Tiddleywinks and More

Chocolate Cookies with Dipping Bar

2012-02-13T20:45:00.000-08:00

I love Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman. I've been reading her blog since 2007 and I love watching her show on the Food Network. I think I've made something from every episode of season 2 so far. These Chocolate Cookies are from this past Saturday's chocolate episode. I thought these cookies would be perfect for my son's preschool Valentine's party. These cookies are easy to make and they are delish!
Ingredients:

2 sticks salted butter,slightly softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 whole egg

2 teaspoons vanillaextract

2 1/2 cups all-purposeflour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoapowder

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 ounces white almond bark(4 squares)

4 ounces chocolate almondbark (4 squares)
Dipping Bar:

Pistachios, finely chopped

Chocolate covered candy,such as M and M's, chopped

Chocolate covered toffeebars, such as Skor Toffee Bars, chopped

Chocolate sprinkles

Other variations:different candy bars, chopped; different varieties of sprinkles; differentchopped nuts
Directions:

For the cookies: Cream thebutter with the powdered sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Addthe flour, cocoa powder and salt, and mix together until the dough comestogether. Place plastic wrap on the surface of the dough and refrigerate for 2hours.

Preheat the oven to 375degrees F. Line baking sheets with baking mats or parchment.

Roll out the cookie doughand cut out the cookies using a cookie cutter, re-rolling thescraps in order to use as much of the dough as possible. Place the cookies ontothe prepared baking sheets. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, in batches if necessary,being careful not to burn. Cookies will remain the same general size and shapeafter they bake.

Remove from the oven andplace the cookies on a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely.

Melt the almond barks inseparate bowls in the microwave. Stirand continue heating at 30 minute intervals until smooth. Dip half of each cookie into the white almondbark and half into the chocolate bark.

Immediately sprinkle or press toppingsfrom the Dipping Bar over both sides of the cookies.

Gently set on parchmentpaper or another nonstick surface and allow to cool before serving.

French Toast with Strawberry Compound Butter

2012-02-12T19:04:00.000-08:00

French Toast with Strawberry Compound Butter

Ingredients:

Bread (we use Sourdough,French, or this time I bought a loaf of actual French Toast bread)

Milk

Egg(s)

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Vanilla Extract

Butter

For every 2 slices ofbread, use 1 egg and 1/8 cup milk. For example, if you want eight slices ofFrench Toast, use 4 eggs and ½ cup milk.

Put the milk and egg in ashallow dish like a pie pan. Whisk together. Add cinnamon and nutmeg to tasteand about ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. Whisk together.

Melt about 1 Tablespoon butteron a hot griddle (I heat mine to 400 degrees) or a skillet on medium. Dip bothsides of each slice of bread in the egg mixture and place on griddle. Cook forabout 3 minutes on each side or until done. Serve hot and enjoy!

Strawberry Compound Butter

I saw Pioneer Woman make ablackberry compound butter on her show a few weeks back and it looked deliciousand easy, but there was no recipe for it on the Food Network. So here I havetyped up my version of her compound butter. My friend Sheree came over and wemade compound butter together, isn’t it fun to cook with friends? We split whatwe made, but I think next time, I’m going to make a lot more because it’s sogood.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of salted butter,softened

5 or 6 fresh strawberries

Wash strawberries well andpat dry. Remove stems. Cut strawberries into small pieces.

Put the butter into thebowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter until itscreamy. Remove whisk attachment, and put on the paddle attachment. Add thestrawberries and gently mix them together (mixer should be on lowest setting).

Place a sheet of foil(about a foot long) on the counter, then put the same amount of plastic wrap ontop of it. Put half the strawberry butter on the plastic wrap and form into alog. Roll the plastic wrap around it (like a tootsie roll). Then wrap the foilaround it (like a tootsie roll). Store in the freezer. When you’re ready to useit, take it out, slice it and let it sit out for about ten minutes, then enjoy!This would be good on toast, pancakes, French toast, etc.

Books: A Home By the Sea

2012-02-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

I chose this book because I used to love reading Christina Skye's books and I haven't read one in a while. This one was sadly disappointing. I really liked the two main characters and I loved the family of the male interest (I can't even remember his name!). But half way through the book, the main character moves across the country and we're introduce to a whole new set of secondary characters and we never hear from the lovely family again. The introduction of these new secondary characters and a second setting made the book boring. I had force myself to finish it. Very disappointing.

Salmon and Spinach Salad

2012-02-11T19:44:00.000-08:00

I've posted about this recipe before, but it's so pretty and delicious I have to do it again. My kids liked the salmon as well. My 5 year-old said, "This SPAM is good!"

This time I've cooked the salmon in a skillet because it's winter and I don't want to BBQ outside like the original recipe suggests. It was just as good. It was also good to see my picture from almost 2 years ago compared to the one from today. I think I've improved!

Salmon and Spinach Salad

Vinaigrette:

¼ cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon honeymustard

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

Salad:

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 Tablespoon butter

1 (6-ounce) package fresh spinach

4 oranges, each peeled and cut into 6 slices

1. To prepare vinaigrette, combine first 7 ingredients in alarge bowl; stir well with a whisk.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Drizzlelemon juice over fillets, sprinkle with 2 teaspoons pepper. Cook salmon untildone about 5 minutes each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with afork or until desired degree of doneness. (I used fillets with no skin.)

4. Add spinach to vinaigrette in bowl; toss well. Place 2 cupsspinach mixture on each of 4 serving plates; arrange 1 fillet and 6 orangeslices on top of greens. Yield: 4 servings

Brownies Topped with Ganache, GF

2012-02-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

These delicious easy to grab brownies will be part of my food spread tomorrow for the Superbowl. I love this brownie recipe (it can be made non-gluten-free, just use regular flour and eliminate the xanthan gum). And a word about the ganache: Please make it (okay, that's three words). It will change your life. This ganache is obedient, simple to make, and delish. The consistency is perfect and it spreads exactly where I tell it to. Obedient ganache. Now if my kids were that easy to manage.
Gluten-Free Brownies Topped with Ganache

½ cup (1stick) butter

½ cup cocoa

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup gluten-free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour)

¼ tsp. xanthanflour
¼ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8 x 8 x 2-inch pan. In a medium saucepan meltbutter. Remove melted butter from heat, add cocoa, and stir until well blended.Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Stir invanilla, flour, and salt. Do not overbeat. Spread in prepared pan and bake 25to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let brownies cool completely before cutting.
Ganache

Ingredients:

¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp whipping cream

2 Tbsp corn syrup

Directions:

Melt chocolate and butter togetherover low heat, stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat and add cream and cornsyrup. Mix till smooth. Pour over brownies, cake, etc...

Brown Butter and Sea Salt Cookies - Gluten Free

2012-02-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

Last October, my aunt brought me a package of Gluten Free Chocolate Mint Browned Butter Sea Salt Cookies all the way from the Brown Butter Cookie Shop in Cayucos, California. They survived the plane ride and everything! Let me tell you, those three cookies were worth it! I even portioned them out so I wouldn't eat them all in one night. It was such a surprise to have the last cookie a week later when I really NEEDED a cookie. I haven't found a recipe for the chocolate mint cookies yet, but I did find the basic Brown Butter Sea Salt cookie recipe from scottandtinaphillips.com. Here is my gluten-free version with some slight variations.

Gluten Free Brown Butter and Sea Salt Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup salted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups gluten free flour

2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
Sea Salt

1. In a small saucepan, melt butter on low to medium heat, stirring occasionally,until browned. Stir in sugars and vanilla and remove from heat.
2. Let the sugar mixture cool to room temperature.
3. In a mixing bowl add flour, xanthan gum, and baking soda. Stir in sugarmixture until combined.
4. Let the mixture rest for at least an hour to let the flour absorb all thebutter. The mixture may be stiff afterword and crumbly; microwave handfuls ofdough for 10 seconds. The dough will be easier to roll.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
6. Roll 1 inch balls of dough and place on cookie sheet. Gently flatten the ballswith the bottom of a glass. Sprinkle sea salt on top. (Flattening the cookies was one of my additions. You can see I did that for the cookies in the foreground in the picture above, whereas the cookies on the plate have not been flattened. I think the flat ones look better.)
7. Bake for 15 minutes. Place a sheet of foil on countertop and transfercookies to the foil to cool.

Books: Only His

2012-01-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

Only His is part of Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold series. This series has fun, likable characters and Mallery is one of my favorite writers. I can get right into her books (unlike the Nicholas Sparks book I just read).

Books: Until There Was You

2012-01-26T21:53:00.000-08:00

Kristan Higgins is a new-to-me author, and I look forward to reading more of her books. A review of the book said it had lots of laughs and it certainly does. Higgins is the funniest writer I have read yet. Until There Was You had me laughing out loud with expressions like taking Bieber's name in vain. Hilarious.

Books: The Best of Me

2012-01-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

I've just finished The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks and it will probably be the last Sparks book I read. About a quarter of the way through the book (WARNING - spoilers!) I thought to myself, since this is a Sparks' book and he writes love stories, which as he defines it, have tragic endings, one of the main characters is going to die. And I knew which one it would be. When I got to the end of the book and it ended as tragically as I'd hoped it wouldn't, I thought, "Why am I reading such a depressing story?" Yes, it's well written. Yes, it will be made into a movie, but I REALLY hope they change then ending. It's just too sad. Guess I'm a romance reader at heart.

Flat Apple Pie with Perfect Pie Crust

2012-01-19T19:08:00.000-08:00

I watched the Pioneer Woman's show this past Saturday on the Food Network and saw her make this recipe. Due to being stranded at home for two straight days due to the snow and ice, I decided I had time to make this pie. I didn't have the Granny Smith apples it calls for, so I used what I had, Pink Lady. I tend to buy my crusts whenever I can, because I don't like working with the crusts I make from scratch, but Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pie crust was doable and delicious!

Ingredients

5 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 recipe Perfect Pie Crust, recipe follows

6 tablespoons butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In large bowl, stir together the apples, brown sugar,granulated sugar, flour, salt and lemon juice. Set aside and see how long youcan keep from sneaking a slice of apple.

With a rolling pin, begin rolling out the Perfect Pie Crustsinto large circles. Roll the dough from the center outward. Be gentle andpatient, it'll take a little time to get the dough completely rolled out.

If you think the bottom is really sticking to the surfacebelow, use a nice, sharp spatula to loosen the dough and sprinkle some extraflour on top. Then flip it over to finish rolling. Remember to roll from thecenter in single, outward strokes, no back-and-forth rolling.

Again with a spatula, loosen and lift the dough andcarefully place the circles on large baking sheets lined with parchment. (I baked the two pies onone large jelly roll pan.)

Place half the apple mixture on one crust and the other halfon the other crust. Do not add the juice from the apples. Fold over the edgesof each crust so that it covers 2 to 3 inches of the apple mixture. No need tobe artistic - the more rustic the better. Dot the tops of the pies with chunksof the butter.

Bake until the filling is golden and bubbly, 30 to 40minutes. If the crust appears to brown too quickly, cover the edges with foilfor the remaining baking time.

Allow to cool slightly, and then slice into wedges with apizza cutter. Drizzle with Easy Caramel Sauce.

Perfect Pie Crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks cold butter

3/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 egg

5 tablespoons cold water

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add in thebutter and shortening. Using a pastry cutter, gradually work the butter andshortening into the flour until the mixture resembles tiny pebbles. This stepshould take 3 or 4 minutes.

Lightly beat the egg with a fork, and then add it to themixture. Next, add in the cold water and vinegar. Stir the mixture togetheruntil it's just combined. Divide the dough in half and put each half in azip-top bag and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

2012-01-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

I’ve made this creamy mashed potato recipe for Thanksgivingand Christmas holidays for the past three years or so. Once my familydiscovered they liked my potatoes, they ask to bring them to each family event.I make them ahead at home and then put them in a crock pot on warm. Then there’sno work once the party starts.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

3 lbs russet potatoes (Yukon is also delicious)

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1 cup sour cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Wash, peel, and cube potatoes. Place in large pot and coverwith water. Add salt to water. Boil for about 18-20 minutes. Drain. Putpotatoes back in pot on low heat for a minute or two to get any extra waterout. Slice the butter into tablespoons and add to potatoes. Add the sour creamand mash the potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serves 6. (You can also try garlic salt or seasoned salt.)

Chow Mein

2012-01-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

My hubby makes a good pork chow mein so I decided to write the recipe down so I'd know how to make it too.

Chow Mein

1-2 carrots

Half a head of cabbage

½ a large onion

12 oz. pork sirloin chops, thinly sliced

1 Tablespoon (combined) coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon (combined) sesame oil

Garlic salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Onion powder to taste

1 - 8 oz. Package Chow mein noodles

¼ cup soy sauce

Wash and peel the carrots. Cut into match-stick pieces (thesmallest setting on a mandolin). Wash the cabbage and chop it up intobite-sized pieces. Start a large pot of water boiling.

Put ½ Tablespoon of coconut oil and ¼ teaspoon sesame oil ina large sauté pan or wok and heat on medium heat. Add pork and season itgenerously with garlic salt, pepper, and onion powder. Cook until done. Removefrom pan.

Add ½ Tablespoon coconut oil to the same pan and ¼ teaspoonsesame oil. Turn heat up to medium-high and add carrots, cabbage, and onion topan. Season with garlic salt and pepper. Cut the pork into bit-sized pieceswhile the veggies cook.

When the veggies are soft and the water is boiling, add thenoodles to the water and boil 1-2 minutes. Drain noodles and set aside. Onceveggies are fully cooked, move them to the side of the pan and add the cookedpork and noodles to the middle of the pan. Mix it all together and heatthoroughly. Add soy sauce, mix and enjoy.

Books: Mockingjay

2012-01-16T20:56:00.000-08:00

I finished the third book in The Hunger Games series, Mockingjay, last week. I was satisfied with the ending and was very glad I got to read all three books in quick succession as opposed to waiting a year between the release of each book.

When I started with the first book, The Hunger Games, I liked the quick pace that Collins had used in the book, aided by the first-person narrative of Katniss Everdeen. But I'm a romance reader at heart, and I missed my third-person omniscient point of view. I kept telling my husband throughout the first book, "I want to know more!" "What's Peeta thinking?" "What's Gale thinking?" It was killing me. Finally in the third book, Mockingjay, I feel like I got my answers, which is why I can say I'm satisfied with the ending. Very smart writing by Collins.

Now that I'm on to my next book, The Best of Me, by Nicholas Sparks, which is in the third-person omniscient, I'm missing the first-person narrative of The Hunger Games. Fickle! (Note, I'm not saying Sparks is a romance writer; it just happened to by next on my list.)

Chicken Penne

2012-01-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

This Chicken Penne is adapted from Pioneer Woman's Penne Al La Betsy. In her version, she uses shrimp, which I am allergic to, so I substituted chicken. The whole family ate it, which definitely means a success at my house.
Ingredients

¾ pounds Penne Pasta

1 pound Chicken Breast

2 Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 whole Onion (small)

2 cloves Garlic

½ cups White Wine, Or To Taste

1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)

1 cup Heavy Cream

Fresh Parsley, to taste

Fresh Basil - To Taste

Salt To Taste

Pepper To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Cook the penne pasta untiltender-firm, also known as al dente. Finely dice one small onion. Mince twocloves of garlic. In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoonsolive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. Cut thechicken into bite-size pieces. Add to pan, salt and pepper to taste, and sautéuntil chicken is fully cooked. Next add the white wine. Let the wine evaporatefor a few minutes, stirring occasionally. If you would rather not use wine, youcan use low-sodium chicken broth instead (about ½ cup).

Now add an 8-ounce can ofplain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 cup of heavy cream.Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.

Now chop the herbs, about atablespoon of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil. Throwin the herbs and stir until combined. Finally add the cooked penne pasta andgive it a good stir. Enjoy!

Easy Caramel Sauce

2012-01-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to get a better picture of my caramel sauce, so here's the recipe again. I would love to always have a jar of this in my fridge.

Easy Caramel Sauce

4 Tablespoons Butter

1 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed

½ Cup Half and Half (I usedwhipping cream)

Pinch of Salt

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Mix butter, brown sugar, half& half, and salt in a saucepan over medium low heat. Cook while whiskinggently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thicker. Add vanilla and cook another minutesto thicken further. Turn off heat and pour sauce into a jar. Refrigerate untilcold.

Two of My Favorite Things

2012-01-12T18:34:00.000-08:00

My husband gave me this beautiful white pitcher for Christmas (from Target). I love the lines of it. Also, these little little seedless oranges, called Sweeties (or Cuties depending on the brand). The kids can easily peel them (even my two year-old), and they are delicious and seedless. Yum!

Amy Lu Burger - Project 52:12 Wk 2

2012-01-11T14:24:00.000-08:00

I love this Amy Lu Chicken burger from Costco. It is already cooked and you either heat it up in the microwave or on the stove top. It has caramelized onions and bell peppers (sorry mom) in it. My two year-old can eat a whole one by herself. Yummy and easy!

Books: Catching Fire

2012-01-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

I've just finished book 2, Catching Fire, of The Hunger Games series. It's just as good as the first book, and I'm off to start on number three.

Books: The Hunger Games

2012-01-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to reading The Hunger Games series, but there you go. I've finally read the first book and can't wait to get my hands on the second one. Now I have to wait for my husband to finish book number 2, Catching Fire, before he can send it from his electronic reader to mine. As many of the reviews have said, this book is addicting and has non-stop action. I told my husband, "Why couldn't we read addicting stuff like this when I was majoring in English?" It would have been so much more interesting than what I pretended to read for my English Literature classes.

Books: A Whisper of Peace by Kim Vogel Sawyer

2012-01-02T19:17:00.000-08:00

I want to try to keep track of the books I read this year, so here's the first one. I came across a new-to-me author: Kim Vogel Sawyer. I think I heard of her on some recommendation list, probably from the library. I just finished A Whisper of Peace. It was a delightful read and I have three more books of hers on my requested list at the library.

Caramel Sauce - Project 52:12 Wk 1

2012-01-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

This is Pioneer Woman's Easy Caramel Sauce, which I've made and photographed before, but it's SO delicious and SO easy, I had to make it again. This time I didn't have half and half like the recipe calls for, but I had whipping cream, which also works. I read that you can substitute higher fat dairy products, like whipping cream, which has about 35% fat, for lower fat dairy products like half and half, which is 12% fat.

Easy Caramel Sauce:

4 Tablespoons Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 cup Half-and-half (I used whipping cream)
Pinch Of Salt
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Mix butter, brown sugar, half & half, and salt in a saucepan over medium low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thicker. Add vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off heat and pour sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold.

New Project 52: 2012

2012-01-01T18:11:00.001-08:00

I've decided to do another Project 52 for this new year focusing again on food photography. Check back tomorrow for a recipe and picture for Easy Caramel Sauce.

Brandy Ice - Project 52: Week 52

2011-12-31T16:00:00.000-08:00

One more for the end of the year! I had a Brandy Ice at a local restaurant and thought that sounded fun for New Year's Eve.

Brandy Ice:
1/2 cup Brandy
1/4 cup Kahlua
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream.

Mix together in the blender, and pour into your favorite glass. Put it in the freezer for a couple hours or so and enjoy!

Penguins - Project 52: Week 52

2011-12-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

I see these cute olive and cream cheese penguins on Tasty Kitchen and new I had to make them. We enjoyed them as a non-sugary snack on Christmas Eve. (Sorry I can't find the instructions for the life of me!).

Christmas Cookies - Project 52: Week 51

2011-12-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to get all my food pictures up before the end of year, so I don't have any recipes yet to go with these, but the marshmallow cookie is a stained-glass window. Then I made a chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips (have to have peanut butter in there somewhere!). And in the background is extra I had from Emeril's Key Lime Pie, which we had for Christmas Eve.

Polka Dot Cookies~Project 52: Week 49

2011-12-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

These mint chips come out at Christmas time only (at least in my regular grocery store), so I buy them just to buy them. I decided to try the recipe on the back of the bag and it is DELICIOUS! The cookie it fudgy and the coolness of the mint chips feels so good in the mouth.

Fish Fry - Project 52: Week 50

2011-12-13T09:46:00.000-08:00

I recently received a Dutch Oven (thanks Mommy!) so I could make Pioneer Woman's Roast (which was delicious), but my hubby also saw other uses for the dutch oven. Such as frying fish.

And French Fries. This picture bothers me, but I took it after we ate, and that's all that was left, it was dark out (no natural lighting), so I did the best I could under the circumstances.

Keepsake Cookies - Project 52: Week 48

2011-12-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

I found a recipe for Keepsake Cookies in an old recipe book (with no pictures). With a cookie-like bottom, a sugary/peanut buttery topping, plus a chocolate topping: I had to make these. But the crumbly crust was nearly impossible to make into cookies, so I pushed the crust into the bottom of my spring form cheese cake pan and cut pieces as I needed them. (Yes, I needed pieces of this!).

Christmas Morning Hashbrowns redone - Project 52: Week 46

2011-11-30T14:38:00.001-08:00

We've been making Christmas morning Hash Browns throughout the year, not just on Christmas morning, for several years now. A friend asked for the recipe and I searched through the blog and found the post from 2008. I couldn't believe the picture! I knew I could do better, although the plain-looking hash browns do make for a dull picture. The hash browns are plenty for us, so we don't eat anything else with them, so I couldn't do a nice table full of breakfast foods. I've also updated the recipe here to reflect how we make them now.

1 30 oz. bag frozen shredded potatoes

8 oz. sour cream

½ cup melted butter

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. onion powder

1 cup (packed) grated cheddar cheese

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl.Transfer to a 9×13 casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Black Forest Cake Redone - Project 52: Week 45

2011-11-23T21:23:00.001-08:00

I had the opportunity to make a cake for my church's dessert auction this past weekend. I knew I wanted to make the Black Forest Cake I made for my daughter's second birthday because it looks impressive with those chocolate curls and cherries and because the Italian Meringue frosting is DELICIOUS. This time I added chocolate to the frosting (I went to the original source of the recipe, and it has a spot were I was able to make 2.5 times the recipe and it does all the math for me). This was enough frosting for four eight-inch layers of cakes (I ended up making two cakes since I had so much). Plus, there was lots of frosting left over. I think I would just double the recipe next time.

Pumpkin Crumb Cake - Project 52: Week 43

2011-10-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

This is Libby's Pumpkin Crumb Cake. I had it at a church potluck last year and it changed my life. It's so simple and so delicious. And please, oh please, make real whipped cream to top it, not that stuff in a tub made from high fructose corn syrup. Enjoy!

Apple Crisp - Project 52: Week 42

2011-10-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

My son and I went to the local pumpkin patch as part of his preschool field trip. He got to pick three apples, so we decided to make apple crisp. I also had to make home made whipped cream. Yum!

Angry Bird

2011-10-28T20:23:00.001-07:00

Kitty Kitty

2011-10-28T20:21:00.001-07:00

Red Velvet Cake - Project 52: Week 40

2011-10-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

My mom was in town for her birthday, so I got to make her a cake. I asked her what kind she would like and she chose red velvet cake. I used this recipe. (minus all those nuts!)

It was delicious, but to me the real star was the cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Roast - Project 52: Week 39

2011-10-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

My mom is in town and we decided to make a roast. Here she is washing the fresh rosemary and thyme.

Here's the beautiful chuck roast searing.

We followed Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast recipe for the roast. It was good, but not knock your socks off good like we'd hoped.

Waffles - Project 52: Week 38

2011-09-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

These are just waffles from a mix, but my mom is here and she bought a waffle maker, so we thought it would be fun to make waffles. I even made homemade whipped cream - yum!

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Project 52 Week 37

2011-09-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

This is the same old Crisco recipe I always use and I just love it! Can't beat chocolate chip cookies.

Blueberry Buckle - Project 52: Week 36

2011-09-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

My son and I like to watch Alton Brown's Good Eats on the Food Network. I've even been recording the reruns for us to watch together. Recently, we watched the blueberry episode where this Blueberry Buckle was featured. Here's our version of it. I didn't have whole milk, so I used 2% (I know Alton would not approved, but my kids and I sure liked it!).

We used frozen blueberries like Alton said we could in the episode. Once the blueberries are incorporated into the batter, let it sit out for 15 minutes before putting it in the oven. I also had to increase the baking time from 35 minutes to almost 50 because of the frozen blueberries.

For the cake:

Nonstick cooking spray

9 ounces cake flour, approximately 2 cups

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

5 1/4 ounces sugar, approximately 3/4 cup

1 large egg

1/2 cup whole milk

15 ounces fresh whole blueberries, approximately 3 cups

For the topping:

3 1/2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/2 cup

1 1/2 ounces cake flour, approximately 1/3 cup

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

2 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

Directions

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray andset aside.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder,salt and ground ginger. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment,beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy,approximately 1 minute. Add the egg and beat until well incorporated,approximately 30 seconds. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low speedjust until incorporated and then add 1/3 of the milk and beat untilincorporated. Repeat, alternating flour and milk until everything has combined.Gently stir in the blueberries and pour the mixture into the prepared bakingdish.

For the topping:

In a small bowl combine the sugar, flour and nutmeg. Add thebutter and work into the dry ingredients using a fork to combine. Continueuntil the mixture has a crumb-like texture. Sprinkle the mixture on top of thecake. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 35 minutes or until golden incolor. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

English Muffin - Project 52: Week 36

2011-09-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

I purchased a basic studio lighting kit for my birthday and wanted to experiment with it. Here I've used the natural light from the left and one studio light at about 11 o'clock. It added a nice shine to the jam that I wasn't getting with just the natural light. Fun!

Grilled Cheeseburger - Project 52: Week 34

2011-08-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

I know I've already posted a food photo for this week's Project 52, but my husband made a cheeseburger for lunch, so I just had to grab it from him first and take a photo.

Garlic - Project 52: Week 34

2011-08-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Finally! A food photo that doesn't require me to eat it afterwards! And cheap too. I took inspiration from Michael Ray's Photography. I am in awe of all his food photos, so I set out to recreate one of his shots as a way to learn. I would have never shot food with this harsh lighting and shadows, but I found it worked really well for the garlic. I think the harsh lighting goes well with the monochromatic garlic to make an interesting picture.

Lemon Risotto - Project 52: Week 33

2011-08-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

After watching Hell's Kitchen year after year, I decided I needed to try my hand at making risotto. It can't be THAT hard, right? Well, it's not hard, but it does take time and patience. After slaving over the stove, constantly stirring the rice, my husband says, "You know I'm scared to death to eat this, right?" Knowing that he is a plain white rice guy, I said, "Yeah," and served him a little portion - the same as I gave the kids. My husband and the kids all ended up having not only seconds, but thirds! I'm so pleased, and of course I loved it too! My husband has already requested that I make it again. Here's the recipe from Epicurious:

6 cups canned low-salt chicken broth

3 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large shallots, chopped

2 cups arborio rice or medium-grain white rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 teaspoons grated lemon peel

preparation

Bring broth to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; cover to keep warm. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Add rice; stir 1 minute. Add wine and stir until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups hot broth; simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently. Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is creamy and tender, about 35 minutes. Stir in cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in parsley, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Season risotto with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl and serve.

My Baby Niece

2011-08-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

I've heard that the photos didn't load correctly on the previous post, so I'm trying again here.

My Baby Niece

2011-08-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

She just didn't feel like smiling, but I do love this pose.

The closest we got to a smile!

She has such beautiful coloring.

Love you baby doll!

Grapes - Project 52: Week 32

2011-08-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

I painted my walls white this weekend in part so I can get better lighting inside for my food shots. Here are my beautiful grapes on my new white milk glass china.

Revelation: Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce

2011-08-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

I needed to make a lighter dinner tonight, so I starting boiling some noodles because I knew the kids would eat them. Then I started chopping and sauteing vegetables, added a little tomato sauce and came up with my first ever vegetarian spaghetti sauce, and it was delicious. My baby girl ate the noodles with the sauce, but not my son. He eats the noodles with just butter and salt.

Strawberry Spinach Salad - Project 52: Week 31

2011-08-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

This is a delicious salad that I've been making for years. Once I purchased my new china, I knew I had to make this salad for the beautiful white plates.

Ingredients:

2 bunches fresh spinach leaves (or 1 bag of pre-washed)

2 cups sliced strawberries

½ cup sunflower seeds (or substitute your favorite nut)

Dressing:

½ cup sugar

2 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1 Tablespoon poppy seeds

1 Tablespoon minced red onions

¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup cider vinegar

Instructions:

Combine spinach, strawberries and seeds in a bowl and toss. Combine dressing in a microwaveable-safe bowl and heat for three minutes or so until sugar is dissolved. Toss with salad and serve.

Milk Glass

2011-08-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited. This is my first real set of china that I've ever purchased. Sure, we have a set of china from our wedding, but I chose casual china so we could actually use it without worrying. I picked up the first 6 pieces at a garage sale. I was attracted to the bright whiteness of the dishes for my food photography, and I LOVE the grape and leaves pattern.

I found the scalloped edged salad plates at an antique store at a great price, so now I have 35 more pieces!

P.S. from a photography standpoint, taking a picture of something that's all white is very difficult!

Oatmeal Apple Muffins - Project 52: Week 30

2011-07-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Plate to Pixel by Helen Dujardin and it is very inspiring.

Helene's pictures are beautiful and she tells a story with them, which is what I've tried to do here. There's some sort of focus problem with my muffin that's cut open - better luck next time. Something else new that I learned from Helene's book was to change my white balance settings. It's ALWAYS cloudy where I live, so I changed my white balance to cloudy and it added a warm tone to my photos without sacrificing exposure.

Fruit

2011-07-20T18:52:00.000-07:00

Cauliflower Soup - Project 52: Week 29

2011-07-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

Creamy No Cream Cauliflower Soup

Lemon Bars - Project 52: Week 28

2011-07-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

These are Ina Garten's recipe for Lemon Bars. They are dense. They are rich. They are tart. They are lemony. They are wonderful!

Ingredients

For the crust:

· 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

· 1/2 cup granulated sugar

· 2 cups flour

· 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

· 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature

· 3 cups granulated sugar

· 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)

· 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

· 1 cup flour

· Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill for 30 minutes.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.

***The reviews on this recipe said the crust was crumbly and hard to get out of the pan, so I put parchment in my pan (and buttered and floured it) and then I was able to just life it out of the pan and cut it into bars on a cutting board.

This is so you can see how I did my parchment (this picture is just of the crust, before I poured the custard in).

Triple Berry Pie - Project 52: Week 27

2011-07-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

I snapped this picture right before I dived into this delicious Triple Berry Pie made my by MIL for Fourth of July. Delish!

BBQ Chicken

2011-06-18T19:11:00.001-07:00

I did better on my BBQ technique this time. The BBQ was half as hot and I took care to cut off as much fat as I could. Just thought I'd show you!

Smashed Potatoes - Project 52: Week 24

2011-06-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

These delicious Smashes Potatoes are adapted from Pioneer Woman's recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients

5 whole Large Yukon Potatoes

1 stick Butter, Softened And Cut Into Pieces

5 slices Bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 whole Green Onions, Sliced

¾ cups Sour Cream

Salt to Taste (add Plenty!)

Freshly Ground Black Pepper to Taste

Preparation Instructions

Microwave potatoes or bake in the oven until fork-tender. Add to a large bowl and smash with a potato masher. Immediately add softened butter, green onions, bacon, and sour cream and stir with a rubber spatula. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot, sprinkling on extra bacon and green onions. Yummy with grilled steak or chicken!

Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman.

Gyros (Gluten Free) - Project 52: Week 23

2011-06-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

This is my version of a gluten-free gyro. With the delicious ingredients like lamb, feta, tzatziki sauce and olives, I really didn't miss the pita bread. I just rolled up the big lettuce leaf and enjoyed.

BBQ Chicken - Project 52: Week 22

2011-06-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

This was my first barbecue of the season, and it didn't go that well. I had a McCormick's Bourbon and Whiskey season packet that I marinated the chicken in, and when I set the chicken on the grill, it went up in flames! I guess next time, I'll put the chicken on the little rack above the rack by the fire. I peeled the black skin off the chicken for this picture. Under the blackened skin was some delicious chicken. A good learning lesson!

I also did the potatoes on the grill as well.

Double Dark Chocolate Cookies - Project 52: Week 21

2011-05-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

Double Dark Chocolate Cookies

2 cups (11.5 ounces) Guittard 63% Extra Dark Chocolate Chips, divided

½ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick), divided

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

(To make the cookies gluten-free, use your favorite gluten-free flour and add ½ teaspoon Xanthum Gum.)

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment.

Heat 1 ½ cups of chips and 2 tablespoons butter in small microwave safe bowl at medium power (50% or level 5) for 1-2 minutes, stirring well after 1 minute initially, then at 30 second intervals until smooth. Set aside.

Cream remaining 6 tablespoons butter, sugar and salt in large mixer bowl until light. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Add melted chocolate, stopping to scrape bowl as needed. Mix in flour and baking soda just until incorporated. Stir in the remaining ½ cup of chips.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 11-12 minutes or until tops are cracked and crusty. Centers should still be soft and appear slightly underdone. Let stand 5 minutes before removing to cooling racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Flowers

2011-05-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

I completely dug up my front flower bed and planted all new stuff. I forgot to take a "before" picture, but I can tell you it was bad. Weeds, sluggish hostas and more weeds. I'm pretty proud of myself because I actually do not like to garden, but I found this project to be pretty enjoyable. I think it helps now that the kids are older and can play without running into the street.

Gluten Free Brownies with Chocolate Ganache - Project 52: Week 17

2011-05-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

I'm too lazy to get the brownie recipe typed up, but here is the most wonderful Ganache recipe. I don't think I'll ever use frosting again; I'd rather use Ganache.

Ingredients:

¾ cup chocolate

2 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp whipping cream

2 Tbsp corn syrup

Directions:

Melt chocolate and butter together over low heat. Remove pan from heat and add cream and corn syrup. Mix till smooth. Pour over brownies or cake, etc...

Broccoli Beef - Project 52: Week 18

2011-05-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

This is based off the beef stir fry recipe with the only vegetable being broccoli. I love it!

Citrus Water - Project 52: Week 20

2011-05-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

Duh...I've kind of not done my food photography for almost 2 months! I have no excuses. So here's to getting back at it. (I've taken a couple of pictures here and there, so I'll try to catch up a little).

I first had this at a potluck. It's just orange, lemon, and lime slices in water. I was really hesitant to try it since I don't even like lemon in my water, but the ladies insisted I try it, so I did and I enjoyed it.

Chicken Stir Fry - Project 52 Week 13 pt. 2

2011-03-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

I was inspired to take a better stir fry picture and here it is. This one is with chicken and I also added carrots. Num!

Produce - Project 52 Week 13

2011-03-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

I couldn't decide what to do for this week's photo, and then I saw a picture just like this at my gym. All produce. This was really fun to shop for and set up, and now I have healthy things to eat (that is until I add butter).

Even though it was raining outside, I still used natural light. I did all this in my garage with the natural grey light coming in from one side, and a piece of white foam core on the other side to reflect that light back onto the produce.

I love this red bell pepper. I think I will try my beef stir fry again and take a more natural/better picture of it (at least I'm hoping it will be better!).

Happy eating!

Beef Stir Fry - Project 52 Week 12

2011-03-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is my attempt at a nice stir fry photo. I'm not completely happy with it. I tried some food styling tricks on this, such as cooking everything separately so it looks more appealing. One trick I didn't try but should have was putting clear or white marbles under the noodles, but I wanted to eat it when I was done, so I didn't want marbles touching my food. The marbles would have held up the food higher, because as soon as I piled my meat on the noodles, they started to sink and the meal looked flat.

Here's one of the pictures that inspired me: NY Times Photo

Here's another blog post that inspired me to try some food styling: Nicolesy. She has a great side-by-side comparison of her stir fry that is styled and her real stir fry that she would prepare to eat.

Here's my photo of the stir fry all cooked together (the way the recipe says) and just plopped into my bowl (note, the lighting was WAY different because the sun had set and so I had no natural light (and was too lazy to get out my flash).

Here's the recipe for the most amazing stir fry I've ever eaten.

Beef Stir Fry

2 pounds Flank Steak

3 whole Green Peppers

2 cloves Garlic

2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

_____

FOR THE STEAK MARINADE:

2 cloves Garlic

¼ cups Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons Corn Starch

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

_____

FOR THE STIR FRY SAUCE:

¼ cups Oyster Sauce

2 Tablespoons Mushroom Soy (or Any Dark Soy)

2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Rice Wine

1 Tablespoon Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Slice the steak thinly. Once the steak is sliced, put in the steak marinade ingredients and set aside. Slice the green peppers in half and take out the seeds. Slice the peppers into think slivers, but not too thin.

Chop up 2 large garlic cloves and place into a heated pan. Put the oil in and heat through, stirring the garlic. It should start smelling grand!

Put in the steak on one side and cook. I like it a little bit rare, but not too much. Once it’s cooked to your liking, turn it over to the other side. Now mix the stir fry sauce all together and pour it in slowly while the meat is cooking on the second side. Now this is where you have to watch. If you put too much of the sauce in, it will get soupy, and I don’t like soupy stir fry. I like a well-coated but dry stir fry.

But that’s just me.

In other words, use your discretion here!

Throw in the peppers. And are you ready? Stir, stir, stir. Don’t overcook. I take out a pepper after about 4 minutes and try it. If it’s done but slightly crunchy, then it’s perfect.

Recipe from Puna Miller from Tasty Kitchen.

My note: I LOVE rice noodles. The kind I used here are Maifun Rice Sticks. I soaked them in hot water for about 10 minutes, then added them into my stir fry at the end.

Ribbon Sandwiches - Project 52 Week 11

2011-03-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not 100 percent satisfied with this picture, due to the lighting, but I only had about 2 minutes to take the picture before I took this tray to my Ladies' Bible Study. And the sandwiches we so delicious, there were hardly any left afterwards for me to take a picture of then.

This was my first time making ribbon sandwiches. I was inspired by my Grammy who gave me the recipe for the cheese filling, and then with my mom here, she inspired me and we took it a step further and added a ham filling.

Recipe adapted from Everday Insanity.

Ribbon Sandwiches

Golden Cheese Spread

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon Bon Appettie

Mix well

Ham Salad Filling

2 cups ground cooked ham (I use my food processor)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup minced celery

2 Tablespoons sweet pickles, minced

1 Tablespoon minced onion

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mix well

Additional Ingredients

3 loaves of bread. I used sourdough (2 loaves) and a wholegrain (1 loaf).

At least one stick of softened butter

To make sandwiches, use 3 slices of sandwich bread. Butter one side of each slice, spread about 2 tablespoons of ham salad on one slice, 2 tablespoons of cheese spread on another and top with the third slice of bread. Trim crusts off each sandwich stack. At this point I put the sandwich stacks in plastic wrap. They can be refrigerated for a few days. To serve, slice each stack into three ribbons. This makes about 15 sandwich stacks or 45 ribbons.

Broccoli Grape Salad - Project 52 Week 10

2011-03-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

This is my mom's Broccoli Grape Salad recipe and I've slightly revised it from when it first appeared on my blog years ago. I took out the celery (too healthy!) and added another half cup of the red grapes and changes the number of broccoli stalks. Hope you enjoy!

Broccoli Grape Salad

4 small bunches of broccoli
1-2 green onions
2 cups green, seedless grapes
2 cups purple seedless grapes
3 oz bacon bits
6 oz slivered almonds, toasted

Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

Cut vegetables small. Cut grapes in half. Mix broccoli, celery, onions and grapes in large bowl. Add bacon bits, almonds, and dressing when ready to serve.

Baby Benji

2011-03-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with a friend's cute little baby boy. He was a great model!

Salsa Bean Soup

2011-03-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

Salsa Bean Soup. My whole family (including two young kids) ate this soup. This is just short of a miracle!

Recipe from Cooking Light.

To streamline your preparation, chop the cilantro and grate the cheese while the soup cooks. You can vary the heat with your choice of salsa. Serve with baked tortilla chips.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups soup and 2 tablespoons cheese)

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
3 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (8-ounce) bottle salsa
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in water, chipotle powder, beans, and salsa. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute.

Place 3 cups of black bean mixture in a blender; process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan. Stir in lime juice; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Salad with Chicken and Asparagus

2011-03-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

This was my dinner one night. I also posted this picture on Facebook and was called out for having put Ranch dressing on my salad. So next up is a salad with a home-made dressing (sometime this week).

I had fun shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond for some new plates, napkins, and place mats for my food photography. Lots of fun!

Black Forest Cake - Project 52 Week 9

2011-03-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

I made this Black Forest Cake for my daughter's second birthday. I got the idea/recipes from Whisk Kid.

The frosting, an Italian Merengue was delicious and easy to work with.

This is what the filling/insides of the cake looked like. I was about ready to dive into it right there.

I followed Pioneer Woman's recipe for making chocolate curls and they turned out great. I was able to slap them onto the side of the frosted cake with no problem.

The cake - Sandy's Chocolate Cake.

Ingredients

· 3 cups packed brown sugar

· 1 cup butter or margarine, softened

· 4 eggs

· 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

· 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

· 3/4 cup baking cocoa

· 1 tablespoon baking soda

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 1 1/3 cups sour cream

· 1 1/3 cups boiling water

· Directions

1In a mixing bowl, cream brown sugar and butter. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add alternately with sour cream to creamed mixture. Mix on low just until combined. Stir in water until blended. Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. For frosting, in a medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Cool several minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Add chocolate mixture and beat until smooth. Frost cooled cake.

IItalian Meringue from Warren Brown

This recipe is doubled from the original (and I almost didn't have enough; if I were better at math, I would double and a half it).

1/2 c (126 ml) water
2 c (420 g) sugar
10 egg whites
1/2 c (106 g) sugar
3 c (474 g) butter, softened, cut into small pieces
2 tsp flavoring

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer.

Heat the 2 c sugar and water on the stove to 245F stirring occasionally only after the sugar has been dissolved. When it is within the range of 230F to 235F, begin whipping the egg whites. When they get to soft peaks, begin adding the sugar and continue whipping to medium peaks, being careful not to overbeat. When the syrup is the correct temperature, slowly pour it into the eggs with the mixer on high. After fully incorporated, beat the frosting 7-10 minutes until the outside of the bowl is room temp (I usually go a little longer than this; often times the bowl is not room temp when I begin adding butter. If the mix seems too soupy, put it in the fridge for a few moments, and try briefly chilling some of the butter in the freezer before adding). Begin adding the butter, tablespoon by tablespoon, beating until fully incorporated. The frosting will deflate a little, but it's ok. Keep whipping until the frosting comes together (this may take a while, mine looked like soup until it finally came together. So just keep whipping). Add your flavoring and whip to combine.

Cherry Filling:

Okay, here I cheated and used store-bought cherry pie filling, and it was delicious!

Here's the link for Pioneer Woman's method for doing chocolate curls.

Coconut Curry Chicken Soup - Project 52 Week 8

2011-02-23T20:12:00.000-08:00

My lovely mother made this soup and I made her share it with me.

Chicken Curry Coconut Soup adapted from Super Soups with Isabel

Ingredients

1½ cups white rice

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk

2 tablespoon curry powder

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 medium sweet potato, diced

3 small chicken breasts, cut in 1/2-inch strips

4 tablespoons lime juice

1 spring onion

Chopped cilantro

1 lime

Unrefined sea salt & black pepper

1. Cook the rice.

2. Bring the chicken broth, coconut milk, curry, and pepper flakes to a boil.

3. Add the sweet potato and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Add the chicken and cook until done, about 6-8 minutes.

5. Add the rice and simmer for 30 seconds.

6. Remove from heat.

7. Add the lime juice, salt, and pepper to taste.

8. Garnish with chopped spring onion, cilantro, and lime slices.

Wallsberry Farm Marionberry Perserves

2011-02-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

Wallsberry Farm Marionberry Perserves. I found this delicious jam at Costco. And best of all, it's free of corn sweeteners, which is something I had been looking for in my jam.

Cheeseburger - Project 52 Week 7

2011-02-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

New Design

2011-02-10T16:51:00.001-08:00

For those of you who read my blog on a reader, make sure to go to my actual page to see my new banner and background. This is too fun!

Apples - Project 52 Week 6

2011-02-10T16:46:00.000-08:00

We've had a couple days of beautiful sun and that sunset light is amazing! So even though I didn't have anything fun (read: sweet) to take a picture of, I used what I had. An apple. This is my favorite way to slice an apple.

Photography note: I shot this completely on manual, even manual focus. I had to overexpose it by 2 full stops to get this kind of light. Here's the SOOC:

Superbowl Party 2011 - Project 52

2011-02-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

I'm including this for my food project because our SuperBowl Party has lots of food at it. My favorite food shot is the top left one of the quesadilla - seriously the best I've ever had (and I didn't make them). Now I'm off to try to recreate them.

I used a new program to make this mosaic - pretty easy. Here's the link to Big Huge Labs.

Spaghetti Sauce - Project 52 Week 5

2011-02-03T17:15:00.000-08:00

I can't even begin to list all the ingredients in this sauce. My hubby bought it all and I made it.

Pear Packages - Project 52 Week 4

2011-01-25T10:42:00.000-08:00

I went on a Girls' Weekend and one of the ladies made the Pear Packages (not the official name, but I don't know what they are called).

Apple Pie with Fresh Whipped Cream - Project 52

2011-01-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

Some friends of my husband's re-gifted one of their Christmas presents to us. It was two jars of homemade canned apples, all ready for an apple pie, a deep dish pie pan and a recipe for a crumble top. I thought this was perfect for my Project 52. The only trouble is, I'm having trouble deciding which version of the same picture is better. The above photo looks great on my laptop screen, but when I looked at it on the desktop computer screen, it looks awful.

This version, we'll call it #2, looks great on the desktop and grey and boring on my laptop. What's a girl to do? I need your vote! Do you prefer the first or second picture (or none at all - wait, don't tell me if that's the way it is.)

Frozen Berries and Peaches - Project 52

2011-01-13T14:51:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if this will be my official food shot for the week, but I wanted to take a picture of something without baking something that I would eat within 24 hours. So here's a healthy treat that I got to eat after trying to make a good photo of it. I learned a couple new tricks in Photoshop to help with the lighting. It is very dark here and food photographers usually use natural light, so I actually went outside to take this shot. It's a very gray day here, and below is my straight-out-of-the-camera shot:

I still have lots of trouble with the composition of the picture and setting up a delicious looking shot as far as what pretty napkin or plate would enhance the picture. Lots to work on. I was inspired by a food photograph I saw in Pioneer Woman's Food Photography contest. Here's a link to Whisk Kid; I've browsed it today and have found excellent photos (and I have the same camera equipment as her), delicious recipes and good writing.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-01-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

Recipe found here.

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

In double boiler melt chips and add heavy cream, mix until smooth take off of heat.
In mixing bowl cream together sugar and cream cheese until smooth, slowly add chocolate mixture. Mixture will thicken up as the chocolate cools.

The recipe says it makes enough for 24 cupcakes, but I only had 12 to frost and used all the frosting for those 12. This frosting is delicious and not sugary. An adult frosting that kids will eat too. I will definitely be making it again. For the cupcake, I used Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Devil's Food cake mix. Yum!

Phew!

2011-01-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad my Project 365 is over. Now I can take pictures whenever I want or not take pictures at all and not feel bad about! Wait, but what about learning more and keeping my photography skills alive? I think I'll do a Project 52, which is one picture a week. In my loftiest of goals, I want this Project 52 to be all food photos. Wouldn't that be great to end 2011 with 52 nice food shots and recipes? I really want to focus on the food shot and make it as nice as possible as opposed to snapping a shot while the dinner cools and my family is waiting for me to join them at the table. My first photo and recipe are coming! Stay tuned.

Project 365: Day 365

2010-12-31T20:09:00.000-08:00

December 31. I've finished my project (minus a couple of days). I wanted to get one last shot of Mt. Rainier in the beautiful sun light we've been having, but this picture doesn't really convey it. This was around 2pm, and I should have gone out about an hour and a half later.

Project 365: Day 364

2010-12-31T20:07:00.000-08:00

December 30 - no picture - I was sick as a dog! (Whatever that means.)

Project 365: Day 361

2010-12-31T20:03:00.001-08:00

December 29. Chocolate Chip Cookies - can't go wrong.

Project 365: Day 360

2010-12-31T20:01:00.000-08:00

December 28. Not my best photography moment. I was lazy and did not put my 50mm prime lens on like I should have. I was also too lazy to drag out my tripod. Oh well!

Project 365: Day 359

2010-12-31T19:59:00.000-08:00

December 27. My son and his best friend exchanging presents.

Project 365: Day 358

2010-12-31T19:57:00.001-08:00

December 26. Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Pie.

Project 365: Day 357

2010-12-31T19:56:00.001-08:00

December 25.

Project 365: Day 356

2010-12-31T11:37:00.001-08:00

December 24.

Project 365: Day 355

2010-12-31T11:36:00.001-08:00

No picture, and I'm obviously a couple days off on my counting each day of the year, but oh well!

Project 365: Day 354

2010-12-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

December 22. Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls. Yum! Recipe here.

Project 365: Day 353

2010-12-31T11:26:00.001-08:00

December 21.

Project 365: Day 352

2010-12-31T11:24:00.003-08:00

No picture...not ending my project too well here...

Project 365: Day 351

2010-12-31T11:24:00.001-08:00

December 19. We opened Christmas presents early with part of our family, so here's my daughter amidst her presents.

Project 365: Day 350

2010-12-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

December 18. This is Pioneer Woman's Homemade Easy Caramel Sauce. I'm a changed woman after tasting this. I will never go back to store-bought.

Project 365: Day 349

2010-12-27T12:36:00.000-08:00

December 17 - another day with no photo...I'm out of excuses.

Project 365: Day 348

2010-12-27T12:27:00.001-08:00

December 16. My son in his first Christmas Program at preschool.