Watch Out, PF Chang!

I am not the best cook.  Baking is more my thing because I never feel the need to rush frantically.  Cooking just makes me nervous because I have something on the stove, and suddenly I need chopped garlic, but I can't chop and stir the pot at the same time... ay.  I have been doing way more baking than cooking lately, though, so my resolution needs to balance out a little better.  At work, Laura often talks about good meals that she has made, and she told me about a recipe for PF Chang's lettuce wraps.  I used to love my mom's turkey lettuce wraps, and these are made with ground chicken - which sounded good to me because I don't like turkey that much.  I also knew that Kenzie loved lettuce wraps that she got at Not Your Average Joe's.  So bring on the lettuce wraps!

I had to do it all alone - Mark and Rachael are at work, and Mom and Kenzie were getting Dad to bed.  I was a little nervous, and I did have that panicked couple minutes where I had to turn the pan on low to chop garlic and fresh ginger, but I prevailed!  And if I do say so myself, they are delicious!  If you don't want me to say so myself, take it from Kenzie, who said it is the best thing I ever made.  Actually the quote was, "write in your blog that it is the best thing you ever made."  :) 

The only thing I changed about the recipe was leaving out the chili garlic sauce (we don't like spice) and half of the scallions (because I ran out).  Also, I used honey roasted peanuts and definitely recommend those because they add the perfect sweetness to the sauce.  Mmmmmm... just typing about them almost makes me want to eat another one - but they are so filling! 

Definitely going to be making these again.  Delicious and good for you: can you beat that!?  Go buy lettuce and make these this week.

Recipe:
PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

Stiff Peaks

I had a wonderful weekend in Boston, celebrating my birthday with a trip to see Blue Man Group.  Mark and I stayed over at the swanky Nine Zero Hotel (thanks Priceline!), so there was little time this weekend for my resolution.  However, yesterday I went grocery shopping with Kenzie with lots of new ideas in mind.  One of them finally happened today!

I saw a recipe for banana cream pie cupcakes on one of my favorite food blogs last week, and I immediately knew that I had to make them.  First of all, banana cream pie is Mark's favorite dessert.  Second, it would be my first attempt at filled cupcakes.  I love making cupcakes and so I have been intrigued by filled ones.  And, third of all: the recipe calls for a vanilla bean, another thing that intrigues me (despite costing $7 per pod!)

It was certainly a very involved process, but I would say it is worth the work!  I had to make pastry cream first, which is a very similar process and recipe as my vanilla pudding.  Then while it cooled, I made the cupcakes.  This was my first experience splitting open a vanilla bean, scraping out the black seeds inside, and using that in place of vanilla extract.  It definitely gives a more vanilla-y taste - for a hefty price!  However, I am getting my money's worth: I saved the bean pod and the jar it came in, put the bean back in the jar, and added sugar.  In a week, I will have vanilla sugar!  Great idea I found on a blog. 

Anyway, now comes the fun part: the filling!  I had to cut out a cone of the center of each cake with a paring knife (called the cone method... I'm so smart).  A big thanks to Allie and my mother for eating all the cones to avoid having to waste them ;)  Then I had to push in a slice of banana, a spoonfull of pastry cream, and top it off with another slice of banana.  It was pretty fun to put them together like that!  Last, I made whipped cream to frost them with.  The recipe called for it to be topped with another slice of banana and a circle of pie crust, but I was too lazy to make crust and didn't want the banana to brown, so they stay as is!  From what people have been saying, they are delicious... frankly I got too full eating the leftover pastry cream and some of the cones, and I haven't even had them yet!  They certainly are pretty.  And as you can see, Allie reaaaaally enjoyed them...

Then I ended up having leftover egg whites... and you know me, I hate that!  I am used to having leftover yolks, but I knew that with whites, I could make merengues, which I like (I love the term, and the process of creating, and the sight of - stiff peaks).  I found a recipe from Ina Garten for a pavlova, which sounded basically like baked merengue served with whipped cream and berries on top.  I was hoping that it would be good, because it was sooo fast!  I just whipped the egg whites, added sugar and vanilla extract, and then a tiny bit of corn starch and white wine vinegar (I know it sounds weird... you can't taste it!).  Then you put it on a baking pan with parchment paper and mound it into a circle.  I baked it for 90 minutes, and when that was done, I left it in the oven for another hour with the door closed.  I had leftover whipped cream from the cupcakes, mixed up some blueberries, strawberries, and sugars, and voila!  Mixed berry pavlova. The recipe called for a raspberry topping, but I made do with the berries we had.  I just ate a little bit, and man is it good!  It's almost like angel food cake pudding - since the ingredients are very similar.  Knowing that Pat likes angel food, I called him over, and he had two pieces.  And a cupcake.  So he's happy :) 

Anyway, I recommend both recipes from today.  The cupcakes take a long time but are worth it, and the pavlova is ridiculously good and easy.   Run, don't walk, to your kitchen.

Recipes:
Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes
Mixed Berry Pavlova

Braciole!

I have been wanting to try Dad's recipe for braciole since Tracy wrote about it on Facebook last week.  I was intrigued by the idea of thinly-sliced steak with potatoes, onions, peppers, and spices, cooked in homemade tomato sauce... it sounded amazing, and I loved knowing that my dad used to make it.  I didn't remember it, but I knew I wanted to try! 

Attempt number one was Wednesday, but I soon found that you have to plan ahead on this kind of thing.  Stop and Shop said they had no butchers after 4:00 to cut steak as thin as I would need for braciole, so I gave Mark the job of going to Emerald Meats in Worcester after work today to pick it up.  I wasn't sure what kind of steak  to get, or how much, but luckily the butcher had experience with braciole and said we wanted top round steak.  We wanted 16 pieces, which ended up coming to just over 3 pounds of steak.  He even cleaned it up and trimmed it for us - and less trimming for me is key when it comes to cooking non-vegetarian meals!

So anyway, we weren't able to try this until tonight.  It was just my mom, Mark and I at home, and I couldn't have done it without them!  It's not that they are a ton of work, just a lot of simultaneous steps.  We made a damn good team. 

And the end result?  Everyone raved over them.  You could cut them with a butter knife, they were so tender, and the filling was amazing... well, this is what everyone said.  To be honest, I didn't love it.  In my head, it was going to taste much better.  Maybe it is just the fact that I really don't like meat, because the other 6 people eating dinner loved it.  Or maybe it was the fact that Alex started talking about how people like rare meat "so that they can taste the blood."  That definitely didn't help, as a recovering vegetarian who had rolled raw steaks earlier!  Anyway, it was kind of fun to make, so I wouldn't say that I'll never make it again.... but I am not a huge fan.

With that said, I still would recommend making it.  There are so many cool variations, too; there are tons of different recipes online with different fillings, ranging from raisins to pine nuts.  Maybe I will try a new filling if I make them again.  I did try to add my own twist to Dad's recipe by adding fresh basil leaves; I think the options are basically endless for braciole!  Anyway, here is the recipe that Mom and I scraped together tonight.  Luckily she said she watched Dad make it enough that she could remember what to do!

Making Dad's braciole!

Recipes:

Braciole

3 lbs. thinly sliced top round steak (we got 3.32 lbs)
2 green peppers, diced
2 onions, diced
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 potatoes, thinly sliced
fresh basil leaves

Mom and Mark, hard at work

1) Make your own tomato sauce; I just did a quick one with onions and garlic, and 2 cans of crushed tomatoes.

2)  Mix together the spices and parmesan cheese.

3)  To make the rolls, lay each slice of steak on the cutting board.  Sprinkle the spice and cheese mixture on top, and rub it in.  Layer potato slices and basil on the steak, and sprinkle a handfull of the onions and peppers.  Carefully and tightly roll the steak up, using a toothpick to secure.

Sauteing

4)  Saute the rolls in a pan with some canola oil just until brown.  Then put the rolls into a baking dish, cover with tomato sauce, and place into a 350 degree oven.  We covered ours with tin foil because we were afraid it would bubble over; we baked it for an hour and a half.

5)  Serve with your choice of pasta; I thought it called for fettuccini. Feed to strict carnivores, not recovering vegetarians   : /

Pouring the sauce on top





Finished product

Bun Cake?

Tonight after Marky and I made dinner (okay - mostly Marky... I helped with the Brussels sprouts!) I was exhausted and wanted something quick and easy.  Another browse through the good old orange recipe files that my parents have collected, and I found a sour cream bundt cake recipe (Rach thought I said bun cake) that only had 3 steps!  That was exactly what I needed tonight!  Also, it called for sour cream, and somehow we have literally 4 containers of it in the fridge and need to start using some!  Apparently, according to the paper the recipe cut from, it is from Parade Magazine in October of 2009. 

I was worried that the cake would be tasteless, since the only real flavoring besides sugar was 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract - but that is not the case!  It is so delicious.  Also, it calls for the option of putting some of the batter into the bundt pan, then dotting it with jam, and then adding more batter.  I chose strawberry peach jam, so every now and then you get a sweet, fruity bite - it's amazing!  One word of warning: to keep your cake looking gorgeous, make sure the jam only ends up in the exact middle of your cake, or it bleeds out to the side and makes berry-ish marks on it :)

Mark loves the crunchy outside, I like the perfectly soft white inside, and Mom says she loves all of it :)  This is a quick and easy recipe with a fabulous result, so dust off those bundt pans!


Recipe:

Sour Cream Bundt Cake

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1  3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
3 tbsp jam, optional

1)  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Generously butter a 9-inch bundt pan and dust with flour.  Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together.

2) Beat the butter and the sugar until creamy.  One by one, beat in the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream.  Gently mix in the dry ingredients.  Spoon 1/3 of the batter into the pan, dot with jam if desired, and top with remaining batter.

3)  Bake 60-70 minutes.  Cool for about 5 minutes, unmold onto a rack, and cool completely.... (except we definitely could not wait to cool it completely... 5 minutes was enough!)

Cupcakes to Brighten Up a Monday

Beautiful little cupcakes, pre-glazing

I was going to take tonight off from my resolution, but then I stumbled on this recipe, and I was intrigued: glazed doughnut cupcakes!  They were compared to Krispy Kreme doughnuts. That brought me back to my first road trip to Montreal, stopping by the Krispy Kreme factory and eating fresh, hot doughnuts right out of the ovens (or fry-o-lators?)  As a person who doesn't love sweets (and yet loves to bake), I have a special place in my heart for Krispy Kremes.  So even though I wanted to relax tonight, I simply had to try these!

Glazed to perfection!

They were very easy (except for the fact that I forgot that we were out of eggs, until Mark had already gone out to the store and come home... he's the best, because he went right back out without complaining!).  I forget how easy and quick it is to make anything without yeast!  The only spice in the cupcakes are cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar.  They are not overly sweet (which I like).  Mom compared them to a plain spiced doughnut.  They are a really delicious cake - and they puffed up so beautifully!  There is nothing like a good cupcake crown.  I honestly think these are gorgeous; part of the reason why is definitely my new non-stick muffin tin from Mark.  I didn't use any paper liners because I am sick of them sticking to my cake- and they popped right out of the tins!  I was thrilled.  I love this new tin (and the boy who bought it for me!).  I double-glazed them with the doughnut glaze, and while they don't look as "glazed" as the picture, I think it adds just the perfect bite of sweetness.  Total success tonight!  It feels good after the newly named "mutt muffins" of yesterday

And speaking of my mutt muffins........

Well, at least someone is enjoying them :)

Recipe:
Glazed Doughnut Cupcakes

Football Food

Today I let Kenzie choose two things for me to make for the big football game.  Obviously I do not care at all about thegame, the sport, the team, or the outcome, but I figured it would be fun to try to make some "football food."  Kenzie chose some weird things,  but I said I would try them... and thus we have what feels like my least successful cooking day so far!  : /

So, one of the two items Kenie picked for me was a cranberry orange yeast bread.  You know me and yeast - I love making yeast breads!  - and I really like cranberry and orange together (in fact I made the cranberry orange quick bread a couple weeks ago!), so I was excited.  Also I was excited to use my new citrus zester from Tuck and Linda for my birthday - and let me just say it was amazing.  It zested the orange but didn't let me take anything off other than the top orange part - no pith! - and it was sooo sharp.  Loved it (and while I am on the topic, I am in love with my pastry board.  Thank you Tracy!  It is a joy not to have to take out my fluorescent pink ruler now!).  Then it was another enjoyable dough to knead because I had to heat up the milk, oil and water, and there might be nothing more fun than kneading warm bread dough :)  The only issue in the beginning was that the recipe called for slivered almonds, and we didn't have them.  I planned to chop up some whole almonds, but  when I went into the cabinet, the opened bag that we had in there had been discovered by moths.  Damn those little creatures!  We have another whole new container of almonds still out on the counter, but they were salted.  So, I decided that almond extract (which might be one of my favorite smells) would have to do.

I think I am being too hard on myself, because really, the bread came out well.  It is delicious and has a good consistency... and yet... not perfect.  It is supposed to cook for 20-30 minutes.  I checked it with 8 minutes left on the timer and noticed that the crust was already golden brown, so I figured that it was done early.  We cut off a few slices and they were pretty good - but then the middle was still a little doughy.  I absolutely loathe making mistakes so I got mad!  I preheated the oven to put it back in, and of course while I was waiting, Delilah jumped up and nibbled a hunk of it!  Talk about adding insult to injury.  I cut off the part she touched and still put it back in the oven, and it's fine now, but I was not happy that I made a mistake.  Lesson learned: this bread is not done until the time is up, regardless of how it looks!  I got so depressed, I refused to take any pictures of it :)

Then came the weirdest recipe I have ever done: corndog muffins!  Again, we can blame Kenzie for this weirdness.  Basically I had to make a recipe for corn bread, and then pop a cocktail weenie into each muffin.  I don't love hot dogs, but corn dogs intrigue me, so I agreed to try it... and I wish I didn't.

Obscene Corn Dog Muffins

First of all, the corn bread that the recipe made was not the greatest.  It was a "healthy" one, multigrain and regular flour - but it was nto very tasty and didn't seem so corn bread-y.   If I ever made these again (which I probaly won't), I would definitely find a different corn bread recipe!  It's really bad when the hot dog is the best part of your baked good...

Then, the hot dogs were supposed to sink into the corn bread to make a normal-looking muffin... but they never sank!  They stayed on top, and looked rather obscene (see photo at right!)!

To make matters worse, they stuck to the wrappers. Epic fail.  I will try to console myself by remembering that all I did was follow the recipe... not my fault if it was a gross one! These corn dog muffins are going to be mutt muffins very soon.  Hmph.

Recipes
Cranberry Nut Yeast Bread
Corn Dog Muffins

Day of Doubles

Today I made three different things, but two of them ended up making double batches of each,  so we have ended up with 5 baked goods!

First, I had found a rosemary garlic bread recipe on Pinterest last week, and I immediately knew that I had to make it.  Rosemary is one of my favorite flavors  (and smells), and I have had rosemary bread before and found it absolutely incredible, so I was excited to give it a try to myself.  It makes enough dough to split into two loaves - and that is a very good thing, because one loaf is already gone!  :)  It was delicious, and the perfect bread consistency.  The crust is crusty  and the inside is soft, chewy, and very  flavorful!  I will not be embarrassed to admit that I had three slices.  This is a definite make-again bread; it wasn't too hard, and it's "delish delish!"

Then my mom went scrambling through my dad's old cookbooks; she and Kenzie were craving cinnamon rolls and Mom said that Dad used to make them from time to time, so she went to look through these books.  I think it is hysterical that we can tell which recipes Dad used by how dirty the page is!  Apparently he was a very messy chef and got his cookbooks all dirty (not something I inherited, luckily, since I mostly use my iPad as a cookbook!).  Sure enough, in a Pillsbury book, we found a very messy page for cinnamon rolls.  Looking closer at the recipe, I found out that you make one dough but then only use half of it for the rolls; the other half can be used in a few different recipes so that you end up making one dough but two different breads!  I decided to use the other half to make a cinnamon and fruit braid - and the braid recipe has you breaking your half of the dough into halves again to make two braids! Hence this being the day of doubles (two rosemary breads, and two braids). 

I did the braids first once the dough was ready.  Basically you just fill the dough with cinnamon, sugar, walnuts, butter, and some kind of jelly (it called for peach or apricot, but I used raspberry per Mom's request).  I needed a little bit of Mom's help to braid correctly (you know me and making things look good), but they are both beautiful!  They look much more difficult than they really were (and I love Wow Factor!).  And they are delicious!  In fact, both Rachael and Mom claimed this was my new finest (back off, cinnamon raisin swirl bread!).  I think it means something that I made two braids, and only one is left!

Then I made the cinnamon rolls, but I think I did a really bad job breaking the dough in half in the beginning, because I definitely did not end up with as much dough as I needed!  I am going to have to retry this recipe because my rolls were miniature.  I haven't tried them, but they are cute - and they actually look good, besides being tiny!  I never managed to get that cinnamon swirl bread to look good, but these cinnamon rolls actually look like cinnamon rolls!  You will see these again... they need more attention than I gave them today after baking 4 others breads! 

It was quite a busy day; as if going through an entire 3-packet set of yeast (there has got to be a better way buy it) wasn't enough, I also cleaned out and organized our horrifying pan cabinet.  I even got my mom to choose a few ridiculously old and useless things to throw out (i.e. cancerous non-stick pans with the non-stick stuff peeling up).  It is going to make life a lot easier the next time I need to grab a baking sheet or a muffin tin (hey, I found a silicone mini muffin tin in there, by the way!  I see mini muffins in my future...)

Before...

And after!

Recipes:
Rosemary and Garlic Bread
From The Pillsbury Cookbook: The All-Purpose Companion for Today's Cook (except by today, it means 1989 ;)  ):

• Basic Sweet Dough 
• Cinnamon Rolls
• Easy Fruit-Filled Braid

Basic Sweet Dough Recipe
6-7 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages active dry yeast
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 egg

1) In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, salt, and yeast; blend well.
2) In a small saucepan, heat water, milk and butter until very warm (120-130 degrees).  Add warm liquid and egg to flour mixture.  Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
3) By hand, stir in an additional 2 cups of flour until dough pills cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
4) On a floured surface, knead in 1-2 cups flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes (this is the best bread to knead because it is warm from the hot water and milk!).  Place dough in a greased bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap and a cloth towel.  Let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, anout 45-60 minutes.
5) Punch down dough to remove all air bubbles.  Divide dough in half; shape each half accorind to the variation desired.


Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 20 rolls

1) Generously grease 13x9" pan.  On lightl- floured surface, roll out 1/2 recipe Basic Sweet Dough to 20x12" rectangle.
2) Spread with 1/4 cup softened butter.  In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon; blend well.Sprinkle over dough.
3) Starting with 20-inch side, roll up, jelly-roll fashion.  Pinch edges firmly to seal seams.  Cut into 20 1-inch slices; place cut-side down in prepared pan.  Cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 35-45 minutes.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.
4) Bake 25-30 minutesor until golden brown.  Remove from pan immediately.  In small bowl, combine 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon softened butter, 1-2 tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla; mix well.  Drizzle over warm rolls.  Serve warm.


Easy Fruit-Filled Braid
Makes 2 braids

1)  Grease 2 cookie sheets.  In small bowl, comgine 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped nuts, and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon; set aside.
2) Divide 1/2 recipe of Basic Sweet Dough in half again.  In lightly floured surface, roll each half into a 12x6" rectangle; place on prepared cookie sheets.  Spread each with 1/2 tablespoon softened butter, 3 tablespoons apricot or peach preserves (or really whatever you have - we used raspberry), and half the cinnamon-sugar mixture lengthwise down the center third of the rectangle. 
3) Cut 1-inch-wide strips along both sides of filling.  Fold strips at an angle across filling, alternating from side to side.  Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.
4) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Remove from cookie sheets immediately to cool. 
5) In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 3-4 teaspoons milk until smooth.  Drizzle over braids.

Recipe Goldmine!

I don't know why I never thought of this before tonight.  A big thank you to my Mama, for coming up with this!  My parents have these huge over-stuffed orange files that they have filled with recipes since basically the dawn of time (or at least before I was born - same thing!).  Somehow in my obsession of reading food magazines, cookbooks, and food blogs, I never thought to pore through these files.  Great idea, Mom!  I only looked through the cookie file, and that alone took a while: these things are packed!  Some of the recipes are old and falling apart, some are cut out of newspapers or off the backs of boxes, and (here's the best part) some of them are written in my dad's handwriting :)  I got really excited seeing his crazy chicken scratch.  I am definitely going to try to make lots of his old favorites.

While Mark grilled us up some filet mignon (am I lucky or what?) I came across an old recipe photocopied out of some nameless book.  It was for baked banana doughnuts.  Mom said that Dad made them when we was dieting (endlessly!) and thought maybe they were Weight Watchers.  I know that Mark loves anything banana, and I loved knowing that Daddy made these, so I knew I had to make them. 

It was quite the interesting recipe; it was made in a food processor, not a mixer!  And considering our processor was a  wedding gift for my parents, I think we can all agree I was really going back in time tonight.  However, surprisingly enough, it still worked just fine.  Being Weight Watchers, these didn't have anything bad in them; there was a tablespoon of oil, no butter, and only a cup of brown sugar!  There is only one gram of fat in each, and 105 calories.  I will say that they don't look exactly like traditional "doughnuts" (namely because you drop tablespoons of the batter onto the sheet, and then use a knife to shape them into rounds and push a hole in the middle!) but they are pretty damn good for being good for you!  In fact, Rachael even ate two after claiming to be too full to try anything in the first place!

So, thank you Dad for being a great cook, and Mom for reminding me about the recipe goldmine in the kitchen!  And now: the recipe for baked banana doughnuts!  Sorry I can't properly cite the book (the teacher in me feels so wrong), but it's just a photocopied page in a file :)

Recipe:
Baked Banana Doughnuts

Makes 22 doughnuts

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I googled this: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, FYI)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional; I left this out)

1)  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.
2) In food processor, combine bananas, egg whites, oil, and brown sugar; process until smooth.  Add all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice; pulse until well-blended.  Let stand 5 minutes.
3)Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared cookie sheet.  Using thin rubber spatula or butter knife, round out doughnut hole in the center of dough (if dough sticks to knife or spatula, spray with cooking spray).  Using spatula, smooth outside edges of dough into round doughnut shape.  Repeat until all dough is used.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar and walnuts.  Bake 6 to 10 minutes, or until tops are golden.  Serve warm.

Doughnuts that aren't bad for you? It's a miracle!

Muffins and Cupcakes, Oh My!

Last night before bed, I whipped up some apple cranberry harvets muffins!  I know, I know: who am, I "whipping up muffins before bed?"  But we had cranberries left over from when I made the cranberry breakfast cake, and we also had some apples that we beginning to get soft.  My new thing is trying to find recipes to use to get rid of ingredients!  And I am always trying to find quick breakfasts. 

The muffins came out good!  They are cinnamony and gingery, with apples and cranberries and raisins.  I think next time I would leave the raisins out though - too much fruit!  And maybe I would add some sort of nuts... I never say that but I think it needed some sort of a crunch.  Maybe walnuts.  So, note to self: no raisins, add walnuts!  Anyway, the muffins were great and I enjoyed one last night and one this morning before bed :)

Apple Cranberry Harvest Muffins

I thought I was done with the muffin tin for a while, since ours is older than me and horrendous to clean - but, enter wonderful boyfriend with a brand new nonstick muffin pan (and a mandoline!) today! He's the best!  So I just had to try it out. 

I decided to make creamsicle cupcakes.  I like creamsicles so I was excited when I found a recipe.  Since I had to zest 2 oranges, I juiced the oranges as well so I wouldn't waste them, so they have fresh orange juice along with the regular stuff.  They are certainly not the most beautiful things... Mark's new tin's cupcakes came out perfectly, but the other tin got a little stuck and are a bit mangled-looking.  I also tried the convection setting of the oven today, and I am not a fan.  It cooked too fast and too unevenly - which is weird, because I know that is not what is supposed to happen.  I think I will stick with conduction!  And, to add to the ugliness, my frosting job was pretty shabby; Mom told me to just take a knife to them and smooth them out.  I reminded me family to eat with theit mouths, not their eyes :) I am thinking about taking a course at Monty Tech on cake decorating; Mom and Susie took it a long time ago (but let me tell you, my mother is rusty!) and I definitely need some help. It sucks to spend so much time on something and have it taste great but look like a 6-year old made it!  Anyone want to take it with me?

Recipes:
Apple Cranberry Harvest Muffins
Creamsicle Cupcakes

Armenian Dream Couple: Pita and Hummus, or Bridget and Mark

Yesterday I decided to make pita bread.  It was something I had been wanting to make for a long time, because I love pita bread and I was intrigued by the blogger writing that store-bought pita is comparable to cardboard, and once you make your own, you'll never go back!  Since I had yesterday off for work, it seemed like the perfect day for some yeast work.  And by the way - I am absolutely flying through yeast these days.  There must be a better way to buy it than those tiny packets!  I need a good solid bucket or something!

So anyway - Mark came over at 1:00 and I assigned him to make his Dad's hummus recipe to go with my pitas.  There is absolutely no hummus better than Edward Ajemian's!  It must be an Armenian secret.  Luckily, I've been let in on the secret - and you are about to be let in as well.

The pita bread bakign went smoothly.  It did not take too long to let it rise, and the fun part is baking them one at a time on a pizza stone in a 500 degree oven.  They puff up like balloons! It was really cool.  The recipe I found is for whole grain pita bread; I learned that most recipes call for whole grain flour as well as a white flour, because whole grain makes everything too dense and tasteless.  This recipe called for whole wheat flour as well as bread flour.  I had bread flour left over from the bagels, so that was just fine.  I also learned that bread flour makes better bread because it has a higher gluten level.  I'm a bread expert!  Now I just have a large amount of whole wheat flour to use up... better start looking for new whole grain recipes! 

The only problem was that the recipe only made 8 pitas... and they are already gone today!  I wish I had a giant Kitchenaid mixer.... (MOM!).  Anyway, the pitas were definitely delicious - and much tastier and thicker than the pitas from stores.  I'm hooked!

Mark did a fabulous job recreating his dad's hummus.  With me making pita bread and Mark making humms, I said that we were the Armenian dream couple!  It was a delicious snack that turned into dinner for us :)  So without further ado, here is the Famous Ed Ajemian's Hummus Recipe:

 Ed Ajemian's Hummus Recipe:
1 can chick peas
splash olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
dash salt
juice of 2 lemons
4 tablespoons tahini

1) Drain chickpeas; save 1/2 cup of the juice.

2) Combine all elements in a food processor.  Use only 1 clove of garlic if they are large cloves; add more lemon  and/or salt to taste.  Blend to the consistency you prefer; I don't want it too smooth.  I like to remember that it used to be chick peas!

3) Voila!  Enjoy your authentic middle eastern hummus, preferable with homemade pita bread!

Recipe:
Homemade whole grain pita bread

Mark's hummus, and my pita! Just another match made in heaven...

Texas Roadhouse Ain't Got Nothin' on Me!

As a huge carboholic bread-lover, as someone who always fills up on bread at restaurants (much to Mark's distress), and as someone who would probably die if I had Celiac - I can definitely say that this is one of my favorite things that I have made so far!  Yes: I have mastered the art of the Texas Roadhouse Roll!  Because let's be honest: no one actually goes there for the steak (who wants to look at your dinner raw and bloody!?); everyone goes for those hot, round little rolls, and the amazing sweet butter....

And so I decided that this was something to tackle.  I had found the copycat recipe on Pinterest, and Kenzie and I agreed that trying it out was a must.  I had planned on making soup today, but we have so much leftovers from our football party last night that we didn't need another meal - but as my mom said, this family can never have too much bread!

Besides the minor debacle of realizing that we had no eggs, and rushing to Cumberland's in my pajamas, the baking went really well.  I have begun to love making bread.  The smell of yeast is so addictive, and I adore kneading dough.  It's a good thing we have been having so many Play Doh sculpture contests lately - I think it is coming in handy!  These rolls only had to rise for about an hour and a half, which isn't too long; you know it's a quick recipe when we're eating fresh rolls by 1:30!  They came out beautifully too: smooth, golden, and so pretty!  And I keep insisting (to myself) that they aren't that bad for you; there are only 3 tablespoons of butter in the rolls, and even though I was supposed to brush them with melted butter as they came out of the oven, I didn't.  However, the fact that we smother them with butter probably doesn't help :) 

Speaking of the butter... of course, I made the Texas Roadhouse butter too!   You just mix a stick of butter with a teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 cup of honey.  Even if you aren't up to making the bread, you really need to try the butter.  I can imagine it being amazing on any kind of toast, pancakes, etc..!

So this is definitely one of my favorite things.  It was easy to make, it made the house smell amazing, and when you bite into a hot, fresh roll smothered with cinnamon honey butter... there is just nothing sweeter!

Recipe:

Texas Roadhouse Rolls with Cinnamon Honey Butter

Heaven on a platter!

When Life Gives You Flat Cookies...

Well, I took a few days off from the kitchen, and I certainly made up for that today.  I don't think I sat down from 12:00 till 7:30 tonight!  I think I overdid it....

Today is a football game.  I think it's important, or something... I really could not care less.  Everyone was talking about it and I knew we were going to have lots of people here, so I planned all week on making a few things for today.  Little did I know that everyone else in New England also planned on cooking today!  Stop and Shop was absolutely ridiculous; there weren't even any carts left.  I had to use the old lady walker!  It was crazy.  But I needed my baby spinach and sweet potatoes for the chili-esque vegetarian meal that I wanted to make :)  It's called slow cooker honey beans with spinach and sweet potatoes...and that was my first task of the day.    It was also my first experience using a slow cooker!  It was a little scary, throwing everything in there and not stirring it... or doing anything... but the "leave it alone" thing appealed to me as someone who likes to bake.  While I was nervous at first, now I think I need to use the Crock Pot more often!  The only problem was that, in doubling the recipe, it took longer than the 6 hours that it was supposed to, but the end result was delicious!  It's a bit like chili because of the cumin, but the honey in it (and the sweet potatoes) gives it a hint of sweetness too.  Of course, Kenzie made full-meat chili, so not too many people have partaken, but my mom and grandmother both tried it and loved it!  Wahoo!  Lots of leftovers for tomorrow now :)

Then, my mom left to go visit my grandfather in the nusing home.  My uncle Gary came in to pick her up, and he asked how my cooking resolution is going.  I said it was going well, and he said he had seen my blog entry about the cinnamon raisin bread, and wondered if there was any left.  There wasn't, but I started to get the idea to surprise him after their visit with the bread!  It's not hard, but it does take a while because of the yeast.  I also had wanted to try this bread again, because it didn't look as beautiful and swirly as I had wanted it.  Well, round 2.... still not to beautiful or swirly.  But, on the bright side, the consistency of the bread is much better - lighter, fluffier.  It's still quite a hit, even if it isn't swirly  :)

Then came the part of the day that didn't go as well...the whoopie pies.  This was mom's request, which was okay, until she said that she wanted me to double it.  Normally that's fine, but we have the smaller-size mixer, and I knew that ingredients were running low!  I knew it wouldn't all fit in one mixer, so I would have to make two batches.  I had Kenzie pick up extra flour at the store, but didn't get to notice that I was going to need more cocoa powder.  Uh oh... I ended up being about 1/4 cup short on the second batch.  I figured that wouldn't matter too much... and, well, it matters.  Apparently.  I guess changing the ratio of wet - to -dry ingredients was a bad idea, because while the first batch looked nice and whoopie pie-ish, the second batch looked like whoopie pancakes :(  And you know me when I mess up  - I am horrified, grouchy, embarrassed, and depressed.  But, I tried really hard not to freak out, and so when Mom gave me the idea of making a trifle with the flat ones, I decided to give it a shot.  I broke up the flatties, layered it with chocolate pudding and extra whoopie pie filling, and, voila!  Whoopie trifle!  Nick and Ross have both tried it and gave it good reviews.  The whoopie pies themselves have been raved about.  So, even though they all may not have come out exactly as I wanted, I still made it work!

The Whoope Trifle!

So, life lessons that I learned today:

1. Don't try too many things at once... even with my newfound confidence, making cinnamon raisin bread, honey beans, and a double batch of whoopie pies is a little overwhelming!
2. Plan ahead... because you might think that 1/4 cup of cocoa powder won't matter, but it really does.
3. Make the best of things... as I like to say, when life gives you flat cookies, make a trifle ;)

Recipes:
Slow Cooker Honey Beans and Spinach
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
Whoope Pies







The 10-Hour Coffee Cake

Okay okay, I know I'm late.  It has been a crazy week!  It's Thursday, but I actually made this coffee cake on Tuesday.  I didn't have time to update the blog that day because of how long the cake took, and then yesterday was my birthday, so I took the night off from cooking or baking :)  Now, back to work!

Tuesday, I left work at 11:00 so that I could come home and take care of Dad while my mom and Rachael went to Kenzie's doctor'sappointment.  Everyone was really nervous about what we might hear, so yet again I told Kenz to choose anything she wanted, and I'd have it ready when they got home.  She chose a raspberry cream cheese coffee cake.  Sounds easy enough, right?  Wrong!  And I was certainly wrong about having it done when they got home, too!

So, the good news: Kenzie's appointment went fine, and she has nothing wrong (except headaches, but we can deal with that!).  We were all really relieved - so relieved and exhausted from the stress of it all that we all fell asleep when they got home!  Luckily my yeasted dough was still proofing then so it didn't slow down the process of baking too much.

This cake was a ton of work.  I had to make the dough (and it was a yeasted dough, so that takes forever), the raspberry sauce, the cream cheese topping, the streusel topping, and the glaze!  And to make the cake, once it had risen and chilled, I had to roll the dough out into a 40 inch rope, twist it, and then coil it up.  As you can tell from the picture, mine did not coming out looking as beautiful as the recipe's photos.  This seems to be a theme with my food.  Still, though, it was absolutely delicious, and well worth the wait of ten hours.  Yes, you read that right; I started it at noon and we ate it at 10:00 that night.  It was definitely delicious (ugly, and way too much work, but still delicious.)  The consistency of the cake was sooo light and fluffy, probably the best I have made.  The toppings were all good too... I just wish it looked more like the recipe.

After that crazy cake, I gave myself my birthday off from my resolution and let Kenzie do the cooking for me!  She totally owed me after all the sympathy food I'd made her!  She made, for the second year in a row, seafood chowder.  This is amazing stuff; it has fish, clams, lobster, scallops, crab - and it is so rich, it's almost sweet.  It makes me a believer in lobster ice cream, which I know they have on the Cape!  It was nice to give myself a night off from baking, and from those never-ending pans (I think I had to wash about 7 pans for the coffee cake, no exaggeration).

As for tonight?  No, I haven't cooked or baked a thing.  I know, bad.  Frankly after the random snowstorm that we had this morning (I reaaaally wanted a 2-hour delay, but no such luck; instead it took Kenzie and I almost an hour to drive to work, and the kids were still straggling in at 10:00!), I had a pounding headache and no motivation.  But still, there is no excuse... well, besides the snowstorm and the fact that we have leftover chicken soup (Mom made it for the non-fish-eaters last night) and chowder, and Mark brought Caprese salads from Via.  I did, however, send Mom and Kenzie to the store with a list of the things that I will need to try a couple different dinner ideas this weekend.  They probably won't be thrilled to hear that the meals are vegetarian, but I am still trying really hard to make them see my way of things!  We will have to see how this goes this weekend :)  Tomorrow night I am going out to eat for my birthday with Mark, Dianah (her birthday is a week after mine) and Ian, so I am not sure about what I will have time to make, but never fear: then it is the weekend and I will get myself back on track!

"Bridget: your finest!"

The title of this post is what my mother said to me as I sat here trying to come up with a title!  I figured that anything being my finest - especially according to my picky mother - is important!

Today was another looong Monday, and tomorrow is Kenzie's appointment, so we have all been in a bit of a blah mood.  I got home and found that Mom had made us chicken soup to settle our stomachs, so I didn't have to worry about that.  Kenzie claimed to be in need of a "warm homemade bread," so I told her to find a recipe and I'd do it.  Hence: cinnamon raisin swirl bread!

Not the prettiest... but the tastiest!

Any kind of bread with yeast takes a long time, so I think in total it took me 3 and a half hours, but most of that time was waiting for it to rise (I think a total of almost 2 hours!) and baking it for 45 minutes, so I guess it wasn't so bad after all; just not a recipe to start late at night!  Mine is also definitely not as pretty as the recipe, but hey, I am not an artist (ask my students).  If you pretend not to notice that the cinnamon swirl isn't so swirly, then the bread is perfect!  Warm, crunchy crust, soft inside, plump raisins, gooey cinnamon swirl.... like I said, Mom called it my finest! 

In other news, I definitely want a pastry mat with round and straight measurements like the recipe blogger used, so that I can stop whipping out our ancient fluorescent pink ruler ;)  And my birthday just so happens to be in 2 days....

Recipe:
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

My Weekend in the Kitchen

Wow! It's probably not a good sign when it is Sunday night, and I am just as exhausted as I usually am at the end of the work week!  What a crazy couple of days - and I spent them in the kitchen :)

Yesterday was Rachael's birthday, and I knew we were going to have lots of people over.  We wanted to celebrate Rach while also keeping Kenzie's mind off everything before her appointment on Tuesday,  and if there is one thing this family knows how to do, it's keep busy!  I knew that I wanted to make an angel food cake, because it is Rachael's favorite, and we usually settle for a box mix, but I wanted to make one from scratch like my dad always used to do.  I also knew that angel food calls for twelve egg whites!  The fact that I would be wasting 12 egg yolks made me sick, so I figured I'd also make a batch of pudding with  4 of the yolks to make myself feel a little better about the waste.  That was my kitchen planning for yesterday; Tracy was coming to visit and bringing with her the makings of corn chowder and jambalaya, so I was off the hook for dinner.

The angel food cake was my first thing to tackle yesterday, and I was intimidated.  The egg whites alone stressed me out, but I was glad that I had made the merengue frosting on my cupcakes for New Year's Eve because I knew that to look for to get "stiff peaks."  I was also nervous when I had to abandon the mixer and use a spatula to fold in the dry ingredients, but I was so vividly able to picture my dad doing it when I was a kid!  I tried to copy his movements exactly and it worked.  I loved the feeling of the batter; it was so light and fluffy and completely unlike any cake batter I had ever made.  The cake came out great.  Then I mashed and sliced up some strawberries and sugar, and bought whipped cream, and voila! Rachael's birthday cake (see photo below!).  It was a big hit, and all that was left today was a tiny slice.  Success!

Then it was on to dessert number two, the puddings.  I had posted this recipe on New Year's Eve when I made it with leftover yolks from my merengue frosting, but tonight with all the people, I wanted to try to spice things up a bit.  I decided to try to see if I could make up my own flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and Oreo (see photo left).  This is pretty scary for me, because I am not good at making my own recipes; like I have said before, I love directions and following them, and straying from them scares me to death.  But, I tried it.  I made vanilla according to the recipe; then I chopped up some Oreos (Kenzie's choice!) and mixed them into one bowl, and some cocoa powder in another bowl.  The Oreo pudding came out awesome and is almost gone today.  The vanilla, as always, is popular and delicious.  Most people like the chocolate one, but I am not thrilled with how it came out.  The cocoa powder didn't seem to blend in well enough for me; there are little hunks of it that never seemed to mix.  Mom said to call it chocolate chip pudding!  Either way, I knew that I had to find a real chocolate pudding recipe and give that a try.  Anyway, the pudding is a big hit; today Tuck even told me that it is the best pudding he has ever had, ever!  I was pretty pumped about that.

I basically spent all yesterday in the kitchen, between my cake, the puddings, and also quickly making a box mix lava cake that Tracy brought when we realized the house was full to the brim at dessert time!  Not to mention the mountains of pans.... so I was a little reluctant to head back to the stove today, but Kenzie is queen this weekend, and the girl demanded pierogies, so pierogies she will get!  She also asked Tuck and Linda to come up and keep us company, so I figured I could impress them with my new culinary interests.  I had found a recipe on Pinterest for pierogies a few weeks ago (I eat these at the Big E every year like it's my job) and wanted to make them over vacation, but I never got around to it, mostly because there are just so many steps: make the dough, divide the dough, roll the dough, boil potatoes, saute onions and garlic, mash the potatoes and onions, fill the pierogies, boil them, saute them.... you see?!  It was a good 3 hours in the kitchen for these babies alone!  However, I am glad with how they turned out.  The filling is absolutely delicious, with mashed potatoes, cream cheese, onions, garlic, and fresh thyme.  The recipe called for farmer's cheese, which I had never even heard of, but I looked it up and was able to substitute cream cheese.  The outside is noodle-like, and crisps up a little when you saute them.  Add a little sour cream, and you feel like you're back at the Big E!  Or, in Poland, I guess.  The recipe said to serve it with sour cream and chive sauce, but after three hours, I really did not want to wait any longer to eat them, so plain sour cream sufficed just fine!

After cleaning the ridiculous amount of pots and pans that pierogis require, I needed a break from the kitchen - for a while, at least.  Marky made country-style ribs that slow-roast all day long, and when he went to the store this morning, I had him get the ingredients for a breakfast bread that I have been wanting to make.  Cranberry orange breakfact bread: doesn't that sound amazing?  I am always on the lookout for good, quick breakfasts since usually I rush out of the house in the morning starving, and I don't eat till 12:30 or 1:00.  I have this delicious cranberry-full bread in the oven right now.

And then, as if I couldn't spend enough time this weekend in the kitchen, I decided to try again with that chocolate pudding.  Mark's dad had surgery on Friday and so I wanted to make him chocolate pudding - one of his favorites.  Like I said, my own attempt at this wasn't the best, so I found a good recipe on the Food Network that I tried.  It was really quick - about a half hour.  What I did wrong yesterday, apparently, was adding the cocoa powder at the last minute.  This adds it first thing and cooks it down until it mixes in.  I packaged it all up for Mark and sent it off before taking any pictures - oops - but it was easy enough that I can make it again soon and get pictures then ;)  I didn't get to taste any more than a few licks of the spoon, and it's pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

Okay, whew. I bet you are tired reading all this - so imagine how tired I feel right now :)  Although I can honestly say that it has been a great weekend.  Thanks to all my family and friends for coming through and sticking by us when we Tuckers need to keep our minds on family, friends, and food!

Recipes:
Angel Food Cake
Pierogies
Orange Cranberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake
Chocolate Pudding

Dinner and Dessert for Kenzie

The last two days werea bit a rough for Kenzie (and all of us) with a health scare, so tonight, it was all about her.  I told her to pick something for dinner, and something for dessert, and she can just take it easy and enjoy.  This led to me making Cuban black beans and rice, and Oreo cupcakes!

I was fully intent on making a completely vegetarian dinner, but you know these carnivores: they just aren't happy unless there is meat.  I refused, so Mark went to the store and got chicken and steak(carnivores, I told you!).  He was fully in charge of the meat aspect while I made the beans and rice.  The meal came together absolutely wonderfully!  My beans were delicious; nothing like finely chopped fresh cilantro, red peppers, onions and garlic to make beans amazing.  The best part was that it's a Weight Watchers recipe and only worth 5 points! Of course, that does not include the rice, or the steak, or the fact that Mark put his cooked chicken into my vegetarian beans, but it was still a healthy and delicious meal and we were all happy.

The healthy part ended with the cupcakes :)  They are pretty cute though.  They have a whole Oreo at the bottom, and lots of cookie chunks mixed in.  I made a cream cheese frosting with cookie crumbs and Oreo garnishes for the top.  Rachael treated Mom and Kenz to manicures so no one has tried them yet, but the cupcakes will be ready for them when they get in, and I am excited!  I am going to bring some to work tomorrow, I think, since my family never finishes baked goods (we do not have enough sweet tooths!) and I am sick of throwing out all my hard work!

Love you Kenz!  Think good thoughts, and enjoy the Oreo cupcakes! :)

Recipes:

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Back in the Swing of it

Today was my first day back to work since December 23, and man, was it rough!  I was anxious all night... maybe got 3 hours of sleep.  This definitely affected my energy for my resolution tonight - but don't worry, I still dragged myself into the kitchen after work.  I had wanted to make dinner and a dessert, but after we ate, the most I could handle was washing my pans and slinking off to the couch.

Tonight, Rachael still feels sick and didn't want dinner.  Kenzie went out to eat with Nick, and Mark is working, so it was just me and Mom again.  If I had had more energy, I would have gone and gotten fish or mushrooms or some of the other things that my family all hates except for Mom and I, but I was too tired to shop and cook, so I decided to make a breakfast crescent wreath for dinner.  I had found this recipe on Pinterest and made it for my friend Amanda last week; I invited her over for breakfast and we ate my homemade bagels and this wreath.  I like it because it's easy - read that as "hard to mess up" - and it's breakfast, which I love, and it looks fancier than it is.  Basically you just scramble eggs and put them with bacon and cheese into a wreath of refrigerated crescent rolls.  30 minutes, total!  My kind of meal.  It came out great and Mom and I ate half of it.  I could eat breakfast for dinner every day, I think. 

I wish I had more culinary adventures to report but my body is working really hard to get back into the swing of things!  I did tell my class about my resolution today; they were skeptical, but then again, some of their resolutions included "to be a vegetarian and only eat meat 3 times a week" and "to fly," so who are they to judge? ;)

I meant to take a picture of the entire thing, but Mom and I were too hungry ;)  Doesn't it look fancy schmancy?  You know me and wow factor!

Recipes:

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Wreath

End of Vacation Blues

Well, I know I should be grateful for the fact that I had way more time off work for the holidays than most people.  And I am.  But also I am miserable tonight, because the extra time off makes it so much harder to go back tomorrow!  LikeI said yesterday, I know that this means way less cooking, so don't expect the daily updates! I'll go back to letting Kenzie take back her kitchen for a while!

Tonight I made dinner for Mark and Rachael.  Rach has been sick for a week and hasn't eaten basically anything that I've made, and Marky's acid reflux has been acting up, so there has been a lot of whining!  Mom and Kenzie went shopping so I told Mark and Rachael to decide what they wanted me to make for them.  They chose veggie stir fry.  I obviously immediately grabbed the computer to look up a good recipe, and quickly realized that I was on my own.  As a perfectionist when it comes to following directions, I simply cannot make a recipe that calls for broccoli when I don't have broccoli.  I know that normal cooks would just use whatever vegetables they have.  Well, I am no normal cook.  I am a beginner, and rather unconfident.  So: cue the panic.  Add the fact that Mark was laying on the couch moaning about hunger and burping, and you have the end result of me tossing the laptop aside (gently) and fending for myself in the kitchen.  Talk about scary.

So, to make a long story short, I made a vegetable stir fry with whatever we had in the fridge (red and yellow peppers, snow peas, carrots) and improvised a sauce from a few different recipes and based on what I had (which was soy sauce, ground ginger, water, garlic, and corn starch).  Rachael and Mark enjoyed it (no thanks to Mark, whose only job was to start the rice for me, and he used the wrong pan and forgot to turn on the stove... thanks honey!), but I will tell you someone who didn't: me.  It was so stressful to venture away from recipes that I did not enjoy cooking at all, and I got so stressed that I didn't even want to eat.  I even refused to take pictures of it. I am not yet ready to just "whip things up" in the kitchen.  Lesson learned today: stick to recipes!

In order to prove that I learned this, I stuck to a recipe.  I made baked oatmeal.  I figured it would be something healthy for the sickies, and pretty good for tomorrow morning when I am tired, depressed, and rushing off early to work (because obviously I have not touched my plan book since the last day of school).   It just came out of the oven and smells absolutely delicious.  I haven't tried it yet, but it was pretty wasy so I hope it's good.  It has a layer of bananas on the bottom, and blueberries and walnuts mixed in.  The sweetening is just maple syrup and cinnamon, so it won't be too sweet, which makes me think that my mom will really like it (we joke that she hates flavor). 

Well it's 9:00.... probably should get to bed... that alarm rings reeaaaaally early :(  At least I have baked oatmeal to look forward to.

Recipes:

Baked Oatmeal with Fruit