Quick Cobbler

This is one dessert I always look forward to. And it is always best with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream! ;)

photo credit

1 stick of melted butter
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c milk
1 can pie filling- whatever flavor you want!

Melt the butter in a casserold dish. Mix in remainging ingredients (minus the pie filling). Pour the the pie filling in the middle of the mix- Don't stir or cover it up. The cobbler will cook up over the fruit.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr or until the top is golden brown and set in the middle.

Enjoy!!

Meatball Sub

This was something I had wanted to try making myself for a long time, and it was actually very easy and extremely tasty :) Since these sandwiches are very filling and makes a ton of sandwiches, these are perfect for a large family. The best part is that you can also freeze the meatballs and use them later if you don't have a lot of people to feed at once.

What you need:

(for meatballs)
1 lb ground beef
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp chopped onion (fresh, not dried minced)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten

french bread
marinara sauce
mozzarella cheese

Combine meatball ingredients in a large bowl, mix well. Shape mixture into small balls (about 1 in)

You can cook them two ways. Either bake them at 375 for 20-30 min, turning over halfway thru the baking time. Or, cook the meatballs in skillet with oil for 8-10 minutes, turning often to avoid burning. Baking helps them to not be so greasy so I use that method for the sandwiches. Makes about 4 dozen meatballs.

Slice your french bread in half and spread a little olive oil on the inside. place them on a pan (with foil for easy cleanup) and broil on low for 1-3 minutes, or just until lightly toasted. Place a few meatballs on each slice, cover with marinara and mozzarella cheese and broil until cheese melts and sauce is hot.

Grab a handful of napkins and enjoy!!

Yule Log

Another catch-up post....

This past Christmas I decided I wanted to try making a Yule Log for dessert. I hadn't ever even tasted one before so I was pretty nervous, but It ended up tasting pretty darn good. (you'll definitely need a big glass of milk to down this baby!) It also took me a while to make this. I'd say at least an hour, but it was so worth it to see (and taste!) the finished product. Everyone in my family loved it and was impressed that I made something so complex and fun :)

It basically looks like a giant "Ho-ho" or "Swiss Cake Roll"



What you need:

1/3 c flour
1/3 c cocoa powder
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs, separated
1 c sugar, (divided into 1/2 c and 2: 1/4 c)
1 8oz cool whip, thawed
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 15x10 jelly roll pan with parchment paper (a cookie sheet with sides in case you didn't know what a jelly roll pan is ;) Butter and flour parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add 1/2 c sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks and 1/4 c sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Fold 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture. Alternately fold in the remaining egg whites and the flour mixture. Pour batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Dust a clean cloth with the remaining 1/4 c sugar. Turn the cake onto the prepared cloth and remove the parchment paper. (This is when I'm mad at myself for not taking process pictures to help you...) Starting with the long side, tightly roll up the cake in the cloth (do not remove the cloth as you roll!) Let the cake cool, seam side down, on a wire rack.

Once the cake is cool, very carefully unroll the cake. Spread the cool whip to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Roll the cake back up and place seam side down on the dish you plan to serve it on. Cut a 3 inch piece off one of the sides and using some whipped cream, stick it on the top of the cake so that it looks like a small branch sticking out the side of a log.

For the icing, place chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1-1 1/2 minutes. Stir until butter and chocolate have completely melted and the icing is smooth.

Frost the log on the tops and sides, leaving the swirled edges showing. Let the frosting set and then take a fork and drag it softly through the frosting from end to end, giving the log a wavy wood-grain look. Dust lightly with powdered sugar right before serving to look like snow. Refrigerate until served.

Makes about 12 servings.

Sweet Potato Pie

I have to apologize for my complete lack of blogging in what... 7 months? yikes! I don't really have a good excuse other than everyday life keeping me busy enough to slack off here. So for that, I'm sorry.

I had the chance to make some pies for Thanksgiving last year and they turned out so well that I wanted to share the recipe with you. This recipe is obviously more "fall" than our current season, but it is still so yummy! It tastes like pumpkin pie, but even better :)

Sweet Potato Pie

What you need:

1 large sweet potato
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Bake the sweet potato (skin still on) for 40-50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over it and peel off the skin.

Mash the sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. (The pie will puff up and then will sink down as it cools)

Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe was shared with me by an awesome lady who lives down the street. She is always talking about these yummy recipes she makes and this is the first one I've tried from her. And I've gotta tell ya, I'm going to need ALL her recipes if they are as good as this :) Mmm...

Here's what you need:

1 Butternut Squash
1 apple
1 onion
2-3 carrots (or about 1 1/2 cup baby carrots)
Chicken stock (about 2 cups)
Nutmeg or Curry
Brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350. Place squash on a cookie sheet (put foil down to help with cleanup). Poke a few holes in the squash with a knife and bake for 1 hour or until it is soft. (You don't need to peel or cut it up. Just poke it and toss it in the oven!) To check softness, poke the squash with a fork on the end closest to the stem. (The bottom half is semi-hollow where all the seeds are). Take out of oven and let cool. Once cool, cut the squash in half length-wise, scoop out all the seeds and throw them away. Scoop out all the flesh off of the skin into a bowl and set aside.

*I baked my squash in the morning and let it sit on the counter to cool for a few hours. It seemed a lot easier that way.

Peel and chop the apple, onion and carrots. In a pot, saute the apple, onion and carrots in olive oil until they're soft.

Puree veggies and cooked squash with chicken broth in a blender, food processor, or with an emulsion blender right in the pot, til smooth. If you're using the blender or food processor, don't forget to vent the lid so you don't get an explosion in the kitchen ;)

Season with salt and pepper, brown sugar, and nutmeg or curry (we did nutmeg) and heat thru. Just add the spices to your taste preference.

Enjoy! Thanks, Ingrid for sharing this with me. I'm definitely going to be trying the rest of your recipes in the future!

Fried Zucchini

This little number was created in the hustle bustle of our very own at-home Iron Chef competition with some friends. I didn't really measure anything, so this recipe is approximately what I think I put into the batter... Hope you like it!

What you need:
2-3 zucchini or yellow summer squash
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
vegetable oil for frying

Slice zucchini and/or yellow summer squash into thin rounds. In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs and set aside. In another bowl (I usually use an 8x8 cakepan for this step) mix flour, white pepper, and tsp salt.

Heat some vegetable oil on medium-high heat in a small sauce pan. When oil is hot, take a few zucchini at a time and soak them in the egg, then toss them into the flour mixture until they're covered. shake off any excess and put about 4-5 slices in the oil at a time. (If you add too many too quickly, the oil temp will drop to fast and not fry the zucchini correctly.)

You want the batter to be a nice golden brown. If it is too dark, turn down the heat and wait for the oil to cool before adding more zucchini. Once they're done, take them out and set them on a few sheets of paper towels to absorb some of the oil.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Leave your comments on these if you enjoyed them or if you think I need to add/use less pepper or salt to the recipe. I really have no idea how much I put in the mix haha! I also want to try something similar to this to try and make fried green tomatoes. mmmmm....

Homemade Pancakes

We like to have breakfast for dinner at least once a week at our house. And although we try to mix things up by having different styles of eggs, and sometimes french toast, our main B4D meal is pancakes.

But honestly... I'm not such a huge fan of the "just add water" variety even though that's what we always use. We like to add vanilla or other things to the mix to make them taste better, but there's just something off, ya know?

A few months ago I was visiting my sister and they have a family tradition that they eat pancakes (or waffles) for dinner EVERY Sunday. And they know how to mix things up! They had a few different recipes to try and I gotta tell ya, they were fabulous!

I'm sure I'll share some of the other recipes with you someday, but today I'd like to share the recipe that I will now use instead of buying the nasty pre-made stuff: a very simple, homemade, good old fashioned pancake mix.

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

Mix them all together until the batter is no longer lumpy. Have a pan warming up on the stove to medium heat and spray with non-stick spray. Add 1/4 c of batter and wait til most the bubbles pop and flip over. Let cook a minute or two more and you're done!

Toss on your favorite fruits, cream or syrup and enjoy!! MMMmmmmm....

Homemade Potato Chips

My mouth is watering just thinking about these... mmmmm.... This is a pretty quick recipe to make as far as prep and cooking goes, but it does require some time to chill in the fridge. So make sure you plan ahead.

Start out peeling a few potatoes (not that many, maybe 3 or 4 if there is only a few of you).

Thinly slice your potatoes. If you have a mandolin, it'll be a lot easier to get a consistant size, but we've used a knife just fine.

Soak your chips in a bowl of cold water in the fridge for at the very least 10-15 minutes. But the longer you let them soak, the better they'll taste. I think they taste great if you let them soak around 45 min-1 hr.

Pull out your chips and dry them off on some paper towels. Have some vegetable oil heating up on med-high heat and put in a few chips at a time. If you put too many in at once, the temperature of the oil will drop too quickly and you won't get a crispy chip. Only let them sit until the edges start to get brown and pull them out. (They won't be completely cooked yet) After you've done this to all your chips, give them another dip in the oil just like before. Put them in a bowl with some paper towels to soak up the extra oil and sprinkle some salt on them.

Serve warm and enjoy! They taste a lot like french fries so if you want to dip them in ketchup, go right ahead :)

Sweet Land of Liberty!

First of all, I cannot take any credit for the inspiration of this cake. I saw it on another blog I read, who then gave the link for the original idea. And I have to admit, the original one looks MUCH MUCH MUCH better than mine. But I take solice in the fact that it was my first try, and I used store bought icing instead of making my own (which I knew I should have done but didn't have the time to) So- for next time, I know it'll turn out much better than this and won't be so goopy!

And now that we've cleared up all that, onto the cake!

I started out with 2 mixes of white cake.

Make 1 mix exactly as directed for a 2, 9 inch round cake pan recipe. Let cool 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack. Set aside.

Mix the second cake mix as directed and divide batter in half. Using regular food coloring, mix one half with blue coloring and the other half with red. Make sure to use enough to ensure a deep blue and red instead of pastels ;) Bake as directed and cool the same way you did with the white cakes.

Once your cakes are completely cool, take 1 white cake and cut it in half (so that you have 2 thin round cakes about an inch high) Do the same with the red cake.

Place one thin layer of white cake on your serving dish and add a thin layer of icing.


*Note* Here's where I went wrong using storebought icing. It was too runny and basically gave no support to the cake at all. If you have a homemade icing recipe (usually calls for powdered sugar, milk, butter and shortening) use that instead. It should help your cake look "cleaner."

Make sure you only pull the icing in one direction as you ice the cake or you will get little fluffs of cake all over and it will look messy.

Add 1 thin layer of red cake and add another thin layer of icing.


Here's the tricky part... Now you're going to take your remaining thin layers of red and white and cut a small circle out of the center, like a donut. I used a small bowl and pressed it down like a cookie-cutter to make sure I had the same size each time. Place the small white circle in the center of your cake, add a small layer of icing and then the red layer, ice.


Your blue cake should still be the original size. Take the same bowl or whatever you used to measure out the hole for the red and white cakes and cut out a hole in the blue cake. This time, however, you will be using the ring instead of the center. For this next step you will need a second pair of hands (I know because I ripped my cake trying to do this by myself...) Place the blue ring on the top of the cake, with your smaller white and red circles fitting inside.


If the blue sticks up too high (like mine did!) Use a knife and trim it until it is level with the red.

You can now fully ice your cake. When you're ready to serve, your cake should look like this (hopefully better) when you're done.


One great thing about this cake is all the scraps left over- Yum!


I'd like to thank 17 and Baking for this original idea. Click here to see her beautiful cake and don't laugh too hard at mine after you see how amazing hers looks ;)

Italian-Style Breaded Chicken

I found this recipe online and decided to make this for my husband's birthday dinner. We both LOVED it! I'll definitely be making this one again. The chicken was so moist and crunchy all at the same time and the lemon and rosemary had a flavor party in my mouth. Mmmmm!!


What you need:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp dried rosemary, or 1/2 Tbsp fresh rosemary
juice from 1/4 lemon
1/2 c panko bread crumbs
1/4 c finely crushed almonds
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a casserole dish lightly with olive oil and set aside.

Combine the mayonnaise, lemon zest, rosemary, and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine bread crumbs, almonds and cheese and mix well.

Place chicken in casserole dish and brush mayonnaise mixture on top. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the mayonnaise until well coated.

Drizzle olive oil on top of the bread crumbs and bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes or until chicken is done.

Enjoy!

I did change a few things from the original recipe, but I still would like to give them the credit they deserve for inspiring me. Click here for the original.