house and home

taco salad...weight watcher's style

2008-09-22T18:01:00.003-04:00

i have forced myself to start WW again. Taco Salad is a big dinner staple for me because i can get a huge salad with lot's of taste for 8-9 points.

i splurged this time by using 11 doritos. that's a full serving, but 5 chips do just fine and i will stick to that next time. i was a dummy and used a full cup of meat instead of 1/2c. which is the bulk of the points.(4 for 80%)

my point saver came with my brilliant idea with the dressing. i am not a huge salad person. if i eat one i want a rasberry vinegarette or creamy italian. so, Kraft's creamy italian is all i keep in my fridge. well, 2T of it is 3 points. i didn't want to use that much, so i halfed it and mixed it with a good amount of green salsa verde sauce, which is zero points. it was perfect.

i think next time i'm gonna nix the meat and use black beans!!

mexican wedding cookies

2008-09-04T12:15:00.002-04:00

i love the look of a white themed shower. these mexican wedding cookies are perfect for it. our family had a tradition of the danish ones, but now we will not be needing them. this recipe is super simple and delicious.

i love the look of the apothecary jars. so, i bought some.

mission complete: brownie dessert

2008-09-04T09:26:00.001-04:00

my mother had a group of family over for dinner the other night. she made a box brownie and when it was time for dessert she threw them at me and said, "make them look cool" so, i did......

a truffle sized icecream scoop of coffee and vanilla and wet pecans...with chocolate sauce, of course.

(i've been missing, i know. i think i'm back up for business. keep your eyes peeled for home shots. we've been BUSY!)

ice box cakes

2008-09-02T22:46:00.003-04:00

found this through a link of a link. this is their photo, but i made it and it looks exactly the same. it's called Ginger Mascarpone Icebox Cake. it's super easy, no-bake and good god almighty is it pricey! Calls for a lb. of mascarpone which is about $13 alone. the ginger is only about $2, but add it all up and geez louise! i am on a mission to make my own mascarpone next time. it's doable.

i will post the recipe below.

Ginger Mascarpone IceBox Cake:

~12 oz. gingersnap crumbs, about 2-1/4 cups (from about 40 Nabisco brand cookies)

~2-1/2 oz. (5 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted

~8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

~1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

~2/3 cup sugar; more for the pan

~1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

~1/2 cup minced candied (crystallized) ginger

~1 lb. mascarpone cheese

~1/3 cup heavy cream

~~how to make:
Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray or grease it lightly. Dust the pan with a little sugar and knock out any excess. Combine the gingersnap crumbs and butter, rubbing them together with your fingertips to combine thoroughly. Sprinkle half of the crumbs over the bottom of the pan and pat down evenly; reserve the rest.
With an electric mixer, whip together the cream cheese, yogurt, sugar, vanilla, and candied ginger until smooth, scraping down the sides. Add the mascarpone and cream and whip until the mixture is thoroughly combined and just holds peaks. Don’t overwhip or the mixture may separate. Carefully spoon half of the mascarpone cream over the gingersnap crust, spreading it evenly to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle half of the remaining crumbs over the mascarpone cream in the pan. Top with remaining mascarpone cream and finish with the remaining crumbs. Gently tap the pan on the counter to eliminate any air bubbles. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. To serve, warm a sharp knife under hot water and dry it off. Cut one slice, clean the knife and warm it again before cutting the next slice.

there are two more i am going to try soon......keep your eyes posted.

interior design: wish list/bathroom wall plans

2008-06-24T15:58:00.006-04:00

here is an item on my wish list...its a 9x12 jute rug from west elm. you can see it in the room view below, but i want it in what i'm thinking they call platinum. it looks to be a light grayish blue. it's not in my budget per se, but i don't care. i will have it. its $279ish

next up is an idea i would LOVE for a bathroom. look at the wood panel walls! it was only in display for west elm bathroom cabinets and drawers. i don't like the way they are under the bathroom sink, but one day i WILL have walls like that and a sink like that would be nice too.

scalloped potatoes

2008-06-23T22:43:00.003-04:00

i have made this twice in the past week. yikes!

scalloped potatoes:

~4 cups thinly sliced potatoes

~flour

~salt/pepper

~butter

~cheddar cheese

~3/4 c. milk, scalded

~~~butter casserole dish. layer thin potato slices. sprinkle with flour, sprinkle with s&p and put tiny bits of butter all around...and i mean tiny(in other words, look at my pictures and reduce what i did by over half). then sprinkle with cheese. each cup of potatoes should make a layer....so after your last layer, before you put the cheese on, pour in your scalded milk.(just bring to a boil) and then top with cheese. bake on 350 for 30 minutes, or like me...microwave for about 25 minutes!

my first wedding cake...

2008-06-22T08:35:00.002-04:00

i made this for lee's cousin. she got married yesterday. it was my gift to her.

it was a pain because the butter cream gave me a hard time. but after 16 sticks of butter, i finally got it "okay". still didn't spread like it was supposed to, but i blame the humidity on all the curdling and softening. after it was said and done, i used 22 sticks of butter and about 8lbs of sugar...i used a bottle and a half of vanilla and you can guess the rest.....it was lopsided and very amateur but, Sarah loved it and everyone said it tasted great. so, all is well.

dinner and dessert plans

2008-06-19T17:04:00.002-04:00

if you read my chocolate praline cake post, you will see a link to the devil's food cake recipe i used. this is a photo from that website along with the ganache frosting they used. i promised you i was gonna make it and tonight is the night. i am making this exact cake!

my mom is making a pork roast for dinner and i am just now finishing up some scalloped potatoes. i will post the pictures and recipe later tonight.....

salsalito bagel sandwiches

2008-06-19T13:19:00.003-04:00

this is a sandwich that my mom and i started making YEARS ago, before i was even married and still living in my childhood home. the orginal shopping list was this:

sun-dried tomato bagels

boar's head salsalito turkey

meunster cheese

garden vegetable cream cheese spread

however, publix no longer makes the sun-dried tomato bagels and i haven't bothered to look anywhere else, or look up a recipe. if you can get that flavor, do!

place turkey on bottom of bagel, put cheese on top and melt in toaster oven!

toast top as well and before eating/serving spread the warm top with the garden vegetable cream cheese. the more the better....YUM!

its delicious and a cute presentation and a little different then just a plain turkey sandwich!

homemade pizza

2008-06-16T19:06:00.003-04:00

i always loved the idea of pizza night, but ordering out or going somewhere seemed expensive and too much work. i have tried many pizza doughs before and they were okay, but i never made them twice. today i was reading home-ec101, again and saw a link to a pizza dough. i trust the author's taste, so i decided to make it for dinner tonight and BOY was i HAppY!this was the first time i have actually used my dough hook on my mixer. all the wet ingredients go inside a well of the flour. one of them being mollasses. this was a suprise ingredient and i almost couldn't find it at publix. they were out...but luckily they had a jar in the organic section.it was my own idea to poke holes in the crust. haha..olive oil and some mashed garlic.i just made a quick tomato basil. i heated olive oil on medium heat, added some garlic, whole tomatoes, crushed and some dry basil. let simmer while you prepare everything else!
meat for the husband.....

and folks....i bought my first ball of fresh mozzerella! best $6 i EVER spent. and since i will be saving money by making my own dough, i may keep splurging on cheeses. it actually would have worked for 3 pizzas. the dough recipe makes 4.

pizza dough (thank heather):

Ingredients:
1 TBSP active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups bread flour + a little more for dusting
1 1/2 TBSP olive oil + extra to grease the bowl for rising
2 TBSP molasses
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning - OPTIONAL
cornmeal for sprinkling

Directions:
Add the yeast to the warm water and set it aside. Place the flour in a large bowl and whisk it to fluff it up. With your hands, clean please, create a well in the flour. Remember when you used to make a volcano with mashed potatoes and gravy? Yes, just like that.
To make clean up easier, measure the olive oil and then the molasses. There is no chemical reason for doing this, other than the oil lubricates the spoon so you don’t have to struggle with the sticky molasses. Add the salt and Italian seasoning.
Does the yeast and water look foamy? Wonderful, add that to the well. If you are using a stand mixer, use your dough hook to stir and knead. Use the lowest setting and only knead it for about a minute after the dough comes together.
If you are kneading by hand, stir the ingredients until they are moist and well mixed. Flour your work surface and knead the dough for around three minutes. Estimate, this is pretty forgiving.
After kneading shape the dough into a ball. (Just like playdough folks, just like playdough). Set aside. Grease a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it several times to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise for at least thirty minutes.
Divide the dough into equal portions. We make 4 thin crust 12″ pizzas, if you prefer thicker crust you will have fewer pizzas. If you have multiple pans allow the dough to sit for ten or fifteen additional minutes, before shaping. If, like me, you only have one pizza stone, immediately begin shaping the dough (with a rolling pin or by tossing)for baking, the other three can rise and your first really won’t suffer.
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
If you use a pizza stone, allow the stone to heat for 10 minutes in a 450F oven. If you are using a metal baking sheet, preheating is unnecessary.
Sprinkle the stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal; set the shaped pizza crust on the surface and top with your favorite pizza sauce and toppings. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes (watch it carefully, this depends on your toppings).
Enjoy!

rice and peas: best side dish EVER!

2008-06-15T12:16:00.006-04:00

i found this on home-ec101 and have made it once a week since. its so simple to make and just plain simple all together, but there is something about it that i am in love with. i am a mushy food lover. rice, casseroles, burritoes, pastas, fast food burgers....so i suppose that is why i love this. please try it soon. my son and i often eat it as our main meal.

rice and peas:
~1 T. butter
~ diced small onion
~one cup uncooked white long grain rice (don't try brown. don't!)
~2 cups broth-i dissolve 3 or 4(naughty) bouillon cubes in water.
~1 c. frozen peas
~3 T. grated parmesan
~~~melt butter on medium low and add onions. cook until soft, about 3 minutes. add uncooked rice and stir for about 2 minutes. then add your broth. bring to boil, put lid on and turn to low. let cook for about 17 minutes. then add your peas and parmesan and stir. return lid and cook for about 3 more minutes. eat and have your food orgasm. thank you.

chocolate praline cake (father's day gift for my husband)

2008-06-14T23:52:00.005-04:00

this cake usually calls for a devil's food cake "box" mix along with the homemade praline. thats okay with me, i suppose and i was gonna do it tonight, but all i could find was german chocolate. in fact, 3 boxes. well, i knew that would taste fine, but its not what i wanted. so i went on a search and found this. looked fucking aweseome, so thats what i did....and you better believe i will try that ganache frosting one day, but not tonight.
anyways....i made the cake batter first and let it sit. then i melted the praline caramel. that goes in 2 prepared cake pans. tonight i halved the recipe and made them in my FAVORITE deep 6-inch (wow, perv) cake pans.... then pecans get sprinkled on top of the caramel, then the cake batter. spread batter to the edge and bake. voila!

Chocolate Praline Cake:

~1/2 c. butter

~1/4 c. whipping cream

~1 c. firmly packed brown sugar

~3/4 c. coarsely chopped pecans

~devils food cake mix or this recipe

~if using the cake mix, add...

~1 1/4 c. water

~1/3 c. oil

~ 3 eggs

~~~~melt first 3 ingredients. divide into two prepared(buttered, parchment) cake pans (9inch). sprinkle pecans on top. then spread cake batter on top of praline mixture already in pans. bake @325 for 35-40 minutes. let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks.

~~~~beat whipping cream with powdered sugar and vanilla or coffee and put inbetween and on top of two layers.

cinnamon biscuits with orange glaze

2008-06-14T11:57:00.003-04:00

i have always made a homemade cinnamon roll recipe, but the last few years i just stick to making biscuit dough with a little sugar.

roll it out, add soft butter, cinnamon and sugar. then you roll into a log. cut. place in cake pan or round casserole dish and bake @ 400 for about 12-14 minutes.

you can find my biscuit recipe here

just add a large sprinkle of sugar and here is how i made the glaze:

orange glaze:

~2 T. orange juice concentrate

~1 c. powdered sugar

~1 T. soft butter

~drops of water

~~~mix first three and add any water you need for consistency.

ok....yum: tuna pasta casserole

2008-06-12T17:53:00.002-04:00

ok, so i have yet to plan meals for the week....even though i promised. but i just got finished reading "eat, pray, love" and right now i'm feeling like, "who cares, why do i need to plan. i love me"

so, while my son was still napping and after i finished the above said book, i hadn't a clue as to what i wanted for dinner. then i decided on a quick sweet and sour stir-fry, but as i was grabbing ingredients i knew thats not what i wanted AT ALL even though eggrolls have been heavily on my mind lately....anyways, i started thinking about making a tuna casserole. i have never made one let alone even tasted one. but if you rememer my tuna sauce on toast post, i ended it with dreams of turning it into a casserole with penne, paremesan and breadcrumbs. well, those 3 ingredients are in this....but in a matter of seconds i decided to not even use the tuna sauce. i saw the red pepper still sitting out from my stir-fry idea and came up with this. i followed no recipe. only dropped stuff in. one being garlic.... so this is how it goes...

Tuna Pasta Casserole:

~6oz. can tuna

~1/4 c. chopped red pepper

~1/2 clove crushed garlic

~palm full of grated parmesan

~1/2 t. lemon juice

~two large dollops of mayo

~4 oz. softened cream cheese

~4 oz-ish of cooked penne pasta(al dente)

~sprinkle of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese

~~~mix all of ingredients together making sure to break up the tuna and cream the cheese, then mix in with pasta. spread in casserole dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and a little more grated parmesan and bake @ 350 for about 25 minutes. sprinkle each helping with a small amount of kosher salt and enjoy

blessed by blueberries

2008-06-11T19:58:00.004-04:00

we have blueberry bushes in our yard and this year is amazing! we are picking 3 cups a day and stopping because we cant reach some. by the next day its full again. crazy!
tonight my son and i are alone and after his nap i slaved over a frozen lasagna(poking those holes in the plastic are tedious) and he and i went-a-bluberry-pickin'. we were having such a dorky time that i figured why not bake. i used my banana bread recipe to make blueberry muffins. for half of them i made a streseul topping from that same damn martha stewart book and they were delicious. the batter was good alone. they turned out very moist and cakey...almost fudgy without the chocolate. Mmmmm

blueberry cake muffins

1.5 sticks butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
3.25 c. self rising flour
2 c. blueberries, rinsed
1 t. vanilla

~cream butter and sugar. blend in eggs one at a time. beat. add flour, blueberries and vanilla. blend with spoon. pour into muffins papers or ramekins.
bake for 25-30 minutes @ 350 degrees. let sit for 5 minutes, then turn onto rack.

streusel

~5 T. butter, 2/3 c. flour, 2/3 powdered sugar, 1/4 t. cinnamon and a pinch of salt
~~~mix all together with fork or fingers until moist and crumbly. sprinkle on top

bacon on eggsalad

2008-06-11T19:52:00.004-04:00

about 10 years ago i worked in an icecream shop/cafe. on our menu was an eggsalad sandwich with bacon. i'm not sure if i tried it there because i'm not a huuuge fan of bacon, but i made them for lunch yesterday. i mentioned it to my husband and he was all about it.

this isn't the first time i've made them since my icecream scooping days though. remember my post where i did some "catering" for my uncle's bistro. well, i did a baby shower for him also. anyways, i gave a few options. one being tea sandwiches. i got the idea from a martha stewart book(the same one that gave me the coconut ganache bites), but only because of pictures. i made three tea sandwiches that were not on her pages. one of them was the bacon and eggsalad on oatmeal bread. they were a huge hit! and just a tip i learned from the great martha...drape wet paper towels over the sandwiches until ready to serve. it worked like a fucking charm and in fact, reversed some staling(sp?) bread.

breakfast bars/dessert

2008-06-07T20:56:00.004-04:00

the original recipe is here

this is how i did it:

fruit betty/cobbler/crisp:

~1 and 3/4 sticks margarine

~1 and 1/2 c. all purpose flour

~1 and 1/2c. oats

~1 c. dark brown sugar

~ 1/2.t. scant of salt

~1 t. baking powder(i forgot it this time. geesh. tasted fine)

~8oz. strawberry jam

~handful bluberries

~~~mix with fork, spoon, or beater. spread half into buttered baking dish. spread with jam. sprinkle with fresh blueberries. then spread remaining crumbs on top and bake @ 350 for 40 minutes. serve warm with icecream.....or let cool and cut into bars.

breakfast bars turned fruit betty?

2008-06-07T20:00:00.002-04:00

a new blog i started reading is the pioneer woman. once you make it through the sarcasm she is quite the blogger. one night i was in bed surfing on the blackberry about to sleep when i came across a recipe of hers for an apricot breakfast bar. she clearly states it may be a breakfast bar or it may be dessert. i got out of bed to make them. the recipe states to cool....but at midnight and 40 minutes of baking, i ate it warm. oh. my. god! we ate it the next few days warm with icecream. it was far too messy for a bar. i used strawberry jam....

...tonight i'm also using strawberry jam and some fresh blueberries.

begin by adding all ingredients into a mixing bowl. get excited when you believe the recipe is vegan......mix it together....

...and realize it did, indeed, call for almost 2 sticks of butter. i used margarine. is that vegan?

thats more like it.spread half the batter into a buttered dish.

grab about 10oz. of some jam that one of your dearest and oldest friend's gave to you. and spread it..... and if you're a lucky girl like me and have blueberry bushes outside, grab a handful of those and dump 'em in.

top with remaining batter....(or crumbs?) and bake @350 for 40 minutes.

stay tuned for recipe and finished pictures....

pineapple/apple chutney

2008-06-07T13:34:00.004-04:00

this chutney helped us through 2 dinners. the first night it topped a rotisserie pork loin along side mashed potatoes and fresh green beans.....

the 2nd night the pork cooked along with it and served with a rice and pea side.

the next time i make this rice, i will make a post with the recipe. i discovered it on a friend's blog a month ago and it is my new best friend. i first labeled it a poor man's risotto, but i realized risotto isn't so much expensive as it is time consuming, so it is now called "lazy man's risotto"

miracle cornbread

2008-06-07T13:23:00.003-04:00

the other night i made a vegetarian meal that was out to get me! it involved macaroni salad with peas, brown rice(made with chicken stock....worst. vegetarian. EVER) topped with lima beans and cornbread. i wrote a long post about it, but it was deleted and now i'm over it, but i MUST talk about the cornbread....

besides not having the rice i wanted and just enough of the rice i had and having to switch pots mid-boil and barely having enough leftovers to make a macaroni salad and draining the juice from the beans that should have stayed...the cornbread was the saddest and yet it turned out devine. half way through starting the batter, i was out of milk and eggs. fabulous.....but i did have half and half and i found out online that 2T of cornstarch equals and egg. we were in business! and i tell you...the sweetest/best cornbread i've ever made or tasted!

and when i have leftover cornbread or biscuits, they get drizzled with warm syrup.

biscuits with butter and jam

2008-06-03T10:26:00.006-04:00

the morning hasn't started off too great. a miserable child and dry bank accounts always seem to wreck a mood....but its nothing some carbs can't make better for a few minutes.the biscuit dough was a little sticky so i heavily dusted it with flour, spread it out with my hands, cut into circles and baked for 12 minutes.......
and in this house, the biscuits go into a bowl lined with vintage napkins or linens....lol. we are dorks. served aside cheese grits and smothered in strawberry jam.

birthday picnic

2008-05-30T17:19:00.008-04:00

my son, brewer, turned 3 on tuesday. we had a birthday picnic and he had a fabulous time:

initially i wanted to get all the food from subway for the adults and lunchables for the kids, but i am on a budget...so i opted for pb&j 's shaped like dinosaurs for them and egg salad on croissants for us.

for his dessert? dirt cake full of bugs and worms.

and the favors...homemade caramel popcorn with a neat lolipop. i didn't make near enough. :(

the leftovers...

2008-05-21T08:14:00.002-04:00

having a 3 year old and a 15 year old computer forced me to stop short on last night's post. i wanted to share two more things. the first is something i did with monday night's dinner. in the last post i mentioned i used a leftover chicken....monday night my mom grilled some boneless chicken breasts. she has mastered this by cooking all her meats on high heat in a grill pan. when they were finished all i could think about was how great some grilled pineapple would be on top. well, the only pineapple we had was some crushed in a can. so at the same time we both said, "chutney!". the recipe i found was fantastic!!

Pineapple Chutney:
~1/2 c. onion
~1/2c. honey
~1/2c. white wine vinegar
~2 1/2 c. chopped pineapple
~2t. curry powder
~1/2t. ground ginger
1/2t. salt
1/8t. pepper flakes
~~~in heavy saucepan mix all ingredients. cook over high heat until boiling, stirring frequently. reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally until tender and thick. about 20-30 minutes.

(since this was all last minute it only cooked for about 5-10 minutes. but the pineapple was crushed so it was fine. plus, i just tossed all these ingredients in without doing the full recipe. next time i will follow directions....even though it turned out great)

next.....

we had a LARGE(hormones anyone) piece and a half of the chicken left the next night, so i decided to do the bbq sauce. this is something a found online about 2 years ago and have used it many times since...anytime we need bbq sauce. its spicy and just plain freakin' good! i made it up and tossed the shredded chicken right in for the sammies....

Spicy Yellow Mustard BBQ Sauce:
~8T. yellow mustard
~6T. sugar
~1c. cider vinegar
~2t. chili powder
~1t. black pepper
~1t. white pepper(wowza!)
~1/2t. soy sauce
~2T. butter
~~~put all ingredients EXCEPT soy and butter into a saucepan. simmer for 10 minutes. take off the heat and add the remaining 2 ingredients. thats it. its done.

dinner: something old, something new

2008-05-20T18:07:00.002-04:00

i have really been contemplating starting those monday posts on what you have planned for dinner all week. i'm gonna start....soon...i promise.
of course tonight was a total whim. but, on a good note, i started at 3:00!
i typically cook for my parents and we eat together. i like my son to have a sit down dinner and with daddy on tour i have to scrounge around for other people...lol. however, my mom is having dinner at some fancy smancy restaurant with drug reps, so it was just my dad and us. i knew i needed to do something with the leftover grilled chicken from last night. so i decided to make some yellow mustard bbq sauce, shred the chicken and make bbq sandwiches.
i have been very interested in homemade bread lately. i tried the no knead bread last week(must have done it wrong cause is wasn't orgasmic like everyone says, but still good. i mean i ate the whole fucking loaf) and today i made oatmeal rolls for the bbq. it was a bread machine recipe. so for an hour and a half the machine did the work.

Oatmeal Rolls:
~3/4 c. plus 5T. luke warm water
~3T. soft butter
~1 1/2 t. salt
~3T. sugar
1t. onion powder
1/4 c. oatmeal
3c. all purpose flour
~envelope active dry yeast

~egg white(just now realized i used the whole egg. oops)
~1T. water

~~~place water, butter, salt, sugar, onion powder, oatmeal, flour, yeast into bread machine. i'm assuming they named every single thing because that is the order you dump it in. i know bread machines usually tell you to make well's and such, but i was too lazy to look up my machines' rules...so thats how i took it.
~~~select dough cycle and start
~~~after cycle is finished, remove dough and knead on lightly flour surface for a short bit. cut into 8 equal parts and form into balls. gently flatten into 4 inch disks. (good luck. mine looked terrible and were all different sizes)
~~~ place on baking sheet and cover loosely with towel. let rise double in size for 40 minutes.
~~~wisk egg WHITE and water and brush on top. bake @ 350 for 20 minutes!

*they turned out pretty good. they even tasted very good as a sandwich, but to me they seem more like a dinner roll. they were huge, so 16 balls of dough would have been better...especially as a dinner roll.

ganache saved the day...

2008-05-19T09:00:00.006-04:00

awhile back an uncle needed help catering a party at his bistro. he was in between chefs, but still had several parties booked. it was for a doctor who let it clearly be known that he was a doctor..if you get my drift. the client was very unimpressed with the organization and noone seemed to be able to give him answers. so, i guess i never blamed him for being an asshole even though i still wanted to fight him. finally, i stepped in! i stayed up all night figuring up menu options, price/head and such.....my mom pretty much took charge of it, but in reality if it wasn't for me nothing would have happened...haha (not to toot my own horn or anything)

well, the time was coming and none of the recipes were coming together. the night before and morning of my mom was running around like an insane person and yelling at everyone that was trying to help. (clearly not cut out for catering). she was suggesting that we try other things and is ALWAYS worried there won't be enough food, so she was spending all this money for back up foods. i tried to explain that you can't agree on a menu with a client and then give them something different just because it didn't work out. you just have to make it work out.

i am a highly stressed person, but in the kitchen i stay calm and hopeful. one thing on the menu were some chocolate pudding tarts that my mom saw in a magazine. never tried and i don't remember why they weren't gonna work, but she said last minute that we were gonna have to nip the idea. well, once again i knew i wasn't gonna walk in that fucking door without some sort of chocolate tart!

i was looking online and going through cookbooks and found a martha stewart recipe for a crisp coconut and chocolate pie. there was a picture which sold it for me. i told myself...."candice, get started and make these into indvidual bites. you will call them tarts!"

...and if i remember correctly we promised white chocolate too.....

so, here is the recipe for the 8-inch pie, but in mini tart form:

crisp coconut and chocolate pie:

~4 T. unsalted butter, softened

~11oz. sweetened shredded coconut

~8oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

~1 1/4 c. heavy cream

~~~preheat oven to 350. place butter and 1/3 of cpconut in food processor with metal blade. process for about2 minutes until mixture forms ball. (i was in a hurry and i dont think it ever became a ball.) sprinkle remaining coconut over mixture and combine with your fingers.

~~~use a mini muffin pan and press a spoonful of the mixure into each one. press hard leaving thin at the bottom and "fluffy" up the sides. no need to butter the pan because there is plenty in the mixture.

~~~start the timer at 8 minutes and keep an eye on them. notice the edges and take out when both the bottom and edges are browned.

~~~ let cool for just a short while and bang out onto a rack or counter. if they are cooked, they will come out well without breaking. let cool.

~~~place chocolate in heatproof bowl. bring cream just to a boil and pour over chocolate. (i let it boil a little longer then "just" and it worked great). let it sit on the chocolate for 10 minutes without stirring! then combine until smooth. let cool to room temperature and pour into tart cups. keep in fridge.

sweet and sour peppers

2008-05-12T18:17:00.000-04:00

one of my favorite things to serve when i have a dinner party or get together is homemade eggrolls with sweet and sour sauce for dipping. lately, i have been using the sweet and sour sauce recipe to saute with peppers, onions and sometimes chicken. i had an extremely busy day today and no thawed meat....so i decided on just peppers and onions. i will serve this over rice. i also didn't have the strength to even search long for ketchup so this time i used heinz 57. haha Sweet and Sour Sauce:
~1 cup sugar
~1/2 c. vinegar(plain. i used apple cider once and it was WAY too strong)
~1/2 c. water
~3 T. ketchup
~1 T. corn starch

~~~in a sauce pan on med/high heat add vinegar, water and sugar. as the sugar is dissolving wisk the ketchup and corn startch in a seperate bowl to remove lumps. scrape into the simmering mixture and wisk until all incorporated. let come to a boil to thicken. use as a dip or add your veggies and/or meat(raw) and continue to cook. very good served over rice.

birthday's past

2008-05-11T10:25:00.000-04:00

my son is going to be 3 in about 2 weeks. so, since my camera is out of commission and i can't make any new posts i thought i'd post some pictures from his 1st birthday.
it was a pool party. (yes, it's warm enough to swim here in may). the theme was ice-cream sundaes. i also had icecream cones and snow cones. it was a hit.

his cake was copied from a cover and issue of gourment magazine. remember the one that was topped with cupcakes? i was pretty pleased with it's turnout. it was my first "themed" cake. i'm getting better ;) he got his very own. i am in love with long candles...so fancy.
...as much as i love baggies filled with candy, bubbles and crazy straws i opt for a more handmade party favor. i figured i would get them in before the kiddo insisted on superman or ninja turtles or whatever is popular. i made two types of homemade cookies, wrapped them in mesh and tied them off with ribbon that matched the poka dots on his cake. geeky, i know.

tuna fish on toast

2008-05-06T19:47:00.000-04:00

a pretty big staple growing up was a meal called tuna fish on toast. it wasn't a once a week thing, more like once a month...the end of the month, if you get my drift. ($) we never knew any different. we LOVED it. my mom couldn't get the bread toasted quick enough.

it's also good if your loaf of bread is starting to get stale!

the original recipe, i believe, calls for a stick of butter. i wouldn't dare.

Tuna Fish on Toast:

~3 or 4 T. butter
~2 or 3 T. flour
~milk
~can of tuna fish
~~~on medium heat melt butter and flour and stir until melted together and fairly thick(like a batter). pour milk a little at a time while wisking. it will become thick like a gravy. you want it to be a pourable consisitency. the amount of milk is up to you...maybe about a cup give or take. with each addition of milk sprinkle with salt and pepper. then drain your tuna and stir in. always keep just at a simmer.
~~~toast bread and pour on top. it taste good to sprinkle some sea salt over top.

for my son i serve it over penne pasta. i understand him being weary of soggy bread. (which reminds me. don't be scared to REALLY toast your bread).
tonight i even tried the tuna over pasta and it wasn't bad. i started thinking how good it would be to add bread crumbs and parmesan and twice bake. Mmmmm

why not add biscuits...

2008-05-06T10:44:00.000-04:00

i went ahead with breakfast as planned. but what is a gluttenous breakfast without some homemade biscuits!? i NEVER thought i would get them "down". my mom is the best biscuit maker in town and mine never turned out. but with some hard work and determination i am now the designated biscuit baker.

Biscuits:
~2 heaping cups of self rising flour
~3 heaping T. of vegetable shortening
~1 scant c. milk
~~~mix flour and shortening with a fork or your hands until most of the flour is mixed with shortening and kinda lumpy.
~~~add milk and lightly mix all together with a spoon(or hands if that brave). mix JUST UNTIL incorporated. do not handle any longer then needed. this is what keeps them fluffy!
~~~pour out onto a floured surface, either a counter or cutting board. don't knead, just use your hands to form together and to press flat. use your fingers and hands instead of a rolling pin. then cut out with biscuit cutter and place them touching each other on a baking sheet. cook for 10-12 minutes in a 400 degree oven. (preheat)

last minute spirit and future breakfast

2008-05-05T22:08:00.003-04:00

today was a VERY busy day in which i didn't plan a single thing for dinner. i arrived home at 6:45 with a hungry 3 year old and the inkling that my parents would be just as pooped as me. i went to their house and for the simple(and much needed) reason of wanting a pina colada, i went all "cinco de mayo". i didn't have a plan and grabbed stuff out the fridge and pantry. i sauted chicken with green peppers and onions and added some southwestern style salsa. then put on a boxed spanish rice mix. zatarains. my favorite.

..and while that cooked i made myself a pina colada. my son didn't understand why he couldn't have a "milk shake" too. luckily a capri-sun kept him happy. (those are a rare buy). i also made him a quick cheese quesadilla to snack on.

here is what i do to spice up my favorite frozen drink:

i use bicardi frozen mix which i pour into the blender first. then i fill half the cup with rum. and a trick i learned from my mom, a scoop of vanilla icecream. fill the rest with ice and blend. to top it off whip some cream and toast some coconut. it's perfect! (a tip: it seems that if you blend and then have to add more ice, the ice never blends completely. so just fill your blender up to the brim the first time).

after a few sips my parents arrived home very pleased that i had cooked. the chicken mixture was served over lettuce with beans, sour cream and pepperjack cheese along with the rice. yay mexico!

tomorrow i have planned to allow myself one more fattening, binge eating day. i am tired of my guttony, but must have a good breakfast tomorrow. i have just taken pork sausage out of the freezer.

pork sausage gravy over grits:
~crumble and brown pork sausage(remove casings if in links)
~use slotted spoon to remove cooked sausage and let drain on paper towl.
~keep pan on medium low heat and sprinkle 2 or 3 T. of flour onto pan drippings/grease. wisk until thick. add part water, part milk. start at half a cup each. as it simmers it will start to thicken. just keep adding liquids until your desired thickness. wisk often!
~most gravys need lot's of salt and pepper. you may not need any because the sausage is so full of flavor!
~add sausage into gravy and serve over grits.
~the grits directions are on the bag, or if you are from the south, you already know how...lol

this is very much like shrimp and grits, but without the yucky shrimp!

i will serve this with a fried egg over medium. CAN'T WAIT!

organics

2008-05-03T10:15:00.000-04:00

when grocery shopping, i try my best to chose healthy, organic foods. however, i am broke ass poor. but i'm not going to use that as an excuse anymore. i am not a typical grocery shopper. i don't spend very much money on groceries. i buy the minimum: bread, milk, eggs, juice, peanut butter, jam, lunch meat, pasta, cheese, meats, veggies and fruits. as much as i LOVE sweets, i almost NEVER buy junk food. if i want something sweet, i bake. so, i guess i also buy flour, sugar, cocoa, baking chocolate.

well, i always tell myself i'm going to do better, but this time i mean it! i am ordering my first home delivered box of organic fruits and veggies. YAY!

click on the logo for their website

son's lunches

2008-04-29T19:30:00.003-04:00

i try to make my son's lunches look fun so he wants to eat them. it works. i love cute dishes for him because it adds to the appeal.
berfore he was eating food i read in a magazine where a woman needed help getting her kids off their addiction to fast food. the author recommended using cute plates and cute food to get them interested in food at home. i knew i would never allow my son to become addicted to fast food, but the cute food idea intriqued me anyways. now all i need are some bento boxes!! mini pb&j with banana chunks on bite size whole wheat pitas. just his size!

somebody sandra lee'd my tomato basil pasta!

2008-04-29T19:30:00.001-04:00

i must admit i had a very sandra lee moment tonite. it was just the kid and me, so i thought i'd make our favorite...pasta.

it started off acceptable. a quick homemade tomato basil on angel hair. then some sauteed peas in olive oil with pepper and salt.

....and then i topped it with frozen chicken nuggets. at first i even turned the oven on to bake them, but i didn't want to wait 15 minutes. i microwaved them. the shame. but VERY good.

baked gifts

2008-04-26T11:12:00.002-04:00

even more so then baking, i love packaging. it's a strange thing to love, i know. it can easily sucker me into purchasing a good. anywhere from cleaning products to the way a tag looks on a shirt. i just see and appreciate the beauty and cleverness that goes into it. so, in other words, i love making baked goods cute for gifts or wrapping presents. my mother requested 3 things for a weekend trip she had the past few days. lemon tart, sour cream coffee cake and caramel popcorn.

a few months ago my husband and i went up north to get some tattoos. as a "thank you", i sent our artist some baked goods. he also got caramel popcorn and a coffee cake, but in addition he got cinnamon-less snickerdoodles....now called sugardoodles.

2008-04-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

last wednesday i made herbed pork chops with raspberry sauce from home_ec101.com
i'm not a huge fan of pork AT ALL, but my parents love it and i cook them dinner atleast 3 nights a week. they work late and they do a lot for me, so it's the least i can do(i do more though). it was the raspberry sauce that sold me on trying this recipe.
but.....i will admit that i like leftover pork sandwiches with some sort of fruit concoction. last time i made apple chutney, but this time i had the raspberry sauce. i mixed it with mayo.....

i drizzled it on the meat and heated it up.....

i toasted some bread, slathered the mayo/sauce and piled on the meat. (not quite piled..there wasn't much leftover) and gobbled up. SO GOOD!

next time i'm going to cook the pork just for sandwiches!!

saturday night dessert

2008-04-17T13:36:00.004-04:00

Saturday night my mother had family coming over after dinner and, like always, asked me to supply desserts.First up was a brownie. I had seen an article in a mag about going outside the box while serving dessert. This was an example they used.....

I lined a round casserole dish with butcher paper. I cut it into a circle. Parchment paper works but I liked using the brown paper. The batter goes half way up the paper leaving scalloped edges. Leave the cooked brownie in the paper. I served it on a small pedestal cake plate.

To go along with that I made icecream truffles. I don't remember where this idea came from(i may have just thought it up) but I did it about 2 years ago for a playdate.

Icecream truffles:

~Use small scoop or melon baller to make icecream into truffle sized balls. Freeze until hard.

~then coat in toppings and freeze until time to eat. I used chopped bitter chocolate. Chopped nuts and tosted coconut.

I served those in dishes along with chocolate sauce. That's no secret...it was hershey's. What is a secret is my brownie recipe. Its just a simple and old fashioned one, but its the best I have had and I have dreams of owning a world known bakery so its what you would call my "crabby patty".

I also made individual peach cobblers. In ramekins of course. I had some frozen peaches from winter months. I covered them in a warm simple syrup to thaw.

Cobbler:

~Stick butter, melted

~1 cup sugar

~1 cup s.r. Flour

~3/4 c. Milk

~throw all in a bowl and mix just until mixed. Lumps are fine.

~seperate into ramekins(or into one oven safe bowl)

~pick your fruit...berries, peaches, cherries. if using fresh, cover with simple syrup:(heat 1/2c. sugar with 1/4c. water until dissolved).

~fruit filling should be dumped into batter. it will sink to bottom. do not stir.

~cook for 35 minutes or an hour @ 350

here is the table. tablescape isn't that fancy..but i was pooped. HA!

grits and eggs

2008-04-17T13:36:00.001-04:00

this was my breakfast. fried egg over medium with kosher salt and pepper.

grits with white amercian cheese, butter, salt and pepper.

and....the money shot!

my selfless act of saving a rotting banana

2008-04-17T13:36:00.000-04:00

i seem to always have one banana leftover from my son's snacks. today it was two halves, so i decided to make banana bread. i love my recipe, because it is super easy to cut into 1/4's. 4 eggs, 4 bananas..you get the idea. silly me started to use my kitchen aide, but for those who have one, you know it NEVER gets the bottom. and seeing as though its only a small amount of sugar and butter...it wasn't doing the trick. so, i started doing it by hand.

i HATE eating bananas, but if they are mushed up very good and thrown in cake batter you better believe i will eat them. when i went to grab the two halves, one was in no way going into my cake, so it got about 3/4 of a banana.

i had enough batter for 3 muffins. i do A LOT of baking in ramekins. you would be amazed how well they come out. ease and taste!

most things come out of ramekins looking like popovers. so rustic!

full banana bread: (i couldn't find my pecans, so this batch is without)

1.5 sticks butter

2 c. sugar

4 eggs

3.25 c. self rising flour

4 bananas, mashed

1 t. vanilla

1 c. pecans

~cream butter and sugar. blend in eggs one at a time. beat. add flour, bananas, vanilla and nuts. blend with spoon. pour into well greased/floured 9x13 pan or in my case, muffins or ramekins.

bake for 40 minutes @ 350 degrees. (if baking muffins start at 25 minutes...may take whole time, but you never know). let sit for 5 minutes, then turn onto rack. store in fridge.

.....and a family secret: when we make into cake pans, we serve slices with a mixture of cream cheese and crushed pineapple. YUM!

black bean angel hair

2008-04-15T18:25:00.000-04:00

the baby and i are alone tonite. i had leftover black beans and tomatoes from last night's sun-dried tomato alfredo on rigtoni, which we also ate alone, but didn't want that again. so, i just cooked up angel hair and threw it in with the black beans and tomatoes that i sauteed with olive oil, garlic salt and basil. i melted some fresh parmesan in it as well.
it was VERY light, so it may only satisfy you if you've had a heavy day of eating. if you want something full of flavor, add some cream. ha!

of course i had to make garlic bread. its a wheat roll with olive oil, garlic salt and dry basil.

this morning my husband's band manager was over, so i made homemade waffles and scrambled eggs. i wish i would have kept the batter, made more waffles and frozen them cause i sure could use one right now!

pound cake

2008-04-15T13:46:00.000-04:00

the husband is leaving tomorrow morning for a 3 month tour. he just informed me that he is leaving me the camera. YAY!

i haven't done that much cooking/baking this past weekend. i did make my first pound cake. the person who gave me the recipe raves over it. it was good, the texture was amazing, but there was something very strange about it. i think next time i will add lemon. in fact, the whole reason i wanted a pound cake was because i found a lemon curd recipe. never even made the lemon curd. argh!

saturday i made brownies for some fellow travelers of my husband's band. i'm not a name dropper but you may know them by "let the bodies hit the floor". they liked the brownies. i wasn't happy with them, so the next day i made a batch for us....they were much better. goddamnit! good for us, bad for the rockers.

try the pound cake for yourselves:

true pound cake

~3 sticks butter
~8 oz. cream cheese, softened
~3 cups sugar
~6 eggs
~3 cups cake flour, sifted
~dash salt
~1 T. vanilla

grease and flour 10" tube pan. cream butter and cream cheese. gradually add in sugar and beat until light and fluffy. add eggs one at a time. beat well. add flour and salt until mixed. stir in vanilla.
bake @ 325 for about an hour. let sit 10 minutes and turn out onto rack.

2008-04-12T10:45:00.000-04:00

i am a very "on the whim" kind of girl. i see all these blogs and know all kinds of mom's who plan each dinner weeks in advance. i can't do that. i wish i could. i don't know what i want to make until about 6pm when my son starts getting whiny and i'm like, "shit, i guess we need to eat dinner". there are some days when i plan it that morning, which is about as good as i'll get....unless i'm having a dinner party. parties are the one and only thing i can plan!

yesterday was a VERY late day. my son didn't wake up until after 9:30, so my husband and i found a little somthing to do until he woke up ;)

anywho, that gave us a very late breakfast and a very late lunch. we had a trip to the aquarium which had us eating lunch at chic-fi-a after 2pm. i'm not quite sure what time it was when my son was digging through the fridge(i hate this habit. i am trying to nip it)....i decided i didn't want to make a shitty dinner, so after 6pm, i went to the grocery store. i decided on hamburger steak with rice and gravy, sauted squash with basil, peas and biscuits. we ate after 7pm. i know, i know.

so you know, i do sometimes cook in a very "paula deen" style.

ground beef is a big staple for me because i'm not a huge meat eater and even more then eating it, i hate handeling it. especially chicken. ugh! but ground beef is easy to cook. for the most part i get 93% lean, but that won't make gravy, so this time i got 80%. that's about as low as i will buy.the squash is cooked in butter and sprinkles with lots of dry basil and kosher salt. it was a tad mushy,

my gravy turned out really weird. it almost had a gamey taste to it. might have been the lower fat contents of the meat or the browning sauce is bad.....no idea. we still ate it. the husband loved it.

and to finish off our late day....i made a midnight pound cake. i will have to post about that later.....

apple pancakes

2008-04-11T12:16:00.000-04:00

why did i steal this from my son's snack drawer?

well, because i didn't have apples and i wanted apple pancakes for breakfast.

first off, although a complete dessert/chocolate/pastry addict, the one thing i do is eat a healthy breakfast. mostly. but being an avid baker, sometimes a good homemade pancake, waffle or biscuit just calls my name. my pancakes are typically:

2 heaping cups of self rising flour, sprinkle of sugar, an egg and enough milk to make it into batter, but i have a brunch cook book with an apple pancake recipe. if done right, it's delicious. unfortuntely, if you make one wrong move they are just great instead of FABULOUS. but, great is good too!

apple pancakes:

scant 1.5 c. self rising flour

1/2 c. superfine sugar

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 egg

scant c. milk (i use 1%)

2 apples, peeled and grated

butter for skillet.

mix flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. make a well in the center. beat egg and milk together. pour into well and incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet JUST until mixed. then stir in grated apple.

melt butter in medium heat skillet. cook each one to about a 3.5 inch size.

hopefully you know that when the upside starts to bubble, you flip it. they taste better as the smaller size. trust me. of course the fresh grated apples taste better then applesauce, but sometimes you just have to make do. and also, as i learned today. make sure the egg is fully beat in with the milk. mine wasn't which forced me to mix the entire batter longer then desired. those make the pancakes a bit more spongy. i don't know about you, but i HATE spongy pancakes. its about all you can get from IHOP or CRACKER BARRELL and not to toot my own horn, but my pancakes take their (pan)cake. a fluffy, melt in your mouth, pancake is surely the way to go!

this morning they didn't last long enough for a picture, so i swiped one from the cook-book.

meatball subs

2008-04-11T11:52:00.000-04:00

although i love the occasional lunch at ci'ci's or chic-fil a, i am pretty much a 3 homemade meal a day woman. not to say that some lunches, dinners or even breakfast's don't consist of Kraft mac-n-cheese(with frozen peas to make me feel like a decent mom) for my almost 3 year old, but for the most part i "do okay".

my husband is a full time touring musician. so when he is home on breaks our schedule's get a little screwy...but in a good way. 2 nights ago he requested meatball subs. it's one of his mom's staples that he enjoys. it's nothing i would EVER cook when he was not home.

he and i collaborated on the meat balls. he did the dirty work and i cooked 'em up with a quick tomato basil marinara.

we served them in whole wheat sub rolls and were topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese and mozzerella. then under the broiler.

the husband enjoyed them. i did somewhat. i wish i would have eaten the meatballs and sauce plain. they were delish! my son got them with macaroni pasta. (the sub would have been a bit much for his little mouth to take on).

we decided on seasoned fries for the side. i'm not a HUGE french fry fan. my son won't even touch them, thank goodness, but if i do make them(twice a year) they are fried, fried, fried. Mmmm. they were amazing! i did use peanut oil if that makes it any better. ha~ha

...and oh, they were store brand fries. i didn't make them. Sshh.

2008-04-11T11:47:00.000-04:00

to start this off, i'd like to post a new pair of shoes. i have been looking for some cute flats for quite awhile. luckily they have stayed in style...that's how long i've been looking. found a pair from payless for about $18.

yes, they are casual and kinda cheesy. but i love them just the same....and they keep me out of my typical flipflops. i'm tired of stinky, dirty feet!