cooking up a storm

I actually have been cooking a lot and making up my own recipes...I know crazy right ;) The one I made tonight was super yummy so I thought I would share...

I used all vegetables on sale so use whatever you want but I used...

1 bunch of asparagus
1 container of mushrooms
1 zuccini
lots of baby carrots
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
You can use any meat but I used Jimmy Dean Sausages because they were on sale

I put all of the vegi's except the onion and garlic on baking sheets. I tossed them in olive oil, salt and pepper. I then put the sausages on top and let that cook in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Then I added the onions and garlic and turned it down to 250 for another 20 minutes. Then for five minutes I cooked it all together again at 350.

As a side dish we had knorr side dishes on sale so I cooked up the chicken rice and then added some half and half to make it a creamy rice. And that's it...it was so easy!!

Fiesta Chicken Pasta Salad

I'm trying to be better about trying new recipes..so here is one that I made this past week. I really liked the flavor and it's a fun summery salad :)

2 cups chicken breast cooked and cubed or sliced (season with a little salt and pepper and garlic powder)
1 lb. package bowtie pasta cooked according to package directions
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 green pepper, diced
1 handful of cilantro, chopped
1 package grape tomatoes, halved
2 cans sliced olives, drained
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
Salsa ranch salad dressing
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and cool. Add all ingredients in a bowl. Toss and mix in dressing. Season with salt and pepper.

Pumpkin Ice Cream Squares

I'm not a big fan of pumpkin pie, but was in charge of bringing desserts to each of our Thanksgiving dinners. I made this for one of the houses, it's a nice alternative to pumpkin pie, that's really yummy and still pumpkiny :)

1 16 oz. can solid pack pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1 tea. salt
1 tea. ground ginger
1/2 tea. ground nutmeg
ground cinnamon
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream softened
36 ginger snap cookies
1 cup cool whip

1. In large mixing bowl, mix pumpkin, sugar, salt, ginger, nutmeg, 1 tea. cinnamon until blended. Fold in softened ice cream until well blended.

2. Arrange half gingersnap cookies in bottom of 9x13 pan. Spoon half of ice cream mixture over cookies. Top with remaining cookies, then remaining ice cream mixture. Cover with plastic wrap, freeze 5 hours.

3. Cut, top each piece with cool whip. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Makes 15 servings.

More Pumpkin Bread!

I have another pumpkin bread recipe. The one I posted last year, Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread, is still the best I have had. However, this year I was looking for something a little more healthy for Camilla to snack on and I found a great one:

Pumpkin Chip Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
miniature chocolate chips
FROSTING:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Combine the eggs, pumpkin, oil, honey and water; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until combined; fold in walnuts and chocolate chips.
Fill greased or foil-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
For frosting, in a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes.

*I didn't add the walnuts since noone around here would eat them (except me) and I made them in a mini-muffin pan- oh and I halved the frosting (it is mostly for Ryan). Perfect snacks for baby and mommy :) The frosting is so good, I kept it in the fridge separately. Hope someone tries one of these!

(both recipes are from allrecipes.com)

Magnolia Cupcake recipe

Here is the recipe for the cupcakes I made for Addy's birthday. I got it from the Food Network website. Enjoy!!Everyone is always asking us which is the most popular cupcake at the bakery. Most people are surprised that it is what we call the vanilla vanilla ? the vanilla cupcake with the vanilla icing (and the most popular color for the icing is pink). If you would like to make a layer cake instead of cupcakes, divide the batter between 2 (9-inch) round cake pans and bake the layers for 30 to 40 minutes.

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:
Vanilla Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Vanilla Buttercream:
The vanilla buttercream we use at the bakery is technically not a buttercream but actually an old-fashioned confectioners' sugar and butter frosting. Be sure to beat the icing for the amount of time called for in the recipe to achieve the desired creamy texture.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Yield: enough for 2 dozen cupcakes or 1 (9-inch) layer cake

easy coconut curry (thai style)

With both of the recipes I just posted I kind of made them up so the amounts are as close as I could get them but taste along the way to make sure you like the taste of things. We thought both turned out really good. I especially liked the curry cause I am a huge fan of thai food :)

2 med onions
4 cloves garlic
3 1/2T butter
1 can coconut milk
a dolup of sour cream
2 cups chicken stock
2T red chili paste
2T curry powder
1 1/2T ground cinnamon
kosher salt
pepper
any meat (I used steak)
2 cups snow peas
1 container of mushrooms
1/2 red pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
2T lemon juice

Cook the onions, garlic and butter on a medium low heat for fifteen minutes, the onions should be translucent at this time. add the chili paste, curry powder, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and mix in well. Then add the coconut milk, chicken stock, and sour cream. Let that simmer for about 20 min. Then add in the meat, peas, mushrooms, red pepper, cilantro, and lemon juice. Cook for another 15 min or until veggies are soft. Taste and see if you need to add more salt or lemon juice.

Chicken and Stuffing casserole

3 large chicken breasts
kosher salt
pepper
olive oil
2 cans of cream of mushroom
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
1T lemon juice
1t cumin
1t italian parsley
1 cup mozzerella
1 cup parmesean
1 box stuffing prepared

Place the three large chicken breasts on a baking sheet covered in the oil, salt, and pepper. Let it roast on 350 for 25 min or until cooked through.
Cut up the chicken breasts and add it to the cream of mushroom, sour cream, mayo, mozzerella, lemon juice, cumin and italian parsley. Put the mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Add stuffing to the the top of mixture like a crust. Then put the parmesean cheese on top. Let it cook at 350 for 25 min. Eat!!

Cali Grilled Veggie Sandwiches

I thought it was about time we kicked off 2008 on this blog!

This is a really simple fresh dinner I made again tonight and remembered how really great it is. It is from allrecipes.com and calls for grilling but I just put the veggies in the oven with some olive oil on 375.

California Grilled Veggie Sandwich:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl lemon juice
1/8 cup olive oil
1 cup sliced red bell peppers
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 red onion, sliced (didn't use this)
1 small yellow squash, sliced
4 focaccia rolls or 2 focaccia bread pieces (it makes 4 open faced sandwiches)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. mix the mayonnaise, garlic and lemon juice. Set in refrigerator.
2. preheat grill for high heat. (i do it in the oven at 375)
3. brush veggies with olive oil. brush grate with oil. place bell peppers, zucchini closest to the middle of the grill, and set onion and squash pieces around them. Cook for about 3 minutes, turn, and cook for another 3 minutes. The peppers may take a bit longer. Remove from grill, set aside.
*4. Spread some of the mayo mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese. Place on the grill cheese side up, and cover with lid for 2 to 3 minutes. This will warm the bread and slightly melt the cheese. Watch carefully so the bottoms don't burn. Remove from gril, and layer with vegetables. Enjoy as open faced grilled sandwiches.

*I do it different- I roast the veggies in the oven, put the mayo on the bread, add the roasted veggies and then layer on the feta cheese and broil the whole sandwich to melt the cheese a little. yummy :) I have also done this on ciabatta bread and it is just as good. Also add some garlic salt to the veggies for more flavor.

The Best Chocolate Cake Ever, Seriously

No, really- I love it. But it's not for the faint of heart. Very rich, very delicious! Give it a go and let me know what you think.

1 cube margarine
1/2 cup oil
4 Tbsp coca
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
2 cup flour
2 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk you can use regular milk and add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and let it sit for 5 min.)
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Combine first five ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add the flour, sugar, and buttermilk. Then add the baking soda, eggs and vanilla. Mix well then pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Icing:
1 cube butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
4 tbs milk
4 tbs coca
1 tsp vanilla

Mix and pour over warm cake. (you may need a little more milk- I did)

From The Friendly Kitchen: Agnes McCafferty’s World Famous Secret Recipe:

(…for, um, chocolate chip cookies)

This was on my cousin Hannah's blog and I thought it was the perfect recipe for us girls!

You need:

¨ 1 cup of flour

¨ 1 cup of sugar

¨ 1 tin of crisco

¨ 1 pkg chocolate chips

¨ 1 tin of baking powder

¨ 1 medium mixing bowl

¨ 1 cup of hot chocolate…the chocolateier the better

¨ 2 regular sized candy canes

¨ 1 stylish apron

¨ 1 pearl necklace (optional)

First: Preheat the oven to 350, or somewhere in that neighborhood. Next, tie the stylish apron carefully around your waist so as not to wrinkle the silk party dress you are undoubtedly wearing. You may want to bring a full length mirror in at this point to admire how charming and domestic you look. We recommend fastening one to the inside of your pantry for easy access. Now take out the ingredients we’ve conveniently listed above. Carefully arrange these items on the counter for maximum visibility. It's important that passersby know how hard you are working. You may want to include some other things to add authenticity: eggs, butter, baking soda, milk, etc. However, we find that these items can be messy and choose not to bother with them at all. After opening the chocolate chip bag to sample a few tasty morsels, go to your refrigerator and remove one pkg of Nestle Tollhouse cookie dough. Slicing the dough yourself can be exhausting, so we recommend placing one slice of cookie dough in your mouth for each one you place on the cookie sheet. It is important to keep one’s strength up. Now, place the cookie sheet into the oven and cook for however long it is that you are supposed to. I’m sure it’s on the package. After all the dough has been eaten used, be sure to throw the wrapper away so as not to disillusion your guests. Now, you’ve worked hard! You deserve a little reward, so we suggest you treat yourself to a nice cup of hot cocoa, and a candy cane while you wait for your cookies to finish. (Don’t forget to dab just a little flour on your cheeks just before you serve, it adds that “I’ve been slaving over a hot stove all day so you could have this cookie” touch!)

Tragically I was so busy writing the recipe, my cookies burned.