Cupcakes

I am a little embarrassed to say that I have never made cupcakes or cake from scratch.  I've always used a box mix; it's just easier.  And they taste good, so why bother with baking from scratch?  I am hosting a girls day in a few weeks, and I have decided to serve cupcakes.  I made this incredibly cute cupcake platter at The Pottery Works in Lancaster, PA.

So do I make cupcakes from scratch?  Or do I stick with my regular box mix?  

Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I love mint, it's a very refreshing flavor that makes me think of spring.  I also love mint and chocolate together and I love cookies.  So why not put them together!? What I came up with was yummy mint chocolate chunk cookies made from scratch.  It's so easy to just make cookies or other baked good from a box or mix, but this recipe is really easy, almost as easy as cooking from a box.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter(1 cup), room temp
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 Andes chocolate mints, or any other brand, broken or cut into chunks

Start Cooking:
1.  Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.
2.  Using a stand mixer or hand held electric mixer, cream together butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract.  Then add eggs one at a time, making sure they are well mixed in with the butter and sugars.
3.  In another bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt.  Slowly add the flour mixture to butter mixture, using the electric mixer to combine.  Once all the flour is mixed in, use a rubber scraper to fold in the mint chocolate chunks.
4.  Spoon onto cookie sheets, or use a cookie scoop.

5.  Bake for 9-11 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cook on cookie sheet for 1 minute.  Then transfer to cooling racks.  Store in air tight container.

Tips and Hints:

1.  before chopping up the chocolate mints, put them in the fridge for about an hour.  It will make them cold and easier to handle(they won't melt while handling them!).  

2.  serve the cookies while warm, or heat for a few seconds in the microwave. Yummy!

Enjoy!

One Pot Meal

I love cooking, we all know that.  I love finding recipes, trying new foods, and sharing my findings.  But I hate cleaning up after cooking.  I hate dishes, and cooking creates lots of dishes.  So I set out to make a healthy complete one pot meal.  What I came up with was a pasta dish, all cooked in one pot.

Ingredients:
pasta, any style you like or have on hand
veggie chicken strips(or real chicken if you eat meat)
frozen veggies
tomato sauce
Italian seasoning to taste

Start Cooking:
1.  Use a large skillet with high sides and a lid.  Put pasta and enough water to cook the pasta in the large skillet.  Bring to a boil and cook until just under cooked.  Drain out extra water. Remove pasta from skillet.
2.  Add chicken to skillet and cook until done.  Then add the pasta back to the skillet.  Add tomato sauce, and frozen veggies.  Cover and cook until veggies are cooked and entire meal is cooked through.  Season to taste.  Serve with grated cheese, to taste.

Tips and Hints:

1.  Don't like chicken?  Or have another meat on hand?  Substitute ground beef, sausage, or other meats for the chicken.  

2.  This is a great meal to make up a big batch and serve a lot of people or have leftovers. 

Enjoy!

I'm renovating!

Well, I guess I should say my uncle is renovating.  And I'm helping, or trying to at least.  We are working on screening in my porch.  This project is proving to be a lot harder than I thought it would be, or at least a lot more work than I thought.  We worked for a few hours today and are about half way done.  My uncle will be coming back in a few weeks to help finish the project.

The screen is kind of hard to see in the picture, but it goes until the last unpainted poll on the right of the picture.  Our first panel was our worst, but we got it down by the third panel!
I'm looking forward to bug free meals on my new porch for the summer!

multi tasking, not my strong point

Lots to update on today, and I guess I should really break this up into a few posts.  But I'm really trying to work on my multi tasking skills.
First, my first attempt at making pasta:  semi-success!  I say only semi because I made it in a class, not on my own.  But I feel comfortable making homemade pasta on my own.  It's a little time consuming, not as fast as dumping store bought pasta out of a box.  Your time really does pay off; the pasta is super yummy!  I will be attempting to make the pasta on my own and will share with you later.
Second, a new book in a new life:  Momma A lent me the book The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, by Steig Larsson a few months ago.  Momma A blogged about this book here.  After she gave it to me, it went on my over flowing bookshelf and I forgot about it.  I have been doing some spring cleaning and found the book.  I have been reading it for about a week now and I love it, it's a great read.  Momma A had said that her oldest son would enjoy the book also; I'm not so sure if he would enjoy the book, not like the other books he normally reads, but I will be sure to pass it along to him just the same.
Oh and more multi tasking:  I'm also watching my new favorite show, Harry's Law.  What are your favorite tv shows of the moment?

Something New

Two months have passed since Momma A passed.  As with this whole journey, I have very mixed emotions today; conflicting emotions.  I find it interesting that I am taking a cooking class today to learn something I've never made before.  A new beginning in my kitchen and also a new beginning in my life without Momma A.  

Today I am taking a cooking class with Essen, a "recreational cooking school" in Lancaster, PA.  I have taken a bunch of cooking classes with Essen over the past 2 years or so and I have loved each class.  Today I am taking a class on homemade pasta.  As many of you know, I LOVE pasta.  I eat it a few times a week.  But I have never made my own.  I've always been afraid to make it.  Have you ever been afraid to try and make something new?  I've been afraid to make something new in my life without Momma A and afraid to make something new in my kitchen.  So today is all about something new for me.  

I'll let you all know how to homemade pasta goes!   

I'll be having a drink for you, Momma A ;) 

Applesauce Muffins

It's been a little while since I've cooked from my Deceptively Delicious cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld.  Months ago, I made up a ton of veggie purees and froze them.  My freezer is filled with them.  Why not use some of it?!  So I decided on Applesauce Muffins with carrot puree.  I know, it sounds really weird.  But they turned out really well and the carrot is not the dominating flavor, but seems to just give the muffins a little extra sweetness.  The recipe makes 12 muffins, way more than I can eat by myself before they go bad.  So I gave half to my mom.  Later that evening, after giving my mom the muffins, I got a text saying "Wow, excellent muffins!  Thanks for sharing."  So now I will share with everyone else.  Recipe take directly from Deceptively Delicious.

Ingredients:


Topping:
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted(original recipe calls for trans fat free margarine, but I prefer to use real butter when baking)

Batter:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup carrot puree(see previous blog post on purees for directions)
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 egg

Start cooking:
1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Coat a 12-cup muffin tin(or 2 6-cup tins) with cooking spray or live with paper baking cups.
2.  To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.  Stir in the margarine(or butter).
3.  To make the batter, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and stir to mix.  In a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, puree, sugar, oil, and egg with a wooden spoon.  Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened.  Do not over mix- the batter is supposed to be lumpy.
4.  Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping.  Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, 18-20 minutes.  Turn the muffins out onto a rack and serve warm.

Tips and Hints:

1.  Store muffins in the fridge, they will keep longer.  Reheat for about 20 seconds in the microwave.  

2.  DO NOT OVER MIX THE BATTER!  whenever making muffins or bread, never over mix.  The end result will be tough and not as moist.  

3.  I didn't freeze my left over muffins, I passed them along to my mom.  If you don't have someone to pass the muffins along to, try freezing them.  I would love to know how that turns out :)

Enjoy!