Showing posts with label From my Kitchen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label From my Kitchen. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Play Date Treats

I have been organizing play dates recently for my boys. When we're not exploring outside the house we like to have some of our new friends over. The moms have been so generous sharing their baked goodies every time I host. Now, I'm changing it...I want to give them a great time and a little treat to enjoy when they get home.

I made the best and the most amazing Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. Got the recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups quick-cooking oats
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
  3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
I packaged these lovely beauties in my tiny tin can lunch boxes. I am enjoying the company of my new mommy friends and their babies. This is my simple way of saying "Thank You".

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Deviled Eggs for Khinley's birthday party


Made Deviled Eggs for Khinley's birthday party last week. Huge hit Mark tried the dish for me since I can't eat it. :)

Recipe from Rachel Ray Show

* 3 tablespoons yellow mustard (eyeball it)
* 2 teaspoons (about a small palmful) smoked paprika, plus additional for garnish
* 6 pieces thick-cut bacon
* 12 eggs (save the carton they came in!)
* 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish (eyeball it)
* 3 tablespoons grated onion (about 1/2 small onion)
* A few dashes hot sauce (add more if you like it spicy!)
* 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (eyeball it)
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Edited this recipe and added finely chopped fresh dill and some for Garnish. :) I also saved some crushed bacon to finish the dish.

Preparation

Put the eggs in a saucepan, fill it halfway with cold water and set over high heat.

When the water boils, turn off the heat, place a lid on the pot and let sit 10 minutes. Place the pot of cooked eggs in the sink and run some cold water over the eggs until both the water and the pan feel cool. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, take them out of the water, roll each egg on a work surface to crack the shell and carefully peel off the eggshells.

While the eggs are cooking, place a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon in the pan until crispy and golden brown, 3-4 minutes per side. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Once cool, chop into small pieces and reserve.

Place the eggs on a cutting board and cut a quarter off the egg from the fat rounded end to expose the yolk. Next, cut just a sliver off the pointed end so the egg is able to sit upright without rolling over.

Once all the eggs have been cut, scoop out the yolks into a medium-size mixing bowl. Place the egg white shells back into the egg container for easy transport and filling, making sure the holes are pointing up so you can fill them with the delicious bacon-y mixture.
Step

Grab your bowl of yolks and break them up a little bit using a fork. Add in the chopped bacon, smoked paprika, mustard, relish, grated onion, hot sauce and mayo, and give everything a good stir. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Step

Make an instant pastry bag by spooning the egg mixture into a plastic, re-sealable bag and squishing it all into one of the bottom corners. Snip off a small triangle from the bottom of the filled bag and squeeze out a bit of yolk mixture into each of the egg whites. Once all eggs are filled, dust them with a little of the smoked paprika, close the carton lid and you're good to go.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Baked with Love



Yesterday I made bread for the first time for my Valentine. I actually followed the master recipe from this book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a book recommended by my friend Deena. I have to say I was a little bit scared to tackle the recipe but it wasn't that bad once I got into it. Making your own bread does take a lot of time. Actually, waiting time for the rising of the bread. I will definitely be making this master recipe again and I will work my way throughout the book and make everything in it. I just hope my little Sous chefs will allow me to make them.





Friday, August 27, 2010

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Our weekend routine is pretty simple. We always shop at Harris Teeter. Now, we pack the boys up and they tag along with us on our shopping trip. Last weekend strawberries were on sale. I could not pass it up. It was so darn cheap. It was buy 1 container get 2 FREE. I'm such a sucker when it comes to these especially with fruits. I was planning on eating a bowl each day for breakfast. Taking care of two baby boys sometimes you forget to eat breakfast. I opened the fridge yesterday and three containers of strawberries where still in there untouched. I felt horrible now that I'm a stay-at-home mommy I should do a better job in using everything we have in our fridge and pantry so I decided to make some strawberry jam.

Perfect breakfast. Homemade strawberry jam with toast.

Strawberry Jam

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled (I used 2.5 lbs. instead)
3 cups of white sugar
1/4 cup of lemon juice

Wash and slice strawberries and use a heavy bottomed saucepan. Mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C). Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process in a water bath. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don't bother with processing, and just refrigerate.

Got this kit from Walmart. It's cheap and totally worth it. Just follow the information from the packaging. It's so simple and easy to do.


Remove the foam from the pan and let it simmer until the sauce thickens. You don't want white foam in your jam.



Testing if your jam is ready

Place three plates in a freezer... after about 10 minutes of boiling place a tsp of the liquid of the jam onto the cold plate. Return to freezer for a minute. Run your finger through the jam on the plate... if it doesn't try to run back together (if you can make a line through it with your finger) it's ready to be canned!

2 1/2 containers of strawberries and look what I got? This is such a great idea after strawberry picking. Next spring I will bring the boys with me at Page Farms and we'll be picking strawberries.

Here's the pretty strawberry jam I made. Ready to be given to my friends. :)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Chocolate Cupcakes



Designed cupcake toppers and white frosting with pink sugar crystals. I didn't use the chocolate frosting for this recipe.

HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake (I used this recipe but for cupcakes)

Ingredients:

* 2 cups sugar
* 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup boiling water
* "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING (recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. 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 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING (I skipped this one)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

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