Peanut Butter Caramel Cupcakes

I've mentioned before that I'm on a quest to make the world's best cupcakes. Well, Alton Brown told me that I'm better off just using a box cake mix, and making my own frosting, but what the heck does he know, right? Oh yeah, lots.

So, I was bored one morning and decided to go ahead and use the box of white cake mix I had to make some cupcakes. Then I remembered that I had gotten peanut butter chips and caramel sauce for a cake that I never made, and I figured, I love peanut butter, and I love caramel, so let's do this thing.

This recipe is super easy.

1 box of white cake mix(prepared according to directions)
Peanut Butter chips
Caramel Sauce

That's it.

Mix the cake mix up, then pour into cupcake pans(about 1/2 full) then add peanut butter chips and a squirt of caramel to each one, then top with more cake mix. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

They were awesome. So awesome they didn't even need frosting. And honestly, I wasn't sure what kind of frosting they would call for. They were REALLY sweet, so frosting would have been overkill, and the caramel made them so moist that it really wasn't necessary for that either. They would have been fine with frosting, but I actually liked them without, which is weird, because normally I love the frosting more than the cake.

Here's what I would have done differently. More peanut butter chips per cupcake. I only put 6 in each, and they could have probably used 10-12 in each. Also, a larger squirt of caramel in each one. I put probably 1/2 tsp-1 tsp in each, and it could have used closer to a tablespoon.

Also, I think they would have been neater looking had there been more PB and caramel. As it was, it all stayed right in the middle, whereas I was anticipating a spreading throughout the cupcake. Well, live and learn.



These are definitely going on the list of things to make again.

How I ruined the same dinner twice in one night.

Wow, it's been a few days since I had anything new up here. I've been closing at work this week, and that severely limits my cooking time. The last thing I feel like doing after getting home at 9pm is cooking dinner. It's been a takeout week.

So anyway.

You know how people say that Olive Garden isn't real Italian food? Well, they're right, but who cares. Olive Garden is the whip. The salad, the bread sticks, the long waits, and usually not great service. I love everything about it. The thing I love most about it is chicken parmesan. I've always loved it. I don't think I ordered anything else off the Olive Garden menu from the first time I ate there at 12 until I was 26 or 27. It's still my favorite thing, and it's usually my go-to birthday meal.

So, you might be surprised to find out that I've never actually made chicken parmesan. Maybe I'm afraid of ruining a good thing, because even if I love something, if I have it prepared badly once, it can ruin my enjoyment of it forever. I still cant eat a grilled chicken sandwich from McDonald's and that whole fiasco was 10 years ago. Maybe it was just laziness, but all I know is that it's time for me to face my fears, and try to conquer my favorite meal.

I looked around, and found a recipe over at Blog Chef that looked easy and tasty, I got all the ingredients I needed, and started mentally preparing myself.

So, since the recipe calls for the chicken to be browned in a pan, and then transferred to the oven to finish cooking, I figured why not use my cast iron skillet that I've had for two years, and just cured yesterday? First mistake. I've never cooked with cast iron before, and making something I've never made before in something I've never cooked in before just had trouble written all over it. I should have heeded the signs. Second mistake...I wasn't wholly paying attention to what I was doing, and managed to forget to add the flour to the breadcrumbs/cheese mix. Third mistake...I put one of the chicken breasts in the breadcrumbs without dipping it in the egg first.

Pretty!

I realize that I've made all these mistakes, but I figure I'll soldier on, and just see what happens. I get the chicken in the skillet, and it starts smoking, and I don't know if that's normal or not, but whatevs, keep going. I turn the first piece of chicken...all the breading is stuck on the pan, and none on the chicken.



I decide to just start over. I've got plenty of chicken, because it was on sale, so why not.

I do it all again, and I don't make any mistakes. I'm using just a regular non stick skillet. While searching for the pan to put the chicken into the oven in, I smell burning, and realize that one side of the brand new chicken batch is totally burned. Ruined.



So, yeah. We ended up having take out chicken wings from BW3's.

So, that's how I ruined dinner(the same dinner) twice in one night.

It takes talent, people.

Dream Kitchen

So, have you ever looked at a kitchen and thought "wow, that's a really pretty kitchen, but it's not really fucntional to cook in"? Maybe you haven't thought that, but I have. I spend a lot of time online looking at kitchens, and dreaming about how I'll design my kitchen when I win the lottery. And you know what? There are a TON of really pretty kitchens out there. But a lot of them look like a pain when it comes to actually cooking in them. Which seems dumb to me, because the whole point of a kitchen is to cook in it. And if the flow of a kitchen is bad, it doesn't matter how pretty it is, it's going to be a pain to cook in, and you're not going to want to spend much time there.

Growing up, we always lived in apartments, but my mom searched high and low, and always managed to find the apartments with the best kitchens, because she's a kitchen freak like me. Even though the places we lived were small, there was always lots of counter space, and ample storage room. I got spoiled, even though I never did much cooking as a kid, I just took it for granted that kitchens came with those things.

But now, I'm grown up, and I realize that sometimes sacrifices have to be made, and if your husband is in school full time, and you're doing everything you can to save money, sometimes you have to live in a place that's got a galley kitchen with an oven that doesn't work, two cabinets, and about a foot and a half of available counter space. And then that's cut in half because your husband insists that the toaster oven needs to be on the counter.

The point of all this rambling, is that of the many reasons I fell in love with my husband, his parents house was definitely one of them. I still remember the first time I saw it. It was love at first sight. And then he took me to the basement, and showed me the indoor pool, and I knew this was the man I would marry. But really, it's the kitchen that does it for me. My father-in-law did most of the work on it, and it's outstanding. But the best part is, even though it's pretty, it's SO functional. It is a true joy to cook in, especially when I'm used to my tiny little kitchen.

A little comparison.

This is my kitchen, all maybe 60 sq feet of it.

This is my in laws kitchen.

Which would you rather cook in?

Lemon Cookies

I love lemon. I love it so much that if I weren't already married, I would consider moving to Vermont or somewhere, and marrying a lemon. I think we could be really happy together.

I know a lot of people don't like lemon, and I think those people are either crazy, or missing some fundamental piece of DNA, because really, how can you not like lemon? It's tart, and sweet, and such a pretty color. So when I came across this recipe for lemon cookies, I knew immediately that I would have to make them. They are possibly the best tasting cookies that I've ever made. It's a shame that my oven sucks so much, because they got totally burned on the bottom, but they taste good enough that I'm eating them anyway. This will end up being one of my go to cookie recipes I think.

Ingredients Needed:

1 box of lemon cake mix.

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 tsp lemon zest

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice(i used more, because there's no such thing as too much lemon juice.)

1/2 tsp lemon extract

1/3 cup confectioners sugar

To Make:

Preheat oven to 375. Mix together cake mix, oil, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract. Drop by teaspoonfuls into the confectioners sugar, then roll into balls, and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 6-9 minutes.

They turned out awesome. Soft and chewy, very flavorful but not overly so. And again, even with burned bottoms, the flavor of the cookie overpowers the burned flavor. These are awesome, and really easy to make. There will forever be a box of lemon cake mix in my pantry.

Pan Grilled Salmon with a Honey Soy Marinade with Roasted Asparagus

So, I think I mentioned before that I love soy sauce, right? Well, I do. Evidence to that, is the fact that I've made something with soy sauce in it three out of the last four meals that I've made. Last night's dinner was fantastic. I had this frozen salmon that I got about three weeks ago, and I knew I had to make something with it soon, or it would just end up living in my freezer for the next year taking up space that could be used for things like ice cream, and pizza rolls.

I found this recipe on bettycrocker.com, and I had all the ingredients for it, and since I'm so in love with soy sauce, I thought it would be perfect. It turned out really well, actually. The flavor of the soy sauce went really well with the flavor of the honey, and it all worked really well with the salmon. I think that if you tried this marinade on a more delicate fish that it would totally overpower the fish itself(which I guess for some people is the point, but I really like fish, and I want to taste fish when I make fish, otherwise I would make chicken.) The asparagus comes from the fact that my mother-in-law gave me a ton of it that she didn't use for easter dinner.

Ingredients Needed for Fish:

2 salmon fillets, average size

1 tbsp packed brown sugar

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp butter, melted

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

To Make Fish:

In a small bowl, melt butter, then add the brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic. In shallow glass dish, place the salmon fillets, and pour marinade over them. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, but no more than 60 minutes. In a medium sized skillet, heat a little bit of oil, then add fish, skin side down, and spoon or brush some of the marinade over fish. After about 4 minutes, turn fish over, and spoon or brush marinade over other side of fish. After another 4 minutes, turn fish over again and spoon or brush more marinade. Give that about a minute or two, then turn fish again. At this point the fish should be done, and delicious.

Ingredients Needed for Asparagus:

1 lb asparagus

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

To make Asparagus:

Preheat oven to 400. Wash off asparagus stalks, then snap the ends off. Just sort of bend them in half, and where they snap is where they're meant to snap. There's no science to it. Line a large cookie sheet with foil, and spray a bit of nonstick cooking spray on it. Lay asparagus on baking sheet in a single layer, then toss it with the garlic, oil, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, then roast for 20 minutes, stirring at least once.

Voila! Healthy and great tasting dinner.

Bourbon Chicken with Chinese Green Beans

Apparently I love Chinese food. Or soy sauce. Either way, I'm having a blast making Asian dishes lately. It's sort of amazing. All the sauces are basically the same few ingredients with just a few minor adjustments, but the flavors are all so different.

I've been in love with Blog Chef for quite awhile now. I think all of the Asian recipes I've made lately have come from there. Check it out.

My husband insists that the Bourbon Chicken is a southern dish, and will not listen to me when I told him that soy sauce and ginger are usually not mainstays in southern dishes. I think I'll make chicken and dumplings with soy sauce and ginger, and see what he says.

Anyway, on to the recipe...this dish is awesome. Like, awesome. I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy food, and this was very spicy(I think I put in too much red pepper), but the flavor was so incredibly good that I just kept eating. The green beans were just okay. It's not their fault though, I'm just not a big green bean lover. For green beans, they were good, but I just always find green beans to be a bit bland. I was going to add some water chestnuts in with them, and then just totally forgot about them until I was done cooking. In my mind if I had added them, it would have been the most incredible green bean dish ever, and people would be knocking down my door trying to get some, but without the water chestnuts, they were just....eh.

Ingredients Needed for Chicken:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
oil(for frying)
cornstarch

Sauce Ingredients
1 garlic clove(minced)
1/4 tsp ginger(minced)
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp ketchup
1/3 cup soy sauce.

To make:

Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces, and dust with cornstarch(make sure to get all extra cornstarch off, or it will fall off in the oil, and in general be a big mess). Heat oil in a wok or large skillet. Fry chicken pieces in batches until browned(about 5 minutes total per batch) then move to paper towels to drain. Also, very important here. Get a screen. I didn't have one, and SO MUCH OIL SPATTERS.





My husband actually did the chicken frying for me, because he's not as big a baby as I am about that sort of thing. In a medium bowl, combine all sauce ingredients. Drain oil from wok or skillet, and add the sauce mixture. Bring to a boil, then add the chicken back in. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until sauce is thick. You'll be able to tell when it's ready.


All caramelized, and yummy. Sooo good.


Ingredients Needed for Green Beans

1 lb fresh green beans
1 garlic clove(minced)
1 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
oil(for frying)
and if you're not forgetful, water chestnuts

To make:



Steam green beans for 5 minutes. Remove from steamer, drain and place in cold water, then drain again. Add oil to skillet or wok, and stir fry garlic and ginger for about 30 seconds. Add the green beans to the wok, and stir fry for about 5 minutes. To make the sauce, combine the cornstarch with the water, then add the soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, and brown sugar. Add the sauce to the beans(here's where I would have added the water chestnuts, if I weren't such a dummy) and continue to fry for another minute or two.

I just realized as I put pictures on here that I took a TON of pictures of this meal. Comes from having a little help in the kitchen I guess(hint to Jim)

Strawberries and Cream Dessert Squares

I love strawberries. Not quite as much as I love raspberries, but still. I love this time of year, because the grocery store here keeps the strawberries right by the door, so every time I go in there, I'm overwhelmed with the awesome strawberry smell. You know what I mean.

A friend at work found this recipe for me, and I knew as soon as I saw it that I would be making a trip to the store for strawberries. It seems to me that this is modeled on Bob Evans strawberry pie, which is quite possibly my favorite strawberry pie ever, so I knew I had to try this.

It turned out....okay. It wasn't the best thing I've ever put in my mouth, but it's far from the worst. I will probably make them again, but not this summer, and I'll do some things differently next time.

Ingredients Needed:

For Crust
1 pouch(1 lb 1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix.
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg

For Filling
1 cup white vanilla baking chips
1 8 oz package cream cheese

Topping
4 cups fresh sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup water
10-12 drops red food coloring(if desired)

To make:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray bottom of a 13x9 pan with non stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, prepare cookie mix as directed with butter and egg. Press the dough evenly in the bottom of pan. Bake 15-20 minutes until light golden brown. Cool completely(about 30-60 minutes)
Once cookie is cool, in a small microwavable bowl, melt the baking chips uncovered on high for about 60 seconds, until they are melted and can be stirred smooth. In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth. Stir in the melted chips, and beat until well blended. Spread the mixture over cookie crust, and refrigerate while making topping. To make the topping, in a small bowl crush 1 cup of the strawberries. In a medium saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the crushed strawberries and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture boils. Stir in the food coloring, and then cool 10 minutes. Stir in remaining sliced strawberries. Pour the topping over the filling, and smooth out. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

So...here's what I would do differently. The crust was very thick, and hard to cut. I would either bake the cookies until they're not quite done, or use only half the dough.

We had a ton of desserts for easter this year. Here they all are, lined up all nice. My strawberry squares, bunny cakes from the bakery, my brother-in-law's coconut cake(which I didn't get any of, because I was so full) and lemon meringue pie. So good.

Mustard Roasted Potatoes

So, I don't usually bring anything to family dinners, mostly because up until recently, I wasn't much of a cook. But, I figure that this year, since I'm starting to cook more, and since I'm always looking for ways to suck up to my mother-in-law, I would make something.

I had planned on making this cake, but at the last minute decided to go in another direction. I was told to just go ahead and make anything I wanted, but I was torn between a potato dish, and a dessert. I ended up making both, actually, but we're focusing on the potato dish here.

I looked around for awhile trying to find something that everyone in my family would like. My father-in-law makes the best mashed potatoes around, so I didn't want to try to follow that, and I needed something that would feed 8 people. I finally found this recipe on smittenkitchen.com If you haven't checked this blog out, I highly recommend you do so. Deb knows her stuff.

Ingredients Needed:

3 lbs mixed red and white skinned potatoes, cut into wedges of varying sizes
1/2 cup whole grain dijon mustard(the seedier the better)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp lemon juice(fresh is best)
1 tsp grated lemon peel(i actually omitted this, since I didn't have a zester handy, and it was fine without it)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp kosher salt

To make:

You'll need two reasonably sized cookie sheets for this. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray both cookie sheets with nonstick spray. Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl. Add potatoes in, and toss to coat. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Divide potatoes between the two prepared cookie sheets, and roast in oven for about 20 minutes. Since most of you don't have a double oven, after the 20 minutes is up, rotate the baking sheets, then roast for about 25 more minutes. And actually, you could probably leave them in about 10 minutes longer and get them super crusty and delicious.

These were delicious and super mustardy. If you like mustard, you'll like these. If you LOVE mustard like I do, you'll love them. The recipe said that it was enough for 10 people, but if you have big eaters it's more like 8. They also reheat really well. They're not quite as good, but they're not bad, either.

Sirloin Burgers with Balsamic Mayo, Portobello Mushrooms and Swiss Cheese

You know what's awesome? Burgers. I mean seriously, is there anything better than a nice perfectly done cheeseburger? I think not. I don't have as many burgers as I'd like, actually. I have this weird fear of cooking burgers on the stove, and I don't know how to use a charcoal grill. Since my husband is a grill snob, and wont even consider getting a gas grill, and also he's lazy, we don't have burgers all that often.

I finally decided on Saturday that there's no time like the present to get over my lame fear of cooking burgers on the stove, and went in search of an awesome burger recipe. Now, I'm not a big Rachel Ray fan(don't get me wrong, she's okay, and I don't hate her as much as most people do, but she's over saturated the market, and she just needs to go away for awhile), but man, does she make some interesting burgers. I googled for a little while, and finally found this recipe. It sounds so fancy, doesn't it? Tastes pretty fancy too.

Ingredients needed:

1/4 chopped onion
1 1/3 pound ground sirloin
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
steak seasoning
EVOO(shout out to rachel) for drizzling, plus 1 tbsp
4 crusty rolls
4 slices swiss cheese
4 portobello mushroom caps, thinly sliced
salt and pepper
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 mayo

There's some other things too, but they're all optional...lettuce and things to put on the burger. I left those out.

To Make:

Preheat a grill pan or large skillet. Saute onions over medium heat until tender(3-5 minutes). In a bowl, combine beef with the worcestershire sauce, sauteed onions, steak seasoning, and salt and pepper. Form 4 large patties. Drizzle the patties with a bit of olive oil. Add burgers to grill or skillet, about 4-5 minutes on each side for medium well, about 6-7 minutes each side for well done.



Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, or 1 tbsp butter(I did both, because I love the taste). Season sliced mushrooms with salt and pepper, and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat.
Once burgers are almost done, pile mushrooms on top of the burgers, then fold cheese slices in half, and place on top of the mushrooms. Tent foil over the pan for a few minutes and allow cheese to melt over the mushrooms.



While this is going on, toast sliced rolls under the broiler for about 2 minutes.
Combine the balsamic vinegar and mayo, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Assemble burgers, and enjoy. And enjoy some more.

Chicken and Broccoli Fettucinne Alfredo

I spend probably an hour each day contemplating and deciding on what's for dinner. I don't have a huge stash of recipes hidden anywhere, so I usually decide on things either that day or the day before. Usually I ask everyone I work with what I should make for dinner that night, and then disregard all of their suggestions and make something totally different. Well, Steve gets a gold star here, because I actually made his suggestion(with a few alterations).

I've never been a huge fan of alfredo sauces. They're alright, but usually when I have pasta, I want a nice hearty, meaty red sauce. But, part of the reason behind starting this blog in the first place was because I was tired of having spaghetti with meat sauce at least once a week, so I decided to branch out and try an alfredo. But not store bought. I wanted to make my own. So I went online, and found this little gem.

Olive Garden Fettucinne Alfredo. I love Olive Garden, so how could this be anything but spectacular, right? Well, it wasn't spectacular, but it was pretty good. I'll make it again, but probably not for awhile, and I'll do some things differently the next time.

Ingredients Needed:

8 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
8 oz fettuccine noodles
1/2 - 3/4 lb chicken, cut into bite size chunks
1 bunch of broccoli

To make:

Cook noodles as directed on packaging. While that's going on, cut broccoli into pieces, and steam until very tender. For sauce, in a large sauce pan combine cream cheese, butter, parmesan cheese and milk, stirring constantly until smooth.(Here's one of the things I would do differently than I did...I started the sauce part WAY too early. It only takes about 3 minutes to make the sauce, so don't start it until the pasta is almost done cooking. The sauce gets way too thick, otherwise.) Once pasta is done, drain and pour into pot with sauce in it, stir, then add chicken and broccoli.





This was really really rich, and as far as I'm concerned had too much cream cheese and not enough parmesan flavor to it. Next time I make this, I'll use probably 6 oz cream cheese, and double the parmesan cheese. All in all, though....pretty tasty. Very very filling.

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Sometimes you just want cookies, you know?

I've never been a huge fan of chocolate chip cookies. I prefer peanut butter, or ranger cookies by far, but there's nothing in the world like a chocolate chip cookie. When you have one, just for a minute, all is right with the world. I prefer chewy cookies to hard cookies, and that's one of my problems with chocolate chip. It's hard to have a homemade soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie. At least, homemade by me it is.

So, I was bored yesterday, and it was raining, and all I had the ingredient for was chocolate chip, so I whipped out my Pillsbury Complete Cook Book, and went to town.

I had some butterscotch chips for a cake that I'm making this weekend for easter, so I decided to dress the cookies up a bit. I'm not a huge butterscotch fan, but my husband is, so I figured why not do something nice for the guy.

Ingredients Needed:

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup all purpose flower
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup butterscotch chips(you can play around with these last two as you see fit. If you love butterscotch, by all means, add more.



To make:

Preheat oven to 375. in a large bowl, combine brown sugar, sugar, butter, and shortening. beat until light and fluffy. add egg and vanilla, and blend well. add flour, baking soda, and salt and blend well again. Stir in chocolate chips, and drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

or, do what i did, and press the whole thing into a 13x9 baking dish.

if you're making regular cookies, bake for about 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown. remove from cookie sheet, and rest on a wire cooling rack. if you're making bars, bake for 15-25 minutes.

these turned out really well. the flavor of the butterscotch is definitely there, but not overpowering. just enough to give it a nice something extra. i'll make these again. maybe next time i'll try it with peanut butter chips.

What a Great Day!

I'm normally not a breakfast person at all. I never have been. If I do eat breakfast, it's usually a bowl of cereal or an apple, but I've never been one to sit down to a huge breakfast unless it's some sort of special occasion.

So that's why I was surprised last night to find that I had some wild hair to make pancakes this morning. I've never actually made pancakes before. I've seen it done from a distance, but it's not something I ever considered making myself. If I want pancakes, I'll go to IHOP. Although, not really, because IHOP is gross.

So, I looked up a recipe for making pancakes, and then decided that they were too much trouble. My stove is wonky, and the electric griddle is hard to clean, and is too big for my measly counters. I decided on french toast instead. I looked around for a recipe for awhile, and finally came across the Alton Brown's recipe. My husband is a little bit in love with Alton Brown, and so we have every episode of good eats ever, and I remember seeing the one about french toast, and thinking that he made it seem really really difficult to make.

It wasn't. Not only wasn't it hard to make, it was the best french toast i've ever had. ever.

Ingredients Needed:

1 cup half and half
3 large eggs
2 tbsp honey(heat the honey up for about 20 seconds in the microwave)
1/4 tsp salt
8 slices of day old or stale thick bread sliced 1 1/2 inches thick(this is way too thick. an inch is probably good, also i used french bread)
4 tbsp butter
***my own additions***
1/2 tsp of vanilla
sprinkle of cinnamon.

To Make:

in a medium bowl, mix together half and half, eggs, salt, and honey. Alton recommends that you do this the night before, so that's what I did. according to reviews of the recipe, it's still really good if you make it on the spot though. i didn't, however leave the bread out overnight. I just cant do that. I did leave it out for about 3 hours before I made it though. I don't know what it would have been like if it had been truly stale, but it was awesome anyway.
once you're ready to make the toast, preheat oven to 375. Pour the soaking mixture into a pie plate, or some other dish that's wide and low. Put bread slices into the mixture for 30 seconds on each side, and move to a cooling rack for 2 minutes.
set burner to med low heat, and melt 1 tbsp of butter. add two slices of toast, and cook until golden brown and french toast looking. about 2-3 minutes per side. add another tbsp of butter to the pan before adding each additional set of toast. once all pieces of toast are done, set on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet, and put in oven for about 5 minutes.
serve immediately with syrup, fruit, or whipped topping(i used syrup).

seriously, this is the best french toast ever. I cut the bread a little too thick, so in the cooking process the middle of the bread wasn't fully cooked, and it was still amazing. the flavor is not eggy at all, and it's crispy on the outside, soft but not mushy on the inside. I may become a breakfast convert if it means I can have this toast more often.



I made goetta with it. if you're not from the cincinnati area, chances are you've never heard of goetta. it's one of those things that you're better off not knowing what's in it, but it's delicious. i'm fairly sure it's regional to this area...i had never heard of it before moving here. the point is, if you're ever in cincinnati or northern kentucky, and you go out for breakfast, order goetta. you wont be disappointed.



as for the rest of the good day...hung out with my husband, played some video games, watched some tv, and then took a nap. and while i was napping, he made me an awesome steak dinner. and best of all, i don't have to work tomorrow.

i love sundays.

Grilled Tilapia and Roasted Vegetables

I'm not going to lie. Normally when Jim works at night and I'm on my own for dinner, I'll pull out the pizza rolls, or heat up some soup, or mac and cheese. Tonight, I decided to go the store and see if they had any decent looking artichokes. Well, they didn't, but they had some really nice zucchini and squash. So, I figured I could get some, and roast some veggies. I haven't done that in awhile. It seems like a summer thing to me. I hardly ever roast veggies in the winter. So, I got a tomato, and a nice sweet yellow onion, and I've got myself the start of a pretty good dinner. Now, the question is, what to have with the vegetables? Chicken? A pork chop? I would have to buy both of those things, and I'm poor, so no go. Then I remembered that I had a few Tilapia fillets at home, and I've got dinner. A healthy dinner, even.

Ingredients needed:

1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 large tomato
1 sweet onion
mushrooms
6 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp sharp cheddar cheese.

To make:

Preheat oven to 350. Slice squash and zucchini into thin circles. Quarter the tomato, and slice the onion into large pieces. Slice or quarter mushrooms. Leave garlic in full cloves still in their peels. Toss all veggies with the oil and vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Lay flat on cookie sheet that's been covered in foil, and sprayed with cooking spray. Cook for 25-30 minutes, or until veggies are tender. With 5 minutes left to go in cooking, sprinkle cheese over vegetables.

Ingredients for fish:

2 tilapia fillets
1 tbsp olive oil
seasonings of your choice(i used garlic powder, and a steak season that had a very lemony flavor to it)
salt and pepper to taste.

To make:

heat olive oil in frying pan set to med high.
while oil is heating up, season the fish with your choice of seasonings, and salt and pepper.
place fish in pan, and cook until fish flakes easily, and is translucent in color.

Now, the fillets I used were fairly thin, so cooking time was only about 2 minutes per side, so you really need to go on how the fish looks, rather than a set cooking time.

Dinner ready in less than 30 minutes, and it was delicious. And I have roasted veggies left over for tomorrow's lunch.

Sugar Cookie Bars

So, I've seen these several places lately,(namely The Repressed Pastry Chef and My Baking Addiction. Since I LOVE sugar cookies, but I HATE rolling out dough, and since I have no cookie cutters right now, I decided to try them.

Full disclosure here, I didn't actually make the sugar cookie dough from scratch...I had bought a huge box of sugar cookie mix at Sam's Club right after Christmas, and I still have 2 bags left, so I decided to use that. Also, I'm lazy.

If you want to make them from scratch, here's an awesome recipe for sugar cookie dough

Ingredients needed:

1 cup of butter, room temp.
2 cups granulated sugar.
4 eggs
5 cups of flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda.

To Make:

Pre heat oven to 375. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg is added. Add vanilla and mix. In a separate bowl, combine all other ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Don't over mix. Spread on either a 13x18 cookie sheet, or if you want a thicker bar, a 9x13 pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes until browned, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and frost.

Or take the lazy way out, buy a box of sugar cookie mix, and follow package directions. The mix will make way less though, so you'll probably only get enough dough for a 9x9 square pan.

I will toot my own horn here though, and say that I did make the frosting completely from scratch. I love, love, love homemade butter cream frosting, and I've found the best recipe ever. It's from Em, at The Repressed Pastry Chef. It's really easy, and the it's the best frosting you will ever have.

Ingredients needed for frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temp.
1/2 shortening
1 tsp vanilla(if you want true white frosting, use clear vanilla)
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
4-6 tablespoons of milk
food coloring if desired

To Make:

Cream butter and shortening together until smooth. Add vanilla and salt. Add the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments and mix well after each addition. Once all sugar is added, add the milk 1 tbsp at a time, until you reach your desired consistency. I used 5 tbsp's when I made it this time, and the frosting is actually a little thin for my taste. Not runny at all, just not as thick as I like. The next time I make this, I'll use 4 tbsp's instead of 5. Add food coloring if desired.

So, try these. They're awesome.