Butter Cake with White-Chocolate-Raspberry Icing

Cupcakes, they're so much fun! I like them because they're so much easier to portion than other desserts. They're also much cuter! Anyway the only cake mixes I had were expired, so I figured I would try my hand at making an actual cake. I used Wilton's Butter Cake recipe with some icing I had already purchased.

These turned out a bit more Dr.Seuss-y than I had planned.

Butter Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups butter (room temp)
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp almond extract (I would use less)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Spray/Line pans
2. In mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between eggs.
4. Mix in vanilla and almond flavorings. 
5. Mix flour with baking powder and salt.
6. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, starting with flour.
7. Mix well. 
8. Pour/Scoop into prepared pans.
9. Bake (if cupcakes) around 17-20 minutes or until they pass the clean knife test.

Cool in the pan then remove. I refrigerated mine overnight to let them cool completely before Icing.

I just started to run out of Icing on two of these.

The Icing I used was Duncan Hines Frosting Creations which lets you make your own flavor of icing. You grab a "starter" which is basically a plain frosting. Then you pick a flavor mix and mix it in. Couldn't be easier! And It tastes pretty good. (I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate or raspberry, but I still liked it.) The only thing I don't love is that it's hard to tell what color the icing will be. I thought these would be more pink-on-pink, instead of pink and lavendar. But really that's not a big deal.

Crock-Pot Italian Chicken

So I found a link to this recipe on pinterest and I don't like it, but Jon does. However I'm beginning to think Jon is like the opposite of that kid "Mikey" who doesn't like anything. Or maybe I'm Mikey and he's a normal person. Either way it was partially a hit. I liked how easy this recipe was, but I definitely overcooked the chicken so be sure you don't cook it for more than 8 hours.

Italian Chicken
Ingredients:

• 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 16 Ounce Bottle of Italian Dressing (I used Wishbone's "Robusto")
• 1/2 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
• Italian Seasoning
• 4-6 Potatoes scrubbed cut in half or wedges (you can peel if desired)
• 16 oz bag of mini carrots

Directions:

1. Spray Crock-Pot with Pam
2. Squirt a small amount of Italian dressing at bottom.
3. Place two chicken breasts in the Crock-Pot.
4. Pour some of the Italian dressing on the chicken.
5. Sprinkle half of cheese onto the chicken.
6. Sprinkle Italian seasoning onto the chicken.
7. Place next two chicken breasts into Crock-Pot, if possible not directly on top of the first breasts.
8. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of chicken.
9. Pour carrots on top
10. Pour more of the Italian dressing on top of chicken and carrots.
11. Sprinkle Italian seasoning onto the chicken and carrots.
12. Place potatoes on top.
13. Pour the remaining Italian dressing on the potatoes.
14. Sprinkle Italian seasoning on the potatoes.
15. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Beefy Bello Soup

This recipe comes from a book with recipes just for slow cookers. I got both the book and a slow cooker for Christmas. I also bought myself a food processor, so I used that for the onion and celery. The soup may not look delicious but it was gone in two days! I can always tell if something's good because it will be eaten for multiple meals in a row without complaint. 

Anyway there was a bit more prep-work than I had originally thought (mostly because I got a little scatterbrained), but overall it was an easy recipe. 

Beefy Bello Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs stew meat
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves (pressed)
• 2 (14oz) cans beef broth
• 1 (8oz) package sliced fresh baby portabello mushrooms (I left this out as neither of us like mushrooms)
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp finely ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine beef and flour in a large zip-top plastic bag; shake well to coat.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of beef and cook 4 minutes or until browned on all sides.
3. Repeat with 1 tbsp  of oil and remaining beef. 
4. Transfer browned beef to slow cooker.
5. Heat remaining 1 tbsp of oil and over medium-high heat in a skillet. Add onion, celery, and garlic; cook for 4 minutes or until almost tender.
6. Add vegetable mixture to slow cooker.
7. Add broth and remaining ingredients
8. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or until beef is tender.

Birthday Cake!

So my birthday is this week, and I decided to make my own cake. However I was feeling lazy and a bit unadventurous, so I used a boxed cake mix. I also have misplaced my super-duper-end-all pastry cookbook. Sooo, Pillsbury it was. I followed the directions on the box and made two 9" cakes. then came the fun part, frosting! I did actually make some of the frosting so it's partially home-made. The recipe I used for the green frosting is from Wilton's website. (I love their stuff.) And the purple frosting is store-bought Betty Crocker icing because I don't have a writing tip.

Anyway the recipe for the Buttercream frosting is as follows:
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (I used butter-flavor b/c it's what I use for other recipies)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick)  butter or margarine
• 1 tsp clear vanilla extract (I used my regular vanilla extract because I would be dying it later)
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approx 1lb)
• 2 tbsp milk

Directions:

1. Cream shortening and butter with a mixer.
2. Add vanilla.
3. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed.
4. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often.
5. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.
6. Add milk & desired food coloring and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
7. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

Icing Directions: I'm not an expert *obviously* but here's what I did.

1. Apply a thin layer of frosting to the cake and refrigerate (20 minutes?) *Yay I remembered to do a crumb layer!*
2. Pipe an even layer of remaining frosting all over the cake. *Decide it looks terrible.* Begin smoothing and simultaneously removing excess frosting from cake top -> sides. 
3. *Remember a knife dipped in hot water is supposed to = awesomeness* Try this in combination with smoothing action. *Works well! Yay for small successes!*
4. Draw my name in green icing with a fork so I don't forget a letter or something. Cover with purple icing.
5. Freehand a heart that looks terrible and becomes filled with squiggilys.
6. Find cookie-cutter to do star. Then discover I have 3 different sizes. *Perfect*
7. Use remaining icing trying to remember how to do shells.  *Never really figuring it out*

Cookies!

I love cookies, and so, I make a lot of cookies. I have a couple favorite recipes that I make as soon as it gets to be fall. (Or as soon as grocery stores start selling eggnog, since "fall" doesn't really happen in Texas.)

Eggnog Cookies
This recipe came from a person my mom worked with several years ago and we've been making them ever since! I love them and they're great because they hold their shape really well, and the icing is super easy. (You can also use Royal Icing which uses egg whites -I think. I plan on trying that later.) Anyway to decorate these I used some condiment bottles with different colors of icing.

The decorating is the most fun!

Ingredients

• 1 c. butter softened
• 2 c. white sugar
• 1 c. store-bought eggnog
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 5+1/2 c. all-purpose flour 

Thanksgiving Cookies!

(Icing)

• Powdered Sugar
• Milk
• Food Coloring

Cookie decorating station.

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. 
2. Beat in egg nog, baking soda and nutmeg.
3. Gradually add flour and mix well
4. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
5. On a lightly floured surface, 
6. Roll out half of the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.
7. Cut in desired shapes
8. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
9. Repeat w/ remaining dough.
10. Bake 350* for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
11. Cool on wire racks.
12. Decorate w/ powdered sugar icing (optional).

Yield: 5 dozen


Molasses Cookies
This is my Great Grandmother's recipe They are very good, but take a bit of work, so I don't make them nearly as often. This recipe also makes a ton of cookies so you don't have to make them as often. The curing part of the recipe is actually very important and does change the flavor of the cookies.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Grandma’s Molasses
• 4 eggs
• 1 stick margarine
• 2 cup sugar
• 1 lb pecans (2 cups pecans)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp allspice
• 4 cups flour, mixed with spices
• 4 cups flour

Directions

1. Let margarine and eggs reach room temp
2. In a large bowl cream butter, sugar.
3. Add egg
4. Heat molasses in large saucepan, do not boil!
5. Add baking soda and stir well
6. *When adding baking soda molasses will foam and rise*
7. Gradually add molasses to sugar mixture (1/4 cup at a time) until mixture is cooled to prevent curdling.
8. Add pecans
9. Gradually add 4 cups of flour & spices.
10. Gradually add 4 more cups of flour.
11. Dough should be difficult to stir in flour after second cup (technically 6th)
12. Chill the dough well. (4 hrs or overnight)
13. Roll out portions on floured surface & cut with cookie cutters
14. *Dough can be rolled into a cylinder, chilled again, sliced, and baked.
15. Bake 350 for 10 minutes
16. *To store place a cut apple in a plastic container lined with paper towels. (the cookies will become softer and absorb the flavor of the apple) Let them “cure” for at least 24 hours.

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies
This recipe came from one of my relatives somewhere down the line, I don't really know who. But, these cookies are delicious! This recipe makes a more reasonable amount of cookies (about 2 dozen).

All that's left. (They're someone's favorite)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ⅛ cup water       *1/8 cup water = 1 oz or 2 tbsp
• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup pecans (chopped)
• ½ cup raisins (or more)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Directions

1. Cream butter, sugar and cinnamon.
2. Add eggs.
3. Add flour and mix.
4. Stir the baking soda with warm water and add to the mixture.
5. Add oatmeal, pecans, and raisins.
6. Bake at 400 until golden brown on the edges.

"One Bowl Pumpkin Bread"

I've been trying not to bake too much, but having a stand mixer makes it REALLY hard. I loooooove baking & this bread makes a great gift!

Kitchen-Aid!

One Bowl Pumpkin Bread

I can vouch that this is one of the best breads I've ever had.

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup butter
• 2 ⅔ cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 (16-oz) pumpkin
• ⅔ cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 ⅓ cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• (optional) 1 cup walnuts/pecans 
• (optional) ½ cup raisins.

Baking!

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350

2. Grease 2, 9x5 loaf pans

3. Cream butter and sugar add eggs beat well

4. Add pumpkin, water and vanilla

5. Add dry ingredients (I save the flour for last because I feel this allows the other ingredients to mix in better)

6. Beat well

7. Pour into loaf pans

8. Bake 65-70 minutes

Cooling!

Flour Tortillas

This is a recipe I found a long time ago (3rd grade?) for Flour Tortillas. They're sooooo good! In my family we make these for Christmas. My cousins love helping out with these, and irritating my OCD at the same time. The tortillas are very fluffy, and make amazing quesadillas! The recipe itself is fairly simple, and they're easy to make.

My tortilla production area.

Also, it makes around 20-30 tortillas depending on how big you make them.

Flour Tortillas

Ingredients

5 cups Flour

2 tbsp Baking Powder

1 & 1/2 tsp Salt

1 cup Shortening

2 cups Warm Water

Directions

1. Mix dry ingredients together.

2. Add shortening and blend well

3. Gradually add water until dough forms a ball.

It will be really sticky but will want to stick more to itself than anything else.

4. Let sit for at least 1 hour. (hardest part)

This is what it looks like after resting.

5. Form into round balls (about 1/2 the size of a fist).

6. Roll flat (as thin as possible without tearing).

7. Cook at medium high on a skillet (you'll know the first side is done when it starts to bubble and the other side will be browned when done)

Mini Cherry Pies

Mini Cherry Pies

These got a little messy, but were toooooootally worth it. Also they're pretty easy if the dough is already made.

Ingredients

     Software

• 1-1.5 sections of Perfect Pie Crust mentioned previously.
• 1 can cherry pie filling (I'm cheating I know.)
• cinnamon & sugar
• flour (for rolling)

     Hardware

• Muffin Pan
• Rolling Pin
• Big Clean Surface
• Knife / Large Cookie/Biscuit Cutter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Roll out the dough about 1/4 inch thick.
3. Make a circular cut.
4. Cut where the red lines are (it's hard to describe, sorry) ----->
5. Place in the bottom of a muffin cup
6. The two long red edges should come together.
7. Fill 3/4 full with cherry filling.
8. Cut strips of dough to cover the top. (can be fancy or simple, like mine)
9. Repeat until all of cherry filling is used.
10. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
11. Bake until edges are just golden brown (sometime after 20 minutes... I lost count)

Toasted Ravioli

This recipe took me over an hour of active cooking to complete this meal. I think my problems were, too much ravioli, a small skillet, and an overly cautious approach to frying things. Either way, be prepared for this, it's a good deal of work, but fed 2 people for at least 2-3 days.

The recipe is kinda from Rachel Ray.

Ingredients
Software

• Fresh Ravioli (I used 1lb... probably too much)
• 2 eggs
• Splash of milk or half-and-half
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs, eyeball it
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I used my leftover "Mexican Blend" again.)
• Dried Parsley Flakes & Rosemary
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Pasta sauce

Hardware

• two shallow dishes
• one skillet/frying pan
• prepared landing area. (paper towels and a cooling rack worked for me)

Directions

1. Beat eggs and a splash of milk seasoned with salt and pepper in a shallow dish. 
2. Combine bread crumbs with cheese, rosemary and parsley in a second dish. 
3. Coat the fresh pasta in egg then bread crumbs. 
4. Heat 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat in a skillet then toast the ravioli until deep golden, 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Enjoy! These microwave well and were eaten fairly quickly. They were a lot of work, but man, they were good!

Mini Corndog Bites & Wonton Wrapper Tacos

Mini Corndog Bites

Ingredients
     Software:

• 1 package cornbread mix (always a staple in my cabinets)
• The ingredients called for on the package of the cornbread. Usually milk and an egg.
• 6(ish) hotdogs
• Any condiments you'd like
• Either Pam, or margarine to grease the pans.

    Hardware

• 1 medium mixing bowl
• 1 mini muffin pan

Directions

1. GREASE muffin pan! (this step is a lifesaver)
2. Preheat the oven at directed temperature.
3. Prepare cornbread mix as directed.
4. Cut hotdogs so there is one for each muffin cup. (if using 6 hotdogs cut into 1/4ths)
5. Spoon cornbread into GREASED muffin cups.
6. Drop a piece of hotdog into each cup.
7. Bake until golden brown around the edges.
8. Serve with your favorite corndog condiments.

Wonton Wrapper Tacos

Ingredients

     Software

• Wonton wrappers (1 package was more than enough for me) (also they can be found at HEB and Kroger in the vegetable section)
• Ground beef (1lb)
• 1 can beans, I used ranch style, but you can use whatever you'd like.
• approximately 1/2 a package of shredded cheese (your choice, I used some leftover "Mexican Blend")
• Any extra taco toppings

     Hardware

• Muffin pan (regular or mini I used both & liked the mini ones better)
• Skillet to brown meat in (Make sure the sides are high enough, our dog got an awesome treat!)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Brown the beef, I added some (approximately 1 tbsp) steak seasoning, a little garlic or onion powder and some salt and pepper.
3. Heat the beans in the microwave (my solution, of course you can substitute whatever method you'd like.
4. Lay a wonton wrapper in each muffin cup. 
5. Spoon in the beef. 
6. Then beans. 
7. Then sprinkle some cheese on top.
8. Bake in the oven at 350 for about 8 minutes (until the wonton wrapper corners begin to brown).
9. Finish by adding your favorite taco toppings.

Pasta con Pancetta

Pasta con Pancetta (or Bacon as a Substitute)
Ingredients
75g/3oz butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
160g/5½oz pancetta, roughly chopped
1 free-range egg, beaten
150ml/5fl oz single cream
300g/11oz pasta
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated pecorino cheese (optional)
thyme leaves, for garnish (optional)

Boiling Pasta.

Bacon

cream and egg mixture

Finished product.

Preparation method

1. Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes, or until golden. Remove the garlic clove and discard.
3. Add the pancetta to the pan and sauté for 3-4 minutes, until the pancetta turns a golden-brown colour.
4. In a bowl, mix together the beaten egg and single cream.
5. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, until al dente, then drain.
6. Add the pasta to the pancetta mixture, then stir in the egg and cream mixture. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
7. Serve immediately in warmed bowls. Finish with freshly grated pecorino cheese and garnish with a couple of thyme leaves (optional).

I love this recipe. It worked much better with the pancetta I bought in Italy, but it works just fine with bacon. The only thing I would reccommend is to be sure you cut off the fat from the bacon, you really don't need much since there is so much butter to cook it in (5oz is a lot). It also microwaves pretty well, or you can put it in a pan with a little bit of water and heat it up on the stove. (My solution in Italy where microwaves weren't an option.)
I also highly recommend the Pecorino cheese although I didn't have any (not available at Kroger or HEB). Pecorino cheese is one of my favorites.

Baked Spaghetti

Paula Deen's Baked Spaghetti. I found the recipe on Pinterest and thought it looked like something easy that would make good leftovers.

     I changed a couple things in the recipe occasionally on purpose and occasionally by accident (this happens with most of my cooking). Anyway I exchanged the beef with chicken, used a bit more of the bell pepper, parsley and onions (because I didn't want to waste them). Used almost twice as much cheese, and half a cup less diced tomatoes than the recipe called for. Oh, and I couldn't find just Monterey Jack cheese or Cheddar that were pre-shredded so I just got the Mexican blend that I saw at Kroger.

Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 cups canned diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a stockpot, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, onions, peppers, garlic, parsley, seasoning mixtures, and sugar. 
• Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat and let simmer, covered, for 1 hour. 
• Crumble the ground beef in a large skillet. 
• Cook over medium-high heat until fully cooked, with no pink color remaining. 
• Drain the fat from the meat, and then add the ground beef to the stockpot. 
• Simmer for 20 more minutes. 
• Cook the pasta according to the package directions. 
• Cover the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan with sauce. 
• Add a layer of pasta and then a little less than 1/2 of each cheese; repeat the layers, ending with the sauce. 
• Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. 
• Top the casserole with the remaining cheese, return it to the oven, and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 more minutes. 
• Cut into squares before serving. 

     Now this took a good deal longer than I'd originally planned, and I wasn't able to get started till around 8:30 which means dinner wasn't ready till around 10:20 (Suuuper late). So I definitely recommend starting this way before you need to or planning for it to take at least 2 hours start-finish.

Sicilian-Italian Easter Egg Bread

     So I've heard of this bread a lot, but have never been able to try it. Usually there's an egg or two or three depending on the size of the loaf, and some sprinkles. This recipe didn't say to split it up into smaller rings with one egg in the center, but that's how I would do it next time. However, for this one, I just made a straight braid.

I was really excited when it started to look like bread instead of a gooey mess.

Ingredients

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 6 tablespoons butter, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 3 hard-cooked eggs
• vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cold water

Braided and waiting to be baked.

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, cardamom and salt. 
2. In a saucepan, heat milk and butter to 120 degrees F-130 degrees F. 
3. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. 
4. Add 3 eggs; beat until smooth. 
5. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
6. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. 
7. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. 
8. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
9. Dye hard-cooked eggs; lightly rub with oil. 
10. Punch dough down. 
11. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough into thirds. 
12. Shape each portion into a 24-in. rope.
13. Place ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid; bring ends together to form a ring. 
14. Pinch ends to seal. 
15. Gently separate braided ropes and tuck dyed eggs into openings. 
16. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 20 minutes.
17. Beat water and remaining egg; gently brush over dough. 
18. Bake at 375 degrees F for 28-32 or until golden brown. 
19. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool. 
20. Refrigerate leftovers.

All Done!

Allrecipies.com

Denny's French Toast

Denny's French Toast

Mmmm French Toast! This is delicious! I used french bread instead of buying Texas Toast, and skim milk instead of whole. It still tastes wonderful. Also for me it made more than 6 slices worth. Maybe about 2/3 of a large loaf.

Yummy! 

Ingredients

4 eggs

2/3 cup whole milk

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon 

6 slices texas toast (thick bread)

3 tbsps butter

powdered sugar

butter

syrup 

With powdered sugar and syrup! About to be devoured! 

Directions

1. Mix together the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt& cinnamon. 

2. Heat a large skillet, or griddle. 

3. When the skillet is hot, add 1 tablespoon butter. 

4. If the butter smokes, your pan is too hot; turn down the heat. 

5. Dip each slice of bread into the batter for 30 seconds on each side. 

6. Let some of the batter drip off, then put in skillet. 

7. Cook each slice 1 1/2-2 minutes per side until each side is golden brown. 

8. Add more butter, if necessary, to cook all of the slices. 

9. To serve, put on plate, dust with powdered sugar. Serve with butter & hot syrup. 

Denny's French Toast

Super Simple Resses(ish) Pie

Here's a recipe I found online - Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie, or as I'm calling it Reeses(ish) Pie. It tastes freaking delicious! However mine never really set... It became more of a soup when it came time to be eaten even though I tried my hardest to keep it frozen.

Mine didn't turn out quite as stiff as this pie.
I'm not sure what I did differently, but it still tasted awesome.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

Ingredients
2 (1 ounce) squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker pie crust
1 (8 ounce) container frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed


Directions

1. In a large bowl, melt chocolate squares in microwave for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds or until completely melted. 
2. Add sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter to melted chocolate; mix well.
3. Fold in whipped topping. 
4. Spoon into crust.
5. Freeze overnight. 
6. Garnish as desired. 
7. Serve immediately. 
8. Store leftovers covered in freezer.
   -allrecipies.com

Pecan Pie

Recently I tried baking my Mom's Pecan Pie. She got the recipe from my Grandfather's Mother's Brother's Daughter-in-Law (because that's not complicated). I found the recipe in one of our family cookbooks. And right next to it was a Pie Crust recipe she submitted as well. There's another family recipe I tried and it is also delicious.

Perfect Pie Crust - (Makes 4-5 crusts)
Ingredients
4 cups unsifted flour
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp salt
1 large egg
1 & 3/4 cups shortening
1 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 cup water
Directions

1. Mix flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Add shortening and mix until crumbly
3. In a small bowl beat together, egg, vinegar and water.
4. Combine the two mixtures. And stir until well blended.
5. Divide into 5 portions and shape into flat patties for rolling or to freeze until ready to use.
6. Chill for 30 minutes.

Pecan Pie - from my mom

Ingredients

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup white Karo syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup chopped pecans

1 tbsp butter

Directions

1. Beat eggs.
2. Add sugar, Karo, salt, vanilla, and butter. Mix well.
3. Add chopped pecans.
4. Pour into unbaked pie shell. 
5. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or longer. 

Texas Pecan Pie - Aunt Melba
Ingredients
1 cup light Karo syrup
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 pie  shell, unbaked

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325*
2. Beat eggs.
3. Add sugar, Karo, nuts, salt, & vanilla.
4. Pour mix in unbaked pie shell & bake for 50 minutes.
   
   Pecans should float to the top & form a crust.

Apple Cake, New and Old

So I have an old recipe for Apple Cake from a family cookbook, and I found a new one online. I found the new one as a link on pinterest to this blog. I was a bit worried it would have some of the same problems my last cake had. Although it tasted wonderful, it was a bit too moist, and when I took it out of the oven, it fell in on itself so it didn't look very pretty. However the "new" cake was much lighter.

Apple Cake - "New"

Picture of their cake, & mine looked just like it!

Ingredients
Cake:
2 eggs (flaxseed substitute would probably be fine here)
2/3 c. oil
1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce (not chunky)
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp each ground ginger & nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
~ 4 c. peeled, cored & diced apples (measure after prepping - I used 4 medium-small Honeycrisp)
Glaze: (Make sure you have enough powdered sugar.)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 - 2 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one Bundt pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda and salt.
3. Beat oil, applesauce and eggs with an electric whisk or mixer until creamy.
4. Add sugar and vanilla, mix until uniform.
5. Add flour mixture to wet mixture in batches, gently stirring to incorporate after each one.
6. Fold in apples.
7. Spread batter in prepared Bundt pan.
8. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool in the pan 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the glaze,

1. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and shiny.
2. (Add additional sugar if mixture seems too runny, or a splash more milk if it gets too thick.)
3. Place cake on wire rack over a large plate or tray to catch drippings, then slowly pour glaze over top.      Allow to set completely, then transfer cake to a plate for serving.

Fresh Apple Cake - "Old"

Ingredients

1/4 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 c. flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 c. chopped raw apple
1/3 c. nutmeats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream shortening.
3. Add sugar and eggs.
4. Sift dry ingredients together.
5. Add apples and nuts to flour and combine. (Batter will be stiff.)
6. Bake in 9-in square pan at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Blue Moon Cupcakes

Blue Moon Cupcakes

(makes ~15 cupcakes)

Ingredients

3/4 a stick/6 tbsp butter, melted

2 eggs, room temperature

4 oz buttermilk*

6 oz Blue Moon beer

2 tsp vanilla

zest of one orange

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter and set aside to cool down.
3. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, beer, vanilla, and orange zest in one bowl, and mix together the sugar, flour, coriander, and baking soda in another. (*Here's a tip: You can make buttermilk by combining 1 tbsp lemon juice and enough milk to add up to 1 cup. So easy!)
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two parts, using a mixer to combine. Add the melted butter and combine.
5. Pour batter into cupcake cups and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool.

Fresh-baked cupcakes.
And my new silicone baking cups!

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 package(s) (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup(s) (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 tablespoon(s) fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon(s) grated orange zest

5 cup(s) confectioners' sugar

1.5 oz Blue Moon beer

Directions

1. Blend the cream cheese, butter, orange juice, orange zest, and Blue Moon in a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at medium speed, until smooth.
2. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy -- about 3 more minutes.
3. Keep chilled until you're ready to use.

Mmmm icing! (This is still in my fridge waiting for another use.)

*Topping* I'm actually planning on adding a little garnish to this, by cutting some small slices of my leftover orange to give it a little extra pizzazz. 

I found the recipe for these on stumbleupon a while ago, and bookmarked them just in case. The website titled "The Bitchin' Kitchin'" is full of fun recipes and I'll likely be trying more of her stuff.

Puff Pastry and Empanadas

Puff Pastry – easier to buy, but where’s the fun in that?

Ingredients

10 oz (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cold

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ tsp salt

2/3 cup cold water

Directions

1. Cut 2 sticks of the butter into ¼ inch cubes. Scrape them onto a plate and refrigerate them.
2. Put the flour and salt in a bowl and stir a couple of times to combine. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into slivers and add to the bowl. Rub in the butter, squeezing it with your fingertips until the flour and butter are evenly mixed. This only takes a couple of minutes
3. Add the chilled butter cubes and use a rubber spatula to fold them in. (They just need to be evenly covered in flour.)
4. Set aside 2 tbsp. of the measured water and pour the remaining water on the flour and butter mixture. Use the rubber spatula to fold everything together, scraping from the bottom of the bowl, upward. If there are a lot of dry bits of dry flour, sprinkle on the remaining water, 1 tbsp at a time.
5. Scrape the dough from the bowl to a floured work surface and lightly flour the dough. Use your hands to squeeze and shape the dough into a cylinder, and then press down to flatten it into a rectangle.
6. Flour the surface and the dough, and starting at the narrow end of the rectangle farthest from you, use a rolling pin to press the dough firmly in parallel strokes close to each other. If there are sticky pieces of butter on the surface of the dough, seal them with a large pinch of flour, making sure to clean off anything stuck to the rolling pin before continuing.
7. Press the dough once along the width; it should now be a rectangle about ½ inch thick. Once again, flour under and on top of the dough and roll the dough away and back toward you in the length and once in the width, without rolling over the ends in the same direction, to make a rectangle about 18 inches long and 8 inches wide.
8. Fold the two 8-inch ends of the dough in toward the middle of the rectangle, leaving a 1-inch space in the middle. Fold the bottom up to the top to form 4 layers of dough. Reposition the dough so that the folded edge that resembles the spine of a book is on your left.
9. Repeat steps 6, 7 & 8.
10. Repeat steps 6, 7 & 8 again.
11. Wrap the dough and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours to firm up and rest its elasticity before attempting to use it.

Rolling the Dough

1. Flour the work surface and place the chilled puff pastry on it. Flour the dough. Press the dough in parallel and successive firm strokes with a rolling pin in both directions, until it is somewhat more malleable. Repeat dusting the surface and the dough with pinches of flour.
2. Roll back and forth away and back toward you without rolling over the ends.
3. To roll in the other direction, move the piece of dough 90˚ and repeat step 2.
4. Slide the dough to a cookie sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
5. Chill the dough until firm for easier cutting and pastry.

Mmm baked empanadas!

Ground Beef Empanadas – This is the filling I used.

Ingredients

2 small Yukon Gold potatoes

½ large white or yellow onion – peeled and coarsely chopped

1 small red or green bell pepper – coarsely chopped

3 large cloves of garlic - crushed, peeled, and coarsely chopped

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 lb lean ground beef

¾ cup tomato puree

¾ cup water

½ tsp salt

1 tsp distilled white vinegar

¼ teaspoon hot chili powder (I used more, not sure how much)

Directions

1. Roll the dough into two twelve inch squares. Stack them on a cookie sheet and refrigerate until you are ready to form the empanadas.
2. Put the potatoes in a small saucepan and cover them with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for a minute. Slide the pan off the heat and leave the potatoes in the water until you need to add them to the filling.
3. Put the onion, bell pepper and garlic in a food processor and pulse to chop fine, but not puree.
4. Put the oil in a wide saucepan and add the vegetables. Cook over medium heat until they start to sizzle, then decrease to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and beginning to turn golden, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cumin and cook stirring, for about 30 seconds.
5. Add the ground beef and use a wooden spoon to mash it into the vegetables continuously jabbing the spoon downward into the meat so that it cooks in separate grains and not clumps. Cook for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the tomato puree, water, salt, vinegar and stir them in. Bring to a boil, and then regulate the heat so that the mixture simmers actively for about 10 minutes.
7. Peel and cut the potatoes into ½ inch dice. Add the potatoes and chili powder to the pan and stir. Simmer until the potatoes are tender and most of the liquid has boiled off. 15-20 minutes
8. Cool the filling completely. When you’re ready to bake, set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 400˚F.
9. Cut each piece of chilled dough into 6-inch disks refrigerating them again as you cut them.
10. Place one of the disks on a floured surface and sprinkle lightly with flour roll over once towards and once away to make a 7½-8 inch oval. Brush some water on the edge of the oval closest to you and place 3 tbsp of the filling on it. Fold the bottom half of the oval to join the top edge and transfer to the pan. Use your fingers to press the two layers of dough firmly together.
11. Use the point of a paring knife to cut a 1 inch vent hole in each empanada over the thickest part of the filling. 
12. Bake until the empanadas are deep golden and the filling is bubbling slightly, about 20 minutes.
13. Cool for about 5 minutes before serving on a platter.

They may not look delicious in this picture,
 but they are!

Topping for Empanadas – This wasn’t in the recipe, but I thought they would be better with a little embellishment.

Ingredients

Colby Jack cheese, shredded

Chili Powder

Pepper

Salt

Sprinkle the various ingredients on top of the empanadas before baking them, or before re-heating them at 350˚F for about 10 minutes.

Chili and Bribes

     I also had some friends over so I made some chili for them from my mom's "recipe." I had made it a little early and left it on the stove on low heat. Then one of my friends got there and he added 1 can of kidney beans to the finished product. He also made some cornbread. It was a pretty good meal and served about 6 people. (It could probably feed more, if we weren't all starving college students.)

     For one of my classes we had the option of bribing the TA & the Professor for extra points. So I figured, that's awesome since I love cooking and often don't like eating what I make (The downside of being a picky eater). Anyway, we found out that our TA really likes Mexican food. And I happened to have a recipe for empanadas I wanted to try. I also wanted to try a recipe for some Blue Moon cupcakes to bring to class with me as well. Yay bribery!


Easy, Homemade Chili

Ingredients2 lbs ground beef
3 8oz cans of tomato sauce
1/2 large white or yellow onion
2+ tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin

Directions1. Brown the meat and sauté the onions.
2. Pour off the excess fat.
3. Add the tomato sauce.
4. Add chili powder and cumin to taste.

Shepherd's Pie

     Cooking and Baking are two of my favourite and cheaper hobbies. Cheaper only in the sense that, I would have to buy the food anyway and sometimes it's less expensive to buy the raw materials. I'm planning on making some Shepherd's Pie for some of my friends. It's been a hit so far, and it's relatively easy to make.

     My old roommate Chelsea and I found the recipe I use one day on allrecipies.com and this has quickly become one of my favorite websites.


Shepherd's Pie - serves 12
Ingredients 
7 potatoes, peeled and cubed 
1 pound ground round 
1 cup water 
2 cubes beef bouillon 
1 cube chicken bouillon 
1 teaspoon dried rosemary 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon ground black pepper 
1 teaspoon steak seasoning 
1 tablespoon dried minced onion flakes 
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables 

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
2.  Drain, cool and mash. 
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 2 quart casserole dish. 
4. In a large heavy skillet, saute meat until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Drain excess fat and return meat to pan over medium heat.
5.  Pour in water and season with beef and chicken bouillon, rosemary, salt, pepper, steak seasoning and onion flakes. 
6. Stir in frozen vegetables. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has evaporated. 
7. Pour meat mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish. Cover top with mashed potatoes. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top begins to brown. 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/shepherds-pie-v/detail.aspx