Sugar Berry Fairy

I made these yesterday. They'd be a lovely addition to your holiday table. The recipe is from Cooking Light: Sugared Cranberries

I made superfine sugar in the food processor, and let them steep overnight. Lucas and I ate most of them. We let Ben have a few, too.

Sno Balls

While I was in Albuquerque last month one of my goals was to make homemade Sno Balls for my Dad. That's what I would have made him for Father's Day if I lived in the 505. When I was little my dad would buy them once in a while - they were his sweet junk food of choice. Sno Balls kind of became a joke in the family, so I wanted to recreate a super-yummy one for my Dad. Turns out he only got to eat 1 or 2. Poor Dad.
I used the cake recipe from here. And instead of using a 7 minute frosting or Italian Meringue like all the copy cat recipes say to use, we decided to go with real marshmallow. We didn't bother with the filling because I used regular muffin tins, so there wasn't much room or need for the filling. Frosting the little buggers was a complete pain because marshmallow goo is so sticky! But... they tasted oh-so-delicious. We used the rest of our marshmallow and toasted coconut to make normal marshmallows, and they were super-delish, too.
I'm thinking of attempting this in bar form to make it so much easier, yet equally delicious. I'll let you know if I do.

Father's Day Crepes

For dinner last night I made a mushroom crepe cake that I had been wanting to make for a long time. While I was in the process I decided to make half a recipe of a gateau de crepes - also known as a 20 layer cake. It was a fun way to eat crepes, but Ben thinks he prefers a regular old crepe with filling because it's easier to eat.

If I made the mushrooms cake again, I'd add some garlic for sure. And I'd use my own crepe recipe - both of these recipes resulted in flimsy, delicate crepes that were hard to turn. My recipe yields a stronger crepe.
For the dessert crepe, I might alter the filling a little. Maybe throw in a nutella layer every few crepes or make a different filling all together, perhaps with cream cheese involved... And top it with berries.
Anyhow, it was a fun experiment. I hope Ben didn't mind having such a girly dinner on such a manly day.

Key Lime Pie

On our recent trip to Key West we made a point to try a lot of key lime pies. That's actually my goal every time I set foot in the southern half of Florida. My BFF since 6th grade, Joanna, also shares my sentiment for key lime pie. We used to go to Stuart, Florida for spring break to her great-aunt Erna's place (Erna had passed away... Joanna's mom had access to the joint, so we would spend a week in a community where we were mere spring chicks amongst the rest of the crowd). We had a great time hanging at the pool with the old men, then heading to the beach, where there were generally a few people under 60, going to fun restaurants, and saying the occasional ultra-embarrassing remark. For instance once I told Joannie's mom, "Good riddance!" as she dropped us off at the beach. I thought it meant something like have a good trip home. Once I was corrected, I said "Bad riddence." And Joannie exclaimed, "I wet myself!" as we sat in the back of the car one day. "Oh no, Joanna, you didn't," her mom said. Indeed, Joannie had wet herself, but only by spilling her water. A short story longer, we had a thing for key lime pie. We loooved it. So, Joannie sent me this recipe. It's from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, and was featured on Oprah.
It happens to be a very basic key lime pie recipe. Most chef's will tell you their recipe - it's usually 3 or 4 egg yolks, one can of sweetened condensed milk, and 1/2 -2/3 cup of lime juice. This recipe is actually the exact same as the one the Blonde Giraffe uses in Key West. BUT, here they tell you to beat the eggs until fluffy, then beat in the sweetened condensed milk. You don't get those directions usually, and I think it's the key!

I altered the original recipe because it was ridiculously fattening due to two sticks of butter in the crust, but here is my version. Y-U-M!

Graham Cracker Crust:

• 1 package graham crackers
  
• 3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 6 Tbsp. melted butter
  
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt

Filling:

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup Key lime juice*
  
• 1 lime , grated zest

* I use Nellie and Joe's key lime juice and it's as good as the real thing, but don't use regular Mexican limes, and please for the love of all things good and lovely, don't ever ever use the "real" lime juice that comes in the little plastic lime. Ever.

To make crust: Preheat the oven to 325°.

Place graham crackers in a food processor and process to crumbs. Add the melted butter, sugar and salt and pulse until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan, forming an even layer on the bottom, sides and edge. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the crust to cool while you make filling.

To make filling: In an electric mixer with the wire whisk attachment, whip the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until fluffy, or 5 to 6 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to whip until thick, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice until incorporated. (I think all this mixing makes for a smoother pie).

Pour the mixture into the crust and bake for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 20 mins, then refrigerate for at least a few hours .

Applaud yourself for making a pie that costs $24 in Key West and probably $7 per slice at Trump's place. Don't forget to top with sweetened whipped cream before serving.

Meatballs

I made this Alton Brown recipe for meatballs last night. It calls for lamb, beef, and pork, but I used turkey and beef. Then you sneak in some spinach and it's kind of healthy. I used paanko bread crumbs, one clove of garlic, some fresh herbs and cooked it in the muffin tin like he said. Place foil under your muffin tin to avoid a big mess.
We ate them with spaghetti and marinara sauce. Lucas ate them like a champ, which was surprising, so I think it's a keeper. Anyhow, if you're interested, click HERE for the recipe.

My friend, Sara, became famous today. I had the pleasure of living with her at BYU before Ben and I got hitched. Now Sara and her friend write the blog, Our Best Bites. Check them out!
Here's Sara on a news show in SLC.

Best Thing I Ever Ate... this week.

Today I was feeling a little adventurous, so I tried making Alton Brown's pretzel recipe. The dough came together very easily. Alton's measurements were perfect - I didn't have to add any additional water or flour. The whole process was no more difficult than making bagels - actually a little faster, because they boil for less time, and I didn't add fancy stuff like when I make bagels. The stove, however, was much more messy due to the splattering baking soda in the boiling water.
When I was done it was lunch time, so of course I had to involve a pretzel. I made an awesome sandwich that even impressed Lucas. Delish!

Garbanzo & Hominy Soup

As I was eating my leftovers for lunch today, I thought I should share this recipe with you.
My sister told me this recipe yesterday as she was driving and I was doing pilates. It was so easy I didn't have to write anything down and she didn't have to read anything to me. E-A-S-Y!
It was yummy and reminded me of my mom's posole, only 16 times easier and faster.

Garbanzo & Hominy Soup
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large onion)
4 cloves garlic
2 cups water
1 can vegetable broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 can Rotel tomatoes (mild or medium)
2 cans of garbanzo beans
1 can of hominy
2 cups of fresh spinach, packed

Cook your onion and garlic in olive oil. Add water, broth, cumin, and pepper. Stir to combine. Add tomatoes, beans and hominy. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste to make sure the seasonings are good. Just before you are ready to serve, add the spinach. It will wilt as you stir it into the soup. Serve with tortillas or crusty bread. I also served it with lime wedges and cilantro would have been good, too.

I accidentally bought a huge can of hominy, so I had about equal parts hominy to garbanzo beans. Because of that, I added an extra can of tomatoes and extra broth. Instead of a can of veggie broth, I just added more water and added beef, chicken, and veggie bouillon. I like to mix it up a little...

This would be good with some chicken or pork added, but doesn't need it.

Pancake Mix Recipe

My totally platonic TV boyfriend, Alton Brown, gave me this recipe last night.
Best pancakes I've ever made.

my new obsession

The bagel. A few weeks ago I decided I should try making bagels. For my first try I used an Emeril recipe that left me with flat bagels due to flipping them while cooking. The other three times I'm used this recipe from Baking Bites and it's worked much better.
I am the girl who always messes with a recipe, so I have never made a plain bagel. Mostly I have made raisin/cinnamon/walnut with part whole wheat flour and part white flour. So, at least they are a little healthy. And they are pretty yummy, too. If you want to try, use about a cup of raisins, soak them in hot water and a sprinkle of cinnamon for 10 minutes or so, then squeeze most of the water out. Then throw some cinnamon in the flour mixture and add a good amount of walnuts, too. This will require you to add more flour to get the right consistency due to the raisins.
Yesterday I wanted to try a New Mexico bagel - green chile and cheese! I was a little nervous at first, but they ended up just fine. I used about 7oz of green chile, but they could have used more, then about a cup of cheese in the dough, plus some sprinkled on top. They are pretty dang good as well; although, I feel more guilty after eating them. But, I did use some whole wheat flour with these ones also, so there's a bit if nutrition, but just a bit.
I don't know what kind to try next. Any ideas? What about cranberry something?

Cheesecake Goodness

My mom and I made Barefoot Contessa's Mixed Berry Cheesecake on New Year's Eve for my sister, Carrie's, birthday. It was wonderful. We used half the lemon zest (and could have still used less). Instead of using all the berries on top, we used two packages of raspberries, mixed with the currant jelly. Then we had additional toppings available made from frozen berries. You could have your cheesecake nearly naked or fully dressed. Mmmmm.

Cupcakes of Magical Goodness

For Clay's birthday a few weeks ago Andrea made the awesome Oreo cake and I made the kiddie cupcakes. I wanted to make something similar to the old Hostess Cupcakes (but yummier). Plus, I had never filled a cupcake and wanted to try that, too. It was a success.
For the cake I used one of my Grandma's recipes. I filled the cupcakes with a mixture of marshmallow cream and whipped cream, and I frosted them with a chocolate ganache.
I made these last week with a cake mix and they weren't as awesome, but still good.

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350.
In a saucepan combine and heat to a low boil:
2 sticks butter
4T cocoa
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Add to:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda

Then add:
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

For the cake you bake it 25 mins at 350. I think I baked the cupcakes about 18 minutes.

Ganache (estimates):
3/4 cup cream*
8 oz chocolate (I used semisweet, but you could use milk or dark)
1 teaspoon corn syrup
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon butter

Put your chocolate, corn syrup, and butter in a bowl. Heat the cream until almost boiling and pour on chocolate. After a few minutes, stir to combine. It will be smooth and beautiful. Let it sit around for a while to thicken up. You could make this while the cupcakes are cooking and it should be good by the time you needed to frost them.
*I have used half and half, and even whole milk before... you know cream will taste better, though.

Filling:
Use about 1/2 cup of whipping cream to make 1 cup whipped cream. I didn't sweeten it at all. Add to about 1/2 a container of marshmallow cream and mix. You want about half whipped cream and half marshmallow cream. Put this mixture in a ziplock bag and cut the corner of the bag off to make a mock pastry bag.

When the cupcakes are cooled, cut little cones out of the top, much like carving a jack-o-lantern. Cut off the point of the cone, so you are left with a little cake lid. This will leave space for you to fill the cupcakes with cream. You can also dig a little more cupcake out if you want more cream. I did. Fill the cupcakes with the cream mixture and put the tops back on. Stick in the fridge for a while and it will help to cement the lid to the cream.

Ice the cupcakes with a knife. I tried dipping them and it didn't work.
If you want to make the white swirls on the top, mix 1/2 - 1 T milk with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Get a good consistency - not too thin, and swirl away. You could use a decorators tip or just cut a tiny corner off a bag. The tip will look better, though.

If you have any left after a day you should store them in the fridge. If you're feeling a little naughty, put a cupcake in the microwave for exactly 8 seconds. The creamy center will melt a little and so will the ganache. When you bite in to the chocolaty goodness it will blow you away. You'll feel like you need to go confess you sins, but you don't. It's just a cupcake.

Cookies for Grandma

When I was little my grandma would send us a box of jack-o-lantern cookies each Halloween. It was the highlight of my October because not only were they delicious cookies, but they looked awesome. AND they came in the mail addressed to me. Each Fall I remember those cookies so I thought this year I would return the favor and send some cookies to my grandma in Florida.
I don't know that they will arrive in one piece or still be yummy, but I hope she enjoys them. They aren't her recipe and they're not as big as hers were, but they're still orange.
I wanted to send them to all my nieces and nephews, but that task seemed a little expensive and difficult for now... sorry kiddos. Ask Grandma to make you some. Happy Halloween!

Yum Yum.

I have a few yummy recipes to share. For my friends from the 505, you might know the corn cake at Gardunos. I love that stuff and finally found a recipe that is equally delicious. It's like a really moist, sweet corn bread. Sounds weird, but is uber-yummy.
The second recipe is for a homemade taco seasoning and I love it!
Enjoy!

Sweet Corn Cake (adapted from all recipes):
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup masa harina (white flour will work, too)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups frozen whole-kernal corn, thawed
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
2 T heavy cream (milk is fine, too)
1/4 t salt
1/2 t baking powder

1. In a medium bowl beat butter until it is creamy. Add the Mexican corn flour and water and beat until well mixed.
2. Using a food processor, process thawed corn, but leave chunky. Stir into the butter mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal, sugar, cream, salt, and baking powder. Add to corn flour mixture and stir to combine. Pour batter into an ungreased 8x8 inch baking pan. Smooth batter and cover with aluminum foil. Place pan into a 9x13 inch baking dish that is filled a third of the way with water.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven F (175 degrees C) oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Use an ice cream scoop for easy removal from pan.

*I've used canned corn with success before. Also, I doubled the recipe recently and still cooked it in an 8x8. It just needed to cook about 10 minutes longer. The original recipe called for twice as much butter, but I really like it this way.

Taco Seasoning
1 T chili powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 t dried oregano
1/2 t paprika
1 1/2 t cumin
1 t sea salt
1 t pepper

Baby Shower goodies

Megan and Jeff are due with twins in November, but won't make it that long. Megan is on bed rest in the hospital for now until they come - hopefully not for several more weeks. She's handling it like a champ and is in a much better mood than I would think possible. Go Megan!
Saturday we had a baby shower at the hospital. Due to Megan's persistent asking and a few tears, she was allowed to get out of bed, put on real clothes, and be wheeled down to the dining hall for a good old fashioned baby shower. We had great food, a "guess the birth date" contest, and a really cute pregnant girl and her hubby her company.
Jeana and I made a diaper cake, which served as hospital decor, and several people made the yummy treats for the big event. I made these cookies:

My mom gave me the recipe that she found in a magazine. They are like sugar cookies, made with brown sugar, and the frosting is made with browned butter.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 t soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t powder
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening (you could use part butter, too)
2 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
2/3 cup walnuts, chopped

Combine dry ingredients.
Whip shortening and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla.
Add alternately, dry ingredients & sour cream. Add walnuts.
I put mine in the refrigerator for a while to get cold.
Bake at 375 for 10 - 12 minutes.

Browned Butter Frosting:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter
1 t vanilla

Melt butter, stir with a wooden spoon. Once it browns a little, add to powdered sugar. Add vanilla. I used an electric mixer and had to add some milk to get the right consistency. I might have let my butter cook too long.
You could make another half of the recipe so each cookie gets a good amount of frosting.

Treats

We had a Senior Social last week for a youth activity at church. It wasn't seniors in high school, it was seniors in citizenship. The kids sat at tables with the seniors and we all shared stories and talents.
I made some sugar cookies to have for party favors. I wanted to play around with the frosting I used for the hippo cake. It was a pain in the butt, but after three hours of frosting, they ended up looking really cute. I think the more fattening fluffy frosting tastes better, but wouldn't have been nearly as cute.
I made 41 cookies total, using two different recipes. Ben really wanted a cookie and was whining and whining. Finally I made him his own very "special" cookie using scraps. In the end I left him one in his car with a nice note. He ate it on the way to work. Here is a shot of the trail of cookies as well as the finished party favor.

I was also in charge of flowers. I wanted to do something with underwater flowers that I had seen online. It was kind of a pain and I was working with limited materials. I ended up with this:

Orchids would have looked really cool, but I didn't have the budget for orchids, plus Costco doesn't carry orchids.

Hippo Cake

So, here are the details for Lucas's hippo cake. It was supposed to look like the hippo from Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
I wanted to copy the idea from this other cake, where the lady made a giraffe out of royal icing. Instead of real royal icing (with egg whites), I used another recipe just using powdered sugar, corn syrup, and milk. It was way easy and tastes good, too.
I put a picture of the hippo on a cookie sheet with wax paper over that so I could trace the hippo. It worked out really well. I liked this idea because I knew I could make as many hippos as I needed instead of just one if I did it right on the cake.
My first hippo was too big, but looked pretty good. I originally considered him a practice hippo. When I decided to make a round cake instead of a 9x13 cake, I knew I had to try again. My second hippo was even better, but this was the day before the party, so I knew I was risking it not drying enough. FYI - to get the colors looking so varied, I actually mixed blue food coloring with some almond extract (mostly alcohol) and "painted" chunks of blue with my fingers.

I went on my merry little way and made my marshmallow fondant and my coconut cake. When I finally decided to transfer the hippo, it broke and broke and broke. Finally I decided to keep it on the wax paper and tear the paper around the edges. This worked, but I still had to basically do the hippo all over on top of the cute hippo. Luckily I had saved all my icing from the night before.
It didn't turn out as cute as the other hippos, but it still looked good.
I added color to some of my white fondant and made a little fondant braid to go around the bottom of the cake. It looked really cute and I was pleased.
Most importantly, Lucas loved the cake. Friday afternoon I had to keep him from trying to play with the cake or stick a spoon in it. He actually got a spoon out of the drawer and brought it over - hence the dent in the fondant.
Here are some pictures of the process:

First rolling out the fondant.

Then draping the fondant over the cake and trimming it around the edges.

And finally the finished product vs. the original:

chocolate takes the cake!

My mom and I made two really good cakes last week. I'll look extra shapely in my swimsuit next weekend because of them...

The first was a chocolate cake with mint filling and ganache frosting. I wanted to make it for my nephew, Aaron, who thought my chocolate mint brownies were the "best he's ever had!" He said this cake could be his birthday cake this year.

We wanted to play around with the ganache again, so for our next cake we got a bit fancier. We were going to just do chocolate cake, raspberry jam filling, and ganache frosting.

Instead, for the filling I put layers of rasberry jam, ganache, whipped cream, then whole raspberries.

The outside of the cake was inspired by Jenna Bush's wedding cake. I put a thin layer of ganache on, then stripes of thicker ganache. For the top we poured the ganache over the cake so it would drip over the stripes.

It was wonderful and tasted like something from a bakery. It was an expensive cake, but a keeper for sure!

You aren't really supposed to refrigerate ganache - it doesn't look as pretty and it gets harder, but this cake had to stay in the refrigerator due to the whipped cream. I think next time we would wait to pour the top ganache on until about 30 minutes before serving, then it would stay shiney and gooey.

Double Chocolate Whamo

Last night Ben was supposed to work late, so I decided to make cookies to keep in the freezer for him while Lucas and I are out of town. Instead Ben managed to come home on time while I was making the cookies, so it wasn't a surprise, but they still were delicious. I think they are my new fave:

Hershey's Double Chocolate Mini Kisses Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
3/4 t soda
1/4 t salt
1 3/4 cups mini kisses (I just used chocolate chunks & chocolate chips)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Bake at 350, 8-10 minutes.

Last night I omitted the nuts, but added about 3/4 t peppermint and it was uber-good. Mmmm.

Mmmm... Brownies

Brownies, anyone? I tested out a couple brownie recipes for a baby shower I'm having next week. I made mint-chocolate brownies Friday night and then Sunday night I made peanut butter brownies for a BBQ we went to.
The mint brownies are from Cooking Light and they were a hit, as were the less "healthy" peanut butter version.

Chocolate Mint-Bars:
Bottom Layer:
1 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 T water
1 t vanilla
1 16 oz can chocolate syrup
Mint Layer:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 T milk
1/2 t peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring
Glaze:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 T butter

Just make like normal brownies, cook at 350 for 23 minutes (it took me a lot longer - like 35), until wooden pick comes out almost clean. Cool completely. Frost with mint layer. To prepare glaze, melt chocolate chips and butter in microwave 1 minute at a time, stirring after 30 seconds. Let cool two minutes and then frost over mint layer. Keep in fridge until ready to serve.
Now, the peanut butter brownies are a recipe of my Grandma Cutchen. They won first place at the National Peanut Festival in Dothan, Alabama, The Peanut Capital of the World!


Here's the recipe:
1 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
4 eggs
1 t vanilla

Combine butter and cocoa in saucepan over low heat to form chocolate mixture. Cook until butter melts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, cool slightly.
Combine sugar and dry ingredients in mixing bowl, add chocolate mixture and beat at medium speed until blended. Add eggs and vanilla. Spread into well-greased 9x13. Bake at 350 25 - 30 minutes, or until wooden pick comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Frosting:
1 16 oz jar chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/3 cup milk
10 large marshmallows
1 lb package powdered sugar, sifted

Remove lid from PB jar and microwave at medium for 2 mins or until PB melts, stirring after a minute. Spread over warm brownies. Chill about 30 mins or until set. Combine butter, cocoa, milk, marshmallows in saucepan over medium heat. Add powdered sugar, stirring until smooth. Spread over PB, chill until set. Store in fridge.

When I made the PB brownie, I used to Cooking Light brownie recipe so it wasn't quite so fattening, but I'm sure it's yummy. Both recipes were good. Ben preferred the mint recipe, but he says it's pretty hard to do PB and chocolate from home. I guess I should just buy him some Reeses cups. I thought they were both delicious... just depends on if you're in a mint mood or a PB mood.