Cooking is Medicine

You Say Scone....I Say Biscuit

2012-01-28T11:09:00.000-06:00

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens! Now, if you know Audax, you know that this challenge could have been something extremely difficult and fantastical...instead, we were challenged to do basic! I LOVE it!

Living in MS, biscuits are a staple but I don't think that many people have actually mastered them. They usually get the canned or frozen kind. My family is a frozen family. Those great frozen biscuits that pop up so nice and tall...and then I make homemade biscuits and they are tough and flat. Ugh! So, I was excited to try this recipe. The only time I've had success with a biscuit was when I made blueberry biscuits from the local junior league cookbook...gonna have to do it again because they were great. But back to this challenge.

I decided to make biscuits the first Sunday of the month after New Years to take to Sunday school. Unfortunately, one teacher had already brought monkey bread, so not many were eaten...but Mr. Randy had some and thought they were good. D had some as well and then took the rest home with him after church. I thought they turned out quite well myself. Not tall but definitely not flat...and they had LAYERS!!! Another plus...SO fast to make. I made two batches in less than 20 minutes. Thursday, I decided to try some with cheese to go with our chicken chili.

Not sure if I could really taste the cheese distinctly but they were definitely crisper...in a good way. I really enjoyed them....think D did, too! Really enjoyed this challenge. Thanks, Audax!

Basic Scones (a.k.a. biscuits)
Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk

Preheat oven to 475. In a bowl, triple sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. After that, put cold butter into bowl and cut into flour (I used my pastry blender but you could use two knives or your hands). Then stir in about 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk and it was fine). You should have a slightly sticky dough. Place dough on pastry cloth or board. Roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Then cut into desired shape. If you have a biscuit cutter, use that. If not, just use a knife. Place biscuits on baking stone and place stone in oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy hot with butter and jam!

For cheese scones add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda with dry ingredients and then 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese. Hopefully you'll have some garlic powder as well...I didn't! Everything else is the same...enjoy!

Donuts with Toddlers

2012-01-17T21:24:00.002-06:00

I got some donut pans from a friend for Christmas. This weekend, I decided that it would be fun to try them out with K. So, I took my baking supplies and we cooked. This recipe is definitely a cake donut but it's still pretty good. D liked them and apparently, so did the people in clinic. The thing about making donuts with a toddler, is that you may have some unexpected challenges! First we mixed the dry ingredients.

K did great with waiting when I asked her to...then had fun stirring! I added the oil after she put the milk in. Then we stirred some more.

I used a tablespoon to put the batter into the pans while K licked the spoon! After letting the donuts bake and cool. I made a simple glaze as well as a chocolate topping of melted chocolate chips. I showed K how to dip the donuts...then she tried...

but tragedy occurred! Glaze dripped onto her hand...it was all over then!

But chocolate topping to the rescue and soon all was good with the world.

She tasted...

then shared with me...

then ate the rest!

Such a fun baking activity. Would do it again. Might even try Splenda next time.

Baked Cake Donuts
1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon oil

Preheat oven to 425. Spray donut baking pan with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in buttermilk, egg, and oil. Stir until just combined. Fill the donut pan 1/2 full. Bake for 4-6 minutes or until donuts spring back when touched. Cool. Top with glaze or chocolate (or desired glaze).

A Do What You Want Meal

2012-01-16T19:05:00.000-06:00

What do you do when you have people who like to eat different things? How do you make a meal that will please everyone? Sometimes, it can't be done; but, sometimes....it can! I think meals that you can make in a way that everyone can detail to their own tastes is great! Homemade pizza is this way. Just make a half and half pie. Last week, we did this with quesadillas.

I even used the "healthy" tortillas that I had in my refrigerator. D said they didn't taste TOO healthy. ;-) A slim-pickin's grocery story trip led us to use Tyson precooked and slice refrigerated chicken. I've never used this before but this was actually REALLY good and easy to use. If you need a convenience chicken, I would definitely recommend it. For the quesadillas I just sauteed some onions and peppers.

Then I heated up my Le Crueset grill pan (yay for using it!) and oiled it some. D had chicken, onions, peppers and cheese.

K had chicken and cheese (and salsa....mostly salsa!). I had onions, peppers (lots!), mushrooms, and chicken. A nice, easy Sunday night supper...tailored to suit everyone's desires!

Quesadillas
tortillas
onions
peppers
chicken/beef (cooked)
cheese
other fillings you want

Burnt or Just a Chocolate Crust?

2012-01-13T19:35:00.000-06:00

Last month, one of my co-workers kept asking me to make a treat for the lounge. I have kind of fallen behind on my lounge treats but haven't been at home much after work recently. So, I planned to take some bars from my Southern Living book at the end of our regular month right before holiday schedule started. Weeelllll, this recipe called for a graham cracker crust. LOVE those...but this one was a chocolate version. First, let me just say that it was SO hard to find the cookies.

It called for chocolate teddy grahams. I mean, do those exist anymore? I couldn't find them! Just used Kroger brand. Then I couldn't find the mint chocolate cookie bar candies. So, I used mint flavored M&M's instead. I really wish I could have found that candy because it sounded wonderful; I threw some Crunch bars in as well but they pretty much just melted in with everything else. So, I make the bars and then cut them to get them ready to take to work. Ugh...the crust tasted burnt! I just couldn't take them. Boo! I didn't throw them away, though, and let Daddy, Mama, and D try them out. According to them, they didn't taste burnt. So, maybe I just wasn't used to the taste of the chocolate crust...I don't know! In general, the bars were good...I'd give them another try if I could find that candy bar somewhere!

Mint Chocolate Crumble Bars from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
10 ounce package teddy bear shaped chocolate graham cracker cookies (not sure why this matters!), crushed (2.5cups)
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 (1.55 ounce) minty milk chocolate bars with crunchy cookie bits, chopped (I used 9 mini crunch bars and about 1 cup mint m&M's)
6ounces white chocolate chopped
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 egg
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cookie crumbs and butter; stir. Press into a greased 13x9 pan. Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle candy bars and M&M's, white chocolate, pecans, and chocolate chips on the crust. Combine egg and milk. Pour over chocolate morsels. Replace pan in oven and bake for 35 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into pieces and enjoy!

So, Pumpkin is on Sale...Try This!

2012-01-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

D's parents gave me a couple of cookbooks for Christmas. They are Taste of Home cookbooks, so you know they have good recipes in them. At the beginning of holiday schedule, I decided that I should find a pumpkin coffee cake to take to work.

The Christmas recipe book had a great looking recipe in it. Am I glad I tried it! It was delicious...as evidenced by an empty container at the end of the day. Several people had multiple pieces. Can't wait to find and try more recipes in these books!

Pumpkin Coffee Cake from Taste of Home Treasury of Christmas Recipes (original in parenthesis if I changed something)
Topping: 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cake: 1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
6oz vanilla (or 8oz sour cream)
1 cup canned pumpkin (or 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325. In small bowl mix together topping ingredients, except pecans, until crumbly. Stir in pecans and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs on at a time. Stir in yogurt, pumpkin, and vanilla. Then stir in all dry ingredients. (I messed up and didn't read. The instructions actually say to mix together yogurt, pumpkin and vanilla. Then mix all dry ingredients. Then add alternately with sour cream mixture. Worked just fine how I did it.) Spray a 13X9 pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle with topping. Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of center clean. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Mama's Meatloaf

2012-01-06T20:05:00.000-06:00

One day last month I sent my mom an e-mail asking for her meatloaf recipe. Her response..."What have you done with my daughter?" Ha! I wouldn't normally make meatloaf for myself, but it's one of D's favorite...so I wanted to make some for him. Honestly, I think the best part about meatloaf is the sauce and this one has a really yummy sauce. It uses tomato soup instead of ketchup and is, in my opinion, delicious!

Mama says that she has had trouble with this staying together, but mine stayed together pretty well. I didn't add any extra liquid (which the recipe does call for) and was sure to drain any excess fat off before topping it with the sauce for the last 15minutes of cooking. Daddy likes it with mashed potatoes and English peas. I don't like English peas, so we had roasted potatoes (apparently a new favorite!) and broccoli. Now for a game...guess which plate is mine and which is D's! :-)

Though I wouldn't normally make meatloaf for myself, I think this arrangement will work. I make meatloaf and my chosen veggie. He takes the leftover meatloaf home with him and I keep the veggies for me! Deal!

Mama's Meatloaf

1 lb ground beef (I used 85% lean)

1 egg

8 crackers crumbled (I used about 2/3 cup Panko bread crumbs)

1 medium onion, chopped

little bell pepper, chopped (about 1/3)

salt and pepper

1/4 can tomato soup (you'll use the rest of the can for the sauce)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together (use your hands!), put into a loaf pan and then into the oven. Bake for one hour. At one hour, take the pan out of the oven and pour off excess fat. The top with the prepared sauce (see below). Bake for 15 more minutes.

Sauce

3/4 can tomato soup

2 T. yellow mustard

2 T. brown sugar

1 T. vinegar (didn't have this)

1 T. worchestershire

1/2 cup water

Candy Cane Cookies

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas is a time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Candy canes are a traditional candy that you find at this time. I've heard people say that the shape of the candy is a shepherd's staff because Jesus is the good Shepherd and that the red color is used to symbolize the blood he shed as the sacrifice to pay the debt for our sins. Whether or not that is really why they are red and white or shaped in a crook, I don't know. But it's a neat reminder of Jesus' sacrifice for us!

Right after I made those molasses cookies I made these peppermint butter cookies. I had planned to make them before our holiday schedule started, but I seemed to run out of time. These do require a brief, 30-minute chill time (or could be made the night before and pulled out when you want to use them...that's what I did) but they are fun and worth it.

My dad liked them but, I think, prefers the traditional nut butter cookie. The peppermint adds a fun, holiday spin on it, though. Joanie, Mama's best friend, thought they were SO cute! Such fun to tell her they were from the cookbook she gave me for my birthday last year. :-) Try them out sometime...I think they're still appropriate for a New Year's party!

Peppermint Crescents from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar (you'll use a TOTAL of 2 2/3 cups)
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar, for dipping
1 cup powdered sugar, for icing
2 1/2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
coarsely crushed peppermints

Cream butter in electric mixer until smooth. Add 2/3 cup powdered sugar and extract. Gradually add flour to the butter mixture. Place dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes (or overnight). When ready, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pull off about a walnut sized piece of dough and roll into a 2-inch roll. Shape it into a crescent and place on a baking stone. Keep shaping until pan is full. Bake for 18 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for one minute. Then roll warm cookies in powdered sugar. Repeat above process until all the dough is used. You will have about 36 cookies.

In a small bowl, combine remaining 1 cup powdered sugar, milk, and extract to make a glaze. Drizzle this over the cooled cookies. Then sprinkle the peppermint bits over the icing and press gently to settle the candy. Allow icing to set. Enjoy!

Slow as Molasses

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

So, I'm on the last day of six WONDERFUL days off. They have actually gone by fairly slowly...in SUCH a good way! The strange thing about being a resident is that when I have more than 2 days off in a row, I feel like I've been away from the hospital for AGES; sometimes this even happens when I have only one day off. You just get used to working every single day. Is that bad?! ;-) Anyway, I've had a great bread but wish that it could be just a few days longer. Alas, it cannot!

While my parents were here, I decided to try a new recipe from my Southern Living Cookie cookbook. My dad loves molasses cookies and there was one in here I needed to try. I almost made it completely wrong but actually read the directions before I got started! Good thing! This recipe works a bit differently than normal but I think it gives great results. First, you melt the shortening and then stir in all the wet ingredients. Then you mix the dry ingredients together in the mixer and pour the WET ingredients into the dry rather than the usual other way around.

It led to a nice dough that was very easy to work with; not wet like the other molasses cookie recipe I have. Another plus to this dough...no chill time! Just be sure to set your timer...you'll have molasses-snaps if you don't!

Molasses-Sugar Cookies from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt shortening in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in the sugar, molasses and egg. In a mixer bowl, combine dry ingredients through cloves. Gradually add the sugar mixture, beating on medium speed until blended. Make 1-inch balls with the dough and roll each ball in the 1/4 cup sugar. Place balls on baking sheet or stone. Place in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes (nine was best for me). Remove from oven and then to cooling rack to cool. Enjoy!

French Country Loaf....Failure!

2011-12-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

I started reading Julie and Julia last night. Now, I've only gotten about a half chapter in, but I seem to remember that Julie had several failures during her cook-through of Julia's cookbook. Now, I am not cooking through that book but this was one of the few times I have tried something French...and it was a failure!

Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by AndrewWhitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food! Now, I am by no means a bread baking expert. However, several years ago I would make bread weekly! I used a starter and the bread was yummy! It did, though, use yeast...which is quite different from this sourdough bread. I process of making the bread was actually fairly simple. The timing of it, though, didn't fit my schedule. I think that may be part of the problem. I had to let the dough sit a lot more than called for.

This resulted in a fairly flat loaf. It does TASTE like a typical french bread and I guess that a country bread is more dense and tough than usual...but I felt like it just didn't turn out like it should have! It did make me want to pull out my sourdough recipe...hmmm! There may be a bread revival soon! Oh...and the cookies in the background? Be watching for the recipe!

French Country Bread
Servings: 1 large loaf plus extra wheat starter for further baking
Wheat Starter - Day 1:
Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons (70 ml) (40 gm/1 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
3 tablespoons (45 ml) water
Total scant ½ cup (115 ml) (3 oz/85 gm)
Directions:
1. In a Tupperware or plastic container, mix the flour and water into a paste.
2. Set the lid on top gently, cover with a plastic bag, to prevent messes in case it grows more than expected!
3. Set somewhere warm (around 86 F if possible). I sometimes put mine on a windowsill near a radiator, but even if it’s not that warm, you’ll still get a starter going – it might just take longer.

Wheat Starter - Day 2:
Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons (70 ml) (40 gm/1 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
3 tablespoons (45 ml) water
scant 1/2 cup (115 ml) (3 oz/85 gm) starter from Day 1
Total scant cup (230 ml) (6 oz/170 gm)
Directions:
1. Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 1, cover, and return to its warm place.
Wheat Starter - Day 3:
Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons (70 ml) (40 gm/1 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
4 teaspoons (20 ml) water
scant 1 cup (230 ml) (6 oz/170 gm) starter from Day 2
Total 1⅓ cup (320 ml) (230 gm/8-1/10 oz)
Directions:
1. Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 2, cover, and return to its warm place.
Wheat Starter - Day 4:
Ingredients
3/4 cup plus 1½ tablespoons (205 ml) (120 gm/4 ¼ oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup less 4 teaspoons (100 ml) water
1⅓ cup (320 ml) (230 gm/8 oz) starter from Day 3
Total scant 2⅔ cup (625 ml) (440 gm/15½ oz)
Directions:
1. Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 3, cover, and return to its warm place. At this point it should be bubbling and smell yeasty. If not, repeat this process for a further day or so until it is!
French Country Bread
Stage 1: Refreshing the leaven
Ingredients
1 cup less 1 tablespoon (225 ml) (160 gm/5 ⅔ oz) wheat Leaven Starter
6 tablespoons less 1 teaspoon (85 ml) (50 gm/1¾ oz) stoneground bread making whole-wheat or graham flour
1 cup plus 2 teaspoons (250 ml) (150 gm/5 ⅓ oz) unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
Production Leaven Total 2¾ cups plus 4 teaspoons (680 ml) (480 gm /1 lb 1 oz)
Directions:
1. Mix everything into a sloppy dough. It may be fairly stiff at this stage. Cover and set aside for 4 hours, until bubbling and expanded slightly.
French Country Bread
Stage 2: Making the final dough
Ingredients
3/4 cup less 1 teaspoon (175 ml) (100 gm/3 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour, plus more for dusting
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (510 ml) (300gm/10 ½ oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons (7½ ml) (7 gm/¼ oz) sea salt or ⅔ teaspoon (3⅓ ml) (3 gm/⅛ oz) table salt
1 ¼ cups (300 ml) water
1 ¾ cups (425 ml) (300 gm/10 ½ oz) production leaven – this should leave some (1 cup) for your next loaf.
Total 6 cups less 2 tablespoons 1415 ml (1007 gm/35 ½ oz/2 lb 3½ oz)
Directions:
1. Mix the dough with all the ingredients except the production leaven. It will be a soft dough.
2. Knead on an UNFLOURED surface for about 8-10 minutes, getting the tips of your fingers wet if you need to. You can use dough scrapers to stretch and fold the dough at this stage, or air knead if you prefer. Basically, you want to stretch the dough and fold it over itself repeatedly until you have a smoother, more elastic dough.
See my demonstration here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqS3raEGdwk
3. Smooth your dough into a circle, then scoop your production leaven into the centre. You want to fold the edges of the dough up to incorporate the leaven, but this might be a messy process. Knead for a couple minutes until the leaven is fully incorporated in the dough. See my demonstration here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPO97R4iO4U
4. Spread some water on a clean bit of your work surface and lay the dough on top. Cover with an upturned bowl, lining the rim of the bowl with a bit of water. Leave for an hour, so that the gluten can develop and the yeasts can begin to aerate the dough.
5. Once your dough has rested, you can begin to stretch and fold it. Using wet hands and a dough scraper, stretch the dough away from you as far as you can without breaking it and fold it back in on itself. Repeat this in each direction, to the right, towards you, and to the left. This will help create a more ‘vertical’ dough, ready for proofing. See my demonstration here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDoJRCMfclE
6. Heavily flour a banneton/proofing basket with whole wheat flour and rest your dough, seam side up, in the basket. Put the basket in a large plastic bag, inflate it, and seal it. Set aside somewhere warm for 3-5 hours, or until it has expanded a fair bit. It is ready to bake when the dough responds to a gently poke by slowly pressing back to shape.
7. Preheat the oven to hot 425°F/220°C/gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with parchment, then carefully invert the dough onto the sheet. I like to put the baking sheet on top of the basket, then gently flip it over so as to disturb the dough as little as possible. Make 2-3 cuts on top of the loaf and bake for 40-50 minutes, reducing the temperature to moderately hot 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6 after 10 minutes.
8. Cool on a cooling rack.

Christmas Crunch...or New Years!

2011-12-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

I had planned to post this a few days before Christmas and make a play of the title of this fun snack. But, alas, I got busy and did not post. This is one of my favorite snacks at Christmas and it is so easy with few ingredients. It's pretty much a sweet Chex mix but uses Crispix. The brown sugar and butter give this a toffee taste. At first, I was worried about the texture because it was initially pretty soft; but after it cools (BTW, remove it from the pans to cool some other place...it will stick to the pans!) everything has a great crunchy texture! Try it out on your friends at New Years.

Christmas Crunch
1 box Crispix cereal
1 can mixed nuts
1 stick butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl mix the cereal and nuts together. In a separate bowl, melt butter and sugar together. Stir in corn syrup. Pour this mixture over the cereal and stir until well coated. Pour cereal onto 1-2 cookie sheets. Place in oven and bake for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. After the fourth 15-minute interval (one hour total time) remove from oven and pour cereal onto waxed paper to cool. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:04:00.001-06:00

"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace." Isaiah 9:6

So thankful for the gift of Jesus, sent to Earth to be the final sacrifice for all. Glory to God! Hope you have a wonderful day! Merry Christmas!

Wisemen and Chocolate Cake

2011-12-18T15:21:00.001-06:00

My church had its Christmas music last weekend. It was a great time of worship and giving glory to God! So thankful that in Jesus, He gave us everything we need to satisfy our hearts! Follow the example of the wisemen. They "had it all," wealth, wisdom, prestige...and they gave it all to worship Jesus, the One who could satisfy their souls, forgive sins, and redeem them!

After the music, my Sunday School class had a Christmas party. Mr. Randy made eye round, and no, I'm not joshin' you (sorry, inside joke!); and we put together a potato and salad bar. Everyone brought something for the salad/potato bar and/or dessert. Being typical Claire, I went in search of a new recipe to try! I didn't have to go far, though. I actually used one of the recipes that I had saved in my e-mail. It's for a triple chocolate cake, and, unbeknownst to me, was from Cooking Light. It was fairly simple to put together, though I think I did rush it some. I should have let the filling chill overnight before putting the cake together. When I got up on Sunday morning the top layer had slid off the bottom one. Sigh! Thankfully, it went back fairly easily. I think that topping it with a ganache gives the cake an elegant appearance, enabling you to see the filling as well. The cake was pretty good but I thought it was a tad dry...though that could be because I chose the longer cooking time, afraid it wasn't done at first check. The filling, however, added moisture to the overall cake. So, if you're looking for a good option for a lower guilt dessert, try this one. I think everyone enjoyed it! I mean, I sent several people home with leftovers. :-)

Triple Chocolate Cake from Cooking Light
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg whites
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
8 ounces cake flour (it says about 2 cups...sure looked like more than that to me!)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine boiling water and cocoa. Add 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate and stir until mixture becomes smooth. Cool to room temperature. In a large mixing bowl, put the sugar, butter, and vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating between each addition. Add sour cream/yogurt, then beat for 2 minutes more. Combine the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Add the flour mixture and cocoa mixture alternating - being and end with the flour mixture.

Spray two round cake pans with cooking spray. I used Pam with flour (for the first time...it's pretty cool!). Divide the batter between the two pans. Drop each pan on the countertop to allow air bubbles to rise to the top. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to completely cool on cooling racks.

Filling:
1/3 cup skim milk (I used almond milk)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablesoon cornstarch
4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup cool whip, thawed

Combine milk, sugar, cornstarch together in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Stir until mixture becomes smooth. Cover and chill. When cooled, uncover and fold in the cool whip.

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons milk (I used almond)
2 teaspoons butter
1/8 teaspoon instant espresso granules
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used semi-sweet)

Combine powdered sugar and remaining ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

To assemble cake, place one layer of cake on cake plate. Spread filling on top of this layer with 1/4 inch border. Place second layer on top. Then pour glaze on top, spreading it so that it covers the top of the cake and drizzles down the sides. Enjoy!

Halloween (?) Squares

2011-12-16T18:53:00.000-06:00

I'm making a list, checking it twice...my grocery list that is! I think that I shall do some baking this weekend. I haven't done much recently and my friends at work have noticed...but I've been busy! These are some quick, easy chocolate treats that I made in October for the ER.

They are called Rocky Road Halloween Squares, so I figured that they would be perfect for an October treat. However, they would also be a perfect Christmas tray treat! So, easy to make! Just melt, pour, stir, pour, and cut...then enjoy! All of the ER nurses, doctors, residents, and respiratory therapists enjoyed them. I think they liked the combination of the sweet and salty...which I'm a bit partial to as well. So, if you need a quick and easy treat, try these out!

Rocky Road Halloween Squares from my mom
1 12ox. package chocolate chips
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons butter
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
10.5 oz. bag mini-marshmallows

Melt chocolate chips and butter (you can do this in the microwave slowly, or over a double boiler). Combine nuts and marshmallows. Pour the chocolate over this mixture and stir until all is coated well. Place waxed paper in a 13X9 pan then spread the nut/marshmallow mixture into the pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Remove from pan and cut into squares. Enjoy!

Pancakes with a Sous Chef and Photographer

2011-12-11T21:17:00.001-06:00

When discussing what we liked at a local restaurant that serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday, D revealed that he likes chocolate chip pancakes. So, last week, I went to his house and made breakfast for dinner. Little did I know that I would have a sous chef in Miss K. And even more to my surprise was that I suddenly had a photographer!

First off, this is the best pancake recipe ever...it's Daddy's. Secondly, pancakes really ended up being a good toddler sous chef dish...until it came time to cook them on the hot griddle...had a few squeals until Miss Sous Chef was distracted enough not to care!

I put raspberries in mine and D had chocolate chips in his. So, confession time...I've never really eaten chocolate chip pancakes! Strawberry, blueberry...yes.

And I've MADE chocolate chip pancakes but never eaten them. Per D, no syrup needed. So, I tried! He's right! No syrup needed. It was pretty good. Not saying I'm going to convert my fruit to chocolate...but still good. As to Miss K, she was a fan of the chocolate chips and the syrup...with a few bites on pancake thrown in. :-) Now, heat up your griddle, grab your favorite sous chef, and cook something yummy! Here's the recipe if you're in the mood for pancakes!

Daddy's Pancakes
1+ cups flour
1 T baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 T sugar
1 egg
2 T oil
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup milk - I added more...probably about 2-3 tablespoons
splash of vanilla, I don't know how much, just put some in
Add ins - fruit, chocolate chips, etc.

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, oil and milks. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a fork.

Add more milk to get the desired consistency. You want it easily pourable but not runny. While you are making the batter, heat a griddle to medium high heat...when you sprinkle drops of water on the griddle, it should sizzle but not immediately evaporate. Using a 1/4-1/3 cup measure, pour batter on the griddle. At this time, put your add-ins on if you're using them. Wait for bubbles to appear on the top and to see the edges of the pancake start to cook. When you see this, you're ready to flip the pancakes. Then cook on the second side until the outside has the desired golden color. Remove to a plate and butter immediately. Enjoy with whatever topping you want and people you love! Don't forget to let your sous chef have some! ;-)

Black Bean Soup

2011-12-04T20:52:00.001-06:00

Right after Thanksgiving, we had a few days of cold. Guess what I made...SOUP! Today, I'd have to pretend it was cold...yet again (though it is supposed to be COLD on Tuesday!) but this soup was quite good...even enjoyed by a toddler. Woo Hoo! I saw the recipe from Jenna several months ago and have had it bookmarked for a while. When I made the potato soup, I thought about doing this one but realized that I wouldn't have time. This last week, however, was the perfect time to go for it. I was on my last few days of elective, i.e., getting out early, and it was cold. So, when D asked what I was doing, I offered to share my soup...aren't I nice?! ;-)

First let me say, without realizing it, I modified this recipe A LOT! I didn't have any onions, so I completely skipped step one. Then I assumed that it was just a throw it all in kind of recipe. Basically, it is; but, if you have onions, check out the original recipe here. At first, I was a little concerned. It has 2 tablespoons of chili powder in it, and I thought that it tasted a little too acidic.

I will say, however, that it did mellow and gain quite a good flavor over time. I served mine with cornbread. When I put it in her bowl, K immediately put her spoon in and ate some. "Yummy! Beans!" Score! D said he liked it too and saved some leftovers for later. I did think that it was more of a soup than a chili, so I've changed the title. If you want a nice warm soup with a little spice, but not too much, try this soup! Delicious, filling, and healthy!

Spicy Black Bean Soup adapted from Jenna
8 oz dried black beans
2 14.5 oz cans diced fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies
6 cups vegetable stock
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried onion

In a large stock pot, place all ingredients. Stir well. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 3 hours. Serve chili with grated cheese and sour cream.

Yield: 4 servings

Deep Dish Apple Pie

2011-11-26T11:12:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving...a little late! I hope you all had a wonderful time with those you love. We had about 20 people at my parents' house. It was smaller than usual but still very enjoyable. At the end of the 3 days, we had so much food left over...now we know who REALLY eats the food...all the people who weren't here this year. ;-) We always have tacos on Wednesday night and then a conglomeration of desserts.

However, my aunt Jo Ellen decided to make a deep dish apple pie. Let me tell you, it was beautiful and delicious. She got the recipe out of a Southern Living magazine. I would highly recommend it! She used premade pie crusts, but you could make your own crust if you REALLY wanted to be hard core about it.

Easy Skillet Apple Pie from Southern Living Sept 2011
4 pounds of apples (the recipe suggests 2 eat of granny smith and braeburn.)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 up butter (1 stick)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 package refrigerated pie crust (has two in the package)
1 egg white (we did not use this)
2 tablespoons sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350. Peel and cut apples. We used an apple-peeler-corer-slicer on some; so, we had wedges and thin slices. I think the combination of sizes was actually a good thing. Toss apples with cinnamon and the 3/4 cup sugar. Melt the butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. After it is melted, add the brown sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Place one pie crust in the bottom of the pan on top of the sugar mixture. Pour the apples over the pie crust and top with the remaining crust. Brush with egg white if desired. Sprinkle sugar on top. Cut small slits in the top crust. Place in over and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes before serving. Serve with ice cream or cool whip. Enjoy!

Pretending It's Cold - Potato Soup

2011-11-21T17:10:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago, it actually felt like fall around here. Today, it is 80 degrees...but we'll forget about that for now and pretend. Just imagine, it's a beautiful fall day...just enough chill in the air. You've had a long day at work and want something warm and comforting for dinner. So does your family. What could you make that is quick but definitely has that homemade feel? I suggest this potato soup! It is souper (HA! couldn't resist!) easy and very kid friendly.

I made it for D and K the other day. She refused to eat anything but bread and banana, but he said it was really good. Even took some left over home to his mom who promptly asked for the recipe. I like sharing recipes! :-) This really only takes as long as the potatoes take to cook; and since you cut them into cubes, that's not really very long. It does call for jalapenos, but if you don't want the spice, just leave them out. So, if you're in the South (or southern hemisphere!)...pretend it's cold and try this. If you're somewhere that actually feels like fall, just enjoy the weather AND the soup!

Aunt Merle's Potato Soup
5-6 red potatoes (not the tiny ones, the bigger ones)
1 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium onion)
water to cover
2 cans of cream of celery soup (I use 98% fat free)
1 pound Velveeta type cheese (1/2 of the standard block or the whole small block, I used 2% version)
chopped jalapenos to taste
1 oz. jalapeno cheese if you want to add some extra spice

Chop potatoes and onion. Place in your large stock pot and cover with water. Bring water to a boil and then cook until potatoes are fork tender. Meanwhile, cut the cheese into cubes. When potatoes are ready add the remaining ingredients...do NOT drain the potatoes. Stir over heat until cheese melts and everything incorporates into a yummy, cheesy, potato soup! Enjoy!

T-shirts and Toffee

2011-11-17T19:32:00.001-06:00

Last year, I got that wonderful cookies book for my birthday. My goal is to bake through it...and that's still my goal. But I took a little break from it.

Sometimes I just really like to try out things that I see on other blogs. However, I still have some recipes that I need to share with you from the book. This cookie is one that I made in August when I went home between ER shifts. On special thing I want to share with you about that trip before you get this YUMMY cookie is the quilt that my mom made for me.

Several years ago, she had me choose special t-shirts to use on a T-shirt quilt. One of them is from my sixth grade year, some from high school, and some from college. This trip, she gave me the finished quilt. It's pretty awesome if I do say so myself....and HUGE! I could fit a couple of people under it. She suggested using it for "picnics on the floor." We used to have these every year when it was Miss Mississippi and Miss America time! Such fun! Thanks for the great quilt, Mama! Now, the cookies. I knew these would be good ones. I mean, toffee...chocolate...nuts. YUM! Tried to be a little creative with the pictures this time...

whatcha think? ;-) Daddy enjoyed these per usual. Don't remember the specific comments...I mean, it has been three months! However, I do know that I would highly recommend them.

Chocolate-Toffee Cookies from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1 cup pecans, toasted
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped toffee and chocolate (you can use Bits'O Brickel or just chop Heath bars)
1-1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Toast pecans in toaster oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter until creamy, then add sugars and beat well. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Stir in the toffee, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Place on baking stones or sheets in tablespoonfuls. Place stone in oven and bake for 10 minutes or until slightly browned. Cool for 1-2 minutes on stones then remove to cooling rack to completely cool. Enjoy!

Forever Lentils

2011-11-12T14:17:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago when the weather was cool (before it got warm again and then cool and then warm...you see the cycle), I decided to make some soup. I had seen this great looking lentil recipe on Brittany's site and knew I had to try it. So, one Sunday after church, I pulled out the crockpot and started cooking. I wanted to eat it for supper, so I increased the heat to high, thinking that would help it cook faster.

Wellllll, all it did was make the crockpot overflow! Yes, it bubbled over and I ended up having to was the insides of my crockpot. Maybe I'll try those liners one day. :-) Anyway, I turned the heat down to low, like the recipe called for and let it cook for the full time. Thankfully, I had some distraction and just had a late supper. It was SO good! I ate it for days, sent some home with my parents, and have some frozen in the freezer for later when the weather turns cold for good....or not! Try it out!

Slow Cooker Lentil Chili from A Healthy Slice of Life

8 cups stock/broth (I used chicken because it cost less but to make this vegan use veggie stock)
1 package dried lentils
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (or cheat and use pre-minced garlic like Brittany and I did)

4 tsp chili powder

Rinse your lentils well, but no need to soak. Chop the onion, pepper, and tomatoes. Put these, lentils, and broth along with garlic and chili powder into your slow cooker. Set on low and go do something fun. Let it cook for 8 hours. Serve with yogurt atop. Enjoy!

Only One

2011-11-08T22:07:00.000-06:00

Last week we had a "party" in the ER for Halloween. Now, a party in the ER means that we all bring food and when the rush of patients slows down (Hopefully!) around 1-2am, we eat. I'm usually the sweets person...and that was no different this time. I had seen this recipe from Recipe girl a few weeks earlier and thought it looked pretty good. At first I was going to change things up and use a peanut butter filling but decided to stick with the recipe.

MAN was it good. The only thing I did change was cutting some of the semi-sweet chocolate in the actual cookie and substituting some white chocolate. One of the nurses asked me for the recipe for tailgaiting...I think it would make a fantastic tailgaiting recipe. On the way home, I went and left a bag of them for D, who was post-call from the ICU. Later he told me that they were good...but so rich he could "only eat one!" Well, I think I take that as a compliment. :-)

Ooey Chocolate Chip Sandwich Bars from Recipe Girl

GOOEY CHOCOLATE FILLING:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

COOKIES:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg (ALMOST forgot this!)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper, allowing enough overhang on the long side to lift the bars from the pan.

For the filling: Place the chocolate chips and condensed milk in a small saucepan over the lowest possible heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the chocolate has melted and the mixture has thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, add vanilla, and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Dough: Place the butter and sugars in a large bowl and cream with a mixer. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat well. Whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl then add to the butter mixture. Beat until everything is well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Using half of the batch of cookie dough, place dollops into the prepared pan and press down lightly to even it out. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the dough and then add small dollops of the remaining dough on top. Don't worry if the dollops don't completely cover the chocolate mixture. Just spread it together as much as you can, and let some chocolate peek through. This will fill in when it is cooked. Bake until lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. Placing it in the refrigerator to chill helps the cutting go more smoothly. Cut into 32 bars. Enjoy!

Apple Pie...in a Muffin

2011-11-01T15:56:00.001-06:00

So, I have had several requests to post this recipe ever since I made the muffins. Plus, it's finally cool and fall like here...so, I give you apple pie muffins. After making a fruit salad for that surprise party a few weeks back, I had LOTS of apples left over. So, I went in search of a good recipe to use those apples. I stumbled across this muffin recipe and thought it looked great...plus, it had a crumble topping. I think the top is the best part of the muffin...so a crumble top is even BETTER! I ended up using applesauce in replacement of the oil to make these a little bit healthier.

On a side note, I am of the opinion that applesauce does make the "shelf life" of baked goods a lot shorter. So, if you do use the applesauce, either eat these quickly, or freeze them!

On the other hand, the texture of the muffins was still good. I didn't think the topping was quite crispy and dry enough. I still haven't figured out how to make the best topping. All in all, though, these were really good muffins! These were great and had a great amount of apple in them. Check them out!

Apple Pie Muffins adapted from My Baking Addiction

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 cups peeled, chopped apples - I used gala but granny smith is the traditional type

Topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray muffin tin with baking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, applesauce, vanilla and brown sugar. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Pour liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in apples. Use a large scoop to fill each muffin well, filling the cups to the top.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, rolled oats, and cinnamon. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of melted butter, mixing until well blended. Sprinkle this over the tops of the muffins. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed. Cool on wire rack. Store at room temperature or freeze. Enjoy!

Povitica

2011-10-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

When I saw the name of this month's Daring Baker challenge, I thought for sure that I had probably tasted this bread but didn't realize it. The name just SOUNDS Russian! However, I don't think that I have ever had it prior to making it. The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

I was a little nervous when it came to this challenge. You see, we've had challenges before that required rolling the dough so thin that you can read something through the dough. In those challenges, I had such trouble rolling out the dough. This time, however, was a different story. (Can you see where I work?!)

I don't know if the difference was the dough or the rolling location. This was a GREAT dough to work with. It rolled SO easily and stretched beautifully when I began to "pull" at it. I used the knuckle strategy when I pulled my down-turned hand out under the dough, which causes the dough to stretch. Worked wonderfully.

The other change was using my dining room table to roll it out...MUCH MORE ROOM! I did have to use a bed sheet as my pastry towel but that worked well, too. Hmmm...I'll have to remember this in the future.

I was planning on doing maybe two different fillings but didn't have enough nuts. So, I decided to use the traditional cinnamon nut filling (I used pecans) for one loaf. This one ended up being the most striking one on the inside and was definitely flaky. In fact, when I picked it up it flaked away! This is one that I left at clinic today.

For the next loaf I used some of the remaining nuts, mixed it with orange marmalade and some sugar. SURPRISE! When I pulled the loaf out of the pan, it had formed an orange caramel.

Didn't expect that but the caramel did taste GREAT! I think that I will end up freezing this one and taking it to Thanksgiving. I hope the caramel doesn't get too hard.

Loaf three was to be a cream cheese chocolate chip loaf. Well, I think I under did it on both the cream cheese AND the chocolate chips. The swirl is very unimpressive. Adding some icing to the top added to the flavor. This loaf found a home in the ER!

And loaf four is the cheese loaf. I got some inspiration after D brought my sunglasses back to me. I knew I was going to give him a loaf and suddenly remembered that I had some cheese in my refrigerator. I knew that he would like a cheese loaf. So, I sprinkled some Nature's Seasoning on the dough, then put sharp cheddar cheese on that and topped it all with Parmesan cheese.

Oh my goodness! The aroma coming out of my kitchen when that one was baking was amazing. It smelled like a pizza parlor is the best way. And the loaf was beautiful! Something about the cheese made the inside more bubbly than swirly but I liked it!

Left that one at clinic, too.

All in all, this was a fantastic challenge! I actually enjoyed rolling the dough out and trying to stretch it as thin as I could. Coming up with different fillings and seeing how they came out was fun. And, as always, giving away what I made always gives me joy! Thanks for a great challenge. Try this one out for yourself.

Povitica (makes 4 loaves)
Ingredients

To activate the Yeast:
2 Teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) Sugar
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
½ Cup (120ml) Warm Water
2 Tablespoons (30ml/14 gm/½ oz/2 sachets) Dry Yeast

Place sugar and flour in a small bowl. Pour water over and stir to dissolve. Add the yeast and stir. Cover with plastic wrap (or be brave like I was and don't!) and allow to sit for five minutes.

Dough:
2 cups (480ml) milk - I used skim
¾ cup (180 ml/170gm/6 oz) Sugar
3 teaspoons (15 ml/18 gm/2/3 oz) Table Salt
4 Eggs
½ cup (120ml/115 gm/one stick/4 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
8 cups (1.92 l/1.12 kg/39½ oz/2½ lb) All-Purpose Flour, divided

Place the milk in a sauce pan. Place on medium heat and cook until the milk reaches 180 degrees F. This scalds the milk. Remove from heat and allow to cool to 110 degrees F. Meanwhile, put sugar and salt in a large bowl. When milk is cooled, stir it into the sugar until dissolved. Add 2 cups flour, beaten eggs, melted butter, and yeast mixture. Stir until well combined. Slowly add flour until the mixture pulls away from the bowl and is not sticky (I ended up using 7.5 cups total, including the original 2 cups). Divide the dough into four equal portions and place in smaller bowls. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 1.5 hours (mine probably rose about 4 hours!).

Walnut Filling for one loaf:
1.5 cups ground pecans
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 stick margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml/4 gm) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) cinnamon

Melt butter and milk together. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Place a clean bed sheet on a large table. Sprinkle flour on the sheet so that there is a thin layer of flour on the sheet. Place one piece of dough on the sheet. After lightly flouring the rolling pin and dough, roll out to about 12 X 18 inches. The dough will still be fairly thick. At this point, you can continue to roll the dough or you can start stretching by hand. Slowly roll/stretch until you can see through the dough enough to read something or see patterns.

Once it is thin enough, place your filling on the dough to cover it. Then roll up jellyroll style.

Spray a bread pan with cooking spray and place the dough in the pan in a U-shape. Do this with all the pieces of dough.

I had to cook three and then prepare my fourth because I only have 3 bread pans. When your loaves are ready, preheat the oven to 350. Let the dough rest 15 minutes. Then place the loaves in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, decrease the oven temperature to 300 F. Then bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the loaves are golden. After removing from the oven, allow the loaves to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing from the pan. If freezing a loaf, wrap well in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Can freeze for 3 months. Enjoy!

Hello, My Name is Pumpkindoodle

2011-10-23T20:52:00.003-05:00

For my first shift in the pediatric ER this month (and because my dad was in town and I LOVE to make him cookies!), I pulled out quite a fantastic little recipe from Annie! First, please note that Annie has some great photographs. Then notice that her recipes are great. And finally, notice that she is also a resident! Cool! :-) Anyway, this recipe just screamed fall. Snickerdoodles are probably my favorite cookie. Just simple and sweet! Combine that with a light taste of pumpkin and you have a fantastic cookie.

Daddy isn't a huge pumpkin fan but he liked these. He said that he could tell they weren't regular snickerdoodle but that the flavor was more like a whisper (okay, I made that one up!) of pumpkin than "Hello! My name is pumpkin and I'm in your cookie."

All the nurses in the ER liked the cookies (and actually ask me quite often, now, if I made anything! I like that!) and Dr. D, one of my attendings (who just completed the Augusta Ironman, go Dr. D!) asked me for the recipe. I thought they were great cookies. They had a great fluffiness to them, which is sometimes hard to obtain in a snickerdoodle. They also still maintained a classic snickerdoodle flavor (even without my beloved cream of tartar!) with an extra fall taste to it. Will definitely be making these again! Thanks, Annie, for a great cookie!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles from Annie at Annie's Eats
For the cookies:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extra

For the coating:

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes (I do about 5). Blend in the pumpkin puree. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Combine the sugar and cinnamon for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend. Scoop the dough (about 1.5 tablespoons) and roll into a ball - I just use my small cookie scooper. Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Combining Two Recipes

2011-10-21T22:06:00.000-05:00

I'm keeping a friend's two year old little girl tonight. She was quite the talker and very active. I don't think she stopped talking until suppertime. D doesn't like "anything green" but I decided to make couscous, green beans, sausage balls (that D made and left here...yum!), and strawberries. She ate some of everything. YAY! The question is, is there any way to get someone who doesn't like veggies to like them? I mean, I do know that some people are seriously "strong tasters" and the strong, more bitter taste of veggies isn't pleasing. Hmmmm...

However, all the guys in my SS class are salad eaters, so when we had a surprise party for Mrs. Vickie (SO much fun...she had NO clue!) I took several things. Corn casserole, fruit salad, and a broccoli salad. now, the broccoli salad I know is SO good but uses both a lot of sugar and mayo. So, I went in search of another. Found this one on Cate's site but it also uses a pretty good amount of mayo, but I liked that it actually had slaw in it. So, I combined the two, decreased the mayo and added some yogurt. SOOO good!

Broccoli Slaw Salad
4-5 cups cabbage slaw
4 cups broccoli
1/2 cup (about 1/2) red onion
1/2 cup cut pecans
handful of cranberries
1/2 cup mayo with olive oil
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/3 cup splenda (or sugar)

Combine the first five ingredients in a large bowl with a sealing lid. Whisk together the remaining ingredients. Pour over salad. Put the lid on the bowl and shake! Refrigerate for at least one hour. Enjoy!

Peanut, Peanut butter...and brownies

2011-10-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

If you remember, last month I was on night float. We would work 5 nights, have 3 off, work 4, have two off and so on. Well, my intern's birthday was in September. Thankfully, if was on a Sunday. Double thankfully (does that even make sense?!), that was a 3 day off week so we didn't work that Sunday. However, when we were waiting for labs late one night I asked her what she wanted me to make for her birthday. She wasn't very specific other than not liking coconut!

Deep in the recesses of my mind I knew there was something I had seen that I wanted to try. When I opened my e-mail I remembered...this wonderful peanut butter cookie dough brownie. She agreed...that would be a perfect treat, so it was settled. I mean, really, peanut butter? Cookie dough? Brownies? Great combos.

So, I accessed this recipe from Recipe Girl and tried it. It was GREAT! The cookie dough was my favorite but it combined perfectly with the brownie. Usually when I make brownies, I cheat on the baking chocolate and just use chocolate chips. This time, however, I decided to do it right and use baker's chocolate. It really does make a big difference. Obviously, it made WAY too much for the two of us to eat, so I shared with others who were there that night including our program director. All enjoyed it. If you like Reese's then you will like this! Just try...and don't worry, the cookie dough is egg free, though that doesn't keep me from eating other cookie doughs!

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownie from Recipe Girl

BROWNIE LAYER:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

COOKIE DOUGH LAYER:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

GANACHE TOPPING:
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x8-inch pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom of the pan with a strip of parchment paper, so that it comes up two of the sides that are opposite each other. Spray the parchment with nonstick spray.

Brownies: In a small bowl, melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate in the microwave until the butter is melted, about 2 minutes. Stir briskly until well-combined, then stir in the vanilla. Meanwhile, in a large bowl- beat together the sugar and eggs - use a mixer. Scrape in the partially cooled chocolate mixture and mix to combine. In separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the flour ingredients into the wet ingredients. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 22 to 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the cookie dough: In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine butter and brown sugar. Mix until creamy. Add milk and peanut butter and mix to combine. Stir in flour and salt. Spread the peanut butter cookie dough in an even layer over the cooled brownies.

Now make the ganache. In a small bowl, microwave chocolate chips cream and sugar for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Continue to microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring after each heating time. Continue heating and stirring until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour the ganache over the peanut butter cookie dough layer and carefully spread to cover the top. Sprinkle with peanut butter chips. Refrigerate until the dough and the ganache topping are set (at least 1 hour). Use a knife to loosen the sides, then carefully grab the parchment paper and remove the whole pan of brownies to a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut them into squares. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Source: RecipeGirl.com (Adapted slightly from Food Network)

For your Breakfast Pleasure

2011-10-15T19:34:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up, my dad would make pancakes or waffles every Saturday. A great tradition if you ask me! Pancakes were always my favorite. I guess I like the fluffiness.

When everyone at work kept talking about how great the pancakes were I figured they were right...um, wrong! The pancakes are kind of not good at all...thick, dense and just about tasteless. I'll take my Daddy's please. Thankfully, I have learned from him! However, when I saw these pancakes on Jenna's site, I decided to try them out.

They are definitely denser than the light, fluffy buttermilk variety...but they are good! I've made them twice and decreased the amount of flour the second time because I like my pancakes a little less dense. The whole wheat flour gives a nutty flavor that pairs nicely with the cinnamon and syrup. For summer, the blueberries are great but I have a feeling that apples would be great in the fall! Try them out...or, if you are in the mood for fluffiness, try my dad's!

Blueberry Pie Pancakes adapted from Jenna at EatLiveRun
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup flour (ww pastry, white, spelt, Bob’s gluten-free, etc.) - I used whole wheat
2 T rolled oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 T sugar or 1 packet stevia (omit if you don’t want sweet pancakes)
1/3 cup nondairy milk

If you want to add 1tsp-1Tbsp oil, you can...I did not and they were still great.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then add wet. Mix, but don’t overmix. Cook on an oiled (or sprayed) pan, on low-medium, flipping each pancake once. To know when to flip, watch the top of the pancake. When you start to see bubbles throughout, you're ready to flip! The second side will take less time. Top with syrup and enjoy!

For a fall flavor, try apples instead of blueberries.

Fun at the Fair

2011-10-13T20:39:00.000-05:00

So, this is a "life" post! Last night I went to the fair with a friend and his little girl. I haven't been to the fair since I was a junior in high school - 11 years ago.

At first I was concerned that I wouldn't get to go due to a sudden rain storm, but we waited for about 15 minutes and it stopped...though my shoes DID get muddy and almost got stuck on the walk in. We rode lots of the kiddie rides first...horses, bees, bears, the fun house X 5 (a slide!). Our fun was stopped, though, when K was 1/2 inch too short for the caterpillar (really, come on!). She was quite disappointed, so we did the fun house one more time and then went for food.

My food memories from the fair are free biscuits and elephant ears. As you can imagine, the choices were endless - Burgers, pizza, hotdogs, corndogs (even chocolate dipped...ew?), nachos, gyros, sushi (?), roasted corn, Saratoga chips (apparently fresh cut potato chips loaded with chili and cheese), fried candy bars, funnel cakes, fish, chicken strips, cotton candy, etc. There was even a donut burger - Krispie Kreme donuts as the bun with a big ole burger in between - WOW!

We ended up getting chicken on a stick and fish from Penn's (local fish place). On the way back to see the circus (that ended up NOT happening due to the equipment being wet - boo!) and ride the big yellow slide (also closed due to wetness - BOO!) I got my elephant ear. Oh, the goodness. It's basically fried dough with cinnamon sugar on it - I think it' an un-funneled funnel cake!

Then we rode the ferris wheel, got K some "ice" (sno cone), rode the pony, and trecked back through the mud to the car. It was a great night!

Butterfinger Cake

2011-10-11T21:48:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of September we had a get together on a Saturday night to watch college football and just hang out. I planned to take something and had a triple fudge cake mix on my hand. Sooo, I decided to make a cake that is pretty popular around the South.

Honestly, I don't even know what it's called but it is some kind of good! I mean, cake with sweetened condensed milk with butterfinger on top? Come on!! I did try to "lighten" (HA!) things up by using applesauce instead of oil when making the cake. I also used light cool whip. Everyone at the party enjoyed it. My favorite part...the part of the cake that soaks up all the milk. Yummy!

Ooey Gooey Butterfinger Cake
1 chocolate cake mix, prepared by package instruction (or substituting applesauce for oil)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 container Cool Whip
6-8 Single serve Butterfinger bars (the little one but not tiny ones), crushed

Mix and bake cake in a 13 X 9 pan according to package instructions. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3-4 minutes. Poke holes in the cake and pour sweetened condensed milk over cake, being careful to cover the entire cake. Allow to cool completely. When cooled, spread the cool whip over the cake. Then sprinkle Butterfinger over the Cool Whip. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!

The Beginning of Fall

2011-10-03T18:56:00.000-05:00

The weather has become slightly cooler around here...not that I expect that to last! However, I have started to pick out all the "fall" cookies from my Southern Living cookie book. I unknowingly made one of these during the summer.

And they were, unfortunately, my least favorite thus far. They are not bad, just "just okay." They use those orange slice candies that are sugared on the outside. I thought that maybe they candy would melt when the cookies baked but it didn't; it actually held its shape. They ended up being almost like dried apricots.

I think, if I made these again, I would actually USE dried apricot instead of the candies. Healthier (ha! in a cookie?) and a more pleasing texture. The spices in the cookie are really nice...like a good oatmeal cookie. I also added some white chocolate chips instead of coconut. If you try these, let me know what YOU think or if you change the candies to dried fruit.

Orange Slice Cookies from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1 1/2 cups chopped candy orange slices (could try dried apricots)
1/4 cup AP flour
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 T milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/2 cups quick cook oats
1 cup flaked coconut (optional) - I don't think I used this

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the candy and 1/4 flour in a bowl and toss to coat the candy. Meanwhile, cream butter until smooth. Add the sugars, beating well. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix well. Stir together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir well to combine. Now, stir in the oatmeal and candy (coconut if using).

Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until slightly browned. Cool slightly on the pan then remove to cooling racks to cool completely. Yield: 9 dozen

French Croissants

2011-09-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

When I joined The Daring Bakers several years ago, they had just made croissants. I was a bit jealous, thinking that would be something fun to try. Well, we got the chance to do it again! That's right, the September challenge was to make croissants. The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

Now, if you look at the recipe it could seem a bit daunting. However, a lot of the time involved is spend waiting! Lots of rest periods. I made mine over two days, letting the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight. To me, the hardest part was rolling the dough. Even after allowing the dough to rest so that the gluten loosened, it still pulled and didn't get as large as I would have liked. Another thing that made the dough difficult to roll was the butter. First it was squirting out of the side. Then, as I completed more turns I had some thin layers that continually broke. I guess you COULD consider that a good thing because I meant that I had nice layers...on the other hand it made my life more difficult. In the end, it all came out fine.

At first I was going to simply make plain croissants. Then, I decided to make half of the dough into "mini" croissants and the other half into blueberry cinnamon croissants. Both of them were good, though I do think that my dough needed more salt. I was really pleased with the blueberry version. The berries added a nice tartness that mixed well with the buttery dough. They would have been really good with a glaze.

For the "mini" versions I simply took the triangle for a normal sized croissant and cut it in half. They were more the size of a canned roll than a bakery roll. I forgot to add the egg glaze, and when I realized it was too lazy...so my croissants don't have that nice golden color, but I think they still look nice! Thanks, Sarah, for the chance to try my hand at these French rolls.

Croissants from Julia Child
¼ oz (7 gm) of fresh yeast, or 1¼ teaspoon (6¼ ml/4 gm) of dry-active yeast (about ½ sachet)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water (less than 100°F/38°C)
1 teaspoon (5 ml/4½ gm) sugar
1 3/4 cups (225 gm/½ lb) of strong plain flour (I used Polish all-purpose flour, which is 13% protein)
2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar
1½ teaspoon (7½ ml/9 gm) salt
½ cup (120 ml/¼ pint) milk (I am not sure if the fat content matters. I used 2%)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) tasteless oil (I used generic vegetable oil)
½ cup (120 ml/1 stick/115 gm/¼ lb) chilled, unsalted butter
1 egg, for egg wash

Mix the yeast, warm water, and first teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl. Leave aside for the yeast and sugar to dissolve and the yeast to foam up a little.

Measure out the other ingredients. Heat the milk until tepid (either in the microwave or a saucepan), and dissolve in the salt and remaining sugar. Place the flour in a large bowl. Add the oil, yeast mixture, and milk mixture to the flour. Mix all the ingredients together using the rubber spatula, just until all the flour is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and let it rest a minute while you wash out the bowl. Knead the dough eight to ten times only. The best way is as Julia Child does it in the video (see below). It’s a little difficult to explain, but essentially involves smacking the dough on the counter (lots of fun if you are mad at someone) and removing it from the counter using the pastry scraper.

Place the dough back in the bowl, and place the bowl in the plastic bag. Leave the bowl at approximately 75°F/24°C for three hours, or until the dough has tripled in size. After the dough has tripled in size, remove it gently from the bowl, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl with your fingertips.

Place the dough on a lightly floured board or countertop, and use your hands to press it out into a rectangle about 8 by 12 inches (20cm by 30cm). Fold the dough rectangle in three, like a letter (fold the top third down, and then the bottom third up). Place the dough letter back in the bowl, and the bowl back in the plastic bag. Leave the dough to rise for another 1.5 hours, or until it has doubled in size. This second rise can be done overnight in the fridge. Place the double-risen dough onto a plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place the plate in the fridge while you prepare the butter. Once the dough has doubled, it’s time to incorporate the butter.

Place the block of chilled butter on a chopping board. Using the rolling pin, beat the butter down a little, till it is quite flat. Use the heel of your hand to continue to spread the butter until it is smooth. You want the butter to stay cool, but spread easily. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured board or counter. Let it rest for a minute or two. Spread the dough using your hands into a rectangle about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).

Remove the butter from the board, and place it on the top half of the dough rectangle. Spread the butter all across the top two-thirds of the dough rectangle, but keep it ¼ inch (6 mm) across from all the edges. Fold the top third of the dough down, and the bottom third of the dough up. Turn the dough package 90 degrees, so that the top flap is to your right (like a book). Roll out the dough package (gently, so you don’t push the butter out of the dough) until it is again about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm). Again, fold the top third down and the bottom third up. Wrap the dough package in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.

After two hours have passed, take the dough out of the fridge and place it again on the lightly floured board or counter. Tap the dough with the rolling pin, to deflate it a little. Let the dough rest for 8 to 10 minutes Roll the dough package out till it is 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm). Fold in three, as before. Turn 90 degrees, and roll out again to 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm). Fold in three for the last time, wrap in plastic, and return the dough package to the fridge for two more hours (or overnight, with something heavy on top to stop it from rising)

It’s now time to cut the dough and shape the croissants. First, lightly butter your baking sheet so that it is ready. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest for ten minutes on the lightly floured board or counter.
Roll the dough out into a 20 by 5 inch rectangle (51 cm by 12½ cm). Cut the dough into two rectangles (each 10 by 5 inches (25½ cm by 12½ cm)). Place one of the rectangles in the fridge, to keep the butter cold. Roll the second rectangle out until it is 15 by 5 inches (38 cm by 12½ cm). Cut the rectangle into three squares (each 5 by 5 inches (12½ cm by 12½ cm)). Place two of the squares in the fridge
The remaining square may have shrunk up a little bit in the meantime. Roll it out again till it is nearly square. Cut the square diagonally into two triangles. Stretch the triangle out a little, so it is not a right-angle triangle, but more of an isosceles. Starting at the wide end, roll the triangle up towards the point, and curve into a crescent shape. Place the unbaked croissant on the baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining squares of dough, creating 12 croissants in total. Leave the tray of croissants, covered lightly with plastic wrap, to rise for 1 hour

Preheat the oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9. Mix the egg with a teaspoon of water. Spread the egg wash across the tops of the croissants. Put the croissants in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are browned nicely. For mini croissants bake 8-10 minutes. Remove croissants out of the oven, and place them on a rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

3 Down 1 to Go

2011-09-23T19:15:00.000-05:00

One week left! That's it and I'm DONE with nights. Yes, I'll still have some night shifts in the ER and some overnight calls but my MONTH of nights will be done after 4 more shifts. Whew. Hasn't been as bad as I was thinking it would be. I definitely have not done any cooking. But tonight, I'm throwing together a spaghetti squash concoction! YES! Though I do miss the summer veggies when fall come, I really enjoy the spaghetti squash that comes with fall. However, today's recipe has nothing to do with spaghetti squash...it is another stuffed recipe. Apparently, last month was all about stuffed veggies.

I had a bottle of Verde sauce that I bought on clearance sitting in my cabinet. I decided to use it, instead of tomatoes, for the base of stuffed peppers. Oh my! This turned out SO good. There was a nice spice and "twang" to the sauce. It made for several yummy meals! For the filling, I used a bag of frozen fajita veggies (onions and bell peppers), zucchini, squash, and black beans.

I added a little salsa for some spice and tomato flavor. Topped with just a sprinkle of cheese and it was perfect!

Stuffed Mexican Peppers
3 peppers (I used red, yellow, and orange), seeded and cut in half
1 jar of Verde sauce
1 bag frozen fajita veggies
1 can black beans, drained
1 zucchini, sliced
1 squash, sliced
1/3-1/2 cup salsa
2% sharp cheddar cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place halved peppers in the water and parboil for 10 minutes. While they are cooking, saute fajita veggies, squash, and zucchini in a saute pan until softened. Add beans and salsa Cook until warmed through. Remove bell pepper from water and allow to drain. When drained, gather a casserole dish large enough to hold all peppers. Pour the sauce in the bottom of the pan. Place all peppers cut side up in the dish. Fill each pepper with the bean and vegetable filling, you might have some left over - great on salad! Top each pepper with a sprinkle of cheese. Place in oven that has been preheated to 325. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven and enjoy!

If you Have Time to Bake

2011-09-16T19:38:00.000-05:00

So far, my month on nights is going well. We've gotten to sleep at least a little bit most nights...so thankful for that. This weekend is one of our short off weekends, go back to work on Sunday. Tomorrow I'm going to see Les Miserables with a friend! I've seen it before but am quite excited about seeing it again; unfortunately, that means that my only full day off this week is completely taken. That doesn't leave much time for cooking or baking....

but if I was to do some cooking, this would be something that I would make again - Nutella Swirled (or peanut butter) Banana Bread. This is a recipe from Emily at Sugar Plum. The bread is SO moist. Another plus...it actually BAKED completely in my oven! Woo Hoo! I loved the texture so much that when I went home, I made a similar version with peanut butter instead of nutella.

The Nutella is definitely more full of flavor and provides a more exciting visual effect as well. See?

Please try this...and more of Emily's recipes too. She makes great ones!

Marbled Nutella Banana Bread from Sugar Plum

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe banana
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large eggs
1/2 cup Nutella

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together banana, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy and well combined. I used a regular bowl and spoon but Emily suggested a mixer. Beat in egg until well combined. Stir in dry ingredients. Place 1/2 of of the batter into a medium bowl; stir in Nutella until combined.

Alternate spoonfuls of batter into loaf pan until all of the batter is used up - I did mine in a checkerboard pattern. Swirl batter gently with a knife (not too much!). Bake 1 hour or until well risen, deep golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into bread comes out with moist crumbs attached. Enjoy!

Fun Stuff

2011-09-10T23:27:00.000-05:00

One week of nights down, but I'm technically 1/3 of the way done! Woo Hoo! Have had a busy past couple of days. Thursday afternoon before work, I was eating a salad when, "crunch," there was something there that wasn't supposed to be. My front tooth bonding had come off. Yay, now I had a chipped tooth and couldn't get to the dentist until the next day (thankfully they could get me in the next day at 10am). So, I had to go to work with part of my tooth gone. I felt like parents were staring at my mouth! Oh well.

Then, instead of sleeping, I went to get crowns put on my front teeth (I'm now hesitant to eat things I had to bite into...just bit into something and felt like they temporary crown was slipping off!). Today I went to a wedding...30 minutes AFTER the wedding occurred. Then tonight I went to a get together with some friends! A fun two days...something else that's fun...these cookies! What's better that oreos? Oreos in a cookie! I had seen several recipes but used the one on Anna's site. Turned out pretty good. Try them out for yourself!

Oreo Cookies from Cookie Madness
Oreo Chunk Cookies
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (8 1/2 oz by weight)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (LOVE this!)
10-12 (broken into small pieces) Oreos (I used the ones with one chocolate and one vanilla cookie)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter and sugars until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and mix until combined. Add flour, soda, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar to butter mixture and stir until incorporated. Stir in oreos by hand.

Place dough balls (tablespoon sized - like a walnut) on parchment lined or non-stick cookie sheet and flatten tops slightly. Bake for about 12 minutes or until brown around the edges. Cool slightly on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to set: remove from baking sheet. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy!

Mango Muffin

2011-09-06T11:26:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had dried mango? If you haven't you should try...especially the pieces that are a little thicker...oh, so good! When I got the mango, I decided that I should try to make a mango muffin. So, the other day when I got a bit of a baking bug, I decided to go for it.

These are a little on the healthier side but you can adjust for your tastes. I've made them twice and the upper end of sugar is just about right but if you like muffins that don't taste sweet at all go for the lower end. I love a good bran muffin and this one is just that...not too heavy but an obvious bran flavor. Try them out! I'm taking some with me tonight to work. We've had two good nights but I know that a busy one is coming soon, so having something quick to snack on (I made mini muffins) will be good!

Mango Bran Muffins by me
1 egg
1/2-2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup fat free buttermilk
1 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat bran
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3-1/2 cup dried mango, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk together egg, sugar, oil and buttermilk. In another bowl, stir flour, bran, baking powder, cream of tartar, and cinnamon together with your hands. Slowly stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir in mango. Spray the wells of a mini muffin tin (or regular sized if you prefer). Scoop batter into wells. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes (17-23 minutes for regular sized). Remove from oven and remove muffins to cooling rack. Enjoy!

When Life Hands you Lemons...

2011-09-01T13:06:00.000-05:00

...make Lemon Bars! We had our ~~last~~ most recent (yep, just found out someone else is pregnant!) baby shower in the peds department last week...we love baby showers! Isn't this cute?!

I decided to take some lemon bars that are in my Southern Living Incredible Cookies book. I wasn't so sure how they would turn out but they were great. In fact, Bob, one of the chief residents this year, sent me a page saying they were the best thing he had eaten in a while! Definitely shared the recipe with his wife so she could make more for him.

I did have to cook a bit longer than the recipe stated but that was due to using my baking stone pan (I have GOT to remember to "preheat" the pan!). I just made simple bars, but the book recommends cutting them into fun shapes...hearts, flowers, etc. This would be great...and would leave you with "unusable" scraps to snack on! YES! They tasted great with the perfect flaky crust and tart lemon filling.

What is my "lemon" right now? Starting a month long stint on the night shift! Yes, I will alternate between four and five day work week of 14 hour ~~days~~ nights. Me thinks I will be tired at the end of the month. This is new for my program this year, all due to the new duty hour requirements by the ACGME...so far, I see NO benefit in the changes, but we shall see! Oh, well. I've got lemons...now I need to make more lemon bars... ;-) ... and trust that God will give me the energy and wisdom I need to best take care of my patients while also sharing His grace and love to those I meet! Has life handed you some lemons? Make these! I promise...they're GREAT!

Lemon Bars from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter/margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
5 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind (the zest...it's the best!)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (6 tablespoons) lemon juice
powdered sugar to garnish

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the flour, sugar, butter, and vanilla until well blended. Pat into a 13 X 9 pan that has been greased. Place pan in oven and bake for 18 minutes or until golden crust.

Combine sugar and cornstarch, mix. Add eggs, zest, and lemon juice; beat well. Pour this over the baked crust. Bake in the 350 oven for 20-25 minutes or until set (I had to bake about 30-35minutes). Cool completely then chill.

When ready to serve, sift powdered sugar on top. If desired cut into decorative shapes with cookie cutters. Enjoy!!!

The Candy (Doc) Man Can

2011-08-27T08:00:00.001-05:00

Do y'all know that song? The Candyman Can? It's from Willie Wonka. :-) The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

We had to make two different kinds of candy, one of which had to involved tempered chocolate. Sooo, off I went in search of candy recipes.

I found one here for homemade butterfingers. Um, yes please! I'm not so sure if the butterfinger part actually came out like it was supposed to. It tasted good but the texture was...hard. Interestingly enough, they were easier to bite straight out of the refrigerator. Once they warmed up some, not only did the chocolate start melting, but it was nearly impossible to bite. I'm not sure of the mechanism of that...but it happened! That just meant that I couldn't take it to share with anyone else...too bad. Ha! I chose to use the tempering method of melting the chocolate and then cooling it with unmelted chocolate. It was fairly simple...except that my candy thermometer didn't measure low enough, so I had to guess as to when the chocolate was at the correct temperature. I think it still worked well!

My next candy was the Southern classic...divinity! My dad suggested this one when I visited them, and I decided it would be fun to try. Of course, Mississippi in the summer is almost always humid, and divinity is a very stubborn candy! Thankfully, it decided to work the day I decided to make it. The recipe I used came from Southern Sideboards. As much as I've heard about divinity, this actually was fairly simple. The one thing that wasn't clear was how long to whip the completed mixture at the end.

The recipe said until the glossy mixture becomes dull...hmmm. So, I checked with some recipes online and found one that said the most common mistake is not whipping long enough. It suggested 10-15 minutes...so I did about 15. By that time the mixture was definitely "dull." Oh goodness!!! Divinity...ssoooooo good! I took them to my clinic this past Thursday, and when I walked it one of the nurses said "Oh! I was just saying I wanted something sweet! These are just perfect." I felt like it was pretty sweet, but everyone who tried them said that they were great and NOT too sweet. YAY! Thanks for the challenge this month. It was a fun one!

Butterfinger Candy adapted from Not Without Salt
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
⅓ cup light corn syrup
½ cup water

Butter an 8-inch square pan then set aside. In a small, microwave-safe bowl combine the peanut butter, vanilla, and salt. Set that aside.

In a very clean medium saucepan combine the sugar, corn syrup and water. Using clean hands combine those ingredients and remove any grains of sugar left on the sides of the pan with your fingers and a bit more water. On medium-high heat cook the sugar until it reaches 290*, just under hard crack. While the sugar cooks warm the peanut butter mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds to keep warm. This is important...I forgot to do this and it made the mixture firm up too quickly!

Once the sugar has reached 290* quickly add the peanut butter mixture and stir to combine. The mixture thickens quickly so once combined immediately put the mixture in the buttered pan. Let cool for about 7 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cut into desired shaped pieces. After you temper the chocolate, dip the pieces in the chocolate and allow to drip and set up on a cooling rack with waxed paper underneath. Keep in refrigerator.

To temper chocolate:
Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over boiling water (double boiler) until it reaches 45°C / 113°F. Remove from heat and add tempered un-melted chocolate and stir until it brings the temperature down to 27°C/80.6°F. Then place the mixture back over heat and bring to its working temperature of 32°C/30°C/29°C /// 89.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depending on the chocolate you’re using (dark/milk/white). Now use it for molding, dipping and coating.

Divinity from Southern Sideboards (recipe halved)
1/2 cup boiling water
3/8 cup (slightly less than 1/2 cup) light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
pinch salt
1 egg white
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cook water, corn syrup and sugar to 234 F (soft ball stage). Meanwhile, whip egg white until starting to fluff. Add half of the mixture a tablespoon at a time, beating constantly. Continue to cook the remaining syrup until it is 270 F (crack stage). Pour the syrup into egg mixture and continue beating on high. Beat until "gloss changes to dull." This is about 15 minutes. Fold in pecans and vanilla. Drop by spoonful onto waxed paper. Do this quickly. This makes about 24 pieces.

Good Old Days

2011-08-22T23:30:00.000-05:00

I had my 10 year high school reunion this weekend. I know, I know....that is not that long, but it just makes me feel old! However, after going I've come to realize that ten years REALLY isn't all that long! Most of us looked pretty much the same as we did in high school (senior awards night)

...and all of the high school "groups" were still in order! It was almost funny! We had Friday night in the cafeteria (that was interesting) and seeing all the same groups sitting together at our old cafeteria tables was kind of funny. Everyone made a comment about it! After that dinner, we went to the football game.

For all of you who may be like one of my best friends' husband...there are, indeed, high schools like Friday Night Lights! My high school is one of them...football is HUGE!! Unfortunately, our game Friday was pitiful...but we were still jumping up and down at the end of the game when we finally scored to make it 35-7! Woo Hoo! Anyway, Saturday night was at the local ag museum...a cool place for a party when the band isn't too loud. Unfortunately, we couldn't really hear anything other than the band; so, about half of us ended up outside for a while. Still it was good seeing people. Just with that more people had been able to come...sure missed Katherine!

These cookies are kind of a flash back for me, too. My aunt used to make these WONDERFUL cookies when I was growing up. I thought they were the BEST...and we pulled them out of her monk cookie jar! Such fun.

Turns out...they were just cake mix cookies. I have a typical cake mix cookie recipe that I use, but the Southern Living book has a slightly different version. These were good, I thought, but I do think that I prefer my typical version. But who can resist a cake mix cookie? Not many! Enjoy!

Cake Mix Cookies from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1 box cake mix (I used butter pecan...called for chocolate)
1 egg
1/2 container thawed cool whip (oops! I used the whole thing, just saw that it said half!)
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

Combine first three ingredients...will be sticky! Stir in pecans. Preheat oven to 350. Shape dough into balls and roll in the powdered sugar. Place on baking stones. Bake in preheated over for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven then remove cookies from sheet to cooling rack. Enjoy!

Done!

2011-08-17T23:13:00.000-05:00

I am DONE!!! Done with my nights for this month of ER, that is. I still have a full month of nights next month, but for now, I'm glad to be back to the real world. I decided that I kind of like working at night but that it makes me miss the rest of life. I am very isolated to work and my apartment...pretty much nothing else. THAT I don't like! So, though I'd be willing to do a night here and there, I think I'll stick to working during the day time for now. Guess that's one of my preferences to pay attention to when searching for a job after my chief resident year.

Per usual, in the midst of all that goes on I am still working through the Southern Living Cookie cookbook. A couple of months ago, I made these raspberry swirl cookies. Wasn't really expecting a lot, but I totally enjoyed them. It combines some great flavors...shortbread cookie, raspberry, and walnuts! They were also surprisingly easy to make. Just be patient with waiting for the dough to firm. So good!

Raspberry Swirl Cookies from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Beat butter until creamy, gradually add sugar and beat well. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and gradually add to butter mixture. Wrap dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. When ready, roll dough into 12 X 9 rectangle. Combine jam and nuts and spread evenly over dough, leaving a 1/2 inch margin. Roll dough jelly roll style and pinch edge closed. Wrap dough and freeze until firm.

Preheat oven to 375. Unwrap dough and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place on cooking stones or sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool for 1 minute on baking sheet and then remove to cooling rack. Enjoy!

Help! I'm Stuffed!

2011-08-11T15:46:00.002-05:00

Went to see The Help yesterday with a friend. It was good; made me want to re-read the book. It was also really neat to see some of the locations that I see daily on the movie screen! Yep, any of the town scenes that you saw were my neck of the woods; I see those places, albeit changed some to make it more appropriate for the time of the move, daily. After the movie, we went back to K's house and went swimming. Despite the water being 94 degrees it was still enjoyable. After that, I decided to come home and make stuffed eggplant. I must admit, some of my inspiration came from Meghann, but I have always wanted to try this.

OH! It is SOOO good! The total recipe probably takes about 40 minutes but hands on time is only about 15 minutes.

I chose to have a completely veggie filling, but you could easily add some ground meat, shredded chicken, shrimp, tofu, tempeh, etc. You could even add beans (I almost did this) or couscous, tabouleh, bulgher...the possibilities are endless! Please, just try it! I don't think you'll regret it!

Stuffed Eggplant
1 eggplant (the big, fat, purple kind)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
1 small zucchini, cut in half moons
1 yellow squash, cut in small squares
1 can diced tomatoes with basil (Italian style)
Italian blend cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut eggplant in half. Scoop out the center meat of the eggplant.

Chop this and put it in a skillet. Season the flesh of the eggplant halves (I used garlic and herb Mrs. Dash) and place in oven. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook remaining eggplant meat, onions, pepper, squash, garlic, and zucchini in a skillet until softened. This took about 12-13 minutes for me. Season with Cavenders and Mrs. Dash. A couple of minutes before the eggplant halves come out of the oven, add the diced tomatoes.

Remove eggplant halves from the oven. Fill with veggie mixture. This used about half of mine. Top with cheese. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is browned. Use remaining filling for whatever repurposed meal you choose! Enjoy!

Gone and Back

2011-08-09T20:55:00.000-05:00

Sorry for my absence. Last week my computer kept freezing...turned out my hard drive was bad. Then I couldn't find my system discs before I went home. So I was without my computer and pictures (thankfully, my external drive did back everything up like it said it did) for about a week. But things seem to be working right now...though I did just notice that there are some pics I don't have because I didn't back up since I put them on the computer. Hope I have them on my phone!

This recipe is from a LONG way back! I remembered from Thanksgivings past that my grandmother make a chocolate pound cake and my cousins seemed to really like it. I decided that it would be fun to make her cake for dessert this year. It is a true pound cake with lots of butter and eggs, but it's good. The chocolate is a very light flavor, but it works well. Everyone enjoyed it but I'm not sure if they realized that it was Granny's pound cake. Oh, well! I still enjoyed making it...it's always fun to make things that relatives have made in the past.

Granny's Chocolate Pound Cake
2 sticks butter (oleo!)
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 tablespoon vanilla
5 eggs
3 cups flour
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) cocoa
12 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325. Cream together butter, sugar, shortening and vanilla.

When creamed well, add in the five eggs.

Sift dry ingredients together. Add flour to sugar mixture alternating with milk (dry, milk, dry, milk, dry). Pour into prepared 10 inch tube pan.

Bake for 1 1/4 hours or until done. Enjoy!

Shower Perfect

2011-07-31T19:44:00.000-05:00

It seems that people everywhere are having babies, taking care of their children, adopting children, etc. Well, I guess that would be an obvious statement! But really, there are many bloggers out there who are expecting, some quite soon! :-) Last year, the pediatric department had a baby boom of our own. We like any excuse to have a party, so there were quite a few baby showers! When I got the Southern Living Cookie cookbook, there were a couple of recipes that looked perfect for a shower.

In May, I had the chance to make one of those when we had a shower for Whitney (who has now given birth to Mr. Hudson). These turned out great! They were light and airy with just the perfect citrus flavor. I love these kind of desserts simply because of the crust; unfortunately, I overbaked this one just a bit. If given more time, I could have dressed these up a bit, but May was a busy month. These would be perfect at any shower, but especially if the gender of the baby is unknown or secret...green is such a great neutral color! Check this one out!

Key Lime Bars with Macadamia Crust from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts
7 tablespoons butter, cut
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Key lime juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons Key lime juice
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
food coloring - optional, I did use it
2 1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped (pretty sure I used only 2 cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13X9 pan with aluminum foil. Blend flour, brown sugar, nuts, butter, and salt in a food processor until nuts are ground. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 18 minutes or until just golden. Cool.

Place sugar and 1/2 cup lime juice in a sauce pan until sugar dissolves. Remove and set aside. Sprinkle gelatin over the 2 T lime juice and let sit for 3-5 minutes. Combine these two and stir until gelatin dissolves. Whisk in sweetened condensed milk. If using food coloring add 1 drop green and 3 drops yellow (I think I ended up adding an extra green drop!). Place the bowl containing this mixture into a large bowl filled with ice and whisk for 10 minutes or until beginning to set.

Whip cream. Then fold lime mixture into whipped cream. Pour this over the baked, cooled crust and chill in refrigerator for 8 hours. When ready to serve, lift carefully out of pan and cut into desired shape. Enjoy!

Third Time's a Charm

2011-07-27T09:00:00.002-05:00

When the Daring Baker Challenge was announced for this month, I thought it would be something fun to try...but I didn't have any "event" to take it to. Then, I figured, why do I need an event? I'll just take it to work and share with everyone there. Um, by the end of the day, the whole thing was gone! I think it was a success.

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine. I used one of my days off to make this. All in all it did not take that long...except that I had to make the pastry cream THREE times! All of this was my fault, though.

The first time, I uses WAY too much water (didn't realize there was a defined measurement) in the gelatin. Yeah, that "cream" became SOUP! The second time, I was ready to be done, and didn't wait for the hot custard to cool before adding the whipped cream. That caused the cream to deflate and it was just too thin to hold up. Third time, I followed the directions (almost) completely...I didn't use a double boiler! It worked this time. There is a REASON why certain things are done certain ways!!!

Anyway, it ended in a beautiful frasier that everyone enjoyed. I think I'd do something like this again, though I must admit...my favorite part of this is the VERY top part of the cake where it has soaked up the simple syrup and soaked in the cream. Soft and sweet! YES! Thanks for a great challenge.

Basic Chiffon Cake:

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks (save the whites!)
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to moderate 325°F (160°C/gas mark 3). Prepare a springform pan...do not spray the sides!

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons (45 ml.) of sugar, and all of the salt. Stir to combine. In a small bowl combine the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla. Whisk thoroughly. Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly for about one minute, or until very smooth.

Put the egg whites into a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed using a whisk attachment until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat on a medium speed until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until the whites hold firm and form shiny peaks. Using a grease free rubber spatula, scoop about ⅓ of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently. Gently fold in the remaining whites just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack. Unmold the cake by running a knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan and remove the spring form sides. Invert the cake and peel off the parchment paper if used. Refrigerate for up to four days.

Pastry Cream Filling:

1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon (1/2 ml) (¼ gm) salt, preferably kosher
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (10 gm)cornstarch
1/4 cup (60 ml) (2 oz/55 gm) sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (1 oz/30 gm) unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon (3¾ ml) (4 gm) gelatin
1/2 tablespoon (7½ ml) water
1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) heavy cream

Pour the milk, vanilla, and salt into a heavy sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat and scald, bringing it to a near boiling point. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a stand mixer add the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk to combine Add the eggs to the sugar and cornstarch and whisk until smooth. When the milk is ready, gently and slowly while the stand mixer is whisking, pour the heated milk down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture. Pour the mixture back into the warm pot and continue to cook over a medium heat until the custard is thick, just about to boil and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Allow to cool for ten minutes stirring occasionally. Cut the butter into four pieces and whisk into the pastry cream a piece at a time until smooth.

Cover the cream with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for up to five days.

In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand for a few minutes to soften. Put two inches (55 mm) of water into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Measure 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 ml) of the chilled pastry cream into a small stainless steel bowl that will sit across the sauce pan with the simmering water, without touching the water. Heat the cream until it is 120 F (48.8 C). Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from the water bath, and whisk the remaining cold pastry cream in to incorporate in two batches. (I acutally heated in the microwave!!!)

In a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Immediately fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula.

Simple Syrup
1/3 cup (2⅔ fl oz/80 ml) (2⅔ oz/75 gm) of sugar, flavored or white
1/3 cup (2⅔ fl oz/80 ml) of water

Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Stirring is not necessary, but will not harm the syrup. Remove the syrup from the heat and cool slightly. Transfer syrup to a lidded container or jar that can be stored in the refrigerator. Simple syrup can be stored for up to one month.

Assembly of Frasier

Line the sides of a spring form pan with plastic wrap. Do not line the bottom of the pan. Cut the cake in half horizontally to form two layers. Fit the bottom layer into the prepared spring form pan. Moisten the layer evenly with the simple syrup. When the cake has absorbed enough syrup to resemble a squishy sponge, you have enough.

Hull and slice in half enough strawberries to arrange around the sides of the cake pan. Place the cut side of the strawberry against the sides of the pan, point side up forming a ring. Pipe cream in-between strawberries and a thin layer across the top of the cake. Hull and quarter your remaining strawberries and place them in the middle of the cake. Cover the strawberries and entirely with the all but 1 tbsp. (15 ml) of the pastry cream. Place the second cake layer on top and moisten with the simple syrup. Dust the top with powdered sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To serve release the sides of the spring form pan and peel away the plastic wrap. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Enjoy!

Changing Things Up

2011-07-25T14:21:00.000-05:00

Today would normally be my Eat. Live. Be. post. Outside of last Monday, I have posted every Monday since the first one of the year. That is seven months of Monday posts. I do like having some sort of event making me post. However, I think all of us Eat. Live. Be-ers are running out of steam. So, we're changing things up! Instead of weekly posts, we will be doing monthly posts. Hopefully, that doesn't mean my posts will be less...it just means they will occur on different days.

If you'll remember, my goal was to cook at least twice a month. I did a pretty good job through May, but last month just caught up with me...and this month, well, let's just say that I finally had a day off where the whole day was a "me" day. I have made a yummy looking veggie/pasta salad that I'll be sharing with you soon...it's just too good to keep to myself! Maybe I'll even make something else a little later before I go to my church's prayer conference. THAT is a refreshing thing in the middle of my busy NICU month...my LAST NICU month. I'm kind of sad about that, will miss those sweet babies. I've had several people say maybe I should just do NICU, but I feel like I'd miss those sweet toddlers and five year-olds, too. Guess I like to change things up!

Anyway, I made this dish a couple of months ago. It was pretty good but I didn't have any curry paste; so, I changed things up and just used dried curry powder. Unfortunately, the tomatoes that I used were spicy, so I couldn't really taste the curry. Overall, it was a tasty dish. Miss Rachael Ray did a good job on this one. She served it with lemon rice, but I used couscous.

Eggplant Chickpea Curry adapted from Rachael Ray
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium eggplant, peeled and chopped
1 squash, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced and quartered
1 (14-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
1 (15-ounce) can chick peas, drained
Salt and pepper
1.5-2 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup chicken stock
2 green onions, sliced

Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Add onion, garlic, eggplant and bell pepper. Cover and cook stirring occasionally 7 to 8 minutes until tender. Uncover and add the tomatoes, chick peas, salt, pepper, curry powder and remaining 1 cup chicken stock. Simmer 6 to 7 minutes longer. Top with green onion and serve over rice or cousous.

Blueberry Banana Bread

2011-07-21T21:08:00.000-05:00

Wow! Sorry I missed my last Eat. Live. Be. post. I just couldn't post. I left work late because I had to stay and put a chest tube in one of my patients and then compile some information for research I'm doing. Then I had call Tuesday night...super busy! There were FOUR deliveries requiring NICU attendance between 1230 and 4am. Needless to say, on Wednesday, I crashed. And now, it is Thursday! A couple of weeks ago, I had some leftover bananas to use. I saw this recipe for a while wheat, blueberry banana bread and decided to try it. Oh, and did I mention that it uses olive oil?

Little did I realize that this recipe was from Ari, formerly of Baking and Books! Such fun to find an old favorite in a new place. :-) The bread was great. Not overly sweet but just perfect. Also a plus was that it COOKED through. I have issues with banana bread in my oven but this one worked. The only advice I would give is to eat it quickly, share it, or freeze if you can't finish in a few days. I think the addition of the blueberries makes it get sticky/friendly more quickly than usual. Thanks for a great recipe, Ari!

Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Bread adapted from Ari at Sweet Happy Life
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
■1/2 cup olive oil, I used about 1/3 cup
■1/2 cup light brown sugar
■1/4 cup granulated white sugar
■1 cup whole wheat flour*
■1/2 cup all-purpose flour
■2 large eggs
■1 teaspoon baking soda
■1 teaspoon salt
■1/2 cup mashed bananas (about 1 large banana)
■1 cup yogurt, I used fat free
■1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
■1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen but fresh is better)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine the olive oil, sugars, eggs, bananas, yogurt and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix until just combined, then fold in the blueberries. (If you REALLY want to be good, mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl before mixing into the we ingredients.)

Pour the batter into your pan. Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, mine took full time. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out on a rack to cool. Enjoy!

That is SOOOOO good!

2011-07-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

As someone who loves to share my cooking, this is something that I LOVE to hear! I think everyone needs to hear compliments every so often. It helps us to feel good, confirms we are doing what we should, and, in a way, helps keep us humble. Today, for Eat. Live. Be., we are supposed to talk about compliments were have received.

One of my favorite compliments, one I will probably always remember, was a simple one that occurred on my birthday of my freshman year in college. I was in the cafeteria and one of the guys I knew from church, a senior friend saw me. He just simply looked at me and said "Claire, you look beautiful today." Now, people will say, "Awww, you look so pretty," or "Your dress is so cute," etc.; but for some reason, hearing "beautiful" made a big difference...it made my day! And this guy is one of the most genuine people you will meet; his comment was simple a superficial one, it meant more...and it has stuck with me!

On the other hand, the compliments that have meant most to me recently relate to my job. When parents tell you that they appreciate the care that you have provided their child, that they would recommend you to their friends, it really humbles you. In a way, those are hard compliments to accept; it is my JOB to take care of children; it is what I'm called to do. I'm called to do the best I can and to do all to the glory of God. Yet, to the families of the children that I take care of, it is a BIG DEAL! I think that, in a way, I will always feel uncomfortable when I receive those compliments, and I don't think that is a bad thing. If I get used to it, I'm becoming prideful and (pardon the Souther phrase) "too big for my britches!" What compliments have meant a lot to you? Are there any compliments that remind you of what you are supposed to be doing?

On the other hand, when someone tells me that what I have made is SOOO good...it does make me smile! I like it! This is another treat I made a couple of months ago for call. It's one of those yummy bars that uses sweetened condensed milk (YES!!!) and has a great oat crust (YES again!!!). Add dark chocolate M&M's to that...you've got a winner. And, yes, it's from my Souther Living Cookie cookbook. Try it!

Oat Candy Bars from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups M&M's, divided
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 375. Combine oats, flour, sugar, pecans, soda, and salt - mix well. Add melted butter and stir well until mixed and crumbly. Resever 1 1/2 cups of mixture. Press remaining crumbs into a 15 X 10 jelly roll pan. I put aluminum foil in the bottom of my pan and then spray with cooking spray. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Cool. Reduce heat in oven to 350.

Place 1 cup M&Ms in bowl and microwave for 1 minute; stir after 30 seconds. Break candy with the back of a spoon. Stir in sweetened condensed milk. Spread this over the baked crust with 1/2 inch border on the sides.

Combine the 1/2 cup M&Ms remaining with the rest of the crumbs. Sprinkle this evenly over the bars and press in slightly. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden. Cool completely and then cut into bar. Enjoy!

Freedom and Blueberries

2011-07-04T21:00:00.001-05:00

Happy July 4th! I hope that everyone has had a great day! I came home from call and took a nap and then just relaxed at home. I have a recipe for blueberry bread pudding to share,

but first Eat. Live. Be. Today for Eat. Live. Be. we are supposed to talk about what we can't live without. There are a lot of things I could think of to say but, in reality, I could live without them. Today we celebrate the freedom that we enjoy in our country, and I am SO thankful and blessed to be living here, for the freedom we have, and for those who serve to protect that freedom. But there is a greater freedom that I am more thankful for...that I could not live without, that is the freedom from sin that we are given through Jesus Christ if we but believe that He is our only hope. Yes, this is a great country and we are given many freedoms, but all of us sin. The cost of that, in the end, is death. However, through the sacrifice Jesus offerred to ALL of us on the cross with His death, we can experience freedom from the cost of sin and have LIFE! It doesn't come from anything I can do or you can do; that's not enough! Freedom come through believing that Jesus lives and gave Himself so that we can live.

A week ago, we had a going away party for one of my dear friends who is going to spend the next two years in Africa sharing that gift of life and freedom. I will miss her SO much!

As odd as it sounds...we had a fiesta for her (before going to Africa); but, she teaches Spanish, so it was appropriate! I took a bean and avacado salad that was pretty good, but ended up getting a little grainy overnight. I guess the dressing didn't work well with the beans; I think they burst open leading to the graininess. BUT, in honor of our country's birthday I share with you the dessert that I took. I had a lot of blueberries leftover from a visit to Sam's Club and decided to use them in a yummy blueberry bread pudding by Emeril.

I have never made bread pudding in dessert form and decided that this was the perfect opportunity. It turned out great! I left with an empty dish...which is how I like it. I was surprised how quickly it came together. I only let it soak for an hour. Most recipes I've seen have called for an overnight soak.

The only thing that I noticed was that I could not tell there were white chocolate chips in the pudding. They just melted into the dessert. I feel like a white chocoalte sauce might have been better. All in all, though, it was great! This is my entry for Lisa's Sweets for a Saturday.

Blueberry Bread Pudding adapted from Emeril Lagasse from Food Network
4 large eggs
1 cups half and half
3 cups milk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 cups 1/2-inch cubes day-old bread
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the cream, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Add the bread, chocolate, blueberries, and dried blueberries and stir well, then mix in the melted butter. Let sit for 30 minutes (I did it for an hours) so the bread will absorb the egg mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray a 10X14 baking dish. Pour into the prepared dish. Bake until firm when pressed in the center, about 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack until just warm, about 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Sarah Caron - http://www.sarahscucinabella.com/
•Cate O’Malley - http://www.sweetnicks.com/
•Chris Arpante - http://www.melecotte.com/
•Patsy - http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/
Joanne - http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/
Tri-Fit Mom - http://trifitmom.blogspot.com/
•Allison - http://sweetflours.blogspot.com/
Jen - http://njepicurean.blogspot.com/
•Leslie - http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/
•Rivki Locker - http://www.healthyeatingforordinarypeople.com/
•Jennifer Schulz - http://lick-a-plate.blogspot.com/
•Sarah Rogers - http://sarahssweetcreations.blogspot.com/
Denise and Lenny - http://www.chezus.com/

It's Greek to Me!

2011-06-27T18:49:00.001-05:00

Ever since I have been a Daring Baker, I wanted to make baklava...never did I think that would mean making my own filo dough. However, that was what we were called to do this month...and it was SO worth it! Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge.

Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava. Rolling out the filo was quite the experience. It was actually fairly easy...but very time consuming. I used my regular rolling pin and lots of flour on top of my coffee table. It took about an hour to roll out 20 sheets. The next day, it only took me about 5 seconds to realize why my thumbs were sore and why I had bruises on my knees...rolling out the dough while kneeling on the floor! HA!

I decided to do a pretty traditional baklava and used almonds, pistachios, and walnuts for my filling. The syrup was REALLY sweet, a bit too sweet for me. However, all my co-workers thought it was just right...I still think I might decrease the sugar in the syrup next time. Not quite all of it was absorbed, but it wasn't as drenched as I thought. There was some sitting on top of the baklava, but when I pulled the pieces out, they were perfect and didn't have a lake of syrup sitting underneath. I took the results to work the next day.

One of my co-workers, whose mother also makes baklava, told me that it was very good and tasted authentic! YES!!! On the other hand, my program director...after getting frustrated with paperwork stuff was told to "just go get a piece of baklava." His response when told that I brought it...."Hmmm, yeah, she looks Greek." WHAT!?!??! You never know the response you'll get from people! In the end, it's all Greek to me. Thanks to Erica for the AWESOME challenge! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Dough Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups (320 ml) (185 gm/6½ oz) unbleached all purpose (plain) flour
1/8 teaspoon (2/3 ml) (¾ gm) salt
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) rice vinegar

Directions:
In the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour and salt and mix with paddle attachment. Combine water, oil and vinegar in a small bowl. Add to dry ingredients and mix on low speed until you get a soft dough, if it appears dry add a little more water. Change to the dough hook and let knead approximately 10 minutes. You will end up with beautiful smooth dough. If you are kneading by hand, knead approx. 20 minutes.

Remove the dough from mixer and continue to knead for 2 more minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard on the counter a few times during the kneading process. Shape the dough into a ball and lightly cover with oil. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest 30-90 minutes, longer is best ( I let mine rest 2 hours and it was perfect)

Rolling your Phyllo: ** Remove all rings and jewelry so it does not snag the dough**
Use whatever means you have to get the dough as thin as you can. Use your rolling pin or a wooden dowel. You may also use a pasta machine if you have one. Unwrap your dough and cut off a chunk slightly larger then a golf ball. While you are rolling be sure to keep the other dough covered so it doesn’t dry out. Be sure to flour your hands, rolling pin and counter. As you roll you will need to keep adding, don’t worry, you can’t over-flour. Roll out the dough a bit to flatten it out. Roll quickly, rotating the dough as you go and repeat until it is as thin as you can it. Don’t worry if you get rips in the dough, as long as you have one perfect one for the top you will never notice.

When you get it as thin as you can with the rolling pin, carefully pick it up with well floured hands and stretch it on the backs of your hands as you would a pizza dough, just helps make it that much thinner. I didn't do this, as my dough was pretty dry and would have broken. Roll out your dough until it is transparent. NOTE: you will not get it as thin as the frozen phyllo dough you purchase at the store, it is made by machine. Set aside on a well-floured surface. Repeat the process until your dough is used up. Between each sheet again flower well. You will not need to cover your dough with a wet cloth, as you do with boxed dough, it is moist enough that it will not try out.
Baklava Recipe: Adapted from Alton Brown, The Food Network
30 servings

Ingredients

For the syrup:
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) honey
1 1/4 cups (300ml) water
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 (2-inch/50 mm) piece fresh citrus peel (lemon or orange work best) - I used orange extract

When you put your baklava in the oven start making your syrup. When you combine the two, one of them needs to be hot, I find it better when the baklava is hot and the syrup has cooled

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a medium pot over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until sugar has dissolved. Boil for 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Once boiled for 10 minutes remove from heat and strain cinnamon stick and lemon, allow to cool as baklava cooks.

Ingredients for the Filling:

2 teaspoons (10 ml) (8 gm) ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) almonds
3/4 cup (180 ml) (155 gm/5½ oz) walnuts
1 cup (180 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) raw or roasted pistachios
2/3 cup (160 ml) (150 gm/ 5 1/3 oz) sugar
phyllo dough (see recipe above)
1 cup (2 sticks) (240 ml) (225g/8 oz) melted butter (I used about 3/4 cup)

Directions:
Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.

Combine nuts, sugar and spices in a food processor and pulse on high until finely chopped. If you do not have a food processor chop with a sharp knife as fine as you can.

Brush bottom of pan with butter and place first phyllo sheet. Brush the first phyllo sheet with butter and repeat approximately 5 times ending with butter. (Most recipes say more, but homemade phyllo is thicker so it's not needed). Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top. Continue layering and buttering phyllo 5 more times. On the top layer, make sure you have a piece of phyllo with no holes if possible, just looks better. Once you have applied the top layer tuck in all the edges to give a nice appearance.

With a Sharp knife cut your baklava in desired shapes and number of pieces. If you can't cut all the ways through don’t worry you will cut again later. A 9x9 pan cuts nicely into 30 pieces. Then brush with a generous layer of butter making sure to cover every area and edge. Bake for approximately 30 minutes; remove from oven and cut again this time all the way through. Continue baking for another 30 minutes. (Oven temperatures will vary, you are looking for the top to be a golden brown, take close watch yours may need more or less time in the oven)

When baklava is cooked remove from oven and pour the cooled (will still be warmish) syrup evenly over the top, taking care to cover all surfaces when pouring.

It looks like it is a lot but over night the syrup will soak into the baklava creating a beautifully sweet and wonderfully textured baklava!

Allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled cover and store at room temperature. Allow the baklava to sit overnight to absorb the syrup. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!

Egg Sammy

2011-06-22T20:08:00.000-05:00

I know that I've said it many times before, but I must say it again...I love eggs! Yes, sometimes I feel like making eggs is a cop out when it comes to cooking. However, you can change things up and make something new and fresh depending on what you pair the lowly egg with. Last month, I really wanted eggs but had some avacado that I wanted to use as well.

What else? Hmmm...how about a Southwest egg sammich!? So, I toasted a bagel thin, scrambled some egg white and build my sandwich. Oh...it was SO good! It was just what the doctor ordered. ;-)

Egg Sandwich
Your choice of bread (bagel, English muffin, biscuit, etc.)
Scrambled egg/egg white (or cooked in your favorite manner, fried or poached would be good, too)
tomato
avacado
Laughing Cow cheese

Toast bread. Meanwhile, cook the egg to your desired doneness. Spread cheese on your bread. Place the egg on the bread. Top with tomato and then avacado. ENJOY!!

Happy...What Makes me So?

2011-06-20T19:40:00.000-05:00

What makes you happy? That is what we are talking about this week on Eat. Live. Be.

What makes you happy?! Wow! Well, I can tell you one thing for sure...spending time with my family! When I am with them, I am so relaxed. I am myself. Some people who don't really know me would be surprised! Unfortunately, with my work schedule, I don't get to spend that much time with them (was sad I had to miss the family reunion for my mom's side this year). The one thing that I make a priority is Thanksgiving...every year, I have requested vacation at that time.

It is when my family (dad's side) gets together. Really important for me. Time with friends also makes me happy! This past weekend, I went to Memphis to see Beauty and the Beast with S.

We love going to musicals - there are more to come! Last week, I went bowling and then to yogurt with friends. Yes, I had to work the next day...and yes, I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted...but it was fun, needed, and made me happy! Going to church is another thing that makes me happy and is VITAL in my life. I don't get to go as often as I'd like due to working (yes, children DO get sick and need hospital care on Sunday!) but when I can, I go. Being taught from God's Word and fellowship with other Christians is really important for my attitude and relationship with Christ. The more I get to go, the more joy-filled I am. This helps me in times when I am NOT happy as well. Remember what I've been given, Who I am living for, and what He has called me to do - glorify Him with all I have with joy. It is easier to be happy when I remember this.

AAAANNNNNDDDD...cooking! I love it, really. I bake fairly often and take it to share with my co-workers. I love sharing my cooking with others.

It makes me happy to see them enjoy it. It makes me happy to bring home an empty container. What makes YOU happy? See if baking these cookies will help! I made them last month for one of our calls. Unfortunately, I ran out of hazelnuts, so some didn't get coated in the toasted nuts.

Surprisingly, it really did make a difference. Though both versions were good, the coated ones were better! But really, what Nutella based cookies wouldn't be good!? Try them, they'll at least make your taste buds happy!

Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
13 ounces chocolate-hazelnut spread (Nutella)
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
2 cups finely chopped hazelnuts (yes, you really need all these!)
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Toast nuts for 5-10 minutes and cool. Raise oven temp to 375. Cream Nutella (or other hazelnut spread) and shortening. Add sugar, mixing well. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until blended. Combine the dry ingredients together. mix into the Nutella mixture alternating with milk (dry - milk - dry - milk - dry). Stir in 1/2 cup hazelnuts. Scoop the dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in chopped hazelnuts and then in powdered sugar. Place on a baking sheet or stone. Place stone in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until set. Allow to cool for 2 minutes then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Soreness Can Be Good

2011-06-13T20:51:00.000-05:00

My legs hurt! Instead of just doing my typical elliptical and stair stepper work out on Saturday, I decided to throw a little twist on things and actually run a mile on the track. I used to run four miles about three times a week, but randomly one day my knee started KILLING me...seriously, I was just getting something out of the fridge and it just started hurting. No pop, no twinge, no nothing...just hurt.

Ever since then I haven't been able to run consistently because my knee would start "talking" to me. I really enjoyed running (and actually had a pretty good pace, though I wouldn't have been able to keep it up!) and miss doing it. Saturday was really nice but today I am realizing how different running is from ellipticating! My legs hurt (not my knee!), my back hurts, even my arms a little bit! But it is good! Hopefully, I'll be able to run again soon...maybe more this week. So, what does this have to do with food?

Nothing really, but it does have to do with Eat. Live. Be. This week we are talking about what healthy tip we have come upon recently. Saturday made me realize how important changing things up is! I do a good job at being consistent in exercise, but I'm TOO consistent. I do the same thing basically, just rotating my times and programs used. If you really want your body to continue to respond or just to challenge yourself, you've got to change things up every once in a while....make it difficult on yourself! I was definitely breathing hard at the end of that mile. You'll never know what you can do unless you change things up! I even changed things up last month when I made TWO chocolate based cookies.

As I said in my last post, I'm not the biggest chocolate fan...but these cookies! OH...DIVINE (notice the correct spelling, Daddy!). I will warn you that these cookies are a bit messy to make as you have to wrap them around a chocolate covered caramel (Rolo is what I used) BUT it is SOOOO worth it. I honestly thing that having the caramel be chocolate covered makes a big difference. It adds a third texture to the mix. If you like turtle chocolates, you'll love these cookies! Please make them and enjoy!!!

Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon sugar
1 package chocolate covered chewy caramels

Bean butter until creamy then add sugars. Beat well. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in all dry ingredients (flour, soda, cocoa). Chill for 2 hours or more. Preheat oven to 375. When ready, unwrap the caramels (you should need about 48) then combine pecans and tablespoon of sugar. Pull off a piece of dough (about tablespoon sized). Working quickly, wrap dough around the unwrapped caramel. Dip the top of the dough into pecan mixture and place ball, pecan side up on a baking sheet or stone. Place stone in oven and bake for 8 minutes. Cool for 1 minute on sheet and then remove to cooling rack to completely cool. **Be sure to place the remaining dough back in the fridge while these are cooking. Enjoy!!!

Sarah Caron - http://www.sarahscucinabella.com/
•Cate O’Malley - http://www.sweetnicks.com/
•Chris Arpante - http://www.melecotte.com/
•Patsy - http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/
Joanne - http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/
Tri-Fit Mom - http://trifitmom.blogspot.com/
•Allison - http://sweetflours.blogspot.com/
Jen - http://njepicurean.blogspot.com/
•Leslie - http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/
•Rivki Locker - http://www.healthyeatingforordinarypeople.com/
•Jennifer Schulz - http://lick-a-plate.blogspot.com/
•Sarah Rogers - http://sarahssweetcreations.blogspot.com/
Denise and Lenny - http://www.chezus.com/

Much More Pleasant

2011-06-11T20:24:00.000-05:00

Starting July 1st, all medical residents have new work hour rules. A big side of me is concerned that this could lead to more mistakes because of unfamiliarity with the patients and a decrease is experience. Interns (first years) can no longer take overnight call and are limited to 16 hours of work at a time. While I do think that this will make exhaustion less likely, I also think that it takes away many learning opportunities.

dartmed.dartmouth.edu

Overnight call is where you learn the most, where you are forced to make decisions and become confident in what you are doing. In the NICU, overnight is actually when more deliveries occur. Will we end up with interns who haven't had the change to do delivery intubations and put umbilical lines in? Maybe, I don't know! However, I after coming off a call month and starting a ward-like month (a busy one at that - heme/onc!) but without overnight call, I have come to a conclusion. I am a MUCH more pleasant person when I do not have call. So, although, there are downsides to the new duty hours there are positives! I think you will see more pleasant and happy residents...at least I hope.

What makes you more pleasant? Sleep? Family? Exercise? Friends? Movies? Cool weather? Hot weather? Maybe these cookies?! They are full of chocolate! I think many people would say that chocolate makes them more pleasant! I would not normally be a fan of chocolate; however, I've come to a conclusion. I do like chocolate cookies/brownies. However, I prefer cakes and ice creams without chocolate. Go figure. This cookie is the first of two chocolate based cookies that I made. It was very good...but the other is devine! Be sure and check back soon for it. Can you HANDLE two chocolate cookies in a row? Maybe having those two recipes will make YOU much more pleasant! ;-)

Brownie Cookies from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used the equivalent of cocoa powder - it's on the can)
3 cups semisweet chocolate morsels, divided
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter, unsweetened chocolate (or cocoa) and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips in a double boiler (or just in a pot!) then cool.

Beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a mixer. Add dry ingredients, mixing well. Add the chocolate mixture that has now cooled and beat well. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by 1-2 tablespoonfuls onto baking stone or sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on stones for 2-3 minutes and remove to cooling rack to cool. Enjoy!

Five months

2011-06-06T18:17:00.000-05:00

Over the past five months, I have been posting faithfully every Monday (except for last week!). This has been in conjunction with other bloggers to try and do something different this year.

With Eat. Live. Be. we set goals for ourselves. Some people wanted to lose weight. Others wanted to work out more. Others wanted to give up certain foods/drinks. What did I want to do? Well, I wanted to cook a real meal at least twice a month. How did I do? I'd say I succeeded. I didn't necessarily pull out all the stops, but I made meals other than simply roasted veggies thrown into some eggs. Could I do better? Sure! What do I need to change for the upcoming month? Well, maybe I should try and have friends over more? I don't do it that often. Maybe make some little cold salads (not my typical green salad) for lunches? We'll see! Still going to try and cook twice a month. I've still got lots of recipes to try!

One yummy meal I made a couple of months ago was this simple sauteed flounder topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions.

Along side I had cous cous (yes, from the box!) with roasted broccoli. Simple but definitely required cooking! After I ate the fish, I used the leftover broccoli, mushrooms, and onions to make a veggie couscous for lunches that week.

Great two for one cooking session!

Sarah Caron - http://www.sarahscucinabella.com/
•Cate O’Malley - http://www.sweetnicks.com/
•Chris Arpante - http://www.melecotte.com/
•Patsy - http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/
Joanne - http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/
Tri-Fit Mom - http://trifitmom.blogspot.com/
•Allison - http://sweetflours.blogspot.com/
Jen - http://njepicurean.blogspot.com/
•Leslie - http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/
•Rivki Locker - http://www.healthyeatingforordinarypeople.com/
•Jennifer Schulz - http://lick-a-plate.blogspot.com/
•Sarah Rogers - http://sarahssweetcreations.blogspot.com/
Denise and Lenny - http://www.chezus.com/

Time Flies Number 2!

2011-05-31T22:19:00.000-05:00

I'm back with the results of the May Daring Baker Challenge. If you'll remember from here: The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle...and I was just putting it in the freezer on the post date. But I did finish and last night revealed it at a little get together at Sarah's house. I remembered that Jason likes peanut butter stuff and I thought he might like this. Before I left for her house, I put to gether the meringue and, instead of using my oh so handy blow torch (that I don't have!) I made pillows of meringue and baked them.

Not sure if that had an effect on the taste, but this was a VERY eggy meringue. I thought the process of making it was kind of fun (hands on!) but didn't really like the resulting taste. Maybe I whipped it too much as it was thick and not very airy...the way I like my meringue. I added some chocolate sauce and caramel sauce and we were ready to go. Results?

Jason doesn't like meringue....period! But he said that the peanut butter part was pretty good...even had seconds! I left the remainder for him to eat...hopefully they don't forget about it. Glad I finished the challenge even if it was late! I used the quartered recipes that Audie provided and changed the chocolate to peanut butter...all worked quite well.

Peanut Butter Marquise

Servings: 6 2"x2" (5cmx5cm) cubes

Ingredients
3 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 large egg
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons (40 ml) (40 grams/ 1½ oz) sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (2/3 fluid oz/ 20 ml.) water
Peanut butter Base, barely warm (recipe follows)
½ cup (4 fluid oz./ 120 ml.) heavy cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high speed until very thick and pale, about 10 - 15 minutes.

When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil and then cook to softball stage (235F/115C).

With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk. When all of the syrup has been added (do it fairly quickly), turn the mixer back on high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes

In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.

When the egg mixture has cooled, add the chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all of the air you've whipped into the eggs. We used the stand mixer for this, and it took about 1 minute. Fold 1/3 of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining whipped cream. Pour into pan and place in freezer for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.

When you're ready to plate, remove the marquise from the freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. While it's still hard, remove it from the pan by pulling on the parchment 'handles' or by flipping it over onto another piece of parchment. Cut into squares and plate with the meringue and drizzled caramel sauce and chocolate sauce. Garnish as desired.

Peanut Butter Base
Ingredients
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons (90 ml/3 fluid oz.) milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon (15 ml/ 1/2 fluid oz.) light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Heat peanut butter and milk together. Mix until well incorporated. Add cinnamon, corn syrup and vanilla. Stir together and set aside.

Meringue
Servings: Makes about 1 cup of meringue.
Ingredients
3 large egg whites
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon (105 ml) (3½ oz or 100 gms) sugar
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Place egg whites, sugar, and vinegar in a clean mixing bowl. Mix together with your clean hands. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water. "Stir" with your fingers until mixture starts to warm and sugar dissolves. Remove from water and whip with the wisk attachment of a mixer until fluffy. Add vanilla and whip until firm. Place dolops onto a pan and bake in oven until starting to turn golden.

Time Flies...

2011-05-27T21:18:00.000-05:00

...when you are on a busy wards month and don't have much time to do anything else! Wow, the 27th really crept up on me. Plus, I thought that it was on Saturday. Ooops! It's time to post my Daring Baker's Challenge and it's not done yet. I had planned to make it tomorrow...but started tonight

though it is now in the freezer and won't be finished until tomorrow and not eaten (maybe) until Monday! The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

I thought that maybe I'd have a reason to make this for friends this month as one friend will be soon going overseas for two years to minister to and share Jesus' love and salvation with others! I love Michelle much and will miss her encouraging presence these next two years. Anyway, I thought we were going to have a party for her, but that did not end up happening. In all these plans, I decided that I would make a peanut butter version instead of chocolate. The spice that I used was cinnamon...cinnamon and peanut butter just work! I tasted the unfrozen version and it was pretty good! Hopefully the finished version will be as good. I shared some pictures with Sarah and told her that I was bringing it on Monday when we get together. If I remember correctly, her husband Jason really likes peanut butter...hopefully, he'll like this! I will update when I have pictures and report on the flavor. Check here for other Chocolate Marquise delights!!! Recipe and pictures to come.

What has Changed?

2011-05-23T15:49:00.000-05:00

Changing things. That is the topic of this week's Eat. Live. Be.

What have our goals that we made at the beginning of the year made us change? Honestly, I don't really feel that I've made that much change. However, my goal to cook a meal twice each month have led me to search for recipes and actually make them! I'm fairly good at searching for recipes and deciding that something sounds good. My problem was actually making them. So far, I have been successful in cooking twice a month. More than that, I'm not sure. One of the meals I recently made was a dish that my mom told me about many months ago!

It turned out quite pleasing. It is a shrimp and grits recipe from Southern Living with the delicious addition of asparagus and mushrooms. All in all it was quick and easy to make and fairly good for you as far as shrimp and grits goes. There was something missing but I couldn't put my finger on it; maybe some kind of sauce. I added some mustard to the leftovers and enjoyed the flavor that it gave. Maybe some kind of light mustard sauce would be a good addition. I would, though, recommend this if you are looking for a simple shrimp and grits recipe.

Shrimp and Grits with Asparagus and Mushrooms
1 1/2 pounds unpeeled, large raw shrimp (31/40 count) (I used medium pre-peeled and deveined)
1 pound fresh asparagus, cut into 1.5 inch pieces
3 cups chicken broth (or 3 cups water with 2 boullioun cubes)
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits
1/2 cup half-and-half (I used milk)
1 (8-oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation
1. Peel shrimp and devein, if not already done. Snap and discard tough ends of asparagus. Cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces.

2. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; whisk in grits and half-and-half/milk. Cook, whisking constantly, 7 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat. Keep warm.

3. Heat pan and spray with cooking spray. Add asparagus, mushrooms, green onions, and thyme, and sauté 3 to 4 minutes (I cooked until mushrooms were beginning to soften). Add shrimp, and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in salt; cook 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

Serve immediately over warm grits. Enjoy!

Habits...How's it Going?

2011-05-16T20:39:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago for Eat. Live. Be. we talked about what habit we wanted to get rid of. My habit was responding in a negative way when on call, not honoring my God in how I responded to others.

Well, I have definitely done much better this month. In fact, there have been several times when I had to consciously respond instead of just reflexively responding. I think I've been successful...except for one time on my last call. Based on what I was told, we were admitting a child for something that we don't normally admit...but after seeing all the information later, I felt better about admitting him...but badly about how I had responded to the other person. Hopefully, I'll get to talk to him and apologize! Check out how others are doing:
Sarah Caron - http://www.sarahscucinabella.com/
•Cate O’Malley - http://www.sweetnicks.com/
•Chris Arpante - http://www.melecotte.com/
•Patsy - http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/
Joanne - http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/
Tri-Fit Mom - http://trifitmom.blogspot.com/
•Allison - http://sweetflours.blogspot.com/
Jen - http://njepicurean.blogspot.com/
•Leslie - http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/
•Rivki Locker - http://www.healthyeatingforordinarypeople.com/
•Jennifer Schulz - http://lick-a-plate.blogspot.com/
•Sarah Rogers - http://sarahssweetcreations.blogspot.com/
Denise and Lenny - http://www.chezus.com/

As to the habit that I've decided to continue, I have another delicious cookie recipe to share from my Southern Living Cookie book (I LOVE this book!). It is a Jumbo chocolate chip cookie recipe. The recipe calls for making a cookie from 1/4 cup of dough. That's a lot!

I normally make my cookies about 1 tablespoon sized...they are the perfect size to eat without feeling badly. However, I've always tried to figure out how bakeries make their cookies so good. Well, I honestly think it has to do with the size! Increasing the size without increasing the baking time much makes the texture that wonderful bakery texture. You would think that the increased size would greatly increase the baking time, but it doesn't; it just changes the texture. Yum!!! I also made some "normal" sized cookies and they were great as well.

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and shortening until creamy; add sugars and beat well. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well again. Add in dry ingredients and stir well. Add chocolate chips and pecans. Now, if making the "Jumbo" cookies, place 1/4 cupfuls of dough onto baking sheets and flatten slightly into 3.5 inch cookies. Bake for 12-13 minutes. If making "normal" cookies, place 1 tablespoon sized dough scoops onto pan and cook for 11-12 minutes. Remove when golden (cookies may be slightly soft in the middle). Cool 2-3 minutes on baking sheet. Remove to cooling rack. Enjoy!

It Costs HOW Much?!

2011-05-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness!!! It is bad that I was excited to get gas for $3.50/gallon today. But that is really good seeing that gas at "my" Kroger was $3.75...big difference! And gas isn't the only thing that is getting more expensive these days. Just about everything is showing signs of inflation. Milk and eggs are more expensive. Oddly enough, yogurt is 3 cents cheaper...go figure! Fruits and veggies are move expensive as well. A green bell pepper...GREEN!...was near $1.50 today. Sorry, just can't do that. So, how do you maintain healthy eating habits when prices are going up?

That is this week's topic on Eat. Live. Be. I haven't really mindfully thought about this, but I think I tend to practice these ideas.
1. Buy in season. Unless there is something that you just can't do without, buy the fresh fruits and veggies that are in season...and buy frozen those things that aren't. Despite what you may have thought, frozen veggies still have the nutrients that are so important. Just get the simply frozen kind, not something that is salted or oversauced.
2. Buy what is on special. As mentioned above, I didn't buy the bell pepper...but I have no doubt that this summer, all those beautiful orange, yellow, and red bell peppers will go on sale. THEN, I will buy them! Sometimes, I'll even find some produce on manager's special. They might but it on sale because the sell by date is near or there are some bruises on fruit. In general, this produce is still good. Even if the fruit is bruised, you can cut off the bruise. If canned beans are on sale, I grab several cans. I only buy avacados on sale. Buy store brand, in general there is no (or not much) difference (though I did decide this week that store brand "honey nut cheerios" just don't cut it!).
3. Buy what you know you'll use. In this category, I'll talk about milk. I do buy organic milk but only because it lasts SO much longer than "regular" milk. Yes, it is more expensive; but I don't use it fast enough to warrant the other milk. This actually saves me money. If there is fresh produce on sale (for example, today corn was 10/$3), only buy what you will use before it goes bad. I would not need to buy 10 ears of corn...unless I have a deep freeze and could take the kernels off and freeze them. If that's the case...go for it...buy and freeze!!
4. Buy local. Now, this is a better buy for others, I think. We have a farmer's market here and I do love using it because the quality of the produce is SO much better that that in the stores. However, the price difference is not that much. Occasionally, it is actually more pricey. But I still use the Farmer's Market (when I can get there). I'm a bit jealous of some of the produce other people get with quite a bit of savings at their markets. It seems that prices at markets in the NE are a better deal than down here...and if the MS floods like they are predicting, it could be worse with farmlands flooded.
5. Grow your own! I don't do this as I have absolutely NO yard, no porch, no nothing. But one day I would love to have a garden. My Papa have an extensive garden and those veggie dinners were my favorite! There is nothing that compares to homegrown tomatoes, green beans, and okra. Oh so good!!! This would be a good family activity, too! Teach kids about responsibility, how things grow, and about working together.

Along those lines, another good way to save money is to "make your own." A couple of months ago, I made this tomato soup. It fed me for about 5 servings. So it would be perfect for a family of 4-6, and it was very inexpensive and easy to make. I just got a large can of stewed tomatoes, thinned it out with some water and seasoned it. Then added about 1/2 cup uncooked lentils and some spinach. It turned out great. Sometimes, just throwing some things together makes a great, delicious, and inexpensive meal!
Tomato Spinach Soup
1 large (can't remember the oz, sorry but ust the large version) can stewed, diced tomatoes
1/2 cup uncooked lentils (for a thicker more lentil-y version, use 1 cup...this would be really good!)
water (to your preferred texture)
salt, pepper (season to taste)
1 box frozen spinach

In a large stock pot, put tomatoes. Add water to get tomatoes to your desired consistency. Add lentils. Bring to boil and simmer for about 20 minutes or until lentils are cooked. Taste and season as desired. Add frozen spinach. Cover and cook until spinach thaws. Stir to distribute evenly. Enjoy!

Habits

2011-05-02T20:46:00.000-05:00

One of the bad habits that I developed this year as an upper level was responding shortly when I get an admit from the ER. I really noticed it in March when I was consistently getting admits after midnight (and nearly none prior) so that I didn't get any sleep! I did not like noticing this habit in myself. It doesn't show any of the characteristics that a Christian should have: kindness, grace, patience, etc.

This week, for Eat. Live. Be. we are supposed to talk about a bad habit that we want to work on breaking. Well, this is mine...my attitude at work and my goal to represent Jesus accurately is a huge part of my living! So, my goal while on wards this month is to alert to my responses to people and to respond kindly and patiently. We'll see how it goes!

One of my other "habits" is not one that I'm aiming to stop...and that is making cookies for our call days! The day I made these was another one of our long calls.

We finally got to stop for supper around 9. Actually, my intern's husband (also an intern) paged me and said that he had brough supper as a surprise for her. So, I sent her down to the lounge with the promise that I would follow behind soon. When I got there she was so excited...and we had dinner from a local Mediterranean restaurant...SO good! Then, as I walked back to do some computer work I got another surprise...he had brought their baby without sharing that part....ha! That was such a fun surprise.

Anyway, I made these peanut butter fingers that night. As WE ate the food he brought, E. ate cookie after cookie! He probably ate about 10 of them. Needless to say, I didn't have any leftovers at the end of that call. Once again, Southern Living has produced a delicious cookie!

Peanut Butter Fingers
1 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup honey (I don't think I had this, so it works without)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (called for wheat germ, which would be GREAT! but I didn't have it)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 325. Cream peanut butter, sugar, butter, honey, vanilla, and egg together until creamy. Add the flour, soda, and cracker crumbs. Mix well. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and then roll into logs. Place on baking sheet or stone. Place in oven and bake for 12 minutes. Cool 1 minute and then remove to cooling rack to completely cool. Meanwhile, melt the chips in the microwave. Then dip one end or side of the cookie in the chocolate and set aside for the chocolate to firm. Enjoy!

SOS

2011-04-27T22:59:00.000-05:00

Well, it's Daring Baker time, and I attempted the challenge but it was a BIG fail! The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com/! Well, my plan was to make little angelfood cake containers, put the mousse in, add an "egg" to the top and have little Easter baskets. WEEEELLLL, first the angelfood burned. I don't know what the deal was because the middle of the cake was fine but the outside was TOTALLY burned. Okay, containers...ruined. I could come up with something else. Next, I made the mousse...or tried. I decided to make the version with tofu. Let's just say, it's still in my refrigerator and after sitting there for 48 hours, it's still soup! Oh, well...I guess with having done so many challenges for this to be the first complete failure is pretty good! Stop by the above link to find other BEAUTIFULLY SUCCESSFUL mousses!

It's Coming!!!!!

2011-04-25T18:34:00.000-05:00

What can you not live without? That is the question of Eat. Live. Be. this week.

Hmmm, that's seriously a hard one. I could tell you plenty of things that CAN live without. I think, though, that (and this is a pretty broad category) I couldn't live without summer produce! Though summer is not my favorite time of year due to the HOT temperatures I do love the foods that it brings. Berries, peaches, plums, squash, tomatoes, okra, eggplant, green beans...and all fresh! It's coming, folks, it's coming!!!

This past week, I had some (likely greenhouse) squash and zucchini that needed to be used; so, I came up with what was originially to be a messy lasagna but really ended up being a casserole.

When my mom makes lasagna, she uses cottage cheese instead of ricotta, so I pulled that out and mixed it with some spinach. Somehow, the end product ended up tasting very cheesy!

I'm not sure how...maybe the cottage cheese metled within the spinach. It was wonderful! I would totally make this again, even if it was just a concoction!

Spinach Squash Casserole
1/3-1/2 bag whole wheat egg noodles, cooked
1 small box frozen spinach, cooked
1 cup cottage cheese
1/3-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
2 yellow squash, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
a sprinkle of mozzarella
1 few chunks of goat cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook noodles according to package instructions, drain. Meanwhile, cook spinach in microwave (or stovetop if preferred). Cook onions until transluscent. When spinach is done add the onions, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and salt. Mix well. Saute the squash on stovetop until slightly softened and browned. Add the tomatoes and cook until heated. In an oval or 8X11 casserole dish place the noodles. Then put the spinach mixture on top of the noodles. Pour the cooked squash and tomatoes on top. The top all of that with a sprinkle (literally!) of Mozzarella cheese and some goat cheese, if desired. I did not use much cheese at all. Place the casserole in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Amazing

2011-04-18T21:46:00.000-05:00

This weekend there was some amazing weather! Tornadoes showed their power across the southern part of this country...tornadoes that receive their power and direction from a Power much bigger than they. Around 11am on Friday, an F3 tornado touched down in my hometown of Clinton, MS. It tossed cars across the interstate, took roofs off a bank, literally flipped a house on its side, took out many trees, and destroyed up to 60 homes. In all of that, no one was killed or even seriously injured (the 87 year old woman in the home on its side only had a broken nose)! To add to all that, the neighborhood most seriously effected has a daycare at front and an elementary school in the middle.

There were 1000 children right there. If you stand in the front of the school and look across the street, there is home completely destroyed...

but the school is untouched.

God was truly displaying his power and protection that day! He provided that day and will continue provide and has provided for our eternity through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. I am so thankful for the grace and mercy He displayed then and continues to display today.

In addition to telling you about the amazing weather, I have some amazing cookies to tell you about.

I made these cookies last month for our last call. Oh goodness! They are some kind of good (forgive the Southern coming out in me!).

The addition of the corn flakes adds a fantastic crunchiness and the cranberries (I used blueberry infused craisins) a wonderful tartness. I must say, this book is becoming a favorite of mine...another must try cookie!

Toasted Almond and Cranberry Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces white chocolate chips
2 cups corn flakes cereal
1 cup nuts, toasted (I used a combo of almonds and pecans)
6 oz. craisins

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and shortening together. Cream in sugars. Add eggs and beat well. Mix in dry ingredients. When well mixed add in chocolate, cereal, nuts, and cranberries. Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet or stone. Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and cool for 1 minute, then remove cookies to cooling rack. Enjoy!

Sorry, no Eat. Live. Be. today...we're supposed to talk about our play list. Well, I have no play list! I have not MP3 or IPOD. :-)

Rice Bowls

2011-04-13T17:12:00.000-05:00

Sometimes after a hard day at work...and there have been quite a few lately...I just want to come home and make a microwave or toaster meal. What is good to have on hand at that time is something that I've made a couple of days ahead of time but that is "comforting" at the same time.

Honestly, I don't know what makes something comforting but this nice little rice bowl was! I was inspired by a picture on Cate's blog and decided to make my own version. Honestly, I don't remember exactly what was in it but it was good! I just made some brown rice and roasted a bag of frozen Brussel's sprouts, onions, black olives and (I think...if not it would be a good addition!) eggplant. After that, I mixed them together with some low sodium lite soy sauce. When I was ready to eat I topped it all with avacado and tomato. This was the perfect dinner and study fuel. You can really make it anything you want. I think next time I make this, I'd put some shrimp in it.

Mmmm! No real recipe...just make some rice and add everything else! Enjoy!

Vitamins?

2011-04-11T21:49:00.000-05:00

This week on Eat.Live.Be we are supposed to talk about what supplements we use.

To be honest, I really only take a multivitamin, and sometimes, I'm not that great at it! I have put my bottle on my nightstand so that hopefully I remember, but it doesn't always happen. Plus, it's really better if you take your vitamins with a meal because some vitamins are fat soluble and need fat to be absorbed into the body. All that said, there are some times in your life and people with certain conditions that really NEED to take supplements.

Babies, especially those who are breast fed, should take a Vitamin D and iron supplement (this is most commonly Poly-Vi-Sol). I would agree that breastfeeding IS best, but there is very little iron in it and most people, in general, don't get enough vitamin D. So when babies are growing, they really need that "extra" vitamin D. Another group of people who should really take vitamins is women who could become pregnant, are pregnant, or are breastfeeeding.

Folic acid is essential to prevent neural tube defects and prenatal vitamins has this in them. I think that most women's MVI have it these days but be sure, you may need specifically pre-natal vitamins for other supplementation. You should have 400-800 mcg of Folic acid if there is no history of defects in your family. If there is a history of neural tube defects then you should get 4000mcg. Anyone who has evidence of poor bone strength (osteoporosis, recurrent fractures, kyphosis) should take Vitamin D and Ca. There is discussion going on currently if Vitamin D should be a recommended supplement for the general population.

(pic from WebMD) However, if you get 20 minutes of sun a WEEK if you're fair skinned and an hour a WEEK if you're dark skinned, then you should be fine; NOTE: babies only need about 10 minutes a week to get the same effect...please protect that sensitive skin! Finally, there are groups of people who need extra supplements based on medical conditions. People with sickle cell need Folic acid, many renal diseases need special supplements depending on their renal function and would be told what to take by their physician, and people with cystic fibrosis have to take supplements of the fat soluble vitamins because their pancreas doesn't produce the enzymes necessary to absorb fats as well (this supplement is called ADEK, the 4 fat soluble vitamins). Okay, that got REALLY long...much longer than I expected. All that to say, if you are eating a well balanced diet and getting a little bit of sunshine, you don't necessarily NEED supplements unless specifically instructed by your doctor or you fit into one of the above categories. However, taking a simple multivitamin daily won't hurt you!

Now for another cookie! How's that for a supplement. :-)

I'm not the biggest fan of almond extract. In fact, I can honestly say that I don't like it. I can taste a dessert and immediately know that it has almond extract. Ick! However, I really like almonds themselves. These bars are FULL of almonds. I didn't even use quite the full amount and there was not a square centimeter without almonds. A delicious bar cookie though I think I might would decrease the amount of almonds a little more.

White Chocolate Almond Blondie from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
2 cups AP flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup butter/margarine
1 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee (I used vanilla latte...it was on clearance)
2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 cup white chocolate chips/chunks

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in pan. Add coffee and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and cool. Add brown sugar and eggs, stirring well. Add dry ingredients. Add in the almonds and chocolate.

Spread in a 13X9 pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Taste the Rainbow

2011-04-04T21:33:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not talking about skittles! I'm talking about your vegetables...but it sounds so much more pleasant to eat a rainbow than "eat your veggies." :-)

This week in Eat. Live. Be. we are talking about how to get all of our vegetables in. To me, one of the easiest ways is to make one of your meals a nice BIG salad. You can easily get 2-3 servings of veggies and maybe even a fruit in depending on what you put on there. Another simple way to eat more veggies is to decide to eat a meatless meal once or twice (or more) a week. Yes, you can have good filling meals with no meat...in fact, sometimes it can be more filling because lots of vegetables have so much fiber that they fill you. If all that is hard, a simple way is to think about what colors you have eaten! If you really do "taste the rainbow" then you have gotten 5-6 different veggies in you and lots of different vitamins. So, this week (or tomorrow!) try to "taste the rainbow."

I did this recently in name a deed! I had seen a recipe for Moo Shu Vegetables that I wanted to try. The only problem was that I didn't want to use sprouts. Well, I saw a recipe on a friend's (new) blog and they used bamboo shoots...aha, perfect! So, I got a bag of rainbow! slaw, some bamboo shoots and added a few things of my own choosing and whipped up a batch of my own Moo Shu Vegetables. Let me just say YUM! If you like Chinese veggies...no, not sweet and sour, sorry!...you'll like this.

1 bag (12oz) rainbow or broccoli slaw
1/2 bag mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut in half
1 small can bamboo shoots (1.5 cups)
2-3 eggs
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons (or a little more!) reduced sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoon Catalina dressing (this was my addition)
3 green onions, sliced

Heat up a large skillet. Slightly beat eggs, then cook until just scrambled. Remove from pan. Place asparagus, mushrooms, garlic, and broccoli slaw in the pan. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add soy sauce and bamboo shoots and cover with a lid, cooking for 3 minutes at a time then stirring. Cook until veggies are tender. Return eggs to pan and add green onions. Cook until eggs are warm again. Add a tad more soy sauce (if desired) and stir in dressing. Serve over rice, noodles, or salad. Enjoy!

Sarah Caron - http://www.sarahscucinabella.com/
•Cate O’Malley - http://www.sweetnicks.com/
•Chris Arpante - http://www.melecotte.com/
•Patsy - http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/
Joanne - http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/
Tri-Fit Mom - http://trifitmom.blogspot.com/
•Allison - http://sweetflours.blogspot.com/
Jen - http://njepicurean.blogspot.com/
•Leslie - http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/
•Rivki Locker - http://www.healthyeatingforordinarypeople.com/
•Jennifer Schulz - http://lick-a-plate.blogspot.com/
•Sarah Rogers - http://sarahssweetcreations.blogspot.com/
Denise and Lenny - http://www.chezus.com/

From A to Z

2011-04-01T21:06:00.000-06:00

Okay, I have seen this on several blogs and it just looks like too much fun!
A - Age: 28
B - Bed Size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: Dusting!
D - Dog's Name: I don't currently have one, but when I was little her name was Honey. When I do get one, I was to name it Oliver! :-)

E - Essential start your day item: I've been enjoying coffee with my quiet time recently.
F - Favorite Color: Pink!
G - Gold or Silver: Silver please
H - Height: 5' - 3"
I - Instruments you play: Piano and oboe
J - Job Title: Pediatric Resident - PGY2
K - Kids: No but I would love to have them one day!
L - Luxury you wish you had: Weekends!!!...but like Delaney said, I cleaning person would be nice!
M - Mom's Name: Alice, Miss Alice, Mama, Mom
N - Nickname: Claire Bear, Clarence, Clara, Clarice, Cler, Lizzie, Chocolate E-clair
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: ALL THE TIME!!!!! Last month every 4th night, of course all of that is job related!

P - Pet Peeve: People not throwing things away in the peds lounge; at home, people putting dishes on the counter on TOP of the dishwasher but not in it! Five seconds people, five seconds!

Q - Quote from a movie: "Inconceivable. You keep saying that. I do not think it means what you think it means" The Princess Bride

R - Right or Leftie?: Leftie!!

S - Siblings?: I have a younger brother and a great sister-in-law
T - Time you wake up: Mostly around 6am
U - Underwear: Um...ok. Yes, please?
V - Vegetable you dislike: Hmmmm...not sure. I really like most of them. I don't like BAKED sweet potatoes. Just can't handle it, but roasted they're good.

W - Ways/ reasons why you run late: I forgot something or didn't make my lunch the night before. I don't snooze the alarm ever and usually give myself enough time to get ready.

X - X-Rays you've had: Teeth and knee

Y - Yummy food you make: Most of my cookies are good...see below for a recipe! I want to make more "real" food. I can do some yummy stir fry, too.

Z - Zoo Favorite: Hmmm, I like the monkeys and the seals!

So, join in if you want! Hope you had fun learning about me from A to Z! Now for a yummy cookie.

This is the third cookie I made from my new cookie book. Once again, mostly because I had the ingredients and didn't want to go grocery shopping! I love a good nutty cookie and this one was not a disappointment. Please be sure to toast the nuts prior to adding to the dough...it makes a world of difference!

Pecan Crispies from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and shortening. Cream in sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir in pecans. Drop onto baking sheet or stone in tablespoonfuls. Place in oven and bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly and remove to cooling rack. Enjoy!

It's Lunchtime

2011-03-28T18:40:00.001-06:00

Thes week for Eat. Live. Be we are talking about lunches.

I'm pretty good about taking my lunch to work. First off, it's cheaper. Secondly, it's healthier. I'm not fancy with my lunches but quite often get comments of "That looks so good!" What are they commenting on? Well...seriously......salads! Yep, I can make a pretty mean salad. Usually, I use either spinach or romaine. Then I top it with tomatoes, olives, cottage cheese and/or hummus. Then I'll add whatever other deliciousness that I have including cucumbers, onions, bell pepper, apples, berries, or any leftover veggies. If I have squash or eggplant hanging around I somestimes use that, too. If avacados are on sale then I may put those on there. Sometimes I'll go for a Mexican theme and use refried beans and salsa with yogurt (Greek). Usually this salad does have apples on it. If I don't take a salad then I'll usually take a wrap. Sometimes it's an avacado wrap, other times a Mexican wrap with refried beans. Other times I do a fully veggie and hummus wrap. All of them are delicious and quick and simple to make. That is key for me! I typically make my lunch the night before so that the next morning all I have to do is grab it.

Speaking of simple, that's what these cookies are! They are the second selection from my new cookbook. The reason I chose to make them was...it's all I had the ingredients for and I didn't want to go to the store! HA! They remind me of a sugar cookie recipe (I thought I had made it on here but apparently not. I'll have to sometime) that I've made before with butter and oil. It lends to a pretty sandy cookie...seems to be a trend but I like it! These were well received on call despite there simplicity.

Sugar Crinkles from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (I had to have used more) sugar

Cream shortening and sugar at medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs, lemon, and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Chill. Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, roll in sugar and place on baking stones. Cooke for 8-9 minutes or until just starting to turn golden. Cool for 1-2 minutes then move to cooling racks.

Daring Bakers in March

2011-03-27T16:17:00.000-06:00

Going into this month's Daring Baker challenge, I hoped that I would be able to participate but wasn't sure. However, I had a light day at the beginning of the month and decided to take advantage. Let me just say that it's a good thing I did or else this challenge would not have been completed. The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Making the dough was fairly simple but I did have some trouble rolling the dough out. Every time I would roll, it pulled back and I never could get it the size or thinness that I wanted. Also, my mixing bowl was dirty when I made this and I was too lazy to wash it; so, I tried to whip the egg whites with my own little arms! Well, the fluffed up but didn't get quite as stiff as they should have...but I was tired!...so I stopped. When I rolled up the dough, the meringue pushed out some. Apparently, it didn't matter...

I used chocolate, butterscotch chips, and pecans as my filling. I took it to work the next morning and one of the interns (who was post-call) tried a piece...and then later told me that he had gone back for three more!
:-) I think it was good.

The dough really reminded me of King Cake dough...soft and mildly sweet. Yum! When I told my mom that I was making the challenge so early in the month, I told her I would freeze some for her visit later...and then forgot that I had done so. When she came, I was looking the freezer and saw this bag with something wrapped in aluminum foil. I figured she brought it but she insisted that she didn't. FINALLY, I remember what it was...it froze PERFECTLY! So, if you find that the recipe makes too much just wrap it well and freeze to enjoy later!

FILLED MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE
Makes 2 round coffee cakes, each approximately 10 inches in diameter
The recipe can easily be halved to make one round coffee cake

For the yeast coffee cake dough:
4 cups (600 g / 1.5 lbs.) flour
¼ cup (55 g / 2 oz.) sugar
¾ teaspoon (5 g / ¼ oz.) salt
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons / 7 g / less than an ounce) active dried yeast
¾ cup (180 ml / 6 fl. oz.) whole milk - I used skim
¼ cup (60 ml / 2 fl. oz. water (doesn’t matter what temperature)
½ cup (135 g / 4.75 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature

For the meringue:
3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar

Jamie’s version:
1 cup (110 g / 4 oz.) chopped pecans or walnuts
2 Tablespoons (30 g / 1 oz.) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (170 g / 6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate

Prepare the dough:
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups (230 g) of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup (150 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1 ½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.

Place the dough in a lightly greased (I use vegetable oil) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.

Prepare your filling:In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar for the filling if using. You can add the chopped nuts to this if you like, but I find it easier to sprinkle on both the nuts and the chocolate separately.

Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:

In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Assemble the Coffee Cakes:
Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 ½ cm) rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges. Sprinkle half of your filling of choice evenly over the meringue (ex: half of the cinnamon-sugar followed by half the chopped nuts and half of the chocolate chips/chopped chocolate). Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.

Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 ½ cm) intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring. Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings. Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

A Day in My Life

2011-03-21T21:20:00.000-06:00

This week for Eat. Live. Be. we are talking about what a typical day is like and how we are fitting in our "healthy changes." Well, I must admit that my typical week day hasn't changed very much. Even when I do plan to make dinner, those plans are thwarted by an unexpected 12 hour day at work the day before working a 30 hour shift! So, if I cook a meal (which, for me, will last a week since I'm the only one eating it) it will likely be on the weekend. However, I'll still let you in on a typical day.

When I wake up, I get dressed and come out to my kitchen, pour a cup of coffee (new since January!) from my new coffee maker and sit down to ready my Bible. Then I get my stuff together for work complete with breakfast and lunch, brush my teeth and head out the door. I'm usually at work by 6:45 or 6:50 though that has slowed down a bit as the month wears on! When I get to work, I print my list and go see all my patients. Then we have conference and I eat breakfast after that. Following breakfast we have rounds. Then it's time for noon conference. I usually eat after noon conference unless I'm just starving, then I'll eat during. The afternoon is for following up labs, admitting new patients, or clinic. After work, I go straight to the gym and work out. Then I come home and crash for a little, eat supper, and prepare my lunch for the next day. I try to be in bed by 10. Sometimes it's later, sometimes earlier...though I'm definitely sleepy earlier! And, that, my friends, is a typical day! Not to exciting or luxurious.

Sarah Caron - http://www.sarahscucinabella.com/
•Cate O’Malley - http://www.sweetnicks.com/
•Chris Arpante - http://www.melecotte.com/
•Patsy - http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/
Joanne - http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/
Tri-Fit Mom - http://trifitmom.blogspot.com/
•Allison - http://sweetflours.blogspot.com/
Jen - http://njepicurean.blogspot.com/
•Leslie - http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/
•Rivki Locker - http://www.healthyeatingforordinarypeople.com/
•Jennifer Schulz - http://lick-a-plate.blogspot.com/
•Sarah Rogers - http://sarahssweetcreations.blogspot.com/
Denise and Lenny - http://www.chezus.com/

Oh, and how could I forget about making cookies! I do that in between my crashing and preparing lunch for the next day. Like I mentioned in my last post, my mom's friend got me a new cookbook for my birthday and I've decided to cook my way through it (SO excited about it!). I've already made six recipes from it. This cookie is the first one I tried and it was great.

I picked it out specifically for when I went to visit my parents due to the chocolate covered coffee beans. They turned out really good! The edges were crisp but the middle chewy. A perfect cookie!

Coffee Bean Cookies from Southern Living Cookies
1/2 cup butter, soft (1 stick)
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup chocolate covered coffee beans
1 cup chopped toffee bars (or bits o' brickle)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and shortening together and gradually add sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Mix in dry ingredients (flour, soda, cinnamon). Stir in pecans, coffee beans, and toffee. Chill if desired. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet or stone. Bake fro 10-11 minutes or until golden. Cool and place onto cooling rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Back to the Cookies

2011-03-19T18:04:00.000-06:00

I think I have been away from giving you cookie recipes for long enough!
Plus, I am getting quite the stockpile of cookies for you since I've been on a call month AND I got a cookie cookbook from my mom's best friend for my birthday. I've decided that I'm actually going to cook through it and am already five cookies down in about three weeks!!! Let's just say I hope you all live with or know a "cookie monster." :-) This cookie, however, is one that I found on Picky Palate. It is one of those recipes that made me wonder "Why didn't I think of that!?" I mean peanut butter, pretzels, and white chocolate!?

Brilliant. And they did not disappoint. One of the things I liked about this recipe was the "sandiness" of the cookies. They were your typical peanut butter cookie in that they had a certain moistness but they also possessed a great sandiness that I think came from adding the white chocolate into the peanut butter. Sooo good! I didn't add any salt to the top of them, but I know that would just top everything off. If you are a peanut butter junkie, you must try these!

Double White Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies adaped from Picky Palate

1 stick softened butter, 8 tablespoons
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips, to melt
1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter (reserve 2 tablespoons to add to melting white chips)
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup broken pretzel pieces
1 Cup additional white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Melt white chocolate chips and 2 Tablespoons peanut butter in the microwave (about 30 seconds-1minute) and stir together. Add melted chocolate chips and remaining peanut butter to beaten butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla.
Place flour, baking soda and salt in bowl; mix to combine (or just add on top of wet ingredients). Add to wet ingredients until just combined then pour in pretzels and additional white chocolate chips. Scoop dough onto a silpat or baking stone. Gently press down each cookie to about 1/2 inch in thickness. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges become golden and slightly crisp. Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before removing. Enjoy!

International Day 3

2011-03-14T20:10:00.000-06:00

And I let you hanging!!! So sorry about that. My month has been crazy with 3 calls down and no sleep on any of those calls. But let's rejoin the program...when we last met, I had just made a wonderful tomatoe salad. But what to go with the salad? Pelmeni! This is a little meat filled pasta. You can serve simply with some parsley on top along with vinegar, sour cream, and salsa on the side. When I first looked up this recipe I was shocked to see how simple the filling ingredients are. There is just something unique and distinct about the flavor, yet it is just made from a mixture of beef and pork (or beef and lamb), onion, salt, and pepper. SO simple...yet so delicious!

We used 1/2 pound of each and had enough for probably two batches of the pasta dough. The dough was hard to work with, which led to, I think, using too much flour; we also had to roll it out several times, so that led to the dough toughening up.

However, outside of a few touch doughy pieces, it was wonderful! The filling was just right and the smitana (sour cream) and salsa added just enough extra. So, if you want a taste of Russia...try out pelmeni!

Pelmeni
Dough:

2-3 c flour
1/2 cup warm boiled water
2 eggs
1 tsp salt (amount may vary to taste)

Put flour on counter or board and form a well in the center. Mix together the water and eggs. Slowly incorporate the liquid into the flour by mixing from inside out. The dough will seem sticky, keep working with it. Add a little flour if you need to. Put in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes until ready to use.

Filling:
500 g beef
500 g pork/lamb
1 onion, finely minced
1 tsp salt
seasoning to taste

Mix together all ingredients. Add a bit of liquid if needed. When you are ready you can prepare the dough one of two ways. Either roll out the dough very thinly and cut out small circles using the top of a glass.

The other option is to make the dough into a snake and cut off small portions to roll into individual circles.

When your dough is ready, scoop a small portion of meat (1/2-1teaspoon) and put it in the center of the dough.

Fold the dough in half and seal the edges.

Then, grab the corners of the dough and pull them together.

When all the pelmeni are made, boil a large pot of water and salt it. Place the pelmeni in the water.

When they float to the top, they are done!

They really are...I tested one because I was scared it wasn't ready. When they are all ready, top with parsley and enjoy!!! Serve with vinegar, sour cream, and salsa.

If you have too many for one sitting, you can freeze them to cook later.

In Eat. Live. Be. news, today we are supposed to talk about what is different this time, helping us stick to our health goals. Well, to be honest, the only thing that is keeping me honest to my goal of cooking twice a month IS Eat. Live. Be! Otherwise, I probably wouldn't. I don't even know if I'll be able to do it this month, it has been so crazy! Hopefully, I will. See how everyone else is doing:

Sarah Caron - http://www.sarahscucinabella.com/
•Cate O’Malley - http://www.sweetnicks.com/
•Maris Callahan - http://www.ingoodtasteblog.net/
•Chris Arpante - http://www.melecotte.com/
•Faith - www.clickblogappetit.com/
•Kristen - http://www.dineanddish.net/
•Emily - http://andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com/
•Jenna - FireMom - http://stopdropandblog.com/
•Casey - http://www.thestarnesfam.com/
•Patsy - http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/
Tri-Fit Mom - http://trifitmom.blogspot.com/
•Allison - http://sweetflours.blogspot.com/
•Jen - http://njepicurean.blogspot.com/
•Leslie - http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/
•Rivki Locker - http://www.healthyeatingforordinarypeople.com/
•Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook
•Jennifer Schulz - http://lick-a-plate.blogspot.com/
•Sarah Rogers - http://sarahssweetcreations.blogspot.com/
Denise and Lenny - http://www.chezus.com/

International Day 2

2011-03-07T21:03:00.000-06:00

Do you have certain smells that remind you of a certain time, place, memory, person, etc? I do! Fruit loops (the smell) reminds me of my Granny. Juicy fruit makes me think of my Aunt Merle. Honey Nut Cheerios reminds me of MaG and Papa (as does peanut butter crackers and coke!). Other smells bring not so good memories...formaldehyde, gross lab...but we won't go there, this IS a food blog! When I smell a salad that has been made with vinegar, it makes me think of Bishkek! We had a somewhat limited diet when we were there. Ham, cheese toast, potatoes, more ham, and LOTS of tomatoes and cucumbers.

This salad was a staple of the diet there...and it is SO good and simple. When we made it last weekend my mom and I were both "mmm"ing the whole time! Sometimes, simple is the best! I changed the ratio of things a big, but I think it turned out just fine. All the recipe I had put more oil in the vinegar mixture, but I think that 2 Tablespoons is plenty; I could still see remnants of oil on the container when I was done. If you want something light, easy, and satisfying to the taste buds, please try this!

Today in Eat. Live. Be. we are talking about what cookbooks and resources are helping keep us on track. I must be honest and say that I really haven't pulled out any cookbooks other than my new cookie cookbook (that I have decided to cook through! already done with three recipes!). However, I know that there are several recipes I want to try in my Rachel Ray 2, 4, 6, 8 cookbook. I also have a collection of old magazine recipes plus some new Eating Well magazines that have great recipes in them. As much as I say that I'll pull them out, I don't know if I will. Really, I just need to schedule a dinner party...being with other people makes me cook and really, truly makes me happy! What do YOU use for good recipes?

Come back later this week and I'll give the recipe for these yummy pelmeini!

Tomato Cucumber Salad
1/2 cucumber, sliced and halved
3 roma tomatoes, chunked
1/2 onion, cut into THIN slices and separated
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons oil (I used olive oil)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed (hee hee...makes me laugh...weed!)

Put all the vegetables in a bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Pour over the veggies and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, the longer the better! Enjoy!

Sarah Caron - http://www.sarahscucinabella.com/
•Cate O’Malley - http://www.sweetnicks.com/
•Maris Callahan - http://www.ingoodtasteblog.net/
•Chris Arpante - http://www.melecotte.com/
•Faith - www.clickblogappetit.com/
•Kristen - http://www.dineanddish.net/
•Emily - http://andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com/
•Jenna - FireMom - http://stopdropandblog.com/
•Casey - http://www.thestarnesfam.com/
•Patsy - http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/
•Tri-Fit Mom - http://trifitmom.blogspot.com/
•Allison - http://sweetflours.blogspot.com/
•Jen - http://njepicurean.blogspot.com/
•Leslie - http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/
•Rivki Locker - http://www.healthyeatingforordinarypeople.com/
•Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook
•Jennifer Schulz - http://lick-a-plate.blogspot.com/
•Sarah Rogers - http://sarahssweetcreations.blogspot.com/
Denise and Lenny - http://www.chezus.com/

Let's Go International!

2011-03-06T17:56:00.000-06:00

I have some fun, international recipes to share with you. A couple of them conjure up great memories from many (read 17) years ago and the one I will share today is associated with new memories! My Sunday School class had a Super Bowl party exactly one month ago today. We were all to bring some sort of food. Well, I knew that there would be PLENTY of sweets and dips, and I added to them with these wonderful truffles, so I decided to bring a yummy salad. I had been savind this recipe for a while and decided it was a perfect time to try it out. I found it on Our Best Bites and thought it looked wonderful. Well, let's just say it was a hit! I did not expect that and thought for sure that I'd have LOTS of leftovers. WRONG! I had just enough for lunch the next day...that was IT! Almost everyone asked for the recipe, especially the dressing

...even the guys. HA! So, if you have a salad-fearing man in your life, try this one out. Not promising, but maybe it will make him like a salad. Try it out!

Asian Cabbage Salad adapted from Our Best Bites
1 14 oz bag coleslaw mix
1/2 cucumber, sliced
aboue 30 sugar snap peas cut in half
1/2 bell pepper, sliced (I used green b/c that's what I had, but red would be GREAT!)
1/4 of a small red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 C slivered or sliced almonds, toasted*

Add 1 1/2 C cooked, shredded or diced chicken to make it a meal

Dressing:
2 Tablespoon canola oil
1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoon sugar (or equivalent of sugar substitute)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, or one small garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Begin by making dressing. Combine all ingredients in a sealed jar and shake shake shake.

Store in the fridge until ready to use. You can definitely do this part a few days ahead of time. Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl (except nuts) and pour dressing over them. Toss to combine and allow to sit for at least