Edible Ornaments

Or as some of my relatives said ... orna-mints. Hardy har har! :) This is super easy to do, fun and they make really adorable gifts.

Step one: buy peppermint candies, cooking spray & parchment paper (if you don't have it)

Step two: select which shapes you're going to make

Step three: set oven to 350 degrees

Step four: spray cutters with cooking spray

Step five: place cutters on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and then place candies inside - they melt and spread out so you do NOT need to worry about getting candy in every empty space

Step six: place cookie sheet in oven for about 6 minutes (might take longer)

Step seven: once melted, remove cookie sheet - and if you're going to make it into an ornament that can hang, you'll need to use a toothpick (though I used a nut pick as the metal was better) to make a hole for a piece of string/ribbon to go through. 

*You'll need to wait until it's cooled a little or the hole will close right up. And you might need to make the whole and go back a minute or so later to "clean it up."

***If you want to make it a tree ornament that can be used year after year, you'll probably want to spare it with something to preserve it. 

Gingerbread Men

These are some of the most delicious cookies I have ever baked! And I got to use my "new" (I got them over a year ago, but never got the chance to use them) cookie cutters that included a little gingerbread man. 

I used the Gingerbread Man recipe from my Fanny Farmer cook book, and now, I always will!!!!!

mmmm....

My Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie

It was super tasty. 

Graham Cracker crust.

Pie recipe off of the can. 

I love Pumpkin Pie!

My friendsgiving stuffing in progress...

Kentucky Derby Bread Pudding

Banana Bread with mini chocolate chips!

Banana Bread - Yum.

Chocolate Chips - Yum.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips - Double Yum!

The not so mistake mistake cake!

So this was the cake I made for my mom on her Birthday this year. It's a mistake cake that turned out to be anything but a mistake! :o)

The middle layer that you see there is a brownie ... you see I thought I had picked up a box of dark chocolate cake mix, when in fact, what I picked up was a dark chocolate brownie mix. Interesting factoid ... I didn't even notice it was a brownie mix until it was baking ... ha ha ha.

But I digress...when I realized my mistake, suddenly the raspberry jam to put between the two layers of chocolate cake didn't seem possible. Thankfully I was at my folks place, and they had a white cake mix on the pantry shelf, so I made that and then I improvised.

White cake, brownie, raspberry jam, white cake ... chocolate frosting and non-perils.

It was actually quite DELICIOUS!!!!!

Guh-schnitzel-Tiss

This is what mom wanted for her B-day dinner ... it's so gooooooooooooooooooood!!!!!

Galumpki

This was my first attempt at Polish Manicotti .... I'll see if I can find the recipe to put it on here ... but you can in fact google and find a whole slew of them. ;o)

Amish Refrigerator Pickles

Giving these a try ... easy to make ... hopefully YUMMY to consume.

Sliced cucumbers (I actually used mini cuc's 'cause they were cute)

1 Onion, sliced

1 Green bell pepper, sliced

1 cup of cider vinegar (I didn't have cider so I used white vinegar)

Dressing mixture:

2 cups sugar (yes you read that correctly)

1 tsp celery seed

2 tbsps salt

*With the amount of liquid I had - from the above portions - I was able to do 2 large mason jars.

After layering the cucumbers, onions and green pepper into the jars, pour dressing over top (1/2 of the dressing in each jar) and then top it off with cold water.

Give it a shake and pop it in the fridge.

They'll (according to the recipe I found) be good to go the following day!

Apple Cinnamon Water

1. I'm trying to lose some weight ...

2. I'm trying to drink the 'right' amount of water every day ..

3. I thought I'd combine the two and try some water infusions that are labeled as "detoxers" and are supposed to be good for helping to slim down WHILE ridding the body of toxins.

First try is Apple Cinnamon Water (in my new infuser pitcher). 

1 cinnamon stick

Thinly sliced apple (of your choice)

Let sit in fridge for at least one hour before consuming.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Smoothie

I did it!!!

30 Days of June = 30 New Kitchen Creations!!! 

Woot woot!

Today's creation was a Chocolate Chip Smoothie ...

1 cup vanilla ice cream

1 cup milk

1 cup cookies (crumbled)

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Tasty ... but, it was too liquidy for me, and the mini chips didn't blend, they sank to the bottom. Still good to eat / drink ... but not a smoothie I would make again (I don't think), unless I used a LOT more ice cream. ;o)

Butterbean and Tuna Salad

Butterbean and Tuna Salad with celery, capers, scallion and a lemon Dijon dressing!

Found the recipe on line ... made it and then put it on slices of (fresh bread) toast.

Yummmmmmmmmmm....

It's so super easy! And tasty.

It's funny how, by having a tuna salad that's made for you fairly regularly as a kid, that you most likely won't think to look up recipes for other ways to make "it." I didn't search tuna fish salad's, I searched for "summer salads," and came upon this recipe.

First time I've ever used a butterbean -- they're pretty big!

The lemon Dijon dressing was easy to make too, and it's really good. 

I imagine it would be tasty on many things...

Juice from one small Fresh Lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

2 Teaspoons of Dijon Mustard

(whisk them together)

Fresh Ground Salt and Pepper

1/4 cup Olive Oil

(whisk them again)

Chop a few scallions up and add them into the mixture, stir it up.

Boom, lemon dijon dressing!

  

Lady Fingers to make a Trifle

Ok, so the lady fingers kinda look like lady blobs, but they tasted good! 

Nice and soft, light and airy, but cakey too ... berry berry goot!

I had a helper throughout the making of this dish! :)

The finished product!

I don't own a trifle dish - nor does my Mum, who's house I was making this in - so I used two clear bread pans -- so that you can still see the layers (well, sort of).

I whipped the cream me-self!

(Heavy Cream, sugar and vanilla and ya whip it 'till it's whippy!)

Store bought blueberries and strawberries!

Then, ya layer it all up.

Lady Fingers / Whip cream / Berries / Whip / Lady Blobs repeat...and or some variation on that theme!

Then you eat it! 

Zucchini Chips

Believe it or not, what you see here is the final batch of zucchini chips from 2 medium zucchini's ... they shrink up so much! But they're really good. And again, SUPER easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for them to bake up in the oven.

The top batch has an additional ingredient, smoked paprika! :)

Slice up your zucchini

Rub with olive oil - not too much

Sprinkle with salt & pepper and paprika (I've read that the paprika makes it even "better" for you...)

Bake - on a cookie sheet - for about 2 hours on 225 degree's fahrenheit 

Edamame Salad

Edamame

Scallions (chopped)

Olive Oil

Fresh Lemon Juice

Feta Cheese 

Salt & Pepper

Combine ingredients in a bowl and stir ... and then enjoy!

*This recipe is one that a friend gave the ingredients to me, but he didn't have measurements so I decided upon the amounts ... so, everything is "to taste." I used frozen, pre-shelled soybeans in a steamer bag from the frozen veggies section of the supermarket.

Meringue's

So making individual meringue's is like making a pavlova on a very small scale and en mass! The recipe is slightly different from the pavlova. Here's the recipe I used:

And here's how they came out:

Pancakes with Nutella Filing

Shrimp and Grits Ya'll

Shrimp and Grits y'all!

I found this recipe on line ... I had shrimp, didn't want to go to the supermarket after work, boom ... Shrimp and Grits!

In this recipe, a slightly altered version of what I found on line - but not by much:

 Grits (with mayo - mayo added after grits were cooked) -- cooked and set aside while cooking the shrimps

1 red onion - chopped and sautéed in oil with coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper; once sautéed add the shrimps and cook until they're pink; once shrimps have pinked up, add the juice from one small lemon; approx. 2 tablespoons of Sriacha hot sauce; approx. 1 tablespoon of butter; shrimps; 1-2 tsp dried parsley and cook for about 5-minutes on low heat.

Place some grits in a bowl, top with shrimps and enjoy!

Fried Ice Cream

Saso's Japanese Noodle House (which sadly no longer exists) was my intro to fried ice cream. Though I worked there for a few years, and eaten many, tonight was the first night I ever made one. This recipe is NOT the one that the restaurant used, but it is fried ... fried ice cream ... and it is TASTY!!!

The most difficult part of making fried ice cream ... waiting while each step freezes!

Ingredients: 

This easy recipe called for ice cream (I used neapolitan), corn flakes (I used Strawberry Special K), an egg white and frying oil.

What to do .... 

Step 1. Make balls (ha, balls) of ice cream, place on tray and place tray in freezer for 1-hour.

Step 2. Crush corn flakes.

Step 3. Beat egg white (I used 1 egg for these two balls -- balls, ha ha ha) until it's frothy. 

Step 4. Roll frozen ice cream balls in egg white and then in corn flakes. (Roll more than once if needed, make sure they're totally covered.)

Step 5. Replace on tray and in freezer for another 3-hours.

Step 6. When you're ready to fry -- and by that I mean, when you're ready to eat -- Heat oil. Place ice cream balls, one or two at a  time, into the oil. 10 seconds or so (until corn flakes have browned up). Remove and place on paper towel to soak up excess oil.

Step 7. Place in bowl, drizzle with chocolate syrup ... EAT!!!

A Traditional New Zealand Pavlova

This recipe is another one from my 33'rd Bday ... it came from my Kiwi friend Lisette! It's really easy and super delicious! The recipe she sent is below these photos.

RECIPE:

A Father's Day Old Fashioned

Eggplant & White Bean Ragout over Wagon Wheel Pasta

Yes I used the soffritto from the other day as my base for this dish. Yes I used white beans again. No I've never made "this" dish before. :o)

In addition to using eggplant in the ragout I also added some more tomato paste and a bit of garlic powder. And I put it over Wagon Wheel pasta! 

It's a bit of a lazy "new thing" to have cooked today, but it is new ... LOL

Homemade Popcorn

Accidentally posted this on my other blog last night ... so here it is today ... 6/19/15's dish for the day was homemade popcorn with homemade seasoning's.

1. Old Bay and Butter

2. Salt-n-Vinegar (malt vinegar)

~Don't know that I've made stovetop popcorn since I was a kid! :o)

White Bean Ragout with Toast

Found this recipe in a magazine at some point, I've had it for a while and finally made it today!

And it is SO good!

While making it, I also learned a.) What soffritto is, and b.) how to make it.

This (below) is what the soffritto I made looks like, it's a "base" for many things.

Here's a link to a definition of soffritto: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/soffritto

And here is the recipe that I found and used. 

The only thing I did differently was to leave out the final cup of of veggie broth, It would have been too soupy if I'd put it in.

Cooking with Quinoa

Yesterday, I forgot to post this - and to take a picture of it ... but I digress, yesterday I made a quinoa "dish" that was supremely tasty and VERY easy to make. Cook up some quinoa. While it's cooking place some sliced almonds and pine nuts in a skillet and slow roast them. I put a bit of olive oil in the pan before adding the nuts. Then, once added, I sprinkled a bit of coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Once quinoa is cooked place on a plate and pour a little olive oil over it, mix it up, and then add the cooked nuts. 

Salt and pepper to taste.

And enjoy!

Open Faced Eggplant Sandwiches (?)

This open faced "sandwich" is something I made up after I saw a photo that was an actual Eggplant Sandwich (as in, Eggplant instead of bread). In the pic the eggplant was grilled, but I don't have an outdoor grill so I stove top grilled it. I also stove top grilled 2-slices of fresh red bell pepper. Then I layered the eggplant with the red bell pepper; added some artichoke alouette spreadable cheese; fresh avocado slices and add some freshly ground black pepper and coarse sea salt.

Tasty!!!

G'ma's Butterscotch Dreams!

First time I've ever made these ... and with that I can check my one-a-day kitchen creation off for today, AND check another thing off as COOKED, from my 33 Variations Cookbook Bday! 

Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter; 1/2 cup sugar; 1-3/4 cup flour; 1-1/2 cup brown sugar; 1/2 tsp vanilla; 2 egg yolks (save the whites).

Rub all ingredietns together except egg whites and brown sugar, forming crumbs. Spread crumbs in flat ungreased pan. Beat egg whites until stiff, then add brown sugar to egg whites. Spread this mixture on crumbs. BAKE at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cut into square immediately, then cool in pan.

*They taste great, but they are a little dryer than I remember G'ma's being, and I think I should have used a third egg -- or gotten large eggs -- as you can see in the top left pic, the topping didn't spread around all the way. Oh, and I think I would, with my current stove at least, turn the temp down by 25 degrees.

Berry and Mint Infused Ice Cubes

Raspberries and Blackberries on the left. Mint leaves on the left. 

To be used in Iced Tea ... we'll see how they do! :o)

(They're in snack size ziplock reusable plastic containers.)

Am drinking some Green Mint Tea with a Mint Infused Ice Cube ... refreshing! :) 

And you only need one cube per drink!

Open Faced Zucchini "Sandwiches"

Saw this 'sandwich' in a post on Facebook that was all about sandwiches you can make without using bread (really good for those who are gluten intolerant ... good for me 'cause it's tasty and healthy)!

Ingredients:

1 zucchini (or cucumber) - hollowed out

Spreadable cheese of your choosing

Deli meat of your choosing

*I used a Zucchini, Black Forest Ham and Garlic-n-Herb Alouette Cheese [I also ate the hollowed out bits ... lol]

Beer Can Bacon Burgers

Ladies and gentlemen, all I can say is Daaaaaaaaaaaaaay-uuuummmmmnnnnn! So freaking GOOD!!!

I found the recipe on Facebook, someone posted a link to the BBQ Pit Boys Youtbue video for their Beer Can Bacon Burgers ... 

I followed the recipe ... and boom, Mom, Dad and I were in heaven!!!

Top left - and bottom middle - from the bottom -- Mom, Me, Dad ... So. Freaking. Good!

***The stuffing's we used were sautéed green/orange/red bell peppers & onions, sautéed mushrooms; and pepper jack cheese (dad also had a few slices of prosciutto in it).