once or leave on the counter for a while (30-40 minutes) before baking. They can also be frozen, unbaked, if covered first with plastic wrap and then foil. To use, remove from freezer and allow to thaw completely. Remove wraps and bake as instructed above.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-12-26T15:24:00.000-08:00

These little Christmas cuties were so fun to make! Once I saw the gingerbread men sprinkles, I knew what I'd be using them for. And I found a super fun Etsy store where I ordered the sprinkles and mini cupcake paper liners. I am a little sad that the liners got so dark when I baked them, but they were still really cute and even more delicious! I doubled the recipe, which made about 50 mini cupcakes. We brought them to my son's preschool Christmas party and left with two!

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

INGREDIENTS:

5 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup hot milk
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners sprayed lightly with cooking spray (keeps the cupcakes from sticking to the paper).
Cream 5 tablespoons of the butter with the white sugar. Add the molasses, egg, and egg yolk.

Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the hot milk mixture a little at a time. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared liners.
Bake for 20 minutes (12 minutes for mini muffins) or until slightly springy to the touch. Allow to cool a few minutes in the pan and remove to a rack to cool.

To Make Frosting: Cream the cream cheese and butter together. Beat in the powdered sugar until fluffy. Add the lemon extract and beat. When the cupcakes are cool, frost the tops with the frosting and serve.

Sweet Potato Casserole

2011-12-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

I realize that you probably think this is the most unappetizing picture I could post of this recipe... it's not. Trust me, I took plenty more that looked even worse. Part of the reasoning behind the yucky looking pics is that we have no more natural evening light. The sun sets way too early in the Pacific Northwest wintertime. But the larger reason is that it's just not an attractive dish! But please believe me when I say that it is the best sweet potato dish you'll ever have! We have swapped this out for my Grandmom's canned yams and marshmallow dish that she served at every holiday. I just gagged thinking about it. And now we serve it with our Thanksgiving Turkey, Easter Ham, and sometimes just for dinner!

INGREDIENTS:

5 sweet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter - softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup butter - softened
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
Puncture sweet potatoes with a fork, place on a sheet of foil, and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash.(You can even do this part the day before.)
In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Pumpkin Roll

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

Gobble Gobble! Happy Turkey Day!

Someday I'll have to do a post on how I store my recipes in my recipe binder. Just to illustrate how obsessed I am with recipes and food (and how OCD I am with everything), I'll tell you that I actually spent a lot of time researching the best way to store recipes. Most of my recipes are handwritten on cards.

When my Grandmom died, my mom asked if there was anything in particular I wanted from her belongings. Her recipes were first on my list. Then, when my mom passed, I also inherited her recipe box. I love having the handwritten recipes in their handwriting. Because of this, I write all of mine down in my ugly chicken scratch handwriting, in the hopes that someday my kids will be grateful. Ha. Regardless, I do have one recipe in my binder that is not in my handwriting, nor any other family members'.

7 years ago, we attended an event where a sweet newlywed brought these delicious pumpkin rolls. I asked for the recipe and she brought it over, handwritten on an index card. 2 weeks later her new husband died in a small plane crash and she moved away from our area. Unfortunately this was pre-facebook, so I couldn't virtually stalk her once she moved. It was such a powerful reminder to live life to the fullest and because of that, I've kept her recipe in her handwriting in my binder. And every fall when I take it out to make this treat, it makes me so grateful.
I've copied it word for word with my notes below:

Pumpkin Roll

3 eggs (beat for five minutes)
Add:
1 cup of sugar
2/3 cup of pumpkin
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup of flour
1 tsp soda
2 tsp pumpkin spice

Line pan with foil and grease well. Spread batter on pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and roll with foil. Make sure when rolling foil to rub butter on the foil as you roll. Let it cool for 15-20 minutes only. Unroll, cool, and spread with filling.

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp butter
Whip and spread on cake.
Roll, wrap, and freeze.

My notes:
I love to double or triple this recipe and leave the extra in the freezer. It's a great way to have a fancy treat on hand for all of your holiday gatherings. When you are needing to serve it, just set it out on the counter for about ten minutes until it has defrosted enough to slice. Set on a plate and let defrost another 20 minutes. Serve and get ready to soak up the compliments!

Crock Pot Apples

2011-11-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

recipe adapted from Skinny Chef.

Can we just take a moment to mourn the loss of the evening sun? Since Daylight Savings Time ended, my kitchen is so dark by the time we eat dinner that there is no natural light for picture taking. So now you have ugly yellow pictures from now until spring. Let us mourn.........

Durn Mother Nature. Okay thanks. We can move on.

This apple dessert is so great. It's basically apple pie without the guilt! Also, it's a crock pot recipe, so you can get it all prepared and cooking before dinner, and then have it piping hot and ready when it's time for dessert!

Or, if you like to live life on the edge, you could even serve it next to a nice grilled pork chop. But only if you're feeling brave.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 Gala or Macintosh apples, cored
1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts, butter, and cinnamon. Stuff the apples with the filling and place them in the crock-pot, being careful not to let the filling spill out of the bottom hole. Pour in the apple juice or cider. Cover and cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high heat until the apples are soft and begin to collapse.

Gingerbread Waffles

2011-11-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

With Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter... Mmmmm

Because I'm the kind of person that gets an idea in my head and can't function until I act on said idea... We had gingerbread waffles for dinner the other night. If you haven't noticed by now (you're either new here, or a bit slow on the uptake...), I like breakfast foods. A lot. Especially sweet ones. By the time I die, I should have approximately 209,879,213 pancake recipes on this site.

So I had some pumpkin butter. And it was almost dinnertime. And I was hungry. And a bit lazy. And cold. So I decided to make gingerbread pancakes. But, none of the recipes I found sounded right. So I made up my own. And they were marvelous. And a tiny bit healthy. And maybe I should say and one more time to really make this paragraph ungrammatically correct. And.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 c butter, softened
1/4 c molasses
2 eggs - separated
1 c Kamut flour
1 c whole wheat flour (You can use 2 cups regular wheat flour if you don't have any Kamut)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1 1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c raisins
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

In an large bowl and with an electric mixer (or in a stand mixer) combine butter, molasses, and egg yolks. In separate bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. With mixer turned on low speed, add 1/3 flour mixture to egg and butter mixture, then 1/2 of buttermilk, another 1/3 of flour, remaining 1/2 of buttermilk, and then remaining 1/3 of flour - mixing in between each addition. Add raisins. In another bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until whites form stiff peaks. Softly fold egg whites into waffle batter.

Cook waffles on medium heat until brown. Serve hot!

Winter Squash Rolls

2011-11-21T13:49:00.001-08:00

Just in time for Turkey Day! These rolls are so pillow-y soft, you'll want to roll around in them with a nice blanket o' butta! We had a ton of squash, so my husband made a triple batch and froze two batches right after he'd formed them into rolls. Then we were able to bring them out a couple of hours before we wanted to serve them, let them defrost in a buttered pan, rise, and bake!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups cooked, mashed winter squash (can boil in water, bake in oven, nuke in microwave)
1 cup warm milk
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
6 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup shortening

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine 5 cups flour, sugar and salt. Stir in the yeast mixture, shortening, squash and milk. Mix well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Divide the dough into twelve equal pieces and form into rounds. Place the rounds in a buttered 13x9 inch baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Soft Sugar Cookies + Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

2011-11-21T11:04:00.001-08:00

This is a very basic sugar cookie recipe that makes stellar holiday decorating cookies. We make them for just about every holiday - Easter, Halloween, Christmas... I prefer to make them the day before I need to serve them, because then the frosting has a chance to harden slightly, which makes it easier to transport to my kid's school classes. It also allows the cookie to absorb some of the moisture from the frosting, making a softer cookie. The kids love to decorate these and we give them their own bowl of frosting and their own knife - which makes them feel all grown up and important.

Cookies:

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs - slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (+/-)

DIRECTIONS:
Combine shortening and sugar in mixer. Add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, soda, and salt. Slowly add dry mixture to wet and blend until it resembles dry pie crust mixture. Work in buttermilk - adding more for moist drop cookies and less for easier working dough if planning on rolling out and using cookie cutters.

For drop cookies, use a medium cookie scoop and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 7-8 minutes, or until edges are just a very light brown. Remove and cool 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

For cookie cutter dough, roll dough out onto a floured surface until 3/8" thickness. Cut with cookie cutters, drinking glasses, or a knife and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet 7-8 minutes, or until edges are just a very light brown. Remove and cool 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting - Straight out of my trusty Better Crocker cookbook!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:
1. In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk.

2. Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar. Frosts 13x9-inch cake generously, or fills and frosts an 8- or 9-inch two-layer cake.

Black Bean Enchiladas

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is a super easy enchilada recipe that my whole family loves - even the picky ones. It has lots of healthy ingredients and it freezes beautifully! It's also really versatile and can be switched up with ingredients you have on hand. I like to throw a pound of cooked ground turkey into the bean mixture and then I can stretch the recipe to two 9x13 pans and freeze one.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (4oz) can green chiles
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup mild salsa (depending on your crowd you could go medium, or hot)
1 (28 oz) can Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
1 cup sour cream
8 oz Monterrey Jack cheese
tomatoes/olives for garnish
10-12 whole wheat tortillas (get the kind that feel pillow-y when you press the package - the harder ones break when you roll them.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, saute onion in olive oil until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic and green chiles; cook 2 minutes more. Stir in black beans and salsa, then remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, combine green chile sauce and sour cream until smooth. Grate cheese.

Spread 1/2 cup sauce mixture into bottom of greased 9x13 pan. Add about 1/2 to 2/3 cup beans mixture to each tortilla. Add a tablespoon of cheese, roll and place seam side down into pan. Continue until pan is full or bean mixture is gone. Pour rest of sauce mix on top of tortillas, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and edges are bubbly. Garnish with tomatoes or sliced olives. Serve hot.

Crispy, Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-11-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

I was sooooo excited to try these cookies! My favorite food blogger - Jessica from How Sweet It Is - posted this fabulousness last month and I have been itching to try it ever since.

Wait. Stop. I need to take a moment to profess my love for Jessica. She's amazing. Everything she makes sounds like something I would make - only ten times better. Oh, but not the Brussels Sprouts. I haven't mustered up the courage for those just yet. Eeek. Anyway... She is just as obsessed (if not more so) with food as I am. She dreams and daydreams about it. Good food is just as much a part of her family as a child or a crazy uncle. And she loves to exercise. I'm telling you, it's a match made in bacon heaven!

OK we can resume... Jessica went on a quest to make the perfect chewy, crispy, non-cakey pumpkin cookie. After 14 failed attempts, she found success! How could you not love this girl - she does all of my hard work for me! Her secret to this baked bliss was Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter. We don't have a Trader Joe's on the island (WAAAAAAAAH!), but I knew I'd be in San Diego visiting my sister soon enough, and could pick some up then. I now realize that two jars is most definitely NOT enough. Maybe I can convince them to build one here? I'm sure I would shop there often enough to keep them in business! Maybe I could make my own pumpkin butter... That might be easier. Nope. I should just find someone who wants to send me yearly shipments of pumpkin butter every Fall. That sounds good.

I usually like to change recipes up a bit and make them my own, but because Jessica's wrist fell off - three times - while perfecting this, I figured I couldn't make it any better! The only tip I have is that you should take them out of the oven when they look just underdone. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire cooling rack. They'll cook just a bit longer on the cookie sheet, but still have that crispy-on-the-outside-chewy-in-the-middle texture. If you cook them until they look done, they end up delicious, but more crispy than not.

So, thank you, Jessica. To everyone else... MAKE THESE!

Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies made with Pumpkin Butter

makes about 24-30 cookies

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin butter
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix the flour, salt, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the melted butter and sugars until they are combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Stir in pumpkin butter until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture and mix until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. I even used my hands to help at one point. Fold chocolate chips and chunks.

Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes, then roll into golfball-sized balls. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until cookies are crisp and slightly golden on the edges, then let cool completely.

P.S. This picture is from my first batch out of the oven and I cooked them a little longer than I should have! But by the time I finished the others, the daylight was gone.

Spinach Linguine with Garlic Chips

2011-11-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

As soon as I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman, I knew I had to try it over pasta. My husband loves garlic and if he happens to walk in the kitchen when I'm slicing it, he always asks if he can eat one. A whole clove. In his mouth. Raw. Gag. I swear he burned his taste buds off when he went to Thailand. I thought maybe this recipe could make us both happy. It has garlic - which he loves, pasta - which I love, spinach so we don't feel as guilty when we go back for seconds, and it's all cooked so the hubby's breath won't be so potent (in the middle of the night when he rolls over and breaths into my face and I almost die - true story).

I ended up making it when I was at my sister's house because we had some almost ready-to-throw-out spinach and lots of garlic... so the hubs hasn't tried it yet. But when I told him about it over the phone I heard his drool splashing on the ground. It really was delicious! I did notice that a few of the garlic chips were cooked more than others and they had a more bitter taste to them. So there's a fine line between cooking them long enough to get the spicy bite out and be crispy, but not so long that they become bitter. You'll just have to experiment a bit!

INGREDIENTS

1 (12 oz) package Linguine
5 cloves Garlic, Peeled And Sliced Very Thin
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
~12 oz Baby Spinach
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

DIRECTIONS:
Cook linguine according to package directions (I usually add a tablespoon of olive oil and about a teaspoon of salt). Drain and set aside.

Pour olive oil into an unheated stock pot and add garlic slices. Turn on stove to medium -low heat and allow garlic and oil to heat together. Watch the garlic carefully and stir to turn as it begins to bubble. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon as soon as it turns golden brown; do not allow to burn. Drain on a paper towel or paper bag.

Keeping heat on medium-low, add spinach to the skillet, turning gently with a spoon. Spinach will immediately begin wilting. Cook and stir only for one minute, adding salt and pepper to taste. Remove spinach to a plate. Add cooked pasta, spinach, garlic chips, and balsamic to pot (resisting the urge to drink the whole bottle of Balsamic...). Stir and serve quickly. So yummy!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

2011-11-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

I don't remember how I came across this recipe, just that when it happened, I immediately went to the store to buy apple cider and caramels. I told my 4 year old son that I'd make them with him the following day. But on the following day at around 5:04 am (maybe 5:03, I'm not positive) I got a text from my very pregnant sister saying "call me." Thirty minutes later I was on my way to the airport, nauseous with nervousness, hoping not to miss the birth of my only sister's first baby. Thirty three hours and a lot of stress later, my sweet baby niece entered the world. And I didn't miss it.

But don't worry, I packed the caramels and apple cider. If only I could have packed my 4 year old. These were a yummy fall treat when they were fresh, but not as stellar the next day. The reason being that there is a big fat wad of caramel in the middle, and it's super hard to chew when the cookie isn't warm and fresh. The original recipe suggests setting the cookie on top of a steaming cup of tea for a few minutes, and then it's just warm enough. However you serve them, be sure to have a large crowd, as this recipe makes about 50 cookies... assuming you don't eat half of the bag of caramels first. Maybe you should buy two bags...

I altered it a bit, as the outer cookie was a bit boring, but the original recipe was still yummy.

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour
1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons water

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!)

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.

With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and 9 packages of apple cider drink mix powder (save one for later), until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well.

Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined.

Refrigerate for about an hour. When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels. Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely.

Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.

Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off.

While cookies are cooling, mix 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar with remaining one packet of apple cider mix. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water just until mixture is glazing consistency - think slightly thinner than honey. Using a spoon, drizzle glaze across the tops of cookies.

Yield: about 4 dozen, depending on how large you make your cookies (or how many caramels have been snitched out of your bag before you begin.) Store in an airtight container.

Salmon Kebobs with Quinoa and Grapefruit Salad

2011-11-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share this recipe with you for 3 reasons:

1. My husband caught this fabulous fish all by himself and as soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to use it on his fresh wild salmon!

2. I'm also so excited to share our super cool griddle. It was one of those non-surprise Christmas presents for my husband last year. He wanted a griddle with a larger top so he could make massive amounts of pancakes in record time. Leave it to my husband to turn pancake cooking into a sport, right? So we headed on down to Bed Bath and Beyond and had to buy the most over the top and super manly griddle. This thing not only makes pancakes, but there are rollers on the bottom that cook hot dogs just like 7-eleven, or those rollers slide off to reveal... wait for it... skewers to cook these awesome salmon kabobs!!! You could even cook pancakes, fry a couple of eggs, and roll-cook some stellar sausage!

I appologize for the super bad pic... click this link to see the real thing!

3. It's seriously dee-scrumptious!

I found this over on the Food Network. I doubled the quinoa because my family loves quinoa and I'm so glad I did. It made great leftovers! I also (obviously) didn't grill this, I used my super fancy griddle, so I can't speak for how this works on the BBQ. I hope you love it too!

Ingredients
Salad:
1 medium grapefruit
8 thin slices fresh ginger
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 small serrano or jalapeno chile, minced (with seeds for maximum heat)
2 scallions (both white and green parts), minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Freshly ground black pepper

Fish:
1 1/2 pound skinless, center-cut salmon, cut into 2-inch cubes
Wooden skewers, soaked

Directions

Strip the peel from the grapefruit with a vegetable peeler, taking care not to include the bitter white pith. Warm the grapefruit peel, ginger, and olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the oil starts to bubble, after about 2 minutes, remove from heat. Set the oil aside to steep for 30 minutes. Strain and reserve the oil.

Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa in a bowl and drain. Put the quinoa in a small saucepan with the water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Boil over high heat, and then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Set aside off the heat, undisturbed, for 5 minutes. Transfer the quinoa to a bowl and fluff with a fork. Cool.

Segment the grapefruit over a bowl, reserving the segments and juice separately. Whisk 3 tablespoons of the grapefruit juice with the vinegar, honey, and salt to taste in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in 3 tablespoons of the reserved grapefruit oil, starting with a few drops and then adding the rest in a stream to make a slightly thick dressing. Season with pepper to taste.

Toss quinoa with the dressing, chiles, scallions, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Preheat a stovetop or outdoor grill to high heat. Thread the salmon cubes onto the skewers. Brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon grapefruit oil, and season with salt and pepper. Grill the skewers, turning as each side browns but the salmon is still moist, about 3 minutes.

Toss the grapefruit segment into the salad, divide among 4 plates, and top with the salmon kebobs. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

2011-11-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

As soon as I saw this recipe over at Taste and Tell, I knew it would be our Halloween "treat" for our friends that came trick or treating to our home. When we lived in Arizona, it was always warm enough on Halloween that we could have a potluck in our driveway with hot cider and doughnuts. Now that we are in Washington, all hope of Fall driveway parties has been squashed.

Also, in the past my husband has been the doughnut maker. He usually fries them in our Fry Daddy. To be honest, that thing scares the crap outta me. Once when I was pregnant I splashed beef grease onto my huge belly and burned it. I called my husband AND my mom, sobbing hysterically about what a horrible mother I was going to be - since I can't even protect my unborn child from the dangers of beef grease. I have been terrified of cooking grease ever since. Soooo.... my husband suspiciously contracted Mono while I was out of town for two weeks (anyone else find that odd??), which left the doughnut-ing to me. Steering away from the Fry Daddy, this recipe seemed like the perfect replacement.

We only had a few families to share these with, but our neighbors were happy to have us show up at their door and reverse trick or treat with them. :)

The only possible downside to this recipe is that it requires the use of a doughnut pan, which I just happen to own. I suppose you could pipe these into circles on a baking sheet, but then they wouldn't be as pretty! Amazon sells plenty if you have the storage space for them!

No changes to this one, it's just perfect as is!

INGREDIENTS:
Doughnuts
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Maple-Cinnamon Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a doughnut pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside.
In another bowl, cream together the brown sugar, butter and pumpkin. Add in the eggs, mix well, then mix in the milk and vanilla. Stir in the reserved dry ingredients.
Place the mix in a large zip-top bag.

Hint: Place the bag in a tall tub to make for easier pouring!

Cut off the corner and pipe into the doughnut pan.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, let rest for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple extract, cinnamon and milk.
When the doughnuts are cool, dip them in the glaze. Return to the wire rack to allow the glaze to set.

Seriously so fantastic!

Artichoke Dip + French Baguettes

2011-11-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

Here's another one of my sweet Auntie Peg's recipes. I've changed the cheese from Cheddar to Mozzarella, but the rest is pretty much the same. This is one of those recipes that's really easy to alter with what you have on hand. The cheeses are substitutable (my spell checker doesn't like that word but it looks great to me!), and you can add lots of yummy veggies: roasted red bell peppers, spinach, jalepenos, etc. The baguettes are the perfect size for serving with the dip at parties.

Quick story...

We went camping seven years ago (I just realized... literally 7 years ago to the day! It was on Halloween weekend!) with the same family/friends group that we still camp with every summer. We like to pot luck the dinners, so on Italian night I was in charge of the appetizers and brought this dish. One of the men, Brad, loved it so much that he scooped it into a bowl and ate it with a spoon for his dinner. Now I make sure to pack the fixins' every year!

Artichoke Dip

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup Parmesan cheese

2 (6.5 oz) jars marinated artichoke hearts, thoroughly drained and chopped*

2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl combine mayonnaise, Parmesan, artichoke hearts, Mozzarrella, and garlic powder. Mix thoroughly.

3. Transfer to an 8x8 baking dish and bake 20-25 minutes - until cheese has melted and top is slightly brown. Do not overcook or it will begin to separate and look really greasy. Sprinkle with paprika and serve warm.

* You can use 1 can of artichoke hearts that haven't been marinated and they work just fine. They don't add any oil to the dish, so it ends up less greasy.

French Baguettes

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup water

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1 egg white

1 tsp milk

DIRECTIONS:

Place water, flour, sugar, salt and yeast into bread machine. Select dough cycle and press start.

When the cycle has completed, roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface into a 16x12 inch rectangle. Cut dough in half, creating two 8x12 inch rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at the 12 inch side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper end. Place 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Make one long, lengthwise slash on the top of each loaf. Cover and let rise in a warm place 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix egg white with milk and carefully brush on the top of each loaf. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Homemade Butterfingers

2011-10-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

At long last... I bring you the Butterfinger candy bars made from (drum roll please) Candy Corn!!! This recipe only uses three ingredients. I promise. It is one of the simplest things I've ever made. There are only two downsides to it: 1. It's kind of hard to mix. I used one extra strong and fabulous husband, but I'm sure a standard Kitchenaid mixer would do in a pinch. 2. Your scale will not be nice to you the next morning. Other than that - no problem!

The instructions for the original recipe I found said to spread the filling "in an 8x8 pan lined with parchment. Cool completely. Cut into squares. Dip in melted chocolate candy coating. Lay on waxed paper to set." But after my Twix Bar Fiasco, I decided to try a different route. I lined some candy molds with the melted chocolate, let it cool, and then smashed some filling into them. After one more layer of melted chocolate, I stuck them in the fridge for a few minutes to set and then dumped them out. Much easier and much prettier than the Twix mess. I would love to get some chocolate molds in the shape of candy bars (like these!) and then my life would be ten times awesome-r. Yes, awesome-r is now a word. Regardless of how you assemble these, they will taste amazing and the filling texture is just as flaky and fabulous as a real Butterfinger.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. candy corn

16oz jar peanut butter (I used a super chunky one because that's all we had, but it was still awesome.)

16oz pkg. chocolate candy melts

Melt candy corn in microwave on high 1 minute. Stir and continue cooking in 15-second intervals til melted, stirring after each interval. It will get thick and hard to mix... a wooden spoon would probably work better than the metal one I used.

Stir in peanut butter. Or have your husband do it. Or throw it in a stand mixer and pray the motor doesn't burn out. Well, maybe don't actually throw it. It gets pretty sticky, too.

(Here are the original directions... feel free to improvise.) Spread mixture in an 8x8 pan lined with parchment. Cool completely. Cut into squares. Dip in melted chocolate candy coating. Lay on waxed paper to set.

If you do make these, I'd love to hear how you choose to assemble them and how they turn out!

Perfect Crepes

2011-10-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

I titled this blog "Perfect Crepes," even though I'm pretty sure my husband would have chosen "Conference Crepes," since I think that is what he was calling them this morning as I was busy shoving them in my face. The hubs makes these light, soft, thin blankets of perfection twice a year for our church's Semi-Annual General Conference. He makes them other times throughout the year - especially when we have an abundance of fresh fruit - but always makes them during conference. So, to him they are Conference Crepes. To me? Perfection. I had the man type up a recipe for me. We don't have it written on a single recipe card and I don't even know where it originated. He's perfected it to perfect perfection so very perfectly, that I'd rather have him do the talking. I'll just sit back and rub my nice full belly.

INGREDIENTS:

(This recipe yields about 1 dozen crepes. You can double as needed and the recipe will still turn out perfectly.)

3 eggs

1¼ C all-purpose flour

1½ C milk

¼ C white sugar

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Using a wire whisk, beat the eggs with ½ cup milk. Stir in ¾ cup flour until smooth.

Add remaining flour and stir until smooth, making sure there are no lumps of flour.

Add sugar, oil, and remaining milk and mix well (batter should be thin).

Heat a 12” non-stick skillet to medium high and preheat oven to 170 degrees. Once the skillet is hot enough, coat with cooking spray. Holding the skillet in one hand, use the other to pour ¼ cup batter into the skillet. While pouring, rotate the skillet so the batter covers the bottom of the skillet evenly. Place the skillet back on the burner and cook for no more than 60 seconds.

Flip the crepe and cook on the other side for 30 seconds. If you can handle the heat, it’s easiest to flip the crepes using your hands.*

Fold finished crepes and keep them on a plate in the preheated oven so they stay warm while you finish the batch.

*Ummm ya. He's crazy. He feels no pain. Maybe use a rubber spatula?

There are so many ways to serve these, but I'll give a few ideas below. I'm sure you can think of more!

Fresh fruit: apple pie filling, bananas, peaches, pears, any kind of berry, mangoes, etc.

Spreads: Nutella, butter, peanut butter, syrup, cream cheese, apple butter, jam, marmalade, jelly, etc.

You can also go the savory route and stuff your crepe with lunch meat, veggies, cheeses, etc.

Or, you can just eat them plain!

My personal favorite is with a little butter, cinnamon and sugar. Sooo melt in your mouth good!

Whole Grain Waffles

2011-10-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Yummers! The hubs made this yumminess super randomly one morning, so I woke up to a wonderful smelling house. He served them with fresh peaches and Greek yogurt and they were muy fantastico! Also, they're much healthier and more filling than your typical waffle recipe, so you can't feel too guilty for enjoying such a delicious breakfast.

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten

1 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup white flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1.In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Beat in wheat flour, flax, oats, white flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt until batter is smooth.

2.Preheat a waffle iron, and coat with cooking spray. Pour batter into waffle iron in batches, and cook until crisp and golden brown.

Favorite Chicken Salad

2011-09-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

This Chicken Salad is my all time favorite lunch food! It's so delicious, so versatile, and so easy! You can serve it with crackers, in tortillas, as a sandwich, or with a fork! We've made it while camping, served for luncheons, brought to parties, or just eaten it with our family as a meal. The combination of sweet and savory can't be beat!

Do I sound like an infomercial yet? I hope not, because this is much better than any blender or steam mop.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb chicken - grilled and shredded, or 3 cans Costco canned chicken
2 cups red grapes, washed and sliced in thirds
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup mayonaise
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted walnuts, or pecans
1 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate 1-2 hours. Serve with crackers, tortillas, sandwich bread, or anything else you come up with!

Ginger-Lime Fish Tacos

2011-09-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

We usually make this recipe with Mahi-Mahi (Costco!) - which is the BEST - but we had some salmon and my 9 year old daughter kept asking for salmon tacos... So we substituted and it was yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste
6 (3 ounce) fillets mahi mahi fillets (or salmon!)

1/3 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 dash cayenne pepper

1 large mango - peeled, seeded and diced (Can also use a peach!)
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
6 (6 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1.Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the mahi-mahi with salt and pepper. Cook the fillets in the hot oil until the fish is golden brown on each side, and no longer translucent in the center, about 3 minutes per side.

2.Meanwhile, whisk together the sour cream, lime juice, ginger, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste; set aside. Gently combine the mango, pineapple, avocado, and jalapeno in a bowl.

3.To assemble, place a cooked mahi-mahi fillet into the center of a warmed tortilla. Place a scoop of the mango salsa onto the fish, then drizzle with the sour cream sauce, and finish with a generous pinch of chopped cilantro.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

2011-09-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last week we got our first cold of the new school year. It slowly hit every one of us. David's nose was a gushing faucet for the whole week - which means he was a sad little thing all week too. We watched lots of movies and had lots of down time. I felt so bad because it was only his secod week of preschool and he had to miss the whole week. But then, when we went yesterday, it was frustrating to see most of the kids with green snot-ness all over their faces too. PEOPLE: When there is dragon snot gushing out of your child's nose... and he/she is too young to understand hand washing/mouth covering/nose-blowing-in-tissues-and-not-on-your-sleeve... keep them home!

*steps off soapbox*

Now, there is one good part about being sick: Chicken Noodle Soup. There are few things on this earth that are cozier than cool nights and homemade soup. As the weather continues to cool off everywhere, I'm sure you'll all have need of this familiar favorite.

Ingredients

1 whole cut up fryer chicken (plus one sweet husband to do the cutting up)

6 quarts water

3 carrots, diced

4 stalks celery including leaves, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
16 ounces frozen egg noodles (Although I wasn't feeling like going to the store, so this time we just used regular spiral-y noodles.)

DIRECTIONS:
Cover chicken in water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer covered for 30 minutes.
While cooking chicken, dice celery, and onions and slice carrots. Be sure to use the celery leaves, too!

Remove chicken from pot. With two forks, remove as much meat from the bones as you can, slightly shredding meat in the process. Return bones and skin to broth and simmer on low, covered, for 45 minutes.

Pour broth through a fine sieve to separate from bones and skin. Return broth to pot with carrots, celery, and onions, followed by the herbs and spices. Stir to combine and simmer for ten minutes to meld flavors.

Increase heat and add frozen egg noodles and chicken. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve hot!

Mesir Wat - Ethiopian Lentils

2011-09-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

(Shown here with my delicious Stuffed Bell Peppers)

My favorite Ethiopian food is their spicy lentils - called Mesir Wat. They eat them with a round, sponge-y sour bread called Ingera. I think my husband is going to attempt to make some ingera this week, but these lentils are still yummy just eaten with a spoon. They were best served the next day, so I'd suggest making them the day before you plan on having them. You can then just re-heat and serve.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup red lentils

4 tbsp. nit'r qibe (Ethiopian Spiced Butter) or unsalted butter

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp. berbere (Ethiopian Spice Mix)*

1 small tomato, cored and chopped

Kosher salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Rinse the lentils in a sieve under cold running water and set aside.

2. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the reserved lentils, 1 tbsp. of the berbere, tomato, and 4 cups water to the saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and the lentils are tender, 45–50 minutes. Stir in the remaining berbere and season generously with salt. Serve immediately.

*Berbere is an amazing mix of roasted spices. We bought our berbere in bulk at a market in Ethiopia when we traveled there two years ago, but you can usually find it in bigger cities or online. It is used to season many Ethiopian foods, but in our home my husband puts it on his eggs, chicken noodle soup, and anything else that he thinks needs an extra kick.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2011-09-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

We bought a huge box of bell peppers last week and after cutting up and freezing most of them, I left some out to eat during the week. When telling my friend, Andrea about all of the bell peppers she asked if I was going to make stuffed peppers. I had never had stuffed peppers, or even heard about them. I asked what she puts in them, then combined her ideas with another recipe I found. Stellar! ALL FOUR of my kids ate without a single complaint(after the initial, "Eww! What IS that??"), and 2 even asked for seconds. I was worried while making it that they would be too bland, but the flavor of the peppers really came through and made a great meal. We had them with some Mesir Wat (Ethiopian lentils).

Ingredients

6 green bell peppers

2 tsp salt (divided)

1 pound ground turkey

1/3 cup dehydrated onions (or 1/2 cup chopped onion)

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup water
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup

1/2 cup water

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water and 1 tsp salt to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle 1 tsp salt inside each pepper, and set aside.

2. In a large skillet, saute turkey and onions for 5 minutes, or until meat is browned. Drain off excess fat, and stir in the tomatoes, garlic, rice, 1/2 cup water, soy sauce, and cayenne pepper. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill each pepper with the turkey and rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup with water to make the soup a gravy consistency. Pour inside the peppers. Sprinkle with cheese.

4. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Soooooo fabulous.

Apple Pork Chops and Garlic Smashed Potatoes

2011-09-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows apples and pork chops are a match made in heaven... like peas and carrots, chips and salsa, Oreos and milk... Oh Oreos and milk. Ahhh...

Oh, you're still here? Sorry...

Anyway... It's even fun to say it. Pork Chops and Applesauce. Poke Cheeooooopssss and AppleShawwse.

Ummm.

OK Here'se recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes - peeled and cut into quarters
2 cloves garlic - minced
Salt
6 1/2-inch-thick boneless pork loin chops (5 ounces each)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
3 Granny Smith apples, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions

Put the potatoes and garlic in a saucepan, cover with cold water and season with salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then uncover and continue cooking until tender, about 15 minutes. Cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, rub both sides of the pork chops with the sage, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat, then add 1 teaspoon olive oil and sear the chops until golden on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a plate. Wipe out the skillet and add the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil. Add the onion and apples and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the cider.

Return the chops to the skillet. Cover and cook, turning once, until just cooked through (160-170 on a meat thermometer), 4 to 5 minutes.

Drain the potatoes. Return the potatoes to the pan; add the sour cream, butter and buttermilk; mash, adding cooking liquid as needed. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the pork chops, onion and apples. Drizzle with the pan juices.

Yummmm

Carne Asada Salad

2011-09-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

This is just a really easy twist on taco salad that my kids loved. We just grilled up some Carne Asada from Costco (in the refrigerated meat section... usually middle back of the store) and put everything in little bowls so the kids could assemble their own salads. My hubs added some milk to the ranch to make it thin enough for the kids to pour without getting big globs all over the place. Feel free to add or subtract any ingredients to your preferences. This was just a quick dinner with what we had on hand, but we usually make Taco Salad with lots of other ingredients.*

INGREDIENTS"
1 package Costco Carne Asada
3 Roma tomatoes
1 head roma lettuce (we just used some lettuce from our garden, so I'm not sure on amounts here!)
Tortilla chips
Ranch dressing
Yummy Salsa (you can make my recipe here!)

Grill Carne Asada on med-high heat. Slice into bite-size pieces. Chop lettuce, tomatoes, and any other ingredients you wish to add. Serve each ingredient in its own dish and pass around the table!

*Some other ingredient ideas:

Corn

Black Beans

Kidney Beans

Olives

Onions

Bell Peppers

Shredded Cheese

Avocado

Cucumbers

Cilantro

Chipotle Salsa and Cilantro Lime Salsa

2011-09-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a long post so I'll try not to be too chatty today. All you need to know is that I got two huge boxes of tomatoes so I decided to make two different kinds of salsa. One's hot and spicy, and one's mild and flavorful.

Before making salsa, you must blanch and peel your tomatoes. So before those recipes, I'll show you how...

First, get a huge pot of water boiling on high heat. I mean REALLY boiling. You want this water hot! Set a big bowl of ice water on the counter next to your stove. Place one layer of tomatoes in the boiling water quickly and carefully. You're not going to be cooking them through, you just want to heat the outside enough to make the skin start to crack and peel away from the meat of the tomato. Depending on what type of tomato you have, it can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. But don't go any longer than that.

Once the skin begins to crack, quickly pull each tomato out with a slotted spoon and slide into your bowl of ice water.

The purpose of the ice water is to stop the cooking of the tomatoes. We're going to be cooking them anyway for the salsa, so it's not super vital that they cool completely. I usually just get them cool enough to work with and then pull them out.

Once the tomatoes are cool enough, remove one and hold over a medium bowl. With a sharp knife, cut the stem base out. If you're using roma tomatoes, you can skip the next step. The tomatoes I was working with were more juicy than romas. You don't want watery salsa, so just point the end you just cut down toward the bowl and give it a gentle squeeze. Careful though, if you squeeze too hard you're going to end up with tomato juice in your eye! You're just trying to remove some of the liquid. This will also loosen the skin and you can now peel it off very easily.

Now that you have lots of pretty, skinless tomatoes, you need to chop them up. I don't like the texture of cooked tomatoes very much, so my salsa ingredients are all pretty small. If you like your salsa chunky, you can just chop everything by hand and skip the food processor step.

First, grab a slimey tomato, slice it in half, then into 4 slices one way and 4 slices the other way. Then place into a quart measuring cup. Continue until you have filled the cup. Then pour the contents into a food processor and pulse until desired consistency is achieved. Pour into a big huge pot. Continue until you've got six quarts of pureed or chopped tomatoes in your pot. Phew, now you're done with the hardest part! Now, we can move on to the salsas!

Chipotle Salsa

INGREDIENTS:
6 quarts of peeled, chopped, processed tomatoes
2-3 large onions
4 jalapenos
6 cloves garlic
1-12 oz can of Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 cup lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
(This is assuming you've already peeled, chopped, processed the tomatoes and put them in a pot.)
Peel, chop and process onions.
With latex gloves on your hands, slice jalapenos in half, lengthwise. Remove seeds, finely chop or process jalapenos.
Mince garlic.
Process Chipotle peppers and Adobo sauce in food processor with cilantro.
Add all ingredients to pot and bring to boil on high heat.
Canning instructions below Cilantro Lime Salsa recipe.

Cilantro Lime Salsa

INGREDIENTS:

6 quarts of peeled, chopped, pureed tomatoes
2-3 large onions
8 jalapenos
6 cloves garlic
1 1/2 bunch cilantro
1 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. lime juice

DIRECTIONS:
(This is assuming you've already peeled, chopped, processed the tomatoes and put them in a pot.)
Peel, chop and process onions.
With latex gloves on your hands, slice jalapenos in half, lengthwise. Remove seeds, finely chop or process jalapenos.
Mince garlic.
Process cilantro with lemon and lime juices.
Add all ingredients to pot and bring to boil on high heat.

Canning Instructions:
*This is how I can my salsa... this is not the only way and I'm sure there are better ways. This is just how I learned and it works for me.*

While salsa is cooking, wash mason jars in hot, soapy water. Rinse and place in your oven. I like to lie them on their side, facing out, so it's easier to remove them later. Turn the oven on to 170 degrees (very warm). Wash and rinse lids and rims. In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup hot water to boiling, remove from heat and place lids inside. Set rims aside.

Once jars have heated and your salsa is at a rolling boil, turn stove off. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars (use an oven mitt and a jar funnel!) one jar at a time, leaving 1/2 inch in the top of the jar. Wipe rim of jar, remove a lid from the saucepan (it helps if you can use a magnet on a stick), place lid on jar, screw rim on top and set aside. Fill remaining jars in the same way.

Fill a large (huge) pot with hot water. Set pot on stove and heat to just simmering. Place hot jars of salsa in pot, with water level 1-2 inches above jars. If it's not high enough, add more hot water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Remove jars from pot and set on a heat-proof surface to cool.

Yummm

Blackberry Pie

2011-09-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

This pie was so yummy I couldn't even take a picture before we ate most of it!

8 years ago, we spent a summer living in Sacramento. Most of my memories from that summer involve either swimming at the pool with my 1 year old baby girl, or sitting in the air conditioned apartment. It was hot hot hot! And that's saying something, considering we just moved from our three year pit-stop in Arizona.

But there was something else that happened that summer that I will never forget. I learned how to make jam! Yummy ooey gooey blackberry deliciousness. We found a river lined by blackberry bushes and we picked a HUGE bucketful. I made blackberry jam, blackberry syrup, and blackberry cobbler. And my love for blackberries began.

So, I'm sure you can imagine my excitement when we decided to move to Washington... which is FULL of blackberry bushes. Most of the residents don't appreciate the bushes as they tend to take over any area in which they begin to grow. Needless to say, there are more berries than I actually have time to pick, and all for free! Well, unless you consider stained clothes, scratched hands, and tangled hair payment. Then I guess the berries aren't free. But worth it to me! I've been 3 times and each time I came back with over 10 pounds of berries!

Here is the first of my berry recipes, but really this pie can be made with any fruit filling. My husband said it was the best blackberry pie he's ever eaten. And he grew up in Washington!

INGREDIENTS:
1 double crust pie recipe
6 cups fresh blackberries (or any other berries, peaches, cherries, etc)
2 T cornstarch or flour (I prefer cornstarch)
1/2-3/4 cups sugar (depending on how sweet your fruit is)
4 T butter - cut into 4-5 thin slices
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 egg
1 T heavy cream or milk

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425 degree.

Place 1 unbaked pie crust in the bottom of a pie pan. In a large bowl, combine 6 cups of fruit with sugar and cornstarch or flour. Gently combine with a rubber spatula. Pour into prepared pie pan. Lay butter slices on top and squeeze lemon half over fruit. Cover with top crust, sealing and rolling the edges under.

In a small bowl, mix egg and heavy cream or milk and brush mixture gently over the top of the pie. Slice 3 large and 3 small slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven until it starts to brown - about 30 minutes. Cover pie with foil and turn oven temperature down to 375 degrees and cook 20-40 minutes more - until filling begins to bubble. Remove and allow to cool. This is the hardest part! But unless you want pie soup, you must allow the pie to cool for at least 1 hour, but preferably 2-3 hours.

Enjoy!

Easy as Pie (Crust)

2011-09-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

I know this is not the best looking pie... I was in a hurry and didn't put a lot of time into it. Next time I make a pie I'll replace this one!

I have finally found the perfect recipe + technique for making pie crust!!! I've scoured the internet, watched videos, read tutorials and I now understand why pie crust is one of the more technical recipes. I'll try not to jabber on too much, but I think it's important to understand why you need to do certain things, so you aren't tempted to take shortcuts.

A perfect pie crust involves flour, salt, sometimes sugar, some form of fat, and just enough water to bring everything together. On paper, it sounds pretty easy. The amounts of each ingredient can very, and most recipes can turn out wonderfully, but you must know the technique.

I won't go into detail regarding which fats taste better/flake better/look better. Just use butter. It's the best overall choice for many reasons. And it's easy to come by.

Now that you know what goes into a crust, you need to know what makes it flaky. If you can incorporate the butter into the flour correctly(more on that below), you will end up with pockets of butter enveloped by flour, which when baked in the oven will melt and create air pockets... and give you a nice, light, flaky crust that melts in your mouth. If you just throw everything into your mixer and mix it thoroughly you'll end up with a dry, leathery crust that will hold your filling in just fine, but will not melt in your mouth. It will crumble and turn into a dry paste in your mouth. Yuck.

Now that you know the why, I'll go on with the recipe. My recipe uses a food processor. If you do not own one, you can make this by hand, using a pastry cutter, a fork, or two knives - it'll just take a little longer and possibly cause carpal tunnel. Can't say I didn't warn ya! Good luck!

INGREDIENTS (for a nine inch, two crust pie):

2 ½ cups flour - separated

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar (for a fruit pie. Omit sugar for a savory pie.)

1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into chunks

¼ cup cold water (approx)

Combine 1 1/2 c of the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse twice to incorporate. Spread butter chunks evenly over surface. Pulse until no dry flour remains and dough just begins to collect in clumps, about 25 short pulses. *DO NOT over mix!* Use a rubber spatula to spread the dough evenly around the bowl of the food processor. Sprinkle with remaining flour and pulse until dough is just barely broken up, about 5 short pulses. Again, do not over mix. The flour should just coat the clumps. Transfer dough to a large bowl.

Sprinkle the water over the dough and with hands, rubber spatula, or a wooden spoon fold and press dough until it comes together into a ball. Separate into two discs.

At this point you can wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze for later use. If you are going to roll it out immediately, be aware that the dough will be a bit more sticky and you run the risk of adding too much flour as you roll it out. It's an okay method to use - and I usually don't refrigerate it because I'm too impatient - you just have to be careful.

To roll the dough out, place a large piece of parchment paper (or wax paper) on your countertop or table. Sprinkle very lightly with flour. Lay one dough ball on paper, flatten slightly with your hand and again sprinkle very lightly with flour. Place a second piece of parchment paper over the top. Starting in the center of the dough, roll out to the edges on each side, lifting the paper off the dough, flipping it over and repeating until you have a large round circle about 2 inches wider than the top of your pie pan. Remove the top sheet and flip the bottom sheet upside-down over your pie pan. Carefully fit the dough into your pan with the ends of the dough hanging over the edge.

Place pie filling inside and copy the above technique with your second crust. Place over pie, pinch to seal both top and bottom crusts together, and roll both crust edges under and inside pie pan, pinching and sealing into your desired design.

Cut 3 large slits and 3 small in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape. Brush an egg wash over the pie (one egg mixed with 1 tablespoon heavy cream) and sprinkle with coarse sugar (or cinnamon sugar if baking a spicier pie). Place on a baking sheet and bake in a hot oven, 425 degrees, until the pie starts to brown, about 30 minutes. Cover the pie with foil to prevent over-browning, turn the oven down to 375 and continue baking until the juices in the pie begin bubbling. Depending on the fruit used this could take twenty to forty minutes more. Be patient. As long as the pie crust is covered to prevent over-browning, the pie can continue to bake.

Remove and allow to cool. This is the hardest part! But unless you want pie soup, you must allow the pie to cool for at least 1 hour, but preferably 2-3 hours.

I hope this has made some sense! I looked at a lot of websites, but these were the most helpful:

The Science of a Pie

Easy Pie Dough

Pam's Pie Tutorial

One more tip:

Today I have a whole bucketful of berries in my fridge. I made a blackberry cobbler last night, we purchased a lemon cake roll at a dessert auction on Friday night (along with oreo truffles that are taunting me from the freezer), my dear friend brought me orange rolls this morning, and my husband made pumpkin cookies and muffins yesterday morning. Needless to say, desserts are not in short supply in this house right now. So I'll be making and freezing as many pies as I have filling for. I'll line my pie pans with plastic wrap before laying the bottom pie crust dough inside. After the pie is assembled, I'll cover the top with plastic wrap and freeze. Once the pie is frozen, I'll remove it from the pan, stick it in a Food Saver bag, suck out the air and freeze for the wintertime, when blackberries are not so abundant! To bake, I take the frozen pie from the bag, lay it back in my pie pan, and bake it as is - no defrosting. It usually takes 20-40 minutes longer but has the added bonus of cooking the crust before the filling, so you are less likely to have filling permeate your crust and make for a soggy bottom pie.

Ladybug Snacks

2011-09-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

My Emma was in charge of snacks for our weekly Family Home Evening night (click the link if you don't know what that is). She'd read in The Friend magazine about a cute crafty snack and waited weeks for it to be her to make them. This turned out to be a super easy and delicious treat that our whole family loved! I altered a few things for ease and preference. If you'd like to see the original recipe, you can click here --> The Friend.

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 c. cream cheese
12 butter-flavored crackers (I used Ritz Whole Grain)
12 Roma tomatoes (orig. recipe calls for cherry tomatoes but the ones at my grocery were too small... maybe you'll have better luck.)
6 pitted, ripe olives
12 toothpicks

DIRECTIONS:
1. Wash your hands with soap and water.
2. Spread the cream cheese on crackers.
3. Have an adult help cut each tomato in half. Set aside stem end(save for another recipe!) and cut the other end in half again.
4. Place two tomato quarters on each cracker for the ladybug wings.
5. Have an adult help you cut each olive in half crosswise. Place one half olive on each cracker for the ladybug heads.
6. Carefully break each toothpick in half and stab broken ends into each olive for ladybug antennae.

My little Chef!

Cinnamon Raisin Granola

2011-09-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

You know the Quaker Granola you can buy at Costco in the cereal aisle? The one that comes in a bag? The one I want to rip into the moment I see it and pour a half gallon of milk inside and then dump in my face? Yeah, this isn't that stuff. I mean, it's good and all, but I kind of like that I don't gain 20 pounds just by looking at it. It's super easy to make and just delicious with milk, yogurt and fruit(my fav!), or just plain by the handful. It travels really well (I even took it on a girls trip to Colorado), and stores for 2-3 weeks. I also like that it uses regular ingredients that I always have on hand. I've quadrupled it and it's still stellar.

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup shredded coconut

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1/4 c. honey

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. raisins

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, combine oats and coconut, set aside.

In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, oil, honey, and cinnamon; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over oat mixture; stir to coat. Spread in a large shallow baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees, 15-20 min, stirring occassionally. Cool. Add raisins. Store in an airtight container.

Jennie's Chewy Granola Bars

2011-09-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

My sweet friend and fellow food blogger, Jennie, made us these granola bars when we drove from Arizona to Washington in May. I'm not gonna lie... I ended up eating 75% of them all by myself. I don't think I even let kids know I had them. They were so flavorful and the texture was just right! The best part is, these aren't packaged, have no preservatives, and you can be a little flexible with your ingredients (in other words - Jennie and I have both screwed up this recipe and it's still amazing). I made a double batch when we stayed in a beach house with my husband's family. I again made a double batch when we went camping with some extended family and friends and everyone raved about them and asked for the recipe. I will probably make these many many more times before I die from granolabaritis. Thanks, Jennie!

INGREDIENTS:

3-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 Cup chopped nuts (mixed, roasted are the best!)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/2 cup shaved sweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped dried apples
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Spray a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with cooking non-stick cooking spray. Add oats and nuts to the pan. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until toasted, stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, mix the egg, butter, honey and vanilla together. Then add the sunflower kernels, coconut, apples, cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir to coat.

Then stir in oat mixture and press into a cookie sheet that has been coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 13-18 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

Homemade Twix Bars

2011-09-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Twix Bars are by far my favorite candy bar. Okay I guess not by that much... Snickers with almonds are a close second. Well, Snickers in general are pretty good. Oh and Milky way. And I can't forget Three Musketeers. What the heck - they're all amazing! But Twix are at the top for me. Especially frozen.

I first saw these bars on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen collaborative blog. I followed the trail to find the source, but they're pretty easy and could be made with any combination of shortbread, caramel, and chocolate recipes.

I only have two problems with these masterpieces: They're so rich that it's hard to eat a whole one and it's pretty hard to cut them. I tried dipping them in chocolate but this happened:

Plus that made them even more rich. Too much chocolate! (I can't believe I just said that. I'm an embarrassment to my kind.)

I think I'll keep working with them to find another way to make them smaller but manageable. Ideas?

On to the good stuff...

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 c. unsalted butter - divided

1 1/4 c. flour

3/4 c Castor (fine) sugar, divided (I just put some sugar in my food processor and then measured it out)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 c dark corn syrup (I did half light corn syrup, half molasses)

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

10 oz weight bitter/semi sweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line with parchment paper an 8" square pan:

2. Combine 1/2 c. butter, flour, 1/4 c. fine sugar, and vanilla in large bowl. Beat for 1 min on medium speed, until it just comes together. Transfer to pan and press evenly:

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden. Cool.

3. Place remaining 3/4 c. butter, 1/2 c. sugar, corn syrup, and milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.

Stir frequently. Once sugar dissolves, increase heat and bring to a boil, then reduce back to medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, for 8-10 minutes until mixture becomes thick and begins to pull away from sides of pan. Pour over cooked shortbread base and place in refrigerator to cool and firm. Approximately 15-30 minutes.

4. Once firm, melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of water (double-boiler). Heat chocolate, stirring frequently until melted. Cool slightly. Carefully pour over caramel. Chill, in fridge until set. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container up to a week.

Homemade Eggo Waffles

2011-09-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Along with my PB&J for the Masses - which I just made 80 sandwiches last week - another food I like to make in bulk and freeze for the school year is Homemade Eggo Waffles. I feel a lot better feeding my kids these in the mornings when we're running late than the store-bought cardboard versions. I don't think mine are particularly healthy, but at least I know what's going into them, and I know they taste much better! Just freeze them in between sheets of wax paper and you're sure to yell at least a little bit less on those hectic mornings.

However, since we made these before school started, I had time to make blueberry sauce and sprinkle on some powdered sugar. Heaven!

INGREDIENTS:
2 c. flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 T sugar
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1 1/4 c milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil

(When I make to freeze, I usually at least quadruple the recipe.)

DIRECTIONS:
Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into large bowl. Make a well in the center of the bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg yolks, milk and oil. Pour into well of flour mixture and stir well. Stir just until ingredients are moistened. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Cook in waffle iron. Serve hot, or cool completely and freeze between sheets of wax paper.

Pumpkin Bread/Muffins

2011-09-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

Not much to say about this one except that it tastes like home to me. My mom made this recipe every fall and as the weather gets colder and I start to reminisce, this bread always makes me happy. It's best fresh out of the oven with a big slab of butter on top.

INGREDIENTS:
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp bkg pwdr
1/2 tsp bkg soda
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter - room temp
2 eggs
1 (1lb) can pumpkin

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of 2 loaf pans or 2 muffin tins.
Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. Add dry to wet slowly. Pour into pans or muffin tins. Bake 1 hour 15 min for loaves or 35 min for muffins. Done when tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.

I like to buy the disposable aluminum pans and give them as gifts around the holidays.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2011-09-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

My husband's buddy, Danny, came to visit us over Labor Day weekend. He specifically requested pumpkin pancakes and even though it's still warm enough here to enjoy the beach, I'll never say no to welcoming Fall. It is my favorite time of year. I love everything Fall has to offer: warm spicy smells, colorful leaves, kids back at school, boots and scarves, fireplaces, apple cider, Thanksgiving, Halloween, jeans and sweaters, pumpkin patches, pumpkin pies, pumpkin decorations, pumpkin bread, pumpkin candles, pumpkin frappuccinos, pumpkin everything. And with my obvious love for everything pumpkin, it was only fitting to usher in the season with these soft, fluffy pumpkin pancakes. In fact... I might just have another pumpkin recipe for you tomorrow since I love pumpkin so very much!

2 c. flour
3 T. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 T oil
2 T vinegar

Mix pumpkin, milk, egg, oil, and vinegar. In separate bowl combine all other ingredients. Add to pumpkin mixture and stir just to combine. Heat lightly oiled griddle over med/high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto griddle, using 1/4 c. for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

These pancakes are...

good to the last...

bite!

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

2011-09-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

First day of school! I'm editing an old post because I just made these today and took a new pic (I put the old one at the bottom). I make these every year on my kids' first day of school, and today was no different. You use a 1/4 measuring cup to make each cookie, so one is plenty - although my kids always want more! And because you melt the butter, the dough is pretty moist, so I usually let it sit for about 30 minutes before making it into cookies. Also, don't over cook! The middle is usually a little under done when you first take them out of the over, so be sure to do as the recipe states and let them cool for a bit on the cookie sheet before transfering. But they really are exactly as the title says... Big, Fat, Chewy, and Chocolatey! Soooo delish!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Auntie Peg's Applesauce Cake

2011-09-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

My ancestors might just aim a few lightning bolts at me for this one. This recipe is famous on my dad's side of the family. My great Auntie Peg is one of my favorite relatives. She's one of those people you read about in books. Everyone always has a saucy old relative full of hilarious expressions who isn't afraid to just tell it like it is. She stays up till 2 in the morning. She has awesome hair and vibrant eyes. She's sweet, smart, and has the best sense of humor. And she's a great cook. When my dad got remarried 15 years ago, she brought this cake with her from Pennsylvania to California. When I got married, she passed the recipe to me. She also gave me the most beautiful crystal salad bowl from Strawbridges. The recipe plus the bowl are still two of my favorite and most used wedding presents.

I've never been one to hide recipes. I think "secret" recipes are just plain superfluous. I bet Auntie Peg uses that word. It's pretty superfluous itself. Anyway, sorry Auntie Peg, but the world deserves to know.

INGREDIENTS:

Dry ingredients:

2 1/2 c. Gold Medal Flour

2 c. sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp all spice

Wet ingredients:

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. water

1 1/2 c. applesauce

2 eggs

1 c. raisins

1/2 c. chopped nuts

Brown butter frosting (recipe below)

DIRECTIONS:

Mix dry ingredients.

Mix wet ingredients.

Combine wet and dry.

Add nuts and raisins.

Grease and flour 13"x9" pan.

Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cool and frost with brown butter frosting.

Brown Butter Frosting:
3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-2 T milk

Heat butter (do not use margarine or spreads) in a small saucepan over medium heat until just light brown. Watch carefully because butter can brown and then burn very quickly. Cool.

Mix powdered sugar and butter in mixer on low speed. Slowly add vanilla and one tablespoon of the milk. Gradually beat in just enough milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable.

Love you, Auntie Peg!

My sister and I with Auntie Peg - March 2009

Hearty Spaghetti Sauce

2011-09-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

If you're still eating spaghetti sauce from a jar, you MUST try making your own. It is SO much yummier and healthier than Ragu or Prego. The thing I like the best about it is how versatile it is. You can make it hearty and chunky, smooth, creamy, sweet, cheesy, spicy, or simple. I prefer hearty and spicy, so that's how we're cooking tonight. Even with this variation, there variables you can vary. Very much. And if you don't have some of the ingredients, try something else! Just don't get too creative. We are making spaghetti sauce, not spaghetti surprise.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T olive oil
1 large onion
3 cloves of fresh garlic
1 zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 bell pepper(I prefer red)
1 lb spicy italian sausage links*
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce plus 1 heaping tablespoon Italian seasoning
-OR-
1 jar of your favorite Ragu or Prego pasta sauce

noodles

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat a large skillet with 2T olive oil over medium-high heat. Chop onions and saute until almost translucent. Press or mince garlic and add to onions for 2-3 minutes. Slice zucchini, squash, and bell peppers and add to skillet. Saute 5 minutes more. Remove from skillet.

2. Add sausage links to skillet and cook through, turning every 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and slice.

3. Place vegetable mix, sliced sausage, diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes, tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning (or pasta sauce) in large crock pot on low heat 5-6 hours. 30 minutes before serving, cook noodles according to package directions. Serve sauce over warm noodles.

* You can substitute with so many other kinds of meat - or even no meat at all. Some choices are: ground beef, ground turkey, meatballs, steak - cut into bite-size pieces, or you can take the sausage out of its casing and cook it like ground meat. My kids prefer the meatballs:

Word to the Wise

2011-07-14T10:57:00.001-07:00

Don't ever use parchment paper when baking lemon bars. That is all.

French Toast + Buttermilk Syrup

2011-07-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Yuuuuuuuuuuuum

Don't you just want to dive into that pool of deliciousness? Warm, soft, sweet, buttery deliciousness? With a little orange-y zing? And then go run 5 miles?

Forget I said that last part. That's just the crazy in me trying to get out. What I should have said was - Please, sir, may I have some more? Get in ma belly!

This syrup has now been nicknamed "surp" at my house. Like slurp, but without the L. Apparently this is how Ohio-ans say syrup. Crazy people. They probably run, too. Tsk.

Anyway... this syrup/surp/deliciousness was passed on to me years ago, from my SIL. We have never been the same. It's super easy to make and meshes very well with my french toast!

French Toast:

1/2 recipe for Fabulous French Bread (1 loaf day old french bread)

8 eggs

1 c heavy cream

1/2 c honey

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

grated zest of 1 orange

2 tsp vanilla

2 T butter

Slice french bread.

Mix all ingredients except bread and butter. Melt butter in griddle over medium-high heat. Dip both sides of bread into egg mixture and place on hot griddle until brown. Flip and brown other side. Remove and keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.

Buttermilk Syrup

1/2 c butter

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp bkg soda

Melt first 4 ingredients. Whisk until smooth. Add bkg soda and remove from heat. Mixture will fizz. Whisk again and serve warm. Dip finger in and lick.

Syrup will look like this after adding the baking soda:

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

2011-07-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

I'm back! And I brought with me the first of the extra special recipes that I promised you (along with a sunburn, dirty feet, and tired kids who miss their Grandma)!

There are few things in this world that I love to do more than cooking for other people. One of those might be cooking for myself. Maybe. But when I cook for other people, I'm usually also cooking for myself. Double win! And this recipe definitely makes enough for you, other people, and more other people.

A few notes about this recipe before I begin...

This recipe is actually 5 recipes in one, so it's quite a process. I usually only make it if we are serving an army. We had 16 people to feed so I doubled the beans and rice recipes, but kept the meat and dressing the same. We ended up with just enough beans, not enough ranch, and more than enough rice and pork. I'm not sure there is a perfect way to make just the right amount of each part, because it all depends on how each person dishes up their own plate.

I serve this on the uncooked tortillas you can buy in the refrigerator section at Costco... except I cook them first! Even though it adds one more step to this already tedious recipe, the time is well worth the end result. It makes me feel a little bit Mexican - you know, cooking up my own tortillas. Sometimes I might even break out my Spanglish whilst cooking said tortillas. And sometimes I like to use words like "whilst" and "said."

Here's the recipe:

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

Pork:
4 lbs Pork Roast (can substitute chicken)
3 cups salsa (I used a combo of medium and mild)
1 cup brown sugar

Place pork in crock pot. Cover with brown sugar and salsa. Cook on low ten hours. Shred pork with a fork and mix into sauce.

Dressing:
1 - 16 oz bottle of Ranch dressing
2 tomatillos
1 clove of garlic
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 jalepeno pepper(I omitted this because I didn't want any complaints. We like it spicy, but when cooking for a crowd it is a lot easier to throw hot sauce on after than to cool it down.)

Combine all in blender and refrigerate until ready to use.

Cilantro-Lime Rice
1 cup uncooked rice
1 teaspoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, lime peel, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice just before serving.

Black Beans
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 cup tomato juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Pico de Gallo
1 medium onion, diced
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
3 green onions, sliced in 1/4" slices
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 jalepeno, diced small(again, I omitted for the weaklings)

Combine all ingredients and let rest in refrigerator until ready to serve.

You will also need

Approx 24 tortillas
2 medium heads of romaine lettuce, chopped
Tortilla chips
Sliced avocados or guacamole

TO ASSEMBLE:
Place a warm tortilla in a bowl. Layer on(in this order) rice, beans, pork, lettuce, Pico de Gallo, avocado/guac, crushed tortilla chips, and dressing. Devour. Rinse and repeat.

If you're just cooking for a small crowd, don't bother halving the recipe, just use the leftovers for burritos or enchiladas. I bet the pork would even be fantastic served on a nice warm roll.

P.S.

2011-07-04T14:59:00.001-07:00

We're here for the week...

But I promise to have some extra special recipes for you when we get back!

Margherita Pizza

2011-06-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

(AKA the best pizza I've ever had in my entire life. No joke.)

I'm dead serious when I say this really is the best pizza I've ever had. I was shocked at how delicious it was. My husband wasn't home so I sent some over to the neighbors before I ate it all. Because I honestly would have. Only one of my kids didn't love it and she's the one who would prefer a bowl of cardboard over anything with flavor.

Here is how it began... (Skip down to the recipe if you can't stand my ramblings.... I won't be offended. Just don't expect a Christmas present from me this year. Because I'll know. Oh trust me, I will.)

We are in week 2 of summer vacation and my kids have been destroying my house and each other. Yesterday the bad energy peaked and my daughters behaved the worst I have ever seen. I think they were practicing their audition for American Gladiators. The best part was when they ran into their room and the volume hit jet engine intensity. Mckenna started screaming, "NOOO! DON'T, EMMA! NOOOO!" I found out later that Emma had bit Mckenna's Pillow Pet. The nerve. I love that the worst possible thing she could do was slobber and crunch on a stuffed monkey. We had to get out of the house.

So we headed down to our local library for story time. The theme for the day was "From Pisa to Pizza." We learned all about Italy. We heard cute stories, learned a few Italian words, made Carnivale masks, and the kids got to try a small piece of pizza. All with no fighting. Not a pillow pet in sight.

When we got back in the car, I was dreading returning home. Sitting in the driver's seat, waiting for my kids to buckle, I tried to think of a fun activity, using the knowledge we'd just gained. Then I remembered the story we learned about how the Margherita Pizza came to be. All we needed was fresh basil, so we headed to the local market and then rushed home for some fun pizza making. And this amazing creation was born. And my kids were happy. And their mom was happy. And their home was peaceful. And smelled really yummy.

I used my perfect crust recipe as the base. Just click the linkie. It's foolproof and fantastic.

This recipe makes two large pizzas. You can half it if you're chicken. Or smart.

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe for Perfect Pizza Dough - make all the way to the resting stage

6 Roma tomatoes

4 whole garlic cloves, minced

1/3 c. olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

Cornmeal

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese - I would recommend slicing fresh mozzarella, but we only had shredded and it worked beautifully.

15-20 fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat pizza stone in oven at 500 degrees for 1 hour. After dough has rested for just over an hour, wash and slice tomatoes into 1/4" slices. Set in a medium bowl with minced garlic, olive oil, and salt. Let rest 15 minutes.

2. Turn a metal pizza pan (or other large, flat, round platter) and generously sprinkle with cornmeal, especially the outer edges. Place 1 ball of risen dough (you should have 2) on center of pan. Roll or press to edges. Brush liquid from tomato mixture on pizza dough, being sure not to let any dribble over the edges onto the pan. That would make it hard to slide off later.

3. Let kids sprinkle half of cheese all over crust. Top with half of tomatoes and basil leaves. Brush tops of basil leaves with tomato marinade to keep from burning.

4. Carefully slide pizza onto hot pizza stone. Cook approximately 10 minutes, until edges are just golden. Repeat with second pizza crust.

5. Devour.

P.S. If you live in a hotter summer climate, skip preheating the oven, and just slide this on a hot BBQ. Keeps your house cool, and you can still enjoy this dish!

Oatmeal and Wheat Flour Blueberry Pancakes

2011-06-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

Easy, yummy recipe. Just double the amount of blueberries.

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups soy milk
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Directions
1.Preheat a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat.

2.In a large bowl, mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.

3.In a small bowl, mix oats and soy milk. Whisk in eggs and olive oil. Pour into the flour mixture all at once. Continue mixing until smooth. Gently fold in blueberries.

4.Pour batter about 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared griddle. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbly. Flip, and continue cooking until lightly browned.

Fourth of July Flag Cake

2011-06-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

For my sweet daughter's 7th birthday she requested a cake with strawberries and blueberries. I gave her about 6 different ideas of cakes I could make and she chose a white cake with blueberry filling and strawberry frosting. While looking for a yummy white cake recipe, I came across the Barefoot Contessa's Flag Cake. As soon as I opened the webpage, my cute girl started jumping up and down. "MOMMY! That's what I want! That one! The flag!" And, since her birthday is roughly a week before independence day(and because this recipe looked so yummy), I happily obliged. The only two things I did differently were use strawberries instead of raspberries, and use about 3/4 the amount of powdered sugar that the frosting recipe called for, because that's all I had. The less sweet frosting was actually just right for the sweet cake. I found this awesome 5 minute video of Ina Garten(AKA Barefoot Contessa...AKA genious) baking the cake, and picked up some great tips from that. This cake was heavy, moist, flavorful, and delicious. And oh so festive! The best part is, my daughter loved it (as did everyone else!).

For this recipe, I highly recommend using a brand new 7 year old as a chef's helper. She did a great job and we had so much fun.

(Notice the pants tucked into the shirt - circa 1989? And these pants aren't even the favorite pants. The favorite ones can be pulled about 3 inches higher on her waist so she appears to be rockin the "mom jeans" look. I swear she came out of the womb with a diaper hiked up to her ribs.)

Ingredients

18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 cup sour cream at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing:
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To assemble:
2 half-pints blueberries
3 half-pints raspberries

Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan. (I used parchment paper too, just because I love how easy it is to remove the cake from the pan. As far as buttering - this is where the 7 year old comes in handy. We like using extra soft butter and a basting brush:

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.

Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.

I serve this cake right in the pan. If you want to turn it out onto a board before frosting, use parchment paper when you grease and flour the pan.

Even though I didn't get the 13 stripes on there, I did get 50 stars! For the berries, I used 60 - 6 rows od ten berries. Then I just piped the stars in between the 6 rows so I had 5 rows of 10 stars.

P. S. With all that fresh fruit and cream cheese, you need to store this in the fridge. It is fine if you want to bake the cake the day before, but if that's your plan, cover the cake in plastic wrap and decorate it the day you plan to serve it. Otherwise the fruit juices will run into the frosting and you risk having purple-y pink frosting. Just be sure to refrigerate the leftovers.

Eggs Florentine Casserole + Utah Scones

2011-06-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Can I just take a minute to tell you how happy I am for 11 am church? Whoop. Last year, our church started at 8 am. How on earth am I supposed to get 4 kids ready for church, serve my husband a stellar breakfast in bed, and then be front and center, perfectly coifed in the pew by 8 am?? I'd have to wake up before dawn!

But 11 o-clock? That I can do.

I've been wanting to make this fun recipe for a while and was holding off for Fathers Day. I've never had eggs florentine, but this still sounded fab. Pastor Ryan is a frequent poster on Pioneer Woman. I love his I-had-an-idea-and-thought-I'd-go-with-it attitude when it comes to cooking. And everything turns out amazing, just like this casserole.

On the week before Father's Day, my daughter had heritage day at her school and someone brought scones. She requested we make those soon. However... I guess her idea of scones and my idea are drastically different. Her version are like the Starbucks rock biscuits - dry, crumbly, with bits of dried fruit. Yuck. My version is apparently referred to as the Utah Scone. Also fry bed and elephant ears. Who knew? And since I made these, instead of my daughter's request, I suppose you'll be seeing a recipe on here for rock hard scones soon. Assuming they're worth consuming...

I assumed I'd find oodles of recipes for my version of scones all over the internet. Nope. I also assumed this scone would be something I'd mix up with flour and yeast and have some rising time. Nope again. You'd assume I'd be done assuming by now, eh? Nah. They're just defrosted Rhodes Rolls, fried in hot oil. The recipe is on the Rhodes Rolls website. Super easy peasy lemon squeezy. OK Now I'm talking like my 8 year old. Enough of that. Here are the recipes:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs Goetta or any other breakfast meat (I used Jimmy Dean's Breakfast Sausage)
2-3 potatoes
2-3 T butter
2 T olive oil
2 cups cheddar-jack mix cheese
3-4 cups spinach leaves
18 large eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cook breakfast meat according to directions. I sliced the sausage and cooked like patties.

3. While meat is cooking, julienne potatoes on a mandoline. (I just shredded them in the cheese shredder... but realized at the end of my last potato that I should have been using the shredder on my food processor.) Heat butter and oil in a skillet. Add the potatoes, season with salt and pepper. Turn every few minutes to get the potatoes crispy. Once they’ve browned a little bit, you can transfer the potatoes into a 9 x 13 casserole dish. No need to grease this glass dish. Add the breakfast meat in a single layer.

4. Crack the 18 eggs into a large bowl. Add in 1 1/2 cups of the cheese, reserving 1/2 cup for later. Whisk together. Add spinach and stir to coat with egg and cheese mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese and return to oven 5-10 minutes until cheese has browned. Remove and serve.

On to the scones!

Ingredients:
12 Rhodes Texas™ Rolls, thawed to room temperature
vegetable oil
powdered sugar, butter, jam or honey, if desired

Instructions
Pour oil 2 to 3-inches deep into a small sauce pan or an electric frying pan, and heat to medium high setting or 375° F. Flatten each roll into a 4-inch circle. Fry dough on each side until golden brown (about 15 seconds each side). Remove and drain on paper towel.

Serve hot. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve with butter, honey or jam, if desired.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm. I'm going to go wipe the drool off my chin.

Cobb Salad

2011-06-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm

Yum

There are so many ways to make Cobb Salad. My way uses 4 of my all time favorite foods...

Eggs:

Red Bell Peppers:

Bacon... drool:

And Onions?

NOOOOO.

Spinach. But I forgot to take a picture of it. So instead you have to look at the picture of one of natures nastiest creations. Onions. *shudder*

I have plenty of bad things to say about onions, but I do have some good to say about them. I like their flavor when they are diced REALLY small and cooked in recipes as a seasoning. I do not like to bite into them. I also do not like to peel them or cut them, and I especially do not like to roll over in the middle of the night and smell them on my husbands breath. Eww. Suffice it to say we're both grateful for a king size bed on those nights. Bleh.

However, my husband was out of town and I got brave this week. I saw a yummy recipe on Pioneer Woman for a spinach salad. Most Cobb Salad recipes use fresh, raw red onions. But Pioneer Woman cooked her onions before adding them to her salad. So I decided to try that.

Don't they look a little like dead earthworms? Well they tasted just as gross. But, if you love onions, I think you'd love this addition. I had to pick mine out. My bravery only goes so far.

Moving on... Cobb salad is a great dinner to have on a busy summer day. All of the ingredients can be prepared in the cool morning and then tossed with dressing right before it's time to eat. If you like your bacon warm, you should probably fry that up just before serving, but the eggs can be boiled and refrigerated, the bell peppers washed and cut, the spinach washed and stems pulled off all before the day heats up. Oh yeah, and if you want to fry some onions you should probably do that just before serving. Yuck.

Ingredients:

6 cups fresh spinach
1 red bell pepper
6 eggs
8 slices of bacon
1 red onion(optional!)
salad dressing

Directions:
1. Boil eggs(check out my tutorial for Perfectly Boiled Eggs).

2. Slice onions in 1/4 in. slices. Separate rings and set aside.

3. Fry bacon on both sides in a hot skillet until crispy and remove to drain on paper towels. Drain 1/2 of bacon grease from pan and add onions. Fry onions until "caramelized and reduced" - a la Pioneer Woman. Set aside.

4. Wash spinach. Remove stems. Wash and dice bell pepper. Slice eggs.

5. Assemble salad: Place spinach in bowls. Add bell peppers, eggs, onions, and bacon. Drizzle with your favorite dressing.

*My kids prefer Ranch Dressing with everything, so for us, cobb salad is always served with Ranch. We have this awesome onion dressing, and since I was being bold, I tried it on my salad. Delish!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

2011-06-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

I know what you're thinking. I only know this because I'm very clairvoyant. But you're wrong. It's not pudding that tastes like pumpkin bread. It's bread pudding that tastes like pumpkin. And I'm not actually clairvoyant. I had to look it up to make sure I spelled it right, that's how unclairvoyant I am. A real clairvoyant person would already know how to spell clairvoyant, because they would be so clairvoyant-ish. And now that I've said that word so many times it just sounds weird. But unclairvoyant is not a word. My spell checker doesn't like it.

That said, you should make this. It's divine. Original recipe is here a la Martha Stewart. And, oddly enough, Martha didn't take a picture with her cell phone like I did. Weird. So you can go look at her pretty picture if mine doesn't make your mouth water.

Hopefully I can get my regular (read: fantastic) bread pudding recipe up here soon. (It's up now! Here ya go! ) But this is a great change. My comments are below.

Ingredients

Unsalted butter, room temperature, for ramekins
6 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup bourbon
1/3 cup hot water
One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of salt
One 12-ounce, day-old loaf brioche or challah bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter six 10-ounce ramekins or custard cups, and sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and set aside on a baking sheet. Place raisins in a small bowl, and cover with bourbon, if using, and the hot water; let soak until plump, about 20 minutes. Drain; set aside.

2.In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, granulated sugar, milk, vanilla, spices, and salt. Toss in the bread cubes, and stir gently to evenly coat; let stand a few minutes. Fold in the raisins. Divide among prepared dishes, pressing down slightly to make level.

3.Bake until custard is set in the center and top is golden, about 40 minutes. If bread browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Remove from oven; let cool slightly. To serve, un-mold onto plates; dust with confectioners' sugar.

My comments:
I love that this recipe says it makes 6 servings. This is one of those desserts I like to enjoy with my man once the kids are all in bed, so it doesn't need to serve an army. I don't have 10-oz ramekins, mine are the smaller creme brule type, so I ended up making 8 small ones and one larger one in a little Corningware dish I have. That said, I think it was better in the smaller dishes because 10 oz is quite a large serving! However you bake it, just be sure to adjust cooking times if you put the ingredients in bigger or smaller dishes than the recipe instructs using.

Also, the directions say to invert the dishes and serve. But, like I said above, this is something I'll probably only serve 2 at a time. If you're not serving right away, feel free to leave them in the dishes, cover liberally with plastic wrap, and stick in the freezer. When serving, remove and allow to defrost to room temperature, then zap in the microwave or reheat in a hot oven.

Remember when making bread pudding of any kind that the quality of bread you use is very important. Wonder Bread is not what we're looking for. A thicker dense white bread with a slightly crispy crust is best. Breads shouldn't be fresh or you'll end up with a more mushy dish that all kind of melts into one entity. Bread pudding should have multiple textures and flavors in each bite.

Lastly, I didn't have any Bourbon, so I just doubled the water and I didn't notice anything lacking. But if you do have it, I highly recommend it, as I'm sure it warms up the dish and gives it just a bit more flavor.

German Chocolate Cake

2011-06-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

More ugly cell phone pics... but they sure were pretty cakes!

Buckle up kids, we're in for a loooong ride...

For my husband's birthday this last January, we did a joint BBQ with his awesome friend, Trever. I told the hubs I'd make him any dessert he wanted - even if I didn't like it. So he chose German Chocolate Cake. I don't love coconut, so I'd never had a German Chocolate Cake that I liked, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. He said it was amazing, and I actually liked it. It is not a very quick thing to make, but well worth the time. I found some recipes that included all three parts, but the reviews were never great for all three. I ended up just combining 3 different recipes.

Cake recipe:

Ingredients

4 (1 ounce) squares German sweet chocolate (You can find these in the baking aisle of the grocery store)
1/2 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
4 egg whites

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line bottoms of 2 - 9 in pans with parchment paper.

2. Microwave chocolate and water on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Stir halfway through. Stir until all is melted and smooth.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add 4 egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in chocolate and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Beat after each addition until smooth.

5. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites on high until soft peaks form. Gently fold into batter. Pour into 9x13 inch pan.

6. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, turn out to cool on wire rack. Cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting - This is a GREAT and easy recipe to use for anything:

Ingredients

2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
9 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Directions
1.In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency.

Coconut Frosting:

Ingredients

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup white sugar
3 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
1/2 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flaked coconut

Directions
1.In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut. Cool before assembling cake.
To assemble the cake place one cooled cake on a plate. Spread cake with a thin "crumb layer" of chocolate frosting. Pipe a circle of frosting on the edge of the top of the cake, not going farther than 1" in. This is to keep the coconut frosting from spilling out between the two cake layers. Spread half of coconut frosting on the middle of the cake all the way to the lip of frosting. Place second cake layer centered over the first. Again, cover top layer in a thin "crumb layer" of chocolate frosting. Pipe another ring of chocolate frosting on the outer edge of the top of the cake. Spread remaining coconut frosting on the top to the edge of the upper cake. Frost and decorate with remaining chocolate frosting.

Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheddar Rolls

2011-06-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

Still featuring the ugly cell phone pics series...

1 recipe dough for Lion House Rolls, prepared through first rise

1 (10-oz.) bag frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup dried minced onions

1 egg

1 tsp. onion salt

2 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. Seasoned Salt

2 Tbs. butter, melted

-

1. After dough for Lion House Dinner Rolls has completed first rise, turn out onto a floured surface. Roll out dough into a large rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Mix broccoli, cheddar cheese, onions, egg, onion salt, Parmesan cheese, and the seasoned salt in a small bowl. Spread broccoli mixture over dough. Tightly roll up the dough jelly roll style. Using a little water on fingertips, pinch edge firmly to seal dough. Cut dough into 24 slices.

2. Place slices, cut side up, on greased baking sheet. Brush panned dough with melted butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rolls rise until double in size, about 1 hour. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan immediately to cool on a wire rack. Makes 2 dozen rolls.

Poached Eggs Pods

2011-06-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

This isn't actually a recipe at all, but we got these awesome egg poachers and I felt that the world needed to know! We've had two other egg poachers before. Our first one broke. The second one was just didn't work for us. It only cooked 4 eggs at a time(we are a family of 6) and it was impossible to get the eggs to slide out without leaving behind a very hard to remove film. My husband searched around, read some reviews, and decided on these awesome Poach Pods.

The best part (other than how cool they look) is that you only need to take out, use, and clean as many as you're planning on eating. But they also cook the eggs perfectly and then the eggs slide right out. Plus, they're dishwasher safe!

Perfectly Boiled Eggs

2011-06-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick little how-to-make-perfectly-boiled-eggs tutorial. I've spent too many years throwing away half-peeled eggs because the white would come off with the peel or the thin membrane was stuck to the white. Also, overly cooked egg yolks are way too dry and chalky. My sweet mother-in-law was visiting for Easter a few years ago and taught me to boil eggs just right. And it is SO simple.

Ingredients:

Eggs
Water

Directions:

1. Carefully place eggs in the bottom of a large pot. Cover with cool water. Place on stove over medium-high heat. Stay nearby and watch carefully. Bring to boil. Once fully boiling, immediately remove pot from heat and cover. Let stand 18 minutes.

2. Carefully pour hot water out of pot and cover with ice and cool water. Once eggs have cooled, remove from pot and refridgerate until ready to peel and serve.

Lasagna

2011-06-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I know a single person who doesn't LOOOVE lasagna. (If you happen to be reading this and you are someone who does not like lasagna... I no longer know you. You are dead to me.) Lasagna is magnificent. It has everything wonderful going for it: it's warm, gooey, cheesy, saucy, noodley, and Italian. All things that I love. Plus - and this is definitely high on the list of positives - it's extremely easy to make!

I know you can complicate this recipe by making your own sauce, using noodles you have to boil, and grating fresh Parmesan, but really - it would probably taste exactly the same and add at least another hour of prep time. So do it the easy way and you'll have more time to play with your kids. Or, in my case - tackle the mound of laundry on the coffee table while sending my kids outside to play. Tomato/tomato, right?

Ingredients:
2 (15 ounce) containers ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
4 cups fresh spinach
2 (26 ounce) jars pasta sauce
12 uncooked lasagna noodles

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and eggs in bowl.

2. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce in 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Layer 4 uncooked noodles, then 1 cup sauce and 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, and two cups spinach; repeat.

Top with remaining 4 uncooked noodles and 2 cups Sauce.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil, place on cookie sheet, and bake 1 hour.

3. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake uncovered an additional 10 minutes, just until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve.

Tips and Alterations:

-When spreading the ricotta cheese mixture, don't just dump half of it in the pan or you'll have a hard time getting it spread evenly. Drop by spoonfulls evenly over the pan and then spread.

-You can brown a pound of ground beef or Italian sausage (or both) and add that to the sauce before assembling. I don't think lasagna needs meat, but I know there are some people in this world, *ahem-men-ahem* who don't think a dinner is a dinner unless it has some butchered creature lying dead on their plate. Just make sure you use a bigger dish, or you'll have some over-spillage.

-Also, the spinach was just something I added, but the recipe doesn't actually call for it. So if your kids won't touch something green with a ten-foot pole, you can either omit the spinach, or just spread it on half of the lasagna.

-Lasagna is one of those awesome dishes that I like to double. That way we have one to eat tonight and one to freeze for another day. If you're making one pan of lasagna, you might as well be making two. So after you've covered it in foil, but before placing in the oven, take a roll of plastic wrap to it and wrap the heck out of it... think Kathy Bates in Fried Green Tomatoes. Then, on the morning of a busy day, take it out and let it sit on the counter until you're ready to cook it.

Chicken Fried Chicken

2011-06-24T22:04:00.001-07:00

I know the picture's not the best and we're missing southern biscuits, but use your imagination. My husband got halfway through making fried chicken when we remembered we had somewhere to be in 20 minutes. So he hurried up and finished, we zipped over to our previous committment (hungry), and then hurried back (very hungry) to have a late 8 o'clock - reheated dinner. And it was still fantastic.

Chicken Fried Chicken

Ingredients

30 saltine crackers
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dry potato flakes
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions
1.Place crackers in a large resealable plastic bag; seal bag and crush crackers until they are coarse crumbs. Add flour, potato flakes, seasoned salt, and pepper to bag and mix well.

2.Beat egg in a shallow dish or bowl; heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

3.One by one, dredge chicken pieces in egg beat, then place in bag with crumb mixture, seal bag and shake to coat.

4.Reduce heat to medium and cook coated chicken in skillet for 15 to 20 minutes, turning frequently, until golden brown and juices run clear.

White Cupcakes + Buttercream Frosting

2011-06-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

For my brother and sister in law's birthday(they're twins) I called and asked what their favorite treat was. Tuni, my cute SIL said she loved plain white cupcakes, no frosting. So I obliged. But I had to frost some of the cupcakes because, to me, a cupcake just isnt a cupcake without the perfect ratio of cake to frosting

I colored the frosting green, yellow, and red - like the Ethiopian Flag because Miki and Tuni (the birthday twins) are from Ethiopia... And every time I see Miki, he's wearing something with those colors. I flavored the yellow frosting with some lemon juice for my husband who loves flavor.

I've made many white cakes before and I've never been very pleased. This time, I think I found my winner. This cake was light, moist, and had a good flavor. I even enjoyed a frosting-less one!

I didn't love the frosting, but I think that's because I love cream cheese frosting so much and think that every frosting should be made with cream cheese. This frosting had a great thick consistency and didn't melt in the warm sun at our BBQ. My husband said it was delicious, so if you like buttercream frosting, this was a good one.

White cupcakes:

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.*

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.**

3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.***

Tips:
*After placing cupcake liners in muffin pan, spray the whole pan with cooking spray. This will ensure that the cupcakes come out of the paper lining without sticking and also if your cupcakes bake over the edge, they won't stick to the top of the pan.

**I use a Pampered Chef scooper to fill my muffin tins. 2 scoops are just right. There are 3 positives to this: 1. I never have a cupcake cook over the rim. 2. All of my cupcakes are uniform in size. 3. I never drip batter all over the muffin tin.

***You do not want to overcook these! They will be dry and crumbly if you do. They should have hardly any golden color to them. Usually I just knock my oven a little to see if they're jiggling. As soon as the jiggling stops, they're done.

Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients

2 cups shortening
8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract (I just used regular because I was dyeing my frosting.)
6 fluid ounces heavy cream

Directions

1.Cream shortening until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar and continue creaming until well blended.

2.Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional whipping cream if necessary (up to 2 ounces). Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast

2011-06-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Pot Roast is one of the easiest dishes you can ever make. The reason I know this(other than the fact that I've made it) is because it is one of the five dishes that my mom made that didn't require a microwave or tipping the waiter (or hamburger helper... puke). The easiest way to do this is to brown beef roast in a pan on the stove, then put it in a crock pot with onions and carrots, cover with water and cook for 4 hours. After 4 hours, add large chunks of whole potatoes and cook one more hour. That's it. I love this dish for its simplicity and its flavor, but wanted to see if I could improve upon it. Turns out I can and I can't. By that I mean, the recipe I found did make it taste better, but I still prefer my mom's version because it tastes like home to me and reminds me of my amazing momma. So, you can either make the above version, or spend about 30 more minutes to make it have a more rich flavor and possibly a prettier presentation.

I'm going to post the recipe below, but I suggest you head on over to Pioneer Woman's website and check out her step by step instruction with awesome pictures. I did some things differently and those alterations are below the recipe.

Ingredients

■1 whole (4 To 5 Pounds) Chuck Roast

■2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

■2 whole Onions

■6 whole Carrots (Up To 8 Carrots)

■Salt To Taste

■Pepper To Taste

■1 cup Red Wine (optional, You Can Use Beef Broth Instead)

■2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock

■3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste

■3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste

Preparation Instructions

First and foremost, choose a nicely marbled piece of meat. This will enhance the flavor of your pot roast like nothing else. Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast.

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or you can do a butter/olive oil split).

Cut two onions in half and cut 6 to 8 carrots into 2-inch slices (you can peel them, but you don’t have to). When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.

Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up.

When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and about 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.

Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours.

My alterations:

First - and, I feel most importantly, - you need to know that I threw everything in the crockpot and went to a petting zoo with my boys for the day. I was able to set my crock pot for 4 hours and it then turned to the warm setting until I came home. I turned it back on low and put the potatoes in for one more hour.

Second, did you notice I said I put the potatoes in? Pioneer Woman is anti potatoes-in-pot-roast. She thinks they are dumb. I think she's dumb. Ok I don't really, I think she's awesome, but I think the fact that she doesn't like potatoes in her pot roast is super dumb. That's one of my favorite parts! She served her pot roast with mashed potatoes, which I'm sure was lovely, but that's not how I was raised.

Third, I just used dried herbs and it was fine. If you have the fresh herbs, awesome. If not, no biggie. Just use a small amount - like maybe 1/2 tsp of each and it'll still taste fab.

P.S. Serve your pot roast with this and you'll have a very happy belly.