Lemon Blossoms

Tuesday night I made these Lemon Blossoms for work on Wednesday. I saw the recipe on a Paula Deen show and it looked super easy, plus it just got really summer-y around here and lemons seemed very appropriate!

Lemon Blossoms
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel
To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.


*The batter was terribly sticky and trying to use mini-muffin liners did not work well AT ALL. I gave up after the first tray and just poured the remaining batter straight into my star-shaped pan.

*This glaze is AMAZING. Seriously, I am going to make it for everything. I LOVE IT!

Peanutbutter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a lot of complaints on Wednesday at work when I ran out of Cinna-Spin cookies from people who didn't get to try any, so I made a small batch of cookies to take to work on Friday for the complainers. I used a Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie mix and added about a cup of chocolate chips that I had left from the brownie recipe. However, that was too many chips, the dough barely held together! Anyway, they were amazing. But I still got complaints for making too few!

Cinna Spin Cookies

I found these from a link on cookiemadness.net, of the Betty Crocker 2008 Cookie Finalists, and they actually won the competition! I always have the BC Sugar Cookie mix on hand, for making the almond spritz cookies (I love almond-flavoring) so this was super simple to whip up and I took them into work last Wednesday.

Cinna-spin Cookies

Prep Time:1 hr 10 min
Start to Finish:1 hr 10 min
Makes:2 1/2 dozen cookies
Cinna-spin Cookies


Cookies
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, mix cookie mix and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Stir in butter and egg until soft dough forms.
2. On piece of waxed paper, shape 1 tablespoon cinnamon into a line about 5 inches long. Using floured fingers, shape 1 tablespoon of dough into a rope 5 inches long. Press one side of dough rope into cinnamon.
3. On ungreased cookie sheet, coil dough rope tightly, cinnamon side facing center, into cinnamon-roll shape. Press end of rope into roll to seal. Repeat with remaining dough. Place cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
4. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
5. In small bowl, mix glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Decrease butter to 1/3 cup.


*I used a hand mixer, because the dough was too clumpy when I mixed it with just a fork, so if you do the same, chill the dough before you try to roll it up
**This also might be why they did not stay a swirl and just meshed together while baking

*I made the glaze, but put it on when the cookies were too hot, so it just got absorbed into the cookie.

Pittsburgh Folk Festival

On Sunday, Lesley and I went to the 52nd annual Pittsburgh Folk Festival at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, downtown. It was everything I hoped it would be!! I was worried with the $10 cover and $10 parking it would end up being really small with a few nationalities all serving americanized food, but it was actually amazing!! There were about 15 different countries (and Hawaii) with food booths, and a good many booths in the center of the room selling items from the country they were from. There was also a stage where they had constant performers dressed in ethic outfits. Mostly it was cute little kids! Then after we bought all kinds of desserts from many countries we watched a cooking demonstration. It was a Carpatho-Russyn guy demonstrating how to make Russian Crepes, and I got to help!!! The video is on my myspace, you have to check it out!!!!

Here are some pics:

Croatian Desserts


Croatian Honeycake (tastes like a muffin, I loved it!)


Greek Biscotti


Slovakian Honeycakes (Mike said they tasted like gingerbread)



Carpatho-Russyn Booth



Carpatho-Russyn Desserts (YUM)





Lebanese mini-cookies (no egg, no milk)





My Video!!!!
Check out this video: Cooking Demo



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Chicken Noodle Soup

Today, my friends were sick, so I decided to attempt homemade chicken noodle soup. Let's not forget that I am a baker, not a cook, so this could be bad. I followed a recipe on the back of a Swanson Broth container, but I bought a different brand, so I just went from what I remembered while looking at the Swanson box in the grocery store, lol.

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1 box 32oz chicken broth (maybe you should buy 2 boxes)
1/2 bag of homemade ribbon-like noodles
1 carrot
3 mini celery sticks
shake of parsley
shake of spicy chicken seasoning
salt + pepper



Start broth on med-high, sauté chicken in some olive oil until cooked. Add to broth along with parsley and seasonings. Cut up celery and carrots and put into skillet that you used for the chicken, add more olive oil if necessary. Cook for a little bit then add to broth. Boil noodles like the directions say, add to broth and serve. I'll post the reviews tomorrow!!!

Mexican Chocolate Crunch Brownies

I saw this recipe on Cookiemadness.net and thought it sounded really fun and easy. I already had the brownie mix on hand so I just had to buy cereal and chocolate chips. I brought them into work, and all the golfers loved them; they were gone within an hour!!

Mexican Chocolate Crunch Brownies

1 box (12.8 oz) Cinnamon Toast Crunch® cereal (about 8 cups)
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 box (19.5 oz) Pillsbury® Traditional Fudge Brownie Mix
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar (from 3.62-oz jar)*

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Place cereal in food processor bowl with metal blade (crush cereal in 2 batches if necessary). Cover; process until finely crushed (about 4 cups). Or place cereal in large resealable food-storage plastic bag; crush with rolling pin.

In large bowl, stir butter and corn syrup until well blended. Add crushed cereal; mix thoroughly. Press evenly in pan.

In large bowl, make brownie mix as directed on box, using oil, water and eggs and adding cinnamon. Stir in 2/3 cup of the chocolate chips. Pour brownie batter over cereal mixture. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup chocolate chips evenly over batter.

Bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar evenly over brownies. Bake 14 to 18 minutes longer or until brownies are set when lightly touched in center. Cool 10 minutes; loosen edges but do not cut. Cool completely, about 2 hours. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.

*Three tablespoons sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon can be substituted for the cinnamon sugar.

I didn't have any cinnamon sugar, so I made it like the note says, also I think the crust stuck to my teeth a bit, so maybe next time I will leave out the corn syrup.