Munch with Me

Lately....

2012-07-09T16:01:00.001-07:00

I've been pretty busy lately (busy in the sense, that I've done a little bit of traveling and a lot of "hanging out"). That is what I currently consider busy.

This past week, I went to visit my family in Wisconsin. I went there for a few reasons, one of my great friends from high school recently got married and had a reception on the 4th. I was so happy to be invited and incredibly excited that I was able to go. In high school, there were three girls and myself that literally did practically everything together; we were merely inseparable. Then high school ended, I went to St. Louis, one girl went to Arizona, another to South Carolina, and one stayed in Wisconsin. Although we all had talked at one point or another in the past 10 years, we hadn't all be together for a long time. It was our own little 10 year high school reunion, since none of us are probably attending that.

Jess, Kelly (Sam's friend from college), Sam, me, and Swaps

I also was able to spend quite a bit of time with my two little nieces, who I miss terribly. They are so fun to hang out with, especially the three year old (my other niece is one and still pretty little). She has such a personality and says literally all the darnedest things. Bill Cosby's show used to be a big hit, and now I understand why. She just turned three, and my brother and sister-in-law had a princess themed birthday party; it was adorable, aside from my pink eye that kept me from really getting down and dirty in the castle bounce house.

Princess Maddie

I have, also, been doing quite a bit of baking. My mom's birthday cake, my father-in-law's dessert for Father's Day, and a couple of other things thrown in there for good measure. Summer is sort of winding down, and I need to get some more baking done before I don't have the time anymore. I have a few other things I want to bake/make before summer is dunzo.

First came Father's Day. My father-in-law really likes carrot cake, the only issue is that he is the only one to really likes carrot cake. So I decided instead of cake, to make cupcakes. That way he could share with his coworkers or other people who enjoy the taste of carrot cake. I tested a bit of the batter, that will not be a cake that I will ever have a liking for. I used this recipe and just modified it for cupcakes, instead of a cake.

Carrot (Cup)Cake

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. allspice

1 cup applesauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

6 egg whites

3 cups peeled, grated carrots

1 cup finely grated nuts (optional)--I did not use nuts

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 stick butter, softened

powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed for two minutes. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full OR spread in two greased 8" round pants. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes (for cake) or 15 minutes (for cupcakes)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Blend cream cheese and butter well. Add vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar until desired thickness. Beat until smooth.

I added cinnamon on the top of the cupcakes for a little color. They were apparently very delicious.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

My parents made a trip down to St. Louis the weekend after Father's Day. The day before they got here it was my mom's birthday; she turned 54. I wanted to make her a birthday cake so I was off to find a recipe. I found a few, but this one sounded the most delicious. Little did I know, how much of a hassle it was going to be to make it. But it was well worth it in the end, because it turned out really well. And honestly, if you don't like Oreos there is something wrong with you.

Chocolate Oreo Cake

Ingredients:

For Cake

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups Hershey's Cocoa

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

10-15 Oreos twisted to separate cookies and reveal cream center

15 Oreos, chopping directly in half through cookie

For Filling: (I doubled this portion, because it didn't look like enough when I first made it)

1/3 cup whipping cream

2 tsp. powdered sugar

small dash vanilla extract

1/8 cup Oreo cookie crumbs, make from reserved Oreo sides

For Icing:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 9-inch round baking pans. (It said to line with parchment, but I didn't--and I could still get the cakes out of the pans.) On one layer of the cake pan, place cookie halves that have been separated into the bottom of one pan, cream side up.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.

Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer about two minutes.

Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

Pour batter very carefully into prepared pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans and place onto wire racks. Cool completely.

Make frosting...

Stir melted butter into cocoa.

Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.

Add small amount of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups of frosting.

Make filling...

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff.

Gently fold in the cookie crumbs. Scoop mixture into a piping bag (or gallon sized Ziploc bag).

When cake is completely cooled, make icing dam (an icing dam is a line all the around the cake to prevent the filling from coming through the layers). Fill the icing dam with a layer of cream filling.

Place other cake layer on top, and frost with chocolate frosting. Place Oreo halves around the bottom edge of the cake.

Serve or store in refrigerator.

ENJOY. It's incredibly delicious.

Happy Birthday, Mom

I have been dying to buy some mini-muffin pans; I know a strange thing to be longing for. I asked my mom if she had any she'd like to loan me and lucky for me she did. It's a little sentimental considering they were my grandma's; hopefully they bring good luck in the kitchen. I was really excited to have them since I had this recipe for Blueberry Mini Cupcakes that I've been wanting to try for quite a few months.

Happy Monday in the Michael household, Blueberry Cupcakes. My husband will probably end up taking the majority of these to work, since we more than likely can't finish 66 cupcakes; albeit mini.

I love blueberries.

Blueberry Mini Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 tbls. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature

2 cups fresh blueberries, plus more for garnish

Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

12 ounces (1 and 1/2) of cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Cupcakes...

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line mini muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, the cake flour, the baking powder, and the salt.

In the stand mixer, combine the butter and the sugar, mixing on medium-high speed for about two minutes.

Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, thoroughly mixing after each one and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.

Reduce the mixer speed to low, alternately add the flour mixture (in three batches) and the milk, starting with and ending with the flour mixture.

Using a rubber spatula, gently add the blueberries and mix until just incorporated. Divide the cupcake batter evenly among your prepared liners, filling each liner about 3/4 full.

Bake the cupcakes about 12-15 minutes, until the tops are springy and a cake tested inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Frosting...

In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and light, about two minutes.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the vanilla and mix until combined and smooth. Pipe on cooled cupcakes as desired. Garnish each cupcake with fresh blueberries.

I'll do some more posting before I have to go back to school......until then enjoy these, because I did.

Pound One Out.

2012-06-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is not meant to be a sexual innuendo....get your mind out of the gutter, mister.

We went on a float trip about two weeks ago to the Buffalo River in Arkansas. Floating is still a new thing to me, as I had never been on a float trip until I came to St. Louis, and now I seem to go on a few every summer.

I love float trips for two simple reasons: sun and beer. I enjoy getting tan, but the only problem is my tan usually is the color red and provides quite a bit of pain in the aftermath.

But float trips also provide an opportunity to make new things to bring. In previous years I've made S'more bars and cheesecake brownies, this time though I decided to make a Vanilla Poundcake. Who doesn't love Strawberry Shortcake in the middle of summer?

If you say you don't you're lying because you want people to think your cool.....come on, it's not that girly of a dessert. It's very basic, yes, however, it is also incredibly refreshing with a fresh scoop of ice cream.

Oh, and a plus with this specific recipe, it is actually on the Weight Watchers point menu. Only worth about 7 points for each slice. I'm not on Weight Watchers nor an expert on it, but that seems rather healthy in comparison to many of the other pound cake recipes I've seen.

Vanilla Poundcake
Ingredients:
2 large eggs + 3 egg whites
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract (I omitted this, I hate the flavor of almond in baked goods)
8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 tbsp butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup all-pupose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, vanilla, and almond extract (if you decide to use it); set aside

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter until well blended.

4. Beat in sugar, baking powder, and salt until blended.

5. Beat in flour and egg mixture alternately little by little, ending with the flour.

6. Pour batter into pan and bake 55-65 minutes or until

toothpick comes out clean.

7. Cool on a wire rack completely until cutting into 12 slices.

So the only problem was that we didn't actually eat this on our float trip. We all got a little, ahem, drunk and tired and didn't end up breaking into this. Oh well.

No worries, though, I brought it home though and had a few slices of it. Although I had it just plain by itself with no strawberries. I can say it is a rather delicious breakfast with a glass of milk.

But I do think I needed to cook it a little longer to have the inside be a little more "bread" like.

Next time I make this, strawberries and ice cream will be the toppers.

Pound it...and enjoy!

Ay Caramba!

2012-06-06T11:41:00.002-07:00

Summer has officially arrived. I can say that I've had quite a bit of free time, being a teacher and all. :)
Don't be jealous that I have three months off and you don't......ok....you can be a little jealous!

Last summer at this time I was in the Dominican Republic waiting to get married, so this summer was a bit of a let down that I don't have a fantastic trip like that planned. I have cooking and baking to make up for it: that's a consolation, right?

Summers usually mean my husband and I frequenting the Soulard Farmer's Market, in St. Louis. The farmer's market is about three blocks from our apartment, so it's all about the convenience. The market is one of the best farmer's market I have ever been to. They have such a variety and it is so much cheaper than buying my produce at the grocery store. They always have really great corn on the cob, which is a summer staple and their fruits and other veggies are also spectacular.

After going to the farmer's market, I like to make little dips to have around the house (or for parties and float trips) especially guacamole and salsa. They are simple, delicious, and rather healthy for the summer.

The guacamole is my own recipe, but really it doesn't take a genius to make guac.
Depending on how many people you are making this for you can alter the recipe accordingly.

Ingredients (for Guacamole): for 5-6 people

4-5 avocados
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 large white onion
2-3 jalapenos, seeded (you can add more depending on the spice you want)
2-3 limes, to keep the avocados from browning
1 bunch of cilantro
chopped garlic
salt
pepper

Put in the bowl and combine. Usually I put avocados in first, and mush them up (with a fork or spoon) before adding any other ingredients. Squeeze lime juice on the avocados right after you mush them up.

I don't have a picture of this, but you get the idea of what it looks like; you know, guacamole.
Sometimes I put this in a food processor, other times I just put it in a bowl and make it that way.

Salsa
The salsa, though, made with canned tomatoes tastes so fresh.
This is one of the best salsas I have ever made, and my husband loves it; added bonus.

Ingredients:

1 can 14 ounce diced tomatoes
1 can original Rotel
1/2 white onion
2-3 jalapenos
1 bunch of cilantro
chopped garlic
1-2 limes
salt
pepper

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process.

Really, couldn't be any easier.

How delicious does this look?

If you make either one of these or both for a BBQ this summer, I'm going to tell you right now they will be really popular and everyone will want the recipe.

Ay Caramba!

Happy BBQ.

On the healthier side of things....

2012-05-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Summer has arrived, at least for me, and I think I want to eat healthier. Not that I eat that terrible, but maybe less chocolate and cupcakes in my life for a little while; or at least only in moderation.

I was going to make these last week, but I was down and out with a migraine for three days. If you've ever had a migraine, the thought of doing anything remotely productive is the last thing you want to do. Instead, you're more likely to sleep all day, with little bouts of eating (if you have an appetite) and maybe getting up; in my case that never happens.
I usually sleep for about 14 hours to sleep it off...

Enough of that sob story, onto the goodies.

I found this on Pinterest, of course. I spotted them about two weeks ago, but just pinned them today.

Banana Oatmeal Muffins, with no flour.
Although there was some sugar in this, it seemed a lot more healthy than other muffin recipes that I've seen.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of oatmeal (the old school kind)
1 cup Greek nonfat yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 bananas
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients in a food processor (or blender, if you don't have the food processor). Mix until the oatmeal is smooth.

**Side note: Make sure you know how to put the cover on the food processor. Took me about 15 minutes to figure this out; even though, I had used it before. I know, maybe I shouldn't admit it, but I just did. My name is Jenny, and I'm a minor idiot when it comes to small appliances.**

3. With the muffin pan, do not use liners. Muffins without flour will stick to the liners. I used margarine and rubbed it on the inside of the muffin tins.

4. Fill the muffin tins about 3/4 full.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes (I baked mine 20 minutes, and they turned out really well).

For being "healthy" they actually tasted pretty good.

I think this will be my breakfast for the next few days and I'll take a break from my Cheerios breakfast.

I'm a 4 year old, I like Cheerios...but I can only eat them when my husband isn't around. He doesn't like the smell of Cheerios, which strangely a lot of people don't. Hm. I love them.

Enjoy the bananas!

Gooey What??

2012-05-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

When I first moved to St. Louis, about 10 years ago, there were things here that I had never heard of back in Wisconsin.

Things like float trips, Ted Drewes, other things that I can't seem to think of currently, and Gooey Butter Cookies.
_____________________________________________________________________
Side note: My first year of college at Saint Louis University, I learned that people in Wisconsin have so many sayings that no one in the U.S. uses or even knows about.

First, a "bubbler." To most Wisconsinites, a bubbler is a drinking fountain; apparently to everyone else on the planet a bubbler has something to do with a bong...who knew?

Second, a "TYME Machine." No, this is not something that resembles what Michael J. Fox drove in Back to the Future, it's an ATM. Apparently, a long time ago in Wisconsin people didn't have debit cards that linked directly to their bank accounts, instead they had a separate account that was called the TYME account; it stands for Take Your Money Everywhere. Pretty fancy acronym.

Third (but there are so many more), Kopp's burgers. This burger place has the largest burgers and quite possibly the best custard, I'd venture to say better than Ted Drewes. I would compare the size of this burger to my head, although a tiny bit smaller (if you know me, I have a ginormous head). The burger has a perfect amount of meat, cheese, and bun....and you can't forget the fries and strawberry shake. Oh man, it's so good that every time I make it home I try to stop by.
______________________________________________________________________

Initially, I did think it sounded kind of funny, Gooey Butter Cookies. Sounds like a lot of butter plopped onto a cookie. I didn't know what I was missing until I tried one, and was sold. Although they are not the healthiest option, but really, what cookie is...most people can eat tons of them, including me, because they are tiny and easy to pop in your mouth.

There are many variations on this cookie, Red Velvet or Chocolate, but I'm an original kind of gal and stick to what is the best.

I think most people in St. Louis eat the Gooey Butter Cake, but I have to say I'm rather biased towards the cookies. A bake shop here called Gooey Louie, has tried to top the recipes that I have had at my in-laws or other friends in St. Louis and that place doesn't even come close to the deliciousness that I have experienced with these other recipes.

This is one of the easiest recipes with the best results. Every time I make these they turn out and definitely are a hit, but they don't match up to the people who have been making them for years.

Tuesday was the second to last day of school and as a reward for doing so well on the state testing, the kids (only two classes, not everyone can be a winner here!) received a movie day and a treat. I needed something easy to whip up because I truly did not want to be baking all night.....Gooey Butter Cookies it was.

You need very few ingredients for these cookies, and they only take about 10 minutes to bake.

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup butter
8 oz. package of cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Mix all the ingredients together and chill for at least an hour.

Once chilled, roll the dough into small to medium balls (depending on the size of cookie you want) and then roll in powdered sugar.
Place onto a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes....you want the bottoms to be golden brown with the top still yellow.

Literally, the easiest recipe with the best response.
All my kids were excited that they not only got one, but two Gooey Butter Cookies, high school kids are easily pleased.

Movie time in Mrs. Michael's class was where everyone wanted to be.

Happy Summer.....vacation has officially begun.

M.I.A.

2012-05-13T19:17:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know I have been quite absent as of late with my blogging, but I have a good excuse:
I've been busy....really busy...

1. Stressing out for a solid two weeks with preparations and administration of state standardized testing. You could say it was well worth it, considering my kids did pretty darn well--obviously there is room for improvement, but I can't really complain.

2. The school year is almost over, and by almost over I mean two and a half days left of school and then summer...for me. The end of the year stuff is so time consuming.

3. Sometimes I think I chose the wrong concentration, English requires so much grading. 95 research papers later, 10 poetry assignments, and 3 other assessments my grading is finished. I realized it took so long because much of my time was taken up planning Prom with my go-to-lady, Holly. That, however, was well worth all the time because it turned out rather spectacular. Not something anyone would want to plan every year, yet it turned out rather spectacular.

Have a gander...

pretty spectacular decorations some
of our students made--Big Lights, Big City

Holly and I--best prom organizers, Ever!

3. I have taken a slight break from baking to do some other things....well until the last three days happened...

Beer drinking on a Thursday....this Brewer's Choice by Schalfly = new favorite beer

watching the crazy weather in St. Louis;
golf ball sized hail

wanting to buy this puppy, but I didn't.

I baked a few things in the last few days: oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, strawberry lemonade cupcakes, and key lime pound cake. Honestly, the only thing that really turned out the way I wanted it to were the cookies. Nothing was decent enough for me to document and brag about....so I didn't.

Alas, summer will be here in a mere two and a half days for me and I have practically a solid three months off of work....the beauty of being a school teacher. These three months are going to be full of baking, cooking, and I think a lil' bit of sewing....might as well keep busy.

Until then, finding recipes will be taking up my time and then the blogging will return.

So if you're missing me, no worries, I will be back...

Recipe Sharing: my favorite kind of sharing

2012-04-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

I really like when people give me recipes to try, especially when they are really easy and pretty no fuss.

I am lucky enough to have my classroom by the FACS (Family and Consumer Education) classes, which means when they cook I get to sample. Through the years of my teaching, I've been a part of a chili cook-off, eaten cinnamon rolls and death by chocolate cake. They are very kind to me, especially when I need that mid-morning snack.

One of our new FACS teachers is on Pinterest, and has found quite a few new recipes that she's included in her curriculum. One of these being, Fruit Pizza.

I've heard of Fruit Pizza before, but have never honestly had it nor tried to make it. I have done Veggie Pizza, which is incredibly easy so I thought I'd give the fruit version a try.

You can probably put any type of fruit you want on this, from kiwi to strawberries or blueberries, there are quite a few types of fruit to choose from that would go excellent on this "pizza."

There are very few ingredients, which also makes this recipe no fuss and really easy to whip up after work (which is exactly what I did today).

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients:

1 roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese (I used the 1/3 fat version---trying to healthy this up a bit)
1 cup whipped topping (I, again, utilized the "lite" version of Cool Whip)
4 T. plus 4 tsp. sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
fruit of your choice:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
Kiwi

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (according to the package).

2. Roll out sugar cookie dough onto an 8 x 11 pan.
Bake according to package; 10-12 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar,
and vanilla extract until smooth...

4. Cut up fruit into small slices.

5. Spread "sauce" onto cooled cookie

...smooth "sauce" to have peeks

Finished Product: arrange fruit on the pizza in
any way you want.

The pizza turned out well.

I look forward to sharing it with my husband this evening, hopefully he enjoys it as much as I did when my coworker let me taste it.

Share on.

Lemonhead

2012-04-10T17:23:00.001-07:00

I could say that I hate candy, but that would be an outright lie, so let me say this "My name is Jenny and I think I'm addicted to candy and anything made of sugar." I guess I should call myself a "sugar addict."

Now that that's on the table let's talk about some delicious lemon cupcakes I made about a month ago.

I had a trivia night to go to with friends and everyone said they were going to bring one thing or another, and I decided I was going to bake. I know, shocker. I found a great recipe for lemon cupcakes on Pinterest (as I do with most things) and not only did I want to make them, but wanted to make them in the mini version. Only problem, no mini-cupcake pan(s).

After I begged and pleaded--more like just asked nicely--with some coworkers; one very nice coworker let me borrow her mini cupcake pans. I was in business.

I have to say I think I like mini cupcakes a lot more than the normal size, mainly because I can eat quite a few and think I'm eating less. This in no way is the truth, but I like to convince myself of things like this; now I'm convincing you of it as well.

Lemon Cupcakes came from a website called "Your Cup of Cake." I have to say, I want to make just about everything on this website; it all looks delicious and quite manageable.

They are to look like this....mine didn't quite look as pictured here, but I thought that they looked even better. I'm OK, this time, with my cupcakes not looking exactly like the picture.
Most times, though, I am not OK with it and beat myself up about the look of my not-so-professional looking cupcakes.

The ingredients, for the most part, were things I had at home; even though I changed a couple things.

Ingredients:

Lemon Cupcakes:

1 box lemon cake mix

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

½ cup milk

¾ cup oil

4 eggs

Zest of 1 lemon --did not use the zest of a lemon, instead I squeezed an additional 2 lemons into the cake batter.

1 small box lemon instant pudding mix

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese

½ cup butter

¼ cup sour cream

3 ½ cups sugar

1 tablespoon honey (optional) --used this and didn't add anything to the frosting, so omitting it isn't a big deal.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

What to do:
Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix sour cream, lemon juice, milk and oil together. Add eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffins tins with 24 regular or 60 mini cupcake liners.

3. Add zest, cake mix, and pudding mix slowly while stirring.

4. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 12 (minis)-18 (regulars) minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

5. Frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar slowly. Add sour cream, honey and vanilla and beat well. Add more powdered sugar if needed for desired taste or consistency.

6. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

my finished product.

As you can see my frosting wasn't so fluffy, but I liked the way it looked and tasted. I also decided to use Lemonheads instead of lemon zest for decoration.

My husband really likes Lemonheads and honestly, who doesn't like sour candy? Normally when I by candy it's Sour Patch Kids or Chewy Spree; anything sour, has a place in our home.

They were a hit at the trivia night, so much so, that I took the leftovers to school and shared them with my advisory kids; they, too, loved them.

Lemonheads, candy, sugar = my addiction (and quite possibly everyone I surround myself with).

Best Teacher Ever? I think so.

2012-04-03T18:55:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow is our last day of school before "spring break." In the five years I've been teaching at the school where I am, I've yet to understand why we have such a short spring break. Oh well, a few days off of school will be so nice to get caught up on grading, getting ready for state testing (a mental state I am yet to be in), and preparing for Prom next weekend.

With the break coming up and me making my kids review for the next week for standardized testing, I deciding I'd be nice and do some baking for them. I mean it's not like I really mind, considering I do love to bake.

A few years back I tried out this recipe, by taking the ordinary chocolate chip cookie dough and instead of making cookies with it I made bars. They were a huge hit, so I've made them a few times since and that it what my students should enjoy...or else. It's easy to make a lot of the bars at once, and they are delicious; a chocolate chip cookie in a bar format-can't really go wrong.

I obviously had to use my KitchenAid mixer. Let me tell you, it is possibly one of the best presents I have ever received...wedding gifts are magical, especially because you get to register for things that you'd never buy yourself, this being one of those. Look at how pretty it is...

I use this thing any chance I get, it is so versatile that I can literally use it for most anything.

I regress...chocolate chip cookie bars.

The typical ingredients for chocolate chip cookies are what you need for these bars; I do not like nuts in my bars/brownies, so I never put those in this, but if you are a nut lover (no pun intended) add them on in.

I quadrupled my recipe, because I needed to make approximately 180 bars, but obviously you only need one of everything listed on the back of the Nestle package.

No secret here, I use that recipe; it's a classic, how can you not?

Nestle Tollhouse (said like Phoebe on "Friends")

Making the bars goes in the same order as the chocolate chip cookies, once the dough is made is where things change a bit.

mix, mix, mix

I use the whole bag of chocolate chips.
You probably could measure it out.

Once the dough is made, spread it out on a 11x18" pan (I think that's the size; it's the biggest shallow brownie pan). Spread the dough in a thin layer, anything thicker than 1/2 inch will make the bars very doughy and thick. I usually even spread them thinner than a 1/2 inch so the bars are relatively "normal" sized once baked.

Cook them for about 9-11 minutes, until golden brown on the top. Take them out and let them cool before cutting into them. Once the pan is cooled, cut the bars into small squares or big ones depending on who you are making them for. I would also suggest taking a knife and go around the edges so they are easier to take out of the pan once completely cooled.

These are more delicious, I think, than the actual chocolate chip cookies. I guess I'm probably biased.

We will see what the verdict is tomorrow, when I surprise my students with these. If they enjoy them, maybe I will bake for them more.

Teacher of the year, I see it now. Although it would probably be skewed since I bribed them with sweets to vote for me.

It's all in the cupcake.

2012-03-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

I get these random urges to bake....so I do just that: bake.

This urge came to me about two months ago when I decided I wanted to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes. I saw the recipe and what it entailed, everything I enjoy; chocolate, chocolate chips, and chocolate chip cookie dough. How could I go wrong?

The only problem was, I had really never made such a fancy cupcake. The picture made it look like it was from "The Cup" or "Jilly's", you know the fancy cupcake places.

Look....

...not something I thought I could accomplish, but I was up for the challenge.

By the way, I make this sound like I'm about to run a marathon. Pretty funny considering the word running is not really in my vocabulary.

The cupcakes required quite a few ingredients that I didn't already have at home. I realized upon reading the ingredients, that for the small cookies and the dough in the middle of the cupcakes, instead of making homemade cookies I just bought the Nestle pre-made cookie dough (yeah, that might be cheating, but it saved me a little time).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Cupcakes
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules I did not use these, and it still tasted delicious
1/2 cup warm water

Frosting
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

and don't forget....pre-made chocolate chip cookie dough (whatever is on sale).

How to make them:
For cupcakes...

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine instant espresso granules and warm water, stirring until dissolved. Add espresso mixture to the cake batter and stir until fully incorporated.

3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well. Cover the bottom of the muffin cup; enough so that you can put the rolled cookie dough in each cupcake.

4. Measure .4 ounce balls of cookie dough (about 1 teaspoon) and drop a ball of dough into each cupcake. Be sure to use a spoon to completely cover the dough ball with batter.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick entered into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

6. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

Take the remaining cookie dough and make small cookies out of it, for the garnish on the cupcakes. Bake according to the package.

For frosting...

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.

2. Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

After the baking and mixing...

Once your cupcakes are cooled, put the frosting into a plastic bag, so you can pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. If you have a pastry bag, it would probably work better, but I managed just fine with a plastic bag with a snipped off end on one corner.

Pipe the frosting onto each cupcake, and then roll the cupcakes in the mini chocolate chips. Once each cupcake is completely frosted and rolled in the mini chocolate chips, take the small cookies you made and place one on each cupcake.

Putting the small cookies and mini chocolate chips make the cupcake, so you have to do that part.

Chris took quite a few of these to work, and I can say it's probably one of the few times I've had so many compliments not just how good they were, but how pretty my cupcakes were.

The frosting on these cupcakes is quite rich, my suggestion don't eat dinner skip right to dessert.

These cupcakes I will most definitely make again for some occasion.

Can't really go wrong with chocolate, of any kind.

Pizza! Pizza!

2012-03-21T07:31:00.001-07:00

Last night we decided we were going to make homemade pizza on the grill, unfortunately the grill portion didn't work out exactly how we had hoped so we opted for plan B: the oven.

We like making homemade pizza, as it lets us put whatever we want on it. My husband and I like way different things on our pizza, so usually I cave to what he wants :), which will always be some sort of meat and cheese. I'm more into the "unique" pizzas and would prefer goat cheese and arugula, but it's easier to make one, so that's what we do.

The great thing with homemade pizza, you can put whatever you want on it, so it usually works out pretty well.

We decided to use quite a few ingredients we already had, only having to purchase three things to complete our pizza making. We already had chicken andouille sausage (from Trader Joe's, it's delicious), pizza crust, and pizza sauce. Cheese and a red pepper were purchased at our amazing local market we share an alley with, Vincent's. Usually non-shredded cheese makes the pizza taste better, so we always buy the big ball of mozzarella cheese and the slices of provolone.

chopped and ready to go....

Vincent's is a family-owned market that one of my husband's friend's family owns, it's really convenient for us considering we share an alley with them. It is so nice to have a market like that for any last minute things we may need for dinner; it is especially nice when we are hungover and can scoot on over there for a soda and unhealthy snacks.

Anyways, back to the pizza...

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
After chopping all the ingredients, I prepare the pizza crust. I always utilize a mix, it's a lot easier than making everything homemade. I've used quite a few different pizzas crusts including Betty Crocker and the Boloba (the crust that comes full-size already), but I really like the Jiffy pizza crust. When it's on sale it's about $1.50, so I usually buy two. It only requires hot water and the mix, and you've got pizza dough.

bowl, mix, and 1/2 cup of hot, tap water.

Once the pizza dough is ready, make sure to use flour to flatten it out; otherwise the pizza dough will get stuck to your fingers. I learned this the hard way, and have had to buy new pizza crust mix because it got so stuck to my fingers that the crust was only enough for one person. Since then, I use flour to get the dough out of the bowl.

Flatten the dough out into the shape you want it; I usually cannot get it into a perfect circle, but that's what makes it homemade. We usually put it on tin foil (if you put it on tin foil put some oil down before flattening out the dough on it) and then on a pan to put in the oven, but that is not necessary.

After the dough is spread to the size you want, drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive oil on the dough and then spread the pizza sauce all over it. A thin to medium layer of the sauce is really all you need, unless you like more sauce.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

sauced.

Once you have put the amount of sauce you want and spread it out, it's time for you to put all the toppings on. I always start with the large slices of provolone, put the sausage on top of that, and then place the smaller slices of mozzarella in places that I think need more cheese. I always put a little more sauce on top of the provolone slices and then sprinkle the red peppers all over the pizza (in this case 1/2 of the pizza).

pizza before placed in the oven.

(lots of meat)

Cook the pizza for about 15-20 minutes; I would say watch it pretty carefully and take it out when you are happy with the brownness of your cheese. We usually cook ours about 17 minutes or so.

And then enjoy...

yum-yum

This is how we always make our pizza, with the chicken andouille sausage, cheese, and peppers, but again any variation of ingredients will give you the same result.

Makes you feel like you are a professional pizza maker with not a whole of effort.

The people you are sharing it with will sound like that Little Caesar's guy; "Pizza! Pizza!"

Best Mac 'N Cheese? Not entirely.

2012-03-19T15:32:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to try making homemade macaroni and cheese. My husband had tried quite a few years ago to make some, when we were still dating. It was probably a way to try to impress me, alas, it didn't turn out very well (not terrible, but not great) and way too many breadcrumbs were used. 4 years later, it was time to try again.

I looked for a recipe and found quite a few to choose from. The recipe I found called for Colby Jack and Cheddar cheeses; I like both, so I tried it.

It wasn't quite as easy as the recipe had me believing, and there will be many things I will change if I were to make it again.

Macaroni and cheese should look something like this...

Mine looked like this...

...not at all what the picture had me believing.

Maybe I should've just stuck to the baking??

Here's the recipe.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients:
1 lb macaroni (elbow, shells, whatever your preference)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 1/2 cups milk
4 cups colby cheese, shredded
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste
toasted bread crumb topping*

Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat.

Add 1 tablespoon of salt and macaroni and cook until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.

Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside.

Wipe the pot dry, add the butter and set over medium heat until melted.

Stir in the garlic, mustard and cayenne and cook for about 30 seconds.

Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 1 minute.

Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth.

this is where it went drastically wrong.....

Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often until bubbling and thick, about 15 minutes.

Off heat, add the cheeses and stir until melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the pasta, breaking up any clumps. Pour into a baking dish and sprinkle with crumb topping.

*For the crumb topping, any variation of breadcrumbs and melted butter tossed together.

You could add some shredded cheese to this or fresh chopped parsley or chives.

But the ratio is typically about 1/4 cup breadcrumbs to 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Bake it for close to 40 minutes.

I think what happened, is I wasn't patient enough and I may have needed to shred my own cheese. It didn't taste that bad, but it definitely wasn't the best thing I have ever made.

Next time, patience, it's a virtue.

And here we go....Pi Day 2012

2012-03-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

As I said, I am a teacher. I teach high school English at a rather large public school south of the city of St. Louis. Many of my really close friends are math teachers and we are a collective group of uber nerds.

Trust me when I say this; we may come across as the "cool" kids, but fear not we are nerdy.

We celebrate quite strange holidays, one of those being Pi Day.
Pi Day occurs every March 14; 3.14 and math teachers (and wanna be math teachers--because I am by no means a math teacher; ask my students, I can barely add) take this as a day to eat a lot of circular items and celebrate the magical number of 3.1415926...

This year one of my teacher friends, who teaches at a charter school in the city, told me that her school was having a contest amongst the teachers of who could make the best pie. The students would then vote and the best pie would win first place. Obviously, I asked her what type of pie she was going to make and she simply said, "Oh, I'm buying mine." I'm not going to lie when I say I made a disgusted face and told her that I would make a pie for her.

So I decided to make Red Velvet Whoopie Pies. I found this great recipe probably about two months ago and was just waiting for a time to make them. I was pretty excited to finally have the occasion.

Plus, I'm really competitive so any opportunity to win something, I jump at.

(I had hoped they'd turn out as pretty as this.)

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:
Whoopie Pies
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1-oz. bottle red food coloring (2 Tbsp.)

Cream Cheese Filling (you could use the typical Marshmallow filling, but I liked the way the cream cheese filling tasted)
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, softened
2 cups (8 ounces) powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
splash of milk if needed

Follow these easy steps...

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment; set aside.

2. In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined. Stir in food coloring.

3. Spoon batter in 1- or 2-inch diameter rounds, about 1/2-inch high on prepared baking sheets, allowing 1 inch between each round. I used a cookie scoop so the tops and bottoms were the same size.

4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes for 1-inch cookies or 9 to 11 minutes for 2-inch cookies, or until tops are set. Cool completely on baking sheets on rack. Remove cooled cookies from baking sheets.

5. To fill, dollop Cream cheese frosting on flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down. It was supposed to make 60 one-inch cookies, but I was only able to make 20 one-inch cookies; I probably could have made them smaller, but I liked the size they ended up being.

6. To store: Refrigerate in airtight container up to 4 days. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

My finished product...

I have to say, they turned out pretty yummy.

My husband wanted to eat them all, but I only allowed him two and kept a close watch on him every time he went into the kitchen the remainder of the night.

Unfortunately, I lost to an ice cream cake/pie.
I think it was rigged.

First blog...ever

2012-03-18T16:38:00.001-07:00

I decided today while I was over at my in-laws, that I wanted to start a food blog.

Here goes nothing.....

This is my husband and I at one of our three receptions we had last summer for our wedding.

I've found in my first year of marriage that maybe I should fit into the "Susie Homemaker" role. I'm only kind of good at this. I'm good at the cooking/baking part of the homemaker wife; the cleaning portion, not so much.

With this, I came upon the website Pinterest.
Pinterest was introduced to me by a dear friend, who suggested I sign up for it. She warned me of the addictive state it may put me in and she was right.

I have found myself pinning random things that I will probably never use or need, but desire and think about all the time. In perusing Pinterest I found so many recipes that I've made and even more that I am going to make.

My ultimate dream (which would never happen) would be for me to quit my full-time teaching job and become a full-time food blogger. How great would that be? I feel like I could be pretty darn good at it and could fulfill this new found idea of mine.

It's a pipe-dream that would never happen, but a girl can dream.

I will be posting as I bake/cook. I have quite a few things to post on here as I have been quite busy being a little baker in my first year of marriage. I'd say my husband is quite happy with my new found love for baking and cooking (especially the baking).

Hopefully this isn't one of those things I say I'm going to start, and post once and never post again. Maybe I will entertain a few of you folks out there with my food blog, that no other blog has ever done for you. Blowing your mind, will be my ultimate goal!

I think I might be setting my hopes a little high, but we will see...