Baked Macaroni & Cheese

While waiting for some family to head over to the house the other day, I decided to just chill, flip through some channels, and settle down a bit.

 

And naturally, I stopped on the Food Network.

 

I rarely watch TV nowadays and even the Food Network has less and less captivated me now that the shows aren't as innovative but I still love some of the competitive shows when I get a chance.

 

Before I go any further, I just have to say I still love Ina Garten. Possibly the only one on that channel that can actually cook pretty darn well and keeping it classy in the Hampton's.

 

So to continue my 'hang out time' story, Ina Garten's show was on and I decided to make a pit stop and watch it.

 

She announced she was going to make one of her favorite recipes, the fantastic:

 

Baked Lobster Mac and Cheese.

 

I took one look at the lobster....

 

And had a major foodgasm.

 

I am not even kidding!

 

Even just thinking about it now...

 

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

 

 I just had to have it baaad!

 

Lobster is one of those delicacies that I WISH I could have everyday. I promise I won't get bored of it! Of course it's expenisve to buy out here in the wonderful sunny state of California so I rarely get to enjoy it. So in the case of wanting to make Lobster Mac and Cheese right then and there, it was impossible.  

 

What is a girl to do?

 

Well I didn't let it stop me. I just made my own Mac and Cheese, just sadly without the Lobster.

 

My Macaroni and Cheese is pretty darn good, moist, cheesy, and comforting. Everything it is supposed to have and do. It's open to most pastas. Any cheese you'd like. Perfectly seasoned. Each bite was made to be loved.

 

PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME! I forgot to snap a pic before the dish was served. I did however get a picture in for Instagram so just find me on there if you need to match the picture with the recipe!

 

Below I just mention cheese. You can use any of your favorite combinations. This time around, I used Muenster and Mozzarella and sprinkled Parmesan and Crumbled Turkey Bacon on top. Go with what you love.

 

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

 

Serves: 8 people

 

1 - 1 lb (16 oz) pasta

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp flour

4 cups of milk

1 egg (optional)

~ 4-5 cups of cheese

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/4 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Parmesan OR Breadcrumbs OR Crushed Unsalted Pretzel, for topping

Crumbled bacon, for topping (optional)

 

Directions:

 

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.

2) Boil water on the stove, salt it, and cook the pasta noodles. Take off stove after cooking for about 5-7 minutes, drain, and place back into the pot.

3) While noodles are cooking, melt butter over medium heat, add the flour, and make a roux. Once combined, add the milk and mix. If using an egg, mix separately than add to the milk. While the milk is thickening, start seasoning with salt, pepper, mustard, garlic, paprika, and red pepper flakes.

4)Once it starts to thicken, add the cheese and combine until melted.

5)When ready, pour over the pasta and make sure every noodle is covered in the sauce. Then get the noodles into the pan, cover with your preferred topping(s), and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy! 

Eggless Cookie Recipe

Have you ever been in the middle of creating something wonderful in your kitchen and you get to the part of the recipe when you need to add - butter, eggs, oil, baking powder...etc and when you go to reach for the next ingredient, you discover that you are out of it?

NOOOOO! This can't be happening right now!

It happens to the best of us. No one is perfect in the kitchen. I know I've made a lot of mistakes. Especially those mistakes that consist of the same missing ingredient scenario like the above problem. I can't help it though. When I have the huge urge to bake, I bake. When I am craving something bad, I'll cook it! And when I get in one of those experimentive kitchen nerd moods, nothing can stop me! Whether or not I have all the ingredients for success!

Yes, you can be one of those cooks that always makes sure you have everything in stock and if you find something low, you go and buy it just so you are prepared for future baking/cooking moments.

But most likely you can be one of those bakers that buys things at the moment of your decision to make a dish.

I'd say I'm in the middle. Yes I have the usual flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and powder in my kitchen pantry but I prefer to save my money and not always buying things just because I'm low on corn starch! Which now reminds me, I've been out of mirin for awhile now. Something that keeps slipping my mind. I usually don't mind taking a trip to the grocery store because I could be there for hours and not get bored. But there are those days that it can be inconvenient to have to make a trip at the last minute in order to complete a step in a recipe, worry about gas, AND going out in public looking like a hot mess. ;) I kid sometimes!

I know I'm not the only one who has been in a crunch like this! What's the one thing you always seem to be out of when you need it the most?

So today it happened again. I was in the middle of making some fantastic Dark Chocolate Pistachio cookies with a sprinkle of sea salt on top and when I got to the egg part of the recipe, I went to the fridge and looked....looked....and looked some more. I WAS OUT OF EGGS! AHHHHHH! WHAT DO I DO??

I'm well aware of all those vegan recipes out there, but to be honest, I really am not a fan of them. They always come out odd, too thick, and no texture. And yes, I've made a batch of vegan cookies once just to see what these recipes are all about! So when I realized I was out of eggs, that was the first thing that came to mind. The cookies were going to be ruined.

So I decided to experiment a little. Take a chance. I am a HUGE science nerd - both in the kitchen and working in a hospital setting. I have no problem saying I'm a geek and loving it!

I looked to see what I had available at that exact moment and I found corn starch and lowfat plain yogurt. The corn starch adds to the texture and binds the ingredients of the cookie with the butter and the yogurt makes the dough moist and keep together. Will this make or break the cookie?

So here's the basic cookie recipe that I came up with and then you can come up with your own cookie combinations to satisfy your craving, your likings, or for any special events and holidays. For one ingredient, 1 1/2 - 2 cups would be just fine, for a combo of two, 1 cup of each would be perfect to add to the cookie dough, and for three or more, I'd lessen the amount in order not to overcrowd the cookie, which will change the end results of your cookie. Today I used dark chocolate, pistachio, and coarse sea salt so I'll write what I did and the end result of my experiment.

Eggless Cookie Recipe

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup bread flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder

1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 Tbsp corn starch
2 Tbsp water

1/4 cup plain lowfat (or nonfat) yogurt
2 tsp vanilla

1 cup pistachios, chopped
1 cup Valrhona dark chocolate, chopped or any semi to dark chocolate chips
Coarse sea salt

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2) Combine dry ingredients; set aside.
3) Cream butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl; set aside. Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl, then add to the butter-sugar and mix. Then add the yogurt and vanilla. Beat thoroughly.
4) In small batches, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. (Stir in the pistachios and chocolate well.) *Add your own ingredients here.
5) Use an ice cream scoop and place the rounded cookie dough onto the baking sheets. (Sprinkle the coarse sea salt over the cookie dough.) Bake for around 10-12 minutes for Tbsp sized cookie dough and 15-17 minutes for ice cream scoop sized dough.
6) Allow to cool on the sheets for 3-4 minutes before removing onto cooling racks.

What was the end result?

 

I'll be 100% honest. If someone else had made this recipe and did not tell me about the changes that were made, I definitely would not have known there was no egg in the cookie. They were absolutely perfect! And I'm not just saying this because I made them.

 

Crisp on the outside with a slight chewiness in the middle. Most definitely not like the vegan recipes you find online or in a cookbook. For the record, I know this isn't a 'vegan' recipe but I do put this cookie in a category similar to that of one. I was completely shocked by how good these cookies were. This girl patted herself on the back for a job well done. First times the charm!

 

*I'd like to point out some things in the way I usually bake and also how I baked these cookies before you try these out for yourself:

 

-When it comes to sugar, I NEVER measure accurately. I have never been a super sweet dessert fan so I loosely measure less than the right amount called for in any recipe, whether I create it myself or use someone elses recipe. I measured less sugar than what I put in this recipe. I might even go a little less next time, but I did not want to adjust that above since everyone has their own tastes.

 

-I ended up adding the corn starch/water liquid and vanilla first, the dry ingredients, and then mixed in the yogurt before the pistachio and chocolate so I could see the dough pre-yogurt and with the yogurt. Pre-yogurt, the dough was somewhat dry and only slightly moist. After the addition of yogurt, the dough resembled the regular cookie dough 'look with the addition of egg(s)'. I can assume that if you add the yogurt in before the flour, it'll be just fine?

 

-And I'm guilty of always putting more vanilla than asked...does that make me a bad girl? ;)

 

-But I ALWAYS measure the other dry ingredients accurately. Sometimes I do follow the rules. :)

 

I hope you'll try these out for yourself. And of course, please let me know what you think!

Banana Nut Bread

Tis the season to bake, bake, and bake some more! Carb load all you want and then go for a great and long run after! ;) I love baking this time of year and the smells that come out of the kitchen in the fall....WOW. It just puts you in a great mood 24/7. I was just given the task of writing my first recommendation letter for one of my high school students so before this procastinator types away on the computer, I thought I'd indulge in some baking to get me in the mood!

So far this fall, I've made Pumpkin White Chocolate Popcorn, Pumpkin Marshmallows, and of course Pumpkin pie! You can NEVER have enough of pumpkin! Next up on my list was pumpkin bread and white chocolate pumpkin cheesecakes (Reese's Pieces Peanut But Cups status) but right before I reached for my pumpkin puree, I noticed 4 small and very ripe bananas hanging out in the fruit bowl. I do not like to let anything go to waste so I decided to make good old banana nut bread with my newly made recipe! And you are going to love this!

My go to banana recipe. It has everything you've been looking for in a banana bread. First, I've been enjoying baking with yogurt for quite some time now, so I love the addition of it to my banana bread. This makes for some scrumptious and moist banana bread. One of the best you'll ever have! Just believe me. :-) I always love the addition of nuts to any of the breads I make, but if you do not, it's perfectly fine to make the bread without. If you love chocolate chips or chunks in your bread, add a cup of it to the mix! I prefer without but everyone has their own preferences of course.

My favorite part of this bread is.....the cardamom! I love the slight hint of it when you take each bite. Makes for one unique banana bread experience. And to throw in some healthy, I added in flaxseeds. Does it make you feel less guilty now? :)) When you smash the bananas, don't go completely smashed or else the baking process takes longer...and do you really want to wait longer?? Just slightly smash them so they are somewhat chunky, yet smooth. Now go ahead and make this bread. I dare you! :) 

Banana Nut Bread

1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick of butter, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup bread flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp flaxseeds
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon 
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 cup coarsely mashed bananas (yields a little over a cup with 4 small and very ripe bananas)
1 cup of walnuts, chopped

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease loaf pan (or 3 mini loaf pans).
2) Combine yogurt and soda in a small bowl. Set aside.
3) Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add vanilla. Then beat in the yogurt.
4) Add the flours, flaxseeds, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Beat gently and do not overmix. Before thoroughly combined, add the bananas and walnuts.
5) Bake the bread for 45 minutes or until a toothpick or cake test comes out clean. If using 3 mini loaf pans, they should bake in 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
6) When removed from the oven, let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes and then remove and fully cool on a cooling rack. Once cool, wrap with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge overnight. Or if you are like me, cut the bread into slices and eat right away! :)

Enjoy! :-)

Mixed Fruit Corn Bread

One of my favorite comfort foods with fruit added. Something simple to enjoy during this beautiful time of the year, fall. Except in Southern California where it still feels like summer with a wind and fire twist.

Mixed Fruit Corn Bread

1 cup Vanilla-flavored milk, coconut milk, vanilla yogurt, or your choice

1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temp

2 eggs

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups Blackberries, Blueberries, and Raspberries (or any fruit you like)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a square or 8 x 12 baking dish.

2) Combine the yogurt, butter, eggs, and cornmeal.

3) Mix in the flour slowly; don't whip.

4) Fold in the fruit.

5) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Something easy to make and share with anyone. 

Persimmon Banana Nut Muffins

So I woke up in the mood to bake today -specifically muffins- and when I get like that, I have to get in the kitchen STAT! What's sleeping in on a weekend? I don't know. I try. I even got in the mood to do the dishes too...my least favorite part of being in the kitchen!

I have my own tried and true recipes but I felt like finding another recipe and tweaking it because that's just what I like to do. I love kitchen science. That and everyone has to have a few good muffin recipes lying around somewhere! So after searching and searching, I found a recipe with positive feedback that somehow made me want to experiment with.

It's Giada De Laurentiis' recipe for Banana Muffins. Also comes with a frosting recipe but I like to leave frosting for cupcakes. Copy and Paste the links/Recipe Below:

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/01/09/banana-muffins-2/ or http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/banana-muffins-with-mascarpone-cream-frosting-recipe2/index.html

Banana Muffins

(Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed

Directions:
Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool slightly. The muffins may be eaten warm or cooled completely and frosted.

My thoughts
Only three things here in the recipe made me want to change it: (1) The oil content, (2)the sugar, and (3) the flavor. I felt the oil is too much for a muffin --no matter how big the batter ends up being and the sugar was also just too high for me. Why not let the fruit add to the sweetness of the muffin? And I love utilizing spices in my baking. I'm no plain Jane. :)

This is what I did

♥ 2 cups sugar = 1 1/2 cups = 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar

I love the different flavor brown sugar gives on top of its sweetness. I prefer to add more brown sugar than white in most of my baking recipes. The muffins were just fine the way they were. Not too sweet but not under sweet. The recipe, although it says it makes 18 muffins, I got 24 out of it so I didn't want to chance taking out too much sugar.

♥ 1 cup vegetable oil = 1/2 vegetable oil and 1/2 cup milk

Perfect lowering of oil and love the addition of milk. Could have eliminated the oil and used applesauce but I'm not completely a fan of that. That and I would have had to wait awhile to bake if I ended up making the applesauce! I processed two soft persimmons just to add to the moistness of the muffin (mentioned below).

♥ 1 tsp salt = 1 tsp sea salt

Just for the heck of it. I only use sea salt now. Salt is not really good for you but sea salt is better than that iodized salt if you're going to use it.

♥ 4 ripe bananas = 2 bananas mashed and 2 bananas, chunky

Because I like muffins with chunky fruit.

Now you can leave the recipe as is and go ahead and bake for yummy and moist banana muffins or you can continue on and do more.

My add-ins to the recipe
♥ 4 persimmons = 2 firm persimmons peeled and diced. 2 soft persimmons, peeled and processed in the food processor

I like persimmon and banana together. There are other good combinations of course, but today I used persimmon. I processed the two persimmons because I lowered the amount of oil and sugar so I wanted to make sure I made up for that.

♥ Chopped walnuts. Yes please!

♥ And I added: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, and Ginger. Got the hint of them but not overpowering at all.

The result?
Perfectly flavored and moist muffins. Fruity. Spiced up. Can't get better than that. Giada had a good recipe but I just made it a tad bit healthier and got a little creative.

Now to go outside and enjoy this beautiful rain...

Pinterest Recipe Testing

Instead of the usual work potluck, someone at work thought it would be fun to test recipes that people pin on Pinterest and see if they are any good and actually 'pin-worthy'. Great idea except I never follow recipes and had to this time. So I ended up testing out the recipe, "Nutella Brownies". This was the first time I tried Nutella. I think I'd be fine with only eating Nutella this way!

Here's the link to the recipe. Copy and Paste:

http://m.instructables.com/id/Nutella-Brownies-Three-Ingredients/

The result?
They were really good. Simply devine. Chocolate craving satisfied. Moist yet more cake-like. Stomach pleasing. Mood enhancer. One of my favorite combinations: hazelnut and chocolate. Seriously, what girl doesn't love (semi-sweet (35%) to dark (70%)) chocolate? Enough said.

I actually don't feel the need to adjust the recipe too much. I don't want to change the flavor and easiness of the brownies but I would probably add a teaspoon of vanilla to the batter and maybe take out a tablespoon or two of the flour for more moist brownies.

Would have liked more times given for different brownie methods instead of having to estimate the times. I gave the brownies about 15-17 minutes in the oven. That may be adjusted again if, or I mean, when I make them again. I personally would like to rewrite the directions too. I don't just throw things in a bowl and mash things up. You have to love what you are doing in the kitchen.

'Pin-worthy'?

Yes, but with some adjustments!

Happy Thanksgiving! One of my favorite days of the year. :) Gotta love all the food and always be thankful for what you have and who you have in your life. Appreciate life each and every day.

Mollusks

On the menu today: Baked New Zealand Green Mussels in Dynamite Sauce and Machas a la Parmesana

Baked Green Mussels in Dynamite Sauce
Why do they call it dynamite, you wonder?

When they are under the broiler, listen to the smelt eggs explode as they are heating up!

You can spend tons of money at a Japanese restaurant and get a few mussels or you could just make it at home and enjoy more than a few. And really, it is so easy that it's ridiculous to go to a restaurant and order them. To make this my own, I added one of my favorite seasonings to the sauce: Garlic. Garlic makes everything better! One time I used fish sauce and they were great as well. -Shrimp also goes well in this appetizer. Shrimp--Probably one of my biggest weaknesses!- And as for the mayo, you have to go with Kewpie, not regular mayo in the fridge. They aren't the same. And don't skip out on it because it has MSG.

Just estimate how much Kewpie mayo you'll need and squeeze it into a bowl. I'd say a cup shall do. Add as much garlic as you'd like. Start with a teaspoon of Sriracha and continue until it's to your spicy liking. And scoop a couple spoons of Smelt Egg/Masago.

Top each fresh mussel half with the sauce, more masago (or after broiling; whichever) and broil them in the oven for about 5-7 minutes. When ready, top them with green onion and masago and serve warm.

Machas a la Parmesana
Now this is one of the typical dishes you'll find in Chile. It's the only memorable dish that I recall eating in Santiago. The first thing I ate there. I strangely had a harder time in Chile with the food more than any other country I've been to. Can't really explain why that is though. Food is easy to find on every street and with plenty of options to choose from. Seafood is of abundance of course, but they say it's only good in the coastal towns from what I heard. I did get sick after eating a few seafood dishes after the clams. That I remember! Maybe if I read more into Chile's history, it'll help to understand their culture and food. It was a last minute trip from Ecuador so I didn't really read up on it until I arrived there. Beautiful country for sure that I definitely plan on exploring more and hoping to take that time to really taste their creations. Just gotta dig a little deeper.

Now this is an easy meal/app to make. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shuck your clams and clean both the meat and shells. I'll be honest. I quickly steamed them instead of opening them myself because I was exhausted and just didn't feel like doing it! I'd say it's better to get a man with his strong hands and muscles to do it for you.;) I ended up using Manila clams. Money saver than the other ones available and the ones they recommend you use for this dish.

When the clams were ready, I squeezed lemon juice on them, freshly grated black pepper, added a small scoop of butter, and then freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

*Find a Parmesan that hasn't been aged for too long. It's preferred to use a milder cheese for this dish so I ended up using a Parmesan that was aged for 10 months.

Baked them for 5 minutes and they were ready to devour.

Best part of the day? None of the mussels and clams were dead! I did a good job picking them out. :) I've got good eyes and awesome guessing skills.

Pizza of the Sea

There have been many instances that I have had a chance to try any type of seafood on a pizza and I always passed it up. Seafood on pizza? Naw, I'm more of a cook it quick kinda girl so I can eat it right away! SHRIMP. LOBSTER. CLAMS. SCALLOPS. SQUID. SUSHI. ETC. My weakness. :) I also don't like sharing! I'm working on that...

Again saw it in the Galapagos but passed because of my fear of cheese at the time. DON'T get me wrong. I absolutely love all cheeses! Well except for the processed. GROSS. Velveeta and Kraft Singles are not cheese. Sorry. It's because, at that time, it was my 2nd trip after Argentina and Brazil and I came home from that trip pretty much lactose intolerant. And didn't want to do anything that could cause pain to the stomach. Finally, gave into it in Montezuma, Costa Rica. Lactose pills have been a good friend to me! Anyway, the Shrimp and Mushroom Pizza with Mozzarella and Goat Cheese was waaay too good to be true. Possibly the best pizza I've ever had in my life? No doubt! Of course, Lou Malnati's in Chicago is on top as well. Do it.

After this experience, I decided to make my own Seafood Pizza. I chose my seafood mix. I chose my toppings and cheese. I took a basic pizza sauce and amplified it. And found a good pizza dough from scratch and just kept it smart and simple. Added LOTS of garlic powder! Oh yeaaah. Here it goes:

Seafood Pizza



Seafood:

Shrimp
Scallops
Squid

Cheese:

Mozzarella
Provolone
Asiago
Parmesan
Goat

Other Toppings That Were Included:

Mushrooms
Scallions
Fresh Basil

Pizza Sauce:

1 6oz tomato paste
6oz warm water
3 T minced garlic, more or less of course
1 t sugar (or honey, your preference)
2 t Anchovy paste
1 T fresh rosemary
1 T fresh basil
1 T fresh oregano
3 T olive oil
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/8 t dried red pepper flakes
3/4 t onion powder
Salt, to taste

Combine and let set ~ 30 minutes

Pizza Dough:

I actually got the recipe here: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html. I changed it up by adding my personal touch: lots of garlic powder! No need to measure it out. Do to your liking.

Directions:

Day Before-
Follow the pizza recipe. I made the dough a day earlier.

Day of-
1. Preheat oven to its highest temp. Oven needs to be really hot. At the time, I didn't have a pizza stone so I moved the rack to the bottom of the oven. I received a pizza stone on my birthday and can't wait to use it!
2.Combine the pizza sauce ingredients and set aside.
3. Sauté two garlic cloves in 2 T of olive oil over medium low heat until soft. Lower heat and first add the mushrooms and scallions. Remove to a plate to cool when soft.
4. Repeat the same steps and add in the seafood. I estimate the seafood to be about a cup or so of each: shrimp, scallops, and squid. Count wise, I don't know. I usually always eyeball everything. Except, cook the seafood for a couple minutes. They will thoroughly cook in the oven. If cooked well done on the stove, they will come out rubbery and dry. Remove to a plate to cool as well.
5. Since I didn't use a pizza stone, I lined a pizza pan with foil and covered it with cornmeal. The pizza did not stick to the foil so you should be fine. Use your hands and play with the dough until it is stretched out to your size liking. Place on the pizza pan. Follow the recipe.
6. Pour on the sauce, but not too much. A little goes a long way and the dough won't be soggy. The pizza sauce recipe can be used up to two-to-three separate pizzas.
7. Sprinkled on all the cheese. Any amount to your liking again. I believe it adds up to a total of 2 cups or so.
8. Add the mushrooms, scallions, and freshly chopped basil.
9. Place on the shrimp, scallops, and squid.
10. (Optional) Brush the crust with a garlic olive oil blend.
11. Place in the oven and bake for about 7-9 minutes. Once out, allow to cool for a minute until slicing with a pizza cutter. And enjoy! The crust ended up being both doughy and crispy at the same time. Just fine the way it was.



Now that you have excess pizza sauce and dough, what other pizza creations will you come up with? Make it interesting..

***Vanilla Cupcakes with a Vanilla Buttercream Frosting***



Despite how I feel about Valentine's Day (Don't agree with it; things like this shouldn't be planned. Do whatever you want whenever you want.), these were for kids and you just have to go with it. They'll figure it out later! :-p

I kept this batter that I made from scratch simple since kids were going to be the ones to enjoy this batch of cupcakes. No need to add in my usual spices and such! I made a regular vanilla cake batter with a vanilla buttercream frosting that I dyed using my rose pink and red gel colors. The red helped to enhance the color and attain the deep-to-hot pink color that I wanted. And topped it off with sprinkles. Nothing too fancy. Just wanted to make sure the class left with smiles on their faces. And they did.

Happy Halloween!

Getting these cupcakes in just in time for Halloween! Can't believe that I am admitting this, but I was one of many people who wanted to sign up to bring a drink to work for our Halloween potluck party. I KNOW. But I was yelled at because "I can cook and it would be a crime for me to sign up for drinks when I can make something goOod!" Geez, I've only been thinking about my December/January travels through Central America and now Columbia! So I was pretty much banned from signing my name there and ended up signing up to bring in a dessert because I figured it is cheaper to make cupcakes from scratch then making a lunch dish.

So have fun, play in the kitchen, get messy, and experiment with different looks and designs this Halloween!

BoOoo! Happy Halloween

Baby Shower Cake

Here is the cake that I made for the surprise baby shower that I threw for a teacher at work last week:



I'll be honest and say that the cake did not end up looking the way I wanted it to and I realized that making a cake like this takes more work! Of course everyone said it was beautiful and they loved it as is. I have decided to just stick to cupcakes, regular 2-3 layer cakes, fun design cakes, and if I do decide to make a certain # tier cake, it'll be separated, not put together.

I made 3 different flavor cakes. The top layer was chocolate, then lemon, then white cake with sprinkles, and another layer of chocolate. I was going to make buttercream but the weather wasn't too cool that day and didn't want the frosting to melt, so I just stuck to making regular frosting. I dyed the frosting pink since the shower was for a baby girl, decorated each layer with white frosting decorations, and topped the cake with a baby rattle, two pacifiers, and pink sugar sprinkles.

The cake---was a success. Everyone loved it. The cake was perfectly moist, the frosting, just fantastic, and every plate I saw was pretty much clean. In fact, the first thing I overheard when I walked through the doors at work the next day were a couple of coworkers talking about the cake and how much they loved it. No lie! That is a compliment.

I guess maybe I am too much into food and they just like eating whatever they see. A foodie I am. :)

***Sadly we got the news a few days after the party that the adoption fell through. She would have adopted the baby next week. Very sad but she is still hopeful for a positive future and I believe luck will be on her side. She is a great mom. :)

It has been awhile...

So I'm just now finding the time to update with a post. Just recently got back from my Ecuador and Chile adventure. What a great time I had! And again, I wish I was back but already planning for a huge South America 2011 adventure. Anyway, I'll update what I had been able to do and then recap my adventures on and below the Equator.

First, I baked and decorated a cake for my besty Lacey. A pretty pink butterfly decorated with red hots. My original plan was to get the colorful rainbow sugar sprinkles and make a rainbow affect but she is not a fan of sprinkles so had to tweek everything around. She also only prefers the confetti cake and confetti frosting so that is why the frosting on the cake looks bumpy.



All I did was bake the cake in two 9-in round pans, allowed them to cool completely, stuck the cakes in the freezer for a couple hours, frosted and layered them and cut the cake in half and made sure to cut out a diamond near one edge, split the cake in half, and flipped them to make the shape of the butterfly. Frosted the cake and decorated it with the red hots. She loved it!

I enjoyed sushi for the first time in a month! It was nice! Sorry, no pictures. I figured it was just the usual!

And my friend RaraRosa aka rufflesizzle came down from SF and made plans to hang with her and her friend. Bluebizzy and Rufflesizzle reunited! I missed her. Ended up going back to Carnival, the Middle Eastern restaurant I fell in love with awhile back and was craving!


Ordered Tabouli. Tasted almost exactly like homemade! Except I grew up with a secret ingredient that isn't usually added in Tabouli. It's cucumber. My mom always added the crunch to it and that's how I'll always make it and prefer it in my Tabouli. So it was fantastic at the restaurant and I made it even more amazing by finely chopping up cucumbers and added it to the salad when I got home!


Grape leaves aka Dolma. Tastes exactly like homemade. Usually put ground beef into it but it is fine either way.

I also got Kibbeh but for some random reason, I forgot to take a picture of it! Ridiculous. It was splendid of course, and just like the first time I came here, there were only a few pine nuts in each Kibbeh. Ridiculous again! I'd like them to add more but besides that, they are darn good here!

Rosa and Maryanne got the Chicken Shawarma and were completely satisfied with their sandwiches. They took my tahini sauce that was on the side of my Kibbeh and used it in their sandwiches. They loved it. I'm not a fan of tahini so I was happy to let them utilize the sauce in their Shawarma!




I love Kafta so got a small plate of Kafta Kabob with rice, tomato, and onions. Amazing! Perfectly cooked, seasoned, and moist. Superb.



Next up, dessert of course!

Rosa settled with Baklava. It is filo dough with a mixture of walnut and cinnamon/sugar, honey (or most of the time it is actually a simple syrup), and usually topped with finely chopped pistachios. I would have ordered one but they used honey and I'm not a fan of honey. My preference is first enjoying Baklava without the syrup and then Baklava with a simple syrup. She ate it up.



Maryanne tried my dessert, LOVED it, and ordered her own. And myself, I of course got Knafeh!! If I could, I would eat this everyday! So I bought two so that I can keep it in the fridge and drag it out until the next time I have some more! It's shredded filo dough (usually dyed a pink-to-orange color), sweet cheese, and topped with a simple rose or orange blossom syrup and finely chopped pistachios. My go-to dessert. Get it. Now.



'En'credible Ecuador and Chilly Chile next up....

Cupcakes Delight

I can cook and bake wonderfully but when it comes to decorating, well, I was only given the sports gene, not the artistic/creative gene! So I decided, for fun, to take a cupcake decorating class in hopes of finding out what I can and cannot do and working on that. The class was taught by one of the Pastry Chefs at the Playboy Mansion, so right off the bat I knew this would be a good class to take. Obviously if she wasn't good, she wouldn't be working at a place like that.

I'll provide all the information I gained in the class as well as pictures of the instructor with her cupcakes and the steps I took to make my own. I hope everything I post here is helpful in some way. The class was pretty fast paced and grabbed as much info as I could in the time limit we had.

I found on my own that this is something I know I'd like to work on, but more of a hobby for myself to do on the side. I also have the huge urge to buy all cake decorating tools and turning my kitchen upside down! :) I'm also considering taking a 3-D Cookie class to step up the everyday cookie. Oh the things I do that easily excite me!

Cupcake Useful Tips In The Kitchen

♥ Cake is best when served at room temperature
♥ When coloring frosting, use gel or paste, not liquid in order to not get a watery frosting consistency
♥ Use an ice cream scoop so each cupcake is the same size
♥ To obtain perfectly flat cupcakes, bake at 340 degrees F
♥ Fill cupcake tins half full
♥ Do not hold the frosting-filled bags unless working with it in order to keep it thick and not heated through body heat
♥ Don't make Buttercream Frosting on a hot day; for the day, our Chef used shortening. On a hot day, the butter will just easily melt and be hard to work with
♥ To stuff a cupcake: use an apple corer, stick the cream into the cupcake by using a pastry tip or cut off the top with a paring knife
♥ Fondant: Gelatin, Glycerine, and Powdered Sugar. If it hardens, microwave for 10 seconds. If too hard, just throw away
♥ Marzipan: Almond and sugar confection used in desserts, cake decorating, and can be shaped as part of cake decorating

Getting Started.


Have your pastry bag folded over and fill with the frosting. Unfold the bag, as shown below, when filled with frosting.



Instructor demonstrating the inside-to-outside technique. Below she demonstrates the outside-to-inside technique of decorating a cupcake.



Demonstrating one way of stuffing a cupcake by injecting the pastry tip into the cupcake.


Making "grass".



Working with Fondant.


Making my favorite flower, the sunflower.

Her finished cupcakes:





YUM is all I have to say!

My Cupcakes. Practice will make perfect.



First cupcake is the outside-to-inside method and the second one is the inside-to-outside technique. Like I said, all practice work. I'll get better eventually. :)


Complete with cute red and pink hearts. ♥


Sunflower.





Butterfly and Two Ladybugs in a Lovely Spring Garden.




Finding Nemo. You know it!


Pretty in Pink Flower.

The last three cupcakes were somewhat rushed through due to our time limit and me spending SO much time with the other cupcakes (You can't rush good work in the kitchen!) that I kind of just played with the frostings and made random decorations.





And lastly, I played a little and added a happy :) face to one of the plain decorated cupcakes. I wanted to do the regular happy face with the black eyes and mouth but needed five more minutes to be able to do that.



This class has truly inspired me and made me confident enough to know that I don't need the "creative" gene to decorate a cupcake. It just takes practice. And I'm happy that my good friend Eunice will now trust me to bake and decorate her bridal shower cake later on in the future!