Mum's Cranberry Relish-Brie App

In Progress...

Whole Wheat Rolls

My husband has his garage and I have my kitchen. We have a "rule" that when something new comes in, something old must come out. For an early Christmas gift I was given a beautiful Professional Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. I love it as though it's a piece of art. I've used it three times and I love it so much I wish I could marry it. ;) As the stand mixer came in, a bowl came out. Just a bowl. My husband wasn't impressed with my "out" selection and suggested I "out" my bread maker.

We received our bread maker as a wedding gift almost 6 years ago. I've used it to bake white bread, jalapeno cheddar bread and even the non-successful strawberries and cream bread. I was on a kick for a while, but since it's so big and I love open counter space, it got put away.

After collecting a little dust as it sat under the tupperware and hearing the threat of being ousted, my bread maker came out of hiding and has plans for a work out.

Whole wheat roll recipe: about 6 ingredients. Easy! The bread maker mixes, kneads, rises the bread dough. All I have to do it punch it out and let it rise again, portion it out and roll it into rolls.

Augh. Not easy. The directions, upon further investigation, said that whole wheat usually needs a third rise. Mine did not. After punching out the air from the first rise, I let it rise again. It was so hard to shape into rolls. After calculating the weight of each roll to ensure that I got the 18 each the recipe called for, I only got 16. Stupid math.

After rolling and rolling those stupid rolls, my arms were hurting and I was having horrible flashbacks to the worst memories I have of college. I was working for the Chef of the University President and I got to select menu items for a dinner the President was hosting. The Chef always encouraged me to choose items that I wouldn't normally get the chance to prepare. I chose homemade rolls. All the work that goes into it is not worth it!

Sure, making a loaf in the bread maker is easy, making a loaf by hand is not. Making rolls where the bread maker starts the process seems easy, but finishing the rolls is not.

Alas, the rolls came out better than expected. My Dad snagged one right out of the oven to taste test it. I got a thumbs-up from the family. Even with the encouraging feedback - never again will I make rolls!

Yorkshire Pudding

I have the honor of hosting Christmas Dinner this year. There will be 12 of us. I grew up eating a traditional English Christmas Dinner consisting of Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. Even though I am a vegetarian now, I still consider this to be one of the best dinners on Earth (even though I haven't eaten beef in about 22 years). I wanted my guests to have a fantastic meal the way I remember it.

My English Mum once gave me a British tea towel with a Yorkshire Pudding recipe on it. I've only made Y.P. maybe once or twice myself and since it had been so long, I decided I needed to do a test run before trying to serve it to twelve of us.

Count down to Christmas Dinner: 11 days.

My recipe calls for eggs, flour, salt, milk, water, dripping (or pan spray for us vegetarians). Simple. You mix it, let it sit for an hour, warm up your muffin tin in the oven (with the drippings) and bake. Before it was re-named Yorkshire Pudding it was called Dripping Pudding. Thank goodness that a recipe author rename it!

"A Yorkshire pudding isn't a Yorkshire pudding if it is less than four inches tall, says the Royal Society of Chemistry"; true Yorkshire people would disagree - the modern trend has been to aim for Puddings of almost Souffle proportions." - Wikipedia.

As they bake they rise so impressively. As they are taken out they fall. This is a good thing since it gives a place to put your gravy.

Update: The Y.P. turned out beautifully on Christmas Day!

Dinner @ No Frill Grill, Virginia Beach

In Progress...

Cabana's, Georgetown Waterfront, Washington, D.C.

In Progress...

Jason's Birthday Dessert

In Progress...

Got a New Waffle Iron!

My son loves waffles and the cost of buying them at the store really adds up so decided to buy a waffle iron. I made batch after batch, loving the fact that I was making them myself. But it occurred to me that although they were homemade, they didn't contain nearly the amount of fiber and protein as the brand I was purchasing at the grocery store. After a few weeks, I noticed that I wasn't making as many waffles as I thought I would. I had a plan to spend a Saturday morning a month busting out a ton of waffles and then freezing them. It didn't happen and I never found the motivation or encouragement to spike the waffle batter with blueberries, strawberries or flax seed (all in my original plan). So back to the store I went...to return the waffle maker. I don't consider the experience a failure. I just figured out that I'm not the waffle queen.

Cupcakes!

In Progress...

Black Bean Chimichanga

While flipping those a Southern Living magazine a while ago...almost 3 years ago...I stumbled upon a recipe for Black Bean Chimichangas. Being a vegetarian and a fan of black beans and Mexican fare, I decided to give it a try. It looked easy enough and versatile.

I love this recipe. I've made this dish about half a dozen times and it has never disappointed. It's very simple to make if you use a can of black beans (I like Whole Foods Spicy Organic BB). I use large whole wheat burrito shells and can make about 5 chimichangas per batch. The variation of ingredients you can use is limitless. I've made them vegetarian, with shredded pork left-overs, ground beef and chicken. You can add what ever fresh ingredients you like to change the flavor profile.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001806859

This photo was taken in February 2011. Instead of using burrito shells, I used smaller tortilla shells and wrapped them like enchiladas. So versatile.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Justin!

My son is a huge Curious George fan. We have three PBS channels that run Curious George episodes and this is a good thing since it's his favorite cartoon by far. So, what better theme to use to inspire his birthday cake?

A month before my son's birthday a friend decorated a Curious George cake for her son who was turning 3. She is a great cake decorator. We've taken one cake decorating class together, but she has much more talent and patience than I do. She found her inspiration cake through a web search and posted photos of her cake online. I decided not to reinvent the wheel, but to duplicate her cake as best as I could.

But first things first. I wanted to try a new Banana Sour Cream cake recipe. George likes bananas, right? I made one layer according to the recipe found on the Kraft Food website. THe second layer I added mini chocolate chips to.

--unfinished--

Sweet Potato Chips

In an attempt to get my son to eat his vegetables, I decided to make sweet potato chips. Sweet potatoes used to be one of his favorite foods, until he learned all about birthday cake and crackers and other such items that contain no nutritional value.

I've made these before and love the tender and crunchy texture. The sea salt and lime make a wonderful combination on this tasty vegetable. It's nice that these are easy to make too.

My son didn't end up eating these...or anything else for dinner. It's a shame that one has to go to bed hungry when there were plenty of chips to be eaten with dinner.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/baked-sweet-potato-chips

Crunchy Chicken Fingers

It seems as though every night is a struggle to get my son to eat something different. The cost of buying him organic chicken tenders really adds up quickly. In an attempt to get him to eat chicken tenders that I make, so that I know exactly what's in them, I decided to try a Parents Magazine recipe. If it's in a Parents Magazine and its a recipe for children, it's gotta be good, right?

This recipe was easy enough to make. A little dredging here and little tossing there and into the oven it goes. After that it went onto a plate with every child's favorite condiment - ketchup. Do you think he ate it? No. Did I try to entice him by mentioning it was rolled in cereal? Yes. Did my enticing work? No. After spending two hours in the kitchen making dinner (chicken tenders, a casserole and sweet potato chips), I wasn't going to make a PB & J. Eat it or go to bed hungry. Mommy is done playing restaurant every night.

My husband ate the chicken tenders and he really liked them. I'll be sure to keep this recipe handy and maybe, one day, my little one will eat some homemade chicken tenders.

http://www.parents.com/recipe/chicken/crunchy-chicken-fingers/

Cheesy Potatoes

I like cheesy potato casseroles. One problem though. Most call for cream of chicken soup. Being a vegetarian, I'm not one to dig into a casserole if I know there's something in it that contains meat/fish/poultry. I decided to alter a recipe to see how it would turn out.

I'm a fan of the Kraft Foods website. Not because the food always turns out great, but mostly because the dishes are pretty easy. I'm all about easy recipes.

These are the substitutions I made. I didn't use store bought Southern Style Hash Browns. I opted for organic Russet potatoes, and left the skin on (easier and healthier). I substituted Cream of Potato soup. It seems like a good sub since I was making a potato dish. I didn't use any butter on the topping. I'm sure it would taste great, but do we really need it? Not really. Also, my original recipe called for cheesy crackers for the topping (like Cheez-Its). On the website it calls for Ritz. I just used a natural cheese cracker.

In making this recipes, I followed the measurements exactly. If I was going to make this again, I'd bake it for less time and add either more soup or sour cream.

Overall, a tasty side dish that would be great to take to a pot luck or holiday meal.

Side note: Son wouldn't eat it. So picky!

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/cheesy-potatoes-95131.aspx

Mexican Casserole

I love Mexican food! I can't decide whether I like Indian food more than Mexican or not. I want flavor and I want spice!

My Mother-in-Law finds the best recipes and this one is no exception. She made it for me after I had come home from the hospital after having my son, almost three years ago.

I decided to make this since I had all of the ingredients and a new casserole dish I want to try out. It's easy to put together and easy to vary the recipe to suit your taste. My husband thinks this should be a dip, since he like to eat it with chips. I like to think of it as a basic rice and bean casserole. Toss in some chicken for the meat-eaters and maybe it'll "seem" more like a complete meal.

Mexican Casserole

15 1/4 oz corn, drained <--I used a bag of frozen organic, it's probably a pound
15 oz black beans, rinsed and drained <--Use Whole Foods Spicy Black Beans to kick it up a bit
10 oz whole tomatoes with green chiles <--I dice fresh tomatoes and buy the chopped green green chiles
8 oz sour cream
8 oz picante sauce <--I use organic medium salsa
8 oz (2 cups) shredded yellow cheddar
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bunch green onions, chopped
8 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded

-Combine the first 8 ingredients and spoon into a lightly greased 13x19 pan.
-Sprinkle with remaining ingredients.
-Bake @ 350F for 30-35 minutes.

Chicken Broccoli Divan Casserole

First off, why does the word "casserole" look so strange to me? Isn't it weird when a common word looks so uncommon?

It seems to me that casseroles are easy to make and can spare me from cooking dinner two nights in a row or I can freeze portions for a quick home-cooked meal on another night. I try to make dishes like this for my husband on the nights that I work. He needs something that requires no prep and little work on his part. I assemble the casserole and leave him a note with the baking time and temp. With casseroles that I make exclusively for him, I put in things I don't eat so that he can eat things he enjoys. ie) chicken and broccoli. I've adapted this from a recipe I found online. I don't use butter in casseroles. I always substitute brown rice instead of white. I always use as many organic ingredients as possible.

Chicken Broccoli Divan

4 cups steamed broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken (approx 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
1 can organic Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
whole wheat panko breadcrumbs, enough to cover

-Place the broccoli and chicken into a 9-inch pie plate.
-Stir the soup and milk in a small bowl. Pour the soup mixture over the broccoli and chicken.
-Sprinkle with the cheese.
-->I just mix all of the ingredients together and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
-Sprinkle the bread crumbs mixture over the cheese.
-Bake at 450°F. for 20 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling.

Octopus Cookie

I just had to buy this. I was walking through the bakery department of Wegman's and I saw this super cute cookie. I had to buy it! One day it will inspire me to recreate it. I should've asked the bakery lady what kind of icing they use so that it doesn't become a smeary mess.

What to do with 4 1/2 # of Zucchini?

One of my neighbors was going out of town last weekend and needed to unload some of her abundance of homegrown vegetables. When presented with over four pounds of zucchini, the first recipe that popped into my head was zucchini bread. I've had two zucchini bread recipes sitting in my recipe book for a long time. It was time to try them both out and have a taste test. But...things didn't go as expected.

The first loaves of bread I baked looked delicious. I took a recipe from allrecipes.com that got rave reviews. It turned out to be too cakey in consistency and too mild in flavor for my liking. The second recipe came out of one my Mother-in-Law's recipe books. Although the second batch had more flavor, it lacked the moistness of the first batch. My son loved then both, so it wasn't a total waste.

Overall, I wasn't impressed by either recipe so I decided not to share any to my neighbor who was kind enough to give me the zucchini in the first place.

Peach and Blackerry Picking @ Great Country Farms

The family and I went to Bluemont, VA to go peach and blackberry picking. Blackberries are one of my favorite fruits and at Great Country Farm they grow their blackberries without any pesticides. It was a hot and sunny day. I had never seen so many peaches in my whole life! After taking a wagon ride out to the peach trees, we were told that yellow peaches were in row 3 and white peaches were in rows 5 & 6. You'd be surprised how many people went into aisles that were not ready to be harvested. Great Country Farm should label the rows, give a warning about the incredible amount of bees and remind children not to climb the trees.

After picking through our stash of peaches, we chose the best eight to take home. Some were firm, others were softer. They all tasted delicious! But before heading home to eat our peaches I had to stop and get some blackberries. I never knew that blackberries were red until ripe.

I walked down three picked-over rows of blackberries. I was melting in the sun and getting more disappointed every few feet I walked. I couldn't find any blackberries. Someone had mentioned that there was another blackberry field somewhere on the other side of the pond. I had no idea where it was, so I picked what I could and walked back to find my hot and dehydrated family.


After returning to the little country store to pay for my U-Picks, some people came up behind my with a whole flat of beautiful, ripe, huge blackberries! I was jealous and had to ask them where they picked them, as I showed them my under-ripe half-full pint container. "On the other side of the pond", they replied. What?! Where was this hidden gem of a field? They told me it was quite a hike and offered to let me top off my container with their over abundance of berries. I was so happy and touched by their kindness. Next year, I'll hike to the "other field", if I can find it!

Soccer Ball Cake - Part 2

Before bailing on my assignment of a Soccer Ball Groom's Cake I decided to give it another go using fondant. I've taken two Wilton cake decorating courses and "Fondant and Gum Paste" is course 3. Even though I haven't taken Course 3 or ever used fondant, and the only thing I know about it is that it doesn't taste good, I've decided it's worth a shot to try and make another cake.

Before I tell you a little about my fondant experience I must share with you a buttercream frosting recipe I made. I've always made the Wilton Buttercream frosting and I've never liked it. The taste is not that great and it's made with Crisco (evil, evil Crisco). I've made it with vegan shortening but the result was a grittier frosting. Not ideal to make roses with.

After doing an internet search I stumbled upon "Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting" via the Foodnetwork.com, courtesy of Gale Gand. Recipe at the bottom of the blog.

The buttercream frosting has only 4 ingredients and it tastes so creamy and good. I wish it didn't have whipping cream, only for the fact that I can't leave it out at room temperature for very long.

Fondant...

After baking a devil's food chocolate cake and giving it a "quick vanilla buttercream frosting" crumb crust, I put the cake in the refrigerator for a couple of days. I didn't have time to get to decorate it sooner.

Now I've read that you can't refrigerate fondant. If you do, when you take it out and it comes up to room temperature, the fondant sweats. My dilemma is timing, for making a cake for the wedding and transporting it. If the cake can't sit out because of the icing and it can't be refrigerated because of the fondant, what do I do? I'll worry about that later. My current problem is getting the shapes on the cake.

I copied the template provided with the ball pan onto wax paper. I rolled out my white pre-made fondant to about 1/4" thick. Using a knife, I cut out a few of the shapes. I used a little frosting to adhere the shapes to the cake. I did this one or two shapes at a time. I should've cut and attached them all at the same time. Why, you ask? Because I would've seen my problem sooner. The problem: the template provided works for a cake made for the size of the pan. After putting frosting in between the two 1/2 spheres, the ball is larger and therefore the template is off. If I had been piping on icing, like I did with my first cake, I could've marked the cake templates with toothpicks (as the directions say) and made any needed adjustments. Since the instructions don't mention fondant, there are not any tips for using this product.

I was excited after I put on the first three or four shapes. I started painting the black shapes. Why did I paint them? I saw someone else had painted them and her cake looked awesome. You can tint fondant but I didn't want to deal with the kneading of the fondant. Who's got time for that during a trial run? Uh, a patient person who is doing things right the first time. Not me.

As I was attaching shapes to the cake, the shapes started slipping as the frosting began to warm up to room temperature. I was dealing with smudging the black gel colouring as well. If I wasn't such an impatient person I would've realized that painting all of the black shapes at the end would've prevented the smudging. Hind sight. With the template problem, I attempted to resolve it by shaping the fondant to the size I wanted. It worked, but started to look silly the more and more pieces were being manipulated.

So after realizing that I was working with a few different situations that were all above my skill level and patience level, I decided to use the rest of the frosting to try to make the grass. By now the frosting was quite thin. I should've thickened it up by adding more powered sugar, but I didn't think of that until just now. The grass was cool and would've looked better is it had been thicker.

In the end, I think I'm going to have to pass on making a Groom's Cake for my Sister-in-Law's wedding. I hope I can tell her before she reads this!

Best wishes to Ashlee and Ryan on 8.14.10!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html

Scrambled Egg in Potato Nest

I could spend hours looking at recipes on-line. Some nights I actually do! I stumbled upon this breakfast recipe and decided to try it. It was so nice and easy...and delicious!

I grated a fresh organic russet potato, instead of using store-bought hashbrowns. I used organic pastured eggs and chives. Instead of American cheese I substituted yellow cheddar. The outcome of a handful of ingredients turned into a wonderful breakfast with a great presentation! And, it cost next to nothing!




http://www.bhg.com/recipe/eggs-cheese/scrambled-eggs-in-potato-nests/

Cowboy Cookies

Even though I have a pinched shoulder and neck and would like nothing more than to be lying on a heating pad, I decided to try out a recipe from one of my Mother-in-Law's cookbooks.

"Cowboy Cookies" sound so cool, but in reality, they're basically oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. But, thinking ahead to a December Christmas Cookie Swap (even though it's still July), I decided to give this recipe a try.

It's so easy to make and they turned out so yummy. The recipe said it would make 60 cookies, but who wants a tsp-size cookie when you can have a tbsp-size cookie? I got 27 out of the batch.














Cowboy Cookies

makes 27

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease cookie sheets.

2. Mixed flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together. Add egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

4. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until blended. Stir in rolled oats and chocolate chips, mixing well with a wooden spoon. The dough will be a bit crumbly.

5. Drop heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake until just firm around the edges but still soft to the touch in the center, about 15 minutes - less for softer cookies. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Mini Meatloaf

Being a vegetarian with two meat-eaters in the family can pose what I call "restaurant syndrome". Many times I cook or throw together three separate meals. Silly, I know. But I do what I have to do. My almost 3-year old toddler has become quite the picky eater and even though I'm a vegetarian, I dislike most vegetables. Thank goodness for my husband, who will eat almost anything I put in front of him. But, all of this non-allergy related mealtime madness gets us all to bed with food in our bellies.

Dinnertime hasn't yet evolved into a formal family mealtime. It does happen, it's sporadic. This is something I want in the future, but for right now I cannot get into the swing of eating at 6 PM. I prefer to eat later, after my son is in bed. Eating dinner is more enjoyable this way but then I guess we dedicate time to two dinner times. Justin's dinnertime is sometimes shared by just me or my husband or both of us. Someone is always keeping sure Justin isn't blowing bubbles out of his glass or swinging around his fork.

Tonight for instance, Justin and Jason are having dinner together. I made mini-meatloafs that can be easily frozen and reheated on the nights that I work. I also love the portion-control that the muffin tin provides. Jason and Justin both really like them and they're so easy to make. Jason's having them with broccoli. He's the only one in the house who will eat broccoli but he would never steam it for himself, since that's "too much work". Justin is having the meatloaf with baked beans. Jason won't eat baked beans...and so the restaurant syndrome is in half-effect. Full-effect examples will appear at some point...maybe tomorrow! So, I eat neither mini-meatloaf nor broccoli and so I'm eating something else whenever I get hungry.

I'm beginning to think I'm making life more complicated then it needs to be. Proper planning would eliminate some of my "restaurant syndrome". But, alas, that's for another better planned evening.


Mini-Meatloaf...Kraft Food Website
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/marvelous-mini-meatloaves-75574.aspx

I make our meatloaf with all organic ingredients. I used real organic ground beef, since my family eats only a small amount of red meat. I use the "BBQ" version of the recipe with Arrowhead Organic stuffing mix. In 2008 I was only able to find this brand around the holidays, so last year I stocked up on about 5 bags of it to get me through the year. I have since seen it in Wegmans, but I got all of mine on sale and it won't expire until 2011.

Not a "Cake Boss".

I was asked to make a Groom's Cake for my Sister-in-Law's wedding. Her fiance loves sports, especially soccer.

I searched online for a cake to more or less copy. The plan...to decorate a sheet cake with standing green grass and a 3-D soccer ball on top.

After purchasing a Wilton Ball Pan, I gave baking it a go. The 30-40 minute back time was really 50-60 minutes. Not a problem. I knew my challenge would be getting the image on the cake and transporting it from Fairfax to Alexandria.

After baking, it was time to put on the crumb crust. A crumb crust is essentially a thin layer of frosting that you put on before actually icing the cake. This process prevents the icing from sticking to the cake and pulling off the crumbs. I bet you wish you had known about this secret sooner!

After putting on the crumb crust, my ball looked like an egg, more oval than round. I'm sure you can picture it perfectly in your mind.

I'm impatient and I want things done correctly. Decorating this cake did not bring out the best in me. I traced the soccer ball template onto wax paper and did the outline in clear gel. I did this because my impatience got the better of me. Had I closely and slowly read the decorating instructions, I would've seen that you take the template to the cake and mark it with toothpicks. I quickly read over this part, didn't quite understand it and went with a technique I learned in cake decorating class. That tracing technique is great on a sheet cake, but not a 3-D ball.

As I was icing it the frosting was warming up from the heat of my hands. The white icing was turning off-white and I was getting tired and frustrated. I finished what I could to take a decent photo and then I stopped. I used the wrong "grass" cake tip but after 1 1/2 hours I couldn't be bothered.

All-in-all, it did turn out better than expected, but not for a wedding. This would be fine for a child's birthday, but again, not for a wedding.

I went out and bought pre-made fondant. I think cutting out the shapes will be easier. There's going to be a wedding cake, so I'm not worried about how this one will taste. For me, this is all about appearances. Keep an eye out for an updated photo!

Apple-Cheddar Tarts

I have a recipe for Apple Brie Tarts. They're made with puff pastry and the reviews said the brie was bland and using crescent rolls was a quicky way to make them.

I, of course, chose the quicky way since I can only cook or bake during nap time. I chose to try a sharp cheddar to try and up the flavor factor. Granny Smith apples are tart and with the sharp cheese a nice balance was struck.

Every one of these was folded differently. I wanted to show the ingredients but only a couple turned out well.

These need to be eaten warm and were super simple to make. I'll try the puff pastry when I have more time.

Overall, not a bad little snack...minus those nasty trans fats found in crescent rolls. Maybe there's an alternative at Whole Foods. I need to look into that.

Fruit Salad

Just tossed an organic fruit salad together for lunch. Nothing special...but it was so good and perfect for summer.

Bananas
Strawberries
Blueberries
Pink Lady Apples
Bartlett Pears
White Nectarines

Skills Training

I'm still new to blogging. I can't figure out how to change a layout of an entry. I'm not a writer. I've been adding posts with photos from the past and it's evident that I paid no attention to taking the actual photograph. I wasn't thinking about making the food look good or if the lighting was nice. I've been only more aware of this recently. Hopefully you'll see better visual images in the future, that is, if I ever share my 3-day blogging secret with any one.

Food for thought: If I'm going to continue with a food blog, I should hit up some yard sales for some cool-looking plates, table clothes and baskets.

Question to self: Should I only post photos of food I've prepared or also food I've encountered and taken a decent photo of?

Accordion Potatoes

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/accordion-potatoes-ghk1207

This was the second time I made this recipe from Good Housekeeping. The presentation is outstanding.

This is a little time-consuming (slicing the potatoes down as far as you can without cutting through them) and messy (getting all the garlic olive oil in between the cut). It's worth the trouble if making it for company.

Ham on Baguette

For Father's Day I whipped up a Ham Sandwich on a French baguette.

-dijon mustard-mayo
-mixed greens
-plum tomatoes
-S&P
-white cheddar cheese
-slivers of red onion

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookie

I wish I could say this cookie was as good as it looks. Sometimes its best to follow a recipe and not attempt to make a guilty food healthier. I got this recipe from OceanSpray.com. I tried to make it a bit healthier by cutting the AP flour in half and subbing in whole wheat flour for the remainder.

http://www.oceanspray.com/recipes/Oatmeal_Cranberry_White_Chocolate_Chunk_Cookies.aspx?id=1143&nid=11

Chocolate Cherry Surprise!

Last Christmas I was invited to my first Holiday Cookie Swap! I cannot tell you how excited I was to toss baking 6 dozen cookies into the holiday shopping and decorating madness. No, really...I was excited. I did a dry-run of two cookies and this recipe won (only because it was easier to make in bulk).

In the end, all of my cookies ended up in the freezer since one of many record-breaking snowfalls for the DC area made driving difficult. Maybe next year...












This recipe makes 4 dozen cookies. 28-31 each

1 1/2 (10 ounce) jar Maraschino Cherries (42-48)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 (6 ounce) package (1 cup) semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk or low-fat sweetened condensed milk

Drain cherries, reserving juice. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in cocoa powder and as much of the flour as you can with mixer. Stir in remaining flour using a wooden spoon. Portion & shape dough into 1-inch balls (~tbsp). Place balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press your thumb (or tsp) into the center of each ball. Place a cherry in each center.

To make the frosting: in a small saucepan combine chocolate pieces and sweetened condensed milk. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in +/- 4 teaspoons reserved cherry juice. Spoon 1 teaspoon frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover. Frosting may be thinned with additional cherry juice if necessary. Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Frozen Grand Marnier Torte with Dark Chocolate Crust and Spiced Cranberries

Being asked to bring a dessert to a holiday meal is like trying to find a dress to a black-tie affair - you've gotta bring out the big guns. I found this tasty treat in an issue of Bon Appetit magazine. Anything that takes two days to make better be good!

Food Stylist/Food Photographer for Hire

Many occupations appear to be glamorous... restaurateur, fashion designer, hotelier, investment banker...and, food stylist. I work in a restaurant, I've worked in a hotel, I dream of being a food stylist or a professional photographer, or independently wealthy living a life of leisure. At the end of the day, its all work (minus the independently wealthy person part) and probably not as exciting as we imagine. But, it'd be fun to give something glamorous a try.

For a holiday appetizer one year I decided to put a little spin on the usual cheese and cracker tray. I found these cute little sweet peppers and herb cheese at Costco. Pretty easy app to make and it makes a great presentation, in my opinion. Photographing it turned out better than I expected. If only all of my photographs turned out this well...especially my photos of casseroles.

Augh. Someone tell me how I can change the layout of my post. It's driving me crazy.

"Finale" in my Cake Decorating Class

I've taken two courses on cake decorating. I've had enough buttercream frosting to last me a lifetime. At the end of my second course we made a 'finale cake' where we could display a bouquet of all the flowers we learned to make. We also learned how to make a basket weave design on the side of a cake. Looks impressive and is really not that hard to master.

September '09 - Cake #4

I am officially "caked-out". My refrigerator is full of buttercream icing that will never be used. My freezer is full of cake that I will never eat. I've enrolled in the 2nd Cake Decorating Course offered at Micahel's, but only because we only have to bake one cake over 4 weeks.

This cake was nice to decorate because the only skill I was working on was the "Wilton Rose". My instructor made one of the roses on my cake. Can you tell which one it is?

September '09 - Cake #3 - Testing my Cake Decorating Skills

It's the 3rd week in September and it's the 3rd week of my Course 1 Cake Decorating Class.

I didn't know you could get sick of eating cake, but you can. Buttercream icing...won't need to be eating that for a while.

In this cake decorating class I decided to frost my cake in two tones (although there was a mess of three different colors between the layers).

I practiced my writing, my 3D clown, flowers and piping. I've received praise for this cake, but to me it's just a mess of things I was trying to learn. The whole thing got hacked up, portioned and tossed in the freezer.

Justin's 2nd 2nd Birthday Cake.

That's right. Justin was the beneficiary of my cake decorating classes, in spirit. Last September while taking classes, his 2nd birthday rolled around so I used my newly acquired skills to decorate him two cakes. He tried neither.

After tasting this icing I realized the importance of using "no-taste" red icing color. It makes a huge difference.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Justin!

I was taking a cake decorating class @ Michael's last September when my son's 2nd birthday rolled around. What better way to celebrate than decorating an Elmo birthday cake? Remember, I was taking a class so my skills were/are limited. I learned how to transfer an image onto the cake. It's a shame he didn't even try it.

Kaluha Toffee Ice Cream Dessert

Who doesn't enjoy dessert? Yes, we could all do without the extra calories and fat, but that never interferes with our enjoyment while consuming it, does it? And, how many times have you been stuffed from a very satisfying dinner, but yet had a little extra room to squeeze in at least a bite of dessert? Be honest! We've all been there.

My Mother-in-Law bought me a fantastic Southern Living Cookbook as a gift and in it I found this...

This recipe couldn't be any easier or tastier!

-Vanilla Ice Cream
-Kahlua
-Crumbled Toffee Bar

Enjoy!

Mini Caprese Bites

Southern Living magazine and cookbooks never steer me wrong.

Back in December '08 I prepared this appetizer for our Christmas dinner. This little bowling wasn't going to cut it, so I changed my app layout for a large serving plate.










This was the finished display.

Prep: 20 min. Grape tomatoes vary in size from week to week at the grocery store; some pints we found had only 24 while others had more than 40. Good news, you should still have enough mozzarella balls because they are generally sold in 8-oz. containers that have more than enough.

Yield: Makes 8 appetizer servings

Ingredients

• 1 pt. grape tomatoes, halved
• 10 to 14 fresh small mozzarella cheese balls, cut into thirds*
• 32 (4-inch) wooden skewers**
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Thread 1 tomato half, 1 piece of cheese, and another tomato half onto each skewer. Place skewers in a shallow serving dish.

2. Whisk together oil and next 3 ingredients. Drizzle oil mixture over skewers; sprinkle with basil and salt and pepper to taste.

*1 (8-oz.) package fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, may be substituted.

**Wooden picks may be substituted.

Marci Parham, Birmingham, Alabama, Southern Living, MAY 2008

Soft Fresh Herb Cheese & Grape Crostini

Back in December '08 I must've had time on my hands, even with a 1-year old running around. I successfully pulled off three appetizers to contribute to the Christmas dinner my Mother-in-Law was hosting.

I adapted this recipe from one I found in Bon Appetit magazine. The original recipe called for herb goat cheese, bit since I'm not a fan of goat cheese, I improvised. It was unique and yummy.

Attached is the original recipe.




As you can clearly see, presentation and photography were not my strengths. I chose not to use three different color grapes because grapes are hard enough to find in December. Also, their fresh herb cheese is so much more visually appealing than my cheese spread, although I'm sure mine appealed to the non-goat cheese eaters in the group.

I would definitely prepare this again, with a little more attention given to the visual appeal.

Chocolate-Honey Dome Cake

I prepared this cake for a Pot Luck at a friend's home. I loved how it looked in the Bon Appetit magazine.

Back in 2007 I didn't know that when photographing food, it's not ideal to use a flash. I also knew nothing about styling the food...not that I know much now, just a bit more aware.

I'll attach the magazine's photo so you can see what I wanted to replicate.




Warmer light, crumbs, interior of the cake. You can practically taste it, can't you?