cooking with kirty

Recipes by Request

2011-12-29T23:32:00.003-07:00

As per request, here are some recipes I've made lately.

A salad dressing for a spinach salad with craisins and sliced almonds. I adapted the recipe from Jamie's Cranberry Spinach Salad on allrecipes.

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon powdered onion
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Mix all ingredients together and pour over salad. This makes enough dressing for several large salads.

Also, an awesome chili recipe adapted from Boilermaker Tailgate Chili on allrecipes.

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
2 (15 ounce) cans chili beans in sauce
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 green or red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
2 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup water
1/8 cup chili powder
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white sugar

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground beef and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
Pour in the chili beans, kidney beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, bell peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and water. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.

If you're looking for a great cornbread recipe to go with your chili, I recommend this one found here, http://allrecipes.com/recipe/golden-sweet-cornbread/.

And lastly, a Pumpkin Pie, adapted from Paula Deen for using homemade pureed pumpkin.

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups pureed pumpkin, from scratch
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.
Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Basketball Cake

2011-10-08T18:22:00.000-06:00

Ezra recently turned 2. He loves balls. Especially basketballs. So he got a basketball birthday cake. It was a super quick cake job. And the chocolate wasn't cooperating. Good enough for a 2 year old.

Chocolate Flower Cups

2011-06-20T20:21:00.003-06:00

I was first introduced to these chocolate flower cups at a Church Young Women's meeting. I knew I would have to try them myself sometime. So I used the hubby's birthday party as my excuse to try them out. The best part is that they are so simple for how impressive they look.

First blow up as many water balloons as you need. One to make each cup. Then, melt some candy melts or chocolate in a bowl. If you want multiple colors drizzle the different color chocolate on top. Take a balloon and place it in the chocolate. Tilt the balloon back and forth 4 times to create the petals.

Pull the balloon out of the chocolate and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. After the sheet is full of balloons stick it in the fridge for 5 minutes.

Cut the top of the balloon with scissors.

Carefully holding the base of the cup without putting too much pressure on the petals, pull the balloon away from the chocolate.

I found that some of the balloons would rip and get stuck to the chocolate. I simple scraped the balloons out. If any holes are made in the bottom of the cup, fill it with a little more melted chocolate and refreeze.

Then fill them with something delicious. I used pudding and fruit. You could also use ice cream, just fruit or any other yummy concoction. Make sure you let me know if you try it yourself!

Corn and Bean Salsa

2011-06-07T14:35:00.003-06:00

This has to be my all time favorite recipe to make in the summer. It's so healthy and refreshing. I've seen several variations on this recipe and it's been called several different things too, one of which is Cowboy Salsa or Cowboy Caviar. Here's my version of it.

Corn and Bean Salsa

1 lg red pepper, thinly diced

1 lg green pepper, thinly diced

4 roma tomatoes, thinly diced

1 can corn or frozen corn

1 can black beans

1 can dark red kidney beans

6-8 oz balsamic vinaigrette

Stir it all together and refrigerate. Serve with chips or without. It's yummy enough to stand on it's own. I use a fat free balsamic vinaigrette and it is wonderful. Use as much or as little dressing as you like.

Best White Cake Recipe Ever

2011-05-25T14:21:00.004-06:00

So I've been promising to post this recipe for some of you. Sorry it's taken so long. I don't know how I get so busy and preoccupied. Seriously, I only play with my children all the time.

This is the recipe I used for Mikey and Petra's wedding cake. I found it on the web in several different places. You can find it at food.com.

White Sour Cream Wedding Cake

1 box white cake mix

1 c all purpose flour

1 c granulated sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 c water

1/8 c vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

1 c sour cream

4 large egg whites

Stir dry ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk. Add remaining ingredients. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Bake at 325. Depending on what pan size you are baking in it can take anywhere from 20-60 minutes. So watch your cake.

*Just a reminder. When baking, for best results always use the most fattening products, unless other wise specified. ---Use the real fattening sour cream.

Lemon/Lime Wedding Cake

2011-04-16T14:55:00.005-06:00

My brother Mikey just got married. Hooray! Mikey and Petra decided on a lemon/lime reception theme. It was awesome. I'm wishing I would have taken some pictures of it all. They asked me to do the cake. To say I was a little intimidated would be a major understatement. But since Mike and Petra were so cool and laid back about the whole thing, I was able to keep my calm. The cake was their idea and I just embellished it.

Love Cupcakes

2011-03-15T12:16:00.005-06:00

I made these cupcakes for Valentines. I know that was long ago, but here they are anyway. Super simple, yet fun. All you need is chocolate cupcakes, a can of fudge frosting, and some white chocolate or candy melts.

Simply, heat up the fudge frosting in the microwave for a few seconds, and stir. Dip the cupcakes in the melted frosting. (You'll probably need to transfer the frosting into a bigger bowl for easier dipping.) Melt the white chocolate. Put into a squeeze bottle, or a piping bag and write love on the cupcakes.

You could write all kinds of messages on the cupcakes for almost any occasion! So fun!

Muesli

2011-01-29T14:13:00.004-07:00

Ahh, Muesli! Muesli was one of my favorite things to eat on my mission in Estonia. Pair it up with their awesome yogurts and fresh fruit and it was the perfect breakfast. Muesli, however, is hard to find here in the states, and it's expensive. So, I've made my own. It's not quite as good as the stuff in Estonia, but it's still good.

Muesli

1 1/2 c 5 grain hot cereal mix

1 c natural trail mix

1/4 c flax seeds

1/2 c chopped dates

2 c wheaties

1/2 c puffed rice

The only thing I wish I could have found was some unsweetened coconut flakes. Anyone know where to find some?

Here I mixed it up with some Greek yogurt, pears and raspberries.

Super natural, yummy goodness.

Dallin's Dinosaur Birthday Cake

2011-01-22T20:34:00.005-07:00

So I've been a little behind lately. I've lost a little umph when it comes to cooking posts. I'm hoping to get that back and do better.

Better late than never.

Dallin's December 2010 birthday cake. He wanted a blue brachiosaurus cake. It definitely wasn't my best cake. But Dallin told me it was "beautiful". So that's good enough for me.

The tail was made out of rice krispy treats. The cake was funfetti with vanilla frosting. The skin was marshmallow fondant.

Apple Pancakes with Cinnamon and Sugar Cream Cheese

2010-10-15T10:09:00.007-06:00

I love cooking and baking in the fall. There are 2 reasons for this: Apples and Pumpkins! Today I came up with a new pancake recipe and it is applesolutely my new favorite. I think you'll like it too!

Apple Pancakes with Cinnamon and Sugar Cream Cheese

1 cup flour

1/4 c old fashion oats

1 T sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

2 T sour cream

1 egg

1 cup apple juice

1/2 cup diced apples(i used jonagold)

Beat all ingredients except apples together. Fold in apples. Cook in pan over medium low heat until done.

Makes 6-8 pancakes.

1/4 c cream cheese, softened or whipped

2 T powdered sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Cream ingredients together. Spread on top of pancakes.

Pour on syrup. (optional) I used some homemade maple syrup goodness. Much better than that corn syrup stuff.

Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm.

Seriously.

Not Your Traditional Burger

2010-08-24T21:36:00.005-06:00

I've never been very good with burgers. I prefer chicken. But my man, Dave, is the world's number one burger connoisseur. As a matter of fact he is on his way to being the Burger King's Jared(of Subway). Dave is the only person I know of who can lose weight on a Whopper Diet. You ask how? Simple. Dave eats nothing all day and then realizes he's starving at 10 or 11 pm, so he heads over to Burger King and gets himself a whopper. That is the Whopper Diet.

So for the sake of Dave, I tried a not so traditional burger and did it more of Dave's style. (I'm a no cheese, plain old ketchup and mustard kind of girl, boring, I know).

But not this time. I even made my own buns. Amazing, I know. I used a recipe from all recipes, you can find it here. Little tip though, make sure your milk concoction isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast and the dough won't rise. I'm pretty sure that's what I did, but they still tasted awesome.

For the meat, here's my approximate recipe:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 T worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 c ranch dressing

Makes 5 patties. Grill those babies up and Yum, Yum.

I put a slice of Mozzarella on the burgers while cooking. Then toss that on the awesome homemade bun, add a pineapple ring and top with some killer BBQ sauce. Voila!

Sorry not the best picture. Doesn't do it justice. Once again I didn't think to take one until Dave had eaten most of his.

Dave's response: He gave it a 9.5. Which translates into just about as good as Fuddruckers.

Dallin's not the biggest burger fan, and he doesn't eat his on the bun. But he does eat them separately and he ate 1 and 1/2 burger patties himself.

I'm telling you this is a must try if your man is a burger fan too.

Fun in the Kitchen and Another Recipe Much Too Good for Children

2010-07-26T16:17:00.005-06:00

I had Dallin in the kitchen the other day to help me make a Raspberry/Blueberry Shortbread Trifle. I thought he would have fun helping me throw it together. Which he did, until he realized we were going to use all of the raspberries and blueberries. Then he got mad and decided I was ruining the berries. So he demanded that some be left in the bowl for him to eat. Then I didn't leave him enough. It turned into quite the tantrum. Oh well. The dessert still looked pretty and some how I managed to get him happy by the end.

Here's a shot of him, happy, before we started.

And the finale.

I also came up with an incredibly Much Too Good for Children Cookie. This is Oatmeal Cream Pie meets a chocolate Scotchie.

Deluxe Dipped Oatmeal and Cream Sandwich

1 Betty Crocker Oatmeal Cookie Mix

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

Cream filling

1 1/2 c marshmallow cream

1/2 c shortening

2 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 T water

1 c butterscotch chips, melted

1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

1 c coconut

1. Basically follow the directions on the cookie mix(omitting the water). Stir together butter, egg, and cookie mix. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes. So that cookies are still soft. Cool.

2. Mix together cream filling ingredients.

3. Prepare melted butterscotch and chocolate and coconut in separate bowls.

4. Place 1 Tablespoon of cream filling on an oatmeal cookie. Top with another cookie.

5. Roll the edge of half of the sandwich in the chocolate. Roll the edge of the other half in the butterscotch. Roll the entire edge in coconut.

6. Place on parchment paper to harden or stick it in the freezer for a quick hardening.

It'll make 16 cookie sandwiches.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

2010-07-17T22:45:00.002-06:00

Kirty's Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

3 oz cream cheese, softened

2 T butter, softened

3/4 c sugar

1 T vanilla

1 egg

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 c flour

1 c milk

1 1/2 c blueberries, fresh or frozen

Cream together cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Add vanilla and egg, stir. Add milk, baking powder, salt, and flour. Gently fold in blueberries. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Makes 12-15.

Threadcakes

2010-07-11T00:36:00.010-06:00

Threadless t-shirts is doing another cake competition, using their t-shirts. You should check it out here. Make sure you go through the gallery and check out all the awesome cakes submitted thus far. Here's the t-shirt design I chose for my cake.

So, before you check out my cake pictures, I of course, have a few disclaimers:

My original plan was to carve the t-shirt design into the back of my cake. I did. All was well until my cake started to shift and lean in the back because of the carving. I then had to move to plan B. I filled in what I carved, tried to add some support and fix it as best I could. Now I wish I never would have tried to carve it in the back. Then I wouldn't have ended up with a leaning, sagging, sad looking rear end of a house.

I also originally planned on having flowers, landscape, a rocking chair, and table. But as usual, I got so tired of working on the cake(it took me at least a good 20 plus hours) that I decided to call it quits and forget about all the tiny details.

I haven't posted it on threadcakes yet. But, soon.

All decorations were made out of marshmallow fondant or royal icing.

Kabobs and Cake

2010-06-16T22:25:00.007-06:00

Sorry the picture's not so good. I didn't think to take one until the last one was on my hubby's plate.

Today was the hubby's B-day. I made kabobs. They were good. So, I thought I'd share my chicken and steak marinades.

The chicken marinade was discovered by my amazing sister-in-law, Diane. She found the recipe on allrecipes.com, here.

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup ranch dressing

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)

5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions

In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

The steak marinade I used is my own. My problem with sharing this recipe is that I never measure. I can give you ingredients and approximate measurements. Sorry.

Kirty's Steak Marinade

about 3 T oil (I used canola, I'm sure olive or veg. would work too)

about 2 T Worcestershire sauce

about 1/2 c orange juice

about 1 tsp salt

about 1/2 tsp pepper

about 1 tsp onion powder

Mix it up. Throw it on some steak. Let sit and marinade for as long as you like.

*This is why I will never write a cookbook. I make things up, don't measure, and never remember.

Nothing but a birthday ice cream cake for the hubby. I mixed up two brownie mixes. Split each of them in half into two 9" round pans. (4- 9" brownie cakes altogether) Layered Brownie cake, fudge topping, caramel topping, vanilla ice cream and repeated 3 times with brownie on top. Froze in a 2" tall 9" round pan. Removed from pan and smothered with more fudge and caramel topping.

Results: Much too good for children.

Easy Mint Brownies

2010-05-27T22:16:00.002-06:00

Want an easy mint brownie recipe: Here it is.

What you need: your basic brownie mix(eggs, oil, water) and Andes baking chips.

What you do: make and bake the brownies per package directions. Immediately upon pulling out of oven, cover with Andes chips and spread.

I used half the bag of Andes chips on one box of brownies. It was minty enough. But if you want lots of minty goodness go ahead and use the whole bag of chips.

Results: Super yummy minty goodness.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

2010-05-17T22:28:00.004-06:00

I made some cupcakes last weekend. Sorry no pics, but they were good. White cupcake with lemon cream cheese frosting. Beautifully refreshing and springy.

I recently learned from my sister that not everyone loves lemon flavored desserts, but if you do, this is lovely.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz pkg cream cheese (I used Neufchatel, so I could feel a little healthier)

1/4 c unsalted butter

1 tsp lemon extract (I'm sure real lemon would be sublime, I didn't have any on hand)

4 c powdered sugar

Use water or milk by the tablespoon to thin to the consistency you prefer.

Chicken + Bacon + Cheese + Ranch Dressing!!!

2010-04-23T13:14:00.006-06:00

So I have to apologize for the lack of new posts and recipes in this blog. I've decided to be better. The goal is at least one new recipe a week (I'm hoping for two). So to kick it off I'm starting with a really good one. Chicken + Bacon + Cheese + Ranch Dressing= ohhh so yummy, fattening goodness.

I got this recipe from my sister soon after I got married. My husband has loved it ever since. One of his ultimate faves.

Warning: This recipe is delish and will be begged for time and time again by any man who loves bacon and cheese and ranch. Do you know a man who doesn't?

Anniversary Chicken

2 T vegetable or olive oil

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 c teriyaki basting sauce

1/2 c ranch-style salad dressing

1 c shredded cheddar cheese

3 green onions, chopped

1/2 (3 oz) can bacon bits

1 T chopped fresh parsley(for garnish)

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add chicken breasts and saute for 4-5 minutes on each side until lightly brown.

3. Place browned chicken breasts in a 9x13 baking dish. Brush with teriyaki sauce, then spoon on salad dressing. Sprinkle with cheese, green onion, and bacon.

4. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Garnish with parsley.

Notes: I don't usually have green onions on hand, i often leave them out. You can cook your own bacon or use the fresher jarred real bacon bits.

April Fools

2010-04-05T22:02:00.003-06:00

So for April Fools I made mini meatloafs in cupcake liners with colored mashed potatoes on top. Dave immediately requested to know what it really was, assuming I wouldn't serve cupcakes for dinner. He refused to be disappointed in finding something not as sweet as he expected. My favorite moment of the dinner was when Dave went to drink his orange jello. I think it must have taken him a full 5 seconds to realize the drink wasn't going to come out. "What?" He was completely confused. "It's April Fools!" Then the cupcake and jello finally made sense.

Do you know what's even funnier than trying to drink jello the first time? Doing it again a few minutes later, because you forgot. Yeah, I got to watch Dave try it a second time. It was great.

My favorite Dallin moment of the April Fool's dinner: he only licked the mashed potatoes off of the meatloaf, just like he would have done with a cupcake. I'm wondering if he ever even realized it wasn't a cupcake.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2010-03-24T21:05:00.005-06:00

This is a new favorite of mine, it frequently visits our dinner table lately. And it is so simple. I don't know how others do it, but this is what I came up with and it is delish. *sorry it's not so precise, but I promise it is really easy and hard to mess up.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2-3 chicken breasts

~4 c water (I never measure this, i'm guessing that's about right though)

2 chicken bouillon cubes (or you could use less water and use chicken broth)

1 can black beans (drained)

1 can diced tomatoes (i like to use italian style or onion and garlic)

1 can mexican style stewed tomatoes

1 tsp cumin

Cook chicken in enough water to cover chicken. Remove from water and cut chicken into bite size pieces. (You could cut chicken before you cook it.) Make sure you skim foam out of water. Add bouillon cubes, beans, tomatoes, and cumin. Cook through, add chicken. Serve with cheese and tortilla chips.

Oatmeal Coconut and Butterscotch Cookies

2010-03-12T20:32:00.004-07:00

So I've had a sweet tooth lately, especially since I've given up chocolate for a while. I needed something sweet and yummy without chocolate or peanut butter. (I've also given up nuts, they seem to be upsetting Ezra's tummy.)

Oatmeal Coconut Butterscotch Cookies

1/2 c butter (softened)

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 c flour

1 c oats (I used a mix of quick cooking and old fashioned)

1 c coconut

1 1/2 c butterscotch chips

Cream together butter and sugars. Stir in oats, coconut and butterscotch chips after flour and remaining ingredients have been added. Bake at 325 for 12 minutes.

Pudding + Cake Mix= Cake Brownies

2010-02-16T00:02:00.004-07:00

Want a super moist and thick cupcake? Mix up a pudding package and add to a dry cake mix. Stir and bake. No eggs, no oil. Just pudding and cake mix. Fast, easy, super moist and yummy. I did mine in cupcake liners. But if you use a 9x13 pan they turn out more like cake brownies. I used vanilla pudding and vanilla cake mix. Chocolate and chocolate works too. I'm sure any combination would work. I know there is an oreo pudding mix, wouldn't that be yummy with a chocolate cake mix. The possibilities are endless.

For the valentine cupcakes I made, I topped them off with some raspberry pie filling and some homemade decorative chocolate hearts. For the hearts I just melted chocolate and pipped it out of a bag in the design I wanted.

Too easy!

You better try it out.

Cat Crap

2010-02-08T21:29:00.005-07:00

I was lucky to have my sister and her family come down and visit for a weekend. It also happened to be the weekend inbetween her two oldest daughters' birthdays. So she commissioned me to make a cake. Wanting to make it fun and creative for them I decided on a Cat cake. The girls, Rylee and Megan, love cats. I hate cats. I really hate cats. Sorry if you're a cat fan. I'm not. But I was willing to forgo the cat hatred for my nieces whom I adore.

However, my cat cake preparations were lacking and I hastily came up with a plan the day of their arrival. Or should I say a few hours before they arrived. I had good intentions and good ideas, they just needed more attention and preparation.

Here's the plan:

And here are the results:

This angle isn't too bad.

But check out the rest.

This is what I learned:
1) The next time I use a rice krispy treat for the head, cover it in frosting before putting on the chocolate clay so that it doesn't look like a boston terrier.
2) Make the body first, head last. That way the head isn't 3x the size of the body.
3) Make sure I have enough chocolate clay to properly make legs and feet.

I didn't finish the cake. They showed up and I wasn't done fixing it. I told the girls they could help me fix it up later. It never happened and we just ate the cake anyway. Still tasted good.
I never should have tried a cat cake. Darn cats. Should have known my dislike for cats would secretly ruin the cake.
I couldn't help but laugh at this cake tragedy. Hope you get a kick out of it too.

Mixing in a few Black Specks

2010-01-14T22:35:00.006-07:00

So I was making pizza tonight. I pull out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook and thumb for my quick and easy pizza dough recipe. The recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but I think to myself, I'm trying to be healthy here, let's throw in some whole wheat flour too.

I do the first part with the all-purpose flour (all of the ingredients minus half of the flour), mix it for a whole 3 minutes like the recipe calls for. All the while thinking 3 minutes is a long time on a hand mixer, I hate this part of standing here for 3 whole minutes. If I had a stand mixer I could walk away and do something that makes 3 minutes not so long. Do you really need the whole 3 minutes of mixing? Does it make that big of a difference? What about a solid 2 minutes?

The next step is to add the rest of the flour, stir, then knead. So I use my whole wheat flour at this point. I put my 1 cup measuring cup into the almost empty bag of flour, scoop, level, and dump into the bowl. While dumping I notice a few unusual looking black specks. I use my spoon to stir a bit, fishing for a black speck. I find one. Only it's not just a speck. It's a speck with legs, wings, and antennae. It's a moth. YUM!

Then I wonder, can I just pull the moth out and continue like nothing happened? But then I recall seeing a few black specks-at least more than one. I stir a little more, but don't find anything. Then the idea of invisible eggs and larvae pops into my head. I start to dry heave and toss the whole thing in the trash, along with the rest of my whole wheat flour.

I wouldn't have minded starting over so much if it wasn't for the dreaded 3 minutes of mixing. I know you don't think 3 minutes is very long. But I promise that standing over a bowl and barely moving your hand in circling motions for 3 minutes seems like forever.

Curse you little black speck!

BTW- I made a very delicious pizza using a can of italian diced tomatoes, fresh spinach, grilled chicken, and mozzarella cheese. It was superb.

Pumpkin Streusel Bars

2010-01-12T09:44:00.003-07:00

I tried out this recipe and Dave and I really liked it. We liked it best after it had been refrigerated. That kept it really moist and yummy.

Pumpkin Streuel Bars

1 1/2 c flour (I used whole wheat flour, tasted great)

3/4 c brown sugar

1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

15 oz pumpkin (I used 2 c of my own pumpkin puree)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 c veg oil (I would have used applesauce, but didn't have any)

Streusel

3/4 c flour

1/3 c brown sugar

6 T butter, softened

1 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Mix the eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, and oil separately. Add to dry mixture. Put into a greased pan. Top with streusel.

*Original recipe says to put it into a 9x13 pan, bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes and calls it bars. I used a 9x9 pan, baked at 350 for about 60 minutes and call it cake or bread.

But whatever you call it, it's YUMMY!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cupcakes

2009-12-27T00:00:00.003-07:00

I dreamed these cupcakes up while thinking of my sister, Erin. She happened to make a request for cupcakes to be sent her way. Then I started thinking about what kind of a cupcake I would make for her. I remembered that around Christmas Erin loved eating chocolate covered cherries. So I decided to try a Chocolate Covered Cherry Cupcake. I made 2 different kinds. I used a dark chocolate cake mix. The cupcakes with cherries on top had pie cherries inside the cake too, with almond buttercream swirled on top, chocolate coating and a pie cherry on top. The pink frosting cupcakes had almond buttercream with pie cherries mixed in and chocolate on top. Both were tasty. Don't know that one was better than the other. Dave sure loved eating them, wish Erin was here to try them.

Chocolate Caramel Covered Pretzels

2009-12-26T23:48:00.005-07:00

I made these for our neighbors' gifts this year. So much easier and faster than the cookie trees from last year. Just a lot of melting and dipping.

Arrr You a Cake Fan?

2009-12-04T18:31:00.007-07:00

Today is Dallin's 3rd Birthday. He decided that he wanted a Pirate Party. So that's what we did. What did I do for the cake? A Pirate Ship! I had all these big plans for it, but most of the plans didn't happen. I just didn't have the time and I was a little lazy with the whole thing. So it ended up not being a favorite cake of mine, but I think it was good enough for a 3 year old's birthday.

The cake was a butter cake with chocolate buttercream filling and chocolate clay for the outside of the cake. The water was a simple buttercream. Overall, very simple, but cute. Enjoy! Arrrr!

Pumpkin Time!

2009-10-28T14:37:00.003-06:00

Since it's my favorite time of year--Pumpkin Time--I thought I would post some of my favorite pumpkin recipes! The first one is a recipe I got from my mom and the second is one that I got from a television show, I can't quite remember which one, but it was a local Utah station. If you have any favorite pumpkin recipes I'd love to get them from you.

Pumpkin Pie Squares
1 pkg yellow or white cake mix
1/2 c melted margarine or butter
1 egg
3 c pumpkin
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 c milk
Topping:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c margarine or butter
reserved cake mix

Mix all but 1 cup cake mix with the margarine and egg. Press in greased and floured 9x13 pan. Then, mix the pumpkin, spice, salt, sugar, eggs, and milk. Pour on top of crust. Take the remaining cake mix, add the topping ingredients, mix until crumbly; sprinkle on top. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350.

Pumpkin Spice Whoopies
1 c canned pumpkin
1/3 c butter, softened
1 pkg spice cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 c milk
1 recipe Marshmallow-Spice filling

Preheat oven to 375. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil(grease foil). In a large mixing bowl beat pumpkin and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add cake mix, eggs and milk; beat on low speed until combined, and then on medium speed for 1 minute.
Using a 1 T cookie scoop or by the heaping tablespoon, drop mounds of batter 3" apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until set and lightly browned around edges. Cool on wire rack. Prepare Marshmallow-Spice filling. Spread about 2-3 T filling on the flat side of one cookie; top with second cookie. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 2 hours.

Marshmallow-Spice Filling
1/2 c butter, softened
1 (8 oz) cream cheese
2 c powdered sugar
1/2 of a 7 oz jar of marshmallow cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add powdered sugar, marshmallow cream, vanilla and spices. Beat well until combined.

*Just a reminder-if you're using your own pumpkin and not store bought, canned pumpkin, use less liquids or it will be much too runny and won't bake right.

Grandma and Grandpa's Wedding Anniversary

2009-09-16T01:16:00.005-06:00

We got to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's 63rd Wedding Anniversary this year. I was asked to make the cake and decided to try something a little more elegant than my usual cake. I made a white cake and alternated layers of cream cheese filling or a strawberry cream filling with sliced strawberries. Then I covered the cake with vanilla buttercream and made some yellow and white flowers out of gumpaste.Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa!

Gardening Hoorays!

2009-09-15T23:56:00.007-06:00

I apologize for the serious lack in blogging, but I have been seriously busy. I've had a great number of projects, some food related, some not. One of the great things about this time of year is the many benefits of gardening. I thought I'd catch you up on some of the fun things I've been able to do this year all from my garden.
The first major project from my yard was the plethora of plums from my purple leaf flowering plum tree. I decided to make something of them this year--Plum Syrup!I used a cherry pitter to get the pits out. Since these plums are so small, it worked perfectly and saved me tons of time. Then I ran the plums through a Juicer. I ended up running the pulp leftovers several times through to get all the yummy goodness I could. I heated the juice with some sugar on the stove, poured the syrup into jars and gave them a nice water bath. And voila, yummy Plum Syrup perfect on any pancake or waffle. I think it turned out just as good as the Smuckers Blueberry and Strawberry Syrups you can by at the store.

Another one of my favorite things to do with my garden veggies is to roast them and throw them in some pasta or on a pizza crust! Here's how I do it.These are the garden veggies to be used.Here I've cut, diced, or julienned my veggies. I added some store bought carrots since my carrots weren't quite ready yet. Put them on a baking sheet, add salt, pepper, garlic powder, italian seasonings and drizzle with olive oil. Then into the oven at 425 for about 30 minutes, until veggies are tender.Grate some cheddar and mozzarella cheese to toss in the end.The peas go in with the pasta to cook. Everything goes into a giant bowl and is stirred. I also like to cook some chicken and throw that in as well. Amazingly delicious roasted veggie pasta!I've also been enjoying my cucumbers, by making pickles! Pickles are easy with Mrs. Wage's ready seasoning mixes. Just add vinegar and water. By the way, if you're going to do it, my husband and brothers all agree that the Kosher Dill is better than the plain Dill mix.And I've been freezing my pumpkins!These are sugar pie pumpkins. Perfect for baking.

The color ends up much lighter than store bought orange pumpkin puree. I already made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with my own puree. They were yellow in color and you really couldn't tell by looking at them that there was any pumpkin in them... But the perfect pumpkin taste was still there.

My Amazing Roma Tomato

2009-07-26T23:27:00.002-06:00

I just thought I'd share my most amazing tomato with you. I picked this tomato from my garden and it really made me laugh. I hope you'll think it is as funny as I do. This tomato just might make it into the Utah State Fair. I'll let you know how that works out.

Threadcakes Contest

2009-07-17T20:59:00.007-06:00

I've decided to have some more fun with cake and enter an AWESOME CAKE CONTEST. You should check it out at www.threadcakes.com and go to their gallery. The cakes are amazing! It's a cake contest based on their Threadless T-shirt designs. You pick a design and make it into a cake. I actually have 2 entries I want to do. I just finished my first based on this T-shirt design:
My idea involved the fish riding on a crashing wave and the shark popping out of the wave ready to eat it's prey. Because the cake would require some major sculpting I used a pound cake recipe that is sturdier and better for carving. I used ganache for the filling to add to the structural safety of the cake. It was covered in tons of vanilla buttercream. I used marshmallow fondant for the shark and chocolate for the fish. I was happy with the overall result, but mostly disappointed with the appearance of the fish. They just didn't quite turn out as I had wished. But I love my wave and shark! Hope you enjoy them too! Here's a step by step view.

4th of July-Uncle Sam Hat Cake

2009-07-17T20:49:00.006-06:00

I went to a friend's BBQ on the 4th and it also happened to be her birthday. (Happy Birthday Shauna!) So I had to make her an appropriate patriotic birthday cake. This is what I came up with...Every other layer of cake was cherry chip and white, with vanilla butter cream frosting (just dyed different colors). The stars and stripes were marshmallow fondant.

Rat Cake

2009-06-16T08:01:00.007-06:00

I went up to Bear Lake this last weekend to be with family and do a half marathon (which is a whole other story). While there we got to celebrate my brother-in-laws birthday. My family has a weird sense of humor and somehow calling somebody a "rat" has become a term of endearment. So I appropriately and lovingly made a giant RAT CAKE for Mitch's birthday, complete with a piece of cheese and rat turds. All the kids got a kick out of it and I think the birthday boy enjoyed it too (I hope). It was a butter cake with ganache filling. I used chocolate clay to cover and mold the rat and cheese. Chocolate clay is made from chocolate or candy melts and corn syrup and ends up tasting like a tootsie roll. I actually prefer it over fondant, it's more forgiving and pliable. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Cake Gifts

2009-06-09T22:15:00.014-06:00

I went to Phoenix this last weekend to visit my sister and family. While there we got to celebrate my mom's birthday and the blessing of my sister's daughter. I made a cake for each one that looks like a gift. My mom's is the white cake with pink ribbon and the smaller pink cake with white ribbon was for baby Keira. This was my first attempt at covering a square cake in fondant. Of course it didn't turn out quite as I had hoped, they never do. The big bows definitely made the cake.

Tastes Like Homemade IceCream

2009-05-28T18:39:00.003-06:00

I got a great icecream recipe from a friend. It's really simple and tastes AWESOME! Just as good as homemade. I shared this recipe with my sisters and they loved it.

Almost Homemade IceCream
1 qt. vanilla icecream
1 qt. pineapple sherbet
1 banana
1 carton strawberries
Soften the icecream and sherbet and mix together. Dice the bananas and strawberries very small. (If you have a chopper-I recommend using it.) Mix in the bananas and strawberries. Refreeze.

It's that simple, hope you enjoy it.

Grandma's BBQ Sauce

2009-05-27T13:16:00.003-06:00

This is my favorite BBQ sauce. I use it mostly on chicken and pork chops. If you're baking or crock-potting throw in a few sliced onions, it makes it extra yummy.

GRANDMA'S BBQ SAUCE
1 c ketchup
6 T brown sugar
1/2 c vinegar
1 tsp mustard
2 T worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp salt

Carrot Plus Cake

2009-05-04T12:49:00.004-06:00

First, I'd like to apologize for taking so long in getting to a new post. The morning sickness really got to me for a while and I have to admit that most food didn't sound or taste good. Thus, there was a real lack in desire to cook anything. Luckily, that's all gone and I'm back to creating and cooking.
Last night I had a hankering for some carrot cake. Which I don't think I've ever made before. I pulled out my handy Betty Crocker Cookbook and found a recipe and then I made a few changes. Changes: 1)used half the oil and substituted applesauce 2)used only 2/3 of the recommended carrot and added some pumpkin and grated apple 3)added little extra spice and flour because of pumpkin . Result: Dave gave it a 10! and has already eaten half of the cake. (By the way, Dave is not a big carrot cake fan and he is very critical in his rating scale. I've gotten many a 8 0r 9, but only a 10 once or twice.)

Carrot Plus Cake
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c applesauce
3 large eggs
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c pumpkin
2 c shredded carrots
1/2 c shredded apple
Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, beat sugar, oil, applesauce and eggs with electric mixer on low speed about 30 seconds or until blended. Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla, salt, and pumpkin; beat on low speed 1 minute. Stir in carrots and apples. Pour into pan(s). Bake in round pans 30-35 min. 13 x 9 pan 40-45 minutes. Cool. Frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting.

Umm, Should I Know Better?

2009-03-19T08:01:00.004-06:00

I had no idea that glass lids could shatter while cooking. Am I supposed to know that? I was making chicken in one of my favorite pans, which happens not to have a lid. I wanted the chicken to cook a little more evenly without burning, so I covered it with a glass lid I have that goes to my favorite pots. The lid is smaller than the pan and rests directly on the pan. I've done this so many times before and it's worked like a charm. So I went in to the other room while the chicken was cooking and all of a sudden I hear a loud pop come from the kitchen. This is what I found!My question is, should I have known that could happen? I ended up having to throw the chicken away and start all over again. And I've decided to stop using my glass pot lids on my pans for now.

Cabbage and Meatballs

2009-03-18T18:34:00.004-06:00

My husband thinks I'm crazy for posting a picture of Cabbage and Meatballs. I must admit that the name itself probably doesn't sound very appetizing, it's not the most pleasant to look at (and it sure doesn't smell like chocolate cake), BUT IT IS YUMMY!! It's probably not a meal that you could convince your younger kids to try very easily, or maybe even your husband. BUT DO NOT BE DECEIVED, THIS MEAL IS WORTH IT! It's one of my brothers' favorite meals and my husband eats it up. I believe this is an old family recipe. I remember eating this as a kid, my mom got the recipe from my grandmother who is 97, and she learned it from her German mother. Anyway, I hope you will give it a shot.

CABBAGE AND MEATBALLS
1 head of cabbage
2 c water
1 lb hamburger
1 pkg sausage
1 small onion, chopped
2 eggs
2 slices of bread(wet)
salt
pepper

Chop up the cabbage. Place it in a large pot with the water, add salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. While the cabbage is cooking mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl, breaking the bread into pieces and adding a pinch of salt and pepper. Form into large meatballs, add to the cabbage, cover. Let cook until the meatballs are done about 45 minutes. You may need to add more water throughout the cooking process and stir often. The cabbage can burn if water runs out or sits for too long. Once everything is cooked through take some of the hot liquid from the pot and put into a bowl with about a tablespoon of cornstarch, stir and add it back to the pot, stirring until the liquid thickens.
Serve cabbage and meatballs over potatoes. I usually chop the potatoes in large chunks, boil them and serve as is. No mashing required.

Homemade Tortillas

2009-02-20T08:21:00.010-07:00

My family loves homemade tortillas, much better than store bought. I learned to make these while on my mission in the Baltics. Tacos were impossible to find, so we made our own as often as possible. I'm still not the greatest at making a perfectly round tortilla, but the taste is amazing, no matter the shape of the tortilla.

Tortillas
2 c. flour
1/3 c. butter
2/3 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt

Cut the butter into the flour. Add the salt and water. Stir. Separate dough into 1" balls. Using a rolling pin flatten dough into tortilla on a floured surface. Place tortilla in a heated pan. DO NOT USE OIL OR ANYTHING IN THE PAN. Flip the tortilla after bubbles start forming. It should take only a few seconds on each side to cook. Repeat.
You can also use oil or margarine instead of butter. I prefer to use margarine or butter. It has better taste and texture, though the oil works if you don't have anything else.

This recipe usually makes 6-8 tortillas.

Cake Bites

2009-02-20T08:11:00.005-07:00

For Valentines Day I decided to make Dave his own Cake Bites. Cake Bites are super yummy and fairly easy to make and everyone LOVES them. So here's what you do: Bake a cake. Let it cool. Crumble the cake using a fork. Add the frosting you would cover the cake with and mix it up. Form little balls. Put the cake balls into the freezer to harden a little. Dip the cake balls into chocolate. (I find that candy melts work well.) Let the chocolate harden and enjoy. Dave and I actually like to freeze them and eat them cold.

Oopsy-Daisy!

2009-01-21T21:59:00.011-07:00

So my friend, Shauna, came up with the idea of turning our book club discussion this month into a surprise birthday party for a friend. I got really excited, I've been waiting for excuses to try out some fun cake designs. We decided on trying a topsy-turvy or whimsical cake. I came up with a design, we decided on some colors and got to work. The day before, we baked the cakes, carved them and covered them in buttercream. It took a lot of work(they always do) and the kids were getting hungry. I sent Shauna home for the day, I could finish putting the cake together just fine and we would do the fondant decorating tomorrow. Soon after Shauna left I went to move the middle layer on top of the bottom layer. On may way over the cake started to slide off of the spatula, luckily I caught it, but ruined the icing job and some of the cake. I put it on the bottom layer and crossed my fingers that all would be okay. Then I started transferring the top layer and again the cake slipped, this time I just barely managed to catch it before it landed on the floor! It ended up in my hand upside down. After all the work we had done, I wasn't much for the idea of starting over, so I placed this layer on the cake as well and really hoped some how it would turn out okay. Overall, I would say that I pulled it off. (Of course with Shauna's decorating help-she did the polka dots, which hid a lot of the mistakes!) The cake really ended up pretty cute, despite the fact that it was probably more lopsided than topsy-turvy. I hope you enjoy the before and after pictures!This is after the initial falling and placing of the cake layers.The tiaras and pearls are made out of royal icing. The flowers, stripes and polka dots are marshmallow fondant.Don't you just love Daisies!!!!

Kirty and Cakes

2009-01-19T22:42:00.008-07:00

I've had a few requests to show off some of my cake decorating experiences. I'd like to remind everyone that I am brand new to cake decorating(it's only been 6 months) and still learning tons (mostly by making lots of mistakes). But I'm having fun and laughing all the way. Maybe some day I'll be good enough to make it to one of those Food Network Cake Challenges with Duff from Ace of Cakes.

This was my first attempt at butter cream basket weaving and flowers. I tried a strawberry pound cake recipe from scratch. I wasn't that impressed with the taste of it, but it sure looked pretty.

This is a cake I made using The Wilton Castle Decorating Kit. I used both chocolate and yellow cake with white chocolate icing, covered in graham crackers for the sand. The flowers are made of fondant. The seashells are chocolate clay with pearl dust. The palm trees are chocolate clay and fondant leaves. The coral is royal icing. This is my first ever attempt at a sculpted castle cake. I made it for the Wilton Castle Decorating Contest. It was disqualified because I used wire to connect the palm tree leaves to the bases. But I had a fun time creating it and I learned a lot about cake decorating.

My second attempt at The Wilton Castle Decorating Contest. I call this one A Bug's Paradise. I love cake. I love chocolate. I love flowers. And I love bugs. What better way than to combine them all. I personally thought this one was very creative and fun. It didn't win. But again another great experience and my nieces and nephews loved it.

I made these cupcakes for a friend's baby shower. I've discovered that I'm not the greatest at figuring out the baking part, the cakes came out a little on the sloppy side. But I love the decorating part. All CHOCOLATE, swirls, and flowers for baby girl.

Halloween Cupcakes!! Chocolate Orange Cupcakes with orange frosting. Use a regular chocolate cake mix and add orange juice instead of water and follow directions. Orange zest and orange juice make the frosting super yummy. I melted some black chocolate candy melts to make the spooky designs.

My son's 2nd birthday cake. I baked the cake in 9x13x2 pan and cut the cake in half to layer it. A little trimming here and a little sculpting there and some fondant and oreo covered wheels and voila: Lightning McQueen!

Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double beatloaf. I hate meatloaf.

2009-01-19T21:43:00.004-07:00

First, I'd like to thank Randy from A Christmas Story for that unforgettable line. And who wouldn't agree. I myself am not a big meatloaf fan. I believe the name itself, MEATLOAF, is mostly to blame. However, I have a meatloaf recipe that will change you from a hater to a lover. It's so good, it's probably my husband's most requested meal. (And he doesn't like meatloaf either.) This recipe is from a Taste of Home magazine.

Li'l Cheddar Meat Loaves
1 egg
3/4 c milk
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c quick-cooking oats
1/2 c chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1 lb. lean ground beef
2/3 c ketchup
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp mustard

In a bowl, beat the egg and milk. Stir in cheese, oats, onion, and salt. Add beef and mix well. Shape into 8 loaves; place in a greased 13x9x2 baking dish. Combine ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard; spoon over loaves. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 45 min. or until the meat is no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160.

Confession: I often use ground turkey instead of beef. Most of the time I use onion powder instead of chopped onion. Both ways turns out great.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

2009-01-12T12:22:00.006-07:00

We had a game night with some friends and I decided to make cupcakes and try out a new butter cream frosting. I made chocolate cupcakes with mint chips and mint chocolate butter cream. They were a hit and turned out really cute. I made regular size cupcakes for the adults and mini cupcakes for the kids. I forgot to snap a picture until there was just one mini cupcake left. (They went really fast!!) So here's the recipe for the mint butter cream. I just used a regular chocolate cake mix and stirred in mint chips. Tip: if you don't want the chips to end up at the bottom of the cupcake, dust them in flour first and then add to the mix.

Mint Chocolate Butter Cream
1/2 c shortening
1/2 c unsalted butter
4 oz Guittard's Green Mint Chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 lb. sifted confectioners sugar
1/2 c milk

Using an electric mixer cream together the shortening and the butter, mix until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and the vanilla, mix to combine. Add the powdered sugar, about a cup at a time. Pour in the milk and beat on high until light and fluffy.

Christmas Cookie Trees

2008-12-14T15:53:00.007-07:00

I have a problem of creating too many complicated projects for myself to do. After staying up last night til one in the morning, Dave has finally convinced me of my problem. I need to learn to keep things simple. I think I just don't realize the magnitude of my projects until it is too late.
Each year I like to make some kind of a Christmas gift for our friends and neighbors. This year I thought I'd try to make star shaped cookies dipped in chocolate. I looked up some ideas online and found that a lot of people had good reviews for shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate. So I found a recipe that got great reviews. Then I thought it might be cute to make the cookies in several sizes of stars, lay them on top of each other and form a Christmas tree. Cute!
Well I started on this project around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. By 8 o'clock, I was already sick of it. I finally finished at 1 am. My first batch of shortbread cookies came out looking really pretty, but I wasn't particularly fond of the flavor. So I tried a different shortbread recipe. The taste came out slightly better, but the cookies weren't as pretty. So I decided on switching to sugar cookies. I doubled it and they turned out great. I don't think I realized how many cookies I would need for this task. I ended up counting how many stars of each size I would need and ended up deciding to make each tree smaller by several cookies. Then I would only need about 30 large stars, 85 medium stars and over 100 small stars! Needless to say, I ended up making one more batch of cookies. I used all of them even though some weren't as tasty or pretty. I didn't feel like they needed to be perfect since I was making so many cookies.
Each cookie also had to be dipped in chocolate. Then I ran out of green chocolate, I ran over to Joann's: they were out. I ran over to Michael's: they were out. So I improvised. My stars ended up brown, green and yellow. In the end I drizzled them all with white chocolate. Then each cookie tree ended up inside of a plastic bag with a ribbon and a name tag, so that I could keep track of who they went to. It was a long day/night of cookies and I never want to do it again.
They actually ended up looking pretty cute, but I do feel bad that some of the cookies are sugar cookies and some are shortbread. By the end I had so many cookies they all got mixed up and I had no way of telling which was which. Some poor little kid is going to be very disappointed when he bites in to his cookie expecting a sweet sugar cookie and gets the other instead.
Oops, but Merry Christmas!

Tea Parties

2008-12-10T20:44:00.011-07:00

I love everything about Tea Parties. I love the fine china and sparkling silverware. I love the idea of sipping tea and chatting with the ladies. And I love the cute little sandwiches and finger foods. Tea parties make me feel like I'm playing a role in some of my favorite Jane Austin books. There's just something enjoyable about the elegance and fine things involved in a tea party. Too bad tea time isn't a part of my daily schedule. I think it would help me to slow down a bit and enjoy my day more.
Well, I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to host a Tea and Jewelry Party for a friend and then tonight I, along with the Young Women of our church, hosted a tea party for the grandmas in the neighborhood. I would say that both parties were a lot of fun, but that just doesn't seem quite the right terminology to use in association with a tea party. So I will say that I had a lovely time, although I am quite disappointed at the number of people who refuse to give tea a good try. I'll admit that there are a lot of nasty teas out there and the fact that I don't drink black or green tea limits the options significantly. I'm not a big chamomile or peppermint tea fan either. I prefer fruit teas. If you're looking for a good tea I recommend the Celestial Seasonings Fruit Tea Sampler. It comes with 5 different flavors and all are pretty good. Plus, did you know that there are a lot of benefits for women in drinking raspberry tea? It can help with menstrual problems and it even helps with pregnancy. No lies.
Now that I've put in my two cents about tea, I'll get to what I really wanted to share. Whenever I think of tea parties, the first food that pops into mind is cucumber sandwiches. Some people may think that doesn't sound very appetizing, I myself am not a huge cucumber fan, but cucumber sandwiches are actually very pleasant. And they just sound like a fancy party food. They were a hit at both of my tea parties. I wasn't able to find a cucumber sandwich recipe that I liked very much, so I came up with my own.

Cucumber Sandwiches
1 loaf of sourdough bread
1 loaf of pumpernickel bread
2 8oz packages of cream cheese
1/4 c mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp dill
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 large cucumbers (1 shredded, 1 thinly sliced)

Mix the cream cheese, mayo, dill, onion, and garlic. Add the shredded cucumber. (You'll want to pat the cucumbers dry since they produce a lot of water which will make your sandwich soggy.) Spread the mixture on one slice of sourdough bread, add a sliced cucumber and top with a slice of pumpernickel bread. I like to mix the two breads on one sandwich for taste and looks.
I also use cocktail breads which make the sandwiches very tiny and cute. I get them from Walmart in the bakery section. (Maceys doesn't carry them)

Obviously, this isn't a sandwich I make very often, but it is a good one for those nicer, finer evenings of entertaining. Who wouldn't feel proper eating a cucumber sandwich? Most people are pleasantly surprised they like them. (Even Dave, my husband, makes sure to sneak one before the party in case there aren't any leftovers.)

Pancakes

2008-12-08T13:42:00.003-07:00

My rule with pancakes: Never use a mix. But if you must, always give it a little more love.
Other than that there are no rules with pancakes. Everything goes. Fruit, honey, yogurt, oats, cheese, the possibilities are endless and delicious.
Here is my basic pancake recipe. But first, I must admit, that it is not mine. I got it from a friend a long time ago, (so long ago, I can't even remember which friend) who I believe got it from a sister and so on.

Basic Pancakes
1 c flour
1 T sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 T oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 c milk

This recipe has become the basis of all my other pancake creations. It's simple and delicious.

Welcome to Cooking with Kirty...

2008-12-08T13:22:00.001-07:00

And what are we cooking today, Kirty? The same thing we cook everyday...PANCAKES!!!
Years ago, back in days of college life and roomies I had a pancake fling. I was always making pancakes. But the pancakes were rarely ever the same as the day before. This is because of two things. 1- I was always trying new twists--bananas, berries, cinnamon, oatmeal, yogurt all based on the mood of the day. 2- I was always running out of certain important ingredients--eggs, baking powder, flour, sugar, which resulted in spontaneous substitutions. I got pretty good at learning how to make pancakes whether or not I had all the basic ingredients. And I came up with some pretty interesting ideas. This inspired an amazing cooking show idea. It would be called Cooking With Kirty and would have an intro very similar to that of Pinky and the Brain. What are we cooking today, Kirty? The same thing we cook everyday...PANCAKES!!! Then each day would feature a different spin on pancakes and include a tip on substitution methods for those times when you run out of an essential ingredient. Genius. Besides, who doesn't love pancakes?!!
Sad to say, the show was never realized. But to make up for the deep sorrow of an unrealized dream, I'm happy to announce the blog COOKING WITH KIRTY. Hopefully, you won't be too disappointed however, in that it will not be dedicated solely to pancakes. I'd like to throw in a few of my other ideas, new passions, and cooking(or baking) experiments. I hope you find Cooking With Kirty to be enjoyable, informative, and inspiring. So, forks up, syrup ready, and enjoy!