Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
July 2nd, 2010
Happy 4th of July weekend everyone. May you have a fun-filled celebration! We are going to be spending time with family this weekend while indulging in barbecues, fireworks, firefly watching and some good ol’ patriotism. I’m also really excited to make these ice cream sandwiches. We made them last weekend and they were such a hit, we’re making them again. Super easy and super yummy. That’s pretty much my cooking motto.
Easy cake mix ice cream sandwiches
- 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- Your favorite ice cream
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, butter, vanilla extract, eggs. Use a cookie dough scoop or roll dough into 2-inch balls and place them onto the prepared baking sheets. If you don’t have a cookie dough scooper, get one! I can’t live without mine. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Do not over bake. The cookies should be set, but still soft. Let cool in on the baking sheet then transfer to freezer for at least 30 minutes before filling.
- Scoop ice cream and place between two cookies and gently press together. Fill all of the cookies, lay out on a baking sheet, and place in the freezer to harden. If you’re having a party, you can make this a day in advance. They can also be stored in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
Enjoy!
June 25th, 2010
Wanna know how to make lemonade without all that squeezing? Here’s a recipe from old rural family tradition. Farm wives would make their lemonade this way using water from nearby streams and serving with thin crisp sugar cookies. Doesn’t that just sound delightful? I’ve had this recipe for years and will never make lemonade any other way. You really don’t need those fancy squeezers!
The general rule of thumb is to use 1 lemon and 1/2 cup sugar for each quart of water. There is no exact recipe because 1. lemons come in different sizes and 2. lemons, just like our palates are different. So, here’s the deal, you don’t get to taste until after the steeping process so if you like more of a lemony taste, squeeze in more lemons. I know, squeezing involved but this is optional and it’s very minimal. Play around with the recipe. The key here is the method. Follow it and you’ll acquire the perfect balance every time.
- Roll lemons until soft
- Slice them thinly then place in a pitcher.
3. Add sugar to lemons and mix a little. Place mixture in the fridge and let steep for one hour. Never heard of steeping? Steeping just means to soak something in a liquid to extract flavor. What steeping does in this case is extract flavor from the rinds.
4. After an hour or so, add water. Mix and enjoy!
Have a great weekend and I hope you do include this favorite summer treat to your plans.
June 9th, 2010
I wasn’t going post this recipe yet because I didn’t get a good picture of it but my bloggy bud, Becky, from Little Wickies wanted the recipe and I couldn’t let her down. Pay her blog a visit when you get a chance. She’s got such a sweet family and her girls are so freaking cute! Now, where was I. Yes, so folks, I am so sorry but you’ll have to feast your eyes on the blurry background shot of the barbecued short ribs or kalbe. Either way you want to call it, it is 100% BBQ goodness and anyone who’s had this at our house wants the recipe. If you’re going to have a cookout this weekend, change it up a bit and give this a try.
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic minced (use more if you love garlic like I do)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 lbs. beef short ribs (luckily the grocery store I frequent always has this cut available. If you don’t see this cut at your store, ask the butcher)
Combine soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, sugar and salt. Add the short ribs and let it marinade overnight.
For barbecue: cook for 10-15 minutes turning frequently.
You can also cook this in the oven. If you chose to do it this way, cook at 350 degrees. Pour approx 1 inch of hot water into a roaster pan. Place ribs on a roasting rack over the water and bake for 1 hour turning the ribs after 30 minutes.
May 31st, 2010
Hope you enjoyed the weekend. Did you fire up the grill? We sure did. We tend to barbecue alot. My neighbors probably think we’ve done lost my minds when they see DH grillin’ in some really cold temperatures. We’re Californians at heart so we grill whenever the urge strikes which is almost year round.
My favorite BBQ chicken recipe by far is this one. So easy, and oh so very yummy.
Cilantro and Lemon Chicken
- 4- halved chicken breasts (bone in, skin on)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1- 1/5 tablespoons salt (This may seem like a lot. It is, but someone once said the secret to barbeque chicken is lots of salt. This always stuck with me but I don’t recall who said it)
- 1 cup of chopped cilantro
- 2 lemons (one sliced one squeezed)
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- Place chicken breasts in a large pan. pour olive oil over chicken, add salt, pepper, cilantro, and lemon juice. Using your hands, work the ingredients into the chicken and between skin. Place some of the chopped cilantro and 1 or 2 slices of lemon between the skin. Let marinade over night.
- When grilling, don’t rush the chicken. Allow to cook on low to medium heat until golden. Just remember when grilling, cook LOW and SLOW- a quote from grill master, Bobby Flay. Cooking time will depend on your grill. This could take anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- The meal isn’t complete unless you have corn on the cob or grilled veggies. I like asparagus and bell peppers. You know what else is yummy grilled? Eggplant! Instead of placing the the corn directly on the grill, wrap the corn individually in foil-add salt and a pat of butter then wrap.
- For the grilled veggies, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and you’re good to grill.
April 1st, 2010
In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, I give you Peeps and Company. My kids (and me too!) were in heaven and delighted in all things Peeps. There were Lenox Peeps, Peeps golf club covers, Peeps bling, Peeps clothing. You get the gist-lots of Peeps. My fave, which I didn’t take pictures of, were the t-shirts and some packaging with the words, ‘Peeps, Inside We’re All The Same’. Love that! Oh, and the store also features Mike & Ike, Peanut Chews, and Hot Tamales but they were virtually ignored by the kids.
And now a tasty treat for your eyes. For more pictures of the peeps store check out Small Burst Flickr.
March 12th, 2010
Thought I’d repost one of my favorite recipes since I’m making these today! YUMMMMM………
This sweet bacon bread is to die for! They’re fairly easy to make since I use pre made frozen bread dough. Kids (young and old) love these and they’re easy for busy mornings-not much mess to clean up and they’re an eat ‘em up and go kind of food. These are also great to bring along on road trips, outdoor concerts, pic-nics at the park. I got this recipes from my mother- in- law. Now my sister and I make them. Enjoy!
Sweet Bacon Bread:
1 pre made frozen bread loaf dough (frozen bread dough usually comes in a package of 3 or more. Use one frozen loaf. I like to make a few at once. They’ll keep well in the freezer)
1/2 package of bacon
2 tablespoons of white sugar
3 tablespoons butter (at room temperature)
- Cook bacon and place on napkins to drain fat. Chop bacon into small pieces. Set aside.
- Allow bread dough to thaw (may take a few hours). Roll dough into as large a rectangle as you can get it. Somewhere around 8″ x 16″. The dough will be thin.
- Take the softened butter and spread evenly over the dough. Distribute chopped bacon over the butter. Sprinkle sugar over the butter and bacon layer.
- Roll the dough lengthwise and manipulate to make it longer. You want the rolled dough to be snake like. Once you have achieved this, roll the dough into a snail. I know, lots of slithery analogies!
- Place in preheated oven (325 degrees) until the top is golden brown.
- If you are freezing-SKIP THIS PART. Once golden take out of oven and spread a bit of butter on top and sprinkle with 1 tsp of sugar. Return it in the oven for a couple of minutes.
To freeze the bread: take it out of the oven when the top is slightly golden and let it cool. Once cool, place in a freezer bag. This will keep well in the freezer for a couple of weeks. When you are ready to eat allow the bread to completely thaw then spread butter on top, sprinkle with sugar and place in a preheated 325 degree oven to warm and toast for approx. 5 minutes.
March 11th, 2010
No, you’re eyes haven’t failed you. That there is hot dog fried rice. My kids had a hankering for hot dog fried rice today so I happily obliged. All you need is 2 -1/2 cups cooked rice, 2 hot dogs, 1/2 tbs. butter and garlic salt.
- Chop 2 hot dogs in small pieces and place in frying pan
- Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Not too much
- Boil until all the water evaporates.
- Add butter and brown the hot dogs a bit. Lower heat
- Add cooked rice ( I like to use left over rice) and mix with hot dogs
- Move the rice and hot dog mix to one side of the pan to create space for the egg
- Crack 1 egg onto the cleared side of the pan as if you were going to cook them sunny side up. Let cook until the whites are almost cooked.
- Once the whites are slightly cooked, mix the white and yolk together (still on the cleared side) until the egg solidifies and is cooked
- Mix the eggs into the rice and add garlic salt (to taste) and cook for another couple of minutes
who knew hot dog fried rice could look so divine…
December 8th, 2009
I love baking cookies during the holidays, don’t you? Cookies are made with love and should be showcased not stuffed in a box or placed on a paper plate. This year, think outside the box-the cookie tin box that is! Here are some festive solutions to make your baked goods stand out.
November 16th, 2009
My son’s 6th birthday party was coming up and I usually buy cakes from Costco (big, cheap, fast) but this year, I tried my hand at cupcake decorating. I picked up this cute cupcake book, “Hello, Cupcake!” Great book for starters out there-no special equipment or expensive tools neccesary! I told my son to pick out any cupcake in the book and I would make them for his party. He picks out the Shark Attack on page 81- perfect for his shark themed party. Looks easy enough. I plan this for weeks-bought blue cupcake liners online since they’re hard to find anywhere else, got my twinkies (4 boxes of them!) and even found the elusive Famous Chocolate Wafers by Nabisco at the local Giant grocer. So the day of the party, I try to make the shark cupcakes but I couldn’t get them to look presentable. 2 hours before the party and all I had were 10 shark cupcakes and only 5 looked good enough to share. Did I mention I had to make 24. I really should have practiced before hand! No time to panic, I had to think fast! I ran to the nearest bakery and picked up a half sheet of chocolate cake with white frosting. I scrape off the small amount of white flowers and some frosting from the top to make room for my blue frosting. I then added 3 of the best looking sharks on top. As you can see, it doesn’t look bad. My kids liked it so much my 3 year old daughter insisted I make her a special cupcake from the book. I made her cute little Westies. These to me were so much easier so I made 10 of them for the little girls at the party. Not too shabby. Although, I clearly need the practice.
Here are some inspired cupcake sites I found. Click on the photo to link to the blog.
Hello Cupcake Blog
Cupcake Bake Shop by Chocylit
Cupcakes Take The Cake
Cupcake Activist
Cupcake Journal
October 27th, 2009
Get a load of these very creative sandwiches by Funky Lunch. They may look too good to eat. Very fun foods for kids and adults. Great for theme parties, don’t you think? Check out the rest of their creations in their gallery. They’re trying to generate enough interest to launch a recipe book so check them out.
