Dinner

Last night we had steaks and mashed potato's and mini corn puddings... Yum.. Steak is my absolute favorite, along with the corn puddings... My mom grilled them on the grill while I took the pictures. So much fun! They were perfect they had perfect grill lines. They were juicy and succulent, and had so much flavor!

Here are some pictures of dinner!

Steak:

Mashed Potato's recipe:

6 large potato's diced

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup of milk (Or less just until they get creamy)

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil the potato's until they are tender, drain them and mash them

2. Add the milk , butter, salt and pepper and mix well.

3. Eat :)

ENJOY

Cranberry Sweet Potato Muffins

I was a little skeptical of these muffins, however I shouldn't have been, they were in the Taste of Home Magazine and my mom wrote the recipe name on the front cover (Which means that it is a great recipe that the family loves!) Unfortunately Cranberries are out of season now :( ... These were moist and flavorful.. Definitely a favorite. I had a friend try one and her immediate response was "Mmm these taste like Fall.They are so good." That sums these muffins up, they taste exactly like Fall. I added a little less nutmeg and a little more Cinnamon, because I love cinnamon.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cold mashed sweet potatoes (without added butter or milk) (I made these the night before I made the muffins)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries ( Or dried)
Cinnamon-sugar


Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a small bowl, combine the egg, milk, sweet potatoes and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries.

Fill greased or paper-line muffin cups half full. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 375° for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in muffins comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Serve warm.

Yield: 1 dozen.

ENJOY!

Crispy Mozzarella with Fig and Honey

Oh Giada, You are a Master mind! I love Giada De Laurentii's show Everyday Italian, I'm addicted. I feel like her show brings out the Italian in me! Now onto the food.. Oh my gosh, This was so unbelievable good, I can't even put it into words. Okay well maybe I can :)

The crust was crispy and the mozzarella was like velvet, with a distinct sweet but smokey flavor. The honey and the fig sauce was just delightful. You bit into the phyllo incrusted cheese and it just melted in your mouth with the sweet tangy honey and figs. It is a perfect dish for entertaining. I just loved it, and within 8 minutes all 10 of the cheese rolls were devoured! Mmmm good.

Now onto the recipe!

Ingredients:

6 sheets phyllo dough
1 block Mozzarella (I used the Krogers Brand)
Vegetable oil, for frying
8 ounces dried figs, stemmed and quartered
3/4 cup honey, plus more for drizzling


Directions:

In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.
Cut the cheese into equal pieces
Place 1 sheet of phyllo on a dry work surface. Place one slice of cheese about 5 inches from the top of the narrow end of the sheet. Fold the top of the narrow end over the cheese. Next fold over 1 of the long sides then the other. Then fold the cheese over. Continue folding to make a package about 3 1/2 by 4-inches. Continue with the remaining pieces of cheese and phyllo.



Fry the phyllo and cheese packages, 2 or 3 at a time, in the oil until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on a baking sheet lined with paper towels.

Meanwhile, heat the figs and honey in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey is warm. Set aside until the cheese packages have finished frying.
To serve, place 1 cheese package on a plate. Spoon some figs and drizzle some honey over the top of each cheese package.



ENJOY

Raspberry Jam filled cupcakes

A raspberry filled cupcake? Is there anything better? So today I decided to take a regular box mix cake to the next level. I filled it with Raspberry jam, I know nothing to exciting, but man did they taste good. I made these for the Drama team and I made half jelly filled and half plain, They were gone in minutes, there wasn't even a crumb in sight. You could use any kind of jam/jelly, or peanut butter, basically you could fill these with whatever your heart desires.. Now i'm going to show you the super difficult instructions. :) Just kidding they are a breeze. You don't have to use a box cake mix you can use a cake recipe from scratch.

Alright here it goes, prepare yourself!

Ingredients:
1 Vanilla cake mix
1/4 cup red jimmies
1 can of vanilla icing (Or you can make your own)
1 jar of Raspberry preserves
heart sprinkles
cupcake cups

Directions:

Follow the directions on the back of the vanilla cake mix, add the red jimmies and stir until combined. Using an ice cream scooper, fill the scoop with cupcake mix and dump it in the cupcake cups. Follow the baking instructions on the box for a muffin tin. When done let them cool on a wire rack.

1. Using a small knife, carve a hole in the top of a cupcake going in at an angle (Just like carving a pumpkin) and then carve a little more out of the center, Shave the point of of the top of the cupcake topper.. 2. Scoop out 1/2 tablespoons of jam and spoon it into the cupcake,3.Put the tops back on.
4. Ice the cupcake and sprinkle it with the sprinkles an WALLA!!

They were so good.

ENJOY

Broccoli and Cheese soup

Watch out Panera, I'm giving you some stiff competition, well at least in my house! Broccoli and Cheese soup, Mmm. This is another recipe from Debbie Macomber's cookbook Cedar Cove. I love it, it's so creamy and smooth, plus this one doesn't have pieces of broccoli, instead it's a broccoli puree. Although this said that it serves 4, It definitely served more, I don't know how big her servings were but man alive they must have been huge! I think that Panera's Cheddar and broccoli soup is kind of minty, I don't know what it is but I have a serious aversion to it!! Also I should let you know, Even though I always put in the salt and pepper to taste in the recipes, I don't salt any of my food, and I also used basil and cilantro instead of thyme..

Now without further Ado,

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove chopped Garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme. or you can use 1 teaspoon Basil, 1 teaspoon Cilantro
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups sodium-reduced chicken broth
1 pound broccoli (about 3 heads), stems thinly sliced and florets cut small
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 small round bread loaves (4-5 ounces each) Okay I didn't have these so I just used a small dinner roll!
Olive oil

1. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. add onion; cook for 5 minutes, until softened,stirring often.Add garlic, thyme, salt and pepper; cook for 1 minute, stirring. Sprinkle in flour, stirring constantly until incorporated.Slowly pour in broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring to blend. Add broccoli; cook 10 minutes, until tender.

2. Using a blender, puree soup until smooth.

3. Return the soup to the pot; add cream and cheese and warm over low heat, stirring.
4. For Bread Bowl: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, Using a serrated knife, slice a thin circle off the top of each round. Lift off the circle; using your fingers to pull out the soft insides of the bread, leaving at least a 1/2 inch of bread around the sides and bottom of the loaf.Set the loaves on a baking set and drizzle olive oil into each cavity; spread the oil to coat the insides. Bake rounds about 10 minutes, or until crusty and golden. Ladle warm soup into bowls and serve immediately.
ENJOY!

Cranberry White Chocolate Cream Scones

These scones are more of a dessert scones than a breakfast scone... This recipe is a family favorite! The cream makes the scones more moist and delicious! I actually had these at a bakery here in Miamisburg called Boosalis Bakery (If you haven't been there you should go, it's amazing!!) I tried to recreate them, and while they are close his are definitely better! These are SO good I made them and they were gone within the hour!! They taste better when they are warm too!

Okay here is the recipe!!

Ingredients:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives (I use a pastry blender.) The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.In a small bowl combine the heavy whipping cream, beaten egg and vanilla.Add this mixture to the flour mixtures. Then add the Cranberries and White chocolate chips. Stir just until combined.
Don't over mix. I like mine with a lot of chocolate chips so sometimes I add more, Don't be shy with the Chocolate chips!!!

knead the dough on a lightly floured counter top or parchment paper (Still use the flour with the parchment paper). Roll the dough into a rectangle, it's about 8 inches in length, the size of a piece of computer paper. Then cute the dough into three pieces to make three long strips. Then cut it four more time so you have 12 squares. Then cut the squares diagonally so you get little triangles. , place the triangles on the prepared cookie sheet, or cookies sheets, spacing them two inches apart.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. You can eat them plain, or you can whip up some whipped cream and cut the scone in half put some of the whipped cream in between and put some fresh berried in between.. Or you can serve them with butter and some jam!

ENJOY

Black Satin Chocolate Raspberry Cake - Cake Pictures

Okay so here are the pictures for "The cake process" !!

The Batter:


The batter in the pan:


It's almost done!!


Done baking , with the parchment paper peeled off