Happy Birthday to all Spring Babies! :)

March through May are soooo many birthdays for family and close friends to me, including my own. April alone has 17 birthdays on my calendar in a month of 30 days! So two of my beautiful friends had a bbq to celebrate their birthdays and friendships and I felt it was a perfect opportunity to make a cake. My awesome neighbor Lisa came up and helped me bake it for a great Saturday experiment. I found this recipe on Rachel Ray and I knowing that I have only made meringue once and it was in a freshman high school cooking class, I thought it would be fun. It so yummy and fun to make that I actually did it again on Sunday - just so Lisa could actually try it. :-)

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
Finely grated peel of 2 lemons, plus 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 large eggs plus 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
One 11-ounce jar lemon curd
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

• Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, then butter the paper.

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk, lemon peel and lemon juice.

• Using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with 2 cups confectioners' sugar on medium speed until fluffy, 2 minutes. Add the whole eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the flour mixture, then the milk mixture, then the remaining flour mixture.

• Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans and bake until springy to the touch, about 25 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and let cool completely.

• Clean the mixer. Beat the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and the egg whites. Place over a saucepan of barely simmering water and cook, whisking, until the confectioners' sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and the mixture is cool, 7 to 10 minutes.

• Peel the paper off 1 cake layer and place bottom side down on a cake plate. Spread one-third of the lemon curd on the cake and arrange the berries on top. Drizzle the remaining curd evenly over the berries. Peel the paper off the remaining cake layer and place upside down on the filling. Top the cake with the meringue.

Preheat the broiler to high. Broil the cake just until the meringue peaks are golden, about 2 minutes.

Teamwork makes the best Jambalaya

Last Saturday, I visited a friend and we decided we would make dinner. After much debating (lasagna, casserole, something "interesting") we ended up choosing jambalaya - which neither one of us have ever made or knew how to make. I've never made it because I always thought it came with shrimp and I'm allergic. This might be where an iPhone would come in handy but neither one of us having one we stopped at the store and just started grabbing things that we thought would go into jambalaya; tomatoes, chilis.. we then ran back to the house to google a couple of recipes and ideas on what would go in. After just glancing at a couple, we went back to the store and grabbed the rest of the ingredients. We went back to the house and I started cutting up veggies and throwing things in a pan. It turned out amazing and always seem the best meals come from not following a recipe (ironic I have a food blog) but here is what we did.

1/2 diced onion
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. vegetable oil
cubed chicken breasts
Italian sausage (we used turkey sausage)
1 diced green bell pepper
1 chopped carrot
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
sliced jalepenos
hot sauce
cooked rice
*can add shrimp if not allergic like me :)


Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add diced onions and minced garlic. Add chicken breasts and cook fully. In another smaller pan cook the sausage at the same time until they are fully cooked. Meanwhile, heat green bell pepper and carrots until tender. Cut cooked sausage into pieces and add to the large saucepan. Add the tomatoes, jalepenos, cayenne pepper, hot sauce and jalepenos. Cook on medium low heat for 15 minutes or until hot. Serve over rice.


So easy and tasty and I've realized that experimenting in the kitchen with a partner is much more fun than doing it by yourself. It also makes for an entertaining Saturday night, especially combined with many hours of Guitar Hero. ;-)

Muuuurrrrdeeer!!!

One of my closest friends bought me a kit for a Murder Mystery party for Christmas and last Saturday night I decided to use it. I googled and googled and could not find what I was looking for, and more importantly what I thought everyone else would like! After much debating, I settled on an entree I kinda made up before and a cake I found on one website. It was so easy and delicious, I need to share!

Appetizers - veggies with ranch dressing, mozzerella cheese and tomatoes, brie and crackers and chicken wings

Drinks - red wine and "coolie" (champagne, 7up, sherbert)

Sides - wild brown rice, green beans and salad.

Entree - Apple Cider Pork

- package of boneless pork loins
- dash of minced garlic
- one potato
- a couple of granny smith apple
- 1/3 c. diced onion
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- tsp of nutmeg
- 1 cup apple cider

Peel and dice potatoes and place in crock pot with onions and dash of minced garlic. Brown each side of the pork loins in hot vegetable oil. Place in crock pot. Top with slices of granny smith apples. Add cinnamon sticks and nutmeg. Pour in half cup of apple cider. Cook on HIGH for 5 and 1/2 hours. Before serving, add remaining 1/2 cup of apple cider.

Dessert: Death by Chocolate Cake



- package of chocolate cake
- 2 small boxes of chocolate pudding
- cool whip
- a couple of crushed heath bars

Make the pudding and put it in the fridge to harden. Bake the cake. Let it cool. In a big bowl, put part of the cake on the bottom, layer chocolate pudding, cool whip, and then heath bars. repeat layers. top with cool whip and crushed heath bars

It was all a hit and a lot of fun! :) The key is to make the dinner easy but tasty!

But is it a PIE or a CAKE?

Since I now live alone, my co-workers get to benefit from my cooking experiments (cuz I can eat a whole lasagna by myself! yay right!) I've never gotten a complaint, and thankfully I don't pack on the additional pounds by finishing what the guys at my last place would have easily done.

The only regular exception to me cooking and eating by myself is when my best friend Sadie comes over for Thursday night Grey's Anatomy and dinner night. We started it maybe a year and a half ago and I look forward to it every week. Not only do I not have to eat all the food by myself, but have my best friend who helps me cook.

A couple Thursdays ago, we were itching for Thanksgiving, even though we knew it was only mid-month. So we emailed back and forth and decided to make my family's great broccoli and cheese casserole (sorry this recipe will not be shared). But for some reason I have this super sweet tooth and can only think about eggnog and a dessert... I quick glimpse pops into my head of Boston Cream Pie. After Sadie and I decide on the broccoli cheese, I email my co-worker Todd and ask him to guess what I'm going to make (and therefore him and my other coworkers would be able to enjoy the next day). He responds with "Boston Cream Pie"

Wait what? ha! I decide I HAVE to make both. After all, I have only made Boston Cream Pie once and the top part kind of crumpled and it wasn't the prettiest dessert I've made - but sure did taste good! So I conclude I need to try again - just to prove to myself it can look good. BUT I don't want to spend a ton of time cuz it's Grey's night! So I find this great fast and easy recipe.

1 (2 layer size) pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (1 oz.) sq. unsweetened chocolate
1 tbsp. butter
1 c. sifted powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3-4 tsp. water

1) Prepare cake pans and mix following directions. Cool cake layers.

2) Prepare pudding mix following directions for pudding. Let stand 10 minutes. Lay 1 cake layer on platter, bottom side up.

3) Spread pudding over. Top with second cake, bottom side down.

4) In a pan, stir chocolate and butter over low heat until melted. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla. Blend enough water into chocolate mixture so it will pour easily. Spread chocolate mixture over top cake layer. Chill.

And the best part is.... I didn't mess up the two layers!!! making my dessert beautiful! I got a lot of compliments - people liked that it didn't have masses of chocolate, felt it was light, etc.

But over a couple beers that night, I had to ask the inspiration,

me: "What did you think of the Boston Cream Pie?"
Todd (we can call him BCP snob): "It was good but the first one was better"
me: "Why is that?"
Todd: "not enough chocolate"
me: "but I got compliments on that"
Todd: "and not enough custard"
me: "I have no idea what you are talking about.. Sadie and I definitely did not eat half the bowl before I put it on the cake"

(pause)

me: "ok fine. we did. plus it wasn't custard. It was vanilla pudding"
Todd: "you need to use custard"

and there you have it... I personally think it's good both ways and much easier this way, but if you have a BCP snob in your group, don't use the fast way. But the question still remains.. is it a pie or a cake?

Caramel Banana Cupcakes - Take 2

A couple of months ago I tried to make these Caramel Banana Cupcakes from Rachel Ray's magazine but the frosting didn't come out very well and I ended up making these quick "caramel" frosting that ended up tasting like maple frosting on a doughnut. It was good, but I wanted to try again.

So a couple of weeks ago, I was relaxing on a Sunday and had some ripe bananas so thought to try it again. The cupcakes were much easier and faster to make the second time around.

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
1 1/4 granulated sugar
1 cup mashed bananas
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. whole milk plus 2 tablespoons
3 large eggs, separated

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cup muffin pans with baking liners. In a larger bowl, beat 1 stick butter with 1 cup granulated sugar until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add 3/4 cup bananas, the baking powder and 1/2 tsp. of salt and beat until smooth. Stir in 1 c. flour. Mix in 6 tablespoons milk and the remaining 3/4 cup flour until smooth.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually mix in the remaining 1/4 c. granulated sugar at high speed until stiff and glossy. Fold the egg whites into the batter until no streaks remain.

3. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each liner three-quarters full. Cut 9 caramels in half, and submerge one piece in each muffin cup of batter. Bake until the cupcakes are springy to touch, about 25 minutes. Let cool.

So I get to the frosting and this is where I decide to take it slower. I plan to follow the recipe but am going to take it slow because I don't want to make the same mistake and at the same time, don't want the maple frosting of before.

One 5.5 ounce bag soft caramels, such as Werther's Original Chewy
1/4 c. powdered sugar plus a few tablespoons
2-3 teaspoons of vanilla extract

4. In a small, heavy saucepan, cook the remaining caramels, 1/4 c. milk, 1/4 c. banana, and 1/4 tsp salt over medium heat, stirring until the caramels are melted. Add a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and a couple of teaspoons of vanilla extract. Continue to add powdered sugar until tastes good to you.

5. Using the electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and powdered sugar until thick, about 3 min. Slowly beat in the caramel mixture; transfer the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat stirring constantly for about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cool.

6. Using the electric mixer, beat 1 stick of butter at high speed until fluffy about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cooled caramel mixture, then beat at high speed until fluffy. Spread the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Halloween breakfast

My work has different groups that take turns making breakfast each Friday so that you bring breakfast one week and have free Friday breakfast for the next 6 or so weeks. Last week was my turn and just as luck has it, it was Halloween. I love being festive so I thought what a perfect opportunity to make my pumpkin pancakes. So as a result, I got up at 5:30 a.m. and started flipping away.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 c. milk
1 c. canned pumkin
4 eggs slightly beaten
1/4 c. melted margarine

Directions:

Mix together dry ingredients. Combine milk, eggs, margarin and pumpkin in a small bowl. Stir into dry ingredients until blended.



Pour about 1/3 - 1/2 cup on to a hot griddle (depending on the size of pancake you want). Cook until top bubbles and turn and cook other side.

Top with whatever you like, but I prefer whip cream and a dash of nutmeg.

They were well received by my work and I think they would probably like me to get up at 5:30 a.m. more mornings and bring in a hot meal ;-) I also made decorated cupcakes to celebrate All Hallow's Eve.

Fast & Easy

So last week my good friends Nate and Carly had a beautiful baby girl! :-) Knowing how making any meal is probably at the bottom of their priority list, I wanted to take them dinner. Of course it happens to be the week with Halloween and preparing for a big trip so I'm swamped but still want to make something delicious and that warms the stomach. So I decide on my Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches. I found the recipe in a Betty Crocker cookbook when I was in college and it was always so quick and easy to make my college roommates and I would have them at least once, sometimes twice, a week. Of course over the years, the recipe has been altered a bit as we were always experimenting. So here is the one I ended up doing the most.

Ingredients:

1 green bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 onion
1 package of French rolls
Fat Free Italian dressing
1 1/2 lb - 2 lbs deli Roast Beef
Hand ful of sliced mushrooms (optional)
Provolone cheese
Pepper Jack cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut up green, orange or any color bell peppers of your choice. Slice onion and combine in a pan on the stove top with a little olive oil and the peppers.



Cook until peppers are tender. Separate and arrange the french rolls on a cookie sheet and apply a spoonful of Italian dressing on the top and bottoms of the bread. Place in the oven for a couple of minutes to just barely toast the bread. Once the bell peppers and onion are tender, add the roast beef and mushrooms to the pan until the roast beef is warmed and brown and mushrooms tender. Remove pan from the heat and apply the mixture evenly to bottom parts of the bread. Add a half slice of provolone and half slice pepper jack cheeses to the top of each sandwich. Add the top part of the bread to the sandwich and put in the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and enjoy! :)