St. Patrick's Day Treats and Bakesale

Yesterday, I made some cakeballs and Bailey's Irish Cream Brownies to share with my coworkers (as well as some for Mike's office). These treats were also the kickoff to my online/in-person ongoing bake sale. The proceeds to this bake sale benefit Share Our Strength's work to end childhood hunger in the US.

Corn Beef and Cabbage

Mike and I celebrated St. Patrick's day with a easy slow cooker corn beef and cabbage recipe form Betty Crocker.  

Valentine's Day Goodies

Mike and I hadn't been able to spend the last 2 Valentine's Day together, so even though Mike isn't crazy about it, I tried to make this past one extra special for him.

1st, I had a treat basket ready and waiting for him in his car in the morning (including an extras container to share with his coworkers).
The basket included:

• Hershey Kisses with caramel
• Cookies (store bought - but Mike loves these)
• Fudge (home-made using Carnation's Famous Fudge Recipe)
• Roses made from fruit-roll-ups
• Chocolate covered strawberries

Brownies - The Cashmere Sweater

Thanks to the cold and the snow, I've been baking a lot this winter. I found this pic from January's bake-a-thon where I'm showing one of the hostess aprons I got for Christmas (both form Anthropologie) and some brownies I made from scratch! I got a cute new cookbook (also for Christmas) from a great girlfriend. This book is all about which classic desserts match which classic pieces of your wardrobe. The forward is even written by Isaac Mizrahi. It's called Sweet Chic. She won me over when I read the recipe for brownies, "the cashmere sweater" of desserts, and she mentioned that she loves boxed brownies as much as homemade. I liked her brownie recipe because it uses semi-sweet chocolate chips (which I always have on hand)instead of cocoa. The end result was delicious and rich.

Miami Part 2

I got to visit Miami again this week thanks to a work conference. A girlfriend and I went for fun the weekend before the conference and had an amazing time. We shopped, lounged, beached, pooled, and then lounged again. OH! We also ate! There was a lot of great food, one of my favorite's was the Cuban food from David's. We had "Churrasco Steak" (apparently their # 1 seller) which is steak with a chimichurri sauce, 2ith a side of moros (black beans and rice) and tostones (plantains squished and fried). My descriptions here are worded as our lovely waiter described.

Here's a recipe I found that seems to be a similar chimichurri sauce:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/grilled-gaucho-steak-with-chimichurri-sauce-recipe/index.html

Brinner - Breakfast Strombolis

The other day I was craving brinner (breakfast for dinner) and I also wanted to try out an idea I had for breakfast stromboli (so I could simultaneously try the stromboli maker I got for Christmas). They turned out pretty good, though next time I think I'll try it with a different dough, maybe a pie crust or biscuit. The crescent rolls were pretty thing. I'm debating whether or not to post this to Pillsbury recipe contest, I think I can do better.

Breakfast Strombolis

Ingredients:
1 roll Pillsburry crescent rolls.
Hand full of fresh spinach
Mixed Italian shredded cheese
Precooked crumbled sausage (precooked saves time and also eliminates excess grease)
Italian seasoning to taste
Garlic to taste

Mix sausage and seasoning. Unroll crescents (keeping them together in one sheet)and cut into circles the size of the stromboli you want. I cut mine with the stromboli maker so it made about 3 using one roll. Layer sausage, cheese, and a couple leafs of spinach on one half of the circle. Dampen the outer rim with water. Fold over and press with a fork to seal. Bake according to crescent directions or until golden brown.

Thanksgiving Dessert and Appitizer!

As I'd mentioned, Madre is hosting Thanksgiving. Obviously, I wanted to contribute. At some point the guys of the fam had convinced Mom to make bacon wrapped shrimp, so I decided to cook another appetizer and bring a dessert (Mike and I don't like pumpkin pie).

The spinach and artichoke dip I made was a huge hit - and super easy to make!
The apple crisp was from a recipe from the Williams and Sonoma Baking Book - I love that thing! OF course I added bourbon to it (1/4 cup aka one mini bottle).

Here's the recipe for the spinach dip. It doesn't call for ANY seasoning so I added garlic powder, a lil seasoned salt, and some Italian seasoning. I've also made it without the peppers, either way this one will impress friends.

Cheddar Biscuits Take 2

As I said, I first tried these biscuits for a Thanksgiving Potluck, but they weren't perfect because I put in waaay too much cheese. I thought this recipe was too simple not to work, so I made these during halftime of the Virginia Tech game (yep done within 20 mins start to finish). Even after a couple of beers they came out perfect! This is definitely a crowd pleaser (maybe try them for Thanksigving!). What I love is that they can be made with ingredients you probably already have on hand.

On Another note, HOW BOUT THEM HOKIES :) We beat Miami and Mike and I will be traveling to Charlotte to see them play in the ACC Championship game. I couldn't be more excited!

Super Fluffy Cheddar Biscuits

Paula Deen's Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups biscuit mix
• 1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar
• 1/2 cup water

Garlic Butter:

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the biscuit mix and cheese in a small bowl. Add the water and stir just until combined. The dough will be slightly moist. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the biscuits are firm and beginning to brown.

While the biscuits are baking, make the garlic butter. In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic powder, salt, and parsley flakes. Mix well. As soon as you bring the biscuits from the oven, brush them with the garlic butter using a pastry brush

Cupcake Ideas!

I wish I found this last week when trying to think of ideas for cupcakes for my coworker. Reynolds (yes as in the aluminum foil) has a cool create a cup cake feature that lets you pick a cake and how you'll frost and/or decorate it and then gives you the recipe!

http://www.cupcakecentral.com/create.aspx

What does Reynolds have to do with cupcakes you ask? Well they make all sorts of cupcake liners, including the liners I used last week, the stay brite baking cups. Even when baking red velvet cake, they didn't lose their color or become transparent.

There's a couple ideas here I cannot wait to try!

Two Things I Learned from a Thanksgiving Potluck

1. You can have too much cheese. I made Paula Deen's Cheddar Biscuits and decided 1/2 cup a cheese couldn't be enough. I doubled it. Obviously, screwing with baking rations can go horribly wrong. The biscuits weren't ruined, but they were kinda flat and took longer to cook. The recipe is real easy though, so I'll give it another go this week.

2. Vegetables can be a star at a potluck. With all the the things the things smothered in cream, cheese, or gravy (delicious) I thought I would make something green. I used the Neely's Green Beans with garlic and lemon recipe. The red pepper flakes really gave them a great kick. They were a big hit at the party.

Red Velvet and Oreo Pie Cupakes!

This week I'm celebrating two birthdays. A lovely coworkers and one of my oldest and dearest friend's Samantha's. I used a cupcake box for the coworker's because she seemed (past tense I hope) to believe that gift wrapping is not fun even for the receiver!

 

For Samantha's cupcakes I used an easy Oreo Pie recipe (her favorite), but instead of a pie crust, I put Oreos in the bottom of cup cake cups. I froze the 4 I put in the box overnight so they would survive the trip. I brought the others in a cooler. For both sets of cupcakes I used edible glitter instead of sprinkles, but some sprinkles are just as pretty. Also Pictured is her Birthday gift,(using the same black and pink theme) and the original treo :)

Sam's Gift (disco ball is an inside joke, but still cute I think!)

Me, Samantha, and Kathryn - coordination was not on purpose

Squash Pasta

Food Network's Ellie Krieger has a great recipe for a light "Squash mac & cheese" however, to me, it's more like a squash flavored cheesey pasta because nothing compare to a full fat mac n cheese.

The flavors were perfect for a fall evening and it was pretty easy. We enjoyed it with a pumpkin ale on a quick fall/Halloweenish place setting. The recipe makes A LOT more than the two of us could eat for dinner, so we froze the rest. Update: it reheated nicely in the microwave after thawing at room temp.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen pureed winter squash
• 2 cups 1 percent lowfat milk
• 4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (about 1 1/3 cups)
• 2 ounces Monterrey jack cheese, grated (about 2/3 cup)
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon powdered mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until tender but firm, about 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, place the frozen squash and milk into a large saucepan and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up the squash with a spoon until it is defrosted. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until the mixture is almost simmering, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the Cheddar, jack cheese, ricotta cheese, salt, mustard and cayenne pepper. Pour cheese mixture over the macaroni and stir to combine. Transfer the macaroni and cheese to the baking dish.

Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and oil in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes so the top is crisp and nicely browned.

Sunday Funday

This week’s tailgate was again at Fed Ex field, but for the Redskin’s vs Cowboy’s game. Mike is a Cowboy’s fan so this made for a competitive game! We tailgated with another couple, so this time I got to bring more of the food. Included was my stuffed bread (this time made with refrigerated french loaf instead of pizza dough) and my mac n cheese! So finally here’s what the stuffed bread should look like when you’re all done!

Today is also Mike’s Birthday! Happy Birthday Mike!!!
p.s. if you’re wondering who won, the Skin’s did thanks to one of the Hokies on the team’s (Deangelo Hall) defensive touchdown (and some penalties to the Cowboys).

Tortilla Espanola

This video was featured on Pottery Barn’s Party Planner guide to a tapas party. As you may know, I loved the food my Madrid Madre cooked for us, including tortilla. Personally, I love tortilla on a baguette as a lunchtime sandwich (which I had often). In spain there’s no a lot of black pepper around - only white- but I think it adds just the right taste to Tortilla.
On a side note, I just love the woman here.

Fish n' Chips

Dinner tonight: fish and garlic chips Garlic fries were sooooo good see recipe here.
For the fish I breaded cod with toasted panko cayenne pepper and salt and baked 10 mins @ 450.

My Fav Mac n Cheese Recipe

Obviously, this southern favorite would come from Paula Deen. As I mentioned I attended a bridal shower over the weekend. The maid of honor put together a lovely afternoon. One of the gifts was a recipe book including recipe cards guests filled out that were in the invitations (see my previous entry about Michael’s Paula Deen collection). I used Paula’s recipe altered as follows:
I use about 4 cups of cheese (sometime mixing sharp cheddar and something like colby jack). I use 3 cups as she directs (adding to the pasta when it is still hot) and add 1 cup as a layer on top. I also top the recipe with seasoned breadcrumbs.
*I’m excited to try this recipe with crushed ritz crackers instead of breadcrumbs.
**this recipe is included in 1 of my favorite cookbooks Paula Deen’s  Kitchen Classics

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked elbow macaroni, drained
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Once you have the macaroni cooked and drained, place in a large bowl and while still hot and add the cheddar. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add to the macaroni mixture. Pour macaroni mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Top with additional cheese if desired.

S'mores Cheesecake (no bake!)

While I’m working on my cookies, I figured I’d share a recipe I developed and got right the 1st time!
Ingredients:

• Package of Kraft no bake cheesecake (in dry goods/mixes) and butter and milk it calls for
• Bag of mini marshmallows
• extra tablespoon of butter
• extra 1/4 cup milk
• teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 cup sourcream
• 1/2 bag semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Make crust as directed spread in the bottom of lined cupcake pan.
2. Make cheesecake as directed.
3. Add the tablespoon of butter to a saucepan on medium, when it begins to melt add 2 cups of marshmallows and melt, stirring occasionally so that it melts evenly.
4.Set marshmallow mixture off burner so it can cool to room temp.
5. Once it has cooled some fold marshmallows into cheesecake mixture
6. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave (1:15 then stir, add 15 secs and stir, and so on until its melted).
7. Pour a thin layer of chocolate in each cup.
8. Add cheese cake mixture to fill top.
9. Add milk, vanilla, and salt into sauce pan, then add 2 cups of marshmallows and melt.
10. Again, let marshmallow mixture cool to about room temp.
11. Add mixture to sour cream.
12. Top cheese cakes with a dollop of the topping.
13. Top each cheesecake with 2 mini marshmallows.
14. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Enjoy!!
Sorry no picture right now, I forgot! But a coworker told me after he tried them that he “doesn’t really like sweets, but after trying those, will try anything I bake”.

I’ve really been craving gazpacho this summer since it’s been so hot and because I miss Spain!!
Here’s the recipe- it was delicious!!
http://www.cocinacasera.com/Recipes/GazpachoAndaluz.html

Gazpacho

3 (1-inch-thick) slices French bread
4-5 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut in pieces
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut in pieces
1 medium red or green bell pepper, cut in pieces
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Garnishes

Diced cucumber
Diced green bell pepper
Diced tomato
Chopped onion
Chopped hard-cooked egg
1. Soak bread in 1 cup water for about 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in food processor or blender, process tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper and garlic until no large pieces remain.

3. Squeeze bread dry; crumble. Mix bread with oil, vinegar, salt and cumin. Add to vegetable mixture; blend. If gazpacho is too thick, add a little water. Taste for seasoning; if desired, add more salt and cumin.

4. Force gazpacho through strainer or food mill. Refrigerate 2 to 4 hours or until very well chilled before serving.

5. Serve in glasses as a beverage or in bowls as a soup with desired garnishes.

4 servings