Lemon Baby Cakes with Fresh Raspberry Buttercream

The day my two friends came over for dinner, I asked them what their favorite types of desserts are.  I got answers that included lemon and berries - which just sounded so summer and perfect that I decided to put them together.  A quick Google search brought me to lemon baby cakes with fresh raspberry buttercream.  Baby cakes are basically mini cupcakes, but how much more adorable do they sound when you call them baby cakes?  

The cake itself is lemon-flavored thanks to a whopping 5 tablespoons of lemon juice, not to mention 2 more of lemon zest.  Each little cake is also housing a little surprise: one whole fresh raspberry that's been baked inside!

The most amazing part of the cupcakes - and the cake itself is pretty spectacular - is the frosting.  This isn't your average buttercream.  And, thus, it's a bit more in depth, but still totally doable!  Basically you have to cook down some frozen raspberries until it has made a sauce, and then you use cheesecloth (cheesecloth! so exciting!) and a strainer to strain out all the seeds (I know some people - Alex for example - who hate berries because of all the seeds, so this frosting was basically made for him).  Once you strain the juice, you cook it down a bit more, and use that in the buttercream frosting.  It not only gives the frosting a very raspberry-y flavor, it also dyes it the most beautiful shade of dark pink.  Natural food coloring, people!

The recipe ended up making a whopping 75 mini cupcakes, although the recipe said it would make 50. I think maybe my mini cupcake pan is extra small?  So they did take me a while, since I have only one pan I had to rotate, not to mention the rather in-depth creation of the frosting.  However, I think everyone who tasted a baby cake would agree that they were worth it.  Besides being adorable, they are delicious: a perfect blend of summery lemon cake and bright, berry-flavored frosting.  Pretty and tasty, and with an adorable name: what's not to love?

Recipe:

lemon baby cakes with fresh raspberry buttercream
from A Farm Girl Dabbles
yield: 50 -75 mini cupcakes, depending on the size of your pan!

Ingredients:

for the lemon baby cakes:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2  1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2  1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel
1  1/2 cups buttermilk
about 50 fresh raspberries

for the fresh raspberry buttercream

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

12 oz. raspberries, fresh or frozen

1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3  1/2 cups powdered sugar

pinch of kosher salt

1 to 2 tablespoons milk, if needed to thin out the frosting

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350°.

2) Make cupcakes: Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then the lemon juice, lemon peel, and food coloring. Batter may look curdled, but that's just fine. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, in 3 additions. Place about 1 tablespoon of batter into bottom of each cupcake hole. Place 1 fresh raspberry on top of the batter, in the center. Cover raspberry with more batter, about 3/4 full. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Cool completely before adding frosting.

3) Make frosting: Cook the raspberries in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until the raspberries are broken down into a sauce. Set up a fine mesh strainer lined with 2 layers of cheese cloth. Pour the raspberry sauce over the cheese cloth to remove the seeds. Gather up the ends of the cheese cloth and gently press out all the raspberry juice. Pour the raspberry juice back in the pot. Simmer until the juice reduces to a 1/4 cup. It will be a very rich red and concentrated sauce. Set aside to cool completely.

4) With a mixer, cream the butter with a paddle attachment on medium high speed about 2 minutes, until lightened in color and a bit fluffy. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar, the 1/4 cup of cooled raspberry sauce, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt. Mix until smooth. Add another 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth. If you want the frosting less stiff, add some milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. 

5) Fit a pastry bag with a medium star tip and pipe the frosting onto your baby cakes (or use a knife like we did!)

Sparkling Lemonade with Fresh Berry Ice

A few nights before we went on vacation, I had my friends Caitlin and Dani over for a dinner date.  I made all sorts of amazing things which will soon be gracing this blog, but first up is this absolutely delectable beverage.

First of all, they're adorable.  Making ice cubes with berries in them is such an easy yet awesome way to make your drink look more festive.  This was right after the 4th of July, so the red and blue berries made the drink extra patriotic.  I also added some small mint leaves to some of the cubes for some more color.

Second, they are soooo delicious.  The lemonade is made from fresh lemons, so it's good in and of itself.  But then you add sparkling water, so it's a fizzy fresh lemonade!  So good.  So much better than water, or regular lemonade.

There is not much to say about these lemonades, except that making a big pitcher of them (and lots of ice cubes) is an excellent idea.

Recipe:

sparkling lemonade with fresh berry ice
from Annie's Eats
yields 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

for the ice cubes:
assorted fresh berries (blueberries, slices strawberries, raspberries) - I also added some mint leaves
water

for the lemonade:
1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice ( about 12-14 lemons - although mine must have been way juicier than normal because I used far less)
3/4 cups sugar
2-3 cups sparkling water, chilled

Directions:

1) Add a few fresh berries to each well of an ice cube tray.  Fill the wells with water and freeze untl solid.

2) In a small saucepan, combine the lemon juice and sugar over medium heat.  Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved completely.  Transfer to a large liquid measuring cup, cover, and chill until ready to serve.

3) To serve, place a few of the berry ice cubes in each serving glass.  Add 2 cups of the sparkling water to the chilled lemon syrup and stir gently.  Add more sparkling water to taste if needed.  Pour the mixture into the glasses and serve immediately.

California Veggie Sandwiches

Okay okay... I was bad.  I lied that I would blog on vacation.  So I apologize.  But the good news is that I did cook and bake while I was in New Hampshire, so I have lots of recipes to share! And this one alone is so amazing that you will forgive me immediately.

This little gem is actually something I made before we left for vacation.  And I will confess that it's something I ate 5 times before I actually sat down to blog it :)  I cannot stress enough to you the awesomeness of a sandwich.  For a girl who isn't actually all that keen on sandwiches, this means a lot. I think there are three great things about it.  Here they are:

3 Great Things About California Veggie Sandwiches

1) As the name suggests, they are vegetarian.  This is great because it's healthy, meatless, and yet filling at the same time.

2) They are versatile.  You basically can put any vegetables in there that you like, or have on hand, or feel like eating.  For example, I used radishes, carrots, and cucumbers.  I left out the red onion because I don't like onion in sandwiches, and the whole world seems to have run out of sprouts.  I have also added tomato to my mom's and she loved it.  So again, the versatility is great.

3) Goat cheese.  Enough said.

They're pretty easy to throw together: toast some multigrain bread, and while it's toasting, start chopping and slicing and shredded your veggies (my food processor really quickens this process!).  The recipe also calls for you to mix together goat cheese and fresh parsley, but I have been cheating and using herbed goat cheese that I picked up at the store.  I bet the sandwich would be even more amazing with your own homemade herbed goat cheese!

The bottom line is that you should make yourself this sandwich now.  And honestly you might as well make two for yourself because you'll want both (I did.)

Recipe:

California veggie sandwiches

from Meatless by Martha Stewart

makes 4

337 calories, 14.55 grams fat, 17.74 grams protein

Ingredients:

8 ounces fresh goat cheese

1/4 cup fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley

8 slices multigrain bread, toasted

1/2 English cucumber, sliced

1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts

2 carrots, peeled and grated

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

2 large radishes, trimmed and cut into matchsticks

coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

1) Mix goat cheese and parsley in a small bowl.  Spread bread slices with goat cheese mixture.  

2) Layer 4 bread slices with cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, carrots, onion, and radish. 

3)  Season with salt and pepper.  Sandwich with remaining bread slices, and serve.

Green Paella

Paella is something that I first experience in Spain, and let me tell you, no one does paella like spain.  The concept of it is excellent: rice, spiced with all sorts of lovely things including the expensive (but readily available for cheaper in Spain) saffron, full of vegetables, and, unfortunately, often full as well of meat.  Shellfish, quite often, but chicken or steak can make their way in there as well.  Paella was always a meal that had to be picked apart for me, but the rice is so flavorful, having been cooked in the spices and broth rather than all by its lonesome self in a pot of boring water, so it was worth it.  Thus when I found a recipe for green paella in the vegetarian cookbook that Allie gave me for my birthday, I knew it was going to be amazing.

I finally got the opportunity to make it last week when my aunt Linny was coming for lunch before a work meeting.  It only takes about an hour to put it all together if you count the prep time and simmering the rice for 15 minutes, so it's not that hard to do, and it really does come out looking so impressive!  As with most paella, this one does have saffron in it.  I ended up doubling the recipe, but I am way too cheap to use a whole teaspoon of the super expensive spice so I maybe used 50% more.  Fun fact about saffron: it is the stamen of some type of flower that just grows really well in Spain.  I also didn't have enough spinach to double it, but my mom was pumped about that since she isn't a big spinach fan.

What I love the most about making paella is when you throw the rice into the pan with everything else and let it cook that way.  No boiling water and adding the rice and waiting 20 minutes; with this, you add it to a pan full of onions, garlic, pine nuts (which by the way are an excellent texture addition and should not be skipped), tomatoes, bell pepper, paprika, saffron, and vegetable broth.  When you're cooking rice like that, it's not surprising how much flavor it takes on!  Peas and spinach get added in last minute (along with piquillo peppers, which I obviously skipped).  It all combines for a really delicious meal.  Lots of healthy vegetables, tons of flavor, and no meat :)  In full disclosure, since I did double this, I will admit that a lot of leftovers got thrown away, but I don't think that's any testament to the greatness of the paella; I was making a whole lot of food the last couple of weeks and leftovers have been abandoned.  Such is life in the summertime!

With that said, I am leaving for New Hampshire tomorrow for 2 weeks.  What I learned last year is that cooking at the beach was not very fun because of the lack of utensils, so I have decided to bring along everything that I think I may possibly need to cook and bake to my heart's content.  I also plan to continue blogging - just not every day like I have been doing!  Vacation is vacation after all :)

Recipe:

green paella
from Simply Delicious Vegetarian
by Carla Bardi

serves 4

Ingredients:
1 pound spinach
2 onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons pin enuts
1 dried red chile pepper, crumbled (I skipped this)
8 ounces tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large green bell pepper, seeded, cored and sliced
1 1/4 cups short-grain rice
salt and freshly-ground pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon saffron strands, soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes
3 cups vegetable stock
3/4 cup frozen peas
7 ounces Spanish piquillo peppers, sliced (optional, and skipped by me)

Instructions:

1) Wash the spinach and cook with just the water clinging to its leaves until wilted, 5-7 minutes.  Drain, squeezing out any excess moisture.  Chop coarsely.

2) Saute the onions and garlic in the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until the garlic is pale gold, 3-4 minutes.  Add the pine nuts and chile and cook for 2 minutes.  Lower the heat and add the tomatoes and bell pepper.  Cook for 6 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the rice and saute for 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the paprika, saffron water, and enough stock to cover the rice by about 1 inch.

3) Bring to a boil and simmer until the rice is tender and almost all the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes.  Stir occasionally during the cooking time to prevent rice from sticking to the pan.

4) Add the spinach and peas and mix well.  Simmer until the peas are cooked, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, cover, and let rest for 5 minutes.  Garnish with the peppers if desired and serve.

Pretzel Dogs

This is definitely not my normal type of recipe; after all, not only does it contain meat, but hot dogs, of all things, which I hate.  I try hot dogs every year, wanting so badly to have a go-to thing to eat at barbecues, and every time, I just hate them.  However, with that said, I have this very weird love for corn dogs.  I know, that's a hot dog too, but I guess if you wrap cornbread around anything, I will eat it.  I figured it might be the same thing with pretzels, so when I heard Alex saying that he needed to find a Sonic restaurant due to their new pretzel dogs, I offered to whip up a batch for him.

The pretzel dough was pretty easy to make as far as yeast dough goes (minus the fact that my beloved fiance threw out my yeast and I had to open a new bag).  It only had to rise for an hour.  Then you divide the dough into portions, make ropes out of each one, and wrap the rope around a hot dog.  Make sure you pinch the ends together tightly; I had a few that opened up when they boiled!  Once they're all wrapped, to make the dough pretzels rather than bread, you have to boil them, hot dog and all.  Then they get baked.

The end result was pretty damn good.  As a hot dog hater, I will confess to eating one and a half pretzel dogs.  They were extra good when they were still warm; I recommend eating them before they cool completely!  However, there were quite a few that were devoured later :)

I will also say that I decided to double the recipe for the dough and make one batch of pretzel dogs, along with one batch of pretzels.  I was glad that I did because Rachael even said that she was craving pretzels but not the hot dogs.  It made a good pretzel, too, so there was something for everyone!

Recipe:

pretzel dogs
from Brown Eyed Baker
yields 8 pretzel dogs

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 - 115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
kosher salt, for sprinkling
8 hot dogs

Instructions:

1) Combine the water, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.

2) Add the flour and the butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined.  Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4-5 minutes.  Remove the dough from the bowl and place it in a clean, oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area for about 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

3) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush with vegetable oil.  Set aside.

4)  Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart pot.

5) In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces.  Roll out each piece of dough into a rope that's about 24 inches long (mine were much shorter; I think this is if you use foot-long hot dogs!)  Starting at one end, wrap the dough around the hot dog, pinching each end together so that it's sealed.  Place onto the parchment-lined pan and repeat with the remaining dough and hot dogs.

6) Place the pretzel dogs into the boiling water two at a time and boil for 30 seconds.  Remove them from the water using a large flat slotted spatula.  Return the boiled pretzel dogs to the pan, brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the coarse kosher salt.  Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12-14 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Lemon and Arugula Rigatoni

I am the kind of cook that appreciates the process of making foods.  Why else would I spend two days making one batch of bagels;  an entire Easter working on croissants; 90 minutes caramelizing onions for a soup- and stirring the entire time?!  I don't mind things that take a long time.  However- sometimes, there are nights when you just need to whip something up.  It needs to be quick and it needs to be delicious.  And that, my friends, is what today's recipe is all about.  It is ridiculously fast, insanely easy, and was so delicious that we ate it all.  And honestly that rarely happens here.

All you have to do is cook pasta.  Honestly that's it as far as cooking goes.  While the rigatoni is cooking, you drain and rinse a can of cannellini beans, juice and zest a lemon, and toss it all with some arugula into a bowl.  When the pasta is done, you throw that on top, and it immediately begins to wilt the arugula and warm up the beans.  Add some olive oil and grated Pecorino, and voila: dinner is done.  Literally this meal went from idea to dinner in under 15 minutes.  I cannot get over how quick that is.  The longest step is waiting for your pasta water to boil!

The really amazing thing is that this meal doesn't taste "quick."  It was absolutely amazing.  Lemony, but with a little peppery bite from the arugula.  The beans add protein, and the Pecorino adds a whole new dimension of flavor.  Everyone who tasted this was in love immediately.  This is definitely going to be my go-to quick weeknight meal... or my lunch... or my anytime-because-it-is-so-good.

Recipe:

lemon and arugula rigatoni
from A Couple Cooks
makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

3/4 pound whole wheat rigatoni (or any pasta shape)
4 cups baby arugula
15-ounce can cannelloni white beans
zest and juice from 1 lemon
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
kosher salt
black pepper

Instructions:

1) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the pasta according to package instructions.

2) Meanwhile, drain and rinse the white beans and place them in a large bowl with the arugula.  Add zest and juice of the lemon into the bowl; add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper.  Toss gently to combine all flavors.

3) When pasta is done, drain it.  Add it immediately to the large bowl with beans and arugula along with oil and cheese; stir to combine.  The warm pasta will wilt the arugula and warm the beans.  Serve immediately, topped with more shredded cheese, salt, pepper, olive oil, and/or lemon zest if desired.

Broccoli Grape Harvest Salad

This will be the last recipe in my "Things to Bring to the White Mountains" series!  Like I said, those Cormiers eat a lot, so I knew I wanted to bring my giant platter of cookies, but I also wanted to bring a pasta salad.  I decided to try out a new recipe and make a giant double batch.  It can be scary to bring a brand new recipe up for about 15 people to try, but luckily, it worked out!

Some of Joey's third helping of salad!

When I saw this on Pinterest, I was intrigued: a pasta salad with grapes?  And broccoli?  Not to mention chopped toasted pecans.  I knew I had to give it a try, but with some tweaks.  I used no mayonnaise, rather than the recipe's suggestion of half mayo and half Greek yogurt.  I am a mayo hated, so I used all yogurt.  I also left out the turkey bacon (are you surprised?).  To be honest, I bought the bacon, but I just never got around to making it and adding it to the salad, so vegetarian it stayed.  Last, although I did double the recipe, I did not double the sugar; I thought adding 2/3 cup to any side dish was going to turn it into instant dessert!  I am glad I did it, because it came out just perfect.  Lastly, I used regular pasta, not whole wheat, because I was afraid my family would complain!

The salad was a huge hit.  Twangy, creamy, salty, sweet, and healthy (it's from a site called Eat Yourself Skinny!), everyone loved it.  I was surprised to see how much the boys enjoyed it; I saw Joey eat thirds at dinner one night, and Ross confessed to eating the last serving that we had saved in a Ziplock bag "like a push-up pop."  And Kelsey, who claims she always hates the ingredients in my food but then loves what I make, said she is not a fan of Greek yogurt but loved the salad.  So it is possible to make a healthy salad without any mayonnaise and have it actually taste good!

Recipe:

broccoli grape harvest salad
from Eat Yourself Skinny

Servings: 8
Calories: 244
Fat: 5.5 g
Points+: 6 points


Ingredients:

1/2 of a 16 ounce box of whole wheat bow-tie pasta (farfalle)
1 pound fresh broccoli
1/2 cup light mayonnaise (this can be replaced by Greek yogurt)
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt (I used Greek)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups seedless red grapes
6 cooked turkey bacon slices, crumbled
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan for about 6 minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.  Then prepare pasta according to package directions.

2) Meanwhile, cut broccoli florets from stems and separate into small pieces using a paring knife.   In a large bowl, mix together mayonnaise, yogurt, sugar, red onion, vinegar, and salt and toss with broccoli, hot cooked pasta, and grapes.  Stir to coat.  Cover and chill for up to 3 hours.  Stir in bacon and toasted pecans just before serving.

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Snickerdoodles

These brown butter salted caramel snickerdoodles just simply sound amazing.  So many words, flavors, and things are going on in the title alone: the butter will be browned, meaning it adds a nutty flavor; there are pieces of caramel baked into each cookie; the salt has been increased from an average snickerdoodle recipe, and the cookies are sprinkled with coarse sea salt so you get that salty-sweet experience... just in reading the title, I knew immediately I had to try them out.  I figured they would fit in perfectly with my cookie tray that I planned to bring to the Cormiers' lake house in the White Mountains, so I made a double batch.  Snickerdoodles, meet your evil but oh-so-tempting twin, brown butter salted caramel snickerdoodle!

This was my first time making brown butter, and I admit I was a little nervous!  I have read about it before and I know that adding brown butter to any recipe ramps it up a bit, and so I was excited but worried.  I know there is a fine line between brown butter and burned, bitter butter!  I watched it carefully and took it off in time.  The color gets darker even after you take it off the heat, so make sure you take yours off before it is that dark brown color that brown butter should be.

The caramels get cut into squares and hidden in the center of each cookie, so that you get a little surprise in each one!  I cut my squares pretty small, so I probably could have added more than one piece, but I liked that the caramels weren't overwhelming.

I'd have to say the best part of the cookie is the salty-sweet flavor.  There is a half teaspoon of sea salt in the cookies themselves, and you sprinkle them with a bit more once they're formed.  It's not super salty, but just enough of a bite to contrast with the sugar.  I always like salty-sweet, but my family is a bit pickier; however, these cookies proved that, when done right, sugar and salt can be enjoyed by everyone.  Everyone loved them and they went fast!  Kelsey says she hates salty-sweet but loved the cookies somehow anyway.  They were just a fun and interesting little cookie!

Recipe:

brown butter salted caramel snickerdoodle

from Two Peas and their Pod

yield: 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup unsalted butter, sliced

1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt

1 cup caramel squares, cut into quarters

for rolling the cookies:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

sea salt, for sprinkling after baking

Instructions:

1)  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.

2) To brown the butter, heat a thick-bottomed skillet over medium heat.  Add the sliced butter, whisking frequently.  Continue to whisk the butter until melted.  The butter will start to foam and browned specks will begin to form at the bottom of the pan.  The butter should have a nutty aroma.  Watch the butter carefully because it can go from brown to burnt very quickly. Remove the butter form the heat and let cool to room temperature.

3) In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the brown butter and the sugars.  Mix until blended and smooth.  Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla and yogurt and mix until combined.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  

4) Form the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap.  Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  You can chill the dough overnight.

5) When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Measure about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls.  Flatten the ball with the palm of your hand and place a piece of caramel in the center of the dough.  Wrap the cookie dough around the caramel, making sure the caramel is completely covered by dough.

6) In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar.  Roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Place the dough balls on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  Make sure the cookies are about 2 inches apart.  Sprinkle the cookie tops with sea salt.

7) Bake the cookies 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown.  The centers will still be soft.  Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, or until set.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

The snickerdoodles are the non-marshmallow ones!

Zesty Lemon Shortbread Cookies

A week ago, I headed up to the White Mountains to stay at Silver Lake with the Cormiers.  Knowing that this is a family that likes to eat - and eats a lot! - I planned to bring a few different things with me.  I will be sharing all the recipes I made for the trip north, and the first thing I decided to bring was a platter full of cookies.  I made three different kinds of cookies, including my famous fluffernutter cookies, which are always a hit.  The second cookie was zesty lemon shortbread.  I am a sucker for anything lemony, and these have a quarter cup of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, not to mention the zest of 2 lemons.

This cookie dough has to be formed into logs, wrapped in wax paper, and refrigerated for an hour.  Once it is nice and firm, you slice it into individual cookies.  This was actually tough because apparently all my knives are terrible.  If i used a serrated knife, I just shredded the dough; non-serrated knives smushed the dough log.  So I ended up cutting them and then reshaping them a bit into the circles they are supposed to resemble.  They ended up looking just fine... and tasting ever finer.

These cookies are very, very lemony with a soft crumbly texture.  They are small enough to justify eating at least two or three, and they just taste like summer.  I only made about 2 dozen of these for my cookie platter, and since I baked them when my family was still home, we ate quite a few before it was time to bring them up to the mountains!  Again - bad blogger syndrome - no pictures, but accept my summer brain apologies!

Recipe:

zesty lemon shortbread cookies

from Baking with Blondie

Ingredients:
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups + 1 teaspoon flour, sifted
2 tablespoons corn starch
2/3 cup powdered sugar (again, for dusting after cooking)

Instructions:

1) Cream together butter and powdered sugar in a stand mixer.  Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add flour and corn starch and beat until a smooth dough forms.

2)  Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half.  Place each half onto a large piece of wax paper and form into a log.  Roll paper around log, and twist the ends.  Place in refrigerator for about an hour, or until firm,

3) Preheat oven to 35o degrees.  Spray your cookie sheet or line with baking paper.  Slice your log into about 1/3 inch cookie discs.  Place onto prepared baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes.  Lightly toss the warm shortbread cookies in the extra powdered sugar and allow to cool completely on wire racks.

Quinoa Fried Rice

I am very excited to share this recipe with you, because it is awesome.  And you might have your doubts about it (why do I feel like I say that about 80% of my meals!?) but you are just going to have to trust me on this: quinoa fried rice is amazing.  Technically, it's called quinoa fried "rice," because there is actually no rice in the recipe at all (although my mom was fooled and thought there was a mixture of quinoa and rice!).  It's fried rice made with quinoa and lots of vegetables, and it is absolutely delicious, extremely flavorful, full of protein, and way healthier than fried rice made with regular (boring) old white rice.  Doubters, read on.

See the spirals?

I made this recipe when I was home alone and it was about 90 degrees.  Turning on the stove made me feel like crying, but I just knew it was going to be worth it.  I had to cook the quinoa, which has a similar process to cooking rice; bring it all to a boil ad then let it simmer on low for 20 minutes.  You'll know it is done when you see little spirals on the quinoa (I've looked this up, and the spirals are the quinoa's germ unfurling... not germs as in bacteria!)  Then you mix up the sauce, which is made from teriyaki and soy sauces with some sesame oil (oh how I love sesame oil).  The vegetables include onion, carrots, garlic, scallions, and fresh ginger, and you also scramble a couple eggs in there in the end; it is kind of funny that the recipe says to do everything for 2 minutes too (once the quinoa is cooked, the rest of the cooking flies by!  Cook onions and carrots for 2 minutes... then add garlic and cook for 2 minutes... 2 minutes more once the sauce is added.... etc.).  You end up with an extremely filling, healthy, flavorful meal with way better texture than rice anyway.

I will confess that I had a scrambled egg issue and instead of ending up with those little pieces of egg you see in fried rice, my eggs disappeared.  Still not sure what the heck I did, but really they were completely hidden.  Mark, who apparently hates eggs (since when, I say!) claimed he could taste them still, but I thought they were gone except for the fact that they added some more protein.

My quinoa-hating mother admitted to really liking this dinner, and like I said, she was surprised to hear it was made without any rice at all.  Rachael really liked it, especially the fact that it was a healthier version than the regular fried rice.  And I will come clean and say that I ate it every single day until it was gone... and I bought more quinoa yesterday so I can have some more soon!

My mouth is watering just looking at this picture...

Recipe:

quinoa fried "rice"
from Cooking for Keeps

serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (or 2 1/2 - 3 cups cooked quinoa)
1 1/2 cups water or chicken stock (I used water)
1/4 small onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 scallions, chopped and divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 eggs, lightly scrambles (still raw)
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Sauce:
1 1/2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/3 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions:

1) Rinse quinoa a few times in cold water.

2) Bring quinoa and water or chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan, and then reduce to a simmer.  Season with salt.

3) Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until quinoa is fluffy and cooked through.  Remove from heat and let set for 5 minutes or so.  Fluff with a fork.

4)  Cool and store in the fridge, preferably overnight (I didn't).

5) Mix teriyaki, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a small bowl.  Set aside.

6)  Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan over a high heat.  Add onion and carrot and cook, about 2 minutes.  Add 2 scallions, garlic, and ginger to the pan.  Cook another 2 minutes.  Add in the rest of the olive oil and the quinoa.  Stir fry about 2 minutes.  Add sauce and stir-fry until incorporated, about 2 minutes.  Make a well in the center of the quinoa; pour eggs in and scramble.  Throw in peas, then toss everything together until the peas are warmed through.  Add remaining scallion and serve.

Low Fat Baked Pasta with Spinach

Okay so I will start this post by apologizing that this is my second post in a row without pictures!  But the week I made the carrot cake  and this ziti bake was a crazy one, what with the golf tournament and the last week of school insanity.  So no, there are no photos of this low fat baked pasta with spinach; I promise to be much better from now on.  But I can tell you that part of the reasons is because it was all eaten very quickly!

Rachael was on one of her diets -  she gets on these kicks every now and then - and it was just going to be the two of us home for dinner.  I know that her all-time favorite meal is ziti, so I checked the Skinny Taste blog and was thrilled to find a low fat baked pasta dish - and a vegetarian one, nonetheless!  I stopped at Vincent's on the way home from work and got what I needed, and then went home to whip up some dinner.

It all came together pretty quickly.  While the ziti cooked, I was able to make the sauce, which has spinach, oregano, garlic, and basil to give it lots of flavor - not to mention mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta cheeses!  Hard to believe it's still low fat, isn't it!?  But you use part-skim ricotta and mozzarella, and all the spinach helps to boost the nutrition up there as well.  Mix it all together, pour it into a pan, bake at 375 for a half hour, and you have dinner - dinner at 296 calories per serving, mind you.  As expected, Rachael loved it, and took more to lunch the next couple days.  The rest of my family straggled home one by one and everyone thought it was a delicious meal - even the picky ones!.  The fact that the recipe begins with the words "low fat" can be our little secret.

Recipe:

low fat baked pasta with spinach
from Skinny Taste

servings: 8
calories: 296
fat: 7 g.
protein: 16 g.
Points+: 8 points

Ingredients:
12 ounces uncooked pasta such as ziti (I used a pound)
28 ounces crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
salt and fresh pepper to taste
8 ounces fat free ricotta
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part skim mozzarella
olive oil cooking spray (canola works fine too)

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with oil spray.

2) In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta according to instructions until al dente.  Drain and return to pot.

3) Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, add olive oil and saute garlic.  Add chopped spinach, salt, pepper, and crushed tomatoes.  Season with basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

4) Add sauce to the pasta and combine the ziti.  Add half of the mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, and ricotta.  Mix well, then transfer to the baking pan.

5) Pour the pasta mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly.  Top with the remaining mozzarella.

6) Bake for 30 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted and the edges are lightly browned.  Let it cool 5 minutes, then cut it into 8 equal portions.

Carrot Cake

I will start off this post by apologizing that I have no pictures of today's recipe.  It's not like me to forget, but I think you will understand the situation when I explain!

It was Wednesday night of the last week of school.  Thursday was going to be Kenzie's and my last day at school, since the last day fell on a Friday which also happened to be the golf tournament.  We were frantically writing out thank you cards to people that we won't be seeing again till the end of August, and talking about how good so many people were to us in the last two terrible months.  That's when I mentioned that I had thought about baking something to leave in the office (teachers love baked goods in the office) but by now it was 9:00 at night.  However, Kenz loved the idea, and somehow I settled on the idea of making a carrot cake.  I had made carrot cake before , but that recipe was a three-layer cake, and for this one, I wanted a sheet cake (for ease of transport!).  When I Googled carrot sheet cake, I found the Pioneer Woman's recipe, and since she is usually very trustworthy, I decided at 9 PM to make two carrot sheet cakes : one for work, and one because my mom informed me that it was cruel to make one of her favorite cakes and take it away!

The good news was that it came together pretty quickly, with the use of my food processor to grate 2 cups of carrots.  Once I got the batter done, it was time to pour it into 2 separate sheet cake pans.  This was harder to do than I thought, and I think I shortchanged my family's cake because it ended up being a lot thinner than the school cake!  But then into the oven they went, and I could focus on making the cream cheese frosting.  Although I doubled the recipe, I did not double the amount of sugar, because I thought that 2 pounds of confectionary sugar was wayyyyy too much.  I am not sure how much I used, but I don't think I even used one pound.  I taste tested along the way and when it tasted fabulous, I considered that done enough!  The recipe asks for pecans to be mixed in, but in case anyone at work had nut allergies, I left them out.  I did sprinkle some on top of our cake for home.

Since by this point it was way past my bedtime, I frosted the cakes way before they were cool, had Mom slice up the work one for me, and headed to bed.  In the morning, I brought the cake in to the office and left a card from me and Kenz.  When I had my prep time at 11:00, I wandered down to see how it was going, and there were only 2 pieces left!  Almost the whole thing had gone in about 3 hours.  I told you, teachers love baked goods in the office!  I got 3 emails requesting the recipe, and lots of rave reviews.  So, I never actually tried the cake, but if we let my coworkers vouch for the cake, it must have been good :)

Recipe:

carrot cake
from the Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
FOR CAKE:
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 whole eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups grated carrots

FOR ICING:
1 stick butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
1 pound powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup pecans, finely chopped

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Mix together the sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl.  In another bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Add to the first mixture and combine. Then add carrots and mix well.  Pour into a greased and floured pan (Bundt, sheet cake, or 9 x 13" pyrex)  and bake until done, 25 minutes (sheet cake) to 50 (bunt), depending on the type of pan you used.

3) Cool completely, then ice.

To make icing:
In large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese.  Add sugar and vanilla and blend, then mix in nuts.  Spread on cooled carrot cake.