Chewy Waffles

CHIPS!

2009-09-11T16:13:00.002-04:00

Check out these awesome fried potato chips!! I saw them at a local fair in Latrobe, PA. I have since seen them at a few more fairs in the area, but never before this year!!!!

Virginia Beach, VA

2009-09-11T15:55:00.004-04:00

I went to Virginia Beach with my boyfriend and friend Erin in August, and had a fun time visiting the local bakeries and restaurants. The pictures below are my favorites:

Murphy's Irish Stew with their soda (I think )bread:

SugarPlum Bakery's chocolate cake I got my friend for her birthday:

A new Cupcake shop off of Laskin Road (Just Cupcakes) 's two cupcakes; Key Lime:

Blueberry:

Cherry Chip Scones

2009-07-05T16:17:00.001-04:00

At the local 4th of July Festival at Twin Lakes in Greensburg, PA, I found a booth selling irish food with these scones. They had many different flavors, but they were homemade and the cherry chip was my favorite. I would love to have a recipe for these!! If I can find one, I will post it later. I bought about 6 of these scones, froze them, took them to the beach, and had them for breakfast! SOOOOO GOOOD!

4th of July

2009-07-04T16:13:00.001-04:00

I made these funfetti patriotic cupcakes for the 4th of July for my fellow workers at the golf course.

Margarita Cake

2009-05-11T17:04:00.004-04:00

I get emails from the Betty Crocker Website every week or so with recipes; this month's recipe-theme was for Mother's day and there were a few cakes using margarita mix. That sounded exciting and perfect for my mom because she does not drink alcohol and is always sad when I make things that contain it; this recipe is completely non-alcoholic! All I had to buy was white cake mix, a lime, margarita mix, and whipped cream. Easy! I used the original mix, instead of strawberry flavored variety and ended up with a citrus-y light cake. Both my mom and my boyfriend's mom loved it.

Margarita Cake

1 box white cake mix
11/4 cups bottled nonalcoholic margarita mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lime peel
3 egg whites
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
Additional grated lime peel, if desired

1.Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening and lightly flour (or spray bottom with baking spray with flour).

2.In large bowl, beat cake mix, margarita mix, oil, 1 tablespoon lime peel and the egg whites with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown and top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Frost with whipped topping; sprinkle with additional lime peel. Store covered in refrigerator.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375°F. Decrease oil to 1/4 cup; use 4 egg whites.

* I used two 8inch pans instead of one 13 x 9, and baked them for 25 minutes.
* The original recipe calls for a pretzel crust, but I omitted that.

Strawberry Margarita Cakes

Doublewide Grill

2009-05-10T14:44:00.004-04:00

There is a restaurant in Pittsburgh's Southside that I had been meaning to go to for a while. My boyfriend and I finally went, and it was awesome! They serve you your food on metal trays, and for about $15 you get 5 different things! The best thing on the menu is the Pineapple-Rum Sauce they put on their tilapia... I don't eat fish, but I tried a tiny bit of my boyfriend's and it was crazy good, I am going to try to re-create the recipe with this one I found online:

Pineapple Rum Glaze

2 tablespoons butter
1 small red onion, diced
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grilled pineapple, diced small
1/4 cup honey
3 ounces dark rum
1/2 cup pineapple juice
4 green onions, chopped
lemon or lime pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation
In a saucepot over medium heat, add the butter, red onion, shallots and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes until the onions are soft, but not brown. Add the grilled pineapple, honey, dark rum, pineapple juice and green onions. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and set aside.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

St. Patrick's Day!

2009-05-10T14:44:00.000-04:00

For St. Patrick's Day, my boyfriend and I went to a local bar, Callaghan's, for breakfast... Green Eggs and Ham!!! I had to take a pic of the food for my blog so here it is:

Despite the neon green coloring, everything tasted really good!!

Mint Chocolate Brownie Cookies

2009-05-10T14:23:00.004-04:00

Around Christmastime, I ordered a Hershey's Calender, with just a few proof-of-purchases. The calendar has a recipe for each month, and for St. Patrick's Day, there were these cookies that you make with brownie mix. It seemed simple and they looked fun, so I made them and brought them into work, and gave some to my friends. Everyone liked them, but some people were not too thrilled with the minty icing, so maybe just keep it green, but don't add the extract!!

I have to type up the recipe, because I can't find it online, but here are some pictures for now:

Ashley's Wedding Reception

2009-05-09T14:33:00.001-04:00

At the reception for my friend Ashley's wedding, I took a few pictures of the baked goods! Her wedding cake, a cookie tray, and a close up of my favorite cookie in the whole world!!!

Ashley's Wedding: Raspberry Mini-Cheesecakes

2009-05-09T14:23:00.003-04:00

In February, one of my friends got married, and her mom asked if there was anything I wanted to make for the wedding. I couldn't think of anything and then I saw this recipe on the back of a Hershey's Kiss bag. I had the peppermint kisses, but I figured I could make the same cheesecakes with the white-chocolate raspberry ones, and make them in little foils so that there would be a lot. I bought graham cracker crumbs and added sugar and melted butter to them and then put a spoonful in each foil. Then I put the cheesecake mixture on top and I got nearly 4 1/2 dozen from this recipe!

To make them extra special for the wedding, I added one frozen raspberry to each mini cheesecake before baking, and they tasted really great!!

KISSES Candy Cane Swirl Cheesecake

Ingredients:

* COOKIE CRUMB CRUST(recipe follows)
* 3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3 eggs
* 42 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Candy Cane Mint Candies, divided
* 1 tablespoon milk
* Sweetened whipped cream

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare COOKIE CRUMB CRUST.

2. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Set aside 1/4 cup batter; spread remaining batter in prepared crust.

3. Remove wrappers from candies. Place 30 candies and milk in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until candies are melted and mixture is well blended when stirred. Gradually blend reserved cheesecake batter into candy mixture. Drop candy mixture by tablespoonfuls onto vanilla batter. Gently swirl with knife for marbled effect.

4. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove from oven to wire rack. With knife, loosen cake from side of pan. Cool completely; remove side of pan. Cover; refrigerate until chilled. Garnish with whipped cream and remaining candies. Cover; refrigerate leftovers. 10 to 12 servings.

* I only baked mine about 25 minutes
* The melted kisses do not retain their red color, they blend to look chocolaty.

Cookie Walk

2008-12-18T13:42:00.002-05:00

I was reading the local City Paper and saw an add for the annual Cookie Walk in Lawrenceville, PA which is right near downtown Pittsburgh, and I'd never been to a cookie walk before so it sounded fun. Basically, you walk from store to store and get a free cookie and recipe for it; so the stores get new visitors and you get free cookies! I was a little disappointed though because all of the cookies at every store were made by a single bakery, but the recipes seem to be from the store owners themselves. Here is the link to an article about the annual cookie walk: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08339/932457-34.stm

And here are pics of the cookies:

*The oatmeal was my favorite, it had sea salt on it, a really good flavor combination!

Cranberry Fluff

2008-12-18T13:12:00.003-05:00

My boyfriend and his family would not stop going on and on about his grandmother's cranberry fluff-type thing she made every year for Thanksgiving, and since they were spending this Thanksgiving at the other side of the family, they weren't going to have any. So, I got the recipe from his mom and made it a few days later (I had never tried it before) and it was really simple and good!

Frozen Cranberry Salad (cranberry Fluff)

8oz softened cream cheese
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp mayo
8oz crushed pineapple (drained)
1 can whole cranberry sauce
8oz whipped topping

Cream cream cheese, mayo, and sugar with a mixer. Stir in pineapple, cranberries, and whipped topping.

Pour into an 8 x 8 pan, cover with foil and freeze. Let sit out 15 min before serving.

Blackberry Wine Cake

2008-12-16T18:47:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted in awhile because of school taking up my time, and now I just had surgery on my left hand, so typing is a slow-go for me, but I'm going to try to get all my postings caught up.

First is this blackberry wine cake, the cook from my summer job told me about. He never got aroud to giving me the recipe but I found it online and made it in November for my boyfriend's mom's birthday. You can smell this cake a mile away!!! The glaze melted in, but that was all it needed, no icing necessary! As a bonus, the wine was only $5!!!!

Blackberry Wine Cake II
SUBMITTED BY: EYEPEAR

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 40 Min
READY IN 55 Min
Original recipe yield 1 - 10 inch Bundt pan

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package blackberry flavored gelatin
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup blackberry wine

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup blackberry wine

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and gelatin mix. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, oil and blackberry wine. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Pour 1/2 of blackberry wine glaze over top of cake while still warm. Let set for 10 minutes then remove cake from pan. Allow cake to cool fully before pouring the remaining glaze on top.
To make the Glaze: In a small bowl, stir together the confectioners' sugar and 1/2 cup blackberry wine.

Pecan Tassies

2008-08-17T23:48:00.009-04:00

A guy from work brought in some Pecan Tassies his wife made and I absolutely loved them. I found this recipe online at http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/32/Pecan_Tassies351.shtml and attempted to make them. I didn't even try them because they looked too crisp, but the dough was good and everyone loved them so I guess they couldn't have been that bad. When he gives me his wife's recipe, I will make them again and post the better one.

Ingredients:

3 ounces cream cheese -- softened
8 tablespoons butter -- softened
1 cup flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 large egg
2/3 cup pecans -- chopped
Turn this recipe into a puzzle! [click]

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. In small bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat cream cheese with 7 tablespoons butter until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour and beat until well mixed.

With floured hands, divide dough into 24 equal pieces (dough will be very soft). With floured fingertips, gently press dough pieces evenly onto bottoms and up sides of twenty-four 1 3/4" by 3/4" ungreased miniature muffin-pan cups.

In medium bowl, with wire whisk or fork, mix brown sugar, vanilla, salt, egg, and remaining 1 tablespoon margarine or butter until filling is blended. Place half of pecans in pastry-lined cups.

Spoon filling by heaping teaspoons into each pastry cup; sprinkle tops with remaining pecans.

Bake 30 minutes or until filling is set and edges of crust are golden. With tip of knife, gently loosen tassies from muffin-pan cups and place on wire rack to cool completely. Store tassies in tightly covered container up to 1 week.

Irish Cream Fudge

2008-08-17T23:48:00.008-04:00

I had a little Irish Cream left after making Erin's birthday cake so I decided to make this fudge. I've never made fudge before, and I'm not sure why you have to boil the sugar for 11 minutes, not 10. But it's pretty good and you can taste the Irish Cream. Other recipes I've came across use white chocolate, but I'm not a big fan of that so I used this recipe.

Bailey's Irish Cream Fudge Recipe
1. In a very large bowl, combine:

2 pkgs milk chocolate chips, 12 oz. EACH
1 (12 oz.) pkg. semisweet chocolate chips
2 jars marshmallow cream, 7 oz. EACH
2 t. vanilla
2/3 c. Bailey's Irish Cream
2 c. chopped nuts -- optional

2. Set aside.
3. Line a 10x15" pan with foil and spread lightly with: butter

4. In a saucepan, combine:

4 1/2 c. sugar
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1/2 lb. butter

5. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
6. Cook slowly, stirring constantly for 11 minutes.
7. Pour milk mixture over the chocolate chip mixture.
8. Stir slowly by hand to blend. (Do not use a mixer.)
9. Pour into prepared pan.
10. Chill until set.

Makes about 5 pounds of fudge.

Pittsburgh Pirates

2008-08-17T23:44:00.001-04:00

I went to a Pirates game today at PNC Park. I had some pirogies, and took a pic, to be very Pittsburgh-like.

Ocean City, Maryland

2008-08-17T23:25:00.006-04:00

Last weekend I went to Ocean City, MD for a few days. The weather was nice and we had fun and I wanted to post about this awesome candy store we found on the boardwalk... Wockenfuss. Everything was handmade and I bought my mom some saltwater taffy (in individual flavors), my dogs each a treat shaped like a life saver, and I also bought these little potato-shaped candies that tasted like coconut. Sadly, I do not have a picture of the little potatoes, but the looked exactly like miniature of the real things! The were the right off-white color and rolled in cinnamon or something to look like the skins!! Here are pics of the dog treats and also of some awesome looking Gelato I saw in Dewey Beach, DE. They had a lot of flavors, including words I don't even know. Sadly, I've never tried Gelato, but maybe someday!!

Just Bunches!

2008-08-14T12:12:00.003-04:00

I saw an ad in the paper for the new cereal from Honey Bunches of Oats: Just Bunches! And I had to buy it because I have always loved HBoO, though I usually buy the generic version because I think the corn flakes are sweeter in it, and because this was my idea; to have them just have bunches in the cereal, no flakes at all. I had a coupon for $1 off, and WalMart had the cereal on sale for 2.50, so I got a box for 1.50. It's a small box, but it should last a while because you don't want to do what I did; I filled my bowl up like normal, except the bunches are so big that it takes a while to chew... I've been eating this one bowl of cereal forever. But I definitely like it, and if I find more coupons I will buy it again. I think this cereal would be perfect in some time of struesel topping, trail mix, or cookie!!! Maybe I will even create a recipe!!

Coconut Bars

2008-08-04T14:05:00.008-04:00

After making the coconut-lime snowballs, I had lots of coconut leftover, so I made these bars from Bakingblonde at http://bakingblonde.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/coconut-dream-bars-2/
They were super simple and easy to make, and the guys at work (aside from the coconut-haters) really liked them. The brown sugar is very noticeable and these bars are quite sweet, although they are not much to look at and not my favorite type of snack. However, like I said, the guys liked them so they were worth making.

Coconut Dream Bars
adapted from Recipezaar
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed (divided)
1/2 cup butter, softened slightly
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional) or milk chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a 9×13 pan with foil. Spray lightly with PAM.
Using low speed on mixer, combine flour, 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and butter until mixture resembles sand.
Using lightly greased finger tips, press the mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
While crust is baking, mix together the remaining brown sugar with eggs until just blended.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Remove crust from oven when time is up and evenly spread coconut mixture over partially baked crust.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool completely and cut into squares. (Do this or they will be messy!!)

Coconut Lime Thai Snowballs

2008-08-04T14:05:00.006-04:00

Last week I made these cookies from a recipe I found in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette last year. I am still looking for the recipe online so that I don't have to type it up (Lazy, I know) but if I can't find it, I will get it up here soon. The dough for this cookie was so good, I probably ate 4 or 5 cookies worth, and there were no eggs involved, so it was safe! They turned out ok, but the topping was a waste, the coconut/powdered sugar/lime did not stick to the cookie at all, so if anything I would just sift some powdered sugar on top and be done with it. I think these would be perfect for a tea party or some form of ladies event.

Coconut-Lime Thai Snowballs
Thursday, November 30, 2006

Coconut-Lime Thai Snowballs
Click photo for larger image.

COCONUT-LIME THAI SNOWBALLS

PG TESTED BY DIANA NELSON JONES

Tester's note: This recipe gives you the option of using lime juice instead of the first preference, lime oil. I decided to use the juice instead. The oil may be more pungent and make the cookies snappier. Additional lime zest would make the cookie coating more colorful. Also, I suggest you make the coating ahead of time.

Roll the balls out to the same size to prevent potential overbaking and crumbling.

Cookie mix:

* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1 teaspoon pure lime oil or 2 tablespoons lime juice
* 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, medium shred

Coating:

* 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, medium shred
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
* 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
* 2 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks in lower and upper third of oven. Combine butter and sugar in a bowl. Using an electric mixer or wooden spoon, beat until light and fluffy. Add lime oil or juice; beat to combine.

Gently fold in lime zest, salt, flour and coconut. Blend well.

Lightly flour hands and roll dough into small, approximately 1-inch balls and place about 1 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake until puffy (not browned) and bottoms are just golden, about 15 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine coating ingredients in a large plastic bag. While cookies are still warm, toss them in the coating. Remove and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies

Blueberry Cheescake Bars

2008-07-28T19:03:00.007-04:00

On Friday, a guy from work brought me in a tub of blueberries from his garden to make something with. So on Saturday, I made these cheesecake bars from a recipe I found online at http://www.bettycrocker.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipeId=42454 . It was one of the few cheesecake recipes that I could find that actually called for the berries, and not just jam, although this recipe called for both. I have to say the fresh blueberries were amazing after being cooked and the crust was perfect. I was a little worried that the oatmeal cookie crust would be strange since most people use a graham cracker crust, but it really tasted great.

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Prep Time:40 min
Start to Finish:4 hr 10 min
Makes:28 bars

1 pouch Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 eggs
1 jar (10 oz) blueberry spreadable fruit
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) whole blueberries

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, beat cookie mix, butter and egg with electric mixer on low speed until soft dough forms. Press in bottom of pan.
2. Bake 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in another large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add whipping cream and eggs; beat on low speed until well blended.
3. Spread spreadable fruit over partially cooled crust. Sprinkle with blueberries. Pour cream cheese mixture evenly over blueberries, spreading gently to cover.
4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. For bars, cut into 7 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): In step 4, bake 45 to 50 minutes.

*I know I really need to start taking pictures of a single piece of things.

Peanutbutter Iced Brownies

2008-07-28T19:03:00.005-04:00

Last week I made a simple box brownie mix (Betty Crocker) and made a peanut butter frosting for it from scratch, from a recipe I found in the newspaper (Relish Magazine) awhile ago, that I had clipped and put in my recipe book http://www.relishmag.com/recipes/view/27738/chocolate-cake-peanut-butter.html . It was not as creamy as I would have liked, but I think I could have added more milk as the recipe suggests. Overall, the peanut butter/chocolate brownie combination was really good.

Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe

5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons, confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 to 5 tablespoons 2 percent low-fat milk

Instructions

To make the frosting, mix butter, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla with a mixer; beat well. Add peanut butter. Add 2 tablespoons milk slowly, beating until very creamy. Add up to 3 additional tablespoons milk if necessary to achieve desired consistency. When cake has cooled, frost top.

Orange Cookies

2008-07-05T22:12:00.010-04:00

I found this recipe online from the 2002 winner of the Good Morning America's Christmas Cookie Contest. I took an orange from work and used half the zest IN the cookies and half the zest in the glaze. The glaze is just what I've been making for all of my lemon or lime desserts: eyeball some veg oil, some milk or water, zest, and powdered sugar. The veg. oil is the key I think. Be careful not to burn these cookies!!! They are very good soft.

Orange Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon grated orange rind
1 egg, unbeaten
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add vanilla, orange rind and egg. Mix well.
3. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix until well blended.
4. Drop from teaspoon on un-greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 F for 10 minutes or until light brown. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar immediately after removing from oven.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

*I only got 3 dozen cookies out of this recipe.

No Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-07-05T22:12:00.009-04:00

I got this recipe from Anna at cookiemadness.net, and everyone that tried them, including me who doesn't even LIKE chocolate chip cookies, said that they were amazing. I'm actually going to make another batch tomorrow. This is definitely going to be my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe from now on!

Chocolate Chip Cookies Made With Oil

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (more chocolate to compensate for the missing butter!)
(I used milk chocolate instead of the usual semi-sweet)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together both types of sugar, oil, egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture to oil mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips

Using a tablespoon measure, scoop up dough and shape into tight rounds of about ¾ to 1 inch. Space them about 2 inches apart on two ungreased cookie sheets. The mounds should be bursting with chips. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Makes about 2 dozen

*Using a tablespoon as a scooper was a great idea, and if the dough starts sticking, just spray it with some PAM

Pineapple Cookies

2008-06-30T11:55:00.010-04:00

I love love love love love pineapple! So when I found this recipe online, I had to make it. It's really easy, just make sure you buy pineapple in a can with JUICE, all we had at home were the rings in juice and the crushed in SYRUP. So I had to go buy a can of crushed in juice. The cookies were very good, soft and sugary, tasted exactly like the pillsbury ready-to-bake sugar cookies. However, the pineapple did not stand out very much, so I would definitely put in more than the called for amount next time.

Paradise Pineapple Cookies

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 oz unsalted butter (Debbie omits salt and uses salted butter)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1 tablespoon pineapple juice
Shredded sweetened coconut for topping cookies.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream butter and both sugars. Beat in vanilla and egg, then stir in drained pineapple and juice. Add flour mixture and stir until it is blended.

Drop dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Sprinkle shredded coconut on top of dough mounds. Bake at 300 for 22-24 minutes or until cookies are golden around edges.

Makes about 3 dozen

Apple Caramel Cookies

2008-06-30T11:55:00.009-04:00

Once again I was browsing the internet at work (Shhhh!) and found this recipe at bakingblonde.wordpress.com , and when I looked over to our fruit table, there was one wonderful Granny Smith apple sitting there. So I definitely had no excuse not to make these! Plus, I had just seen the caramel bits at WalMart and wanted to try them out so I picked some up and made these really yummy cookies.

Apple Jacks

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup apple chopped (I would small dice 1 small-medium granny smith apple)
1/2 to 3/4 cup Kraft Carmel bits

Preheat oven to 350.
Line baking sheet with Parchment or lightly spray with PAM.
In a large bowl stir together the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.
Beat the butter with a mixer and add the sugar, vanilla and egg and beat until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine.
Fold in the apple pieces (and any other add-ins).
Drop the dough onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart (these spread a bit).
Bake for 9-12 minutes or until light brown and edges are set. Allow to cool slightly on baking sheet and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: *DO NOT store completely covered or they will be very very soft and not hold up well due to the moisture in the apples. Storing loosely covered in the fridge helps them keep their texture, however then the Caramel Bits get hard.

*While I was chopping the apple, I squirted it with some lemon juice because I was afraid of it turning brown! The apple really held up in the baking process, stayed nice and white colored and kept a good little crunch.

3 Mile Brownies

2008-06-19T11:16:00.004-04:00

I wanted to make brownies for father's day, but I didn't have a lot of time, and I wanted to make them exciting, so I was searching the internet for the kind of brownies you make in individual muffin tins, and I found this recipe at cooks.com. It was super easy and simple; I used two box mixes and a half bag of mini-reeses peanut butter cups. Everyone at work loved them and one guy said that they were so rich he would have to run three miles after eating them, so that is my new name for them!!

BROWNIE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

1 pkg. fudge brownie mix
1/3 c. hot water
1/4 c. oil
1 egg
15 miniature Reese's peanut butter cups

Line muffin tins with paper baking cups. In large bowl combine brownie mix, water, oil and egg; mix with spoon. Fill muffin cups 1/2 to 2/3 full. Press peanut butter cup into batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Makes 15 cupcakes.

Lemon Lime Pound Cake

2008-06-10T11:22:00.011-04:00

I saw this recipe in our local newspaper and it seemed simple. It took two lemons and two limes to make. It came out really fluffy and the glaze was amazing, but I altered it to be like the lemon glaze from Paula Deen's recipe: lime juice, milk, vegetable oil and powdered sugar. This was really good, definitely as good as the lemon pound cake that I have had at Starbucks, but I don't know if I would make it again because it takes a long time to deal with the fruit.

Lemon-lime pound cake

CAKE:

1 cup cake flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon finely chopped lime zest
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon zest
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice

GLAZE:

½ cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
Fresh fruit salad or berries
Store-bought lemon curd

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter and flour. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium speed or in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, beat the butter until softened. Slowly add the sugar and beat the mixture until it is light, thick and lemon colored. Add the eggs, vanilla and zests, and beat until incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk and lemon juice until just incorporated.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean and the top is nicely browned. Cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto a cake rack that has been placed on top of waxed paper.

While the cake is baking prepare the glaze: In a medium bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar and lime juice, and mix until the sugar has dissolved and the glaze is smooth with no sugar lumps.

Spoon the glaze over the cake in a pretty pattern. Place on a serving plate. Serve with a bowl of your favorite berries or fresh fruit and lemon curd if desired.

Advance preparation: This might be make a day ahead, covered well and kept at room temperature.

* I used regular SALTED butter, and omitted the salt from the recipe.

Caramel Frosted Brownies

2008-06-10T11:22:00.010-04:00

Awhile ago I was in a doctor's office waiting room and came across a recipe from the foodnetwork that used caramels to make a cupcake frosting. Well, I didn't get a chance to write down the recipe, but I asked Anna at cookiemadness.net if she knew of a similar recipe and she found this one for me at http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m122302.htm#4 I thought that it would go well with chocolate so I decided to try it on a pan of brownies I made for work. The brownies were just a dark chocolate box mix from Betty Crocker.

CARAMEL ICING

Ingredients :
1 lb. Kraft caramels
1/2 c. hot water
1 c. sweet butter or margarine
1 c. confectioners' sugar

Preparation :

Place caramels and water in double boiler, heat and stir until a
smooth cream is obtained. Allow to cool. Place butter in mixing
bowl. Add sugar; mix at low speed to obtain a smooth paste. Mix at

medium speed adding above cool caramel cream gradually. Note: If
stiffer icing is desired, reduce amount of water.

* I definitely did not let the caramel cool long enough, it melted the butter and never firmed up. They way I did it would be best used as a drizzle-glaze. I was hoping for a more fluffy icing. However, the caramel-brownie combination was super-sweet and really yummy.

Blackberry Muffins

2008-06-10T11:15:00.003-04:00

Last week I picked up some blackberries from a local farm (http://www.schrammfarms.com/). I've never made anything with blackberries before so I looked up recipes online and found one for muffins, that only took about a cup of the berries, which is all I had, so I made them. They turned out a bit like biscuits: not very sweet at all. They would be best served warm with a sweet butter on them, or maybe add a crisp topping of brown sugar.

Blackberry muffins Recipe #12184

35 min | 5 min prep | SERVES 4 -6

1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup frozen blackberries (frozen, they're easier to work with)

1. Mix together dry ingredients in large bowl.
2. Toss blackberries in dry ingredients til flour coated.
3. Mix together liquid ingredients.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix just til moist.
5. Spoon batter into jumbo muffin cups (ungreased).
6. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes .

© 2007 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

* I did not use any whole wheat flour, I only used white, and I used FRESH not frozen berries. And I used regular sized muffin tins, so I got 12 total muffins.

Lemon Blossoms

2008-05-30T13:49:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-24T19:07:00.003-04:00

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

2008-05-24T18:57:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-20T13:09:00.005-04:00

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

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Chicken Noodle Soup

2008-05-19T20:30:00.003-04:00

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

2008-05-18T18:52:00.003-04:00

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.

Monster Chocolate Crackle Cookies

2008-04-20T16:22:00.004-04:00

I saw these cookies in a Pillsbury recipe book, they seemed really easy and I have lots of Craisins on hand so I made them to take to school with me. They were really good warm, I was afraid the Craisins were going to be too tough but they really softened up and everyone liked them. Also, the dark chocolate really cut down on the sweetness, which was surprising but good.

Monster Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS

1 bar (3.5 oz) 70% cocoa dark chocolate, broken up ( I used 60%)
1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough, at room temperature
2/3 cup cherry-flavor Craisins
2 Tbsp sugar

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 350°F. You'll need a baking sheet. Melt chocolate in microwave on medium or in a saucepan over very low heat.

Break dough in chunks into a medium bowl. Add melted chocolate (no need to cool) and Craisins; stir with a wooden spoon until blended.

Put sugar in small bowl. Roll 1⁄4-cupfuls dough into balls. Roll in sugar to coat. Place 21⁄2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten cookies with bottom of measuring cup to 21⁄2-in. rounds.

Bake 14 to 16 minutes until tops of cookies look dry and crackled.
(Cookies will still be very soft.) Let cool on sheet on a wire rack 2 minutes before removing to rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Irish Cream Cake

2008-04-07T17:18:00.007-04:00

Anna at Cookiemadness.net posted this recipe for St. Patty's Day, and I just got around to making it yesterday. My friends Erin and Keith, who were getting their apt ready for him to move in, were making dinner so I brought dessert. This cake is amazing and has a TON of Irish Cream flavor. It's very rich, and I suggest sticking to the original filling recipe, as I used the 1 to 1 ratio of milk to irish cream. Other than that, the only change I made was to eliminate the almonds. Oh and my oven is a little screwy, and I had to bake the cakes for 25-30 min, and the one layer still turned out sad, but that's ok because it left a nice dip for me to put more filling in the middle :)

Chocolate Irish Cream Cake

Chocolate Irish Cream Cake (from Cooksrecipes.com)
Cake:
1 (18.25-ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (4-ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix
4 large eggs
1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Filling:
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
1 (4-ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix
1 (5.2-ounce) package whipped topping mix - (contains 4 envelopes) (Dream Whip)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 9 inch round cake pans with flour-added cooking spray.

Combine all cake ingredients together in a large bowl and beat at medium mixer speed for 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire rack. Remove from pans and finish cooling on racks.

Prepare filling: Combine milk, liqueur, pudding mix and topping mix (use all
4 envelopes) in a deep narrow bottom bowl. Blend well at high speed for
4 minutes, until lightly and fluffy.

Split layers in half. Spread one cup filling between each layer and on
the top layer. Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired.

Makes 12 servings.
Cook's Note: For more of the Irish cream liqueur flavor in the filling,
decrease the amount of cold milk to 1 cup and increase the amount of
Irish cream liqueur to 1 cup.

Pics:

Crescent Lemon Honey Buns

2008-04-01T00:10:00.004-04:00

I made these for Easter. They are from a Pillsbury recipe magazine I saw in the grocery checkout aisle. They are AMAZING.

Crescent Lemon Honey Buns

Makes 12 rolls

A perfect blend of tart lemon flavor and the
sweetness of honey and sugar!

3 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. coconut, if desired
1 Tbsp. honey
1 t. lemon juice
8 oz. can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In small bowl combine cream cheese, sugar,
coconut, honey and the 1 teaspoon of lemon
juice until smooth.

Separate crescent dough into 2 large
rectangles. Overlap long sides to form 13"
x 7" rectangle; firmly press edges and per-
forations to seal. Spread with cream cheese
mixture.

Starting at longer side, roll up; press edges to
seal. Cut into 12 slices. Bake on ungreased
cookie sheet 15 to 20 minutes until golden
brown.

In small bowl, combine glaze ingredients;
spread over warm rolls.

Refrigerate any leftovers.

For the glaze I made my own: 1tbsp honey, a splash of milk, and powdered sugar til you have enough.

mmmmmm check out the pics!!

ingredients

rectangle

filling

slices

done

iced

Update

2008-03-09T14:41:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update... I tried making Brownies from a Betty Crocker mix and substituted Bailey's Irish Cream for the 2 Tbsp of water.... bad idea!!! I baked them for the minimum amount of time, yet they turned out hard as rocks when they cooled and had a terrible texture. I definitely won't be repeating that again.

Also, I made no-bakes again last night. Same recipe as always, but this time I used a whisk to stir the sugar and cocoa together before putting in the pan because the Hershey's Dark Cocoa I have been using won't break up easily when I mix it in with the melted butter and milk. This gave me a much smoother mixture in the pan. I recommend it.

Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T02:03:00.004-05:00

Haven't posted in awhile, mostly I've been busy back at school and only baking things from a box or that I've made many times (rice krispie treats). But, I did go all out for V-Day. Yesterday I made cut-out cookies (the pillsbury kind, leftover from X-Mas), pink funfetti cupcakes, chocolate rice krispie treats, and individual brownies. These all come with instructions so I don't have any recipes for you guys. However, the one brownie mix I made called for 2 tablespoons of water, and I realized too late that I should have substituted something fun like liquor! Oh well, maybe next time.

I was excited though because I used my new cookie cutters that I got for X-Mas, 100 of them, but I only used the V-Day ones. And I got two pink silicone mats for lining the cookie sheet with, and got to try those out as well. AND, my friend Roxanne got me heart shaped aluminum baking cups for my birthday and that is what I used for the brownies. Exciting!!!!

Tuna Pot Pie

2008-01-08T00:20:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe in some magazine awhile ago and had been meaning to make it, since it was so simple. So I made it for my mom's first day of work at her new job. She really liked it, I think I would rather have it with turkey or chicken though.

Tuna Pot Pie

2 cans of tuna (in water)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 box of frozen mixed vegetables
1 can of large biscuits

Mix the tuna, cream of chicken soup and vegetables together. Pour into casserole dish. Tear 5 biscuits into chunks and place on top. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, or until biscuits are very brown on top.

Snowman Cake

2008-01-07T23:21:00.000-05:00

This is a late post, but on December 13th I made a cake in the shape of a snowman for my friend Roxanne's birthday (she love's snowmen!). I had two circular cake pans of the same size, so I just cut the one into a smaller circle. It was a French Vanilla cake mix with Pink Funfetti Frosting. I used coconut for the snow, junior mints for the coal, a stick of candy cane for the nose, and some random candy I found in the checkout isle for the scarf. I think it's supercute!!

Pink Grapefruit Cookies

2007-11-30T00:05:00.000-05:00

Awhile ago I found this recipe online from Martha Stewart. As it is practically December, and my mom has a dinner she needs to take cookies to on Saturday, I thought this is probably a good time to use up any citrus recipes. I think the baking time is horribly off, especially when you roll something to 1/8inch thickness, so 10 minutes were all my cookies needed (after burning the first tray). Also, they are supposed to be sandwich cookies, but that halves the amount you can give out! So, I just iced them individually.

Pink Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies
Makes 15 sandwich cookies

Grated zest of 1 Ruby Red grapefruit, plus 1/4 cup freshly squeezed juice
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large egg yolks

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a small bowl, combine zest with 1 tablespoon sugar; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and remaining sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add egg yolks, and beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in reserved zest-sugar mixture. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the juice, and beat to combine.

3. Turn out dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, and shape into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out disk to 1/8 inch thick using a lightly floured rolling pin. Using a lightly floured 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds and place about 1 inch apart on prepared sheet. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until edges are golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes. Transfer parchment paper and cookies to rack to cool completely.

5. Using an offset spatula, spread 1 tablespoon filling onto flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping flat sides down. Once filled, cookies can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Pink Grapefruit Cream Filling

Makes enough to fill 15 sandwich cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed Ruby Red grapefruit juice

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in honey. Add juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until filling holds together and is smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and set aside until ready to use.

Raspberry Cobbler

2007-11-29T22:25:00.000-05:00

I found a recipe for Blueberry Cobbler online, and coincidentally had a bag of berries in the freezer, although they were Raspberries. My mom wants to defrost the freezer so I've been trying to use up everything and yesterday I decided to make this recipe to use the Raspberries. It was so amazing, I can't even tell you. If I could open a bakery, this would sell like crazy and I would be totally rich. For real.

Here is the website I found it from:
http://thepioneerwomancooks.com/2007/08/the_great_cobbl.html

However, here is an easier list of the recipe:

1 stick butter
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup milk
1 cup of sugar
2 cups berries

Melt the butter. Measure 1 cup of sugar and pour into a mixing bowl.Measure 1 cup self-rising flour and dump into the bowl. Whisk in 1 cup of milk. Mix together well.
Next add the melted butter into the bowl. Whisk together. Now butter a baking dish…
Now pour the batter into the buttered baking dish.Now start sprinkling the 2 cups of berries over the top of the batter.Try to distribute them evenly. Now, sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar evenly over the top. Because if some sugar is good, even more sugar is better*.

Now pop the dish into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. You can sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

*That single statement sums up the entire philosophy of my cooking.

No Bakes Round II

2007-11-25T01:29:00.000-05:00

So I was really unhappy with the No-Bakes I made a week-ish ago, and so my awesome friend Nick found a recipe for them and tried it out, and gave it to me the other day, and he said they turned out really well, so I decided to try it at midnight tonight, lol. Well, I am such an idiot, I didn't check beforehand, and didn't have enough oats for the recipe, I had about half!! And this was after I already put the sugar in the pan with the butter!!! So, I scooped out about half the sugar, to sort of half the recipe, but I couldn't do anything about the butter, so I left everything else the same, and just added the liquid to the oats in a separate bowl. I still thought they were going to come out too mushy, but I just had one and they are setting perfectly, and they are not dry at all!!! I used my Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa, but next time I will use regular. It doesn't seem to melt very well.

EASY AND WONDERFUL NO BAKE COOKIES

2 cups white sugar
4 teaspoons cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 3/4 cup quick oats
1 cup coconut
In a medium size saucepan combine sugar, cocoa, milk and one stick of butter. It's best for butter to be at room temperature.
Melt butter at medium heat and stir all ingredients together. Continue to stir until all ingredients come to a boil.
Once boiling, remove from heat and allow to stand for one minute.
Add vanilla and peanut butter and mix well. Stir in oats and coconut.
Put a large sheet of aluminum foil or wax paper out on the counter and place little scoops of your new treat on it. Serve while still warm or at room temperature.

* I did not use coconut, neither did Nick, and he didn't use Peanut Butter.

Turkey Potpie 2

2007-11-25T01:18:00.000-05:00

I made this last year after thanksgiving with the leftover turkey, and everyone loved it. The recipe is in the archives, but here are some new pics of the one I made today!

* I did forget to put foil around the edges, but I think it's still ok!

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

2007-11-25T00:57:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to post this! I love sweet potatoes/yams and a long time ago I found a bunch of recipes for sweet potato baked goods, like biscuits, pies, etc. And I found one for a sweet potato cheesecake, so I couldn't wait until thanksgiving time to bake it! Well I went to make it and it called for cooking and mashing of the SP's and also to make it in a springform pan, which I don't have, so I looked online and found a recipe at Philadelphia Cream Cheese's website, and It was perfect. I used a pre-made graham cracker crust and canned sweet potatoes that I mashed with my hand masher, and it was super easy and insanely good!!!

http://www.kraftfoods.com/recipes/cakespiescheesecakes/cheesecakesbaked/PHILADELPHIA3-STEPSweetPotatoCheesecake.html

PHILADELPHIA® 3-STEP® Sweet Potato Cheesecake

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 3 hr 50 min
Makes: 10 servings

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

3/4 cup canned sweet potatoes, drained, mashed

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

dash of ground cloves

dash of ground nutmeg

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)

3/4 cup PLANTERS Pecan Pieces

2 Tbsp. maple-flavored or pancake syrup

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sweet potatoes, sugar and spices with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; mix just until blended.

POUR into crust. Sprinkle with pecans.

BAKE 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Drizzle with syrup just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

* I didn't use the syrup!!

Star Brownies

2007-11-19T02:00:00.000-05:00

On Friday my friend Nick came home for the weekend so I wanted to bake him something, and I had just bought a new pan from Wal Mart, with the muffin holes in the shape of STARS! So, I bought some Ghiradelli Brownie Mix and baked in in the star pan!! However, the pan was very shallow, and I wasn't sure how long to bake the brownies, because I wanted them to be firm enough to hold the shape of the pan, but still soft. Well, I ended up over-baking them a little, but the insides were soft, and if you microwave the little star-brownies, they are perfect! Also, this mix was VERY chocolaty, so these little bites were more than enough chocolate for me.

Chocolate No-Bakes

2007-11-11T02:31:00.000-05:00

I made these two days ago for my friend Ian who loves No-Bakes, but they turned out really dry, and I don't know why. I even used less oats then the recipe called for. I need to watch my mom make them because hers turn out better.

Ok I just searched all over for the recipe I used, and I think I picked a bad one to try out. All the others use Milk, and only boil for 1.5 minutes whereas the recipe I found didn't use milk, and said to boil for 5 minutes. Well here are the pics, but I'm not posting the recipe.

Halloween Funfetti Cupcakes

2007-11-01T22:55:00.000-04:00

Tuesday night I made Halloween Funfetti Cupcakes, and then I decorated them Wednesday with superfun Halloween sprinkles. Here are the pics:

Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

2007-10-30T07:03:00.000-04:00

Today, I stopped at Target on my way back from school, and they had CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOWS!!! They were with the seasonal/halloween stuff and were only 99cents so I bought a bag, then immediately went to the grocery store and bought some rice krisipies cereal (not that brand though). The recipe is the same as always:

Melt 1/4cup butter over low heat, stir in marshmallows, when completely melted add 6 cups of cereal.

* I always go a little easy on the cereal, so the treats are extra marshmallow-y.
* I know you can make these in the microwave, but I always use the stove because I don't have a large enough microwaveable-safe bowl.

These are AMAZING! I thought when they melted, the marshmallows wouldn't be very chocolaty but they were VERY. And, they are different in flavor than Coco Pebbles treats. I also sprinkled some orange sprinkles over the final product for a more festive look. (You can't really taste the sprinkles though)

Pics:

Castle Cake!

2007-10-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

This is pretty much the most exciting thing ever. My friend Nirvana's birthday was yesterday and she loves Cinderella, and being treated like a princess, so I thought I should make her a Castle Cake!! I got some ideas off of the internet, basically I just needed to know how to make towers (two ice cream cones, icing-glued together!). I used two boxes of french vanilla cake mix, and one strawberry icing and one funfetti icing. Some of the batter I dyed pink with food coloring to make it more fun!! And I used smarties and hershey's chocolate to decorate!! Also, I got three aluminum ramekin type things from a flea market, and used them to make the (upside-down) heart shaped door!

Sour Cream Chocolate Cookies

2007-09-30T22:55:00.000-04:00

Today, I made another recipe that I found at Anna's blog (cookiemadness.net): Sour Cream Chocolate Cookies. I have to say the picture totally caught my eye and made me want to try these when she first posted them, but I don't make cookies from scratch that often. However, I had the time and the extra Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa, from the cake I made at the beginning of the month, so I made a batch today. They are pretty much super amazing.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cookies

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream (I don’t recommend using light for this recipe)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spoon, don’t scoop)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or use a mixture of chocolate and white chips

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and both sugars. Beat in egg, sour cream and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in chips. Drop by rounded
tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes
or until set - do not overbake. They should still look kind of moist on top when you take them out. They will set as they cool.

Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen

*I got 33 out of my batch, and I had to use slightly less flour because I had just under the amount of sour cream. Oh and these aren't the quickest cookies I've ever made because you have to cream the stuff and then add other stuff, not everything all at once, so just make sure you have some time.

Pics:

Mojito Cake

2007-09-27T21:49:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday evening I made a cake for my boyfriend's sister. I know she is always trying to be healthy, so the cake that Anna from cookiemadness.net posted a little while ago was the perfect idea. The only differences were that I used real rum instead of extract, and I put green food coloring in the icing.

Here is the recipe:

Larry’s Mojito Cake

20 ounce can crushed pineapple, un-drained
Juice of 1 lime (2tbsp lime juice)
1 (1 lb.) box angel food cake mix
8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup limeade from concentrate
0-4 tablespoons powdered sugar -- I used 4 tablespoons
3 tbsp rum
8 ounce tub Cool Whip Lite (a little over 3 cups)
1/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut
Zest of lime
Mint leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13x9 inch metal pan with cooking spray. If you use a Pyrex dish, reduce the heat to 325 degrees F. You can also use a 15x10 inch pan, which is what Larry uses.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the pineapple, lime juice and angel food cake mix. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake it using the following cook times – 18-24 minutes for a 15x10 inch pan or about 25 minutes for a 13x9 inch pan. Let cool completely in pan.
In mixing bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese and limeade concentrate. Check for sweetness. Add sugar if you feel you need it – I used 4 tablespoons. Beat in rum extract, then fold in Cool Whip Lite. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle with coconut and lime zest. Top each serving with mint leaves.

* I sliced some limes to decorate the top of the cake and left out the mint, which is kind of bad because mint is pretty much the base for a mojito, but oh well.

Here are the pics:

Beer Bread

2007-09-23T23:11:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago at the county fair I went past a booth from "Tastefully Simple (tastefullysimple.com)" and sampled a bunch of their items. They make things like bread mixes and cheeseball mixes, and stuff to have fancy parties with. It's all really good, but also really expensive. Well I ended up emailing the lady last week and buying one box of the "Bountiful Beer Bread" for $4.99 (plus tax). It makes one loaf, and all you have to do is add a 12oz bottle of beer, and you can put melted butter on top before you put it in the oven. It is INSANELY good. And, as a bonus I found the recipe online so I don't have to buy anymore mixes (although I'm sure the tastefully simple people won't be happy with that). It's just self-rising flour, sugar, and liquid of your choice. There are millions of variations!!! Here are the pics from the mix, and I will post the copycat recipe when I try it, after I buy some of that flour.

*I used Busch beer because it was the only thing I could find that wasn't a light beer... I don't know what kind of beer would be the best.

Bountiful Beer Bread

Fruity Pebbles Treats

2007-09-23T00:10:00.000-04:00

So I make these all the time and I wasn't even going to take pics, but then no one I know has ever had had these before so I decided to post it just in case you too have never heard of the best thing ever since Rice Krispies Treats. I originally found this recipe in a magazine like Better Homes and Gardens or something, but they have the microwaveable recipe right on the bag of marshmallows that I bought. They're really really easy and ten times better than RKT's.

Fruity Pebbles Treats

1 box Fruity Pebbles
1 bag marshmallows (any size, I used large, but I've used tiny colored ones before)
1/2 stick butter

Melt Butter in a pan on Medium-High. Stir in marshmallows until they melt. Turn off heat, stir in Fruity Pebbles. Spread in a 13X9 pan that has been sprayed with PAM (I used 'Pam with Flour')

*When I made these I forgot that I had eaten a few bowls of cereal, so I didn't make the entire tray worth, but no big deal. It's actually best if you use a bag of cereal that has been open for a little while, because if they are really fresh they are too crunchy in my opinion.

Pics:

Snickers Cookies

2007-09-18T22:43:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe online a few months ago, because my bf really liked snickers but now he is eating healthily and I never got around to making them. Well, I finally made them today and they are pretty good, very very sweet, so I'm not sure if everyone will like them, but I'll let you know the reviews from my Pittsburgh friends.

*This recipe is actually pretty vegetarian friendly, (although I'm not sure how vegetarian Snickers are) it has no eggs in the batter although it wouldn't be vegan because it has honey. I should also mention that the honey flavor is very very strong in the finished cookie. Not sure if that is good or bad though. And I take issue with the directions that say to use an "Ungreased" cookie sheet, because my cookies got very very dark on the bottom, so I would grease the sheet next time. One last thing, I was worried that it said to "cut in" the /butter/pb because I've had to do that for shortbread and it was a pain, so I just stirred the dry ingredients togethr and then blended the rest at the same time with my hand mixer (still no stand mixer yet)and it worked well.

Snicker Cookies

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. milk
24 miniature snickers

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter and peanut butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat in honey and milk until well combined. Mold roughly 1 tablespoon of dough around candy. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, Bake 12 - 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Makes 24

Pics:

Banana Bisquick Bread II

2007-09-17T01:59:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to update and say that I made the Banana Bisquick Bread again today because my mom and her co-workers liked it so much she wanted to take it work again. The bread turned out exactly the same, and I wanted to mention that although it says "Bisquick" I actually used a generic brand, and it worked perfectly.

Also, I will be baking a few cakes in the next two weeks so I will be posting those soon. Get excited!!!

Buckwheat Pancakes

2007-09-10T00:46:00.000-04:00

Today my mom and I got up early and went to the Flax Scutching Festival in Stahlstown, PA. We used to go with my sister and nieces and nephew when we were all little for their "famous" buckwheat pancakes. I took a pic, and decided to post about it because most people have never even heard of buckwheat. I guess you could say it has a yeasty/sourdough/beer taste too it. It definitely must be eaten with sweet syrup to complement that flavor. My friend Lesley says that it is safe to eat for those with gluten-allergies so I bought a bag of buckwheat flour and I'm going too look for dessert recipes to make for her.

Her is the link to the festival:
http://flaxscutching.com/

Here is the picture:

Hershey's "Especially Dark" Chocolate Cake

2007-09-06T02:28:00.000-04:00

So I found this recipe online, and my friend Caitlyn's birthday was coming up so I saved it and made it this past Monday for her birthday. The cake was super moist, and the icing was AMAZING but you should totally double the recipe for it, because everyone wanted more icing than cake. Also, I wasn't sure how to add the boiling water because I didn't know if it was 1 cup before or after it boiled, and I boiled it in the microwave so I had to scoop it into the mixture with a measuring cup to make it exact. Also, I did not have enough vegetable oil, so i just used slightly less and slightly less flour and cocoa. Which makes me wonder about Rachael Ray who says she doesn't bake because it is so exact, yet I estimate things all the time and they turn out ok!!! And, I made it in one 13X9inch pan because I couldn't find two 9inch ones and it took 28 minutes in my oven.

Hershey's "Especially Dark" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• "ESPECIALLY DARK" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "ESPECIALLY DARK" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

"ESPECIALLY DARK" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter, Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Here are pics:

Banana Rum Bundt Cake

2007-08-30T22:24:00.000-04:00

Today I used two more bananas in this Banana Rum Bundt Cake. I haven't tried it yet, but the rum buttercream frosting was amaaaaaaazing!!!!!! The recipe is from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Rum-Cake/Detail.aspx

Banana Rum Cake

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 2/3 cup dark rum
* 2/3 cup water
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup mashed bananas
* 1/3 cup chopped pecans
*
* 1/3 cup butter, softened
* 3 cups confectioners' sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 tablespoons dark rum

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour bundt pan
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, baking soda, rum, water, eggs, bananas and nuts. Bring together, then beat on medium speed 2 to 4 minutes.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool completely.
4. For the frosting: Combine 1/3 cup butter or margarine with the confectioners sugar. Blend thoroughly. Stir in vanilla and 2 tablespoons rum. Beat until smooth.

*I omitted the pecans. Here are the pictures:

Banana Bisquick Cake

2007-08-30T01:14:00.000-04:00

My mom kept yelling at me to eat bananas because she keeps buying them, and then they sit in the kitchen until they go bad. So, instead, I made Banana Bread/Cake today and tomorrow I am going to make Banana-Rum Bundt Cake. I got this easy recipe from Cooks.com

BISQUICK BANANA BREAD OR MUFFINS

1/3 c. oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. mashed banana
2 1/2 c. Bisquick

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of loaf pan. Beat all ingredients vigorously with spoon for 30 seconds. Bake 55 to 65 minutes for loaf pan; 15 minutes for mini muffins; 20 minutes for regular muffins. Cool 5 minutes.

*I used walnut halves, because I was too lazy to chop them. Also, after I took it out of the oven, I put an aluminum foil tent on top because I heard that keeps it moist.

I haven't tried it yet, my mom is going to take it to work tomorrow so I will let you know the results, but here are the pictures:

Peach Cookies

2007-08-20T01:13:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to put this in here because these are absolutely my favorite cookies in the world. I will find out this recipe if it kills me. Anyway, I think most people have had these at weddings, they are peach flavored and shaped cookies. There are actually two cookies per peach, and the inside has a hollow space that is filled with a white cream and a maraschino cherry!! I buy them from a local lady who has her own coffee shop and baked goods store in New Stanton, PA. Bev's Baked Goods/Bev's Coffee is the name.

Stuffed Tomatoes

2007-08-20T01:07:00.000-04:00

Lately, everyone and their brother has been giving my mom tomatoes. She eats them plain, which I think is gross, so today I made a couple for her with a topping from a recipe I found online. Also, it was a good way to use up the extra Parmesan cheese I had left over from the Zucinni Pie.

Broiled Parmesan Tomatoes
http://southernfood.about.com/od/tomatoes/r/bl21210g.htm

INGREDIENTS:

* 4 large tomatoes
* 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
* 1/4 cup melted butter
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

PREPARATION:
Wash tomatoes; remove stems. Slice in halves crosswise. Place tomato halves in a large broiler pan. Blend bread crumbs, butter, cheese and seasoning; spoon over tomatoes. Broil 10 inches from heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until tomatoes are hot and topping is browned.
Serve immediately.
Serves 4.

*Don't use Italian Seasoning if you use Seasoned Bread Crumbs!!!!! Also, I salted and peppered the cut tomatoes before adding the topping. They came out good but I am not a huge Parmesan cheese fan, so I think Mozzarella would have been better.

**My mom said they were good but she still likes them plain. ew.

Pepperoni Rolls

2007-08-20T00:47:00.000-04:00

I love those recipe books in the check-out isles at the grocery stores, but they are way to expensive for recipes you can just find on the internet for free. However, when I lived in Squirrel Hill a while ago I purchased on of the Pillsbury ones, for this Pepperoni Roll recipe. I make them pretty frequently, and I was hungry so I made some yesterday although I didn't realize until too late that I had the wrong rolls on hand, I had Honey Butter (my FAVE) when I needed Buttermilk. Oh well. Yummy anyway.

Ok I can't find the recipe or my book, so here is what you do:

Easy Pepperoni Rolls

1 Package Grands Style Buttermilk Biscuits
16 Pepperoni Slices
1 Brick of Kraft Colby Jack Cheese

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the brick of cheese into 8 small squares. Flatten biscuits or use your fingers to stretch them out, insert 2 pieces of pepperoni and one piece of cheese. Wrap dough around to seal. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 16ish minutes. Watch carefully to avoid burnt bottoms!!

Usually the cheese leaks out and makes yummy cheese crisps on the cookie sheet. That is my favorite part. You can also use less pepperoni per roll.

Oatmeal Rum Cookies

2007-08-15T03:48:00.000-04:00

I was watching Sandra Lee the other day and she made Oatmeal Rum Cookies from a store-bought mix, using only an egg, oil, and three tablespoons of rum. That sounded easy and fun to me, so I bought the mix (i even had a coupon!!) and then I went to the liquor store to buy some rum. They didn't have any dark rum in the little bottles so the guy picked this bottle for like $5. It doesn't say whether it is dark or not, and it looks light colored, but it worked fine. On the show, she made them huge and baked them for 9 minutes; I made mine smaller (it made around 20) but baked them for the same time, although my oven is tricky so I really couldn't tell you the exact temperature it was at, and they came out perfectly (soft).

Sandra's Recipe:

Oatmeal-Rum Cookies

1 (17.5-ounce) package oatmeal cookie mix (recommended: Betty Crocker)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
3 tablespoons dark rum (recommended: Meyer's)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oatmeal cookie mix, canola oil, egg, and rum. Stir until dough forms.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet (only make as many as you need - keep dough in sealed container in refrigerator and enjoy later). Bake in oven for 9 to 11 minutes.

My pictures:

Green Funfetti

2007-08-12T02:18:00.000-04:00

Today I made funfetti cupcakes from the regular box mix, but they were supposed to be for my friends birthday, and her favorite color is green, so I mixed in 3-4 drops of green food coloring to the whipped funfetti icing. Here are the results:

Zucchini Pie

2007-08-11T02:21:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe in the local paper (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) a week or so ago, but couldn't make it until I had gathered up all the ingredients; namely zucchini. My boyfriend's mom grows it in her garden so i got one large one from her, then i had to buy parmesan cheese, which i've never bought or used in a recipe before. And then I realized i had no Bisquick, so I asked around and a friend gave me a box. Finally, I made it today and my mom shredded the zucchini for me (not the one in the picture, she shredded the other one before i brought my camera out). It came out like an omelet or quiche, really good but super moist. I don't know if you can re-heat it or not though.

Here is the recipe and pics:

Zucchini Pie

1 cup Bisquick
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup oil (we used safflower)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (we used a mixture of parmesan and Romano)
3 cups zucchini, unpeeled and thinly sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste
Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix Bisquick, eggs, oil and cheese in a medium bowl. Add zucchini, onion, dill, oregano, salt and pepper, mixing well. Spray or grease a large pie plate or a 9-by-9-inch square pan. Add zucchini mixture and spread out evenly. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. (Ours took 30.) Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Serves 6.

Peanutbutter Cookies

2007-08-02T14:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I made some really easy, quick, peanutbutter cookies from a recipe I found at cooks.com. Here it is, and here are some pics:

EASY CHEWY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 c. peanut butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix ingredients and roll walnut size balls. Bake at 325 degrees for 13 minutes.

*It didn't say to roll them in sugar, but I did it anyway, and also I squashed them down with the back of a spoon, even though it didn't say that either, though it didn't matter because they flattened out on their own. This batch made 21 cookies, the first tray is the one pictured, it came out nice and soft, the second tray of 9 cookies I accidentally left in for an extra 2 minutes so they came out much crisper, but not burnt.

Cupcakes Cupcakes and More Cupcakes. And Brownies.

2007-07-30T03:41:00.000-04:00

Oh my gosh I have so much to type. I had a big event this past Saturday for our political group, and as a small fundraiser, I volunteered to make cupcakes and brownies. Well I have a lot of icing recipes I wanted to try out but I didn't want to make anything too weird, so I stuck to the classics; patriotic funfetti, and yellow cake with chocolate icing. But to at least try out something fun, I made Pink Lemonade Cupcakes from a recipe I found online at the FoodieBride's Blog. All in all I made 72 cupcakes and 24 brownies. All from box mixes, and we made about $100 from it all so I am very happy.

First, I made the funfetti cupcakes, but this mix did not have the sprinkles already in the bag of ingredients, and I FORGOT to put the separate packet of sprinkles in!!! At least I realized as soon as I put them into the oven that they looked a little plain and I forgot something!!! So I immediately took them out of the oven and put a few sprinkle in each cup of batter and stirred it in with a spoon. This worked out just fine, and one customer even remarked about the "burst of patriotism" in the center of the cupcakes, lol.

Then I made the yellow cupcakes. Nothing exciting there.

THEN I made the pink lemonade cupcakes. Let me tell you, these are STRONG, but I did not cut down the recipe, I liked it a lot. The batter smelled amazing, just like this pink lemonade lipgloss I used to have, YUM! However, the batter was not very pink, even though the lemonade mix was VERY pink, so next time I would add some food coloring. I baked them at the same time and temp as the recipe called for, yet they turned out a little sad, but completely done the whole way through, so I just covered it with the icing. Speaking of, I tried to be all cool and make a piping bag from a ziplock bag, but it didn't work, the bag burst on the first cupcake. SAD! So I just used a butter knife.

*Just so you know, these might not be a hit with children. None of the kids at the fundraiser liked the pink lemonade cupcakes. In the words of one little boy, "They're too sour..........and too sweet." lol

Here is the recipe:
Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
1 1/8 cup (9 oz) frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate, thawed*
White cake mix (yes, the boxed stuff)
3 egg whites
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Non-stick spray
1 recipe Lemon Buttercream Icing (recipe follows)
* For a less tart cupcake (and these babies do pack a punch), try reducing the amount of pink lemonade. 3/8 cup water and 3/4 cup pink lemonade will cut the tartness.
In a stand mixer, add the cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, and the pink lemonade concentrate. Mix on low for about 30 seconds and then increase to medium speed for 90 seconds (the batter will still be a bit lumpy; take care not to overmix so you don’t end up with dry cupcakes).
Spray each cupcake liner with the non-stick spray and spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan (fill the cups between 2/3 and 3/4 full). Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick registers “done” in the center cupcake. Remove the pan from the oven and cook 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes and cool completely on a baking rack.
Once the cupcakes have cooled, make the icing and ice the cupcakes.

Lemon Buttercream Icing
3 cups + 3 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Red food color (to color icing and sugar, optional)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (optional)
Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt, lemon juice, and food coloring (if using) to the stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment until combined. Turn the speed to med-high until the icing is fluffy and uniformly pink. Add the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a 2D tip and ice the cupcakes.
Optional - Add the sugar and a couple drops of the food coloring to a food processor. Process until the sugar turns pink. Spread the sugar onto a plate and let dry for 15 minutes. Sprinkle onto freshly-iced cupcakes and enjoy!

Here are some pictures:

All in all I made 72 cupcakes and 24 brownies. All from box mixes, and we made about $100 from it all so I am very happy.

Reese's Pieces Cookies

2007-07-25T01:05:00.000-04:00

Today I made Reese's Pieces Cookies, from scratch. They are drop cookies. The recipe says it makes 3 doz, but I only came out with 2 doz cause I made them kind of big. I found the recipe online, cooks.com or something. It's the only reese's cookie recipe I could find (well I didn't search that hard). My mom says they taste like light brownies, I think they're pretty yummy!

Reeses Pieces Cookies
COOKIE:
2/3 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. unsifted all purpose flour
1/2 c. Hershey's cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. milk
8 oz. pkg. Reese's Pieces candy
Chocolate frosting (below)
FROSTING:
1 c. confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp. Hershey's cocoa
3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Cookie: Cream butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy; blend in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, add alternately with milk to creamed mixture. Stir in 1/2 cup Reese's Pieces candy. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes until set, but not dry. Cool slightly, remove to rack. Frost cooled cookies with chocolate frosting, decorate with remaining 1/2 c. Reese's Pieces. About 3 dozen cookies. Frosting: Combine sugar and cocoa, set aside. Cream butter in small mixing bowl, add cocoa mixture alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency. Blend in vanilla.

*Also, I did not make the icing, because they were good all on their own.

Sour Cream Cookies Part III

2007-07-22T02:22:00.000-04:00

Today I finally used up all the remaining dough, and it was a lot easier this time around because I knew to use an entire BUCKET of flour so it wasn't sticky. I forgot to mention that aside from the regular cookie cutters, I used a round biscuit cutter to make the round ones, to make them like the ones in the recipe picture. I tried to make lemon icing using this recipe I found online:

Lemon Icing
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Combine the butter, lemon juice, vanilla, and confectioner's sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add more confectioner's sugar, or lemon juice to adjust the consistency as needed.

However, when I was adding the vanilla I SPILLED a TON into the frosting, so it tasted a little funny, although everyone said they could still taste the lemon (I couldn't). I added a little food coloring to make it a teeny bit yellow too.

I have to say they look pretty good!!! Especially for my first time making icing on my own.

Sour Cream Cookies Part II

2007-07-20T23:21:00.000-04:00

Today I made cookies from half of the refrigerated dough, and it was sooo hard to work with. I've never actually rolled out dough before, by myself, and this was so sticky I had to put a ton more flour all over everything (including me!). My mom helped a little because I had to leave so I was rushing to get the trays in the oven. They turned out really cakey and soft, D-LISH!!!!!

Here is what I did today:

Tomorrow: FROSTING!!!! (Get Excited!!)

Sour Cream Cookies

2007-07-19T23:20:00.000-04:00

I got this recipe from a link Anna from Cookiemadness.net had up for a cookie competition; "Mrs. Fields & iVillage Search for the
30th Anniversary Cookie Contest." It is from one of the entrants. I am really excited because they look so yummy, but I have to refrigerate the dough tonight so I don't know how they will turn out yet. Here are some pics of the process, and also the recipe from "brookecookie". I used real butter instead of margarine.

Sour Cream Cut-Out Cookies

2c. sugar 2 eggs 1c. margarine 1 tsp. vanilla 1c. sour cream (the secret ingredient) 2 tsp. baking powder 1tsp. baking soda 1tsp. salt 4 1/2c. flour Beat sugar, eggs & margarine 'till fluffy. Add vanilla. Alternate dry ingredients with sour cream. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Bake 10 mins. at 325 degrees on greased cookie sheet.

and she also says: they are rolled and cut out into any shape you can imagine! The frosting is a simple butter frosting: 1/3c. butter, 4 1/2c. (yes, that is A LOT:) of sifted powdered sugar, 1/4c. milk, 1 1/2tsp. vanilla.
Beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in the milk and vanilla. SLOWLY beat in the remaining powdered sugar. Beat in additional milk, if need to reach spreading consistency - my mom said she has never had to add any extra milk though! If desired, tint with food coloring....Enjoy.

My process so far:

the final results tomorrow!!!!

Fundip

2007-07-19T23:15:00.000-04:00

I forgot to post this, I got fundip for my friend Ashley while I was in florida. It's TROPICAL!!! I didn't end up seeing her, so I may just eat it if I don't hurry and mail it to her!!!!

Spice

2007-07-15T00:05:00.001-04:00

I forgot to mention that while in Key West, I bought a seasoning, "Lime Rub." I don't know what to use it on, but I am thinking about pirogies. That might sound weird, but whenever I make them I normally use onions, butter, and lemonpepper, so it may just work. If I get up the nerve, I'll let you know, and if anyone has an idea of something else this might work well on just let me know.

Florida

2007-07-12T23:22:00.000-04:00

Wow I just got back from an almost 2-week roadtrip to Florida. We went to Miami, Key West, Fort Myers, Tampa, and Orlando. INSANE!!

We ate at a million local restaurants, but I only took pictures from the one really amazing sushi place on Washington Ave. in Miami. The whole boat was only $50 when at another sushi place we paid the same amount (accidentally) for ONLY tuna tartar!!!

The same place also had a dessert (rare at most sushi places) "Banana Tempura" It was AMAZING!!! It tasted a little like the banana spring rolls from PF Changs, and it was soooo good!

On our last day in Miami, we stopped into a little Portuguese grocery store and I bought these cookies that looked fun:

In Key West a street vendor was selling these Coconut Strips, also in Key lime flavor, but I just tried the regular. They taste like fried coconut; really sweet but yummy!

Also in Key West, we stopped in a pet store and bought this cookie for our doggies back at home:

Finally, before we left Key West I stopped at an amazing winery that had every tropical flavor of wine!!! I mean mango, lime, pineapple, grapefruit etc. I bought the Lime flavor, and haven't tried it yet but I will let you know how it is! Get some at www.thekeywestwinery.com

At Epcot in Disney World, we ate a several restaurants "around the world" and the best was the bakery in Norway where they made us a fresh waffle with jam in the center. The jam was ok, but the batter for the waffles was AMAZING. I have never had a better waffle in my life!!!!

We also stopped in a Coke stand where they had free samples of soda from around the world, the Mexican variety was super-sweet, which is why I liked it the best!!

On our way out of Florida we stopped at a fruit stand and I bought a few oranges- fresh from the tree!!! I thought they were grapefruits at first because of the color, but they told me they were ripe and just un-dyed. I tried one last night and it was pretty good, not as sweet as what I'm used to, but a perfectly good orange.

Angel Lush Pictures

2007-06-21T19:56:00.000-04:00

It's hard to photograph pineapple stuff because I personally think it looks like egg salad, and how gross does an egg salad cake sound? Ick. My attempt turned out well I think, but I made it only two layers instead of three which is actually better because I barely had enough of the filling/topping as it was.

PS- yes i know how bad the lighting is in the pics, my flash makes everything white, and without it, everything is dull and I only have microsoft image viewer to edit it with so whatever

Pineapple Lush Cake

2007-06-21T17:10:00.000-04:00

Everyone has probably made this at some point, but I never have although I've been meaning to for a while. Here is the recipe from Dole.com:

1 can (20 oz.) DOLE® Crushed Pineapple, undrained
1 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O® Vanilla Flavor Instant
Pudding & Pie Filling
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP® Whipped Topping
1 pkg. (10 oz.) prepared round angel food cake
Seasonal Berries

* Mix pineapple and dry pudding mix in medium bowl. Gently stir in whipped topping. Let stand 5 minutes.

* Cut cake horizontally into 3 layers. Place bottom cake layer, cut side up, on serving plate.

* Spread 1-1/3 cups of the pudding mixture onto cake layer; cover with middle cake layer. Spread 1 cup pudding mixture onto middle cake layer; top with remaining cake layer. Spread with remaining pudding mixture. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until ready to serve. Garnish with your favorite seasonal berries.

I just finished the Angel Food cake, so when it cools I will be putting it together with the icing and I'll post pics.

Bruschetta and Dip!!

2007-06-20T00:57:00.000-04:00

Nick made some awesome Bruschetta with Avocado Dip. The dip was just 3 avocados mixed with two cream cheese packages. Look how awesome:

The Cake

2007-06-20T00:45:00.000-04:00

Here is my attempt at that Banana Bundt Crunch Cake; I only had one banana instead of two, but everyone said you could still taste it so thats ok, and I used chopped walnuts instead of pecans. It is very brown, but it's not burnt or anything. I personally would have liked for it to be much sweeter, but thats ok. I think it was done at least 10 min under the specified time, but I just left it in for the whole hour.

Sorry the final pic is so blurry, i didn't realize it until i got home and i left the cake at my friends house so i can't re-take it.

Coconut Pecan Frosting Mix

2007-06-16T19:28:00.000-04:00

Ok so for the previous recipe, you are going to need this:

"Do you have a recipe calling for dry coconut pecan frosting mix and found that it is no longer available? Well, no need to fret! Pillsbury has provided this helpful recipe for cooks who still want to use those tasty recipes calling for the mix!"

Coconut Pecan Frosting Mix Substitute

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1. In medium bowl, combine coconut, brown sugar, flour, and pecans; mix well.
2. Using fork or pastry blender cut in butter or margarine.

Source: Pillsbury Bake-Off Cookbook; March, 1995.

Banana Crunch Cake

2007-06-15T23:24:00.000-04:00

I almost forgot! As I was shopping, I came across an Amish Cookbook that had a recipe in it for "Banana Crunch Cake" and it sounded pretty good. I didn't end up getting that recipe book but I looked it up online and a version of it turned out to be the 1973 Pillsbury Bake off winner!!!! However, the main difference between the two is that the Amish version uses "1 pkg. coconut pecan icing mix" which I didn't even know existed, and it seems less complicated so that is the version I am going to attempt (if I can find that mix) since I have a ripe banana sitting around.

Here is the Amish Version:

BANANA BUNDT CRUNCH CAKE

5 tbsp. butter
1 pkg. coconut pecan icing mix
1 c. rolled oats
4 eggs
1 c. sour cream
2 lg. bananas
1 pkg. yellow cake mix

Combine butter, icing mix and rolled oats; set aside. In large bowl blend together eggs, sour cream, bananas and cake mix for 2 minutes. Pour 1/3 batter into well greased bundt pan then 1/3 crumb mix. Repeat twice. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes before turning out.

Amish Country (lots of pics!)

2007-06-15T22:52:00.000-04:00

This past week I spent in the New Wilmington/Volant/Grove City, PA area and got to buy some pretty cool stuff at the Outlets and the local Amish Shops. Here is what I got:

1st some HUGE cookies (at least 4 inches !)from the Rockey Mountain Chocolate Factory (Not Amish):

Shortbread

Butter Toffee (MY FAVE!!)

Apple Something (not my fave, too crunchy)

And at the Heinz Store at the Outlets I got this toy:

Next, some candy marshmallows, just like in Lucky Charms but I didn't have to pick them all out of the box! I have no idea what I am going to make with these, so if you have any ideas, let me know!

Finally, some pictures of the local Amish (taken while my bf was driving, so they aren't that great) and then some pictures of the Amish made mini-pie and honey butter that I bought:

I have never had Honey-Butter before, and this pack has 4 varieties so I am very excited to try them all!! The apple pie was for my mom, I got myself a black-raspberry one, that was AMAZING! The crust held the little pie up all on its own without any pie plate but was still soft to eat!!

I am also excited for this new cookbook I got from Westminster College, where I almost attended (but went to PSU instead for $ reasons)

I'm going to go through it tonight so I'll post any superfun recipes.

Gau

2007-06-03T00:11:00.000-04:00

Gau

So I made this Crispy Baked Gau recipe that I got from Anna at cookiemadness.net It's a Chinese New Year dessert thing, and it's made with rice flour and no eggs. Basically it came out like one of those gross rice cakes with the jelly-like insides. I don't know what I messed up, but I messed it up royally.

See, it looked good on the outside but on the inside:

EWWW

It was supposed to look like this:

And yes, I did cook it the length i was supposed to.

Crispy Baked Gau
(by Cassandra Aoki)

1 (16 oz) box mochiko (sweet rice flour)
2 cups brown sugar
3/4 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons good vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x12 inch pan with Release foil, non-stick side up.

In a large bowl, combine mochiko, both sugars and baking soda. Pour coconut milk, regular milk and vanilla into a bowl and stir until well mixed. Don’t over stir. Pour into pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds over top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes, then grasp foil and lift from pan. Cut into bars.

Angel Food Cake

2007-04-30T00:32:00.000-04:00

Angel food

I was bored last week so I made an angel food cake (from a Pillsbury mix). Here are some pics:

DC

2007-04-25T00:33:00.000-04:00

So I'm a little late posting this but Dan and I went to DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival and here are a couple pics:

The Cakelove Cafe:

And I made Dan eat at this restaurant because it had this horse out front:

It turned out it was more formal that we had thought, and I felt a little underdressed, but they had the best BBQ Pork!!!

Raspberries

2007-04-19T00:34:00.000-04:00

best quote ever, i read it online today:

"Raspberries are also big fat liars, because according to Wikipedia, they aren't even berries. How can I trust a fruit to give me delicious goodness when it's totally not being honest to me? Why can't the raspberry be more truthful like an orange?"

Passionfruit Icing

2007-04-14T00:35:00.000-04:00

Icing

i really really really want to have an icing party. i have all these recipes for cool icings: grapefruit, banana, PASSIONFRUIT (rachael!). When we were little there was this summer camp thing in our neighborhood and the only thing i remember about it is the one day we got to eat like 5 different colored icings on top of vanilla wafers. probably the best day of my life.

here is the passionfruit icing recipe for rachie:

1 1/4 cups (155g) icing sugar, sifted
10 g unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup (60 ml) passionfruit pulp

Combine the icing sugar, butter and enough passionfruit pulp in a small bowl to make a stiff paste. Stand bowl in a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until the icing is smooth and glossy. Remove the bowl from the heat. Spread the icing over the cake with a flat-bladed knife and allow to set before serving.

Peepcakes

2007-04-09T00:37:00.000-04:00

Peeps

pretty much the most awesome cupcakes i've made so far (rachie helped with the sprinkles and with "squishing the peeps in":

MAGICAL:

squished:

*this was a stock funfetti mix and icing, it was just colored pink, and I bought the sprinkles at wal mart

Pineapple Lush Cupcakes

2007-03-11T01:14:00.000-05:00

Well there is a recipe for Pineapple Lush Cake, and basically I tried to make it into cupcakes, except i added cream cheese into the whipped cream/pineapple/vanilla pudding mixture, and i really shouldn't have. The "icing" was runny and had chunks of the cream cheese floating in it because i guess i didn't let it warm enough before i tried to mix it. Really unappetizing, although they looked nice:

Valentine's Day

2007-02-15T00:38:00.000-05:00

VALENTINES DAY

So it's a holiday today, you know what that means..........

CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made them for school, but my class was canceled so I guess I'll have to eat them all since no one else is around gbg for me to pawn them off on. :( :)

XMas

2006-12-23T00:39:00.000-05:00

Christmas treats

I've been baking and stuff but I forgot to take pics of the choc. chip cookies because I thought they were going to turn out bad, but they didn't so oops. Here are pics of the almond spritz cookies I made:

Easy Spritz Cookies Recipe #143015

4 dozen

time to make 1½ hours 45 min prep

1 (17 1/2 ounce) package sugar cookie mix (I use Betty Crocker)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon almond extract

colored sugar sprinkle or colored sprinkles, for decoration

1. Heat oven to 375°F
2. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg, flour and almond extract until soft dough forms. Fit cookie press with desired template. Fill cookie press with cookie dough; press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets. Decorate as desired using colored sugars and sprinkles.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack

and today I made chocolate covered cherries:

The chocolate was from those microwaveable Bakers Chocolate tubs, super easy!!!

Turkey Day Leftovers

2006-11-28T00:43:00.000-05:00

Turkey PotPie!!!!!!!!!!

I made this with premade pie shells and leftover turkey. It was really easy!!!

and it was the most yummy dinner i have ever made. EVER!

Turkey Pot Pie II (http://thanksgiving.allrecipes.com/az/TurkeyPotPieII.asp)
Submitted by: Diane
Rated 5 out of 5 by 30 members

Use a double crust to make either individual or family sized pies filled with turkey and vegetables with canned cream of chicken soup.

Yields: 7 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line bottom of pie pan with crust. In a skillet saute the chopped onion until slightly soft and set aside.
2. Mix together the turkey or chicken, mixed vegetables, onion, soup and milk. Pour into pie crust, cover with top crust and crimp edges.
3. Poke holes in top crust and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

Nutrition facts (per serving):
Protein 17.8g. Carbohydrates 34g. Cals from Protein 16%. Cals from Fat 51%. Sodium 668mg. Calories (kcal) 34. Total Fat 24.1g. Fiber 3.9g. Cals from Carbohydrates 32%. Cholesterol 38mg.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

2006-11-27T00:46:00.000-05:00

I <3 Thanksgiving

I made these cookies a few days after thanksgiving, they're kind of like brownie bites and I put peppermint pieces in the first batch so they would be more exciting for the holidays. I got the recipe from the Kraft Food & Family magazine (free). The cookies weren't very sweet, and I wouldn't make them again although they look alright.

Halloween

2006-10-31T00:48:00.000-05:00

I made these in honor of Halloween:

buckeyes (peanutbutter/powdered sugar balls dipped in Baker's Chocolate):

I may have used too much powdered sugar because it was really hard to make the peanutbutter stick together so I would probably use another recipe if i make these again.

Best Buckeyes (Peanut Butter and Chocolate Candies)

45 min 45 min prep

1 (18oz) jar creamy peanut butter
½ C butter or margarine
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla

Cream peanut butter and butter.
Add sugar and vanilla and mix well.
Form into 1 inch balls and refrigerate.
Melt chocolate chips with parafin wax in a double boiler.
Dip balls into chocolate with a toothpick about 3/4 of the way covered.
Place chocolate side down on waxed paper.
Let set at room temperature or refrigerate.

decorated cookies:

and is a party complete without jello shots(or squares)? i think not.

Spooky Shepard's Pie!!

2006-10-16T00:50:00.000-04:00

so i got this recipe from a pillsbury halloween recipe book for "spooky shepard's pie"

first i made the filling:

then the potatoes:

then i put it together like "ghosts"

and then we ate it:

and this is what it looked like in the book:

so how much do i rock again?? awww yeah.

OMG THE CAKE I MADE FOR CAITLYN

2006-09-04T00:52:00.000-04:00

omg i made the best cake in the world for caitlyn. well, i don't know how it tastes but everyone said it was good. it was duncan hines chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding mix, and a bag of chocolate chips. yum yum. well if you like chocolate that is (i dont)

Double Chocolate Brownie Cake

Submitted by: Tomi Rotchford

"Chocolate lovers beware! Very yummy! An easy Bundt cake made with cake mix, instant pudding, sour cream and chocolate chips!"

Original recipe yield: 1 - 10 inch Bundt pan.

Prep Time:

10 Minutes

Cook Time:

1 Hour

Ready In:

1 Hour 10 Minutes

Servings:

12 (change)

INGREDIENTS:

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Have all ingredients at room temperature.
In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, sour cream, oil and water. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Arcoiris

2006-08-31T00:57:00.000-04:00

i found these awesome mexican candies on the way to VA. i haven't opened them yet but here are some pics i found online of them, and when i open them, i'll take pics: