The Pioneer Cookerella

Guest post today over at Today's Housewife!

2011-03-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

Did you update your bookmarks yet? Huh? Did ya? I'm going to bug you until you do!

Today I have the privilege of guest posting over at Today's Housewife, an awesome blog ministry that is really close to my heart. There's also a recipe up as well!

Over at Or Whatever You Do today we are featuring the same recipe as Today's Housewife, but with more photos of the process. Hope you enjoy both!

P.S. Update your bookmarks!!!

TPC readers, new post over at OWYD! Panko breaded chicken breasts...

2011-03-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

For those of you that haven't yet updated your links, here is your reminder! Click on over to:

OrWhateverYouDo.com

I've got my Panko breaded chicken recipe up! Its great for a week-night meal. Try it this week and let me know what you think!

Psssttt...new post...

2011-02-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

Hey TPC readers! Have you made the migration with me over to my new site,

www.orwhateveryoudo.com?

There is a new post up there, and I think you will like it! Come on over, and while you are at it, subscribe to my new feed. I see you followers there still with the old subscription!

I'll keep updating this one when I post something new at Or Whatever You Do for a bit, just to remind you. I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day! Guess what I got...

!!!!!!!!!!!! Look for more recipes and more photos soon! I can't wait to learn all there is to know about this camera.

See anything different?

2011-01-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, I'm not here! I've changed domains, folks. You can find all of the great PC recipes from before, along with all new content over at Or Whatever You do. In fact, I just put a NEW post up there, just now! I know you want to look. Click on over, and make sure to update your bookmarks and/or your feed subscriptions while you are at it.

www.orwhateveryoudo.com

Also, have you clicked over to my facebook fan page?

<-------------Look how lonely the badge is over there, sitting, for weeks, at 99 "fans", just patiently waiting for ONE more person to click "like" and drop me a line.

Ovaltine Chocolate Cake w/ ovaltine chocolate buttercream frosting

2011-01-18T22:08:00.000-08:00

I had a sudden craving for chocolate last night. Its a girl thing. So right before bed I whipped up a few dozen regular sized cupcakes, and a few dozen minis. Then I ate a couple. I'm going to pretend that they were the minis but we all know they weren't. I didn't get around to the frosting until this afternoon, but honestly, this cake is so moist and flavorful that it can stand alone without the frosting.

I found this recipe a few years ago over on recipezaar, which is now food.com. Its titled "The Only Chocolate cake Recipe You'll Ever Need! (Devil's Food)". Its amazing. I adapted it from that to suit my own tastes, and now I think I can safely say that I've found MY chocolate cake. The frosting is from Joy the Baker. I've linked to her before in my previous post shouting the praises of this frosting, and I'm sure I will again. I could spend hours browsing her site, and days baking her creations, and I still would need more. I omitted the milk from the original recipe for frosting as I don't think it needs it, but you could certainly add it in if you do!

Here's the recipe. Use it at your own risk. These are not low-fat, not low-calorie, and may be habit forming.

Oh, and I've CHANGED sites! You can find this recipe, along with all of my previous recipes from this blog, with more new recipes and content over at orwhateveryoudo.com

Ovaltine Chocolate Cake & Frosting...
(Printable Recipe)

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup rich chocolate Ovaltine
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 cup strong hot good-quality coffee
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup half-n-half
2 lg eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla

Frosting:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
1 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp salt (or NONE if you ran out of unsalted and had to use regular, salted butter!)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup Ovaltine

1) For cake, sift together dry ingredients and set aside. In mixer, combing canola oil, coffee, half-n-half, and sour cream. Mix on low 30 seconds. Slowly add in dry mixture and mix on low until incorporated. Add in vanilla and mix. Add in eggs, one at a time, and mix just until combined.

2) Pour batter into lined cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full. I like to lightly spray my cupcake liners with cooking spray, as well. I think it helps them release. I'm not sure if this is entirely necessary or not, but its what I do. Bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

3) For frosting, put room temperature butter in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Sift in cocoa powder and powdered sugar, mixing and taking care not to leave lumps. Add vanilla. Mix. In a different bowl, mix together Ovaltine and heavy cream well. Slowly add to butter mixture. Beat on high for 1-2 minutes, or until frosting slightly lightens in color. We're just trying to incorporate some air into it. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes with a tip that will not make it look similar to any other unappetizing thing that will not be mentioned.

What is your favorite flavor of cake/cupcake? Has it always been that way, or is it a new discovery?

Please see this recipe as well as all of my new content at my new site,

www.orwhateveryoudo.com

My garlic pinot cream sauce, and a Costco Lobster Ravioli review...

2011-01-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

I usually don't review products on here, but when I saw this Lobster Ravioli in Costco tonight I had to pick some up. We had a sample last year while shopping, but didn't buy any. By the time we went back to actually pick some up, it was GONE! I've been waiting for months, and they are finally back. They are different than last year, but still just as good as I remembered, but prettier!

I loved the red stripes. They lose a little bit of the oomph in the cooking process, but still looked pretty after cooking. I made a late dinner for Jeremiah and I with my Garlic Pinot Cream sauce, which sounds fancy, but comes together very quickly.

Start out by melting 2/3 of a stick of butter in a heavy saucepan. Add sliced mushrooms and cook until browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add in the garlic and stir while cooking for about 30 seconds, or until the garlic is fragrant, but not browned. You don't want it brown at all. Add in 2 cups of Pinot Grigio, or any dry white wine. I often use Chardonnay, but its a little sweet for this dish in my opinion.

Let the wine reduce in the pan by 3/4 until its slightly thickened. Slowly pour in heavy cream while stirring. Reduce heat to medium low, and let sauce come to a light simmer. DO NOT substitute half and half or milk for the cream. It will curdle and you will hate it. I don't use anything but heavy cream in my sauces and soups anymore because of the risk of curdling. Its just not worth it!

Slowly grate in 3/4 cup of a good Parmigiano-Reggiano. Technically you CAN substitute the green stuff in the can, but I wouldn't recommend it. One of the only food snobbery hang-ups we have in this house is Parmesan cheese. Ever since we've tried the GOOD stuff, its really hard to go back to the green crap in a can.

Food snobbery aside, stir the entire time you are adding the cheese, and remove from heat as soon as its melted and delicious and pour over hot pasta. This sauce would be awesome with some spinach in it too, which I would've done if I'd have had it!

I really liked the Lobster Ravioli. Really. It satisfied my seafood and pasta craving, which is a hard thing to do. The first ingredient in the filling is lobster, which is a nice thing to see as well. Try some tonight, or wish you could if there is no Costco by you. ;)

(Printable Recipe Click HERE)

Garlic Pinot Cream Sauce
1/3 cup butter
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 TBSP garlic, finely chopped
2 cups dry white wine
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add mushrooms and cook over medium heat until browned. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Add wine and let reduce by 3/4.

Slowly add heavy whipping cream while stirring. Reduce heat to medium-low, and let come to a gentle simmer. Gradually add in cheese while stirring. Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately over hot pasta.

P.S. Someone please rescue me from these cookies. They've taken over my life the last few days. All warm and melty and delicious.

Old elementary school lunch, revamped. Italian dunkers, my way.

2011-01-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

Ring-o-french bread

Someday I'm going to have to give you guys my go-to french bread recipe. Bread recipes are hard for me because I don't ever measure when I'm making bread, and writing out a recipe without any measurements is not the easiest thing in the world to do. I'm not much of a guesstimater, so my recipes are often off when I try and do that. Then I'll try to actually, you know, measure sometime, and I'll think to myself, "Self, you don't need to actually WRITE DOWN these measurements! You will totally remember them. Nevermind this morning when you spent 1/2 hour looking for your phone that was IN YOUR HAND. You have a GREAT memory because you are a GREAT person, self." Then I'll measure measure measure and forget forget forget, ending up so frustrated in the process that I scrap the idea until "next time".

Well, its a good thing we live in the age of internet land and there are enough sources out there for amazing french bread recipes...

Like THIS ONE from The Ginger Cook who I JUST came across, but I can tell is going to be one of my new favorite. A Midwest transplant to Seattle? Check. That's all I know. Her about me page is 'under construction', but if her food tastes say anything about her, and they usually do, I think I'm in for a "I got nothing done" afternoon from browsing that blog!

Her french bread uses a slightly different method than mine, but looks amazing and would work perfectly for this recipe.

And THIS ONE from What Megan's Making
That one is closer to what I normally do, and looks delicious. I need picture-taking lessons, for reals.

I have wanted to do this recipe for a long time now. Back in elementary school, there was never a day I dreaded MORE than "Italian Dunker" day at lunch. Nothing like frozen garlic bread and canned spaghetti sauce with mystery meat to get your appetite going, huh? It sounded like such an amazing idea, but the execution just wasn't there. So I decided that since I had a whole heap of bread needing to be eaten, along with some meat sauce in the fridge yelling to be finished off or frozen, this would be the perfect solution.

Garlic Bread ingredients...

Start with some good french bread, and slice it in half the long way.

Saute about 2 TBSP of minced garlic in 1/4 cup of good quality olive oil over medium heat until garlic is fragrant and JUST starting to slightly brown. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. Mix garlic/EVOO mixture with softened butter, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp parsley, and salt, to taste. I used about 1/2 tsp here, but you won't want that much. My bread was lacking a bit of salt, and I also used unsalted butter. I'd start with maybe 1/4 tsp and work your way up from there.

Spread mixture over french bread. Place under broiler on the 2nd highest oven rack and do not look away. Broil until golden brown. Top with some shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano, and serve next to a good meat sauce, also generously topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Blueberry topped cheesecake bars

2011-01-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

This is my first attempt at blogging from my droid. If the formatting is off more than normal, you know why!

I threw these bars together on Tuesday night to bring to worship practice. I've never made blueberry sauce before, and its now one of my new favorites! It quick, easy, and was great on top of this cheesecake. I think I will make more soon for blueberry pancakes. If i could get up the couage to can I might try that as well. Canning is really my husband's thing though, and I am glad for it.

I really liked the crust on this as well. It has kept its crunch for several days, and is a nice change from your typical shortbread or graham cracker crust. The cheesecake itself is a very basic, no fuss, traditional recipe. You can sub in your favorite one if you've got one that's a bit different.

Crust:

2/3 cup pecans, finely chopped

2/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup butter, slightly softened

2 cups flour

Cheesecake:

4 - 8oz blocks cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup whole milk

1 tbsp vanilla

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup flour

4 eggs

Blueberry Topping:

4 cups frozen blueberries

2 - 3 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 cup lemon juice

3 tbsp chambord

1. Mix together crust ingredients in a food processor until combined. Press into the bottom of a greased 9x13 or 10x14 and partially up the sides. Bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes, or until lightly toasted and golden brown.

2. While crust is baking, mix cream cheese and sugar in mixer on medium until smooth. Add sour cream, vanilla, milk, and lemon juice. Mix on low until combined. Slowly sift in flour while mixing on low until combined. Add in eggs, one at a time, and using the pulse feature on your mixer (or mix by hand if yours doesn't have a pulse feature!), pulse 1 or 2 times to just barely mix in egg. Continue adding eggs one at a time and pulsing until all are added. Pour batter over crust and bake at 325 for 20 - 25 minutes, or until edges are set and middle is slightly jiggly. Pull from oven and chill at least 24 hours.

3. Place blueberries and chambord in a sauce pan. Heat to a simmer, stirring frequently. Add the other ingredients and simmer until the sugar is dissolved and the sauce is slightly thickened. Pour sauce over cheesecake while its chilling, or serve on the side. If necessary, add some apple juice to the sauce to make it pourable.

My Mother-in-law meal..or Hamburger Steaks with onion gravy...

2011-01-01T20:14:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time I was a newlywed and a new mom. We lived in Minnesota and had just had our first son less than a year before. My mother and father-in-law were coming over to visit, a rare and special event because they live in Washington, and were having dinner at our house. That was awesome, until I realized it'd been a bit too long since I'd last been to the grocery store, we were out of nearly everything, and I couldn't get to the store in time get something for dinner.

Off to Allrecipes.com I went. I did a quick search of my cupboards and saw I had ground beef, and onion. That was about it. I entered those into the ingredient search and found Hamburger Steak with Onions and Gravy. At that time I was not a big onion fan, but I had little choice so I ran with it. I made some mashed potatoes to go with it, and off I went. I had all the other ingredients in my pantry. It was simple enough for me to follow along with. It was fast enough to prepare while he new mom in me couldn't stand to have my baby cry for a second.

The dinner was a hit! My mother-in-law has raved about it, to almost every family member we have, ever since. Its still fairly regular in our rotation, and probably will be forever! I made a few small changes to accommodate our family. We double the gravy, for instance, because we are sauce/gravy freaks. I also omit the Worchestershire that the original recipe calls for because Isaiah's allergies react badly to the fish used in it.

I'll post the recipe as we make it, but be sure to pop over to allrecipes if you make it and let Ann Marie Sweden how much you enjoy it!

After you mix up the patties, brown them all well in the pan...

Remove the patties and sprinkle the flour over the onions...

If the mixture looks too dry throw in a few TBSP of butter to soften it up a bit..

Add in the beef broth and sherry, the return the patties to the pan. Cover and cook 20 minutes.

Hamburger Steaks with Onion Gravy

(printable recipe here)

2 pounds ground beef

1 egg

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons A-1 sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup thinly sliced onion

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups beef broth

3 tablespoons cooking sherry

1. Mix together egg, seasonings, and A-1 sauce. Using your hands, mash together with ground beef. Sprinkle panko crumbs over the mixture and knead in with hands until combined, but don't over mix. For into small patties.

2. In a preheated skillet place the vegetable oil. When oil is hot place patties onto pan, sprinkle onions around the patties and cook until browned, about 4-5 minutes. Flip patties, moving the onions to the sides of the pan, and remove patties when browned on both sides to a different plate. Brown the rest of the patties (this always takes me two rotations with the amount of patties I always have) in the same manner.

3. When all patties are removed, stir the onions around in the pan and sprinkle flour on the top. If there isn't enough grease in the pan for the flour to properly cook and be absorbed, you can throw in a tablespoon or two of butter. Cook 2 minutes and add in beef broth and sherry. I often use "Better Than Bouillion" and potato water from the mashed potatoes I am making. Add as much as you need to make the gravy the consistency that you prefer. When the sauce is right, add patties back into pan, cover, and cook 20 minutes.

4. Serve with mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice.

5/6 happy family members isn't too bad for a dinner I guess!

Toasted Butter Pecan Cake...

2011-01-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

This recipe is a Taste of Home recipe, and its one that I really, really like. Its unique, and its delicious. Whenever I need to take something unexpected somewhere, I turn to this recipe, especially in the winter months. Check it out from TasteofHome here.

Best chocolate frosting EVER. Ever, ever, ever, ever. Ovaltine frosting from Joy the Baker...

2010-12-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

I love this frosting. I love it so much, that I can't stop raving about it. Imagine my surprise then, when I'd realized that I forgot to tell you all about it! Its Ovaltine chocolate butter cream frosting, and its amazing. Know who else is amazing? Joy the Baker. The chocolate cake recipe that she posted with the frosting recipe? Dangerous. So good I could eat many, many pieces in one sitting, and I'm normally not really a chocolate cake person. Go check out her site and her recipe for Ovaltine frosting now!

This cake is currently featured as the chocolate cake of the week at the restaurant that I work at! Go on down to Roadhouse on the Hill in Key Center, WA, to have a slice today!

Oreo Truffles for Christmas!

2010-12-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

Oreo truffles from the Sister's Cafe recipe! These were a huge hit with the kids of the family. They were a little sweet for me personally, but I'll definitely make them again for a treat for all the little ones!

Things I am going to make in the next week...

2010-12-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

Its a busy week around here, and I'm sure its a busy week where ever you happen to be too. I'm happy to say that the vast majority of my Christmas shopping is done. I now just have to wait on shipping! Its a nerve wracking process, wondering whether they will get here on time. I've never really done this much Christmas shopping online before, but I definitely enjoy it. I can shop, price compare, order, and all from my pj's on my couch. No crazy cranky crowds to fight. One more actual in-store shopping day and I'll be DONE. DONE DONE DONE. Except for the cooking. And the cleaning. And the wrapping. And the cleaning. Did I mention the cleaning? I love Christmas.

This week is going to so full. Monday is my shopping day. Tuesday I work. Wednesday I am making a few pans of homemade caramels, some to wrap up, some to make into homemade Turtles. I'm also going to do these Oreo Truffles that we very popular last year, I hear, in the blogosphere. I am in love with this blog that I just linked to three times, that I just found today. Its called The Sisters Cafe, and its amazing. I can't wait until I have some time to browse through it some more.

Thursday is my official "cookie day" with my awesome sister-in-law, Jen. I'm making a massive amount of sugar cookies for the herds of small children that will be running around to decorate. I'm making turtle tassies from The Girl Who Are Everything, another of my favorite blogs. I'm also making Hazlenut crusted caramel thumbprints, adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventure. Can you tell I'm on a chocolate/caramel kick? Better to just roll with it than fight it and have to choose, right?

We're also making Russian Tea Cakes, Melting Moments, and Spritz cookies (both recipes have me wishing for a digital kitchen scale, or wondering how to convert grams to measurements I'm familiar with! Can you help?). By special request from my awesome husband, we are also making The Busty Baker's Kiss Cookies. I'm sure Jen will have a few more too! It'll be a long day of baking, but I can't wait.

Let me introduce myself...

2010-12-01T22:52:00.000-08:00

I'm Nicole. The very busy, neglectful blog owner with very high expectations but very little time. I think, starting this, I underestimated the time needed to properly maintain it the way I was envisioning. So, from here on out, I'm just going to let go of all of those expectations and go with it. When I have time to post, I'll post. When I don't, I'm not going to let it stress me out! This is a fun hobby for me, not a source of stress. Its amazing the things I can let occupy my mind when other, higher priority things are waiting for my attention. Its because this is fun. I like blogging. I like community. I like making new friends, meeting new people, finding new recipes, and sharing my own, but I like taking care of my responsibilities to my God and my family more!

The problem is I started this blog in July when my job was staying at home with my kids, and though being a full time at home parent is a very demanding job, it still leaves some spare time for other ventures.

Speaking of my family, let me introduce you to the other members of it!

This is my husband, Jeremiah, on our 7th wedding anniversary! We went out for dinner, something we only do once or twice a year, and instead of our normal Red Lobster dinner out (because he loves me and knows I am a sucker for Cheddar Bay Biscuits and an Ultimate Feast!), we did something new and went to Anthony's. Delicious. I've started just letting him order for me because he is an expert. Whenever I don't, I always wish I was eating what he had or that I had ordered what he suggested! My love of cooking was born from my love of him. He teaches me. He inspires me.

Daniel, 6.5 years old, in his first year of school this year and loving every minute of it! Loves silly bandz (why didn't I think of that!), Transformers, and riding bike. He loves being the leader of the pack, and has a very kind heart. Favorite food is pizza, cheese only. He's gradually being more open to trying new things, but its been a rough few years of picky eating for this kid. My own little food snob, who often embarrasses me by asking other people, "Is this home made?"

Isaiah, 5 year old!! Hates smiling for pictures, loves monster trucks, coloring, and playing Super Mario Bros Wii. He is my child with allergies to soy, white fish, peanuts, and eggs. Currently he tolerates baked in eggs well. We're planning on doing further testing for shellfish and other types of seafood. Isaiah is such a kind boy to his brothers. He really considers other people's feelings and takes action to help them or make them feel better. My only salad eater thus far, he loves his veggies! He's so good about his allergies, and has a great attitude about it. I've been so proud of the way he's handled that challenge at such a young age.

Elijah is 3 years old and loves the DSi more than anything else at the moment. We limit his playing time, but that child loves that thing all the same. Does not like being too cold, or too wet, unless its summer and he's playing in the mud or the outside faucets. Loves potty talking, and playing catch. He is very silly and makes us laugh all the time. His favorite food is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I have to get a video of him singing his mac-n-cheese song. Stinking adorable.

Here is our latest addition, Caleb, almost 1.5 years old already! Our biggest, and most rough-and-tumble child yet. He is nearly as big as Elijah, and doesn't realize he is a baby and can't quite keep up with the big guys yet! My husband has dubbed him "Moofungo". I have no idea where that one came from but somehow, it fits. He is a basher and we love him to pieces. One second he will be throwing himself on the floor in a tantrum, and the next showering any brother that will let him with kisses. Caleb will eat nearly anything, but his favorite food at the moment seems to be crayons, much as we try and hide them.

So back in July life was much more...relaxing. Then life changed and God led us in a new direction. I went back to work at a few different jobs, and my time has been shifting between work and home, a transition that has left little time for blogging, or laundry, or 'me' time (HAHA!), or HIM time, and most importantly, US time. I'm thankful for the opportunity to see what its like on the other side of the coin. My three jobs only amount to part time, even on my busiest week, so I can only imagine the toll of the demands that a full-time job, part time job, husband, father to 4, protector, and knight in shining armor must take on my awesomely adaptive husband. I'm so blessed to have him in my life for NINE years now, and have him as my husband for seven! He's been a rock star with the kids the last few months, and our whole household has benefited from it.

So, family, friends, blog friends, board friends, all friends, I will post when I can, and update when I'm able, and hopefully when the Lord decides to change our course again I can come back to this refreshed, renewed, and with lots of new recipes in the book to share with you all!

Like this one, that I've been making lately especially for Roadhouse on the Hill, in Key Center, WA, and for my father-in-law now and then, because he loves it and we love him!

1970's Vintage rural Minnesota old-folks cook book!

2010-11-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

My mom sent this to me a week or so ago, but I just got around to looking at it last night. Oh.good.gracious! I am going to have fun with this!

I especially like this one, below, from a man? who was way, way, way ahead of his time. Do you think he went to Woodstock and had long hair and tie dye shirts?

I'd also like to try these 6 weeks muffins. I have never heard of using raisin bran in a muffin before...

and this. Lefsa is prized in our family, and my sister-in-law is the sole maker of it. My husband, is especially a fan.

It'll take me months to cook through all the cookie and bar recipes in that book! I am thinking about doing an "8 cookies for Christmas" series starting after Thanksgiving using recipes out of the book.

One thing that really surprised me about this book is the amount of 'convenience item' ingredients were included. Lots of "cream of" soups, Velveeta, Whipped Topping, and some strange strange thing called "Oleo" that I neither know how to pronounce nor have ever heard of. I'm sure some of you will laugh at me, but a child of the 70's I am not.

Strange ingredients or not, I love this cookbook! Thanks Mom!

Raspberry Sauce, use for cheesecake, ice cream, or by the spoonfull...

2010-11-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

Raspberry is in my top 5 favorite flavors list. It might be number one, depending on the quality of the berry I have in front of me. I love it that much. Some of the most memorable times from my childhood are picking raspberries out at my Grandparent's house, and in the winter, having Grandma heat up a bowl of those berries from the freezer, pouring some sugar over it, and letting me go to town. No better dessert than that!

This sauce is simple. The hardest part is taking the seeds out of it, and even that isn't really hard, just a bit time consuming.

Seedless Raspberry Sauce
4 cups whole fresh raspberries
2 cups sugar
3 tbsp Chambord
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup water

1. Place berries and sugar into a sauce pan over medium low heat. Cook until liquid is released and sugar is dissolved, about 15 minutes.

2. Take the berry mixture and press through a fine metal strainer. On occasion, with a different spoon, scrape the bottom of the strainer to remove any stubborn pulp that is sticking there.

3. Put back into a now cleaned out saucepan. Add Chambord, water, and vanilla. Stir well and simmer over low heat for another 10 minutes.

We made this tonight for a topping on the vanilla cheesecake I'll be bringing to Thanksgiving dinner. I hope I can keep my paws off of it until then! I had to 'test' it tonight on some Bryer's Natural Vanilla ice cream.

Shrimp stir-fry with vegetables and shiitake mushrooms

2010-11-11T12:10:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted an actual recipe in too long! Here you go. This is my go-to stir-fry recipe. I love the garlicky soy-based sauce, and often double the sauce portion so I can have plenty to pour over my jasmine rice.

This recipe is so versatile. You can add whatever vegetables that you like, and whatever meat as well. I often sub chicken in for the shrimp.

Basic Stir Fry Recipe

(printable recipe)

Stir-fry
1 lb shelled, deveined, large shrimp
1 lb various vegetables (onion, asparagus, peas, green beans, zucchini, carrots, peppers, etc)
1/4 lb shiitake mushrooms
3-4 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped

Sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
2 T soy sauce
2 T dry sherry
1/4 tsp garlic chili sauce (Sriracha)
1/4 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water

Mix Sauce ingredients in a small bowl, set aside. Mix slurry (cornstarch & water in a separate bowl. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large wok or pan until almost smoking. You want it very, very, VERY hot. Dump in shrimp and stir fry approximately 2 minutes, or until pink. Remove from pan.

If necessary, add more oil to pan and allow to heat again until smoking. Add vegetables and stir fry 3-4 minutes, or until crisp tender. Add garlic and stir fry 30 seconds.

Dump in sauce mixture and heat, while stirring, until simmering. Slowly pour in slurry mixture and stir until sauce is thickened. You may not need entire slurry mixture.

Serve over jasmine rice

WFMW - Drying, made easy. Bounce Drier Bar, my new laundry BFF

2010-11-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

I have not raved about a product ever as much as I rave about the Bounce Dryer Bar. I love, love, LOVE this thing. I used to use liquid softener, religiously. Every load, measure out a cup of the blue stuff, pour into the Downey Ball, toss into the wash, and then...what? Nothing. The scent, and the softness, was never what I hoped it would be.

I tried using dryer sheets, but the end result also wasn't what I was looking for. The scent was too strong, or not strong enough, or the little balled up papers would get stuck in or on my clothes. Not big problems, for sure, but minor annoyances in my day-to-day cleaning routine. I have four little kids, three of which are big enough to take off their clothes, and put on new ones, WHEN EVER the urge strikes them. Not good. My laundry pile is often just as big as my laundry machines. Very classy and neat looking sitting right off of my kitchen. I can vouch for that.

These Bounce Dryer Bars though? Perfect. Stick the holder to the side of the dryer. Slide in the fabric softener bar. Forget about it...for MONTHS at a time. One less thing to worry about in my day is something to celebrate. They certainly add up when you keep at it!

Once upon a time I had received some coupons to try these from either Bzzagent.com, or Vocalpoint (both GREAT site to get a lot of great coupons and sometimes free product to try!), and ever since then I've been hooked.

Also, a great tip I've learned through the years is to toss in a dry towel into a wet load of clothes to speed up the drying time!

**Note...this post was in no way sponsored by anyone or any company. I rarely feel strongly about a product to blog about it, but this one makes the cut.

Exciting times!

2010-11-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

Its exciting times in the Cookerella home these days. I have never been busier, and things have been pretty stressful, but for the first time ever I'm doing something I love doing, and getting PAID for it. PAID! Real money! What a concept, huh? Now I'm having not just ONE paying cooking job, but TWO. Can you believe it? If I actually remember to keep my camera charged and WITH me, that might actually mean a lot more real posts too. I haven't been posting much lately because I haven't really been cooking at home lately. I haven't even really been HOME lately.

I'm very thankful that in this season that God has me, which is requiring me to step outside my comfort zone, He's providing a way for me to earn money for our family doing something that I enjoy. He's providing me the energy and the stamina to continue on doing so while having 2, 3, and soon to be 4 jobs (although technically three of them will be at the same physical location!). Let me tell you, friends, family, and blog readers, just what my weeks will look like in the next few weeks.

Monday - All day work shopping, cooking, and meal planning for a local client.
Tuesday - Bake and cook at local restaurant from 12 or 1 to 5pm, the wait tables from 5pm until 9ish.
Wednesday - Prepare the house and the heart for youth group @ our house Wednesday evening.
Thursday - More cooking and some shopping for local client.
Friday - 5pm - 9ish waiting tables
Saturday - OFF!! Unless I pick up a shift waiting tables, or didn't finish my cooking for local client.
Sunday - Church in the morning, karaoke in the evening starting November 21st out at the same restaurant I'm waiting tables at and will be baking for.

That is a busy week for someone whose calendar used to say "Open" all day, every day, and has four little tiny kids. In between sleep and work I also still have to keep up with all that needs to be done around the home front. Mr. Cooker has been amazing stepping up his game and adapting to his new temporart season in life as well, but running this house is definitely a two person job.

I'm tired just thinking about all that. Good thing I get an extra hour of sleep tonight! I am praying tonight that whatever is being taught to me I'm learning well, and that I'm not making these lessons harder than they need to be. We're both going to be so glad when things go back to 'normal' again, but let us be content right where we are at as well.

My very first "Works for me Wednesday"/ Cleaning your microwave

2010-11-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

I have spent way too much time in my short life cleaning microwaves. Or maybe not nearly enough judging by the average state of my microwave in the past 11 years since I've been out in the big world! That's until I discovered this fast, easy, and perfect method. It requires NO special cleaning tools, NO special cleaning solutions, and almost NO elbow grease. That is my perfect cleaning situation. Its so simple, I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out, and its something everyone else has probably known for all of eternity, but I'll share it with you anyway just in case you are a little, ahhh...slow...like me.

Take a dish rag, or a sponge, or any other cleaning cloth you use in your kitchen normally. Wet it down. I usually use hot soapy water from hand-washing dishes, but you can just wet it down under the faucet if you want.
Place sopping wet rag/sponge/cloth into microwave.
Put 2:30 - 3:00 on the microwave
Push start
Walk away for 30-40 minutes
Open microwave
Grab cooled off rag/sponge/cloth
Easily, with almost no effort, wipe out all the gook.
You are done, can you believe I broke that down into eight steps?
No? How about 10?

So there it is. Enjoy!

Yawn...TPC's Chicken Guac Tacos

2010-10-27T00:59:00.000-07:00

Its almost 1am, and I'm still up. I worked a serving shift tonight, the last few hours of which were crazy busy. I'm always so keyed up after a busy night waiting tables that this is what I'm left with.

Can't watch tv because it'll disturb Mr. Cooker. Can't find the headphones so I can't lull myself to sleep with some Prison Break, season 1, via Netflix. Can't blog because I forgot all THREE of my recipe notebooks at work tonight! LAME! LAME! LAME! Wait now, wait. Can't blog? Oh yes I can!

So tonight I'm bringing you this...

My very favorite chicken guac tacos. And then I'm going to bed. ;)

Start out with 3 or 4 ripe avocados. It helps to have varying stages of ripeness, with one being really extra ripe, one in the middle, and one just BARELY ripe. My sister-in-law Mandie let me in on this little secret to heavenly guacamole. It really helps the texture to be less 'baby food', more 'best dip ever'.

Next chop up a tomato or two, a handful of cilantro, and a few TBSP of onion, if you are brave and love the raw onion stuff. I'm not that into it so I usually leave it out. Cooked onion, awesome, raw? Not so much. Mr. Cooker tells me someday raw onion will be to me like these avocados are now (did you know I had never tried an avocado, or guacamole, until a year or two ago?? CRAZY!). I don't believe him.

Mix up your tomato and cilantro, shake in a few drops of Tapatio, and squeeze in some lime juice. Mix together and let sit while you are prepping your avocados.

Doing the avocados is simple. If you've never done it there is an awesome picture tutorial here. Once you have them pitted, peeled, and diced, mash them with a fork until it reaches your desired consistency. I like chunky guacamole, so I leave some good sized chunks in it! Stir in the tomato mixture, add salt to taste, and you've just made yourself the best party host ever.

Sometimes I can keep myself contained enough to leave some of this magical stuff for the actual meal. When I do, this is what you can make. The chicken guac tac. The chicken was quickly sauteed and seasoned with cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Add shredded lettuce, fresh tomato, your favorite salsa, and a big heaping spoonful of the guacamole and enjoy!

What a crazy couple of days! Kittencal's Jumbo Blueberry Muffins...

2010-10-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Its been a CRAZY, awesome, blessed week here at the Cooker home (not our real name, but I'm going with it!). Last month my husband became one of the 14.8 million Americans currently unemployed. Its been a huge change in our family, as you can imagine. We enjoyed three weeks home together, which was a blessing and a huge learning experience for us both, I think, but now that time is up. This week I went from having no job, to two jobs! Woo-hoo!

My awesome former employer, and someone I consider a friend, needed someone out at her restaurant a couple of nights a week. I really love working for her, in particular, and her entire family couldn't be kinder. I'm enjoying being back in the restaurant world, and serving people again.

My other job kind of happened by accident, but I think is going to be something I really love. I am meal planning, shopping, errand running, and cooking for a local businessman. I'm finding that while it is definitely going to be a challenge, its going to be right up my alley. I've worked twice now, and have made: fresh baked roasted garlic bread with homemade marinara, guacamole, scratch apple pie (only my 2nd scratch pie crust! Hope it turned out!), the muffins I'm going to share with you tonight, pre-prepped for Honey Soy salmon bake, bruschetta skewers with a balsamic reduction, shrimp scampi ready to bake, a cheese plate, Asian sesame soy spinach and noodle salad, crash hot potatoes, and a green salad. I planned, shopped, prepped, cooked, baked, and cleaned up all of that in 12 hours. How different an experience cooking uninterrupted is, and getting paid for it! So until Mr. Cooker find his ideal job like I found mine, I'm going to be a busy girl.

Now on to these muffins. They are my ideal muffins. Not too crumbly, but not cake-like, blueberries from top to bottom, sweet, but not too sweet. Blueberry muffins are my favorite breakfast with a hot cup of coffee.

I love Kittencal from formerly recipezaar, now food.com. LOVE her. I've made so many of her recipes from there, and they always turn out great. I'm about to share with you one of my favorites. You can find her blog at http://www.kittencalskitchen.com.

Jumbo Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins
slightly adapted from Kittencal's Muffin Shop Jumbo Blueberry Muffins

4 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp Saco buttermilk powder
1 1/2 cup milk
2 lg eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 cups blueberries, thawed, if frozen, and tossed with flour to thinly coat

1/4 cup brown sugar or vanilla sugar

1. Mix flour, sugar, butter, and salt in a stand mixer until it resembles coarse pea-sized or smaller lumps.

2. In small bowl mix baking powder, baking soda, Saco buttermilk powder, and cinnamon well. Add to flour mixture and combine.

3. In separate bowl whisk milk, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. Mix gently with flour mixer JUST until liquid is incorporated. DON'T overmix. This can be a challenge with a big powerful stand mixer, but its doable. Just be careful. Or do it the old-fashioned way with a wooden spoon.

4. Gently fold in berries, place batter in a prepped pan, sprinkle lightly with brown sugar or vanilla sugar, and bake at 375 degrees in a pre-heated oven, one rack down from the center, for 25 - 30 minutes for Jumbo, approximately 20-25 for regular sized muffins.

Notes:
*On the Saco buttermilk blend it says to use water in place of liquid when using it. I never do. I always use milk. I don't really have a reason for this, other than feeling slighly squicky mixing water into baked goods. I know, its a sickness. I've accepted it. I haven't tried one batch following directions using water, and one using milk, and then done a comparison side-by-side, but it would be interesting to see if there is a big difference or if I just like to make everything as full of calories as humanly possible.

*If I would've had actual buttermilk I would've just used that, but I didn't. You can if you are more prepared than me!

So you want to make a decent marinara but don't have 3 hours?

2010-10-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

You've come to the right place. Sometimes I don't have my slow-cooked, meaty, big-batch spaghetti sauce in the freezer ready to go. Sometimes I want a little lighter tasting, fresher, meatless marinara for a quick lunch. Sometimes I am lazy and forgot to plan anything for dinner until 5:15 and I'm scrambling for something quick and easy but doesn't come pre-made in a jar...it comes basically deconstructed in cans. I'm not really a spaghetti snob, as you've read previously. I'll eat plain tomato sauce and be happy. That said I do appreciate a good red sauce, even more so lately.

Quick meatless chunky mushroom marinana

3 TBSP Olive Oil
2 TBSP finely diced onion
5-6 medium mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp garlic
2 TBSP red wine (I use Cab)
1 TBSP sugar (amount is approximate and will depend on the sodium content of the tomato sauce you use)
1 - 15oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 - 15oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated kind in the green can!)
*optional several leaves of chopped fresh basil

1) Place olive oil, onion, and mushrooms in a sauce pan. Saute over medium heat until water is released from mushrooms and onions are translucent. Add garlic. Saute 30 seconds. Add red wine. Cook until wine is reduced. Add sugar, herbs, seasonings, and diced tomatoes. Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until liquid is reduced. Add tomato sauce. Stir well, heat through, and taste. Add more sugar to taste, or adjust seasonings as needed. Wait until simmering and slowly stir in parmesan cheese until fully incorporated. Serve immediately with your favorite pasta.

Enjoy! I did today!

Please, veteran foodbloggers, advise me!

2010-10-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

Is there a 'how-to' guide to get started in this? I keep submitting to tastespotting, foodgawker, and photograzing, to be continually rejected again and again. What am I doing wrong here? Are these sites for the food elite only? Is it typically hard for a newbie to break-in to this club?

I'm under no illusions that my photos are amazing, great, or even really all that good. I have a 5+ year old point and shoot and virtually no technical photography know-how. I think I've had some okay results though, despite those things. Are there some secrets that I don't yet know? Have I not yet passed the freshman hazing that I didn't know existed? Aren't they, above all else, about the food?

Lasagna...sigh

2010-10-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

Do you remember a few posts ago I mentioned I was going to tell you all about the meal that, if asked, "What is Nicole's all-time favorite food, ever?", every one of my family would have the exact same answer. Seriously. I used to get cases of the main ingredient for Christmas or my birthday from my Grandma as a teenager, and I wasn't disappointed. I was excited. What was the super awesome, best meal ever??

Noodles & sauce

What is noodles and sauce, you ask? Its noodles, of any shape, size, or form, and plain jane tomato sauce.

It was my version of mac-n-cheese I guess, which as "The World's Pickiest Eater", couldn't possibly pass my lips. Oh, was I ever picky. No chunks, of anything, ever. No onion, mushroom, fresh tomato or chunks of tomato, on anything, ever. Very, VERY few vegetable. Salad, sometimes, but only with iceberg, cheese, croutons, and Western dressing. I was in my 20's before I ever tried ranch dressing, or Caesar dressing, and I JUST got myself to try blue cheese dressing this year. Some of my bad habits linger, I'm afraid, but very, very little. There are things I just got in my head somehow that I didn't like, and so I assume that is the case. It was that way for the poor avacado until last year. Now I'm making up for it by eating my weight in guacamole every possibly chance I get. Seriously. HOW did I live without guacamole for nearly 28 years???

So my noodles & sauce habit was that of legend. I still get teased about it when I make the trek back to Minnesota. 4-5 times a week, at minimum, I'd make this. Back when the 'low-carb diet' wasn't really done, and I thought I was doing pretty good with it because it was relatively low in fat and calories. Back when my aunt Terri told me that someday eating like that would most definitely catch up with me and my skinny, teenage, I'm-never-going-to-be-THAT-kind-of-old-person self laughed at her. Now, 13 years and four kids later, I'm not laughing anymore, but my love for all that is pasta cannot die.

I ate enough noodles & sauce that I became somewhat of an expert on the subtle differences in the many different brands of tomato sauce. Contadina is my favorite for plain old noodles & sauce. I've progressed in my tastes to at least toss some mozzarella on it, but that's about it. I still love it, but I've also learned to love many, many, many other kinds of pasta as well! This is my recipe for lasagna. You can use your favorite spaghetti sauce for this to make it quick and easy, and to tide you over until I post MY homemade, giant-batch, Costco-sized sauce recipe that I make for our family. It makes enough to feed a small army, which I need for my crew.

1 box lasagna noodles
8ish cups spaghetti sauce
15 oz ricotta cheese
8 oz cottage cheese
4 oz parmigiano reggiano
8 oz whole milk mozzarella
16 oz divided in half Italian cheese blend (I used a four cheese blend with mozzarella, romano, parmesan, and one other kind I can't think of off-hand.)
1/2 tsp basil
2 tsp parsley
2 eggs

Start by par boiling the noodles. You only want these JUST on this side of flexible, not even half-way done. There's nothing worse than mushy noodles, and lasagna is an easy one to get over-cooked noodles. While they are par-boiling (set a timer! Don't foget!), mix all the cheese together (except 8 oz of the Italian cheese blend, save that for the very top of the lasagna) well with the eggs, the basil, and the parsley.

When the noodles and par-boiled and drained, place 1 1/2 cups of sauce in the bottom of the 10 x 13 pan. Place a single layer of noodles, slightly overlapped at the edges, in the pan. Put 1/2 of the cheese mixture on the top of them and spread it out evenly. Cover with about 2 cups of sauce and gently spread out.

Repeat the process with noodle, the remaining cheese mix, sauce, then do noodle, sauce, and top it with the remaining 8 oz of Italian cheese blend.

Cover with non-stick foil (make SURE its non-stick, or that you spray it very, very, VERY well with non-stick spray, I've had lasagna disasters before where the entire top layer of cheese comes off with the foil!), and bake in a 325 degree oven for 1 - 1.5 hours. The amount of time it needs to bake will vary depending on if your sauce is hot or not when you put it together. Take the foil off for the last 15 minutes of bake time. Serve with caesar salad and garlic bread.