Let's Welcome...

The Newest Member of our Family:



Connor Michael
Born: 01-13-2011
Time: 4:04pm
Weight: 8lbs
Length: 20"

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate

This month's Flavor of the Month over at Bake at 350 was Chocolate!!! Now everyone that knows me, knows that I love to make candy. So when we went this past weekend down to Virginia for our nephews Christening and I made some chocolate covered peeps for the kids. My sister-in-law even called me the chocolate covered queen.

Chocolate Covered Bunny Peeps


Chocolate Covered Chick Peep

Since we were traveling I had package the peeps up. Here's a picture of them all wrapped up and ready to go.


Now where I make anything chocolate covered if it's cherries, Oreos, pretzels or peeps, I always have chocolate left over. So this time I decided to make some mini M&M/Oreo bark to leave as a thank gift for my parents since they were feeding the cats for us. I had to try some and it was soooo good!!


I forgot to post my holiday candy I made this year. So here's a picture of a little of everything I made.


From the top left going clockwise, we have chocolate cherry cordials, fudge, chocolate covered mini nutter butter, chocolate covered mini oreos (with the sprinkles), butter crunch and peanut clusters. Oh and here's a picture of some candy I made for a holiday fair. I had a bunch of it left over that I was able to save for Christmas.

Some chocolate covered marshmallows. I made the snowmen last year


and some chocolate covered pretzels.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Sorry for posting my Valentine's Day dinner so late. Mike doesn't really believe in V-day, but I always like to make it special. So I decided to make a few recipes I've been saving for a special occasion. The first one was Baked Shrimp Scampi. I found the recipe in Barefoot Contessa's cookbook Back to Basics, but it can also be found on the Food Network's website as well.

The second and third recipe came from the cook book Mike got me for Christmas. It's a cook book that has over 2,000 authentic Italian recipes. There are a lot of yummy sounding recipes, but I choice the two following recipes to try: One was for Stuffed Mussels

and the second was Lobster with Linguine.


And a special dinner is not complete unless there is dessert. I had made some brownies to bring to work and had some left over. So I decided to make brownie sundaes. SO GOOD!! Just heat up the brownie in the microwave and your favorite scoop of ice cream and top it off with your favorite ice cream topping.

My Choice - Edy's Thin Mint ice cream with chocolate syrup

Mike's Choice - Edy's Samoas ice cream with caramel syrup

Everything came out great. The problem I had was in the recipe for the stuffed mussels it seemed a little incomplete. It had you make a tomato sauce but didn't tell you what to do with it. I think i was suppose to add it to the stuffing, but it still tasted good. Not sure if I would make it again. But I would definitely make the scampi again, even I forgot an ingredient, it still came out really good.

Oops - Turtle Mess

One day Mike asked me to make him a dessert for him to take to work for a luncheon. I asked him what other people were bringing to figure what to make. He came back with... You know the usual. Men...always great with giving you the details. I told him about this Turtle Cheesecake recipe I came a cross and thought it sounded good. So I went to the store and bought all the ingredients and got to work. I was making the cheesecake and tasting along the way I was really excited. It was easy to make and tasted very yummy. And than....all went to the hell.... You know when you read a recipe and something doesn't sound right about it....against my better judgement I decided to follow the recipe and here's what happened.

How did this happened you might ask? The recipe called for the cheesecake to bake for a certain amount of time until the center is set. Then take it out of the oven, let cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes than take the rim of the spring form pan off. That was the part of the recipe that didn't seem right to me. I've made a cheesecake a few times and didn't think that you would take the rim off that fast. But I was following the recipe. About two minutes after I took off the rim off is when the screaming started....OH @#$%, OH@#$%, is all my husband heard from the kitchen, so he came to find out what all the screaming was about. That's when he found me trying to put the rim back on and informed me that it was probably too late. I was like you think!!! Not really in the mood to hear the what were you thinking comments, especially from the non-baker in the family. I was so mad and upset. Since it was to late to make him something else to bring to work he ended up having to go to the store a buy something. I was able to save the cake, but he still didn't want to take it.


I told him I could cover it with whipped cream and caramel and no one would know. He said he we would just buy something. Which he did and when people asked why, he told them he dropped the cake I made. I told him he didn't have to do that, but that it was sweet of him.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

This month's theme for Bridget at 350's Flavor of the Month challenge was Pumpkin. I have a great pumpkin bread recipe, but decided to search for something different. For some reason I had raviolis on my brain. I think it's because while we were making wine (we decided to make Pinot Noir) the group at California Wine Works let us read a review regarding a Pinot Noir that was made at CWW. The person went on saying how great it was and that he was enjoying it while eating some mushroom raviolis. My mouth started watering, what could be better than wine and raviolis. So I started looking and came across a recipe for pumpkin raviolis. Perfect!! The funny thing was when I told Mike that I was going to make raviolis, he was like you remember what happened the last time. (He's referring to the time I tried making raviolis from scratch, dough and filling. To make a long and painful story short, we ended up going out for dinner that night). But I told him this recipe calls for wonton wrappers...so no dough making for me.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
30 round wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Cooking Spray
1 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Spoon pumpkin onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels, and spread to 1/2 inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a medium bowl, stir in breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt, minced sage, pepper and nutmeg.

Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel), spoon 1-2 teaspoons pumpkin mixture into the center of wrapper. Brush edges with water and fold in half, pressing edges firmly. Place on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton wrappers and pumpkin mixture.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a simmer. Add half of ravioli to pan and cook 4 minutes or until done. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon, lightly coat with cooking spray and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining ravioli.

Combine milk and flour in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter, stirring until butter melts. Gently stir in Gorgonzola.

Place ravioli on a plate or in a bowl and pour some sauce on top; sprinkle with walnuts.

Enjoy!

My Review: This recipe was really easy to make and I'm definitely going to make it again. Mike even asked for seconds. Too bad I didn't have any left to give him. Oh and we did have wine with them...not a Pinot Noir, but a wine called 7 Deadly Zins. So Good!!!

Chicago Style - Tribute to John Hughes

This month's Flavor of the Month theme is...A Tribute to John Hughes. If you don't know who he was, he was the writer/director of films like Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day off, Breakfast Club, National Lampoon's Vacation , and a lot more. He passed a way recently so what better way to make a tribute to someone, but with food. So the search began for ideas. I knew I didn't want to make something pink or something for breakfast, so I started to look through some of the movie trivia to see if I could find some fun fact to play with. What I discovered was that some of the films had a common location. Chicago!! Did you know that Chevy Chase wore the same Chicago Cubs hat in all the vacation movies?!? So I started to looking for things from Chicago.

The one thing I knew for sure that Chicago was known for was their Deep dish Pizza, but than I also came across Chicago style hot dogs and Italian Style Beef sandwiches. I make pizza all the time so I that was out, but the more I read about the Chicago style hot dog, the more it sounded good. So I decided to invite some family over for the first football game for some ball and dogs. But once the word got out more people said they would come over so I also made the Italian Beef as well.

Chicago Style Hot Dog

Ingredients (in order of assembly)

Poppy Seed Bun (see below)
All Beef Hot Dog
Yellow Mustard
Bright Green Relish

Fresh Chopped Onions

Two Tomato Wedges

Pickle Spear or Slice

Two Sport Peppers

Celery Salt


It's funny how certain items are regional. I had trouble finding two of the items needed to make a Chicago Style Hot Dog. One was the bright green relish and the other was sport peppers. I found a website I could have ordered them from, but I decided to just find similar products and no one knew the difference. Everyone thought the Chicago Style Hot Dogs were tasty, but not something they would eat all the time.

Since assembling a hot dog wasn't really a challenge I decided to try to make the Poppy Seed Buns. I was in luck when I found a recipe on King Arthur's website. I don't think they came out exactly the way they were suppose to, but the guys thought that the crunch of the buns really added an extra special touch to the whole experience.

Poppy Seed Buns

The recipe is kind of long so I linked the recipe above to bring you to King Arthur's site.

Italian Beef Sandwiches

So, the hot dogs were for the earlier games and for the later games I made the Italian Beef. It couldn't have worked out better. Since the beef was done in the slower cooker I was able to enjoy the day without having to stay in the kitchen. With this recipe you have the option to cook it on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 10-12. I started on high for a few hours and than turned it to low. Things always taste better when it's low and slow.


Ingredients

3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon dried parsely
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (5lb) rump roast

DIRECTIONS

- Combine water with salt, ground black pepper, oregano, basil, onion salt, parsley, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salad dressing mix in a saucepan. Stir well, and bring to a boil.
- Place roast in slow cooker, and pour salad dressing mixture over the meat.
-Cover, and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 4 to 5 hours. When done, remove bay leaf, and shred meat with a fork.

Everyone really enjoyed the beef. It was tasty and something difference. I usually make pulled pork for large crowds, but the beef was a nice change.

Enjoy!!

Kiwi Lime Sorbet

After participating in last month challenge, I was excited when it came time for Bridget at Bake at 350 to unveil August's theme. Lemon or Lime. I was at work so sent an email to Mike telling him what the theme was for this month and all he wrote back was Kiwi Lime Sorbet. So I was like okay, is that a hint. He said that when he was younger there was this ice cream shop in town that use to make the best Kiwi Lime Sorbet. So picking this months recipe was easy!


Kiwi Lime Sorbet

1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lime zest
10-12 ripe kiwis
juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup limoncello (optional)

Wash and dry the limes. Using a microplane grater, remove the zest from the limes until you have about 1 tablespoon of zest. Place water, zest and sugar into a small saucepan and boil gently for 10 minutes to reduce mixture and extract lime.


Peel the kiwis and remove the hard ends and even the whitish core, if desired.


Place kiwis in blender. Juice 1-2 limes and add to blender. There's plenty of lime flavor from the zest, so avoid the temptation to add a lot of juice. Pour in the reduced lime syrup and puree the mixture just until smooth. Pour into a sieve and gently filter out the lime zest and kiwi seeds. Pour this into ice bath and stir in 1/4 cup of limoncello Until blended.


Chill mixture in ice bath until less than 45F. Pour into ice cream maker and freezer according to your maker's instructions. Once chilled, remove from ice cream maker and place in a container to set in freezer.

Enjoy!!

My Review: The only problem I had was with the first step of boiling the water, sugar, and zest. Do not boil it for 10 minutes. What happens is that it because a hard syrup that sticks to the side of the pot and doesn't come out. So when I made it the second time, I just brought it up to a boil and then shut off the heat. At one point I though this recipe was cursed because when making it the second time we were have a bad thunderstorm and the power went out. I'm glad it only went out for a few seconds, because I think I would have started throwing kiwis around the kitchen in protest. But I was able to finish it with no other problems. If you like lime flavored things, you'll like this recipe. It was a little tart for me, but Mike loves lime flavored stuff so he really enjoyed it!

Zucchini Pizza Crust

Like Michelle, I too received a HUGE zucchini from Jenn's garden. While searching for zucchini recipes I came across a lot of zucchini bread recipes, a few cake recipes, but what really caught my eye was a recipe for Zucchini Pizza Crust. The one I made was not gluten free, but there are quite a few zucchini pizza crust recipes that are gluten free.


Zucchini Pizza Crust

1 large egg
1/2 ounce grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp marjoram
ground pepper to taste
1 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 medium zucchini (grated)

Preheat the oven to 325 F

Place the egg, Parmesan, oregano, marjoram, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Whisk together well.

Add the zucchini and fold into egg mixture until well blended. Sprinkle the flour over the top and fold into the zucchini mixture.

Place mixture on a non-stick cookie sheet. Pat down into a thin round shape.

Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn over and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly before adding pizza toppings.

My Review: I think I might have followed the recipe incorrectly, but it still turned out good. I had doubled the ingredients because I had about 2 cups of shredded zucchini and it didn't look like the egg mixture would be enough. It wasn't crispy like real pizza crust, but the tomato sauce and cheese gave it a nice taste. After I topped the "pizza" I had put it back in the oven to melt the cheese a little. Next time I might squeeze the zucchini before mixing it all together. I think that will make the crust less moist. Oh I almost forgot. I didn't have marjoram, so I used dried basil instead.

Flavor of the Month: Pie

A few months back I came across a blog called Bake at 350. I really enjoy reading this blog and seeing all the awesome cookies Bridget makes. So the beginning of July she decided to start a monthly challenge. Nothing to crazy just a theme each month. This month's theme is Pie.

At first I was exciting about the theme but couldn't think about what to make. So I sent out a small survey to some family/friends. I found out that when asked what you think about when someone says pie, most people think of apple pie (only one person said that pie reminds her of math). Another question was what time of day do you like to eat pie? Most everyone's answer was after a meal. My mom was the only that said any time of the day!! I'm so my mother's child, cause that would have been my answer as well. So at this point I was still thinking about what to make. I figured I would think about if for a day or so and then decide.

A few days later I still was thinking about it and Mike asked if we had anything planned for the weekend of the 18th, I said no. He said that he wanted to go upstate to buy the quad he saw July 4th weekend. After debating back and forth we decided now was the time to buy it. You must be wondering how this plans into this months theme. Well, when we go upstate we stay at our friend's house and everyone brings something for a meal. Mike and I brought breakfast stuff and dessert. I was going to make a pie, but then I decided I wanted to do something different. The usual dessert for upstate are s'mores by the fire. So I went with the camping theme and started to look for campfire desserts. I found something that seem easy enough to do with limited access to equipment. Apple Pie on a stick!

Apple Pie on a Stick
Red or Green apple
Cinnamon
Sugar

Push a stick through a green apple and turn the stick over the coals of a campfire. (as you would when roasting a marshmallow).

When the apple peel starts to loosen carefully peel off skin.

In a bowl mix together cinnamon and sugar then roll your apple around the mixture until evenly coated on all sides. Roast over fire for a few more minutes and let cool.

I had only brought 3 apples with me and it turned out we were 9 people. I didn't think everyone would want one, but felt bad that I didn't bring enough. So after the apples were finished roasting we peeled off the skin and then cut them up before rolling them in the cinnamon sugar. This way everyone could get a taste. Wouldn't you know it did taste like apple pie filling. I would try this again.

Ok, after writing this post up...I feel like I slacked off for this challenge. Especially after my sister sent me a link to someone's blog that did apple pie on a stick. Check out Luxirare's verson of apple on a stick. I might have to try that one day.

Beef Fajitas

Mike loves everything associated with fire. From grilling to building camp fires. Everyone who knows Mike knows this little fact about him. So years ago for Christmas Mike's brother gave him a book called: How to Grill, The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques by Steven Raichlen. After a weekend of eating hamburgers and hot dogs we felt like something different for dinner, fish. So, we went to our local fish store and saw a nice piece of tuna that caught our eyes. I trying to figure out how to prepare it and then remember a recipe we've made a few times from that book, Basil-Grilled Tuna. If you like basil, garlic and tuna, you'll love this recipe.

But as I was searching for that recipe I was reading other recipes on my way and I came across the recipe for Beef Fajitas. I thought to myself, I'll have to make that recipe one day. I guess since the recipe was fresh on my mind when I went food shopping yesterday I subconsciously went to the meat section looking for the cut of meat I would need to make it. Long story short I made it tonight for dinner and it was really good. Sorry I forgot to take a picture, but take my word for it, they were really good.

Beef Fajitas

1 1/2lbs shirt steaks
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon course salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 limes

Peppers and Onions
Fajita shells

Place steaks in a nonreactive baking dish in a single layer. Combine the chili powder, coriander, salt, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper in a small bowl and mix well. Sprinkle the mixture over the meat, patting it on with your fingertips, on both sides. Let stand for 10 minutes. Squeeze the limes over the meat. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour covered.


My Review: I thought this recipe was really good and easy to make. The recipe also had direction on how to grill veggies to go with the beef. Since I knew I wasn't going to have enough time to make the veggies on the grill, I just cut up some peppers and onions and sauteed them while the beef was marinating. We were hungry so I only marinated the meat for 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes. It still turned out great!! Next time I'm going to try this recipe with chicken.

Baby Shower Favors

Today was Jenn's baby shower and I made some favors for the party. Since Jenn's theme for the baby's room is farm animals I ran with it. I think they came out great. My inspiration for the animals were from the Barnyard Centerpiece I found on Country Living's website.

The Pigs

The Sheep

The Chicks

The Whole Crew

I think every baby deserves a hand made blanket. So when Jenn told us she was pregnant I got to work. Since Jenn and Rocco decided not find out the gender of the baby I made a blanket gender neutral. I think she really liked it.....so did my cat...hehe

Sugar Cookies aka Jacob Cookies

Mike has a friend named Tommy. Whenever we see him he calls me the cookie girl. So I told Mike the next time you see Tommy I'm going to make him a batch of cookies. I wasn't sure what kind of cookie person he was so I wanted to make something neutral.

Sugar Cookies

Dough

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 large egg

Topping

• 3/4 cup sugar for dredging

Dough

• 12 3/4 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces unsalted butter
• 8 3/4 ounces sugar
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 large egg

Topping

• 5 1/4 ounces sugar for dredging

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line with parchment. 1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy.

3) Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts, and the egg; scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

4) Add the flour mixture, and mix at low to medium speed until the mixture is evenly moistened.

5) Place the 3/4 cup sugar in a large plastic bag, or in a shallow pan. Scoop the dough by tablespoonfuls into the sugar, rolling them in the pan or gently shaking them in the bag to coat them with the sugar.

6) Place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between them.

7) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The edges of the cookies will just barely begin to brown.

8) Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for 5 minutes, before transferring to a rack to finish cooling completely.

Tip: If you like a chewier, moister, "bendy" cookie, add 2 tablespoons (1 3/8 ounces) corn syrup to the dough. The cookies will spread out a little more and be 1/4" thick once they're baked.



My Review: I've made this recipe twice and both time they came out really gooooood!!! I decided with half of the second batch to roll some of the dough in sprinkles (Jacob's favorite cookies). They came out great. I told my sister that Jacob would be jealous...hehe...I highly recommend this recipe and I will definitely make it again and again and again!

Easter Dessert

I asked my sister-in-law if I could bring something for Easter dinner and she said a dessert. While food shopping, I had walked past the Easter candy isle and saw M&M's for Easter. That's when the idea of making a cookie cake popped into my head. Instead of using chocolate chips I would use the M&M's.


All I have to say is that it came out a lot better than the last one I made. The recipe tells you to leave an inch and a half border around the pan to let the cookie spread during baking. I must have been in a rush the last time I made it cause I didn't read that part carefully. I had spread the cookie dough to fill the whole pan. To make a long story short. The cookie spread over the edge of the pan and onto the oven floor. Where it started to burn and fill the house with smoke. So we had to open all the windows. Did I mention it was December!!! Also, the house smelted like burnt cookies for a few days. I told Mike I was going to write to Yankee Candle to let them know of a new scent. Burnt Cookie.

But this time I remember my past mistake and didn't make it again. Hooray Me!!

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows!

When Jacob was born I made chocolate covered pretzels for his Bris. So I asked Michelle when she was pregnant with William if she wanted me to make something like that for his Bris. She said yes. At first I was going to make the pretzels again, but then decided to do something different. Chocolate covered Marshmallows!!! I love making them...they are sooooo easy to make. The only problem I had was that when I made the Snowman for Christmas I used a Styrofoam block to stand them up while drying. I had thrown those out, thinking I wouldn't be making any kind of marshmallows for a while. So I had to get creative. What did I do.... I poked holes in a box.

Here's a picture of the finished product.

Now...Easter is Sunday and we're going to my brother-in-laws for dinner. I volunteered to bring a dessert (surprise, surprise) so while looking around the web for ideas I came across these marshmallow animals. I just had to try making them. I only made the chick, what do you think?

Is This Animal Cruelty?!?

I couldn't let the left over chocolate from making the chicks go to waste!!