Ina's Apple Tart

This was surprisingly easy...and delicious!
As long as you are up to peeling and slicing your apples (or using the apple corer-peeler) then get going, it really is great!
You can find the recipe here.

Cheese Straws

My favorite little SL bakery is Normandy Cafe. One of the yummiest things there are these cheesy breadsticks.
I was flipping through "Barefoot in Paris" (Ina Garten) and found a recipe that is SO easy and SO yummy.
So, here it is...puff pastry, my best friend, and cheese!

2 sheets puff pastry
1 egg (beaten with a tablespoon of water)
1 cup grated gruyere cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
ground pepper

preheat oven to 375

1. roll out your pastry to 10X12
2. brush with egg mixture
3. sprinkle cheeses, thyme, s & p
4. use pizza cutter to cut into 12 strips

5. twist strips onto parchment lined pan
6. bake 10-15 minutes until brown (turn and bake 2 more minutes...I didnt, but it says to)

WA LA!!! Yummy with salad or actually with anything at all!

*You can make these and spread basil, or tapenade, or tomatoe sauce on them instead of cheese mixture.

Palmiers...(elephant ear cookies!)

I finally bought "Barefoot in Paris," my last Ina Garten cookbook.  I was So excited to try it out and I found this sparkly gem of a recipe inside:  BEWARE: THIS IS SUPER SUPER EASY!!!

Palmiers

1 pack pepperidge farm puff pastry (2 sheets)
2 cups of sugar
1/8 tsp. kosher salt

Thaw your puff pastry.
( she suggests overnight in the fridge...that works, but it also works 40 minutes on the counter)
preheat oven to 450
First mix the salt and sugar together.
put 1 C. of the mixture onto your board,
 then put one of your sheets down
pour 1/2 cup mixture on top.
roll it out to a 14 inch square making sure the sheet is coated front and back with sugar.
Fold like this:

cut into 3/8 inch strips and put on a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or silpat)
bake at 450 for 5 minutes
they should look like this:

 

Then flip them all over and bake for another 4-6 minutes.  Just til the sugar is all caramelized or there is slight browning. 

 

WA LA!!!

ok..so for St. Patricks day I tried tinting them GREEN by adding a couple of drops of food coloring to the sugar.  (mixing it in a ziploc)

 

Happy St. Patty's DAY!

 

Happy Valentines Day!

My Valentine cut out brownies & icecream worked!
Add caramel, raspberries, macademia nuts and whipcream...and it was yummy!

Cookies on a Stick Valentines

Well, because I am on the cookie on a stick kick...I thought Id tell you how to do them.

First, I searched the internet for a good sturdy recipe, and this is the best I found.  They are SO yummy, but they taste a little more like a butter cookie, or shortbread than a sugar cookie...but I really love them.

Michelle Bommarito’s Sugar Cookies For Sticks

3 c. all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks butter, unsalted, softened (8 oz)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg 1/2 t. kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of almond extract

Sift together the flour and baking powder. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the egg, salt and both extracts.
Slowly add flour mixture (1 cup at a time) and stir until incorporated
Form the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll the dough onto a lightly floured surface to approximately 5/8″ thick. Cut the cookies into shapes and place the cut cookie shape on a parchment lined cookie; Poke a stick into cookies.
Bake the cookies for approximately 8-10 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown in color. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Royal Icing
1 pound confectioner’s sugar
5 T meringue powder or 1/4 cup pasteurized egg whites
Ice cold water according to desired consistency and 1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir together, using as much water as needed for desired consistency

So, once my cookies while my cookies were baking...Miranda gave me the most brilliant idea.  Make my design on parchment paper first...so I wouldnt have to freehand the batman symbol.

So, I melted chocolate chips...and piped the chocolate onto the parchment.  You could use royal icing in colors if you wanted a different color.  I happened to need dark. I put mine in the fridge to harden.

 

Then, I first piped around each cookie, filled them in with yellow icing and stuck my symbol right in the middle.

 

Wa La...Robbie's batman Valentines.  Then of course I googled "batman valentine" and found this vintage picture.  He loved it! 

So, here are 2 dozen batmans on a stick! 

and with the left over dough I did some of my own valentines!  These were fun...but, I have no idea how to do polkadots.  They kept making stringy points.

Happy Valentines Day! 

 

roasted chicken...or should we say, easy chicken

My sister Mir, was on a roasting chicken kick. So I decided to give it a try...my little no-chef self doesnt normally do stuff like this, but hey...she said it was easy.

Can we say: chicken, salt and pepper? 450 for an hour? what is hard about that!
Yes I garnished with a couple potatoes, carrots and onions, but seriously the hardest part was getting the neck and the other thing out...so I tried to pawn that job off on my kids...who didnt take the bait and I had to do it myself. But seriously, give this a try...here is the recipe (if you need one)

homemade cinnamon rolls

I made these for a couple families on thanksgiving, and I think there may be no greater act of love than waking up early to roll them out, let them rise, bake & frost then deliver. I felt so good doing it, but I wouldnt mind trying the kind you can make ahead. My friend has a recipe for that kind...so Ill let you know!

Yummy Food for a great get together

Mango Grilled Chicken Salad

Grilled Chicken (marinated in balsamic)
Mangoes-cubed
Provolone cheese (shredded or in small slices)
Spring Mix salad

dressing:
1 clove minced garlic
3TB spicy brown mustard
3TB honey
3 TB balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1 cup olive oil
Whisk all ingredients together except olive oil. Add olive oil and whisk. toss in salad.

My Cute friend Emily gave me this recipe at Outerbanks one year...and now it is a favorite for book clubs, showers, and small dinner parties! YUM!

Did you know that rolls arent scary? Yes you have to think about them the night before, and then again 4 hours before...and you never want them to burn in the oven after all the work...but you know what. If I can make rolls, you can make rolls!
I use the junior league out of this world rolls or lately "feather overnight rolls" out of the mormon cookbook.

Please get your baking apron on and make these IMMEDIATELY! Pumpkin cupcakes with cream chees frosting and shaved milk chocolate. Im kind of in heaven. really, I want 12 more!

There were some other great dishes that I dont have pictured...but get started with these!

I know, I know...IZZE is the new cool drink for showers mostly because of the packaging probably. BUT amazingly, they really are SO good and pretty good for you, so what a WIN WIN!

Pantry Makeover

I hope you all have really talented sisters who will drop everything in your time of need.
I have been stressing about my pantry for months now (because I couldnt figure out how to organize it) and then I became desperate when we had a "wheat beetle" problem. We had to throw everything out, so it kind of forced me to decide how to organize. My sister Mir came to my rescue and emailed me this pantry organization chart. (above) emailed her a picture of our empty pantry and this is what she came up with!
I printed out my new guide and took it to multiple containter stores. I am not completely finished, and my version does vary from the original (because Mir has never actually even seen my pantry in person) but here is what I have so far:

These containers are the "POP" containers by OXO. You can find them at William Sonoma, the container store, and BB &Beyond. They have changed my life. Ok, maybe not, but I feel like they have. This is my favorite little section (though the cous cous is a little out of place right now) I am hoping to add marshmallows and coconut...but Rob told me I have to slow down with the containter buying.

WA LA...happy happy!

Nest Cupcakes!

I have been dreaming of these for weeks! We finally made them for Jane's blessing...and I think Ill make a couple batches more this week.

These ones are
-lemon cake mix
-sprinkles recipe cream cheese frosting
-toasted coconut
-cadbury mini eggs

the cream cheese frosting is:
1/2 cup butter
8 oz cream cheese
3 3/4 cup powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla

I always double the recipe...but then I have leftovers for weeks!

Neighbor gifts...

For the past four years I have made caramel and chocolate covered pretzel gifts for neighbors...so I thought Id better continue the tradition!

You will need: pretzels rods, kraft caramel squares, white chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips.

I add a little water to the caramel and then melt it in the microwave, and dip the rods in caramel. I use the back of a spoon to roll the caramel off and leave a thin layer. I lay them down on parchment paper and stick them in the fridge.

I dont add anything to the chocolate before I melt it, I put it in for 1 minute and then add 15 seconds if it needs it. I dip the rods in the chocolate just as I do with the caramel, using the same technique with the back of the spoon.

After they harden I drizzle the opposite color on them and then, WA LA!

I also made PEACE blocks...cause lucky for me, not a lot of people know about vinyl here!

And for Robbie's teachers, I made Spanish Christmas trees.

Neighbor gifts...Check!

It's PIE time!

If you are like me, you are probably just taking down Halloween...trying to shift gears to Thanksgiving! It is about time I do, because according to Martha, I should be making my pie crusts and freezing them already! Last year I did this, and it made a world of difference on Thanksgiving. You can make your pie dough, form it in your pie plates, then cover in seran wrap and freeze. I also made pans full of these cookie cutter shapes so that they would be ready. I guess I better get working!