K thru Praz

Bacon-wrapped Sausage-stuffed Dates

2012-01-31T21:55:00.000-08:00

I had a nice dinner out with my friend Amy back in December. Everything we ate was delicious, but most of all we loved the Spanish Stuffed Dates, which are dates wrapped in bacon and stuffed with chorizo.
Here's my version... just as good if I do say so myself (and much cheaper!):

1 package of pitted dates
1 lb of bacon slices, cut in half
1/4 lb (maybe even less?) spicy sausage or chorizo
toothpicks

Cut the dates with a pair of shears so that they are "butterflied." Put about half a teaspoon of uncooked sausage in the date and snap shut. Wrap with half a slice of bacon and close with a toothpick. Cook in a skillet over medium-high heat, turning as needed, until bacon is cooked. My photo is not very good and they do look a little charred, but they were perf. And the sausage inside cooks fine, no worries.

French Toast Egg Bake

2012-01-30T22:42:00.000-08:00

I make egg bake/casserole type dishes a lot. They were big in my family, so I tend to gravitate towards these dishes whether sweet or savory. I made this on a whim recently because I had some leftover cinnamon bread that I didn't want to go bad. I layered the rest of my bread (about 6 slices) in a sprayed bread pan, along with some dried cherries, pecans or walnuts and a bit of brown sugar crumbled over it. Mix a few eggs and some milk (there is really no exact recipe for this, I make it differently every time) and pour over your bread. Drizzle some maple syrup if desired. Cover and let sit overnight in the refrigerator. Pop in the oven in the morning for about 20-30 minutes at 375, until eggs are set.
Slice and drizzle with maple or berry syrup (my favorite).

Yum!

... Hello, 2012!

2012-01-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

And hello to a bevy of new kitchen gadgets, thanks to Santa and all the other people in my life who spoil me.

First up, my brand new "mini" bread maker. I guess it's called mini because it makes a smaller, one-pound loaf, but it's still a ton of bread for just me and John. That being said, I've already made three different loaves, with many more to come. I'll discuss these on a later blog. I love it. I also used a gift card my mom got me to buy myself a nice bread knife.

Next, I begged Santa to bring me this relatively cheap, but totally awesome smoothie maker. I am having a blast making smoothies and somehow avoiding the temptation to make MILKSHAKES in it. They're coming, though, I can feel it.

Then, John's parents surprised me with a sweet and extravagant gift: a super nice 14-piece set of non-stick Calphalon cookware. I love them. I promptly took all my old pots and pans (except my "weathered" baking sheets) and donated them to a co-worker. I love my new pans and I'm being really careful with them, because pretty much anything you would think of doing with them voids the warranty! It's really nice having the perfect size pot/pan for any job, and a matching lid that actually fits!

My brother got me one of those electrical mini-cupcake makers. It makes 7 mini cupcakes/muffins in 7 minutes, and one box of cake mix made over 60! I spent the better part of New Year's Eve-day baking cupcakes for my friend Jenn's birthday.

So yes, basically this is a blog bragging about all the cool stuff I got for Christmas. But not really... it's like, "here's what's to come!" ... And much more!

Goodbye, 2011...

2011-12-31T19:33:00.000-08:00

I have not been blogging much lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been baking! Here is a quick update on my recent culinary adventures!

Even though John and I spent Thanksgiving this year in Las Vegas, I still had to make a batch of the infamous pumpkin cookies.

Our close friends hosted an early Christmas/White Elephant dinner party, and I brought the mashed potatoes and pecan pie:

John's coworker hosted an hors d'oeuvres party, so I brought this amazing concoction called CRESCENT WRAPPED BRIE. I am making this again tonight for New Year's. Perfect with this raspberry chipotle sauce a friend suggested to me!

And these are fairly traditional peanut butter blossoms, but Bakerella gave me the idea to use dark chocolate Kisses. They were so much more delicious this way!

Our 2011 Christmas postcard!

I have a lot more to share, but I don't want to waste it all on this quick recap post. 2011 was a rough year for a lot of people, but I have the highest of hopes for 2012.

Have a safe and happy New Year, and remember:

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."
---George Bernard Shaw

Scallops with Salsa d’Acciughe e Rosmarino

2011-11-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

Okay... I guess I should be upfront and honest here, since you're going to find out in a few moments anyway when you read this recipe...

The translation of the above Italian = ANCHOVY SAUCE.
And, no, I am not a fan of anchovies. But this sauce is delish, especially on some pan seared scallops. Mine (pictured) did get a very good sear because I'm pretty sure they had phosphates added, even though I specifically asked the fish dude if they were and he said NO. They were still good, I just had to contend with a lot of milky water invading the pan. I learned how to make this sauce in a recent cooking class.

1 can of anchovy filets
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 lemons
4 T. rosemary leaves
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor, emulsify all of the anchovy fillets, then add the garlic, the zest of both lemons and the rosemary. Process until very well chopped, and then drizzle in the olive oil, slowly. Add the juice of at least one lemon. Then, taste and add more garlic or the juice of the other lemon if need be.

Spoon over the scallops, or put on any fish, pasta or bread!

Stuffed Peppers

2011-10-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hmm... I can't remember what recipe I used to make these, because I'm fairly certain I just sorta winged it.

Cook up about a half a pound of ground turkey with a can of diced tomatoes and a small amount of quick rice (maybe like 1/2 cup cooked?)... Add pepper, garlic and parsley to taste, spoon into your gutted peppers. Add some breadcrumbs and parmesan on top! Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until tender. I think I was surprised that they ended up taking longer, but they tasted pretty good.

crappy cross-section pic

I suppose the purpose of this post is to document the fact that I made these, and that they are a great healthy entree to consider.

Peanut Butter

2011-10-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Stock up now, folks!

A little birdie told me that prices are going up at least 30% next month. I bought a few jars yesterday, reduced-fat for me, and some "regular-fat" for my baking. I don't want to help spread any panic or fear of peanutpocalypse, but if you love peanut butter and don't want to pay through the nose for it, get yourself enough to last you a while. Peanuts, too! And maybe a couple Snickers bars to stash in your freezer, for "emergencies?"

Ice Cream Sandwich

2011-10-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

These are "homemade" in the sense that nothing is homemade about them except the assembly. With more planning, I would have made them from scratch, but these were a "happy accident."

I couldn't decide which picture to post, so you get both. The ice cream is Trader Joe's french vanilla. The cookies are ginger spice. Slightly warm, because you(I) have no patience. The sandwich pretty much falls apart after the first bite, but you(I) don't care.*

Yum.

*You can put these on a cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer a bit to harden them up, but it depends on preference or when you're serving them.

Beignets

2011-09-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

I get fierce cravings. And, no, much to my mother's chagrin, I am NOT pregnant. I just get something in my head and have to have it.

Like that time about a month ago I could not get Beignets out of my head? I decided to make them at around 9 pm on a Tuesday night. What a delicious disaster that was!
Believe it or not, I have actually made these from scratch before (back in high school, I think), but after our recent trip to New Orleans, I will forever use Cafe Du Monde's box mix. These people are professionals - why mess with perfection?

True perfection would be hopping on a flight to NOLA and picking them up fresh, but these really hit the spot.

Mexican Lasagna

2011-08-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

A Rachel Ray recipe that is just too good.

I made a few substitutions:

used ground turkey instead of ground chicken (easier to find).
used whole wheat tortillas because I couldn't find the spinach ones.
used low fat cheese.
used more onion.
I drizzled some taco sauce on the top layer before topping with cheese.
Garnished with light sour cream.

This was so freaking good! I actually had a hard time going thru these photos because they're making me hungry!

Note to self: Don't blog while hungry!

I found this picture online and had to add it as it seems so apropos to this post!

Greek Yogurt Popsicles

2011-08-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

These are super easy to make. I can't remember when I decided I wanted to try to make a Greek yogurt popsicle - I think I had thought of it around the time I was reminiscing over Jell-O Pudding Pops, an old lunch-time staple of mine during middle school.

I was so not a fan of Greek yogurt the first time I tried it. But once I added fruit and honey to it, I came around, and now we are BFFs. For this attempt, I used peach preserves from the Loveless Cafe in Nashville, TN instead of just peaches and honey. I wanted to find a use for some of my $12 jam besides just slathering it on some toast, which is what I'll surely be doing with the rest of it. But anyway, you can go ahead and use some honey and whatever fruit you like - perhaps blueberries, Sara? I used a 6 ounce container of Greek yogurt plus my jam to make two popsicles, but I stuffed them in pretty good. Be careful when you pull these out of the molds - run them under some warm water and they should pop right out, but you know nothing ever goes perfect for me. They are creamy and yummy - a cool protein-filled summertime snack!

I have this crazy idea stuck in my head that I want to make Sangria popsicles...

Happy Birthday, Julia!

2011-08-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

I love her. She would have been 99 today!

"Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon or
not at all."

-Julia Child

Jolly Lollies

2011-07-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

I originally saw these lollies on a great blog called "The Decorated Cookie," and I wanted to try making them immediately!

All you do is arrange Jolly Ranchers in whatever formation you want (though, be warned, they will not come out perfect) on a parchment lined baking sheet, and melt in the oven at 275 degrees for 6-10 minutes. You need to keep an eye on them depending on your oven and how many Jolly Ranchers you use. While the candy is still melted, roll a candy stick on top so that it is coated by the candy, and let cool.

I used a bag of original JR as well as tropical. It was fun mixing the different colors/flavors together. Optionally, you can try crushing the candies and putting them together for a more melty-mosaic look, but I liked the color blocks the best.

Lasagna

2011-07-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've been making so much lasagna lately, John has taken to calling me Garfield. I was always more of a Heathcliff girl myself, but I accept this nickname along with my new-found love of lasagna. It is so easy to make! Who knew?
I make a few different varieties, but my favorite incorporates mushrooms, spinach and either ground turkey or Italian sausage. Depends on my mood. Ricotta, mozzarella and sauce are all lasagna standards.
You just boil the noodles until al dente, and then layer away. I always start with some sauce in the bottom of the pan, then lay out three noodles, some more sauce, veg/meat and cheese, and so on. Your top layer is noodles, sauce and then you finish with some mozzarella and parmesan.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing (I only sometimes follow this rule). You really can not screw this up.

Rhubarb Muffins

2011-06-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

Healthy(ish) Rhubarb Muffins

1 c. skim milk (or almond, soy, whatever your fav is)

2 c. finely chopped rhubarb

1/4 c. Splenda Sugar Blend (or substitute in 1/2 c. regular sugar)

2 T. baking powder

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1 c. whole wheat flour

1 t. cinnamon

4 T. vegetable oil

2 eggs (I use eggland's best for lower cholesterol)

In a medium bowl, mix together the milk, oil and eggs.

In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and walnuts. Add this mixture to the wet bowl and then add the rhubarb. Mix well and pour into greased or paper-lined muffin tins.

Optionally, you can switch out half the rhubarb for your fruit of choice -- apple would be nice. I sliced some strawberries and stuck a piece on top of each before baking. Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Makes 12.

Batch Cooking

2011-06-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

I've still been cooking and baking, but just a lot of the same old stuff, so there's not been a lot of blog-worthy material.

Recently, I went on a batch-cooking-binge, and prepared a week's worth of food in one night, including lots of oatmeal and a dozen meatloaf muffins. I had actually doubled the meatloaf muffin recipe, so I took half of the meat and pressed it into one of those disposable bread tins. After topping it with the meatloaf sauce, I covered it in parchment paper and then tightly wrapped it in foil, making sure to date it and write the baking instructions on top. If you want to cook a frozen, un-baked meatloaf, you have to put it in a 350 degree oven for an hour and a half. The meatloaf will be good in your freezer for 3-4 months, but this baby only spent about a month in mine.
The meatloaf came out as juicy as ever and all I had to worry about was the sides. It's great having healthy foods at the ready so I don't have to worry about dinner on a busy night. Planning is key.

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

2011-05-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

This oatmeal is really delicious and broke me out of my "dreading the morning oatmeal" funk. We all know oatmeal is good for us, but it can also be sort of bland and boring, depending on how it's prepared. Between this and the pumpkin pie oatmeal, I am no longer "afraid" of my morning oats.

I've made this variation twice and the pumpkin pie oatmeal once. Every time I make a big batch so I have plenty of oatmeal throughout the week. I've learned that it's better to add the raisins directly to the oatmeal mixture, instead of just as a garnish. If you add during the last minute of cooking, that is perfect. They plump up just a bit and help to sweeten the oatmeal. The second time I used both regular and golden raisins, which was nice. I have never made it using the nuts, as the recipe calls for. I would have the first time, but didn't realize until I was halfway through the recipe that my pantry was completely out of nuts. And since I didn't miss them the first go around, I decided to omit them the second time, too. Nuts are expensive these days.

Colorful Krispie Eggs

2011-05-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

Has enough time passed for me to post another recipe debacle? I hope so! I might never forget this nightmare!
I had volunteered to make the rolls and a dessert treat for the previously mentioned Easter dinner at some friends' home. I thought these eggs looked so adorable, and combined three of my favorite things: rice krispie treats, chocolate and sprinkles! How hard could it be?
Apparently, harder than I thought. In my zeal to make a perfectly-formed egg (using plastic easter eggs as a mold), I must have packed the rice krispie treats in WAY too tight. Who knew? They seemed to pop out of the mold easily enough and looked great!
Then comes the dipping in chocolate step... I did some white chocolate, and some regular chocolate. After coating them in sprinkles I set them on some parchment paper to cool/dry before biting into one.
And nearly destroying the thousands of dollars of dental work I've had over the last couple years.
Seriously, I couldn't even cut one of these in half to get a nice cross-section picture like Rianne did on her blog.
John tried to humor me and take a bite as well, but he knew right away that they were destined for the trash can. But not before I could snap a couple photos of my failure!

Honey Bunny

2011-05-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the terribly corny blog title this time...
The genesis? These are Honey Yeast Rolls, from Annie's Eats, and I made them for Easter dinner at a friend's house. And bunny rhymes with honey ... clever, right?

These rolls were pretty easy to make, even though I rarely have patience for continual kneading, resting, rising and waiting. They turned out pretty good, I think. Possibly a little dense, though it's hard to say because I'm not sure how Annie's rolls taste. I didn't use bread flour, so I tried to compensate with a little extra yeast. Next time, I will use bread flour. I will make these again. The honey in the dough and on top of the buns is subtle enough that they're not sickeningly sweet rolls like those Hawaiian rolls that I hate. You must slather butter on these. Suitable for any holiday or regular dinner. Enjoy!

Florentine Toast Cups

2011-04-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

So, I'm sort of repeating myself here, however, I wanted to try a new spin on an old favorite.

For these, I simply decided to whisk some eggs with some thawed frozen spinach. Two eggs and 1/3 to 1/2 cup of spinach made 3 cups. Shred some Jarlsberg Swiss on top and bake at 375 until set, about 25 minutes!

Feel free to add some more cheese to the egg mixture before pouring. More cheese is really never a bad thing.
Of course I also had to make the bacon variety, in case these didn't turn out so well. Luckily, both were delish!

Oopsie!

2011-04-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

It feels as though I've been doing a LOT of failing recipe-wise lately. I have plenty of blogs planned for the near future, but I thought I needed to spread out some of my failures so that I don't look so entirely pathetic. Here is one failure, coming atcha!
I am not on a low-carb diet, nor any diet at all, really... but, I thought these low-carb Oopsie rolls sounded yummy and intriguing.
I think my fatal error was when whipping the egg whites. I whipped them to "stiff peaks," however I think me and Carbarella might have different opinions on what "stiff" means! Truthfully, I probably should have kept whipping, but I've been taught to not over-whip! Oh well, lesson learned. These were pretty inedible.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

2011-04-20T19:23:00.000-07:00

I've been hearing about chia seeds for a while now... when a friend's blog mentioned them, I jokingly said, "What, like the seeds you put on a Chia Pet?" Was I ever surprised to find out, yes, the one and the same!

Weird!

Then, I was perusing another pal's blog, and found this genius recipe for what can best be described as a healthy tapioca, or, as I like to call it: Chia Pudding!

I made this last night for the first time and I loved it! It was perfectly sweet with just the coconut milk and a banana, but of course I needed to dress it up with a little non dairy whipped topping!

I never, ever would have picked these up off the store shelf if it hadn't been for the cool people I "know" via the internet. I'm excited to try some other recipes with chia seeds. They're a great source of fiber and Omega-3's.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

2011-03-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

I made these for Fat Tuesday, so clearly I'm a little late posting this. We're still unpacking from the big move on top of our recent trip to New Orleans, which was fabulous.
This recipe comes from good ole Martha, and they turned out pretty good. I totally forgot the 1/3 c. buttermilk, which I'm sure sort of ruined the integrity of the doughnut, but I was still pleased with the outcome.
Besides the failed pot roast, this was one of the first things I made in the new kitchen. It is weird having enough room and counter space to actually bake comfortably. It's also very weird (but mostly cool) to be able to toss all the dishes into the dishwasher as soon as I'm done.

Beef Roast, Roast Beef, Pot Roast?

2011-03-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

I don't know what happened... I thought I would roast some beef in the oven last night. I slathered it in olive oil, herbs and spices, and popped it in a 350 degree oven for a while -- until it was ~140 degrees internally, then I let it rest for 15 minutes.

What I got was tough, chewy, fatty meat... and blah. Even though it was fairly pink inside, it was still so tough. I don't cook a ton of beef, besides hamburgers and the occasional steak. But this kind of traditional meal eludes me. I followed a fairly simple recipe. I'm left wondering if this is just a bad cut of meat, or if I missed some crucial step.

I hate when things don't go as planned. This was to be my first "real" meal in the new kitchen, not counting the simple things I've already been making, like frozen turkey burgers.

Hmm... guess it's Mongolian take-out tonight.

Saying Hello!

2011-02-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

As promised, I snapped a few photos of my new kitchen. Please excuse the quality... as with the old kitchen photos, I took them with my iPod. We haven't officially moved anything over yet, but we'll be doing that soon! So here's some of the cool stuff I was bragging about.

<--The stove and built-in microwave. Oh, and speaking of the stove, check it out... TWO oven racks and a light inside!

Here's a crappy shot of the sink and bar area, looking into the living room. Peek-a-boo!

And, finally, the pièce de résistance, the dishwasher! Can you believe it?

Goodbye, Kitchen.

2011-02-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

Goodbyes are hard. Even this one. As I'm packing up the apartment we've dwelled in for the last 4 years, I am surprised by my nostalgia over this "kitchen." In the past, I have not been shy about loathing this room. Oh, how I loathe thee. But, when it comes to saying goodbye to anything, I get ~~a bit~~ totally sappy. Whenever I get this way, John helps by reminding me of things I won't miss about this apartment.

Things I Won't Miss About the "Kitchen:"

The unpredictable green oven/stove, with only one oven rack. This oven can't seem to bake a simple batch of box brownies in under 2 hours.

The garbage disposal that is constantly breaking. My landlord's son, upon taking over the building, finally replaced this for us. Three weeks later, it started making the most unpleasant noise, and I KNOW there is nothing jammed in there. Not my problem anymore!

The hand-me-down microwave. I mean, this thing works fine, but is nothing special to look at. The plastic over the numbers is coming off and it always looks dirty. Plus, it takes up a ton of counter space. The new apartment has a built-in microwave, thus eliminating the need for this one, and freeing up valuable counter space.

These dark, dingy cupboards. When we moved here we barely had enough stuff to fill one shelf, now they're constantly overflowing and needing reorganizing. The "pantry" cupboard above the refrigerator goes so far back that I'm constantly forgetting about food, and then this happens.

The new apartment's kitchen isn't a whole lot larger than our current one. BUT, there are a few important distinctions:

I've already mentioned the built-in microwave, but did I tell you there's a dishwasher? Oh yeah, there is! And it's not named KRISTEN!
The stove/oven is gas, which is really the only way to go. Our current one is gas too, but presumably this newer model actually works.
There's definitely more counter space. Perhaps a nice spot near the window for my buddy, Triumph!
It also faces the living room with open air between the sink and the cupboards (if that makes sense), so I can see into the living room. Unlike our current kitchen which is basically just a hallway.

Triumph being a little camera shy...

There's a higher counter on the side of the living room, presumably for putting some stools under it and using that as an eating area.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the new place to share (yet). March 1st is our official lease start, though we will be moving stuff over the next few weeks. Since our apartment is currently in shambles, at least this time for a justifiable reason, I probably won't be doing a ton of baking before we move.

Stay tuned for a "clip show"-style blog where I highlight some of my favorite or most memorable dishes made in this old kitchen!

Blueberry Pancakes

2011-01-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

I was in the mood to make a big breakfast last Saturday: bacon, cheesy-veggie eggs, and blueberry pancakes.

Here's my recipe for blueberry pancakes. They puff up really big, but they're still very light tasting. Enjoy!

2 eggs
1 3/4 c. milk
3/4 c. white flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. rolled oats
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. sugar or splenda. maybe not necessary, but I alway add it :D
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt.
~1/4 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla
1 c. fresh blueberries

Combine all ingredients (add blueberries last) and pour batter into an oiled or sprayed skillet over medium heat. My batter is usually pretty thick, so add a bit more flour if yours seems too runny.
Makes 6 large pancakes... or 12 of those shrimpy looking ones. Whichever you prefer!

Crack Pie

2011-01-21T20:06:00.000-08:00

Yikes! Has it really been a month since my last blog? Happy New Year! I didn't really make any resolutions this year, besides my usual "floss more" and "eat healthier." Oh, and to finally hit my goal weight.

Going along with all of that, I decided my first recipe of the new year needed to be one that contains nearly 5 days worth of calories... and with that, I give you CRACK PIE.

John actually got me David Chang's book, Momofuku, for Christmas. And I'm really excited and nervous to try some of these other recipes. But Crack Pie was something I heard about early in 2010 and have waited all year to try. The occasion special enough for this dessert? Nick's 26th birthday, of course.

it comes out of the oven sort of puffy...

I will say, this recipe was sort of stressful. First, you make a giant cookie that is really delicious on its own. Then you crumble all your hard work into the food processor with some other yummies, and press that into a crust. Then there's the whole "milk powder" issue. Is milk powder the same thing as powdered milk? Google seemed to think so. Unfortunately, all I could find in my regular grocery store was a giant box of non-fat powdered milk. I'm pretty sure non-fat anything would have sucked in this recipe, so I went another way and picked up a canister of "Powdered Buttermilk." It's weird. I thought it would make the pie bitter, but it didn't.

... but it "shrivels" as it cools.

Another annoying thing is having to bake the pies separately. I sort of cheated on this part because I was running out of time and the pies do need to chill for a bit. Dust them with a ton of powdered sugar! Everyone at the party loved it! Though I did have an entire crack pie left over, I ~~let~~ made Nick take it! I suppose you could try halving this recipe, but some of the measurements might get a bit difficult. Plus, it really is like crack because later that night I was wishing for a few more bites. Well, I've never smoked crack, but I'd like to think this pie has the same effect.

Nick with the crack ~~pipe~~ pie.

Royal Icing

2010-12-22T19:14:00.000-08:00

As promised, I made ~~just a few~~ millions of little gingerbread cookies with royal icing for some goodie bags John wanted to bring into work. In case the cookies sucked, we sprinkled in some Cadbury chocolate pieces, York peppermint patties, and Lindt truffles. Luckily, they didn't suck. I actually used two different mixes to make these, mostly because I knew I had to make a ton, but also because I can't quite handle the smell of pure molasses in my house after a terrible baking experiment when I was eleven.

The royal icing was homemade. It's pretty easy to make.

3 T. egg whites
1-2 t. vanilla extract (clear if you want pure white frosting)
~3 T. warm water
~2 c. powdered sugar

This one is saying "help meeeeee"

Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until foamy. Then add in the vanilla and water and gradually add the powdered sugar as you continue to mix on medium-high speed. The amount of water/sugar you add will depend on the consistency you're trying for. I just wanted to pipe a simple design on each cookie, so I did add more sugar to get a stiffer consistency. For the flooding/glazed look method, you'd probably need to double the water. Put the icing in a piping bag immediately, or cover your bowl because this stuff hardens pretty quickly!

5 bags down... only 35 to go...

Drunk Turkey

2010-12-19T15:34:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything in awhile because I haven't had much time to cook or bake lately! This makes me sad, so immediately after this, I'm going to whip up a few batches of gingerbread cookies, because John would like to bring in little gifties for his co-workers on Tuesday.
Even though Turkey is mostly a Thanksgiving food, I know a lot of people who also eat it for Christmas, so I thought I'd share my recipe for the perfect turkey.

I like to cook my turkey in a bag, mostly because I know it speeds up the cooking time, and when you only have one tiny oven and a ton of dishes to prepare, every minute counts. Also because it seems to lock in the moisture of whatever I decide to douse/baste my turkey with. The last few times I've made turkey, I like to get it drunk. You will need:

1 12 lb turkey
2/3 bottle of champagne (go cheap)
1 stick butter, cubed
2 apples, cored and sliced
garlic powder
salt & pepper
oven roasting bag

First, thaw your turkey, get the nasty bits out, and rinse it out and off. Pat dry. Use your index finger to loosen the turkey skin and cube of butter under the turkey skin all over the turkey. It will look like it has a bunch of tumors growing out of it. "It's not a tuma." At some point you have to truss the turkey, and I can never remember if I do this before or after the next few steps. I always use this video for help with trussing. Maybe go ahead and truss the turkey now. I used black string even though it looks sort of crappy.

Put the apples inside of the turkey. You can use chopped onions if you want. I usually just use whatever extra stuff I have lying around since this is more for flavor/aroma and you don't end up eating the food in the turkey cavity. I certainly don't. Sprinkle the turkey with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Put the turkey inside one of those oven turkey bags (follow the instructions for the bag because you need to shake some flour inside so it doesn't explode) and place in a roasting pan. Pour the champagne over and around the turkey, and seal up the bag. It might make the garlic/salt/pepper step seem a little pointless, but I promise that the flavors stay with the turkey.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 2 hours. Then, remove the bag from around the turkey. I usually do this by making a few incisions with scissors, then I pull on the bag gently until it comes loose from the turkey. Bake for 1 more hour, basting every 15-20 minutes, until the internal temperature is 180 degrees. The last hour outside of the bag is to brown up the skin a bit. It might not be the prettiest turkey, but I think it is pretty delicious. Let stand for 20 minutes before carving.
I leave the carving up to John. He does a really good job, especially when he has one of those electric carvers at hand.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce

2010-11-28T14:31:00.000-08:00

As I previously discussed, this pumpkin cheesecake recipe was the winner in a poll I sent out to my friends. We were all winners on Thanksgiving Day as we chowed down on this yummy treat.

This is the third year in a row that I've made an alternative pumpkin pie, so I think next year I might attempt something more traditional.

Yam Sticks

2010-11-24T07:02:00.000-08:00

My first (real) job came at the age of fourteen and was in the culinary department of a retirement community. I started as a server, but over the three years of my employ, took on any job they threw at me. At one point, my job entailed calling the orders on "the line," which after watching several season of Top Chef, I now realize is a really tough job!

One of my favorite things the kitchen served was something called "yam sticks." I am pretty sure that before that time, I hadn't even tasted a yam (or a sweet potato)! It just wasn't something my parents made and/or liked, I guess. You know how that goes. These yam sticks were battered in something... and deep fried. They were gorgeous orange mush on the inside, crispy on the outside, and perfectly sweet.

I have never found yam sticks again. In September, at the LA Fair, I saw a cart that touted "yam sticks" as one of their main attractions. Imagine my disappointment when handed a plate of sweet potato fries. Delicious, but not yam sticks.

I decided to take matters into my own hands. Since I am not the proud owner of a deep fryer, nor does my memory serve me well enough to try to duplicate a batter I haven't tasted in nearly ten years, I decided to go alternative and "bread" these bad boys with sesame seeds.

First, I boiled a couple large yams until they were tender, but not totally soft. Fork tender, I guess. Let them cool, but while they're still slightly warm you peel them and cut into pieces approximately 2 1/2 inches x 1 inch x 1/2 inch.

Then, roll them in sesame seeds, pushing gently to help them stick to the yams. I mixed the sesame seeds with a bit of whole wheat flour, but that basically did nothing (feel free to try it).

After that, you'll pan fry your sticks in some canola oil over medium heat, for about a minute each side, until golden brown and crispy. Let rest on a paper towel.

A lot of mine got charred, but as I've shared in the past, I sort of like burnt food. You'll have a lot of yam sticks on your hands. If you're feeding just two people, you'll be fine with just using one medium-large yam.

Oh, and they're definitely not as good as I remember, but is anything ever? I still like them. Maybe next time I will try panko crumbs.

I won't be making these for Thanksgiving, though. Our sweet potato dish this year will be Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes, a recipe I hope to share in the near future.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Check out this recipe and more on !

Pie the People, For the People

2010-11-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

We're having a pretty small group of people over for Thanksgiving this year, and I couldn't decide which pumpkin pie to make, so I thought I'd create a poll and let my guests help me choose. So it seems that, with the exception of a mysterious participant named "Turkey Cake," most of my guests prefer I make Betty's Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce, with Paula Deen's Pumpkin Pie coming in a close second. I voted for the P. Deen pie myself, but mostly because that seems to be one that I could easily make a day or two ahead.

And the winner is...

I'm a little wary to make another pumpkin cheesecake, because I did that two years ago and it didn't seem to be that popular. It could have been because there were multiple pie options, or maybe it just wasn't that good. Either way, this is a new year, and a new recipe. So Pumpkin Cheesecake it is!

Are you searching for some pumpkin pie alternatives? I will also be making Sara's Mom's Pumpkin Cookies, which are always a hit. Or you could bake up some Pumpkin Half Moon Pie Pockets, which are easy to assemble and even easier to gorge yourself on. You could also try the recipe that got the least amount of votes in my poll (sorry, Nick): Bourbon Pumpkin Tart with Walnut Streusel. Looks good to me!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

decided to add the little Sprinkles
dots to cover my mistakes

For the first time in three or four years, I actually have plans for Halloween, or at least the night before. Going out on a Sunday night might be a little too wild for me, so Saturday it is!

This year I'm going to be Antoine Dodson for Halloween. I hope my costume looks awesome, people recognize me, and we all have lots of fun. We're going to have a small group of people over here before heading to a bar for karaoke. I made some pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese icing. I am in no way a professional decorator, but I think these look cute!

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing (courtesy Sprinkles):

8 oz cold cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter (firm, but not cold)
3 3/4 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. vanilla

In a mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, salt and cinnamon on medium-low for a few minutes until creamy and smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar as you beat the mixture on low speed. Once all the sugar is incorporated, add the vanilla and beat just until everything is combined. Do not overbeat.

Candy Corn Cookies

2010-10-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

Here's my modified version of these Betty Crocker Candy Corn Cookies. Candy Corn is very weird. It seems to be one of those polarizing candies - you either love it or hate it. I am one of the haters. Like olives, every year I make myself TRY candy corn, thinking maybe my tastes buds will have adapted. Nope. I figure I'm not missing out on much ... just some extra refined sugar that I already don't need. Either way, candy corn is super cute and I was excited to make these sugar cookies.
I followed the linked recipe, except I skipped the chocolate and just dyed that part yellow. It's more traditional that way. I tried to include some pictures (click them to enlarge) that might better explain the process because I think the instructions on the BC site can be a little confusing since they don't provide visuals. Some of my candy corns looked a little deformed, but they still taste good. One way to make them look more corn-like is to use a knife or spatula to reshape any blobby looking ones as soon as they come out of the oven. Also, because it's hard to tell on the BC site, let me warn you that these cookies are very small. I'd say slightly larger than animal crackers. So when you're cutting them from the dough slices, don't be worried that you're doing something wrong. The uncooked candy corns will be around the size of a quarter.

finished product!

Sporadic Product Review/Brief History

2010-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

So... if you don't know me, or if for some reason I haven't already made you painfully aware, you need to know I love macaroni and cheese. I sort of consider it blasphemy to speak ill of the mac. I find it annoying when people consider mac & cheese simply a side dish. It is a way of life.

I grew up eating the blue box constantly. In fact, in my faster-metabolism, track-running days, I was known to make an entire box for myself after school. If my older brother expressed interest in perhaps having a bowl, I'd gladly throw another box in the pot. But I would not ever, could not ever part with the three-and-a-half servings I was owed.

We ate a lot of Polish food in my house -- kielbasa, pierogies, sauerkraut. Once in a while, my dad would whip up some Kraft as a side to the kielbasa. Umm, no thanks, Pop. I'd have a sliver of the sausage and pile my plate high with macaroni. For some reason, I had to be sort of the Christopher Columbus of macaroni and cheese for my fam. Listen, I'm not saying I discovered mac & cheese. I'm saying I discovered it for my people. Deal with it. I haven't, as far as I'm aware, killed anyone along the way.

We do have a Praz family recipe that is a distant, perhaps Polish, relative to mac & cheese, but it involves onions and cottage cheese. Another time...

As I got older, I got into something called "baked mac and cheese." The only times I had previously experienced it was via the Stouffer's frozen variety. That stuff is pretty good, too. Once I started working in a restaurant after school, I realized how good mac & cheese can be when it comes out of the oven. Covered in stewed tomatoes... why not?

In college, I ate a lot of mac. In the dorms, I was mostly relegated to Easy Mac. Not terrible, but simply not enough. Make two.

I have once or twice fallen prey to the healthy mac and cheese gimmick.

Dear Lean Cuisine & Smart Ones,

Your mac is no good. Stop trying.

And don't try to tell me that I can fake macaroni and cheese with cauliflower. More blasphemy.

So I've had Delilah's famous mac & cheese in Philly; I've recreated Alton Brown's mac & cheese, one or two of Rachel Ray's, the crockpot mac & cheese; I've tasted gourmet mac & cheese with ingredients like lobster and truffle oil. I'm not going to say I'm an expert, but you could say it and I probably wouldn't disagree.

So here's where I should probably digress and move on with the product review. I have made this Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Homestyle Deluxe dinner twice. Big fan. I won't go through the instructions, because any dummy can do that. I will recommend using the "oven finish" method for the optimal mac attack. It involves extra cheese and bread crumbs. I recently made this in a pinch when I didn't have enough time to defrost some meat I had bought. Then realizing John needed to have some meat with his mac (yes, he's one of those people), I cut up a couple Hebrew Nationals and served those on the side. That's right, mac & cheese for dinner with a side of hot dogs. Carrying on my dad's ~~laziness~~ tradition.

Out of the oven... after an attack. Don't judge me.

Stromboli 2 Ways

2010-10-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

The first time I made stromboli using puff pastry, I chose a turkey/ham variety with shredded cheese and it was super delicious. Then John had the brilliant idea to make a cheesesteak variety, using Steak-Umms and swiss cheese. And tons of ketchup for garnish, of course. Genius! Well, it at least hits the spot for the much-sought-after Philly taste I've been missing the last few years.

Roll out a thawed sheet of puff pastry to 16"x12". With the shorter end facing you, layer your meat choice (for the steak variety I used a whole box of cooked Steak-Umms --blotted a bit to remove excess oil; for the turkey/ham, I used about 1/4-1/2 lb of each. Lots of meat in that one) on the bottom half of the pastry, coming within 1 inch of the edge. Sprinkle with 1 c. of shredded cheese, or spread out 4 slices of cheese (your choice) over the meat. Starting with the shorter end, roll up like a jelly roll. Place the seam side down and tuck all the ends under to seal. Brush with egg mixture (1 egg beaten with 1 T. water) and bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

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A Non-Recipe Update

2010-10-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

I took another cooking class last weekend. This one was called Brown Baggin' It. During the class, I chopped until I couldn't chop any more... and I got a week's worth of lunches, to boot. It was great to learn the proper chopping techniques, and to use an awesome Wusthof knife. I really don't think at this point I have much use for a $100 knife. I don't do that much chopping, and I have one of those nifty slap-chopper tools thanks to Johnny's need to buy me every kitchen gadget possible. But I do plan on chopping regularly to further hone and perfect my chop skills.

The top shelf of my "baking cupboard"

My brother sent me some cool cookbooks, including one with all sugar-free dessert options. That is not to say everything is sweetened with Splenda or other artificials... it's all about sweetening with natural stuff, like fruit juices and stuff like that. I could definitely get into that.

Even though I've been itching to move for the last 2 years, since nothing seems to be on the horizon, I decided to make do with what I have. I cleaned out the cupboards and moved my cookbooks to the kitchen, which makes more sense anyway. It's much better than having them scattered throughout the house, though I'm not entirely sure I've actually rounded up all of the books I own, but for now, this will do. You'll also notice a stack of my Martha EVERYDAY FOOD mags, all of which have too many quality recipes to toss.

While cleaning, I also found NINE flower vases tucked away in various spots. Anyone have cool ideas for what to do with so many vases? There are a couple I definitely want to keep, but the rest are sort of just generic and taking up space. I could just donate them, but the idea of transporting several glass vases does not sound very appealing to me. I wish I knew a local DIY bride or party planner who could use these. I suppose I could just craigslist/freecycle them, but maybe someone has a cool idea for how to use these?

Peach Upside-Down Cake

2010-09-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for yet another Martha recipe, but I've been on a kick. I actually had some other (non-Martha) stuff I was going to post first, but I felt like I needed to add something sweet after a couple of savory posts. So here's a Peach Upside-Down Cake, modified from Martha's Nectarine Upside-Down Cake. You could probably also use pear, or the old standard, pineapple.

In other news, my mom sent me some cool things for my birthday. Among everything was a Danish dough whisk, for making bread, and a cool bread book. And, as further proof that I'm a very spoiled girl, John got me a Wilton tool caddy with about a million pieces inside. So look forward to some bread and cake posts in the near future!

Tomato Tart

2010-09-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Isn't this gorgeous? This is a modified Martha recipe, and you can pretty much do whatever you want with it as well.

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 T. sour cream
1 t. grainy mustard (I like Inglehoffer)
2 large leeks, white and green parts only
1 T. unsalted butter
3/4 lb of your favorite kind of tomatoes, sliced/halved if preferred
2 ounces fresh goat cheese, mozzarella, or your fave
2 t. fresh thyme or basil

Preheat oven to 400. On a floured work surface, roll puff pastry to a twelve inch square and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine sour cream and mustard and season with salt and pepper. Spread this mixture evenly over the pastry. Fold a half inch border on all sides and press the edges to seal. Refrigerate ten minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the leeks in half and rinse thoroughly. Pat dry and slice into 1/4 inch pieces. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium and cook leeks with salt and pepper, until soft. Reduce heat slightly and continue to cook until very soft, about five more minutes. Arrange the leeks evenly over the pastry. Top with tomatoes and bake about half an hour, until the pastry is golden and crisp. Top with desired cheese(s) and herbs before cutting into squares.

A few notes:

To make with bacon, like I did above, cook four to five slices of bacon until crisp. Cut or crumble over dough before putting into oven.
If using cherry tomatoes, I would suggest cutting them into smaller pieces. Sliced tomatoes might work better.
You can make this as simple as you want, but don't omit the sour cream or leeks, because they help keep the crust crispy. You can substitute caramelized onions for leeks.

Bacon & Egg Toast Cups

2010-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

A super easy and yummy Martha dish this week...

2 T. unsalted butter, melted
4 slices sandwich bread, your preference
4 slices bacon
4 large eggs
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter six standard muffin cups. Flatten the bread slices slightly with a rolling pin, and with a four-and-a-half inch cookie cutter, cut into four rounds. Cut each round in half, then press the two halves into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly and making sure bread comes up to the edges. Use extra bread and crusts to patch any holes if necessary. Brush with remaining butter.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon until almost crisp, about four minutes, flipping once. Lay one bacon slice in each bread cup and crack an egg over each. Season with salt & pepper. Bake until egg whites are just set, about twenty-five minutes. The bacon will continue to cook in the oven. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toast cups.

Serves two, IMHO ... love it!

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More Failures

2010-08-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

I've just been failing all over the place this last week, culinary-wise. Last week I got it stuck in my head that I just HAD to use my new ice cream maker, STAT! I was so impatient that I didn't let the ice cream bowl freeze for the 15+ hrs recommended. 12 hrs isn't enough? Go figure. I ended up with a sort of ice cream soup. It was delicious, but not ice cream. I used a modified B&J recipe from this book.

2 large eggs

3/4 c. sugar

2 c. heavy cream

1 c. milk

2 ripe bananas (I froze mine ahead of time)

1/2 c. peanut butter

2-3 T. lemon juice

Whisk Eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, then whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, until completely blended. Pour in cream & milk and whisk to blend. Take about 1 c. of this liquid and combine with the peanut butter in a separate bowl. Stir until completely blended, then add back to the base and stir again.

Transfer to your ice cream machine and freeze following your machine's instructions. (seriously...)

Meanwhile, mash the bananas in a bowl and add the lemon juice. Whisk until smooth.

During the last few minutes of ice cream blending, add the banana mixture to the machine. Freeze until ice cream is ready.

Like I said, yummy, but more like soup. My own fault, totally.

I have big plans in the works for my next ice cream adventure. The bowl has been in my freezer for the last few days and the temperature in LA has dropped drastically, so no excuses.

Then on Saturday at Jenn's house she asked me to help with a recipe she was doing for a luau the following day. Some yummy sounding S'mores thing that required her to make her own marshmallows. Does anyone besides Martha Stewart MAKE their own marshmallows? Jenn does. Crazy. Anyway, even the most simple task handed to me (toasting coconut) could not be followed through, and I burnt 75% of the coconut! Wahh! Luckily, or weirdly, thanks to my mom, I have a taste for burnt food and I nibbled away at this the rest of the night.

Even though I have been less than perfect at some of my recent attempts, I am not going to stop! I know that all the greats have run into hiccups on their journeys, and mine will be no different. Lately I'm starting to feel more like Betty Lehn (my mom... hi, mom!) than Betty Crocker, though.

Recipe Fail

2010-08-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ever follow a recipe to the T and still get it wrong? I do... all the time. I had planned on showcasing a newly-mastered recipe for stabilized whipped cream, that whippy-frosting substance that comes on some cakes and holds up longer than regular whipped cream. I thought I'd squeeze some of it onto some cupcakes and also try my new airbrushy style frosting colors. None of this happened because I did SOMETHING wrong. I don't know what, and it is driving me crazy!

Here's the recipe I used for stabilized whipped cream. If anyone has ever tried this and succeeded, let me know what I did wrong. I plan on trying this again (and maybe documenting it as sort of a "Recipe Re-Do," but for now I'll have to move on.

1/4 c. cold water
1 t. unflavored gelatin
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 T (or more) white sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract (I used my Vanilla Bean Paste)

Put your bowl and beaters into the fridge/freezer for at least 15 minutes. While you're doing this, combine the cold water and gelatin, and microwave for small increments of time until the gelatin is dissolved. Stir and let cool completely (gelatin should be liquid, but not warm when added to the cream). Beat the cream, sugar and vanilla until you start to see the beater marks. Slowly and constantly add the gelatin to the cream as it whips. Whip until stiff peaks form.

I did notice after I finished whipping that there were small spots of gelatin stuck to the side of my cold KitchenAid bowl... maybe I whipped too fast and not enough of the gelatin got incorporated with the cream? Not sure if you can tell from my photo, but I did NOT get stabilized whipped cream. What a waste!

My Favorite Ingredient

2010-07-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

I learned about this product during a baking class I took about 5 months ago. If you bake a lot, you know that countless recipes call for vanilla extract. Since discovering vanilla bean paste, I have not been able to deprive any of my recipes from using it. The vanilla extract and (for shame) imitation vanilla extract are collecting dust in my pantry. The instructor called this stuff "liquid love" and said only to use it for people you love. Well, I only bake for people I love, so my jar is already nearly empty. It's a 1 for 1 exchange with vanilla extract, but it is 1000x more delicious.

In the past few months, I have noticed this product popping up more and more. You can probably find a good deal online, but I have also seen it in the nicer kitchen supply stores as well as World Market.

John got me the KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment, and I can't wait to start adding vanilla bean paste to the ice cream recipes I want to try. Hopefully awesome ice cream blogs to follow this one.

Rosemary Popovers

2010-07-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Popovers are the ultimate comfort food, for me at least. My mom used to make them all the time when I was little. They were the only thing she didn't burn, which I say affectionately.
I recently decided to add some rosemary to the traditional recipe and I loved it. They're just slightly doughy on the inside, i.e., perfect.

1 c. milk
2 eggs
1 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1 T. melted butter (sometimes I use olive oil)
1 sprig rosemary, leaves pulled off

Mix the ingredients on a low speed for about 30 seconds, scraping the bowl as you go. Divide the batter evenly into 8 well-greased and floured muffin cups. Put the pan into a cold oven and set it to 450. After 15 minutes, turn the oven down to 350 and cook for an additional 25 minutes. The popovers will be golden brown and puffy. Cut a slit into the side of each popover. Serve warm with extra butter, says my mom. There's really no nutritional value to these guys, but, before the additional butter you slather on, they're about 100 calories apiece, so not too bad.

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Wedding Test Kitchen, round 2: Marinated Feta Cheese

2010-06-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

I don't tend to give star-ratings to the recipes I use on my blog. For one, some of them are personal recipes, and I would feel pompous saying 5 stars or A+ to something I created... and for another, I usually think my vote of "awesome" is good enough. So, using my expansive vocabulary, I'd probably rate this recipe as "pretty good!" ... so maybe it's like 3 to 3-and-a-half stars?

I love myself some feta cheese, but even cut into half-inch cubes, spooning three cubes onto crostini means I'm getting a solid inch-and-a-half of feta. Feta that has been marinading for 5+ days. When I use the word pungent, I don't want you to think I mean "bad," because it is actually "pretty good" (see above). I just want to be thorough in my critique since Sara is thinking about using this recipe at her wedding.

I really enjoyed how soft the peppercorns seemed to get after all that time in the fridge - the pepper flavor was a great aftertaste. I loved the strong rosemary flavor infused into the cheese. But I can't imagine eating more than one serving of this, and we all know that is not the norm for me. That being said, I can't fault the recipe; the cheese is good, just intense. I only had time to put this on crostinis, but I'm sure it would be great on pita, or stuffed into cherry tomatoes, as Sara suggested.

When John got home, he did have more than one serving, and he really liked it. I'm thinking my initial reaction to this cheese might be based on smelling the jar periodically, but the taste is definitely not as a strong as the smell. So if you love Mediterranean flavors, I say give this one a try.

Wedding Test Kitchen, round 1: Blueberry Muffins

2010-06-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

A very dear friend of mine is getting married this August! She and her fiancé are having a Camping Matrimonial Extravaganza, and as part of the CME-Team (I will be the officiant at their wedding), I told her I would test out some recipes for the rapidly-approaching CME weekend.

I made these blueberry muffins this week. They turned out awesome. The only thing I did a little differently was only make six muffins, then I took the rest of the batter and poured it into a 9x9 greased pyrex dish, to make a blueberry bread. After it cooled on a wire rack for a bit, I did notice some "holes" where the brown sugar seemed to sink in to the bread. I didn't really mind as it made the bread super moist. The bread did need to bake about 3-5 minutes longer than the muffins, or until a toothpick comes out clean. You know the drill.

Crock-pot Mac & Cheese

2010-05-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

Well, the title says it all. I bought myself a crock-pot. Actually, my mom bought it for me as I finally got around to using those Christmas gift cards. I wasn't sure what my inaugural crock should be, so I did a bit of scouring the internet and found this blog. Itching to use the crock and not really in the mood for a "stew," I searched for one of my favorite meals ever and found this recipe. With fair warning from the mixed recipe reviews, I attempted this dish with a few modifications:
1) I used only about 3 1/2 cups milk (1 cup 2% and the rest was skim)
& 2) I used all sharp cheddar (6 oz Cabot Extra Sharp & the rest Kraft shredded). Boy, was this mac sharp. I think next time I might mix cheddar with a better melting cheese, like a Velveeta or something...

All in all, it turned out pretty awesome. I cooked it on low for about an hour and a half, tops. Probably because I am a little spacey and bought a SEVEN QUART CROCK-POT (for a two-person household)!
Right before it was finished I topped it with a bit of extra shredded cheese. It wasn't soupy at all. I know I'm not the only mac & cheese lover out there... I urge you guys to try this recipe if you have a crock-pot, but be warned that this is not a "set it & forget it" type of recipe. I had to stir it every 30 minutes and it was done before I knew it!

^ click for yum ^

Pecan Sticky Buns

2010-05-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

Words cannot describe how delicious these sticky buns are. You'll just have to make them to taste for yourself. This is another Martha recipe, but I made it much simpler by using store-bought bread/pizza dough instead of making my own. The recipe below will serve twelve, but I cut everything in half since six buns between the two of us is already a little ridiculous.

2 lbs store-bought pizza dough, thawed
1 c. + 6 T. unsalted butter (room temp)
1 c. packed dark-brown sugar
1 1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 t. coarse salt
all-purpose flour

On a floured work surface, roll dough to a 10 x 18 inch rectangle (5x9 if you're cutting the recipe in half). Spread chunks of the butter (1 cup) over the top 2/3 of the dough. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter, pulling the bottom 1/3 up and the top 1/3 down. Refrigerate on a baking sheet at least one hour or up to one day.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine the sugar, pecans and salt. Leaving a half inch border, spread out the remaining 6 T. of butter in chunks over the dough. Sprinkle with the sugar/pecan mixture. Starting at the long end, roll up the dough like a jelly roll. Cut into 12 pieces. Place each piece, side by side into a 9x13 inch pan (for half recipe I put into an 8 inch round cake pan).

Bake until golden brown and cooked through, ~ 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Immediately invert the buns onto a serving dish and devour.

My Turkey Chili

2010-04-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

If you've been following my weight loss progress at all, you've probably noticed that I've been at sort of a standstill. And, if you've been reading this blog, it wouldn't take a genius to realize why. Yes, I want to lose weight, and I am losing weight. But I can not deny my love for cooking and baking. It wouldn't be realistic for me to lose all this weight while completely depriving myself of the things I love, because I'd just end up putting it all back on. For me, it's all about balance.
That being said, there's no reason I shouldn't share some of my healthier recipes. This is one of my favorites.

Kristen's Turkey Chili
20 oz lean ground turkey (beef if you prefer)
1 cup tomato sauce (preferably no salt added)
1 cup fresh salsa (medium or hot if you can handle)
1 can (15 oz?) pinto beans, well rinsed and drained
cayenne pepper/red pepper
chili powder

In a large pot, brown the turkey for about 5-6 minutes, drain any fat if necessary. Add the remaining ingredients. I used at least 2-3 T of chili powder and I usually throw some red pepper flakes/cayenne pepper in as well. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce your heat to low to simmer for 15-20. Serve in a bowl with a bit of shredded cheese or sour cream on top. Corn bread (not) optional. Serves 4(ish).

The photo I took came out sort of crappy. It just looks like regular delicious chili anyway. Take my word for it.
Here are the stats:

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Molten Chocolate Cakes

2010-03-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Another delicious treat from the baking class I took. Excuse the messy plate pictured, this was the last of our many desserts that day and we were re-using our plates. I'm happy to report that this is another recipe that I've been able to "master" post-class and create at home. It's surprisingly easy and you can prepare up to step 5 in advance and freeze for future cravings.

1 stick unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet good-quality chocolate (I think I used about 72% cacao)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
2 T flour

1. Grease 4 baking dishes - you can use ramekins or coffee cups. "Flour" the dishes with a coco powder/sugar mixture or just be boring and use regular flour.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

3. Chop your chocolate up into small pieces and combine with the butter in a large metal bowl over a pot of near-boiling water (bain-marie). This mixture will melt over time so just give it a stir once in a while.

4. Beat the eggs, yolks and sugar until pale and you can start to see beater marks in the mixture.

5. Combine a small portion of the egg mixture with your chocolate. Then fold this chocolate mixture and the flour into the remaining egg mixture. Do not over mix - just FOLD in until barely combined! Divide the mixture evenly between the ramekins.

6. Bake for 12 minutes, until the sides of the cake are done but the centers are soft. Let the cakes cool for 1 minute and then invert onto a plate. Let stand for 10 seconds and unmold. The longer they sit the less "molten" they will be, so if you like yours a little more cooked just let it sit for a bit. Top with fresh whipped cream and your choice of fruit.

^click for detail^

Tarte Tatin

2010-03-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

I recently took a baking class. I learned how to make a few really awesome things. Above is the Tarte Tatin we made, which is a very classic and delicious dessert. It's basically an apple tart that you cook and then flip when you take it out of the oven. I love it so much.

Peel about 8-9 apples. I chose Red Delicious because that's what my teacher suggested, but I'm pretty sure you can use any kind of apple you want. Core the apples and slice into thick chunks. As you peel and slice, keep the apples in a bowl of lemony water so they don't get too brown.
Place half a stick of butter (cut up) and half a cup of sugar into a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the apples and cook them slowly, turning and flipping as needed, until they are soft and turn a caramel-ly brown. If you're using a cast iron pan, you can arrange the apples within that pan and add your puff pastry crust on top, folding over the edges as needed and slicing a few air holes in the top. Then you can just pop it in the oven at 375 until the puff pastry is a deep golden brown.
I chose to rearrange the apples in a separate 9 inch circular cake pan. For the crust, roll out a sheet of puff pastry slightly. Take whatever pan you're going to use and cut a piece of puff pastry around the edge of the pan. Then just follow the instructions above. Doing this, I think I lost a bit of my heat by transferring the apples and it took a bit longer to cook, but it came out just as delicious, if not just as pretty.
When you remove the pan from the oven, let it sit for a minute or two, but not much longer. Place a large plate over the pan and flip. Let the pan rest upside down on the plate for 10 seconds before lifting off. Your tart should come right out. Slice up and serve with some fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Liege Waffles

2010-02-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

Yes(!), I saw that episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay where he challenged the "Wafels & Dinges" man to a Belgian waffle throwdown. More specifically, they made liege waffles, which are Belgian sugar waffles. Bobby lost, which is really for the best, because otherwise I start to feel bad for the challenged person. Oh look I'm Bobby Flay and I'm better at the thing you've spent your entire life doing and I'm just trying for the first time...

I ordered the imported Belgian pearl sugar, as well as the delicious Speculoos spread(out of stock until April 15), which is made from my favorite cookie. I've been slowly devouring the whole jar, but it's cool because I bought two.

I've only attempted liege waffles once, and they were definitely more of a dessert than a breakfast. I used the recipe below from the box of pearl sugar, so next time I will try another. They were really delicious, just not what I'm usually craving at breakfast. I topped ours with the speculoos and whipped cream, but you could do maple syrup and butter, or a fruit topping. Whatever you want. 1 waffle is really enough for 1 person... and coming from me that is saying a lot!

Ravioli

2010-01-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

I used this pasta recipe. You can fill them with whatever you want, but my filling was comprised of spinach, cheese, and beef (recipe below).

Filling:

1 c. ground beef

1/2 c. well drained chopped cooked spinach

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

1/4 c. fine chopped parsley

2/3 c. breadcrumbs

salt & pepper

Cook meat in a skillet, using a fork to break it up, until it loses its color. Drain off the fat and mix in the remaining ingredients. Mix well and cool before using as filling. Follow the instructions for the pasta dough to construct raviolis.

Risotto Cakes

2009-12-31T13:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess this will be my last recipe for 2009... happy new year, everyone! I really enjoyed making these risotto cakes during the last few months of '09. They're hearty enough to be served as a main dish, with a side salad or grilled vegetables. Enjoy!

2 c. Arborio Rice (risotto)
6-7 c. low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 small white onion, diced
2 T. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1/2 c. parmesan cheese, grated
2 T. butter

Keep the stock nearby and warm, over low heat.
In a large pot over medium-high heat, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the risotto and 1/2 t. black pepper (and salt, if you desire) and stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes. Do not brown!
Use a ladle to pour in hot stock 1/2 c. at a time, stirring constantly. Wait until the liquid is absorbed before adding more. Keep the risotto at a gentle simmer, adjusting the heat as necessary. Continue to cook this way for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is al dente. It should absorb at least 6 cups of liquid. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese and 2 T. butter. Alternately, you can choose to serve the risotto as is for a traditional side dish. Leftovers may be used the for the following risotto cake recipe. The recipe above makes about 5 1/2 c. of risotto and you need about 4 c. for the recipe below.

4-6 slices bacon
2 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes
all-purpose flour
4 c. risotto (above)
1/2 c. vegetable oil

Crisp up 6 slices of low sodium bacon in a large skillet. Allow to drain over paper towels before crumbling or chopping. Incorporate the bacon into the risotto and allow to cool in the refrigerator.
Form the risotto into balls, about 1.5 x the size of a golf ball. Press a cube of the mozzarella into the ball, and flatten the risotto to form 1/2 inch thick patties. Dredge the patties in flour and set aside in the refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet and re-dredge the patties in flour (shake off any excess flour). Fry the risotto patties in 2 batches, until golden brown and warmed throughout, about 8 minutes per batch. Makes 8 cakes & serves 4 people.

Spiced Pork Tenderloin

2009-12-22T19:07:00.000-08:00

This has become a new favorite in our household. It's relatively simple to make, considering I sort of just wing it every time and I haven't botched it yet.

3 T. olive oil

1/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. chilli powder
feel free to add other spices of your liking
And of course you'll need 1 pork tenderloin, about 1 lb. Most people say to tie a tenderloin every inch or so, so it will cook evenly, but I always skip this part out of laziness and/or lack of proper string.

Preheat oven to 425 degress and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients, and add about 1 T. water. Slather the pork with this mixture and pop in the oven for about 40-45 minutes. Brush more of the mixture on the pork every 15 minutes or so. The sugar mixture does do a number on the pan, which is why foil is a necessity. Just keep rubbing down the pork. An ideal internal temp is around 155, but I've gone to 170 and it's still super tender. Tent the foil around the pork and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Drizzle some of the juice from the pan onto the pork. I usually serve with mashed potatoes and corn, for a super starch fest. The pork should serve 4 normal people, or 2 starving shut-ins. Enjoy!

Check out my recipe on

Apple-Strawberry Crisp

2009-11-23T18:57:00.000-08:00

It's a little late, but here is my apple strawberry crisp recipe, as promised:

3 pounds sweet Gala apples, peeled, cored and diced

~1 1/2 c. strawerries, sliced

1/2 c. sugar (feel free to use Splenda Baker's Mix... I do and it is just as delicious.)

1 t. vanilla

1/4 t. grated orange zest

1 T. fresh orange juice

3 T. all purpose flour
Crisp topping

topping:

6 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2/3 c. all purpose flour

2/3 c. oats

3/4 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. salt
Combine all ingredients and beat on low until the mixture forms into course crumbs.

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease/butter a 9x13" dish.

In a large bowl, combine the apples, strawberries, sugar, flour, vanilla, orange zest, and juice. Transfer to the baking dish and cover with topping. Bake approx. 55-60 minutes, until topping is brown and juices are thick and bubble around edges. Let cool for about 15 minutes if you have self-control. Serve with vanilla bean ice cream.

Check out my recipe on

Chicken Pot Pies

2009-10-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

I've been on sort of a Martha Stewart binge lately. The food is delicious, the labor is... intense. No one ever said Martha was known for her simplicity. I started these Chicken Pot Pies around 6 pm one Sunday night and we were lucky to be eating by 10. It may have been the same night I was prepping my apple-strawberry crisp (recipe to come), but either way, this is no 30 minute meal.

4 T. unsalted butter

1 medium onion, medium dice
1 large carrot, medium dice

1/2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more

course salt and ground pepper

4 c. low sodium chicken broth

3 c. cooked chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces (~1 lb)

1 c. frozen peas

1 1/2 t. chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 large egg yolk

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium. Add the onion and carrot and cook until the onion softens, about 5-6 minutes. Add flour and 1/2 t. salt; cook, stirring frequently until the misture is pale golden (Martha says, "until it has a slightly nutty aroma") and is the texture of cooked oatmeal, about 5 minutes.

Whisking constantly, add broth. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens, about 8 minutes. Reduced to a simmer and cook 10 minutes. It's about to smell like chicken soup in here. Stir in the chicken, peas and thyme and season with s & p. Divide the mixture among 4 12-ounce baking dishes (I only had 10 oz pyrex's, but they worked). Refrigerate until room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll pastry to 1/8 inch thickness (I really had no idea how to figure that out, so just roll it out a little bit). Cut into 4 equal squares, 1 inch larger than the dishes; with the tip of a sharp knife, cut vents into pastry. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with 1 t. water. Top the pot pies with the pastry and brush with egg wash. Refrigerate (AGAIN???) 15 minutes. I think I'm starting to remember why dinner was so late that night. Bake until pastry is deep golden and juices are bubbling, about 35 minutes.

Enjoy! You WILL burn your tongue, because, by the time you finish, you're so starving and you're determind to eat before midnight! They're also good the next day for lunch. Martha was kind enough to publish (some of) the nutrition stats for these bad boys, and I'll do the same: 478 cal, 20 g fat (10 sat), 45 g protein, 27 g carb, 3.4 g fiber.

Take that, Marie Callender.

Black Bean Salsa

2009-09-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

This recipe is another one courtesy of a Minnesotan family member: my aunt Leanne. She gave me this recipe almost two years ago. I failed to achieve deliciousness my first time out, but over Labor Day I gave it another try. I think the problem was that I couldn't find the shoepeg corn* that the recipe required, but this time I just used raw sweet white corn cut directly from two cobs. Do not use canned yellow corn!

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can shoepeg corn * (see above)
2 tomatoes, diced
1 red onion, chopped
2 avocados, diced
3-4 T lime juice
2 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
cilantro
salt & pepper, to taste
garlic, to taste

Prepare all the ingredients as specified. Add the avocado last. I made this a few hours in advance of a party, and added the avocado + a little more lime juice just before leaving. The avocados actually kept within the dip for another day (refrigerated) or so. Very addicting and filling.

Check out my recipe on

Grandma Bars

2009-09-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

I always called these "Peanut Butter Cornflake Bars," but that seems to be a little too literal for my family, because apparently they are ONLY called "Grandma Bars"... I'm not sure if it's because my grandma actually invented them, or because she has perfected the recipe.

Here they are:

1 c. granulated sugar

1 c. light corn syrup

2 c. peanut butter

6 c. corn flakes

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Heat the sugar and corn syrup together in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir this frequently and only until the two are combined... DO NOT BOIL OR LET IT GET TOO HOT (I always do this and it makes for a really tough Grandma Bar)! Then add the peanut butter and mix over the heat until all combined. Remove from heat and add the cornflakes. I use my silicone spatula that is supposed to be heat resistant up to a million degrees, or so I thought, because today the silicone snapped in half! You can use a good old fashioned wooden spoon to combine. Press this mixture into a 9"x13" pan using a fork, wooden spoon, or some wax paper. Melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips and spread over the top. Cool and cut into squares or triangles. Some people like to melt butterscotch chips to spread on top, but that's blasphemy (unless you're my friend Sara who hates chocolate and then I'll allow it).

Cream Cheese Frosting

2009-08-25T11:35:00.001-07:00

I'm not really into this whole cupcake phenomenon, but I do enjoy a Sprinkles or Crumbs cupcake once in a while. I really enjoy Sprinkles' recipe for cream cheese icing and I use it on most of my recipes. Below is a picture of some red velvet Sprinkles cupcakes I made from a mix over a year ago... I just found the pics. Sprinkles' mix is not as simple as using a Betty Crocker mix. There are a lot more steps and the mix costs $14! In the end, it works out to be a little cheaper to make them yourself, unless you don't think you could eat an entire dozen anyway.

*Sprinkles* Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, soft

1 stick of butter, soft

1/8 t. salt

4 c. confectioners sugar, sifted

1 t. vanilla

Beat the cream cheese and butter with the salt until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Spread onto cakes/cupcakes with a spatula starting from the center and pushing out to the edges.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookie Treats

2009-08-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

Got this recipe from my friend Betty... thanks, Betty!

The white balance on this camera is all wonky... one day I will take good pictures of good foods!

Asparagus Carbonara

2009-08-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

Got this recipe from the Rachel Ray Everyday Magazine. It's very similar to the Super Yummy Pasta Dish I blogged about over a year ago, but I like this one better.

2 eggs

2/3 c. grated parmesan cheese

3/4 pound spaghetti (I was too lazy to make fresh so I used Barilla PLUS)

1 bunch asparagus, cut crosswise into 2 inch pieces

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

5 slices bacon, coursely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4 c. dry white wine (or use low-sodium chicken stock)

Salt & Pepper

Beat the eggs and cheese together in a large bowl and set aside. Boil a large pot of water and cook the pasta until al dente.

Add the asparagus during the last minute of cooking. Drain, but reserve 1/2 c. of the water for later. Add the hot pasta and asparagus to the egg/cheese mixture and toss to coat.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon until crisp. Add the garlic and wine/stock and cook until slightly reduced (1 minute). Stir the bacon mixture into the pasta. Add some of the reserved water so that you can mix it easier. Season with salt and pepper.

My pictures have been sucking lately, but here's my result. This is the second time I've made this recipe. The recipe above serves 4, so I usually cut most of the items in half for when it's just me and John. I tend to use more bacon and asparagus.

Monkey Peeler

2009-07-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Last month I blogged about several As Seen on TV products that I found to be a little useless, including something called the Rotato Express, which is, essentially, a potato peeler. I've been peeling a lot of potatoes (and yams) lately, so I thought I'd share my peeler of choice.

I first became aware of this peeler when my brother and his wife asked for it on their wedding registry. I thought it was too cute, and immediately added it to my own "registry" (AKA my Amazon Wishlist). Lo and behold, my mom sent me it and a few other treasures for my birthday last September (thanks, Mom).

I was a little nervous, because my friend Jenn, who used to work at Kohl's, said a lot of people returned their peelers because the metal part came loose from the monkey's arms. Luckily, this hasn't happened to me. My monkey peeler makes quick work of peeling potatoes. I think the handle is the best part, because it allows you to hold the potato more upright, and I peel potatoes 3x as fast than with my old peeler.

If you're looking for a good peeler, I reccommend buying something like the monkey or one with a similarly designed handle, like this:

This is the sort of peeler I was operating with previously:

NEVER AGAIN!

Bread Pudding

2009-07-20T15:23:00.001-07:00

3 1/2 c. bread, cubed. I used some slightly stale Italian bread, and one slice of "french toast" bread
3 eggs
1/2 c. butter
2 c. milk
2/3 c. sugar (I used splenda-sugar baking blend, so I only needed 5 1/2 T. of it)
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 c. raisins (opt.)
1 banana, sliced (opt.)

Cook the milk in a saucepan over medium heat, until a film starts to form over the top. Add the butter and stir until melted. Set aside and cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, spray a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with PAM, and place the the cubed (I actually just ripped mine into pieces) bread into the dish.

Combine the sugar, eggs, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon, and beat for 1 minute on medium

speed.

Slowly add the milk mixture and beat to combine.

Sprinkle the raisins over the bread, and spread out the sliced banana throughout the dish. Pour the batter evenly over the bread, and bake for

45-55 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve warm.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, top with a rum or caramel sauce, or serve with vanilla ice cream.

I ate a bunch before I snapped these pics... sorry!

I got the idea to make bread pudding because John brought a bunch of stale Italian bread home from one of his work lunches. I hate birds, and we have enough wildlife in my hood, so I thought I'd put it to *better use*... in my stomach!

Meatloaf Muffins

2009-07-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on SparkPeople, and I made it before to those specifications, with ground

beef, etc, and they were so delicious. I made them again last night, with a few of my own tweaks:

I substituted the lean ground beef for lean ground turkey (Jennie-O)
I substituted the 1 c. stewed tomatoes with 1 c. canned diced tomatoes (low-sodium kind)
I just used a few dashes of salt.
Also, the Ralph's brand of seasoned bread crumbs report way less sodium than I've found for traditional seasoned bread crumbs. Not sure if that's a glitch.

I worked these out* to be a little over 100 calories a piece. They're pretty yummy. If you make the beef version, you really can omit the heavy cream and they're still so yummy.

Here's what I'm having for lunch today, and this comes in at a whopping 275 calories... not bad!

*Please note: my calculations might not be exact, but they are pretty good estimates, based on accurate nutrition information for all of the ingredients I used, and divided by 12 (the number of muffins this recipe makes). Some of the carbs/fiber/sugar info might not be exactly right, because when it started getting into small decimal numbers, I just rounded the numbers.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

2009-06-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Got this recipe from www.sparkrecipes.com, and it is fabulous! I've made it twice in 2 weeks and Johnny loves it as much as I do. You can top it with whatever you like. I used pizza sauce, onions (lots), bell peppers, grilled chicken, avocado, tomato and mozzarella cheese, of course. The second time I made it I just used peppers, chicken, onions and it was also the bomb.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 T. dry active yeast

3/4 t. salt (I use a little less and it tastes fine, but I am also watching my sodium)

1 c. warm water

1 T. olive oil

1 t. honey

Combine flour, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Add the water, oil and honey and mix well.

Cover with a moist cloth and let sit in a warm place for 10-15 minutes to rise.

Punch down and press the dough onto a lightly greased 14" pizza pan. Add the ingredients you love and bake in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.

As Seen On TV... foodie edition

2009-06-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

I love infomercials and the ridiculous products they aim to sell, but while perusing the As Seen on TV site recently, I couldn't help but notice a ton of totally USELESS products. Here are three of my favorites:

The Roasted Garlic Express. The world's first electric garlic roaster. Hmm... this gadget, while kitschy and relatively small, doesn't seem like it would get a ton of use... How often do you roast garlic, and is it really such a pain that you would need a special machine? Not worth my $50.

The ROTATO EXPRESS. Well, they win for clever name... it's a potato peeler that rotates and peels - FAST. I think all of these things need to have the word "express" in their names, to assure the buyer that while this gadget might take up precious counter space, it will peel those potatoes, kiwis or cucumbers in no time! Who eats that many potatoes? Any decent peeler can do the same job, and I can think of 4,000 better ways to spend $20.

The DOUGH-NU-MATIC doughnut maker! This actually looks pretty cool and fun, if I weren't trying to lose weight, if it didn't get such horrible reviews and if it didn't cost $150.

-----

I might not have been fair when I described these products as "totally useless." Clearly, these products each have ONE use... I would love to know how many people are currently suffering buyer's remorse related to the Roasted Garlic Express, Rotato Express or the Dough-nu-matic.

What are some of your favorite As Seen on TV products?

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

2009-06-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for no blogs last month. I was busy baking and simultaneously trying to lose some weight - needless to say, I'm a little counter-productive. Here's a recipe for a super delicious pie, my favorite pie. Fresh strawberries and rhubarb make the perfect mix of sweet and sour.

Pie Crust Ingredients (enough for double crust, needed below):

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 c. shortening

1/2 t. salt

6 T. ice cold water

Whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl. Using a pastry blender, "cut" in

the cold shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 3 to 4 T. of the cold water over the mixture and mix with a fork to combine, adding more water until the dough comes together. Split dough in half and form into two balls. Wrap each with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. Rolling out can be super tricky. Make sure you have extra flour near by, a good "rolling space" and a weighted or wooden rolling pin. I use a weighted non-stick, but I still had difficulty doing this.

Pie Ingredients:

1 c. white sugar

2 T. corn starch

1/4 c. water
1 pound fresh rhubarb, chopped (can be hard to find)

2 pints fresh strawberries

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

2 T. butter
1 egg yolk
2 T. white sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, add 1 c. white sugar, the sliced strawberries and chopped rhubarb, and toss together. In another small bowl, combine the 1/4 c. water with 2 T. cornstarch and add this mixture to the strawberries/rhubarb bowl, toss to combine. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Pour filling into the prepared pie crust, and spread little bits of the butter around the top of the filling. Cover with the top crust and seal the edges, using water if necessary.

Use a pastry brush to apply yolk to the top of the pie. Sprinkle with the 2 T sugar and cut holes/lines in the top to let steam escape. Bake for about 1 hour. This is a little tricky because I'm pretty sure my oven is off from other people's "normal" ovens. When the top looks golden, you're golden. Let this pie stand on a cooling rack for at least 2 hours, or it will still be runny. MUST SERVE with vanilla ice cream.

I forgot to take a picture of the cross section of the pie, but here's the whole thing when I pulled it out of the oven.

Wasteful

2009-04-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

I feel so ashamed and disgusted. John and I seem to be afflicted with some sort of hoarding disease in which we buy a boatload of food, pack it away deep in our cupboards, and let it expire. We are TWO people living together in a small apartment. There is no reason for two people, especially two people trying to eat healthier, to accumulate so much food. Much of this food was barely touched or unopened, and all of it was expired. Not only did we waste a ton of money over the last year, but we could have easily donated this food (before it expired) to some hungry people.

Things are going to change! I filled up two large trash bags of old food, and I will not let this happen again!

Frosted Nixon

2009-04-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

This pan is totally kitschy and totally awesome. Normally I do not go for things like this because they seem so "Spencers"-esque (remember those stores in the mall that had all the perverted joke things?), but ever since we saw that episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm with the erotic bakery, finding this cake pan had been a priority. So when John gave it to me for Valentine's Day, I couldn't wait to use it. Then the Academy Awards came along, and we invited people to bring movie-themed food to our house to watch. My contribution? Frosted Nixon, based on the film Frost/Nixon (which I did not see). It was the only film I could think of to tie to the penis pan.

The pan fits one box of regular cake mix (do not make a homemade cake for this, mixes are just fine and work perfectly).

I used a basic frosting recipe and some decorator dyes from Wilton to get the coloring right. Pretty simple, and it was actually really delicious. "Jimmies" (or sprinkles) on the balls made that section a big hit! Dress this cake up or down. It would probably be good sprinkled with some powdered sugar or drizzled with some ganache, but mine needed to be FROSTED obviously.

Frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, firm but not cold

1/8 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp milk

Beat the butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low, gradually add sugar and beat until incorporated. Add vanilla and milk and beat until smooth and creamy. The frosting should be creamy and dense, like ice cream. Add additional milk, 1 tsp at a time, if frosting does not have a spreadable consistency.

Just in Time for Passover

2009-04-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not Jewish, but I love me a macaroon. Here's a recipe for the yummiest coconut macaroons around:

2/3 c. all-purpose flour

5 1/2 c. flaked coconut (sweetened is fine, that's how I make it and it's the easiest to find)

1/4 t. salt

2 t. vanilla extract

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Combine the flour, coconut and salt in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the vanilla and the can of sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Add this goo to the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon, or you could use your hands (sounds rather messy to me).

I probably wouldn't use a mixer unless it's on a super low speed. This batter is going to be THICK.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and, using a big spoon or ice cream scooper, scoop the batter/dough onto the sheets.

In a preheated 350 degree oven, bake the macaroons for about 20 minutes, or until golden/toasty looking. You can drizzle some melted semi-sweet chocolate on top or use a chocolate/baker's chocolate mix and go for the "dipped" variety.

Check out my recipe on

Easy As Pie

2009-03-26T17:46:00.001-07:00

This recipe is super easy. I ripped if off from The Weekend Baker when I needed a yummy dessert in a jiffy.

Half-Moon Pie Pockets:

2 sheets frozen puff pastry (9.5" square each)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 T. granulated sugar

You can choose whatever filling you want to put in there, but I did chocolate-nut and pumpkin-spice. There were more options in the book, but those two are the most delicious.

For the chocolate-nut filling:

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 c. chopped nuts (whatever you like, I used walnuts)

For the pumpkin-spice filling:

1 c. + 2 T. canned solid-pack pumpkin (Libby's is perfect)

3 T. firmly packed light brown sugar

2 T. all-purpose flour

3/4 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

Remove both sheets of puff pastry from the box and set them on a lightly floured surface. Cover with plastic wrap, but DON'T unfold the sheets... just let them sit there until thawed and more pliable (10-20 minutes).

Heat oven to 425 degrees and put a rack on the middle rung in the oven. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured work surface, carefully unfold the puff pastry. Dust the top of it with flour and roll out each sheet, lightly dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking. Use a 4 inch round cookie cutter (or the top of a large plastic tumbler) to cut out 18 circles. Peel away scraps and cover the rounds with plastic wrap.

Now prepare your fillings. All you have to do is combine the ingredients for the filling of your choice. Note: if you decide to make 2 or more varieties like I did, you can cut your filling ingredients in half.

Place 1 T. of filling on the center of the round. Brush the edge of the dough with your beaten egg. Fold half the dough over the filling to form a half moon. Use a fork to press the curved edge to seal tightly. Continue with the remaining dough rounds. Arrange the pie pockets on the prepared sheet pans. Brush the tops with egg and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until the puff pastry is puffed and browned, 20-25 minutes. Transfer the sheet pans to racks to cool. Serve warm.

You can bake these in advance and reheat them in a warm oven for 10-15 minutes like we did. I think you could put pretty much anything inside of puff pastry and it would be delicious. Give it a try!

Loaded Sweet Potato

2009-03-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

When John and I were home for Christmas, my brother and his wife took us to this restaurant called The Texas Roadhouse. I understand that this is a chain restaurant, however, there are none by us in LA, so I was unfamiliar with it. My rib plate was especially delicious, mostly due to my "loaded" sweet potato. For weeks after this meal I fantasized of sinking my fork into a potato as luscious and sinful as that one. Then I thought, can't I duplicate this at home? Not quite, but I came close. In fact, had I never tasted the Texas Roadhouse version, I'd think I was a genius.

Here's the recipe for Kristen's Faux-Roadhouse Sweet Potato:

1 large sweet potato or yam

1 T. butter (I suppose you could use margarine...)

1/2 t. vanilla

1 t. cinnamon

3 t. brown sugar

handful of mini marshmallows

Just poke a hole or two in the sweet potato and microwave it for 10-12 minutes, or until it's tender and easy to cut with a knife. After that, just microwave the butter for 15-20 seconds or until melted. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and mix. Go ahead and cut down the center of your potato in the shape of a cross, so you can squeeze it open. Spoon in the sugary-buttery mixture and smear it over the top too. Stuff those mini marshmallows in the potato so they're flowing out of the top. Pop the potato into your broiler (on some aluminum foil) for 1 minute or so until the marshmallows get golden brown (make sure you stay close!).

eat it. love it. i do!

Debbie, I Shrunk the Brownies!

2009-02-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

While strolling through Target yesterday, I happened upon these 100 calorie Little Debbie Triple Fudge Brownies. Although I have a notorious sweet tooth, I have been trying to eat better so I can lose weight. That being said, sometimes you just need some chocolate! I had already tried the 100 calorie Little Debby Nutty Bars, and was pleasantly surprised. They are just like the normal Nutty Bars, except they don't come packaged in pairs. Duh, it's portion control. I get it.

In order to make their brownie fit into the 100 calorie parameter, Little Debbie used magic ala Rick Moranis to achieve this feat. I give you the 100 calorie Little Debbie Triple Fudge Brownie :

Are you seeing this magic? It's smaller than a pack of matches! I feel embarrassed to say I had expected more. This is barely a two-bite brownie. When I ate mine, I begrudgingly took four slow and deliberate bites, annoyed that I was wasting 100 calories on this.

The taste? Yummy, chocolate-y... as good as you can expect from Little Debbie. The thing here is that Little Debbie hasn't actually changed any of its ingredients or methods of baking in order to make these treats healthier. They're using a shrink-ray... and I totally fell for it.

Cost:

Their regular brownie (the one with walnuts), is portioned at 61 g (280 calories). They sell a box of 12 (six 2-packs) for $1.19, which works out to be about 10 cents a brownie.

The 100 calorie brownie is portioned at less than 22 g. A box of 12 sells for $1.79, or 15 cents a brownie. That's a 50% price hike for 1/3 of the product!

It is worth noting that Little Debbie is NOT the only company doing this. Some dude named Gary Stibel claims credit for inventing the 100 calorie snack pack, allowing companies like Frito-Lay to charge 70 cents for 1 ounce of Cheetos. 1 ounce of Cheetos is like 4 or 5 Cheetos!

Pasta Maker!

2009-02-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love pasta? Oh wait, I have a friend, Meagan, who hates pasta. Besides her, who doesn't love pasta? NO ONE!

I love my new KitchenAid and I LOVE my pasta maker.

Here's a recipe for a basic egg noodle pasta (courtesy of KitchenAid). This recipe is for use with a KitchenAid stand mixer with pasta attachment.

Yield: 1 lb dough (we cut this in half)
3 large eggs
2 tablespoon water
2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Break eggs into measuring cup and add the water. Make sure the total liquid is exactly 3/4 cup (add more water if needed).

Place the flour in the bowl and attach flat beater. Turn to Speed 2 and gradually add eggs and water. Mix for 30 seconds. Stop mixer, remove flat beater and attach dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes.
Hand knead the dough for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Cover with a dry towel and let rest 15 minutes.

Then you just drop little balls of dough into the extruder and turn your mixer onto full speed. It takes a while for the pasta to start coming out, and you might have to use the little plunger thingie, but eventually it starts coming FAST. I think we broke our pasta off at about 9 inches by just turning the mixer off for a moment and gently pulling away from the pasta plate. I think we used Pasta plate 1 for thinner ("angel hair") style noodles.

To Cook:
In 6 quarts boiling water, add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon oil. Gradually add the pasta and cook at a slow boil until pasta is al dente. The pasta will float while it's cooking so make sure to stir it occasionally. Drain in a collander. Enjoy! There are many varieties of pasta you can try when you have a pasta maker/extruder, but I wanted to start out basic!

Ignore the Franks Hot Sauce (old habits die hard) ----->

The E! True Hollywood Story - Praz

2009-01-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

In response to this:

I won't publicly comment about Nick, Nick & Praz, my restraining order, or how this information got leaked to the press... so stop calling!

My New Toy & a Recipe

2009-01-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

John's parents got this for me for Christmas! I know, way too generous, right? But I can't complain because I have been pining away for one of these since I was 10 years old! My mom had a stand mixer, but I'm not sure what brand it was. I have a KitchenAid hand mixer, but that's no match for my 5 quart Artisan! I am so excited to make a lot of delicious things in 2009, and I promise I will post to the blog more. I have just been LAZY.

For now, I'll leave you with a great recipe for Pumpkin Cookies, that I ripped off from Sara's mom. I mean, I know the pumpkin loving season is over, but I've been known to make these all year long... they are delicious!

Sara's Mom's Pumpkin Cookie Recipe:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the following dry ingredients: 2 c. flour, 1 t. baking soda, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. salt and set aside.
Cream together (in a mixer or with hand mixer) until it looks smooth: 1 c. Crisco shortening, 1 c sugar, 1 c. solid pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix, Libby's solid pumpkin in a can).

Add 1 egg & mix.

Add dry ingredients (above) & 1 cup raisins.

Drop from spoon onto ungreased, or lightly greased, cookie sheet. Sara's mom makes them about half the size of a golf ball... mine tend to get larger as the sheeting goes on, but however you like (just not too big).

Bake 10-12 mins. Cookies should look slightly undercooked when you take them out. Just barely brown around the bottom edges. The bottom of the cookie will look done. Let them cool on a cookie rack while you get ready to frost them.

FROSTING --> start this when your cookies have a few minutes left in the oven
In a microwaveable dish, cook 3 T. oleo or butter, 4 t. milk, and 1/2 c. brown sugar until dissolved.

Cool slightly and add 1 c. powdered sugar and 3/4 t. vanilla.

Beat until smooth. Spread a thin layer on warm cookies. The frosting will be somewhat runny, but will harden as the cookies cool. If the frosting gets too hard or chunky before you finish baking, just thin in the microwave for 5-10 seconds and stir.

Thai recipe

2008-11-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

Coconut Rice Shrimp Balls:

Soak some rice in water for a few hours, or overnight if you like... I didn't know what kind of rice to use, so although these are Thai Rice balls, I used some japanese rice. Figure about 1/3 cup rice per person. If you have a steamer, steam the rice over water for about half an hour or until it's done... you should know. If you don't have a steamer, you can put a colander over a pot as long as it fits inside, and that will work too.

Meanwhile, peel and prepare some shrimp. Sautee in a pan with some olive oil, lime juice and chopped garlic until fully cooked. Let cool a bit, and cut the shrimpies in half, lengthwise (you don't have to do this if you don't want to, but the shrimp sits nicer on the ball, plus it means you don't have to buy as much shrimp). Don't cut them in half before cooking them, because then they curl up and won't sit on the rice balls.

When the rice is done, transfer to a bowl and stir in a cup of coconut milk, a pinch (or more) of salt and some lime zest. When cool enough to handle (seriously, let this cool a bit since it will be a little too soupy at first anyway), form into little flat balls (maybe 2/3 the size of a golf ball?), dip in a combo of light and dark sesame seeds to coat the bottom and top with cilantro leaf and a piece of your cooked (halved) shrimp.

Enjoy!

Check out my recipe on

Matt got married!

2008-10-27T09:46:00.001-07:00

Here's the fam!

My brother got married a few weeks ago!

It was a wonderful day and a wonderful trip! More pictures on my flickr.

Also, I bought a new-used car.

He cleans so I don't have to!

2008-09-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple weeks since Zorro, our very own vacuum-cleaning robot joined our family. He arrived while I was gone, so Johnny plugged him in and let him charge up for the entire day. When I got home, we gave him a whirl.

Inside the package was Zorro (a ROOMBA 550), a docking station, two virtual walls/lighthouses, some extra filters, and a cleaning brush. All I had to do was press the center "CLEAN" button, and he sang a quick little song and off he went! For the first try, we quarantined him to just our living room. He slid right under our sofa and went crazy. His little blue "SPOT" light lit up every couple of feet and he would spin around and clean that spot even better.

I had read a ton of reviews of the iRobot Roomba before I made the purchase, so I knew to keep a close eye on him for the first few cleanings. Even though I used to make every effort to vacuum on a semi-regular basis, Zorro's dirt tray filled up quickly, and we had to empty him at least 5x on the first night (oh the horror and embarrassment I am sharing...). The hardest part of cleaning him is getting all the hair out. Who knew I shed so much? It is pretty fun to clean out though because you get the satisfaction of knowing just how gross your floors are without a good cleaning. Seriously made me reconsider the "5 second rule"...

Zorro cleaned up underneath our bed, which had tons of dust and feathers that he was able to eat up with no problem! He's picked up change, bobby pins, and other fairly large items that get misplaced from day to day.

The best thing about Zorro is that I can schedule him to clean whenever I want, even if we're not home. He can clean every day if I want him to, so he has less and less to pick up as time goes on. When we went to Vegas a few weeks ago, he cleaned up while we were gone. He did, however, get stuck on a stray cord and sucked it up around his brushes. The cord was fine, I just needed to pop out the brush and unwind it. Zorro is so smart that when he senses a problem, he'll make some noises to alert you, and if you don't come to help within 30 seconds or so, he'll just shut off and wait patiently, even while we're 300 miles away for a couple of days. Sometimes this will require a system reset, which is done in a cinch by simply holding down the DOCK and SCHEDULE buttons until you hear a beep.

John was skeptical about this until he saw him in action. Now he's impressed and so am I!

** Note on video: Zorro is not actually as loud as he sounds in this video, we actually let him zoom around while we watch TV sometimes.

You're making me live!!!

2008-08-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of my new best friend!

My ROOMBA should be arriving sometime this weekend or on Monday. I can't wait to take my housecleaning laziness to a new level!

I'll post a review ASAP!

Summer in Review

2008-08-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a while. Here are some things:

Big Brother is back!
Due to recent developments, I'm no longer enchanted by Jon & Kate + 8, but I continue to watch the new episodes.
I'm still dieting, but finding way too many excuses to cheat/celebrate.
My brother's wedding is in less than 2 months! I am the best man.
Summer is moving way too fast, not that it really matters when you have a full-time job and live in sunny California.

Because I love this picture so much, I'm posting it everywhere on the internet.

Dancing Prisoners

2008-06-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

Sister Act - "I Will Follow Him"

John showed me all these videos of people in a Filipino prison doing amazing choreographed dances. They do Thriller, MC Hammer, and bunch of other ones. I thought the Sister Act one was amazing and that Sara in particular might enjoy it.

Prison looks so much fun!

Super Yummy Pasta Dish

2008-06-05T12:03:00.001-07:00

We've been making dinner at home all week in order to save money. I got this recipes from a 30 minute meals type book (NOT RACHEL RAY), but I modified it a little. The following recipe will feed 2 people.

Ingredients:

6 oz. pasta (I use bow ties ><)

4 oz. bacon (Do not use turkey bacon, that was my biggest mistake)

3/4 cup. FRESH grated parmesan cheese

1 T. FRESH chopped parsley

2 Eggs

Boil the pasta until it's cooked how you like it. Before draining all the water, save about 1/4-1/3 c. of the water you used to boil it. Meanwhile, cook the bacon on your stove top in a large skillet pan or wok. Reserve a couple tablespoons of grease (this is the main problem with using turkey bacon - no grease for the sauce). In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with half of the grated cheese (save your other half). As soon as the pasta is done, add to the wok and toss until it's well mixed with the bacon. Then add the egg/cheese mixture and stir slowly until all combined. The egg will set pretty quickly. Throw into a large bowl and toss with the remaining grated cheese and parsley.

Eat immediately.

I still liked it with the turkey bacon, but it definitely would have been tastier with regular bacon. I forgot to take a picture of my version, so the one pictured is a similar one I found on the web, minus the bow ties. It actually looks really good with the angel hair, maybe I should try it that way.

Sara & Enrique's Visit/Being Fat?

2008-05-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

John has been visiting his family/helping out for the last week, so I have been pretty lonely! Luckily, I had some friends visit this past weekend (see picture). We did some fun things including:

The Zoo

Santa Monica

PinkBerry (2x)

Amoeba

Toi

Los Feliz Village

etc etc...

I guess most of those things involve food -- which is delicious, but detrimental to my health... or at least my weight. Speaking of...

I want to get this:

... however, I have some issues with how it calculates your "fit"ness level. BMI is an outdated system developed by some Belgian dude in 1840! According to the BMI scale, Brad Pitt & Michael Jordan are overweight! George Clooney is obese!*

I am definitely in need of losing some LBs... but I don't know if I'd want to base my healthiness on some arbitrary scale. Needless to say, Wii Fit looks awesome. It's sold out everywhere though, so we'll have to wait and see how long it takes me to snag one and get "fit."

*BMI Facts courtesy of Penn & Teller: BULLSHIT!

Przasnyski Home Movies

2008-05-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

I've started uploading some of my home movies to YouTube. I try to pick only the really entertaining portions... but I find it all funny so I guess I'm not a good judge. Above is a video featuring me and my brother (I'm the one freaking out in the beginning), and some kids I don't remember. Enjoy!

Kristen's Cool Down Tips

2008-04-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

It's been in the 90's and up for the past few days here in LA, which is pretty unbearable. Here are some of my hot weather coping tips:

Go grocery shopping (Sara and I used to do this at Iseminger all the time) because the frozen food aisles are like Antarctica! Or go anywhere with free A/C. Movie theaters are an option, but at $12 a ticket, that's hardly a bargain.
Eat ice pops! When I was little they were called Mr. Freezies or whatever, but out here they are called Otter Pops. I grab about 5 at a time and go at 'em... they're about 15 calories a piece, which can add up quick. But if you turn your A/C off you'll probably sweat it out anyway.
Freeze your pillowcases. This feels great but only has an effect for 3-5 minutes.
Aloe. Even if you're not sunburned, if you slather aloe on your skin and lay in front of a fan, it instantly cools you down.
Drink cold H2O... sometimes I drink so much ice water that it hurts my head a little, but it will definitely bring your core temperature down. I've heard that cold water can actually heat up your body because your body works harder to heat it up... or something like that? But I think it works pretty well!
Cool/cold showers.
Try not to move at all.

If you do use an A/C, try to maximize its effects by containing the cool air in the room you're in. John and I turn ours on and then aim a fan back at it from the other end of the room, so that is circles the cool air around you.

I bought 4 lbs of strawberries the other day (for $3!), so I wanted to make sure to use them before they go bad. Now that we have a blender, I love making smoothies!

Here is the concoction I put together last night:

In a blender, add about 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries. Add a bunch of ice (I think I added about 12 cubes) and 3/4 cup of Orange Juice. Blend until all the ice is crushed. This made a giant smoothie for me and a regular sized one for Johnny. You can mess around with the ingredients and proportions. Try different fruit. Some people add yogurt, but I like mine more on the icy side and less creamy. Oh, I also added a tablespoon of sugar, but that's totally optional. It just balances the acidity a little bit.

Enjoy!

Carmen Sandiego

2008-04-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this game: "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" ? We used to play it in 5th grade. We'd have to partner up and go to the computer labs to play it. They gave us an almanac to figure out the case.

I have gotten into this game again because Johnny downloaded it for me. 1 more case and I get another promotion (that picture is outdated). I'm not sure what my next rank is because I don't think I ever got through this many cases before. The game is much easier now that I'm older (too old?) and don't have to work alongside some idiot from my 5th grade class. Some of the information is outdated though, which makes for some interesting guesswork.

Disneyland: April 12, 2008

2008-04-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Disneyland was fun! We had one day left on the five two-day park hoppers that John's family bought when they were here, so we took some friends (Sorry Sara, we realized we had to use them within 30 days of first use): Sue, Scott and Jenn.

I thought going on a Saturday was going to be chaotic, but we got to ride a lot of rides!

The updated Space Mountain is my favorite I think. I

also love, love, LOVE that Buzz Lightyear ride where you basically just play lasertag. I still think I prefer Disneyworld over Disneyland... but I was definitely pleasantly surprised.

Here are the rides we went on:

Tower of Terror (3x)

Soarin'

Space Mountain

California Screamin (lame)

Orange Stinger (made me sick)

Indiana Jones

Pirates of the Caribbean

Buzz Lightyear

Jungle Cruise

Star Tours

Big Thunder Mountain

Haunted Mansion

Matterhorn

+ that Disney Railroad thing

... I think that's everything! I definitely want to go back someday (but not for a long time!) and also do Universal sometime in the future.