From old to new!

I've been loving my thrift store shopping lately... there's just something about springtime that makes me want to make things new again!
Recently, I was trying to come up with ideas for Brooklyn's birthday party and I kept seeing these adorable teacup and saucer three tiered treat stands on Etsy.  They looked so easy but I really wanted something larger than saucer sized, and I wanted it more uniform, all one color, than the pretty porcelain designs I was seeing on craft websites I was browsing.
I started with a silver platter, a dinner plate, and a unique saucer, separated by two ugly candlesticks, and a little epoxy and spray paint later, ended up with just the three tiered treat stand I was looking for.

Before:

After:

First, make sure everything is completely free of dust and debris.  Wash thoroughly and dry even more thoroughly. Mix epoxy according to package directions.  I prefer the Gorilla brand epoxy wit the little wooden stirrer and mixing tray included. It sets in five minutes, and worked really well for my purpose.
Use a Sharpie to mark the center point on the bottom two layers of your stand. In my case, the silver tray and dinner plate. Also mark the center point on the bottom.  Making sure the center points are aligned, spread a small amount of epoxy on the top and bottom of the bottom candlestick and press it firmly into the center of the bottom layer (my silver tray.). Place the second layer in the center of the top of the bottom candlestick, making sure it's even and level, and hold in place until it stays on it's own. Next, spread epoxy on the bottom and top of the upper candlestick, pressing it firmly onto the second layer, or dinner plate. Press the top saucer into the center of the top candlestick and make sure the whole thing is uniform, level, and even. Let sit just like that for ninety minutes to make sure the epoxy is cured. Use a food safe spray paint and evenly coat the whole tray with spraypaint. I used 5 or 6 coats by the time we were all done, just making sure it was even. After it has dried, let cure for 24 hours before use. I used Ballet Slipper pink for my tray, but you could do chrome paint or black, or blue, teal, anything your heart desires.  I think next time I'm going to do a bright happy yellow then stencil on gray fleur de lis. What a fun and easy project! 

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter, everyone!  It's been a couple weeks since I've posted a blog, which is a little bittersweet because on one hand, I'm sad that I haven't been able to keep up as much lately but I'm thrilled about on the other hand because it means business has been going really well.
Brooklyn turns two today, and we celebrated with a small birthday party/Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Papa's house yesterday afternoon.
I wanted to share these treats from the party because they were soooo tasty and fun!

These nests were so easy and tasty, and I loved the way they looked.  Simple and easy to assemble, they went like hotcakes.

Easy bird's nests

1 bag La Choy Chinese Noodles
1 bag butterscotch chips
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag Cadbury mini chocolate eggs with candy coating

Pour the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips into a medium to large glass bowl.  Microwave on high at thirty second intervals, stirring with a rubber spatula in between, until smooth and creamy.  This shouldn't take more than 1 1/2 - 2 minutes. Use the spatula to mix in the Chinese noodles until evenly coated.  Transfer by heaping tablespoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet, using your thumbs to press into the center the pinching up the sides to form a nest.  While the nests are still melted, lay three Cadbury mini eggs into the center of each nest. Pop the baking sheet in the freezer for about ten minutes then transfer to a serving platter.  These will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for about a week. If you have trouble with your eggs staying put, you can use a small dab of melted chocolate or Nutella to hold them in place.

The party was a fun time had by all, with an egg hunt, cookie decorating, and sherbet punch.  It doesn't get much better than this.
And this sweet baby is two years old!!! I can't even believe it! Thanks, Papa Tony, for taking such beautiful pictures for us!

Eggs in Nests

Today was a beautiful almost spring day, and I wanted a beautiful spring breakfast to match. So I made these...

Eggs in Nests

1 cup grated potato
1 ounce grated sharp cheddar
6 eggs
cracked salt & pepper

How easy is this? Preheat the oven to 400. Spray a 6 cavity muffin tin with cooking spray. Mix a little cracked salt and pepper into the grated potato. Evenly distribute the grated potato through the 6 muffin cups and press into the bottoms and up the sides to make "nests." Next, distribute the cheese into the bottom of each cup. Press down into the bottom.  Crack an egg on top of each of the cups, then crack fresh pepper and salt over the top to taste.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until eggs are done and edges are crispy.  Use a spatula to loosen and remove the nests. 

These were soooo delicious with some grilled ham, and elegant enough to serve with crepes and prosciutto for  breakfast if we have guests. Yum!!

Chocolate and Caramel

Jamie came over today. We always get a sweet tooth when we get together and end up making some delicious concoction.  Today was no different.  We were watching cupcake wars and decided to make our own cupcake, the "one" we would make if we were on the show.  Here's what we came up with:

Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream and a Salted Caramel Drizzle
Cupcake:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 sticks softened butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup sour cream

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Add in eggs, butter, vanilla, and sour cream and mix until well combined with a wooden spoon. Use a cookie scoop to scoop batter into a prepared 12 cavity muffin tin. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

While baking, prepare the buttercream.
In a large clean, dry bowl, beat 2 softened sticks of butter with 4 cups of powdered sugar for 4 or 5 minutes, until fluffy.  This is a messy process, so don't be surprised to get it everywhere. Beat in 2 Tbs heavy cream, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and 2 tsp vanilla.  Continue beating for another 4-5 minutes, adding in more powdered sugar if necessary to reach desired consistency.  Set aside.

Make caramel drizzle while cupcakes are cooling.  In a large heavy saucepan, melt 2 sticks of butter over medium heat.  Add 2 1/3 cups brown sugar and whisk til well combined.  Stirring constantly, add in 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup light corn syrup.  Stir constantly with a wooden spoon and boil over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until it reaches soft ball stage.  Remove from heat and pour into a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Prepare cupcakes:  Pipe buttercream onto each cupcake in desired design, then drizzle caramel over the top with a fork or small spoon.  Sprinkle about 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt over the top.

 
These cupcakes really hit the sweet spot, and we had such a great time making them! 

Mmmmm, Brownies...

Lately business has taken off a bit, which is good, but it's left me in a bit of a lag as far as blogging goes, which is not good.
I really miss blogging almost every day, so I'm going to post more in the coming months, especially with spring around the corner... it's so much fun to create new delicious things from fresh ingredients when the Farmer's Market starts back up again!
Today I was really craving some chocolate, but not the candy type.  I needed something dense, and rich, and these brownies definitely did the trick.  Probably the best brownie recipe I've ever had for this purpose. That is, to satisfy a real chocolate craving. Paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, some warm caramel sauce, and pecans, this is a dangerous treat worthy of a tall glass of ice cold milk.

Fudgy Brownies

12 Tbs cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
3 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough overlap off the edges to create a handle. Spray generously with cooking spray, both the pan and the foil used to line it.

In a large bowl, use a fork to slightly mix the olive oil into the cocoa powder. Scrape the fork, ad the butter tot he bowl, and microwave on high for 1 minute.  Whisking constantly, mix in the 2 cups of sugar.  Switch to a wooden spoon and stir in first the eggs, then the vanilla, salt, and flour.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly tot he edges with a rubber spatula. Bake 30 - 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean, making sure not to overbake. Let cool at least ten minutes before slicing.

Serve warm with ice cream and caramel sauce or hot fudge and pecans for a rich, sweet treat or eat one with a cup of cold milk.

Birthday Cake (or pie!)

So the 20th was my dad's birthday, and the day before, he and his wife came up to visit and spend some time. We threw him a Triplitt style birthday party, complete with homemade hats and birthday bunting. Ever since I was a little girl, my dad's birthday means Boston Cream Pie. Of course, growing up, we always picked one up from the supermarket.  This time, I made one from scratch.

Boston Cream Pie (adapted from here)

Cake:
1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 room temperature eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Pudding:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, plus 4 yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
pinch of salt
Ganache:
4 ounces finely chopped semi sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Cake:
First, preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch cake pan and cut a piece of parchment to line just the bottom. To do this easily, you can fold a piece of parchment into a square, then fold the square in half at a point to form a triangle. fold it one more time to form a smaller triangle then set the point of the paper in the middle of the cake pan and cut the edge, following the curve of the pan.  Open it up and it's a circle that fits. Or, you can always just trace the bottom of the pan and cut just inside the line. That works too.
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Beat the eggs and sugar in a separate clean dry glass bowl on high speed until pale and tripled in volume, about fifteen minutes.  Fold in the flour mixture gently until well combined.  Mix in the milk, oil, and vanilla and beat til combined.  Pour the thin batter into the cake pan and bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.  The original recipe called for 25-30 minutes, but I baked mine for 35 and it was perfect. At 25 minutes it was still liquid in the center. Let cool ten minutes in the pan, then invert onto a rack until cooled completely.
While it cools make the pudding.  Heat the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat but don't boil it. Whisk the eggs, yolk, and sugar in a large bowl til light and fluffy, about 6 minutes.  Add cornstarch and salt and whisk vigorously and make sure there are no remaining lumps. Very slowly whisk in the hot milk mixture. Don't pour it in all at once or you'll cook the eggs... you want it to temper.Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat until pudding like consistency forms, about ten minutes. Press through a fine mesh sieve . Let cool slightly, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for two hours.
Use a cake leveler to clean up the top of the cake and divide the cake into two equal layers. Spread the pudding onto the bottom layer and evenly press the top layer on, just until the pudding starts to come out the edges. Use a cake spatula to even off the excess pudding from the sides. 
Make the ganache by heating the heavy cream in a saucepan until a simmer forms around the edges, swirling the cream slowly to prevent a skin from forming. Pour the cream over the chocolate in a medium glass bowl, and use a rubber spatula to stir until all the chocolate is melted. Stir in the vanilla and salt and pour over the cake, allowing the ganache to run down the sides of the cake.  As a side note, I doubled the ganache recipe because I love chocolate. Refrigerate the cake at least 30 minutes before serving, and keep refrigerated any leftovers.

Enjoy! Happy birthday, Dad!

Brownie Sandwiches and Love

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  Today was yet another school party that I made treats for, and these might be my favorite.  They were chewy and delicious, and fun to make!

I'm not including a brownie recipe with this one, or a buttercream recipe, but I will include directions on making them with boxed brownies.  Some things just have to stay secret, ya know.

Assuming you have already followed the directions on the back of the brownie mix box, twice (because you need two boxes) and now have a large bowl of batter, we'll skip straight to the prep stages.  To bake these, spray 2 13x9 inch pans with cooking spray and divide the batter between the two. Bake 20 - 25 minutes at 350 or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  While that's cooling either make a buttercream or open a can of buttercream and beat in a few drops of cherry flavoring and red food coloring, plus enough powdered sugar to stiffen it back up again.

I used $3 plastic cookie cutters from a superstore heart set to cut the hearts, 12 total.  Do this while the brownies are just slightly warm still, and then use a butterknife to carefully slice them in half sandwich style.  Use a very small heart cutter to cut the center out of half of the hearts, then pipe the buttercream onto the rest of the hearts. Place the brownies with the cutouts on top and press gently. I left them out on the countertop for about 4 hours to set.  They were a huge hit, and if you use shortcuts instead of doing it all from scratch (not that I'm condoning boxed mix) it makes a great quick and impressive party snack.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

I've been doing a little experimenting with different kitchen ideas the past few weeks, one of which required a little bit of cheesecake filling.  However, I needed it to be no-bake, and I only needed half a cup of it.
I whipped up this creamy no bake cheesecake filling with so much left over it would have been a shame to waste.  So I decided to spread it into a graham cracker crust pressed into a pie plate, throw some sliced strawberries on top, drizzle it with white chocolate, and voila... cream cheese pie. 
This filling is so light and airy it would be a lie to call this no bake cheesecake.  The filling came out more like a whipped cream, with cream cheese folded in, so I feel like it wouldn't be honest to portray it as a cheesecake.  It is, however, one of the lightest and most delicious desserts I've ever made, and so easy it should be illegal.
I know it's a little summery for February, but what the heck... it sounded good.

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 Tbsp melted butter

Mix well until crumbly and press into the bottom of a pie plate.

Filling:

1 8 oz package room temp cream cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 strawberries, sliced 
1 oz melted white chocolate

In the bowl of a stand mixer or using an electric mixer, mix the cream cheese til smooth.  Add in the sugar and beat 2-3 minutes, until fluffy, then stir in the vanilla. In a clean glass bowl, beat the whipping cream on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold or mix the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until well combined then press into the graham cracker crust.  Layer the strawberries across the top of the pie and drizzle with melted white chocolate.  Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight before serving.

This seriously took no time to toss together, especially because I really liked the look when I left the edges of the crust somewhat unfinished looking, and I loved that during the summer I can make this without heating up the kitchen. It's an easy dessert sure to impress any guests, and a great make-ahead for a party. Also try pressing the crust and layering the filling and toppings into lined muffin tins for personal pies, or changing up the toppings, like maybe grated chocolate or fresh raspberries and white chocolate.

Homemade Pizzas!

Last week, we had a craft night that ended up not being so crafty.  Instead, we sat around and ran our mouths for a good two hours while we made homemade pizza, then my guests went home.  It turned out to be just the kind of evening I needed.... relaxed, lighthearted, and an all around good time.  Also, it was a reminder that when people come over you don't have to be productive to have fun.  Sometimes I forget that...

Anyway, I highly recommend making your own pizza, especially if you have kids.  What could possibly be more fun than dipping your hands in flour, tossing dough around, topping it any way you want, and then (in our case) watching it cook on your countertop? My dad gave me this amazing Pizazz countertop pizza oven a couple years ago and I get a total kick out of it.  Get one.  They're cheap. And once you taste this crust you'll never order a pizza again.

The Dough  (I doubled this recipe to accommodate the number of guests I had and it was perfect.)

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit til good and foamy.  I set a timer for ten minutes and it was just right.  Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and add in the yeast mixture and oil until a strong dough forms.  Cover and let rise to double, about half an hour.  Turn out onto floured surface and either shape into a round crust or, as I did, divide into separate, smaller dough balls and let each person round out their own. We used a countertop pizza oven and made 10" round pizzas with different topping choices (olives, canadian bacon, pepperoni, diced onion, chopped bell pepper, mozzarella, pizza sauce) and cooked them for around 9 - 11 minutes.  They were amazing!  If you do one large pizza I'd recommend probably 20 minutes at 450, or until golden. 

We had so much fun!  Every time I bring out the pizza oven I get all giddy with excitement.  This dough is so flexible, and is also delicious brushed with garlic butter and baked, then sliced into breadsticks.  So many options!  And check out Christian's artistic abilities.  I love it...

Tex-Mex Queso

I love white queso.  I have been on a quest for a good white queso recipe for quite a while now.  If you're thinking this is going to lead into a fantastic tale about how I've finally discovered how to make a good homemade white queso that really hits the spot, you're wrong.  I'm still searching.  However, on my quest I happened upon a really tasty yellow queso that's easy to make and great for say, Super Bowl Sunday... which is when I made it. 
What happened is this... I bought the wrong cheese for the white queso I was going to try, and ended up dumping a saucepan of cheese dip down the drain in a dramatic, frustrating show of womanism.  I still wanted queso so I started searching for a recipe I could live with for the day. Not only was this a pretty good recipe from the Homesick Texan, it's definitely one I'll make again, although it still doesn't have that creamy goodness that white queso has.  The search continues. In the meantime, give this a try.  Especially if you love yellow cheddar.

Ingredients:
1/2 onion diced (about 1/2 cup)
4 cloves of garlic minced
3 Serrano peppers diced
3 jalapeno peppers diced
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of milk
6 cups of shredded cheese, can use any combination of Longhorn cheddar and Monterrey Jack
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
1diced tomato
1/2 cup of sour cream
Salt to taste
(I just want to throw it out there that I did not have Serrano peppers, so I improvised for a different flavor with 1/4 cup diced green bell peppers and 1 can drained green chiles. I also felt that the amount of cheese was a bit much... ok, a LOT much.  I only used 3 cups. Worked out okay. Pretty tasty.)

In a saucepan, melt the butter and saute the onions and peppers about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook another minute or so.  Whisk in the flour, then the milk, and cook to a simmer.  Let cook about 5 minutes until it thickens slightly.  Stir in the cheese until melted, then fold in the tomatoes, cilantro, and sour cream.  I ended up adding about 1 tsp of chili powder and 1/4 tsp or so of salt as well.  Like I said, it's definitely a unique flavor but one my family really enjoyed.  Have fun with it!  Try different peppers or cheese combinations, and add or subtract a little sour cream or tomatoes to suit your taste.

Sew happy!

So my friend's daughter recently added me to a Facebook group called Beg, Borrow, Buy and Sell.  I started browsing and found that I have a highly addictive personality.  First Facebook, then Etsy, followed shortly by Blogger and Pinterest.  And of course the Gawkerverse. Wow, I never realized what a web nerd I really am...
Oh well, I'm sure the rest of you already knew.
Anyway, within an hour I had posted all of my living room furniture on the group page.  By the next day, I stood in an empty living room.  In selling my furniture I didn't take into account the fact that my family would have limited sitting space (i.e. the floor) if I got rid of the furniture.  That being said, I'm typing this blog while sitting on my mother in law's old (but still only a couple years old) broken couch that was in our garage.  We're using it until we get something else.  Granted, it's a beautiful couch... off white, contemporary design, quite comfortable.  Still, we're lucky we had it.  Otherwise, we'd have been sitting Kumbaya style on the carpet to watch American Idol.
On the bright side, I also made a purchase I'm quite excited by. I came across a post for an old sewing machine and was intrigued... the picture wasn't super clear but the caption said that it works and I could tell it was an antique.  Recently my friend and I had a conversation about why my modern, inexpensive Singer kept breaking down on me and the consensus was that unless I bought a sturdy old metal sewing machine or spent my kid's college fund on a high quality machine, I might as well consider early retirement from sewing.
I know, this blog is going on and on, but I can't contain my excitement.
Long story short (too late) I bought the sewing machine.  Brought it home, turned it on, set it up, everything works.  It's so beautiful I can't even believe it's mine.  I can't wait to start making things!
I consulted my sewing genius friend Melanie and her mother and decided it was probably a good idea to look up the serial number and model of my new Singer and found that it's a Singer 301A, probably manufactured in Anderson, SC in 1951. Everything is original, and everything works properly, even the original buttonholer that came with it. Anyway, I just wanted to share my excitement at this remarkable find... I couldn't believe my luck!  Can't wait to share my first project... after Melanie comes over and shows me how to thread the machine, of course.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I love broccoli cheddar soup.  I don't know what it is, but something about it just warms up my spirit.  A good hot serving of broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl on a cold night is just the thing. I've had a hard time finding a good recipe for this because so many recipes called for processed cheeses or just didn't have the flavor I was looking for, they tasted bland and not hearty enough.  After several years of testing, I believe this is hands down, the best broccoli cheddar soup I've tasted.

1/2 cup real butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups broccoli florets, or 1 package frozen florets
1 cup grated carrot
2 1/2 cups grated white and yellow sharp cheddar
1/4 tsp nutmeg

In a large pot, melt butter and add onion.  Simmer until translucent.  Whisk in flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add in half and half and cook to a simmer.  Stir in chicken broth.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 20 minutes.  Add carrots and broccoli and cover, simmering another 20 minutes.  Remove half of soup to a blender and puree.  Return to pot, and cook to a simmer.  Add cheese and mix well until melted.  Add nutmeg.  Serve immediately and garnish with freshly grated cheddar and nutmeg.

I love this soup.  I could eat it every day if the calories would magically disappear.  Chad likes it better when I replace half the cheese with American or Velveeta and I don't add any nutmeg, so if you have a husband like mine that prefers the processed cheese, feel free to do it that way instead.  But I'm saying this may be a travesty.  Just being honest...

Sweet, Delicious Cranberry Orange Scones

After the week we had, we definitely needed a Sunday morning pick-me-up.  These scones did the trick, and judging from the white chocolate mustache on Brooklyn and Christian's empty plate, I'm not the only fan.
The sour cream in these babies makes them so moist and delicious you'd be hard pressed to believe you're not in London.  Enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Scones with White Chocolate

1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
Zest and juice from one large orange
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
2 cups sweetened dried cranberries

In a small bowl, mix together sour cream and baking soda and set aside.  In another small bowl, mix together orange juice and zest.  Set aside.
Preheat oven to\ 350 and lightly grease a large baking sheet.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, sugar, and salt.  Pour flour mixture into bowl of a food processor.  Cut in butter, mix in egg and dried cranberries.  Pulse just until combined. You can also do all of this by hand, using a fork or pastry knife to cut in butter and a wooden spoon to mix in egg and cranberries.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Flouring hands and lightly flouring top of dough, knead lightly and form a round about an inch and a half thick.  Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut into 12 pie shaped pieces.  Arrange 1-2 inches apart on baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes, until bottom is browned.  In a glass bowl, melt 1 ounce white chocolate in the microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals until creamy.  Don't heat too long, 1 min 30 seconds max. Use a spoon to drizzle white chocolate over the scones. 

Seriously, these scones are a daymaker.  They don't take long to put together and they're perfect for a delicious weekend breakfast.  You can also leave out the cranberries and orange and replace with everythign from chocolate chips and walnuts to raisins and dates. 

B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

I love banana nut bread. But it's always a problem to make because I rarely have the patience to wait until the bananas are ripe enough, so they usually get eaten up before anything gets baked.  Now, when I'm grocery shopping, I scour the bananas in the produce section for the ripest, brownest ones available.  Sometimes, if I'm lucky, they even have completely overripe bananas for 19 cents a pound.  Can't beat that. This time, I bought bananas overripe and some still green for the family. Lo and behold, today we have banana bread.

Banana Bread (with or without nuts)
6 mashed bananas, so ripe they're juicy
4 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup butter
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
3 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups of walnuts (opt)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Prepare 4 loaf pans or 2 loaf pans and a 12- count muffin tin with cooking spray. In a small bowl, whisk together 3 Tbsp white sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon.  Coat the pans and muffin tin with the mixture and set aside. 
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside. In a very large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar til fluffy.  Slowly blend in the eggs. Mix in the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla until well incorporated. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the flour mixture until a batter is formed and no lumps remain.  Stir in walnuts and divide batter between pans.  Bake in 300 degree oven for 1 hr 10 minutes, removing the muffins after 40 minutes or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

By far the best banana bread I've ever had, and it's so moist it just melts. I've been making this recipe for years, sometimes as a loaf and sometimes as muffins.  It's always a crowd pleaser and definitely one of my personal favorites. And when it's this easy, there's no excuse not to set aside a Sunday afternoon and make this with the kids.  Christian loves to help, and these were enjoyed on a beautiful and crisp Sunday afternoon with my gorgeous niece and my kids.  Even Marco, our fostered Catahoula, had a muffin. I love how baking gets us away from the electronic devices and brings us into the kitchen together. (Maybe I shouldn't mention that Christian was trying to get the Wii to work for the better part of an hour of this, but at least I tried.)

Toasted Coconut and Parrot Bay

Today I helped my mother and father in law at a bridal show here in Stillwater.  I took the opportunity to expand my horizons a bit and brought along truffles and business cards with the hopes that the masses will recruit me for their dessert needs for their events and showers.  I made some of the truffles I always bring to these sorts of things, but I also wanted to make something new.

I called these Honeymoon Truffles... toasted coconut, tropical rum, dark chocolate... if these don't remind you of the flavors of an oceanic chocolate paradise, I don't know what will.

Honeymoon Truffles

4 Tbsp Parrot Bay or other coconut rum, 42 proof
16 oz 60% cacao dark chocolate, divided and chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
12 oz coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350.  Spread coconut out on a baking sheet in a thin layer.  Bake 3 minutes in oven.  Turn off heat and crack the oven door.  Leave the coconut in for another 8 minutes, until browned and toasty, stirring once halfway through.

Remove to a glass bowl and set aside.

Put 8 oz chopped chocolate in a glass bowl.  Heat the cream in a small saucepan, whisking occasionally, until lightly simmering.  Pour over the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth and creamy. Stir in the rum one tablespoon at a time until smooth. Reserving 1/8 cup of the toasted coconut for later, crush the rest of the coconut into the ganache mixture and stir until well combined.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Melt the remaining chocolate over a double boiler until smooth.  Using a cookie scoop, scoop 1/2 inch balls of the set ganache and roll with your hands to make perfect balls.  Dip in the melted chocolate and remove to a parchment lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle a small amount of the leftover toasted coconut onto each truffle while the chocolate is still wet.  Let sit in the freezer for fifteen minutes to ensure a strong set. 

These are so delicious and perfect for a special occasion.  Hopefully I made enough friends today at the bridal show to ensure plenty of Honeymoon Truffles in my future.

Rosemary Bread

I love bread.  I love anything full of carbs. Pasta, bread, cake, bread, anything with white flour, bread... you get the idea.  One of the judgements I make about whether or not I like a particular restaurant is typically in what kind of bread they serve.  For instance, Olive Garden may not have the most flavorful sauces or the best chicken cutlet but you'd be hard pressed to find a more garlicky or delicious breadstick.  Texas Roadhouse has the most amazingly soft yeast rolls with honey butter I've tasted to date, and always fresh.  Primo's and Macaroni Grill have rosemary bread.  I live in Stillwater.  We don't have a Primo's.  Or a Macaroni Grill, for that matter.  This means in order for me to partake in rosemary bread, I either have to drive 80 miles or make it myself. The latter is cheaper, so that's where I am today.

Rosemary Bread (adapted from here)

1 packet 1/4-ounce active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing and serving
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked sea salt 
Freshly ground pepper

Mix yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup 110-115 F water in a small bowl.  Set aside until yeast is active and froth forms, about 5 minutes.  In a mixing bowl, combine 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tbsp dried rosemary, and 1 tsp fine salt with the yeast mixture.  Use either a wooden spoon, a stnad mixer fitted with a dough hook, or a hand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Turn out onto a well floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 9-10 minutes.  Form a ball.  Coat a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough ball in the bowl.  Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise until more than doubled, about 2 hours.

Turn out and divide into four equal parts.  Working with one part at a time, fold the edges over to form a freeform square.  Turn the dough over and tuck the corners underneath, creating a smooth ball. Do this with each of the dough parts until you have 4 uniform balls. Transfer to a baking sheet coated with olive oil and let rise on sheet for another 2 hours, or until more than doubled in size. 
Preheat oven to 400.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Pull from oven, brush the loaves with olive oil, and crack fresh sea salt over the top of each one.  Sprinkle rosemary over the top of each one and return to oven for another 10 minutes.  Remove and serve warm with olive oil and an Italian spice blend, or olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

So amazingly delicious, especially fresh from the oven.  However, the loaves were not much more than a glorified dinner roll in size so I think next time I will only divide the dough into two parts rather than four for larger loaves.  Macaroni Grill, eat your heart out.

Monkey Bread!!

After all the overwhelming festivity of the holiday season, it's nice to kick back and make a few simple recipes.  I love cheats in January, like cooking with Bisquick or using cake mix instead of doing everything from scratch.  Sometimes a dressed up mix is almost as good as a from scratch recipe, and doesn't always require the planning ahead that most decadent treats do.
That's what I love about this monkey bread... it tastes like the most delicious, oo-ey, goo-ey, sweet treat on the planet but it really takes absolutely nothing and is always sure to impress.  In order for it to really satisfy that decadent sweet tooth craving, the key is the level of gooiness, the amount of finger licking required afterwards, and the necessity of cold milk alongside.  This recipe gets a 10 in all three categories.  I attribute that to the syrup, which is the perfect amount of sugary, syrupy awesomeness.

Easy Monkey Bread

3 cans refrigerated biscuit dough (anything will work but steer clear of anything that says "flaky")
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.  In a bowl, whisk together white sugar and cinnamon.  Using a sharp knife, cut the biscuits into thirds or quarters, or some of each.  Coat each piece of biscuit in the cinnamon sugar mixture and layer them into a well greased tube pan or bundt pan. After they've all been coated and layered, set aside.  In a small saucepan, melt the butter.  Add in the brown sugar and mix well.  Boil for one full minute.  Remove from heat and pour evenly over biscuit layers.  Bake 35 minutes.  Wait ten minutes and then turn out onto a serving plate.  Serve fresh and warm.

What a treat this is for breakfast on a weekend, when you want it to feel sort of special and don't want to go to all the effort.  This is also the perfect recipe for kids.  It's almost impossible to mess up and they love rolling the dough in the sugar.

Just a few random memories...

I was browsing my cell phone gallery and I came upon a few gems that made me smile and I thought I'd share...

 

I love this one of Brooklyn.  She sleeps like me... haphazardly.

This one is Christian and I in 2010 playing outside during a snowstorm.  That was one of the best days of my life. Still not sure why... we didn't do anything exceptional.  I guess everything was just right that day.

This one is so sweet... Christian has such a beautiful face, and when he's sleeping he's still enough for me to appreciate it.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share.  I'm ready to move on to new memories now :)

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

I made a salted caramel cheesecake with a chocolate crust for Christmas this year.  I made it because I was scrolling through Pinterest, and kept seeing salted caramel everything and a recurring cheesecake that looked amazing.  Something in me snapped and I knew that if I didn't have a salted caramel cheesecake I might not make it to the new year.  It's a good thing I did, because here it is 2012 and I don't know how my family would survive without me to do things like complain that they're too loud all the time or get onto Chad for playing crude video games during waking hours.  It's a conundrum... one we thankfully avoided this time.

Salted Caramel Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust

Crust
2 cups chocolate animal crackers, finely ground.  You can use any kind of plain chocolate cookie here, but the animal crackers worked out really well
1/4 cup melted butter

Cheesecake (adapted from this cheesecake)
1 pound (2 blocks) cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400. In a food processor, pulse cookie crumbs with melted butter until sticky.  Press into the bottom of a springform pan or bottom and sides of a glass pie plate. Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Let rest in the fridge until ready to bake cheesecake.

Turn oven down to 325. Fill a kettle or saucepan with water and bring to a boil on stovetop. Beat cream cheese and sugar on high about 5 minutes. Beat in salt and vanilla.  Mix in eggs one at a time.Slowly beat in cream, adding gradually, until very creamy. Pour batter over crust.  Fill a 9x13 pan with the boiling water and place on bottom oven rack.  Place cheesecake on upper rack.Bake 50-60 minutes, until middle isn't liquid jiggly and the edges and top are golden. Turn off oven, prop the door open slightly, and let the cheesecake rest for another 45 minutes.  Remove and set on baking dish in freezer.  For the caramel, you can either use the prepackaged caramels, make your own caramel, or use the caramel from  this recipe, which is what I did.  The only difference... at the end, add in 1 tsp coarse sea salt.  Pour about 3/4 cup of the slightly cooled caramel over the top of the cheesecake and return to freezer for 45 minutes.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  When serving, sprinkle about 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt over the slice of cheesecake.  So delicious!

Crockpot BBQ Beef

My dad gave us a crockpot recipe book for Christmas (thanks, Dad) and I spent a couple hours browsing through it the other night while Chad played ping pong on the Move... as if that wasn't entertaining enough. I found several good recipes, but one in particular caught my eye.  Not because if looked amazing but because it was a good idea.  Crockpot pulled beef... their recipe didn't look awesome, I have a feeling it would have been more sour than sweet, and watery.  Nothing grosses me out more than watery beef.  However, the title challenged me to come up with my own crockpot BBQ beef, and try I did.  I think it was a raving success and for once, every member of my household readily agreed without complaint.  That says something...

1 2-3 lb chuck roast, thawed
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (we only use Head Country in this house)

In a cast iron skillet, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil on high almost until smoking.  Season the roast generously on both sides with salt and pepper.  Sear in the skillet about 2 minutes per side, until a good crust is formed.  In a small bowl, mix 1 cup of BBQ sauce with the liquid smoke.  Put half into the bottom of the crockpot.  Lay the roast on top, and pour the remaining 1/2 cup of smoke/bbq sauce mixture on top.  Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours.  Remove roast to glass bowl and dump all remaining liquid out of the crockpot.  Using two forks, pull beef to shred, discarding any fatty pieces.  Return to crockpot, mix in all remaining BBQ sauce (about 2-3 cups, depending on bottle size) and mix well. Turn crockpot on low and cover for thirty minutes.  Mix before serving.

I like this recipe because it means we can have BBQ in the dead of winter, when it's too cold outside to use the grill.  It also means I have a go-to recipe for the summer when we have barbecue parties and guests come over that won't use up the stove space or grill space and I can be free to cook other things that are more time consuming.  This pulled beef tastes like it came from the grill to the bowl to your bun.  Perfect!

Cranberry Orange Loaf

Happy New Year, everyone! I know that the holidays have wrapped up and we are heading into a bland, cold, desolate month and a half until the next spot of brightness, Valentine's Day. That in mind, I needed something warm and sweet to keep me feeling festive for just one more day while I kissed the holiday season goodbye.  Then came this cranberry orange bread and I felt better.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
zest from one orange
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts, or 1/2 cup of each
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 325.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Fold in cranberries, orange zest, and nuts and set aside.  Beat butter and sugar 3-5 minutes, then mix in egg.  Stir in orange juice and then fold in flour mixture just until incorporated.  Prepare a loaf pan by greasing it with butter then dusting it with flour. Spread batter in pan and bake at 325 for one hour. Cool for ten minutes before turning out, then cool for another thirty minutes before glazing.  For glaze, mix 3 Tbsp powdered sugar with one teaspoon vanilla extract.  Slowly mix in a little bit of water until it reaches desired consistency.  I think I used 1 Tbsp water then ended up adding in a few pinches of powdered sugar.  Drizzle over the top of the loaf.

All in all, this bread was really a tasty treat and would make a great breakfast with some hot tea and honey.  I do think that next time I'll add 1/2 a cup of sour cream into the wet batter for a little more moistness, but it was delicious just as it is.

And Brooklyn loved it. Always a win in my book.