Christy's Kitchen Creations

Reece Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Ice Cream

2011-02-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

What's a girl to do while cooped up in the house during an ice storm? Make ice cream, of course! :) For Christmas, I received David Lebovitz's book, "The Perfect Scoop". It's the most amazing collection of ice cream and sorbet recipes I've read. I chose the Chocolate recipe to be my first because I had an entire bag of Reece Cup minis lying around and knew if I mixed those into the ice cream, my family would elevate me to "Diva" status...at least while they savored their bowls of deliciousness! Plus, I couldn't wait to have the opportunity to take a picture using these gorgeous dessert dishes that I inherited from my Granny and knew the chocolate would photograph beautifully in the clear glass.

This ice cream was beyond delicious! Every spoonful was incredibly creamy and chocolaty! I couldn't believe that any homemade ice cream could develop the richness of flavor that this recipe does. I can't imagine purchasing another quart of chocolate ice cream, especially with grocery prices escalating, when I can create an all natural, delicious recipe at home for half the cost! Oh-did I forget to mention that the Reece Cups were DIVINE mixed in with the chocolate! Best idea EVER!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful! Enjoy!

Chocolate Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

5 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used bittersweet)

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

5 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

15 miniature Reece Peanut Butter Cups, chopped (my addition)

1. Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

2. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

3. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.)

**After the mixture was finished in my ice cream maker, I stirred in the Reece Cups, poured it into a freezer proof container and froze it for 5 hours. Delish!

Source: David Lebovitz-The Perfect Scoop

Santa Fe Beef Stew

2011-02-01T07:13:00.000-08:00

I LOVE my slow cookers! Do you? My slow cooker has been a huge helpmate in saving family dinner times lately. No matter how many directions we are committed to running in the evening with the kids, I can feel confident that there is a hot meal waiting for all at home.

As our kids have gotten older, their taste palates have grown and they are more apt to try new dishes...thank goodness! This meal is one that I don't think they would have eaten not long ago. But when I served this a few months ago, they devoured every bite and went back for more. We all couldn't believe how moist and tender the stew meat was, it just melted in our mouths! I think one of the things they liked most about it was the "kick" the stew has from the green chili's and taco seasoning. It takes the every day beef stew and brings it up a notch.

I actually took bits and pieces from two separate recipes from the same cookbook to prepare this the way I thought my family would like it. If you decide to try this for your loved ones, I hope they enjoy it as much as we did!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful! Enjoy!

Santa Fe Beef Stew

2 lbs. stewing meat, cubed

2 Tbsp. oil

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups water

1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes

2 beef bouillon cubes (I used beef base)

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

3 carrots, sliced

4 potatoes, peeled and cubed

14 1/2-oz. can diced tomatoes

14 1/2-oz. can green beans, drained, or 1 lb. frozen green beans (I used 1 quart home canned bean)

14 1/2-oz. can corn, drained, or 1 lb. frozen corn

4-oz. can diced green chilies

1 pkg. dry taco seasoning mix

1. Brown meat, onion, and garlic in oil in saucepan until meat is no longer pink. Place in slow cooker.

2.Stir in remaining ingredients.

3. Cover. Cook on High 30 minutes. Reduce heat to Low and cook 4-6 hours.

Source: Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook

Chocolate Peanut Butter Revel Bars

2011-01-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

Hello there foodie friends! I can't believe that it's been nearly a year since I last posted. Goodness! Let me share with you a brief explanation to my absence the last twelve months.

Not long after my last post, my beloved Granny was not feeling well. She was taken to the hospital where we were informed that she was riddled with cancer in her abdomen. Granny was a tiny, little thing standing at her full height of 4'10" on a good day and MAYBE weighed 85 pounds. The cancer made her stomach protrude like she was 5 month's pregnant and with every passing day, she grew a little more. The good Lord gave us six beautiful days from her diagnosis to her passing to share lots of tears, heart-felt laughter, precious memories and the opportunity to say good-bye. Granny told my kids every night that she had no regrets and was ready to go home to be with her Savior. Not many people have the chance for this kind of closure and we are so incredibly thankful for this amazing gift.

After Granny's passing, I lost my passion for baking. I've shared with you before that Granny was an incredible cook/baker and, as a child, I spent many hours at her apron strings just trying to absorb hints, tricks and her talent in the kitchen. I thought that my desire to bake had died right along with her and even thinking of blogging anything made my want to cry. The few times she looked at my blog, she oohed and ahhhed over the pictures and recipes and seemed so proud of this little blog.

Just after Christmas, I came to the conclusion that the best way to honor Granny's memory and legacy was to get back into the saddle and begin blogging again. I can't promise regular postings, thanks to the crazy schedule with four kids' activities. But, I can tell you that I am excited to return to blogging about food and look forward to build new friendships through this little thing I call "Christy's Kitchen Creations". I hope you'll have a seat at my kitchen table, enjoy a cup of coffee with me and let's share a recipe or two. :)

This first recipe I'm sharing with you I baked when our family was visiting from Atlanta after Christmas. Everyone in our family loves the chocolate-peanut butter combination and these bars sounded perfect to prepare for company. I have no idea why they're called "revel" bars. Maybe it's because the amazing taste of the fudgy, chocolaty middle is sandwiched between yummy oatmeal layers that leave you wanting to take just one. more. bite. ? All I do know is that the entire batch of bars was devoured in less than one day! That's a definite stamp of approval around our house.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful! Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Revel Bars

Yield: 20 large bars

14 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3 cups quick cooking oats

For Filling:
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9- x 13- inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and baking soda until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add 2 teaspoons of vanilla.

With the mixer on low, slowly add in the flour and mix until completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of bowl as you go. Stir in the rolled oats (you may need to use a little elbow grease to mix them in). Set dough aside.

Using your hands, evenly press about two-thirds of the oat mixture into the bottom of the baking pan. Set the rest of the dough aside.

For the filling, combine the peanut butter, chocolate and sweetened condensed milk in a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute, stirring every 20 seconds, or until chocolate is melted. Stir to make the mixture smooth, then add peanuts and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Spread the chocolate filling evenly over the oats mixture with a rubber spatula. Dot the remaining oat (dough) mixture over the top of the chocolate.

Bake for 22-25 minutes, until top is lightly browned. The chocolate may still look moist. Allow bars to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into individual bars.

Source: Pennies on a Platter

Easy Cinnamon Bread

2010-02-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

Do you love cinnamon rolls? Do you wake up and crave the cinnamony goodness that oozes out of the hot, iced roll? Do you lack the time and effort it takes to prepare homemade yeast rolls first thing in the morning? If you're like me, you answered yes to all of the questions above. Added to that is the fact that my kids could eat sugary, yeasty goodies every morning of the week (sorry teachers!) and beg me to bake something of that nature daily. I have to admit that one of our favorites is Pillsbury's Orange Rolls that you purchase in the can in the dairy section. Gasp! :) Seriously, don't knock it until you have to get two kids on the bus at 6:45 in the morning! Who sets these time schedules anyway? Goodness, but I'm barely coherant that early in the morning.

Oh, but I digress! In the evenings, after the kids are tucked snugly in their beds, I often grab a cookbook off the shelf and sit and read through it. There's nothing more relaxing than perusing through cookbook after cookbook picking up hints and tricks for cooking and baking as well as bookmarking tasty recipes to try on my gullible (I mean-willing) family. One book that I pick up often is "The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion". If you don't have this one in your library yet, add it to your wish list, beg and plead for it or make up a special occassion that will give you a reason to run out right now and buy it. Seriously, it's a must have.

The other night while reading through the "yeast" section of the cookbook, this recipe leaped off the page at me. "Easy Cinnamon Bread". Hmmm? Yeast. Cinnamon. Sugar. AND...cinnamon chips!! Holy Yum! Delicious cinnamon roll taste in bread form. I HAD to make this bread! I set aside some time the next night and whipped up this very simple to make bread. Oh the smells that lofted through our house as this was baking. The kids and I were practically drooling just waiting for it to finish, but once we did get a nibble of the fresh baked yumminess...it was well worth the wait! The bread was wonderful the day of baking and the following day. After that, it was a tad stale, but we toasted it up, smoothed it with butter and enjoyed the remainder of the loaf. I'm thinking that I'll try baking up a loaf on a Wednesday or Thursday, slice it up into large slices and plan to fix Cinnamon-French Toast on a Saturday morning. Doesn't that sound divine?

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Easy Cinnamon Bread

3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 (3 1/2 ounces) sugar

2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (8 ounces) warm milk

1/4 cup (2 ounces) butter, melted

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (6 ounces) cinnamon chips

Cinnamon-sugar, for topping

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, and egg. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, beating until smooth. Cover and let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour, then stir in the baking powder and cinnamon chips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spoon the batter into a greased 8 1/2 X 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with the connamon sugar.

Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven, let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer it from the pan to a rack to cool completely. Don't slice the bread while it's hot; it will slice much better when it's completely cool.

Source: The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

Garlic-Herb Braid

2010-02-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

I have always loved baking homemade bread but haven't always had the best of luck with yeast. Baking, for me, is an exact science; follow directions precisely and the end result should be a perfect creation of my detailed efforts. However, yeast is entirely different and can seem extremely tempermental. When proofing the yeast, if the temperature of the liquid is too hot, you can "kill" the yeast. If it's too cool, the yeast won't activate. Add too much flour, your crumb may be too dense. Not enough? Too sticky. This can be a daunting task for the home baker like me. I've come to the conclusion that working with yeast and bread baking is one of those tasks that you just have to pull yourself up by your boot straps, jump in with both feet and bake, bake, bake. As I consistently tell my children, "If you want to be good at anything, it takes effort, lots of time and practice". :)

This bread recipe came from my latest "Simple & Delicious" food magazine. Staying true to its cover title, this bread recipe was a cinch to throw together, took no time at all to rise and had a deliciously moist crumb that suited our Italian meal perfectly. The combination of herbs and garlic would compliment many varieties of main dishes. Not to mention, it makes a beautiful presentation for the everyday meal or would impress your dinner guests for a lovely, more formal evening.

If you're like me and are little wary of working with yeast, this would be a perfect recipe for you to throw into the ring as a practice bread. The yeast is not proofed in any liquid but is added in with the dry ingredients and then the wet ingredients are mixed in. Simple! The dough is needed by hand, which can be very theraputic and then braided and rests for 25 minutes. Short, sweet and perfect for any night of your week.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Garlic-Herb Braid

4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 pkg. (1/4 oz. each) quick-rise yeast

2 tsp. dried basil

1-3/4 tsp. dill weed

1-1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. garlic powder

3/4 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed

3/4 cup 2% milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 egg

1 Tbsp. butter melted

In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and seasonings. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, water and cubed butter to 120-130 degrees. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add egg; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide dough into thirds. Shape each into a 15-in. rope. Place ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid; pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 25 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Source: Taste of Home's "Simple & Delicious" Jan/Feb 2010

Saucy Italian Orzo

2010-01-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

A new favorite cooking magazine of mine is Taste of Home's "Simple & Delicious". It's packed full of wonderfully tasty recipes that are perfect for those busy weeknights when I don't have much time to spend in the kitchen but want to put something hearty and nutritious on the table for dinner. (Hence, the title "Simple & Delicious"...duh!!) During my last menu planning session I chose several recipes from the Jan/Feb issue and I can't wait to share them all with you in upcoming posts! This first dinner recipe was so incredibly quick and easy to prepare. I actually over estimated the time it would take to cook that I had time to choose and bake up a loaf of garlic-herb bread (look for in my next post) to serve alongside our meal. WOW! The original recipe called for 1 lb. of hamburger but since I was doubling this recipe to share with Sarah for our meal co-op, I added 1 lb. of Italian sausage to boost the flavors a little. I would highly recommend that you consider doing this if you decide to try this meal for your family, the sausage was a perfect addition and really vamped up the taste of the entire dish. Another huge added plus for me was the addition of spinach at the end of the cooking time! It not only added a beautiful color to the entire dish, but was also a major nutritional and healthy addition. Major points in my book! The little food critics in my home gave this two-thumbs up each as they raved over the "cute little pasta thingies" (orzo). Oh-the phrases of children. I love being their Mom!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Saucy Italian Orzo

1 1b. ground beef (or 1/2 lb. beef and 1/2 lb. Italian sausage)

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans (14.5 oz. each) diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic

1 can (14.5 oz.) beef broth

1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste

3/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 cups fresh baby spinach

In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Stir in the tomatoes, broth, tomato paste, orzo and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until orzo is tender. Add spinach; cook and stir until spinach is wilted.

Source: Taste of Home's "Simple & Delicious" Jan/Feb 2010

Cheesy BBQ Chicken - Copy cat Chili's Monterey Chicken

2010-01-25T10:36:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for a light dinner recipe, this little baby is not for you. However, if you'd like to prepare a wonderful, flavorful, "just-like-Grandma-used-to-make" meal, then stick with me for a few moments. I prepared this meal back in November (I know-sad huh?) when I was excited to use my new iron skillet. Ah, the silly things that cause me to be giddy lately. :) I found the recipe on "Mommy's Kitchen" when I was menu planning late one evening. The combination of bacon, chicken and barbeque sauce had me salivating over my coupons and I couldn't wait for the opportunity to fix this for the fam. This was a definite success with all (a couple of my kids took the bacon off) and made for a fantastic sandwich for Marty's lunch the next day.

If you're counting the calories and fat but would still like to prepare this for dinner, try using Canadia bacon for the top. It offers just as much flavor as regular bacon with half the fat and calories. Yum!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Cheesy BBQ Chicken

(Copy Cat Chili's Monterey Chicken)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 slices of bacon, cut in half
1 onion, caramelized (I omitted)
1 bottle of BBQ sauce (or homemade)
Shredded Cheese
(cheddar or colby jack shredded cheese blend)

Place chicken breasts in large zip lock bag and pour enough BBQ sauce in bag to cover the chicken. Marinate them in the fridge from about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to broil HI, with rack 4 inches from heat In a large oven proof skillet( I used my trusty cast iron skillet), over medium heat, saute chicken until mostly done, about 4 minutes per side. Pour some BBQ sauce over chicken. Place desired amount of onions on the chicken. Cover with cheese (how ever much you want) Place bacon on top. I stuck a toothpick or two through the bacon to keep it from curling while broiling. Place pan in the oven and broil until the bacon has crisped up, about 5 minutes. Or until the chicken reads 165 on a instant read thermometer. If after you have broiled th chicken it still isnt cooked through, lower the temp to 450 and cook till juices run clear.

Source: Mommy's Kitchen

Christmas Cookie Bouquets 2009

2009-12-20T18:58:00.000-08:00

Round one of sugar cookie baking, decorating, packaging and giving was completed this past week. Looking back at last year's cookies proves the old theory true, "everything gets better with practice". Last Christmas was my first attempt with royal icing and sugar cookies and while they turned out pretty cute and were appreciated by all who received one, I am much more pleased with this year's version. Plus, I had WAY more fun planning and decorating these cute little goodies!

The gingerbread house was the "centerpiece" of each of the bouquets. I loved the simplicity of the gingerbread boy and girl. Cute!!

These three turned out to be my favorites of the bunch. I was so incredibly pleased with Santa and wanted to curl up and snuggle with Frosty!

The holly on the stocking was such a sweet addition. The peppermint candy and candy cane went perfectly with the gingerbread house.

The entire batch of 76 cookies that were completed very "early" in the morning. Some were for gifts and THANKFULLY there were several orders in there too which made the lack of sleep worthwhile. :)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Cheddar Topped Shepherd's Pie

2009-12-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

I love one-dish meals! They are so versatile. Often, they are time saving, they offer less clean-up for the cook and they're great for busy weeknights. I won't lie, it has taken my kids some time and maturation to learn to like or at least try these types of meals, but more often than not, they end up really liking it.

I have always loved shepherd's pie. To me, it's one of the ultimate comfort foods. But, I've never fixed it for my family because only a few of us are mashed potato fans. When I saw this recipe that added sharp cheddar cheese to the potatoes, I knew I had to give it a try. The kids LOVE anything drowned in cheese. This did not disappoint! There is cheese stirred into the potatoes and then the entire dish is covered with more cheese that becomes a beautiful, delicious crisp topping to an already wonderful meal! Yum!

This would be a great dish to serve if you're planning on hosting family and friends over the holiday season because it can be made up to a day ahead of time and refrigerated separately. What a great time-saver for the busy hostess! This was also one of our "co-op" meals that was shared with my friend Sarah and her family. :)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Cheddar Topped Shepherd's Pie

2 pounds baking potatoes (about 4), peeled and thinly sliced or cubed

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

6 medium carrots, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced

6 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 pounds ground beef chuck

1 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (6 ounces)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place potatoes in a large saucepan, and cover by 1 inch with salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, 15-20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile heat oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add flour and tomato paste; cook, stirring 1 minute. Add beef; cook, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink, 6 to 8 minutes. Add 1 cup water; bring to a boil, and simmer 1 minute. Set beef filling aside.

3. Drain potatoes; return to pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until liquid has evaporated and a thin film covers bottom of pan, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat; add milk and 1cup of cheese. Mash until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

4. Pour beef filling into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Drop dollops of topping over filling; spread to edges with a spatula. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake until topping is browned and filling is bubbling rapidly, about 20 minutes. (If topping and filling were chilled, increase to 35 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Source: I can't remember where I copied this recipe from.

Chicken Corn Chowder

2009-11-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

I've said it before, but it bears repeating, I love the Autumn season. I enjoy all the beautiful Fall colors, the crisp chill in the air, the beginning of Colts football and, of course, I love that the seasonal changes influence my cooking and baking. Fewer meals are planned for the grill while dinners become heartier, comfier soups and stews cooked on the stove-top or slow cookers. Fruity, leafy salads begin taking the backseat as squash casseroles and potatoes jump into the drivers seat and park on our dinner tables. Oh, Fall is such a beautiful and wonderful "experience" all around!

This chowder was perfect to serve my family after an evening of soccer and cheer practices. Both boys were cold from the damp, chilly weather and the girls were simply famished after a long day of school and practice. The chowder has so many wonderful flavors that come from the addition of celery, onion, red pepper and jalapeno pepper. Yes, jalapeno. I was so thankful that I followed Melanie's advice and added this. She shared that the pepper didn't add "heat" to the chowder, but gave it a delicious flavor, and she was so right. We LOVED this recipe so much that I'm already planning to prepare this with some leftover turkey the day after Thanksgiving. This will be perfect to return home to after a busy day of Christmas shopping. :)

Chicken Corn Chowder

**Plan Ahead: This recipe calls for cooked chicken. (Thanks Mel!)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 stalks of celery, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeno, finely chopped, seeds and membrane removed (DON'T omit this!!)

1/4 cup thinly sliced or cooked chopped ham

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 (14-oz.) cans chicken broth

3 tablespoons flour

3 ears of fresh corn kernels or 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernals

2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

4 oz. softened cream cheese

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Place olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute celery, bell pepper, onion and jalapeno until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ham; cook for another 3 minutes. Whisk the broth with the flour in a liquid measuring cup or bowl and then stir into the soup. Stir in the corn and chicken. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat. Whisk together the cream cheese and milk in a large bowl until smooth. (Make sure your cream cheese is really soft or you'll have lumps in the mixture!) Whisk the cream cheese/milk mixture into the soup along with the salt, pepper and cheddar cheese. Simmer on low until ready to serve.

Source: My Kitchen Cafe

Menu Planning, Meal Sharing and Meaty Lasagna Stoup

2009-11-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

I've shared with you before that I am blessed to have the opportunity to work from home caring for my friend, Sarah's two precious little ones while she teaches first grade in our school district. When school resumed this fall, both of our households endured many major adjustments. For us, this marked the first year all four of our children would be in school all day. That probably doesn't sound like an earth shattering adjustment, but when you throw in homework, piano lessons, soccer, school cheer, competition cheer, youth group and daily responsibilities at home, I was struggling to keep our household afloat. For Mike and Sarah; she was returning to teaching after three long months of bed rest and six months of maternity leave with the birth of their second child. She is also continuing her education by pursuing her Masters Degree. Balancing a full time career, continuing education, family and household responsibilities were wearing on Sarah too. Several times during the first couple of weeks of school, we shared with one another our "leftovers" from a previous meal to help each other out on particularly busy nights. This worked so well that we decided to create a meal sharing schedule.

Here's how we've worked it out:

1.) We plan our menus two weeks at a time.

2.) We create our menus separately but communicate our ideas for the four meals that we will be sharing with one another.

3.) I am scheduled for Monday and Wednesday nights' dinners and Sarah is scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. For our family, Friday is typically left over night and our weekend meals are planned according to whatever commitments we have.

I can't share with you how much of an INCREDIBLE blessing this has been for my family. On the two busiest nights of the week, when we're literally running in six different directions, I can relax knowing that there is a home cooked dinner waiting at home for us because Sarah brought it to me that morning when she dropped the kids off for the day. All I do is warm it up for the family and everyone eats according to their schedule for the evening. Whew-what a relief for me! On the nights that I send dinner to Sarah's, it offers her more valuable time to spend enjoying her kiddos without worrying about dinner preparations etc. :)

We'll be sharing more tips and meal sharing ideas soon and I hope to begin listing our menus on the sidebar of my blog to share with you too. You can also check out the wonderful meal ideas that she has been sharing with us over at her blog; www.delectabledining09.blogspot.com.

This meal that I'm sharing with you today was a huge success for both families and made a large quantity of yummy goodness. This is basically lasagna in thick soup form. The noodles are broken up into the soup and they thicken the soup quite nicely. I loved that there were fresh veggies thrown into this too-always a great way to sneak nutrition into the kids' diet without them knowing. :) What's also wonderful about this recipe is that it's a Rachel Ray 30 minute meal, so you know it comes together quickly yet is full of wonderful flavors.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Lasagna Stoup

2 tablespoons EVOO

1 lb. ground beef sirloin

Salt and Pepper

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and grated

3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth

One 28-ounce can Italian crushed tomatoes

1 lb. lasagna noodles, broken into jagged pieces

1 cup basil leaves, torn

1 cup whole-milk ricotta

Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, to pass around the table

1. In a soup pot, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the onion, carrots and garlic and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in 2 cups water, the chicken broth and tomatoes; cover and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 15 minutes. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.

2. Serve the stoup in bowls and dollop with the ricotta. Pass the parmigiano-reggiano at the table.

Source: Everyday with Rachel Ray-March 2009

Pumpkin Spice Scones

2009-11-10T06:38:00.000-08:00

Everything's coming up pumpkin!! We've been on a pumpkin eating spurt lately. I'm so thankful that my kids love the delicious taste of this versatile puree!! Last week I made my first batch of pumpkin scones and everyone was so captivated by their scrumptious taste and texture that the entire batch was gone in less than two days. I've made an additional two batches since then, adding dried cranberries and a little more pie spice both times (changes are noted in red), and they have been devoured quickly. Obviously, this has become a new favorite at our breakfast table!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Scones

2 cups flour

1/3 cups Brown Sugar, Tightly Packed

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 teaspoon Orange Zest, or Lemon, Optional

1 stick Unsalted Butter, frozen

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup dried cranberries

For the Glaze (Optional)

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ginger

2 teaspoons corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Heavy cream (enough to let icing reach consistency of honey)

1/2 cup toasted, chopped walnuts (I omitted)

Mix first 8 ingredients with a fork and add the frozen butter stick by grating it on a cheese grater over the flour mixture. (Note: work quickly, holding the frozen butter in its wrapper and a paper towel to keep it from melting.)

Mix butter curls into the flour mixture with a fork. In a small bowl, mix the pumpkin and cream and pour into the flour/butter mixture. Add cranberries. Fold with a wooden spoon just until flour is moistened, then turn out onto a lightly floured board and gently knead over a couple of times.

Pat into a circle about 1 inch thick and cut into 8 sections like pie slices. Separate scones onto a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer for 30 minutes. (Or make these ahead and place them in the fridge overnight.)

Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes till just firm and golden around the edges. Let cool to room temperature.

Icing:

Mix the first 5 ingredients (powdered sugar, cinnamon, ginger, corn syrup and vanilla). Add heavy cream in small amounts at a time, stirring often, until icing reaches the consistency of honey.

With a lare soup spoon, spoon icing over the cooled scones. (I poured the glaze into a sandwich baggie, cut the tip off and drizzled the scones.) Sprinkle toasted walnuts over the top. Let the icing set a bit before putting the scones away in an airtight container.

Source: Tasty Kitchen

I Want S'More Muffins!

2009-11-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

Would a s'more still be a s'more if it didn't LOOK like a s'more? Huh? Whadya say? Did you ever wonder if you could enjoy the wonderful, chocolate-y, marshmallow-y goodness without a roaring fire and roasting fork? Have your kids ever begged and pleaded to have chocolate for breakfast? Have YOU ever had a craving for some rich, chocolate goodness before 9 a.m.? duh!! If you answered yes to any of the afore mentioned questions, please continue reading my post for the solution to your problems! :)

These little babies catapulted me right up to "Super Mom" status in my children's eyes when they realized that I was seriously offering them chocolate for breakfast before school. Every bite is bursting with yummy marshmallows, chocolate chips and graham cracker crumbs, and they taste JUST LIKE their namesake, the s'more!! The kids really enjoyed these with a large glass of milk for breakfast and as an after school snack. Needless to say, they didn't last long!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

I Want S'More Muffins

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

4 teaspoons sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup sour cream

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons 2% milk

1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

6 tablespoons marshmallow creme

In a small bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Stir in sour cream. Combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.

Coat six muffin cups with cooking spray; fill one-fourth full with batter. Spoon 1 tablespoon marshmallow creme into each muffin cup. Top with remaining batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm.

Source: Taste of Home Fall 2009

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans and White Chocolate

2009-11-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love the seasonal snack of popcorn coated in "stick-to-your-teeth" carmel? Every Autumn I begin making my Grannys recipe for carmel corn and we enjoy nibbling on many, many batches of the gooey snack all through the holidays. Lately, I've seen so many wonderful variations and additions to this traditional snack that I thought it would be fun to try a few different kinds this year.

My first recipe that I wanted to try I found on Our Best Bites. I was intrigued with the addition of cinnamon to the caramel and I knew the kids would flip over having the white chocolate drizzled over one of their favorite snacks. I followed my Granny's recipe for her caramel and then continued with the directions on Our Best Bites. I have to say that this variation was DELISH!! The cinnamon was a perfect addition, the chocolate enhanced the sweetness of the snack and the pecan halves added a wonderful crunch. Yummy!!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans and White Chocolate

12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels)
1 C pecan halves, roughly chopped
1 C brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1 stick real butter (1/2 C)
1 t vanilla
1/2 t baking soda

3 squares almond bark (about 4 oz)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a 2 liter capacity microwave safe bowl. Mix well. Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup over the top of everything. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then stir to combine. Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.

Remove from microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda. Stir to combine. Mixture will foam and rise. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and pecans and stir very well so everything is well coated.

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and spread out on a large piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil.

Melt almond bark according to package instructions. Drizzle over popcorn mixture. When almond bark is hardened and popcorn is cool, break into chunks and enjoy!

Source: Our Best Bites

Happy Birthday!

2009-11-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we celebrated our youngest's 7th birthday. Shamefully, her birthday was earlier this month, but this was the first opportunity we have had to host a party for her. She was very excited to celebrate her birthday on Halloween afternoon and the possibilities that that offered for her party theme. Her only request for her cake was that it not be "spooky". Cuz "Mommy, spooky is no fun and it's my birthday. So it should be a happy cake with all the colors but no ghosts or spooky stuff." Her simple request made my heart swell and gave me even more determination to make her a beautiful and fun, Halloween themed birthday cake.

The bottom layer of her cake was chocolate fudge with buttercream filling. Very simple flavors, but we're talking about young girls taste pallats here. I didn't think they would appreciate some extravagent flavored cake with a fruit or fanciful filling. Simple is often times better, especially with youngins'. We decided that this layer would be wrapped with purple fondant and decorated with moons, pumpkins and witch's hats. This year Lauren chose an adorable little witch costume and when I told her that the hats on the cake represented her costume she thought that was pretty cool! :)

The top layer was milk chocolate with buttercream filling. One of Lauren's favorite Fall candy is Candy Corn. So I wrapped the layer with orange fondant and draped it with yellow and white "ribbons" of fondant and then rolled the ribbons to make a large bow for the top. She LOVED it!!

The birthday girl with her cake.

Another view of Lauren's cake

We also wanted to have special party favors for all of her friends and Lauren asked if I could make Halloween cookies for everyone. Well, when I bake cookies for everyone else who asks, and my husband and kids always come first, this was a no brainer....I geared up and baked and decorated 5 dozen cookies. The birthday cake cookies are inspired by, and a direct copy of, cookies I saw on Bridget's blog. If you enjoy decorating sugar cookies, you MUST check out her amazing blog!! She is so inspirational and offers so many "how-to's" for decorating. Thanks Bridget for sharing your talent and inspiration with all of us!! The birthday cookie was Lauren's favorite and she thought it was so cool that each one had 7 candles on them. :)

I think this little bucket of goodies turned out to be my favorite treat for all the girls! Why? Well, as I was rolling fondant and decorating the cake Lauren came to me and asked if she could do anything to help. One of the best advise I've ever received has been to embrace and accept help from my children as often as possible. To learn to let go of my desire to have things perfect and cherish the opporunities of working alongside my kids. So..I melted the chocolates for the pretzals, stood Lauren on a chair at the stovetop, showed her how to cover half the pretzals with the chocolate and sprinkles and......stepped away. I wish I had taken a picture of her as she worked diligently at her task. She was so precious to watch with her serious little face as she worked on her task and I loved watching her tiny fingers twirl the pretzals in the colorful chocolate. But the best moment was when she turned to me with a HUGE smile of success after filling two baking sheets with cooling chocolate covered pretzals and said, "Mommy, I'm all done with my job. Is there anything else I can do?" Priceless!!!

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial of our precious daughter's birthday celebration. I know she'll be beyond excited when she sees her pictures on the blog and any responses that you may write. :)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Chocolate Surprise Cookies

2009-10-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

When I saw these cookies on Patsy's blog, I knew these would be perfect to bake up for a cookout we were attending a couple of weeks ago. Our friends were planning to have a bon-fire and we were looking forward to enjoying the evening roasting hot dogs for dinner and then letting the kids toast marshmallows for smores. A couple of my kiddos love the taste of ooey-gooey toasted marshmallow with melted chocolate, but aren't too fond of the graham cracker outside. These cookies looked to be the perfect solution, a chocolate cookie with a marshmallow-y center topped with a fudgy chocolate frosting. Holy yum!! The kids loved the "portability" of these as they ran by the table, grabbed a cookie and continued playing with their friends. The "big" kids (read, our husbands) thought up the brilliant idea of balancing the cookies on the roasting forks and slightly warming the cookies over the fire....oh my..they were so good. Leave it to the men to concoct such a great idea like that! Gotta love em'!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Chocolate Surprise Cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick)unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined.

3. Using a tablespoon or 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 10 to 12 minutes.

4. Remove baking sheets from oven, and place a marshmallow, cut-side down, in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven, and continue baking until marshmallows begins to melt, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

5. Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting over each marshmallow, starting in the center and continuing outward until marshmallow is covered.

Chocolate Frosting for Surprise Cookies

2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in butter and cocoa powder. Add milk and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.

Source: Family Friends and Food originally from Martha Stewart Online

Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins

2009-10-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

Unless you've lived in a hole over the last several weeks, you've noticed that there are a plethora of pumpkin recipes all over the foodie world. I have bookmarked more than my share and wish I had the time to bake every one of them. However, it would take me forever to bake and blog them all this Autumn season, so I'll try my darndest to get to as many as I can. *wink*

You all know that I have four kiddos that are incredibly crazy about anything muffin-y. Well, when you tell them that their favorite breakfast item has been baked up with pumpkin, they flip. Who knew that all I have to do to enjoy a few minutes of blissful peace is to serve up some pumpkin-y treats? So, when I was browsing through some of my fall baking magazines and saw these little treasures, I began fantasizing about what to do with my brief enjoyment of silence as my little wolves devoured their first taste of autumn.

These muffins were fantastically moist and flavorful and the addition of cranberries offers a nice tartness that offsets the sweetness of the pumpkin perfectly. I also chose to top each muffin with decorator sugar crystals that gave a nice added crunch to the tops.

If you've not jumped off the pumpkin baking wagon yet, you might want to consider baking these little gems for your breakfast table. Your family will definitely thank you!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I omitted)
Decorator sugar crystals

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 regular-size muffin cups with shortening or cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. In large bowl, mix flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Stir in pumpkin, oil, eggs, cranberries and pecans just until dry ingredients are moistened. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle sugar crystals evenly over batter in each cup.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan to cooling rack.

Source: Betty Crocker Fall baking 2008

Success Hint: Take care not to overmix the batter. Overmixing can result in tough muffins with peaked tops and tunnels inside.

Ham and Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo

2009-10-19T04:17:00.000-07:00

Have you been looking for a quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe? This dish is super easy and perfect for a busy family, yet looks and tastes special enough to prepare for dinner guests too. And to top it all off; it's prepared with just FIVE ingredients!! Perfection!! Don't let the lack of time and ingredients turn you off from trying this dish. Nearly every delicious bite is full of cheesy goodness and the sun-dried tomatoes offer an added "wow" factor that my family absolutely loved. Be sure to give this one a try!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

On a side note; my friend Sarah is tomorrow's (Thursday 10/22) featured blogger for SITS and is hosting a fantastic giveaway. Please check out her wonderful food blog and leave a comment to enter!!

Ham and Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo

8 oz. uncooked linguine
1/4 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cubed fully cooked ham

Cook linguine according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet coated with cooking spray, saute tomatoes for 1 minute. Reduce heat; stir in cream and cheese. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Simmer, uncovered , for 5-7 minutes or until thickened.

Drain linguine; stir into sauce mixture. Add ham; heat through.

Source: Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious Sep/Oct 2009

Autumn Cookie Bouquet

2009-10-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Oh my dear blogger friends; are you terribly disappointed in me and my lack of posting over the last month? Goodness, I've been incredibly sporadic with keeping you informed on the happenings in my kitchen! Just when I think that life will calm down a bit and I will have ample time to spend on doing things for me; such as blogging; my kids' activities, homework and obligations grab me by the shoestrings and we're off and running again and again. This first nine weeks of school has been quite an adjustment for our family and just thinking of all that has gone on around here tends to wear me out all over again...whew!! I have so many fun and fantastic recipes to share with you and I'm hoping (crossing my fingers) to catch up over the next few weeks.

This past week our bakery was busy with several bouquet orders and they turned out so incredibly cute that I had to share these with you first. The Fall cookie bouquet was a "Get Well" bouquet and our client was thrilled with the idea of using an Autumn theme. Check out the cookies below to see how each cookie turned out. We baked each shape with our regular sugar cookie dough and also in our chocolate sugar dough. Both were delicious!!

Autumn leaves filled with orange royal icing and sprinkled with a combination of red, orange and yellow sprinkles.

Autumn leaves filled with yellow royal icing and piped with brown and orange. We then pulled a toothpick through the wet piping to blend the colors.

Fall isn't complete without Candy Corn! These were so much fun to create!

Every squirrel's favorite, Acorns!! I think this was my favorite of the bunch.

All of our cookie bouquets are potted in our signature, customizable, clay pots. How can you not love all the colors of Fall? Cute!!

Wouldn't these make a great Thanksgiving gift for your dinner hostess? Or a cute centerpiece for the kids' table? Adorable and edible! Or, maybe, a special "Thank You" gift for your kiddos' teachers. If you're interested in ordering for Thanksgiving, please contact us and we can customize your bouquet. Watch for our Christmas themed pots too; coming soon!

We also completed another adorable baby bouquet last week. This was to be the centerpiece for a baby shower for a precious little girl due to arrive next month. Yes, you are reading the rattle correctly, her name is to be Poet Scout. Very artistic!

This time our little duckie didn't want to darn the standard "duck" yellow, so we dressed her up in light lavender and gave her tiny pink beads at her neckline. Very chic and stylish don't you think?

I just love little baby bottles!!

When a baby gets a bottle, she also needs a cute little bib too. Less mess for Mom. :-)

I hope you've enjoyed my little tutorial of last week's kitchen happenings! I promise to catch you up on all the yummy sweet and savory recipes we've enjoyed lately.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Source: Decadent Dreams Bakery Originals

Double-Decker Confetti Brownies

2009-09-13T08:04:00.001-07:00

I know it seems that I've been posting a lot of sweets lately, but with all four kids in school and packing lunches, I've been baking a lot of sweets and love sharing each of them with you! :) I promise to post some great new dinner recipes that are quick and delicious and perfect for your busy weeknight meals.

These double layer brownies were fantastic and pleased both the brownie lovers and cookie lovers in our family. My "confetti" (the mini M&M's) in the cookie layer sunk, so the bars weren't as cute as I was hoping for but they were still a huge hit with my little critics. The entire pan was devoured in one day between lunches, after school snacks and my 42 year old cookie monster.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Double-Decker Confetti Brownies

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
1 cup M&M's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Baking Bits, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 13x9x2 inch baking pan; set aside.

In large bowl cream 3/4 cup butter and sugars until light and fluffy; beat in eggs and vanilla.

In medium bowl combine 2 1/4 cups flour, baking powder and salt; blend into creamed mixture.

Divide batter in half. Blend together cocoa powder and melted butter; stir into one half of the dough. Spread cocoa dough evenly into prepared baking pan.

Stir remaining 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup "M&M's" into remaining dough; spread evenly over cocoa dough in pan. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup "M&M's".

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges start to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely. Cut into bars. Store in tightly covered container.

Source: The Great American Cookie Cookbook

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake

2009-09-11T18:41:00.001-07:00

This past weekend my friend Sarah's son (Josh) celebrated his 3rd birthday. Josh is a huge fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I mean, the boy LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Did I mention that Josh Loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? I did? Oh...okay. Sorry. Can you guess what the theme of Josh's big party was? Here it comes.....wait for it....almost...there....Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Yay-you guessed correctly! You're SO smart!

Well, anyway, I was thrilled when Sarah asked me to help her with creating Josh's birthday cake. When she showed me her plan for the cake I knew we would have so much fun baking and decorating together. She baked the cakes, I prepared the fondant and we got together Friday night for the fun. Between giggles, pizza, six kids and two husbands we completed Josh's cake. I must say that we were pretty pleased with how it turned out. But, more importantly, the very special birthday boy LOVED it and that's all that counted!!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Black and White Cookie Ripple Coffee Cake

2009-09-09T07:28:00.001-07:00

When I saw this cake on Donna's (My Tasty Treasures) blog I nearly drooled and knew instantly that I would be making this cake SOON!! I mean, seriously, who could resist eating a coffee cake loaded with Oreo cookies? This is my kids' definition of breakfast perfection! Have your precious little ones ever asked if they could have cookies for breakfast? Just this once, Mom...PLEASE?? Well, now you can say "Yes, you can!" You'll immediately become "World's Best Mom" in their eyes when you serve them a generous slice of this delicious coffee cake. :)

The cake itself is pretty much a standard coffee cake recipe, nothing too sweet. The sweetness and goodness is added with the cookies, and for our cake I used Double Stuff Oreos. To me, there is no other Oreo comparison. If it's not Double Stuff, leave it on the store shelf. I thought the double cream would be wonderful in the cake and it certainly did not disappoint! The kids loved, loved, loved this cake and ate it for their after school snack as well as breakfast. This cake will certainly be making future appearances at our table!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Black and White Cookie Ripple Coffee Cake

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
30 + coarsely chopped sandwich cookies (OREOS!)

Soften butter by letting it stand for 30-45 minutes at room temperature or cut into chunks and allow to stand for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Coarsely chop the Oreos (I followed Donna's suggestion and put 20 chopped cookies in one bowl for the filling and the remainder in another bowl for the topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a tube pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a mixer bowl, cream softened butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs 2 at a time, and blend on medium speed until blended, scraping bowl often to make sure no butter or sugar sticks to the bottom. Add vanilla and buttermilk and blend well. Fold in the dry ingredients and blend until batter is smooth, about 2 to 4 minutes. Pour 2/3 of the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle 2/3 of cookie pieces over batter (the 20 cookies), putting more on perimeter than directly in the middle (cookie pieces are less likely to sink when dispersed this way).

Top with remaining batter and top batter evenly with remaining cookie pieces.

Bake 45 minutes and then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Finish baking until cake tests done with a cake skewer that almost comes out clean, another 15-20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan before turning cake out onto a serving plate. Let cake cool completely before adding glaze.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2-6 tablespoons buttermilk

For glaze, whisk sugar, butter and vanilla together. Slowly add enough buttermilk to make a thin glaze. (I used about half the milk). Drizzle glaze over top of cake with a fork or whisk. Let glaze set.

Source: Donna of My Tasty Treasures

"Pleasing His Chocolate Cravings" with Chocolate Thumbprints

2009-09-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

If you read my previous post then you understand the title to this one. As I previously stated, I've been baking special treats to put in my kids' lunches to let them know that I'm thinking of them during the day. My first "special" treat was met with a 75% approval rating, only disappointing our 9 year old son because of the lack of chocolate in the blondies. So to appease his chocolate craving, I searched and found the recipe for these remarkable, delicious cookies. Plus, Marty was headed to a meeting with some men who had requested some baked goods. I was thrilled to make two of my boys happy with one recipe. :)

These were a lot of fun to bake up and filling the centers of the cookies with the peanut butter filling gave me a little creative outlet. The only change I will make to the original recipe is to use mini-chocolate chips instead of regular sized. Using mini chips would allow making the "thumbprints" easier than maneuvering the larger chips.

Oh, did you ask how these tasted? Well, they were irresistible! If you've ever eaten a buckeye (the peanut butter ball covered in chocolate made to resemble a buckeye) then you can imagine the taste of this cookie. The filling was fluffy and creamy and complimented the chocolate cookie perfectly and tasted so similar to the buckeyes my family loves!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Chocolate Thumbprints

Cookies
1/2 Butter Flavor Crisco Stick or 1/2 Cup Butter Flavor Crisco all-vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk
1 square (1 ounce) unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Peanut Butter Cream Filling
2 tablespoons Butter flavor Crisco Stick or 2 tablespoons Butter Flavor Crisco all-vegetable shortening
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheet with shortening. (I used parchment paper)

For cookies, combine 1/2 cup shortening, granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, vanilla and egg yolk in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Add melted chocolate. Mix well.

Combine flour and salt. Add gradually to chocolate mixture at low speed. Mix until blended. Add chocolate chips. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Press thumb gently in center of each cookie.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Do not overbake. Press centers again with small measuring spoon. Remove cookies to cooling rack and cool completely.

For peanut butter cream filling, combine 2 tablespoons shortening and peanut butter in medium bowl. Stir with spoon until blended. (I used my hand mixer.) Add confectioners sugar. Stir well. Add 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Fill centers of cookies.

Source: The Great American Cookie Cookbook

Fabulous Blonde Brownies

2009-09-05T08:19:00.001-07:00

School is now in full swing. There's a part of me that is glad to be back into a routine, but I have to say that I desperately miss my kids!! One of the ways I find to let them know that I'm thinking of them during the day is to send yummy, homemade treats for their lunches. :) I baked these little blondies up late one night after our youngest had perused the "treat" drawer and found that we were out of cookies. GASP! She turned to me and asked, "Mommy, what will I have in my lunch for dessert?" :( I couldn't let my baby down and send her to school without something to satisfy her sweet tooth, right?! After saying our prayers and tucking four sleepy heads into bed, I went on a search for something that would be quick and simple to bake up. These little babies fit the bill. I loved that the recipe called for toffee bits with the white chocolate, gotta love that combination. The next day three of the four kids commented on how much they liked these. My 9 year old son came to me and said, "Mom, no offense, but I didn't really like the dessert you sent. It didn't have any chocolate in it. Can you please fix something chocolatey for tomorrow?" Hmmm, don't you love his honesty and truth be told...the apple didn't fall far from the tree! I MUCH prefer desserts with chocolate too!! Check back soon to see what I baked up to satisfy our chocolate cravings!!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Fabulous Blonde Brownies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate chips
1 cup (4 ounces) blanched whole almonds (I omitted)
1 cup English toffee bits
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9-inch baking pan.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl; mix well. Combine white chocolate chips, almonds and toffee bits in medium bowl; mix well.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture; beat until well blended. Stir in 3/4 cup white chocolate chip mixture. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

Bake 20 minutes. Immediately sprinkle remaining white chocolate chip mixture evenly over brownies. Press lightly. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool brownies completely in pan on wire rack.

Source: The Great American Cookie Cookbook

Tuna Noodle Casserole

2009-09-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

Last spring, when my friend Sarah was enjoying her maternity leave, I spent many an afternoon at her home while her oldest and my youngest played...I also lavished the opportunity to snuggle with a precious, new baby!! Our lunches often consisted of left overs from our dinners. On one occasion, Sarah reheated this awesome tuna casserole. It was unlike any tuna casserole I had ever tasted and I asked her to share the recipe with me.

It's taken me several months to fix this for my family but it was such a huge hit with everyone, that I'm sure it's going to be on our dinner table often. Marty and I LOVED the "grown-up" flavor that the roasted red pepper added to this dish and the kids raved about the abundance of noodles and the bread crumb topping. The original recipe is prepared in an 8x8 dish, but I doubled it and baked in a 13x9. I was planning (and hoping) that this would be a success for dinner and needed plenty of leftovers for lunches and our buffet-style leftover night. :-) If you like tuna casserole, you'll LOVE this version of the favoured dish!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

8 ounces uncooked linguine
1 cup frozen broccoli florets
1 package (1.8 oz) leek soup mix
1 1/2 cups milk
Dash pepper
1 can (5 oz) albacore tuna, drained
2 tablespoons chopped drained roasted red bell peppers
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cook and drain linguine as directed on package, adding broccoli for last 2 minutes of cook time.
Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, mix soup mix and milk. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pepper. Add linguine, broccoli, tuna and roasted peppers to soup mixture; stir gently to mix well. Spoon into baking dish. In small bowl, mix butter and bread crumbs; sprinkle over linguine mixture. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Source: Delectable Dining

Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars

2009-08-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

First off, I wanted to share this photo with you of an amazing storm that rolled in one afternoon of our vacation. The beauty of the dark, stormy clouds against the clear skies all hovering over the rough, gray waters of the ocean was absolutely breathtaking. God's creation at its finest. I quickly grabbed my camera and shot at least a dozen pictures. It was such a gorgeous sight to behold!

In my warped thought process, the definition of vacation reads, "time away from the daily grind that offers any and every excuse to overindulge on sweets for breakfast, lunch and dinner and as many snacks in between as possible". So, as I was planning the menu for the week, I selected some of the most mouth watering treats for our desserts
These little brownie bars were rich and chocolaty and packed a marvelous peanut butter flavor. I served these slightly warm with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream on top. (of course) They were a huge hit with all the "kids" big and small! These were so good that when we stopped in Atlanta to visit my brother and sister-in-law, I made them again! Their family loved them too. Huge success with very little effort. Love it!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars

6 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
3 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Reese's Peanut Butter (I used Jif-it's what was on hand)
1 cup Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips, divided
1 cup Reese's Peanut Butter Chips, divided
3/4 teaspoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9x2-inch pan.

2. Stir together butter, sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla in large bowl. Add 2 eggs; stir until blended. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; add to egg mixture, stirring until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, stir together sweetened condensed milk, peanut butter, remaining egg and remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour evenly over baked layer. Set aside 1 tablespoon each milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips; sprinkle remaining chips over peanut butter mixture. Return to oven; continue baking 20 to 25 minutes or until peanut butter layer is set and edges begin to brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

4. Stir together remaining milk chocolate chips, remaining peanut butter chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 30 seconds; stir. If necessary, microwave at HIGH an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. Drizzle over top of bars. When drizzle is firm, cut into bars. (I didn't wait that long!) Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Source: Hershey's Classic Recipes

All-Star Muffins

2009-08-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

Right before the kids went back to school, we vacationed on the beautiful Emerald Coastline of Florida with some dear friends of ours. Everyday was filled with fun on the beach, swimming in the pool and the sounds of the surf. Ahhh...so wonderful and relaxing!! What made our vacation even more perfect was the view out our condo window. There's nothing like waking every morning and looking out over the balcony and seeing the beauty of the ocean, sand and sky. I could even stand in the kitchen and still have a perfect view of the ocean and skyline. I was in heaven...what better environment to spark some creativity in the kitchen!!

The family we vacationed with also has four kids which made it double the fun for me to plan fun and tasty meals. Whenever we vacation we plan to dine out maybe once or twice, but most of our meals are eaten in our condo. After spending the majority of the day in the hot, summer sun, our kids are always wiped out and the last thing they have the patience for is to get cleaned up to go out to eat. So dining in allows the kids to clean up and put on their jammies and the added plus is it saves us quite a bit of money. Always a bonus!!
On one of our first mornings I baked these delicious All-Star Muffins that I found in my "King Aurthur Flour Baker's Companion" cookbook. This particular recipe grabbed my attention because of its simplicity and many variations that are offered. One of the variations that practically leaped off the page at me was the toffee chocolate chip addition. Holy Yum....chocolate and toffee chips for breakfast! Perfect for vacation!!

These baked up simply perfect!! Light and fluffy on the inside and just a little crispy on the edges. And the chocolate and toffee??? Oh. My. Goodness. Absolutely sinful!! The kids devoured these right up and the few that were leftover after breakfast were quickly eaten during lunch time. These will definitely become a "go-to" muffin for our breakfasts. I can't wait to bake up and blog about the other variations. :-)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

All-Star Muffins

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
10-ounce bag of Heath bar bits
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lightly grease 16 muffin cups or use paper liners.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with a handheld or stand mixer until light and fluffy and almost white in color. Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the batter is smooth.

Add the Heath bits and chocolate chips to batter.

Fill muffin cups and bake for 18-24 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove them from the oven, cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan to finish cooling on a rack. (Muffins left in the pan to cool will become tough from steaming.)

Source: The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

Baked Blueberry French Toast

2009-07-22T06:05:00.001-07:00

I love breakfast recipes that can be prepared the night before and popped into the oven in the morning. This is a perfect recipe if you're entertaining overnight guests or for celebratory breakfast for a special someone. The fresh blueberries added such a lovely, light flavor mixed with the french bread. I lightly dusted confectioner's sugar over each warm serving and added just a touch of maple syrup. PERFECT!!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Baked Blueberry French Toast

6 slices sourdough French bread, torn
4 eggs
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1-1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup butter, melted

Place bread into a jelly roll pan. In a medium bowl, mix eggs, half-and-half and vanilla together, pour over bread, cover and refrigerate overnight. Combine sugar, cinnamon, allspice and cornstarch together, fold in blueberries and place in a greased 13"x9" baking pan. Place chilled bread mixture on top of blueberry mixture; drizzle butter over bread. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Source: Gooseberry Patch "Hometown Favorites"

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2009-07-20T19:32:00.001-07:00

With our crazy, busy weekend schedule during baseball season, I was constantly looking for items for breakfast that would be easy to grab and go. There's nothing worse than rushing tired and hungry kiddos out the door very early in the morning....well, unless those tired and hungry kiddos cause Mom to hop on her broom that early! One of the easiest options (and least mess in the car) is muffins...they're so wonderfully versatile, easy to pack for the road and made a great mid-morning snack between games. :)

Earlier this summer I fed my obsession and purchased "The King Arthur Baker's Companion". As I read through (yes, I read cookbooks like most people would read a book...it's an illness!) I marked several breakfast recipes to try while my kids are home this summer. Since everyone in my family LOVES muffins, I chose to bake up this recipe first. These were moist and delicious and perfect for our crazy mornings. The kids raved about the banana/chocolate combination (haven't we all?) and the best kept secret is that there is just a small amount of whole wheat flour in these that makes them a "touch" healthier!!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
2 medium-size ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup, 5 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup (2 3/4 ounces) milk
1 cup (5 ounces) white whole-wheat flour or traditional whole-wheat flour (5 1/4 ounces)
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (4 1/2 ounces) chocolate chips
1 cup (4 ounces) walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they're smooth. Scrape the bowl down, then beat in the egg, spices, banana, and milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then gently stir them into the butter-sugar mixture.

Spoon the batter into 12 lightly greased muffin cups. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and after 10 minutes turn them out of the pan to cool.

Source: The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

Hello Again!!!

2009-07-19T14:17:00.001-07:00

Hello again to all my fellow foodie friends!! I know that it has been an extremely long time since I posted any fabulous food on my blog, but I hope to change that pattern really soon. I wanted to briefly catch you up on the happenings of our family this summer.

First off-our son, Nathan, is blessed to be part of a travel baseball team, and the majority of the beginning of our summer was spent traveling to several tournaments in Indiana as well as a Mid-West Regional tournament in St. Louis. Most of the boys have played together since they were 6 years old and have developed not only their incredible baseball skills as a team, but also amazing friendships with one another. I do have to brag for just a moment on the success of our team.....the picture on the right is from a tournament that the boys won declaring them State Champions and the picture on the left is from the St. Louis tournament where they became the Mid-West Regional Champs!!! What an incredibly successful season for these 9 year old boys.....and their families!!! Way to go Avon Attack!!!

Our daughter, Megan, also celebrated her 12th birthday while we were in St. Louis for baseball. Let me just say, we heard several times how she has spent the LAST 4 years of her birthdays sitting at baseball games!! So, we agreed to allow her to have several girlfriends over for a pool party/sleep-over to celebrate her birthday. The girls swam most of the afternoon and evening and then enjoyed an outdoor movie shown beside the pool.

Megan had picked out these adorable popcorn cupcakes from "Hello Cupcake" but still wanted a cake too. My friend, Sarah, and I brainstormed together about what kind of cake would tie the cupcakes with Megan's outdoor movie experience. Sarah's brilliant plan was to create a cake that resembled a movie theater popcorn bucket!! As you can see, the finished product was absolutely perfect and sooooo adorable! The girls LOVED it!!! Also, we were incredibly proud to debut our first Decadent Dreams Bakery ORIGINAL!!! Sarah and I will be posting more about this cake on our blogs really soon!!

Finally, last weekend we hosted the season-ending party for the baseball team. It's always great fun to get all the families together for a cookout and enjoy backyard baseball, swimming, corn-hole and share in laughter and fun! Here, the boys are awaiting Coach Chris to talk with them and to receive their year-end goodie bags....as if two championships weren't enough!!! :)

This is the cake that Sarah and I baked for the party. It was a double chocolate chip cake with chocolate mousse between the layers and covered with delicious butter cream icing! The baseball is dark chocolate cake wrapped in homemade marshmallow fondant and the laces are piped on with butter cream. Again....more to come on this cake as well!!! Many thanks to my friend Angie for her inspiration and ingenuity on the design!!

I think that pretty well wraps up our summer so far. I have desperately missed catching up with all of you and also have been incredibly touched by the concern many of you have shown by checking up on me with my lack of foodie posts!! I'm still here...still baking...still cooking....and waiting with baited breath to share with you many fun and fabulous dishes! ;-)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Waffles

2009-06-18T06:52:00.001-07:00

My kids absolutely love to wake up to the smell of fresh waffles on the griddle. I believe that if I gave them their way, I would be preparing a batch every morning. Knowing this, my wonderful husband gave me a restaurant quality waffle iron for Christmas that I absolutely LOVE and it makes baking waffles so much fun! Ulterior motive?? Maybe!

The other morning the breakfast fixins' were pretty slim (I had neglected to make it to the store) and I knew that I would have my hands full with grumpy kiddos if I didn't figure out breakfast quick. I rapidly searched All Recipes for a waffle recipe with ingredients I had on hand. I liked this particular recipe because the batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week!

These were light and fluffy and absolutely wonderful!! They had just the perfect hint of cinnamon flavor and I'm thinking I just might add a touch of nutmeg to them next time too. I can't wait to prepare these again and serve with some fresh fruit Yummo!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Waffles

2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth.

Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

This batter can be stored in the fridge, covered, for up to a week. Whisk well before using again.

Source: All Recipes

Pork Tostadas

2009-06-15T07:11:00.001-07:00

These tostadas were the second dinner prepared from the original Spice-Encrusted Pork Tenderloin posted earlier. I was so excited to be using left-over meat to prepare an entirely new and exciting meal.

These were absolutely delicious!! The combination of the spicy pork, salsa, and beans was perfect and packed with huge flavor! At first, I was tempted to leave out the black beans and salsa combination, that the recipe called for but after tasting the first bite of my tostada I was so thankful that I went ahead and prepared it! To be honest, the beans didn't look appetizing at all, but..oh, my they had tremendous flavor!

This meal was another successful one for our household, not only delicious and packed with tons of flavor but also a great savings on the weekly budget! Hooray!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Pork Tostadas

3 tablespoons corn oil
6 (5-inch) corn tortillas
3 cups Seasoned Black Beans (Recipe follows)
1 (15.5-ounce) jar prepared salsa
Guacamole (I omitted)
2 pork tenderloins, warmed and shredded
1 (16-ounce) container sour cream

In a large nonstick skillet, heat corn oil over medium-high heat. Cook tortillas on each side until golden. Drain on paper towels.

In a small saucepan, add beans, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until all liquid has evaporated. Use a potato masher to mash beans.

To assemble tostadas, layer beans, salsa, guacamole, shredded pork and sour cream on each tortilla. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired.

Seasoned Black Beans
(I halved this recipe for our tostadas)

4 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained
2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, combine beans, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook according to above directions.

Source: Cooking with Paula Deen Jan/Feb 2009

Spice Encrusted Pork Tenderloin

2009-06-12T16:56:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been on the search for dinners and recipes that will offer and provide a couple of different meals throughout the week for our family. Trying to stretch our family grocery budget has become a priority with me not working over the summer months. And it never hurts to tighten up the budget strings anyway...just ask my husband! :)

Pork tenderloin was not on sale the week I had this on my menu so I hesitated a moment at the meat counter. These two loins were a total cost of $10.34. As I stood and figured out that I would be preparing three different meals for the six of us, I realized that the cost per person per meal for the meat was right around .55 cents. WOW-not such a bad deal after all!!

This recipe was quick and simple to prepare. After rubbing the loins with all the spices, I browned the meat for a few minutes per side to seal in the flavor and juices of the meat and then baked them for 20 minutes. Pretty easy, huh?!

The flavors of the spices on the tenderloins were fantastic!! It definitely had a little "kick" to it, but not too much that the kiddos wouldn't eat it.

In my next post I'll be sharing a recipe for Pork Tostadas using shredded pork reserved from this recipe!!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!
Spice-Encrusted Pork Tenderloin

2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
2 tablespoons garlic salt
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
4 (1.5-pound pork tenderloins, trimmed)
1/4 cup olive oil, divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine chili powder, coriander, cumin, kosher salt, oregano, garlic salt, and pepper. Coat tenderloins evenly with spice mixture.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook 1 tenderloin for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove tenderloin and place on prepared pan. Repeat with remaining olive oil and tenderloins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of tenderloin registers 155 degrees or desired degree of doneness. Slice to serve.

Source: Cooking with Paula Deen Jan/Feb 2009

And The Winner Is.....

2009-06-10T11:12:00.001-07:00

I'm sure that you all have been waiting to see who the incredibly lucky cookie winner is! Well, today my niece Taylor, and Megan sat at the kitchen table and wrote down everyone's name, then folded them and shook all of them up in Nathans hat, then Lauren chose the lucky winner. Before I give away the name, I would first like to thank everyone who entered this contest and became a follower. I can tell everyone really would love to win these cookies, and we have a winner! The name on the paper that was pulled out was... CaSaundra Leigh! Congratulations CaSaundra Leigh, I will start working on your cookies very soon!

CaSaundra, if you could please e-mail me a way to contact you, and also your mailing address. Thanks, ChristyOoley@yahoo.com :-)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!!

This post was written by my talented niece-Taylor.

Father's Day Cookie Giveaway!

2009-06-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

You may have read in earlier posts about the cookies that my friend Sarah and I have been making lately. . . we've been creating hand painted sugar cookies for all different holidays and events. Our Mother's Day cookies (pictured above) were a hit and we decided that it would be fun to do a Father's Day Blog Giveaway!

We are giving away a box of 9 hand painted, personalized "Father's Day Theme" sugar cookies-- to be shipped anywhere in the continental U.S. One box will be given away to a random winner on this blog and another will be given away to a random winner on Sarah's blog.

Here's how you can win:

* 1 entry for leaving a comment on this post

* 1 additional entry for signing up to follow this blog

* 1 additional entry for linking back to this post from your blog (be sure to leave me a note letting me know that you have done this!)

As an added bonus, you can go to Sarah's blog to have added entries on her giveaway! This contest will run through June 6th, at midnight EST. That way we can be sure to have these shipped out in plenty of time for Father's Day.

Good Luck!

Rocky Road Cupcakes

2009-05-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

This delectable little cake hails from a cute little cookbook that my daughter, Megan, received from our friends the O'Brien's when we shared the first night of Hanukkah together. Megan has enjoyed baking several recipes from it and I used it as my resource for our "Last Day of School" celebration lunch. :-) My kiddos absolutely devour Rocky Road ice cream any time I buy it, so I knew they would be thrilled to see these waiting for them after school.

The cake is marbled with white and chocolate batter and is incredibly moist and delicious. The topping is a mixture of toasted coconut, peanuts, dried cherries and marshmallows. All those yummy little goodies are then tossed in melted milk chocolate and mounded onto the tops of cupcakes. Oh yummy!! These were a huge hit with my kids to begin our summer vacation.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Rocky Road Cupcakes

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour, sifted
1/3 cup milk
pink food coloring
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons milk, extra

Rocky Road Topping

1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
1 cup red candied cherries, halved
1 cup pink and white marshmallows, chopped coarsely
1/2 cup flaked coconut, toasted
7 ounces milk chocolate, melted

Decorations

2 ounces milk chocolate chips, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 6-hole oversize (Texas) or 12-hole standard muffin pan with paper baking cups.

2. Beat butter, vanilla, sugar and eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in sifted flour and milk in two batches.

3. Divide mixture evenly among three bowls. Tint one mixture pink. Blend sifted cocoa with extra milk in cup; stir into another mixture. Leave third mixture plain.

4. Drop alternate spoonfuls of the mixtures into baking cups. Pull a skewer backwards and forwards through mixtures for a marbled effect; smooth surface.

5. Bake large cakes about 30 minutes, small cakes about 20 minutes. Turn cakes onto a wire rack to cool.

6. Combine ingredients for rocky road topping in medium bowl.

7. Place topping on tops of cakes; drizzle with chocolate.

Source: cupcakes

Brioche a' Tete

2009-05-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

Many of the food blogs that I visit regularly have boasted about the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day". The concept of having the ability to bake homemade breads on a daily basis without the many hours of preparation truly intrigued me. I wondered how a refrigerated dough could yield so many wonderful breads without a time-consuming, all day affair. So, like any faithful foodie, I ran to our neighborhood Barnes and Noble and purchased the book. :-)

Last week my friend Sarah and I enjoyed another afternoon of baking. One of the items we chose to work with was the Brioche dough from my new book. We divided the dough between us and this is my first completed bread from my "starter". I know Sarah had had great success with the two recipes that she baked up with her dough, so you'll have to be on the look-out for her creations on her food blog too. I loved how quickly I had a loaf of fresh, homemade bread cooling on my kitchen counter. As I've said before, there's something about baking bread that gives me a feeling of comfort and satisfaction. If you haven't purchased this amazing book yet, go now...run don't walk to your nearest bookstore and get it. It truly changes how bread baking can be accomplished in our busy homes.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Chocolate and Toffee Chip Cookies

2009-05-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

Friday night was our kids' piano recital with a small reception following. All the parents are asked to bring cookies to contribute to the reception, well...Friday got away from me (hubby is now home on Fridays and my daily "routine" doesn't exist) and before I knew it, it was 3:00 and I had no idea what I was going to bake for my contribution. Procrastination...No...I just work better under pressure. (That said for my hubby's sake)

I decided to bake my stand-by chocolate chip cookie recipe but threw in a cup of Heath toffee chips to change it up a bit. Me-oh-my....Fabulous! Everyone loved the addition of the toffee. In fact, Marty has commented several times that these are the best cookies I've made-but he's easy to please. :-)

I know this probably isn't exactly a "blog-worthy" recipe, but when you have a simple success with something, don't you want to share it?? I do!

Oh-by the way-I must say how proud I was of how well ALL the kids performed at the recital! We are blessed to have a wonderful piano teacher who shares her passion for music with her students. It was clear to all in attendance that her students share her love of music and that they had worked very hard on their recital pieces. Great job and congratulations to everyone and a huge "THANK YOU" to Miss Shelley for your love, time and dedication in teaching these fabulous kids. We love you!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!
Chocolate and Toffee Chip Cookies

3/4 cup Butter Flavored Crisco
1 1/4 cup Packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup toffee chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients and set aside.

Combine Crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Beat at medium speed. Add egg.

Mix dry ingredients into creamed mixture just until blended.

Stir in both chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Source: Crisco

Slow Cooker Saucy Chicken with Veggies and Rice

2009-05-14T06:09:00.001-07:00

I absolutely love my slow cookers and the freedom they offer me on busy days. :) I am always on a continual search for new, exciting recipes that may appeal to my entire family. This dish was so, so simple to prepare and took only 15 minutes to "throw" into my slow cooker. But, please don't let the simplicity lead you to think that this dish lacked big flavor! Oh My! The sauce consisting of only dry onion soup and cream of mushroom soup was fantastic and gave the chicken and veggies a rich flavor. Served with a side of rice, this dish was given HUGE thumbs up from every one of my food critics! Yeah. :-)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Saucy Chicken with Veggies and Rice

3 cups sliced celery
3 cups sliced fresh carrots
2 cups sliced onion
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup white wine or chicken broth
Hot cooked rice

Place the celery, carrots, onion and chicken in a 5-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the soup, soup mix, thyme, pepper and tarragon, pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the chicken reads 170 degrees.

Mix cornstarch and wine until smooth; stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until gravy is thickened. Serve with rice. Yield: 6 servings.

Source: Taste of Home; Simple & Delicious Jan/Feb 2009

Chicken Spinach Calzones

2009-05-12T07:34:00.001-07:00

Lately, versatile and portable foods have been the key to family nutritious dinners around our home. I can't say that we haven't had the occasional fast food drive-through on our way to soccer, baseball or cheerleading, but, thankfully, it's been minimal thanks to some fantastic recipes that I've found.

These calzones were extremely delicious and wrapped up nicely in foil to travel in the car. As you can tell from my picture, they were gooey with yummy cheese, had nice big chunks of chicken and the added nutrition of fresh spinach. I can't share with you how pleased I felt to quickly prepare a nutritious dinner for my family and send them off to their various activities with a full stomach. :) This was so much healthier than anything the kids would get at a drive-through and much better for our budget too.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Chicken Spinach Calzones

3 chicken breasts, chopped
1 (10-ounce) bag fresh spinach
1 (16-ounce) jar prepared Alfredo sauce
1 (8-ounce) package sliced provolone cheese, diced
1 (8-ounce) package fresh basil
About 1 cup cooked mushrooms (I omitted)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 (13.8-ounce) cans refrigerated pizza dough
Prepared marinara sauce and pesto sauce (optional)
Garnish: fresh basil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine chicken, spinach, Alfredo sauce, cheese, basil, mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper.

Unfold one can of dough onto prepared baking sheet. gently stretch or roll into an 11-inch square; cut in half diagonally, forming two triangles. Place about 1 1/2 cups chicken mixture in the center of the triangle, leaving a 1-inch border on each side. Fold 1 side of triangle over filling, rolling up edges of dough to seal. Cut a small slit in top of calzone to allow steam to escape. Repeat with remaining dough and chicken mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce and pesto sauce, if desired. (The marinara was fantastic with these!!) Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.

Source: Cooking with Paula Deen-January/February 2009

Mexican Lasagna

2009-05-01T05:49:00.001-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been jam packed with our many extra-curricular activities with the kids. While I have continued to prepare dinners for our family, it has typically been quick, easy, tried and true recipes that I whip up during this incredibly busy schedule; so, I haven't had any yummy, new and exciting recipes to post for awhile now. Thankfully I remembered that I still had this delicious dinner in my blog archives ready to go. :)

Several weeks ago, my friend Sarah and I had spent the day baking (again) and then enjoyed preparing this dish together for our dinner. The dish was very simple to put together and was a welcome and delicious change to my normal lasagna. The kids have since asked numerous times when I am planning to fix this again...yay, another new success out of my kitchen.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Mexican Lasagna

2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 (2 ounce) can black olives, sliced
1 (4 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chili peppers (We used Rotel Brand)
1 (16 ounce) jar taco sauce
2 (16 ounce) cans refried beans (We reduced this to 1 can)
12 (8 inch) flour or corn tortillas
9 ounces shredded Colby or Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the ground beef for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 5 more minutes. Drain any excess fat, if desired. Mix in the olives, green chile peppers, tomatoes with green chile peppers, taco sauce and refried beans. Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 4 quart casserole dish. Cover with a layer of tortillas followed by more meat mixture, then a layer of cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping off with a layer of meat mixture and cheese.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.

Source: For the life of me I can't remember where I found this recipe, but would love to give credit to whomever it originated, so if this is your recipe, please let me know.

Lauren's Chocolate Drizzle Pie

2009-04-15T15:26:00.001-07:00

As I was planning our Easter dinner I knew I wanted something fun and fabulous for our dessert. When I came across this recipe in Paula Deen's "The Lady & Sons Just Desserts" there was no question what we would be savoring after our egg hunt. Plus, I loved the title of the pie...our youngest's name is Lauren-it made her feel pretty special.

This pie was phenomenal! It combined two of my absolute favorites; warm, ooey-gooey brownies and cheesecake in pie form! How could this not have been a winner! The pie was a cinch to put together and smelled heavenly as it baked. I served home-made french vanilla ice-cream a'la mode and the only sounds heard in our kitchen during dessert were Mmmmm!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Lauren's Chocolate Drizzle Pie

1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 15.5 ounce Pillsbury Thick 'n Fudgy Deluxe Brownie Mix
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I omitted)
1/4 cup Smucker's Dove milk chocolate ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Follow manufacturer's instruction for setting pie crust in pan. I recommend a deep dish.

Combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and 1 egg in a bowl. Beat with a handheld electric mixer until smooth and set aside. In a large bowl, mix brownie mix, 1 egg, oil and water. Beat 50 strokes. Spread half of brownie mixture into raw pie shell. Carefully spread cream cheese mixture over brownie layer. Sprinkle chocolate chips over cream cheese layer; top with remaining brownie mixture and sprinkle nuts on top. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until center puffs and crust is brown. Warm sauce slightly in microwave. Serve warm or at room temperature over pie.

**Top with ice cream

Source: The Lady & Son's Just Desserts

Frosted Peanut Butter Cupcakes

2009-04-02T08:13:00.001-07:00

First of all, let me thank so many of you for all the wonderful birthday wishes! It's wonderful being a part of the foodie world and sharing our families, stories, trials, triumphs, recipes and special events together! You all made my day so very special, thank you! :)

Last week my Mom gave me my birthday present a little early. When I looked inside the bag, I was incredibly excited to see several new cookbooks. Yay!! I could hardly wait to sit and read through each one. It's a running joke in our house that I'm constantly reading cookbooks..it's an illness, really. One of the cookbooks is a cute, little book titled simply, "Perfect Baking". My favorite part of this book is that every delicious recipe is accompanied by a full, color photograph. Don't you love it when there's photos of a recipe that look so mouth-wateringly delicious that you feel you have to bake right away? Thanks Mom for my new books!!! I LOVE THEM!

One of the first recipes I marked to try right away were these wonderful frosted peanut butter cupcakes. Just the title had me checking the pantry to verify that I had all the ingredients on hand. Mmmm! When Sarah and I were baking last week, we decided that these were a must try for the day. The original recipe did not call for chocolate chips, but, hey-what's a peanut butter cupcake without some mini chocolate chips? The addition was perfect! When we were preparing to mix the frosting, we were sure that there was a misprint-there didn't seem to be enough liquid to create a soft cream. But, boy were we wrong! The frosting mixed up beautifully and made an already delicious cupcake, D.I.V.I.N.E.
Isn't this the cutest little cupcake? Mmmm, it was just sitting there calling my name.....I couldn't resist....
I thought that one tiny bite would surely be enough to whet my craving for this irresistible combination of chocolate and peanut buttery goodness! Right?
Wrong!!! The first bite was heaven!! I quickly looked around to see where the kids were....realized they were still at school and....yes.... took a second bite. Oh. My. Word. And before I knew what I was doing......
Oops, did I eat that whole cupcake? No!!.....well.....maybe....well......yes O.K.! I ate the entire thing and loved. every. bite! :)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Frosted Peanut Butter Cupcakes

4 Tbs. butter, softened
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter (I used creamy)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 cup mini-chocolate chips

Put 15 muffin paper cases in a muffin pan.

Put the butter, sugar and peanut butter in a bowl and beat together for 1-2 minutes or until well mixed. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla extract. Sift in the flour and baking powder and then, using a metal spoon, fold them into the mixture, alternating with the milk. (Fold in the chips) Spoon the batter into the paper cases.

Bake the cupcakes in a preheated oven, 350 degrees, for 25 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Frosting

1 cup full-fat soft cream cheese
1 Tbs. butter, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar

To make the frosting, put the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl and, using an electric mixer, beat together until smooth. Sift the confectioner's sugar into mixture, then beat together until well mixed.

When the cupcakes are cold, spread the frosting on top of each cupcake, swirling it with a round-bladed knife. Store the cupcakes in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Source: Perfect Baking

Happy Birthday to Me and Skillet Chicken Pasta with Broccoli

2009-04-01T00:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, today is my birthday. I'm an April Fool's baby. And, trust me, I've heard all the puns and jokes about being born on this day. The best part of celebrating my birthday on April 1st is that my kids are always enjoying Spring Break on this day. This morning I awoke only to be told to go back to bed and was served a warm bagel and grapes in bed. Very thoughtful and much appreciated! I can't wait to see what the rest of the day has in store. I didn't want today to go by without sharing an amazing new dish I recently discovered on one of my favorite blogs. Enjoy!

I love pasta! I love anything pasta! As a mother, I love the diversity of pasta. I love that I can add vegetables and meats into a cheesy sauce and the kids are more apt to eat what I've prepared. As a cook, I love the simplicity a pasta dish offers. When I found this recipe on Melanie's fantastic blog, I immediately worked it into the following week's menu.

This entire meal is prepared in one skillet and comes together fairly quickly and simply. Most of the ingredients called for in this recipe are staples in our home except for the sun dried tomatoes (which are quickly becoming a favorite of mine). The water, broth, cream and parmesan cheese create a fantastic, creamy white sauce that is flavored with the sauted onion and garlic. This dish was a huge success with my family and was wonderful heated up for lunch the next several days.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Skillet Chicken Pasta With Broccoli

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares
Table salt and ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
12 ounces ziti (I used penne pasta and actually added 16 oz.)
4 1/4 cups water
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4-5 cups broccoli florets 1
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped coarse
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (asiago was the cheese in the original recipe and can be interchanged)
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook for 1 minute without stirring. Stir the chicken and continue to cook until most, but not all, of the pink color has disappeared and the chicken is lightly browned around the edges, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a clean bowl and set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the skillet. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, 2 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the pasta, 3 cups of the water, and the broth. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until the liquid is very thick and syrupy and almost completely absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, and the remaining 1 1/4 cups water. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the broccoli turns bright green and is almost tender, 2-3 minutes.

Uncover and return the heat to medium-high. Stir in the cream, parmesan, and reserved chicken with any accumulated juices and continue to simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked and heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, passing more grated parmesan at the table, if desired.

Source: Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe

Sous Chef Mo's Fantastic Meal

2009-03-30T12:47:00.001-07:00

I am SO excited to write and share this post with you, my fellow foodies!! Why, you ask? Well, because it gives me the opportunity to brag just a wee little bit about one of my kiddos. For those that know me personally, you know that I am not one to boast about myself (not much to boast about anyway, hee hee) and that Marty and I are passionate about teaching humbleness and graciousness to our children. God, in all His goodness, gives us all special gifts and talents, but to boast about those talents and gifts can be a huge stumbling block, not to mention how rude it comes across to others! Do you know what I'm talking about? Do you ever run into someone and think to yourself.."Oh, why did I stop to talk to her/him? All they ever do is talk about me, me me! They won the ballgame, their kids are the smartest, their family is traveling to Barbados for the holidays..blah blah blah!" I don't ever want to be thought of that way, and I CERTAINLY don't want my kids to be THAT person either!! :) Sorry about that tangent....anyway, I'm not sharing this post with you to pat myself on the back for being the "perfect" Mom who has taught her children many of life's skills and we're certainly not on our way to Barbados for Spring Break, I'm posting this because I am incredibly proud of my precious daughter for showing initiative, responsibility and helpfulness in preparing a wonderful meal for dinner while Sarah and I wrapped up our Spring cupcakes. After all, this blog IS about being a fellow foodie and I DID begin my blog to share recipes and fun experiences and we're all sort of an extended family and you deeply wish to share in the fun too-right? Right! So, bear with me as I step aside as the cook and narrate for you an incredible recipe prepared by Megan (a.k.a. Sous Chef Mo-her friends call her Mo and she's been our helper with the bakery so Sous Chef Mo has stuck as her nick name.) I promise to keep myself in "check" and not become too obnoxious bragging about Megan or become one of THOSE people that you won't want to come back and visit me here in my kitchen. K? K!

Here it goes;
Last week Sarah and I had already set aside Friday for baking with the kids and then late Thursday we found out that our husbands had both been offered (and accepted) tickets to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen Tournament held downtown, so it was a no brainer to turn our baking day into a full festival and share dinner together as well. We became so consumed with the cupcakes that we didn't realize that dinner time was upon us and we were nowhere near ready to quit working with our flowered cupcakes. Sarah had brought all the ingredients to prepare her Mom's yummy meatloaf, but after checking out Pioneer Woman's website earlier in the day we decided to change plans and fix the yummy meatballs we saw on her site. Megan overheard us discussing the lateness of the day and our dinner plans and before we knew it, she had pulled up Pioneer Woman's website, began setting out all the ingredients called for and started mixing things up. I casually grabbed the camera to start documenting her first attempt at preparing a meal on her own and tried really hard not to tear up while taking these shots. AWWW-I'm such a blubbering idiot when it comes to my kids!
Here's our chef with Pioneer Woman's recipe pulled up on Sarah's laptop ready to follow the detailed instructions. Pioneer Woman also had fantastic photos (of course) that really helped her understand what she was to do.
After mixing all the ingredients together Mo used a cookie dough scoop to assure similar sized meatballs and placed them on a cookie sheet ready to go into the freezer for a few minutes to firm up a little. Again, she kept a close eye on the pictures from Pioneer Woman's post. Side note...Don't you just LOVE Pioneer Woman?! I'm telling ya, I think she's Superwoman! She cooks, writes, blogs, is an amazing photographer and still has time to home school her four adorable kids. UGH-I'm a Pioneer Woman wanna be, but too much of a slacker to even be considered in the same category! :) The only thing we have in common is that we both have four adorable kids, but I'm not bragging or anything...
The meatballs have firmed up nicely and Sous Chef Mo is ready to brown those little babies up. I was a little nervous allowing her to work with hot oil, but she proved to be very careful and competent at being aware of the danger. Look, even the pan handle is turned in so that it doesn't accidentally get knocked and cause possible injury. (I hope Sarah's husband doesn't notice all the flour on and around their laptop-and we certainly weren't allowing her to fry food that near the computer either! Come to think of it he may never let her come and cook again if he does see this! Sorry Mike-we promise to be more careful next time.)
After lightly browning the meatballs, but not cooking all the way through, she placed them into a baking dish ready for the oven. She actually doubled the recipe and filled two 13X9 dishes. She was quite busy with meatballs for some time.

Pioneer Woman's meatball recipe called for homemade Bbq sauce to be poured over the browned meatballs, but since it was already well past our dinner time, I handed her a bottle of our favorite sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's) to use. She rather enjoyed free reign pouring the sauce over all those little meatballs, after all, what kid doesn't make silly comments about the noise a squeeze bottle makes when it's almost empty? C'mon, I know you know what I'm talking about! Don't be all prim and proper, you probably think it too!
After baking in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, we were ready to sit and savor Sous Chef Mo's incredible dinner. And incredible it was!! The meatballs were served alongside a simple salad (because there was absolutely no counter space to fix anything else), and with the lateness of the evening the salad was a perfect addition to the meal.

Well done my precious daughter!! You make me incredibly proud! There-I'll stop there with the accolades so that all our readers won't begin hurling because of my abounding pride and praises to you and will again return to my blog for future food and fun.
After dinner, Meg still had the energy to comfort and love on Sarah's daughter, Hannah. Too precious!! She's going to be one amazing wife and mother some day!! Not too soon though, daughter of mine, let me treasure these quickly passing years as your mom and allow me these fleeting moments to watch you as you grow into the beautiful, talented young woman God wants you to be. I'm loving every second of it!

From the heart of my (and Megan's) kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful! Enjoy!

Barbeque Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3/4 cup oats
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons very finely minced onion
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
plenty of ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine all meatball ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.

Remove from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.

Combine all sauce ingredients and then pour evenly over the top of the meatballs. (OR-grab your favorite, store bought sauce and do the same) Now just pop 'em in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. You'll know they're done when your house smells so good you want to marry it! They should be sizzling around the edges. Mmmm! (Directly quoted from Pioneer Woman) :)

Sauce

1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
4 to 6 tablespoons onion
Dash of Tabasco

Source: The Amazing Pioneer Woman

Spring Has Sprung Cupcakes

2009-03-28T16:19:00.001-07:00

Yes, Spring has sprung here in the mid-west and the creative minds at Decadent Dreams Bakery have been working over time baking up sugary, yummy goodies to celebrate the newness of the season. Contrary to what you may believe with my lack of posting, we have been extremely busy in the kitchen, however, everything we've created has been sold and shipped immediately out the door. Fantastic for our new business, not so great for food blogging or little ones who have begun begging their Mom to bake treats that actually remain in the house for them to enjoy. :)
Yesterday, the kids were blissfully happy to have begun their spring break and Sarah and I had previously promised my girls that we would spend the day playing in the kitchen and working on some adorable cupcakes. We've been patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity to work with fondant and FINALLY had the entire day to play, play, play! Seriously, we were as giddy as two little girls in a candy shop when we started coloring the fondant. :)
Our little Sous Chef Mo (my 11-year old daughter) also doubled as our photographer capturing our day of fun on "film". Sarah is working with the pink flowers and I was rolling out the pastel blue to begin cutting flowers.
Here are all 90+ flowers cut and waiting to be placed on the tops of the cupcakes. Aren't they absolutely adorable!
This was my favorite part of our day...watching my baby delicately placing her flowers on her cupcake. She was so precise in where her flowers went and I loved watching her little fingers at work. You can see that Sous Chef Mo was not only busy with the camera but she also took time to mentor her baby sister with the art of fondant. An amazing day in the kitchen with my daughters, sharing tons of laughs with my friend/partner, more beautiful baked goods to offer for our bakery and memories that will last a lifetime. All add up to such a successful day!

If you're wondering...yes, the cute little cupcakes remained at home for my precious little ones to savor and enjoy!

Thanks for allowing me to share with you our latest fun creation! I hope you've enjoyed my recap of our day! Coming up in my next post; I'll be sharing with you the delicious dinner that Sous Chef Mo prepared all on her own as Sarah and I put the final touches on our cupcakes. I'm SO proud!!

Taco Pizza

2009-03-10T09:09:00.001-07:00

Mexican food is a favorite in our family, especially tacos. Hard, soft, chicken or beef, it never matters and is always consumed with great fervor and I rarely have to package any leftovers. I was looking for a variation of tacos when I stumbled upon this recipe. I had all the ingredients except for the pizza crust, but quickly remedied that. I was incredibly pleased with how quickly and easily this came together and was ready to eat, especially for a weeknight dinner at our busy home. The reviews from my clan were all "thumbs-up" which was evident by the empty platter! The only change I will make the next time I prepare this is to make TWO pizzas instead of one.
Browned ground-beef, refried beans, salsa and taco seasoning ready to mix together. So, so simple!
My favorite addition to the pizza....crushed Fritos. Yummy. :)
Finally, topped with shredded cheese and ready to go into the oven. Voila-dinner is ready.

Taco Pizza

1 can refried beans
1 package taco seasonings
1 1/2 cup browned ground beef, drained well (I used 1 1b. for lots of meat)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Taco chips (I used my favorite..Fritos)
3/4 cup salsa
1 prepared pizza crust-preferably deep dish

In skillet or saucepan, combine browned ground beef, taco seasoning, refried beans and salsa. Stir until heated through. Spread into pizza crust. Top with crunched taco chips. Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and crust is browned.

Top with favorite taco toppings.

Source: Southern Plate

Slow-Cooker Chicken Parmigiana

2009-03-03T18:28:00.001-08:00

Things are certainly getting busier around our household which always indicates that spring is just around the corner. Baseball practice has begun, soccer is soon to begin, next school year's choices of elective classes have already been selected, piano recital pieces have been chosen and the sun is just starting to grace us with more daylight hours. Yippee!! Added to all that, my friend Sarah and I are marketing our new business, promoting our Easter cookie bouquets and baking and completing incoming orders. Whew, I'm practically worn out just sitting here thinking of all that needs to be accomplished these next few weeks. But, oohhh how I love watching my kids in their extra-curricular activities and the excitement building for our bakery is quite contagious. I believe that with all our busy-ness this season I'm going to be relying a bit more on my faithful slow-cookers to aid me in getting a home cooked meal on the table for our family.

Early this morning I realized that the meal I had planned to serve tonight simply wouldn't work with our evening commitments. I browsed through the pantry, checked what I had in the deep freeze, then grabbed one of my favorite slow-cooker cookbooks and searched for a recipe that called for ingredients that I had available. I chose this particular recipe because of it's simplicity and the fact that it sounded delicious to serve on this cold, sunny day. After picking my little girl up from kindergarten it took me less than 30 minutes to defrost the chicken, saute' it and get it into the crock-pot to cook for the remainder of the day. What a wonderful relief it is for me to know that however hectic our evening becomes, dinner is ready and waiting.

All my family LOVED this chicken! It was moist, cheesy and delicious served with our home grown green beans. Marty enjoyed a second serving and asked that I pack the leftovers up for him to take to work for lunch tomorrow. Ka-ching....another slow-cooker success!!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Chicken Parmigiana

1 egg
1tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
2-4 Tbsp. butter
14-oz. jar pizza sauce

1. Beat egg, salt and pepper together. Dip chicken into egg and coat with bread crumbs. Saute' chicken in butter in skillet. Arrange chicken in slow cooker.
2. Pour pizza sauce over chicken.
3. Cover. Cook on Low 6-8 hours. (Mine was done in 5 hours)
4. Layer mozzarella cheese over top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cook an additional 15 minutes.

Source: Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook

Triple- Chocolate Quick Bread

2009-02-28T16:32:00.001-08:00

That's right, you read it correctly; Triple Chocolate Bread. This is the last of the bread/muffin recipes that I've prepared for my family this week. For some chocolate is something that is enjoyed as a snack, for others (insert our family here) it can be enjoyed in the morning as part of breakfast. Not so healthy, not recommended by many, but greatly enjoyed just the same. :)

The kids flipped over this bread and I have to admit it took all my will power to not sit and devour both loaves. If you're having a serious chocolate craving this will satisfy your soul! Every moist bite of bread is full of mini chocolate chips and it's all topped with a delectable glaze made from more chocolate chips and cream. Mmm-divine!!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Triple- Chocolate Quick Bread

1-1/2 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Glaze

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter
2 to 3 tablespoons half-and-half cream
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt 1 cup chocolate chips; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and melted chocolate; mix well. Add the applesauce and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips.

2. Spoon in four greased 5-3/4-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. (I used two 9-in. x 5-in. pans and baked for approximately 60 minutes) Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

3. For glaze, melt chocolate chips and butter in a small heavy saucepan; stir in cream. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cream. Remove from the heat. Stir in the confectioner's sugar, vanilla and salt. Drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely.

Source: The Taste of Home Baking Book

Lemon Oatmeal Poppy Seed Muffins

2009-02-24T12:49:00.000-08:00

Here is another breakfast option that I have baked for my family this week. I have always loved the moist texture and yummy citrus taste of lemon poppy seed bread and when I found this recipe with oatmeal added and in the form of muffins, I was hooked.

Three out of my four kiddos begin taking ISTEP tests again next week and I worry that their minds will begin to day dream if their tummies aren't satisfied with a healthy breakfast. Studies have shown that oatmeal is a perfect breakfast for students' brain power because it's a slow burning carbohydrate that is full of rich nutrients. With the oatmeal added these muffins are a perfect way to sustain not only their hunger but their brain power too! A definite win for all!

Personally, I loved the texture and taste of these little muffins, but I believe I baked them a little too long because they were a little on the dry side. Therefore, these weren't a huge hit with the kids. When I bake them this weekend for the upcoming testing week, I plan to increase the lemon juice for even more citrus taste, decrease the amount of poppy seeds (because of my picky eaters), and be REALLY careful on the baking time. :) The original recipe called for an optional streusel topping but since the kids LOVE anything iced, I whipped up a glaze consisting of confectioner's sugar and lemon juice. Wow, it was perfect for the muffins!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!
Lemon Oatmeal Poppy Seed Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oats
2/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 egg or 2 egg whites
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind (I omitted)

Optional Streusel

1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup oats

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line 12 muffin cups with baking cups or lightly grease bottoms only.
3. Mix streusel and set aside.
4. Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Add liquids and mix just until dry ingredients are moist.
5. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.
6. Sprinkle streusel over muffins and pat gently.
7. Bake 18-20 minutes. (Watch carefully-don't overbake!!)

Source: Recipe Zaar

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

2009-02-21T07:36:00.001-08:00

Lately my little ones have been begging for me to find new, yummy recipes for their breakfasts during the school week. We've been in a "cold cereal" funk for a couple of weeks and they're ready for Mom to get back into the groove and bake some goodies for them to enjoy early in the morning.
I just purchased the "Taste of Home Baking Book" which has so many fantastic recipes with amazing, colorful pictures. I've been dieing to bake something from it but just haven't had the opportunity until late this past week.
When I saw the picture of this coffee cake, I knew that this recipe would be one of the first recipes I would to try. Personally, coffee cakes are a favorite of mine. There's nothing better to start your morning with than a hot cup of coffee and sweet, cinnamony cake.

The ingredients are ones that I typically have stocked in my pantry and refrigerator and I knew from baking cakes with sour cream in them before that this would be a super moist, delicious cake. It took no time at all to whip this cake up and have it ready to go into the oven for baking and ohhh it smelled wonderful while baking. The aroma in my kitchen was so mouth wateringly good that it nearly had me pulling this cake out too early just to cut a slice. It came out of the oven beautifully and the next morning when I finally had the opportunity to enjoy a large slice with my coffee, I savored every delicious, moist bite. Oh...yes, the kids loved it too. :o)

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!
Cinnamon Coffee Cake

1 cup butter, softened
2 - 3/4 cups sugar, divided
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating just enough after each addition to keep butter smooth.

2. Spoon a third of the batter into a greased 10-inch tube pan. Combine the cinnamon, nuts and remaining sugar; sprinkle a third over batter. Repeat layers twice. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: The Taste of Home Baking Book

Savory Salmon Cakes

2009-02-19T11:49:00.001-08:00

Do you wonder if you'll ever get your children to eat any fish besides the gross, frozen fish sticks? Are you looking for a quick, economical meal to prepare for you family? If so, I have the perfect recipe for you!

Salmon cakes have been a favorite of mine since childhood. I remember my brother and I smothering these little patties with ketchup, but we ate what was on our plate so Mom and Dad never said a word. As I've prepared these over the years for my family, I've tried adding and omitting many ingredients to perfect this to please our entire family. I have finally come up with an ingredient list that satisfies all my little picky palates and still has the texture and delicious taste that I'm looking for as an adult. These are great served alongside a fresh, crispy salad and steamed vegetables. They're even wonderful heated up the next day for lunch!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Savory Salmon Cakes

1 - 14.75 oz. can Alaskan Salmon
1/2 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
2 eggs
2 - 3 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 cup chopped green onion
2 - 3 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste

Additional Bread Crumbs to roll patties in
Choice of oil to brown patties

Warm 2 - 4 Tablespoons oil in frying pan on medium-low. Mix all ingredients together. Form mixture into patties (I use 1/4 cup measuring cup to form equal sized patties). Roll patties in bread crumbs and brown equally on both sides (4 - 5 minutes per side).

Source: Mom

Baked Apple Doughnuts

2009-02-15T13:22:00.001-08:00

I am always looking for new, exciting foods to serve my family for breakfast. Marty leaves for work very early in the morning and the bus schedule for the kids attending three different schools gets pretty crazy too. It's always handy to have something that's easy for the kids to grab on their own and that Marty can munch on in the car.

Typically my go to idea is muffins. Our entire family loves muffins of any and every kind, but I've been on the quest to find something new and delicious. When I found this recipe I was so excited, it didn't have any pictures with it but just reading through the ingredients and directions on how to prepare these, I knew they would be a huge hit with everyone.

As I said in my last post, my friend Sarah and I have spent alot of time together in the kitchen preparing for Valentine's day. One evening as we were waiting for the cookies to cool, she and I decided to bake these doughnuts for our families. We baked several batches and had plenty to send a platter with Marty to work. From what I was told, a few of the guys enjoyed more than a couple of yummy doughnuts. The platter came home empty and the guys apparently went home full. Try this fantastic recipe for baked doughnuts and see if these are a huge hit with your family too. They're definitely going to make a regular appearance in our home.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Baked Apple Doughnuts

1-1/2 cup flour
1-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup peeled and grated apple
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter

Stir first 4 ingredients and 1/2 cup sugar together into bowl. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Stir in egg, milk and apple, mixing well. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Mix 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.

Remove doughnuts from pan and roll in butter (we brushed butter on with pastry brush), then roll in sugar mixture.

Source: A View of America-Recipes

Cookie Bouquets Debuted

2009-02-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!! I love (no pun intended) this holiday. I probably like it more now that we have kids-the adorable parties at school, the cute t-shirts to purchase for my girls to wear in pinks and reds, seeing hearts and bright colors everywhere in the midst of dreary Indiana weather and of course it offers another reason to bake cookies and cupcakes to share with classmates, teachers, friends and family.

This year Valentine's Day was even more special. Why? My dear friend, Sarah, and I debuted our new venture with these adorable cookie bouquets. Decadent Dreams Bakery & Catering is officially in business!! We are offering specially made cakes, cupcakes, cookies, bouquets, pastries and much, much more for all occassions. If you can dream it, we can bake it. Exciting news huh?

This was the perfect time to launch our new venture. Who doesn't love heart shaped cookies iced with pinks and reds? Sarah and I had so much fun baking and decorating cookies and putting them together in festive, hand painted pots. We sold several bouquets and received rave reviews from all that purchased one. WHEW!!

Aren't these the cutest darn cookies? I think these are possibly my absolute favorite! Any time my Granny has ever sent me a card or written me a note, however small it is, she ALWAYS puts x's and o's at the bottom. This past summer I pulled into our driveway and noticed something sitting beside one of my flower pots and a note tucked under the pot. Sure enough, Granny had stopped by and brought the kids some goodies and left a note telling us she had missed us and at the bottom of the torn piece of paper was her infamous x's and o's.
These double hearts were alot of fun to plan and ice. I was thinking inside my very conservative box when Sarah suggested we fill each heart with different colors and pipe with the opposite color. I love how they turned out.
A simple pink heart piped with bright red and white lines to form a plaid pattern.
Sometimes simple says it all. We loved this heart cut-out cookie in red with piped white polka-dots. Yes, of course we ate the small heart that was cut out of the middle. :o) It helped give us the additional fuel for the long, late night hours we put in to complete our first orders.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Pasta Fagioli

2009-02-08T08:48:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I hosted an all day baking excursion with two of my friends. It was a day filled with laughter, fun and togetherness baking some fantastic treats. The girls were so gracious to bring soup, salad and homemade bread for lunch since I had provided the kitchen to play in.

My friend Sarah brought this amazing soup that she had bookmarked from Brown Eyed Baker. Sarah was kind enough to leave plenty of soup for my family's dinner that evening so I could wrap up and clean the kitchen. Marty and the kids LOVED dinner and Marty even requested some to be packed up for his lunch the next day. Pretty impressive! This soup has many wonderful textures from the crispiness of the carrots, the spiciness of the sausage, the depth of two kinds of beans and the fun of tiny pasta noodles in all. Mmmm!

I had put this soup on our menu for last week and thought I had everything in the pantry that I needed. Does this ever happen to you? You are in the midst of preparing dinner and you go to the shelves only to realize that you don't have a major ingredient? Well, that's what happened when I went to add the tomato sauce to the soup. I had many kinds of tomatoes, but no sauce. What I did have was a jar of traditional spaghetti sauce. I was too far into making the soup to turn back so I grabbed the spaghetti sauce and poured it in hoping for the best. Oh my...we loved the extra kick the spaghetti sauce added! I believe it's a permanent change to this already fantastic soup.

When you're ready for a hearty, Italian soup for dinner, give this recipe a try and you'll see why this is one of our new favorites!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!
Pasta Fagioli

2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 package sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 large (or 1 medium) onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 carrots, thinly sliced
4 stalks celery, thinly sliced
28 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
64 oz. beef broth
28 ounce can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
4 oz. small dry pasta (Ditalini)

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large stockpot over medium high heat, and brown the sausage, crumbling it as it cooks. Once brown, remove sausage from pot with a slotted spoon and discard any grease that remains in the pot.

2. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the same pot, and add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery and saute over medium heat until vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. (I cooked a little less so that the carrots still had a little crispiness)

3. Add sausage back to the pot, add the can of diced tomatoes (do not drain), stir briefly, and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Stir in the beans, and add the beef broth and tomato sauce. Add in all the seasonings, stir well, turn the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it boils, turn down to low heat, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

5. Add the dry pasta and continue to simmer on low for another 30 minutes.

Serve with your favorite bread or crackers.

Source: adapted from Delectable Dining, originally from Brown Eyed Baker

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

2009-02-06T04:11:00.001-08:00

One of the most popular appetizer for sports watching on tv with friends has to be hot wings. I have never cared for wings that are too spicy to savor and enjoy but love the tender meat of tiny drumsticks and wings.

Years ago, when Marty and I were visiting his brother and sister-in-law in Georgia, Pam fixed these tender and not too spicy wings. I fell in love with the flavor of the meat and the sauce had just the right kick that it didn't send me running for a gallon of water to douse a fire in my mouth. Pam shared her recipe with me and I have fixed them countless times and always receive positive comments on them.
The great flavor of the meat comes from marinating the wings/pieces in teriyaki sauce overnight. I buy wing pieces in a large bag and simply pour the teriyaki straight into it and place the bag into a plastic bowl to assure no "drips" contaminate the fridge. The pieces are baked for an hour in the sauce and then placed in a slow cooker with the hot sauce. Simple, quick and delicious. LOVE IT! Next time you're hosting a gathering and are looking for something meatier to feed your guests try this fantastic recipe and watch these babies disappear!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

4 - 5 lb. bag of frozen chicken wings/pieces
12 oz. bottle of teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup butter, melted
12 0z. bottle Frank's Original Hot Sauce

1. Marinate wings in teriyaki sauce overnight-turning every few hours.
2. Bake wings in sauce @ 425 degrees for 1 hour, turning half way through.
3. Pour sauce off wings and place in slow cooker on low.
4. Mix melted butter and bottle of hot sauce together and pour over wings.
5. Stir to combine thoroughly with wings. Let warm for 1 hour prior to serving.

Source: Pam Ooley

Another Fun Reason for Decorated Sugar Cookies

2009-02-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Our great friends, Ganesh and Julie, have hosted a Super Bowl party for the last several years. It is always so much fun to watch the big game with many of our friends from church regardless of which teams are vying for the Lombardi trophy. This year we knew the Ghooray's would be going all out with decorations and festivities. You see, they are hard core, die hard Steeler fans. I remember a Sunday a few years back when our Colts were due to play the Steelers in a playoff game that afternoon. That morning at church the majority of our congregation was decked out in Colts' blue. It was an awesome sight with one major eyesore...there sat our friends in the midst of a sea of beautiful blue wearing their Steelers colors of black and gold. UGH! Boy did they get a ton of ribbing before and after services, all in good fun of course...until game time! That afternoon the Steelers knocked our precious Colts out of the play offs. :(

For Christmas this year my Mom gave me these cute cookie cutters in the shape of a football helmet and a pennant. This was the perfect opportunity to put them to use. I wanted to bring something special to the party in celebration of the Steelers making it to the big game.The Steelers' helmets turned out pretty good although I had to call on my friend Sarah at the last minute for some black coloring. Thanks for coming through for me friend. You're a life (game) saver. :o)
I was really concerned about getting the cardinal drawn onto the helmets. They turned out much better than I thought they would. I ran short on time so you can see where some of the black from the mouth guard ran into the white of the helmet. Oh well, they still tasted yummy!
To keep things fair, I made pennants in colors for both teams. My children would have it no other way..they were rooting for Arizona!
These were a huge hit at the party with the adults and the kids couldn't stay away from eating them. Decorated cookies certainly take time and patience to prepare but it's all worthwhile when you see the enjoyment on people's faces when you share them. That's the best feeling for a cook!
For the dough recipe go to December's posts and scroll for sugar cookies.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

2009-02-01T07:06:00.001-08:00

When I plan Chicken Enchiladas on our weekly menu, I make sure that I have the ingredients for two of our favorite recipes. Why two? One recipe requires a little more time and effort to prepare and the other is quick, simple and equally as delicious. As I've said before, I care for the children of two of our school's teachers. Anyone who has raised or cared for small children knows that there are times, that by the end of the day, any meal that requires alot of time, effort and energy isn't going to make it to the table. Right? That's why I make sure to plan a few "backup" meals during the week. No matter what kind of day I may have, I'm assured that my family will have a tasty meal in the evening.

Most of the ingredients called for in this recipe you probably already have stocked in your pantry. These enchiladas are incredibly cheesy and just a little bit spicy, thanks to the chili pepper. Because my kids LOVE cheese, I double the cheese mixture for the enchiladas. Mmmm! With this recipe, no matter how busy and hectic your day has been, you can have a wonderful, delicious dinner on the table and maybe still have a few minutes to relax. Wouldn't that be wonderful?! :-)

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

1 can Campbell's Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup (I use 2)
1/2 cup milk (1 cup)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
3/4 cup Pace Picante Sauce
1 tsp. chili powder
8 flour tortillas

Mix soup and milk.

Mix 2 tbsp. soup mixture, chicken, picante sauce and chili powder.

Spread 1/2 cup soup mixutre in 3 quart shallow baking dish. Spoon about 1/4 cup chicken mixture on each tortilla. Roll tortilla around filling and place seam-side down in baking dish. Top with remaining soup mixture. Cover.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until hot.

Source: Campbell's Kitchen

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes

2009-01-22T17:21:00.001-08:00

It's now the 21st of January and I'm ready to post (and eat) some sweets. I've noticed that others are beginning to bake and blog about brownies, cookies and other fantastic sweets too. I think three weeks of staying true to our new years' resolutions is pretty good. I'm still very conscious of preparing healthier meals for my family, but to deprive them of a daily sweet treat can certainly cause sour moods. Funny how that works!

Cupcakes are hugely popular right now, on food blogs, for birthday parties, weddings and any type of celebration. I have always loved these cute little cakes. They're versatile, convenient and easy to decorate for any occasion. While researching the web for different cupcake recipes, I found this version of one of my favorite pies. I love the internet!

I love foods that have a variety of textures in every bite! There's something joyous of biting into foods that are crunchy, moist and sweet at the same time. It makes my mouth happy. And everyone knows that if your mouth is happy, your hips are happy. Well, maybe keeping my mouth happy ALL the time isn't such a great idea, but a little indulgence doesn't hurt. Does it?

These cupcakes were a huge hit with the kids! The bottom of the cupcakes are formed by crushed oreos and mini chocolate chips. On top of all that crunch is the moist, yummy chocolate cake. The cake is then sprinkled with more oreos and chips. Do I have your attention yet? Mmmm!

The original recipe called for topping the cakes with melted chocolate or your favorite chocolate frosting. I wanted something a little different, so I whipped some whipping cream and added chopped Oreo cookies to the frosting. I'm thrilled with the how the icing tasted, but not so happy with the look of it. The cookie bits kept clogging my decorator so I resorted to using a ziplock bag with a clipped corner. Better luck next time...and I'll definitely be fixing these again.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water

2 1/4 cups crushed Oreo cookies (about 20 cookies)
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 24 muffin tin cups with paper liners.

Put the unsweetened chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until smoothly blended and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix in the melted chocolate. On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is blended into the batter. Add the vanilla and beat until the mixture looks creamy and the color has lightened slightly, about 1 minute. Mix in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the water. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of the cookie pieces and 2 teaspoons of chocolate chips into the bottom of each paper liner. Spoon a scant 1/4 cup of batter over the chocolate chips. Sprinkle remaining cookie pieces and chocolate chips over the tops, pressing them gently into the batter.

Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pans on a wire rack.

Frost with melted chocolate, your favorite chocolate frosting or whipped cream.

Source: How To Eat A Cupcake

Lasagna Rolls

2009-01-20T09:32:00.001-08:00

My family loves Italian dishes. Who doesn't? Most people enjoy savoring the pasta, cheeses, sauces, salad and bread. When we are planning to invite guests over for dinner, Italian dishes tend to be the first recipes that come to mind. The main reason I hesitate to serve spaghetti or lasagna or something similar is that those dishes really lack in "presentation". When I've spent time planning and preparing a meal to serve for guests, I like a certain "awe" factor when the meal is served up on plates. Not that I want my guests to admire the cook and sing my praises (though it's nice to hear sometimes.he he), but, let's be honest, when food has a pleasing presentation, they're more apt to enjoy the meal and its flavors.

When I came across this recipe, I was so excited to plan this on our menu. The presentation in the picture was beautiful and I thought it would be perfect for individual servings for a dinner party. Lasagna, a dish typically a mess to serve, rolled into single serve rolls. Genious! The rolls filled with wonderful, tasty cheeses, healthy spinach and prosciutto, are placed atop a creamy, delicious, bechamel sauce and topped with a small amount of marinara sauce. Mmmm!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Lasagna Rolls

Sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna

1 (15 ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 4 ounces)

1. To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
3. Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.
4. Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.
5. Butter a 13-by-9-by-2 -inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamel sauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.

Source: Food Network, Giada De Laurentiis, Everyday Italian

Chocolate Chip Vanilla Ice Cream

2009-01-16T08:33:00.001-08:00

This is the final post of the yummy food I prepared for Marty's birthday celebration. I've already shared with you the fresh homemade Kaiser rolls and bbq pulled pork that we had for dinner, both of which Marty and the kids loved, next of course would be DESSERT! Every birthday celebration has to be completed with dessert, most typically a birthday cake and ice cream, but Marty doesn't really care for cake, so I debated with myself over what treat would be special enough for the evening. Marty love, love, loves warm, fresh cookies or brownies with ice cream and chocolate sauce. I chose to bake chocolate chip cookies and make homemade chocolate chip ice cream. My friend Sarah gave me the AWESOME Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker for Christmas. This was the perfect opportunity to put it to work. I was excited, it was going to be perfect!!

I prepared the basic vanilla ice cream and added mini chips during the last 5 minutes of churning. The more basic the taste the more Marty will like something. The ice cream maker was so much fun to work with and had soft serve ice cream ready in about 25 minutes. I then put it in the freezer to harden up just a little.

I ran out of time to make "gourmet" cookies, so I resorted to the ever faithful Nestle chocolate chip cookie recipe and made bar cookies with it. Easy, quick and still delicious!

This was a perfect ending to our fabulous celebration dinner in honor of my fantastic husband. I hope you have enjoyed sharing all the yummy recipes from our evening.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk, well chilled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
1 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, to taste
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 - 2 minutes on low speed. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste. Turn machine on, pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let mix until thickened, about 25 - 30 minutes.

Source: Cuisinart Recipe Booklet (Thanks So Much Sarah-I Love My Ice Cream Maker!)

Barbecue Pulled Pork

2009-01-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

I love recipes that are simple yet are filled with such amazing flavor that it tastes as if I spent all day on it. With today's lifestyle for so many families, evening schedules are packed with a variety of extra-curricular activities that leave little time for the family to gather at the table to share a meal. Multiple studies show that families that sit together and share the evening meal three to four times per week have children that are more successful in school, are more communicative with parents and are less apt to experiment with drugs and alcohol. I don't know about you, but this seems like a such a simple way for me to to help keep my family safe, successful and confident.

My friend Sarah fixed this recipe not too long ago and I absolutely fell in love with it. It takes no time at all to throw into the slow cooker, let it cook, shred and serve. I think we ate this as leftovers for lunch for several days, and I never did tire of it. Yummy! She shared her recipe with me and my family loved it, it's now a regular on my monthly menu.

In today's tough economy, I've begun to try to save money any way I can at the grocery store without compromising flavor and taste to our meals. One item I've never been picky about brand names is barbecue sauce. That was until I had Sarah's pulled pork with Sweet Baby Ray's sauce. It was/is the best sauce I've ever tasted and now the only one I purchase. If you have never tried this bbq sauce, give it a try with the pulled pork. It's absolutely delish!

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and your food always flavorful. Enjoy!

Barbecue Pulled Pork

Pork shoulder picnic roast (any size)
Minced garlic
Minced onion
1 stick butter
Salt & Pepper to taste

Place roast in slow cooker, salt and pepper to your taste, cover with minced onion and garlic. Cut the butter into small pads and dot the roast with it.

Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Remove roast to platter to pull apart. Pork should be pulled into bite sized strips.

I drain about half the liquid from the pot and keep the rest to mix with the bbq sauce and pork.

Place pulled pork and bbq sauce back into the slow cooker and warm to desired temperature. Serve on rolls.

Source: Sarah O'Brien

Homemade Kaiser Rolls

2009-01-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday was my hubby's birthday. Anytime we celebrate a birthday in our home, the birthday person chooses his favorite dinner meal and type/style of cake or dessert they would like me to prepare for that evening. Marty chose barbecue pulled pork for dinner and left the rest for me to surprise him with. In our opinion, the best roll to serve bbq pork on is the Kaiser roll. I decided that since I've been experiencing such great success with my baked, yeast breads lately, I would try homemade Kaiser rolls. I recently purchased "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart. It has been so informative to read through to understand the how's and why's of bread baking. I would highly recommend this book to any novice baker who has been hesitant in working with yeasts.

I will be honest, I had to rush this recipe a little because I forgot to prepare the Pate Fermentee the night before. I was able to have the "starter" in the fridge by 9a.m. and removed it after lunch to warm to room temperature before preparing the remainder of the dough for the rolls. The finished rolls didn't seem to have been too affected by the rushed process. I don't have a Kaiser dough cutter, so I rolled each roll into a 6 inch rope and then tied it into a knot. I then sprinkled poppy seeds on top since my kiddos don't like sesame seeds. The rolls had a nice crisp outer crust and wonderful chewy centers. They were perfect filled with the bbq pulled pork (recipe to come).

I'm calling my first attempt at Kaiser Rolls a great success. I'm sure that the next time I fix them, and don't have to rush the recipe, they will be even better. The process of this recipe, though a little time consuming, was fairly simple and definitely one I will be using again.

Just a little added information during this economy crunch. I read today that if you begin to make your own bread every week, instead of buying bread at the store, the average family would save approximately $4.00 per week. That is an annual savings of over $240.00! I found this very interesting and encouraging for me. I'm looking for any way I can to assist my family in saving money.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and your food always flavorful! Enjoy!

Pate Fermentee

1 1/8 cups (5 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/8 cups (5 oz.) unbleached bread flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 cup to 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water at room temperature

1. Stir together the flours, salt and yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add 3/4 cup of the water, stirring until everything comes together and makes a coarse ball (or mix on low speed for 1 minute with the paddle attachment). Adjust the flour or water, according to need, so that the dough is neither too sticky nor too stiff. (It is better to err on the sticky side, as you can adjust easier during kneading. It is harder to add water once the dough firms up.

2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for 4 to 6 minutes (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 4 minutes), or until the dough is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. The internal temperature should be 77 to 81 degrees.

3. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 1 hour, or until it swells to about 1 1/2 times its original size.

4. Remove the dough from the bowl, knead it lightly to degas, and return it to the bowl, covering the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze it in an airtight plastic bag for up to 3 months.

Kaiser Rolls

1 1/2 cups (8 oz.) pate fermentee
2 1/4 cups (10 oz.) unbleached bread flour
3/4 teaspoons plus a pinch salt
1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons diastatic barley malt powder or barley malt syrup
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil or shortening, melted
10 tablespoons to 3/4 cup water, lukewarm (90-100 degrees)
Poppy or sesame seeds for topping
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

1. Take the pate fermentee out of the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough. Cut it up into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper or serrated knife. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to take off the chill.

2. Stir together the flour, salt, malt powder, and yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the pate fermentee, egg, oil and 10 tablespoons water. Stir (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) for 1 minute, or until the ingredients form a ball. If there is still some loose flour, add the remaining 2 tablespoons water.

3.Lightly dust the counter with flour, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook). Knead for about 10 minutes (6 minutes by machine), adding flour, if needed, to make a dough that is soft and supple, tacky but not sticky. The dough should pass the windowpane test and the internal temperature should register 77-81 degrees. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

4. Ferment at room temperature for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size. If the dough doubles in size before 2 hours have elapsed, remove it, knead it lightly to degas it, and return it to the bowl to continue fermenting until doubled from original size or until 2 hours have elapsed.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 6 to 9 equal pieces (4 ounces for large rolls, 2 2/3 ounce pieces for smaller rolls). Form the pieces into rolls. Mist the rounds lightly with spray oil, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let the dough relax for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with baking parchment, lightly mist it with spray oil, and then dust with semolina flour or cornmeal.

6. Prepare the individual rolls by cutting them with a kaiser roll cutter or knotting them. Place the rolls, cut side down, on the parchment, mist lightly with spray oil, and loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag.

7. Proof the rolls for 45 minutes at room temperature, then flip them over so the cut or folded side is facing up. Mist again with spray oil, cover the pan and continue proofing for another 30 to 45 minutes, or until the rolls are double their original size.

8. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Uncover the rolls and prepare them for baking. If you want seeds on your rolls, mist them with water and sprinkle poppy seeds over the top. If not, just mist them with water.

9. Place the pan in the oven, spray the oven walls with water, and close the door. After 10 minutes, rotate the pan for even baking and lower the oven setting to 400 degrees. Continue baking until the rolls are a medium golden brown and register approximately 200 degrees in the center. This will take 15-30 minutes for large rolls, or less for smaller rolls.

10. Remove the rolls from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack. Wait at least 3o minutes before serving.

Source: The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

Neapolitan Cupcakes

2009-01-07T17:50:00.001-08:00

This is, hands down, one of the most exciting recipes for me to post. "Why", you ask? Well, let me tell you..because these cute little cupcakes were chosen by, prepared by, baked and iced by my "baker-in-training", precious daughter, Megan.

Our dear friends, the O'Briens' (yes, same O'Brien's as Sundays For Sarah) invited us over to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah with them. Sarah fixed an amazing meal of brisket, potato latkes, cheesy rice and Challah bread. Mmmm, it was all so delicious! When we exchanged gifts, Megan received a cupcake cookbook and immediately began looking through it. She was so excited to have her own cookbook and couldn't wait to bake her first cupcakes.

Megan chose these adorable Neapolitan Cupcakes as her first recipe. I remained in the kitchen with her, but made sure to allow her to do things her way. She had a few questions along the way, but in all she did a phenomenal job. The batter is mixed in one bowl and then divided out into three batches. One is colored pink with food coloring, cocoa is added to another for the chocolate and the remaining one is left alone as the vanilla. Megan asked me to help her in filling the muffin cups since there were three bowls to dip from. We had a ball working side by side sharing giggles and grins.

When the cakes were cooled it was time for the icing. It took awhile to get the right consistency, but once she got it, she divided it up and colored the icing in the same manner as the cakes with food coloring and cocoa. Then she proceeded, very carefully, to ice the cupcakes. Didn't they turn out wonderfully? I'm very proud of her!! I did get a kick out of this last little bit I'm about to share with you...once Meg got her cakes done, I was shocked that she didn't immediately want to taste her creations. It wasn't close to dinner time and we had only "snacked" for lunch, so I was a little befuddled. So I asked her, "Megan, honey, why don't you want to eat one of your cakes?" Her response made me laugh..."Mom, I ate too much icing off my fingers as I was working on the cupcakes and now my stomach kinda hurts. I really don't feel like eating any more icing, even if it's on the cakes" Cute huh? Don't worry, the cakes were for our family, so whatever germs she shared while licking her fingers remained within our home. :) I'll be sure to share the "cleanliness" rules next time we bake together.

From the heart of my kitchen to yours, may your experience be fun and your food always flavorful! Enjoy!

Neapolitan Cupcakes

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/3 cup milk
pink food coloring
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa-powder
2 teaspoons milk, extra

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 6-hole oversize (Texas) or 12-hole standard muffin pan with paper baking cups.
2. Beat butter, vanilla, sugar and eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in sifted flour and milk, in two batches.
3. Divide mixture evenly among three bowls. Tint one mixture pink. blend sifted cocoa with extra milk in cup, stir into another mixture. Leave third mixture plain.
4. Drop alternate spoonfuls of the three mixtures into baking cups. Pull a skewer backwards and forwards through mixtures for a marbled effect, smooth surface.
5. Bake large cakes about 30 minutes, small cakes about 20 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.
6. Make butter cream.
7. Spread cakes with the three colors of butter cream.

Butter Cream

1 stick butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
pink food coloring
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons milk, extra

Beat butter in small bowl with electric mixer until as white as possible, beat in sifted powdered sugar and milk, in two batches. Divide mixture evenly among three bowls. Tint one mixture pink. Blend sifted cocoa with extra milk in cup; stir into another mixture. Leave third mixture plain.

Source: cupcakes

TWD - French Pear Tart

2009-01-06T17:55:00.001-08:00

This week's TWD selection was chosen by Dorie herself. How awesome is that? I was thrilled when I read that we would be making a French Tart. Tarts have been on my "to do" list for awhile now, and this pushed me to try one sooner rather than later. I'm pleased how the tart tasted, but not real happy about the presentation. Next time I'll play with how the pears are to be cut and fanned to make the tart a little prettier, but right now I'm just going to savor the wonderful sweet taste of my first French Tart. Thanks Dorie for your selection, I had a wonderful time expanding my culinary biography.

Source: Baking From My Home To Yours: Dorie Greenspan

Easy Cheesy Rigatoni

2009-01-05T18:57:00.001-08:00

Today was the first day back to work, school, piano lessons, cheer team practice and, of course, the resuming of homework. For my weekly menu planning this meant putting my faithful crock-pot back to work to have dinner ready between activities. Knowing the kids would be mentally and physically exhausted tonight, I didn't want to spring any new dishes on them and encounter finicky taste buds and short tempers so I prepared one of our favorite slow cooker recipes. This dinner can be ready to place in the crock pot in under 20 minutes and is very versatile to please any picky palate. You might want to add sausage to the hamburger to spice it up a little, add mushrooms or onions for texture or use a variety of cheeses to change the taste. Change it up to best fit your family's pleasure. Enjoy!

Rigatoni

28-oz. jar spaghetti sauce
12-oz. rigatoni, cooked
1-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, browned
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 lb. pepperoni slices

1. In a 4-quart slow cooker, layer half of each ingredient in order listed. Repeat.
2. Cover. Cook on Low 4-5 hours.

Source: Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook