List for after Finals

Soooo I have been studying for exams and haven't had time to make anything ... well I made s'mores cookies but haven't uploaded the pictures yet soo they will also come after finals when I make more things again.

On the list so far is:

-Pumpkin cheesecake for my sister

-Rainbow star cake for my Krystle :)

-Red velvet cheesecake for Agusta

-Red velvet cupcakes for me ( or maybe Greg's house warming)

-Spinach Laced Brownies...I need to know if you can taste the spinach!

-Lemon Poppy seed pound cake ( cause I forgot to take pictures before and I loooove lemon and poppyseed)

I'm sure there are more I just cant think of it at the moment :)

Hopefully that makes you want to come take a peek after the weekend of the 15th :)

New Ceramic Muffin Pans + Lemons and Poppyseeds= Lemon Poppyseed Muffins :)

So yesterday I was having a bad day and decided to go to winners and look around. I was really hoping for a new Matt & Nat purse I wanted to be there but there was nothing in the way of purses :( not that I need another one, but still lol. While there I saw these beautiful ceramic muffin pans, but there was no price on them. I picked up one and walked around and got some other little things.... got to the cash and said I don't know how much this is, but if it's less than 10$ I'll buy two cause there is another one there without a price as well.

When she came back I ended up getting two :)

So I had to test them out today before I pack them away in my hope chest, and they are wonderful. I made my favorite fast breakfast food since my mother decided to introduce me to lemon poppyseed I have just been in love with it. Sooo here are my pictures of my beautiful muffin pans and my yummy lemon poppyseed muffins along with the recipe of course :) Enjoy!

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

2 lg eggs

3/4 cup plain yogurt (I used vanilla Activia it's so yummy)

the juice and zest of 1 medium lemon (I zested a lemon and used 1 tbsp of real lemon but next time I will use 2 tbsp of real lemon)

2 cups flour

3 tbsp poppy seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

Cream together butter and sugar.

Beat in eggs, yogurt and lemon juice and zest.

Combine flour, poppyseeds, salt, and baking powder. and fold into yogurt mixture.

Divide evenly between 12 muffin cups or well greased and flowered muffin pan.

Bake at 350 for about 20 min (mine took 25), until a toothpick comes out with one or two crumbs on it. Cool on wire rack.

YUM!

Pizza on the BBQ :D

Today and yesterday were sooo nice, I really wanted to Barbecue. Yesterday was too windy, and I had plans to go out to supper and see the new Harry Potter. So the plan for today was to make this for the first time ever, and if I do say so myself it was awesome. And I will probably make it again next week when I'm bored.

Pizza Dough:

1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

3-4 1/2 c. flour

Directions:

In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast (the water has to be this temp to activate the yeast). Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. (I just butter a bowl and cover it with a dishtowel, I also left it in the sun to rise)

Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Remove from bowl and shape into your desired pizza shape.

Greg made a pizza slice shaped pizza, mine ended up looking like PEI I just flattened it.

To Prepare the pizza (I used these directions I got from this site http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/07/cooking-class-bbq-grilled-pizza.html) :

Toppings: I suggest going a little lighter than normal on the toppings for a few reasons.

1. It will keep the pizzas easy to work with and easy to move around, etc.

2. The toppings will cook faster and be sure to be done if they're not piled on heavy.

3. Probably the biggest reason- the grill adds so much flavor and texture that you don't want (or need) to overpower it. Grilled pizza works great sauce-less, or try it with marinara, bbq, orgarlic alfredo.

Alright- let's do this step-by step.

First you need to preheat your grill. This is an important step. The rack needs to be nice and hot so the dough will start cooking immediately and the overall temperature needs to be hot in order to act like an oven when the lid is closed. I set my gas grill to medium-high heat, and leave the lid shut.

Next, get all of your toppings ready. You have to move very quickly while on the grill so everything needs to be prepared and easy to grab. I usually set up a platter with everything I need and keep it next to the grill.

You'll need: 1. Your toppings (cut, sliced, shredded, etc.) including sauce. 2. Some olive oil and a brush to brush it on. 3. A spoon to spread on sauce 4. A large spatula to flip the pizza When your dough is ready, roll it out with a rolling pin, or even just use your hands to press and stretch it. Now listen. Throw all of your preconceived pizza notions out the window. You don't need to make round pizza. No rules! Don't you feel daring??

Size: I find it easiest to make several small pizzas, especially if you're trying this for the first time. If you want to go big, don't go much larger than 2 pizzas per this recipe. That's about a 9-10" max. I like to do 4 small pizzas. You get a good 6-8" pizza that will easily feed one very hungry adult or a couple of hungry kids. Another benefit of doing several smaller pizzas is that you can try out a bunch of different topping combos. Kids love having their own! Once your dough is flattened out, drizzle a little olive oil on one side and brush it around

Now comes the fun part. Toss that puppy (oil side down) straight on the grill and then shut the lid immediately. You'll want the heat to stay inside so it acts like an oven and cooks the dough. The timing all depends on the heat of the grill and the thickness of the dough. But it usually only takes about 5 minutes or less. Have a spatula handy to lift up the dough and check it. You'll want to see nice brown grill marks, but avoid burning it. If you can tell that your dough is cooking too fast and too hot, you may want to use indirect heat. For a gas grill with multiple burners, turn off the burner directly under the pizza, but leave the others on. For a charcoal grill, move the charcoal to one side of the grill and place the pizza on the other side.

As soon as you flip it grab that tray with your toppings and put them on the cooked side right away. Shut the lid again and leave it shut. The second side cooks pretty fast. If the bottom of your pizza is done, but the top still needs to cook, you can place it on an upper rack if you have one.

Take a peek at the bottom crust and as soon as it's done and your cheese is all melty, grab a spatula and pull it off. I like to make a bunch of small pizzas and throw them all on cutting boards in the middle of the table and just let everyone cut into them.

If you have never done this, go start now so you can eat it tonight!

M&M Cookies

I forgot to take pictures :(

I made M&M Cookies for Heidi's birthday but sadly I forgot to take pictures.

But the recipe has been requested by many sooo here it is :

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep time: 10min Bake: 8-10 min per sheet Cool: 2min **Makes: about 4 doz

Ingredients:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 ounces of chocolate chips (about 1 3/4 cup or so) ** I subbed in M&M's obviously**

Directions:

-Heat oven to 375.

- beat sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff) stir in chocolate chips ( or addition of your choice).

-drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

-bake 8-10 min or until lightly browned (centers will be soft). Cool 1 to 2 min; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Everyone who ate them enjoyed :) Hope you do too :)

Who doesn't like cheesecake??

Domino Muffins :)

Recipe from my God Mommy

I made these a long time ago, and remembered I had pictures so I am going to give you the recipe... these are soooo good :) I forgot to put the chocolate chips in the cheese cake, next time I will remember that :D

Ingredients

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

½ cup cocoa

2 cups water

⅔ cup oil (I use olive)

2 tbsp white vinegar

2 teasp vanilla

2 teasp soda

FILLING

1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz)

1 beaten egg

⅓ cup sugar

⅛ teasp salt

6 oz chocolate chips

Directions

Mix well. (I usually mix the dry then add the wet.) Pour into two greased muffin tins.

Drop small amount of filling (see below) into each. Do not stir. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Mix well except chocolate chips.

Add chips last. Drop into chocolate muffins.

These freeze really well. You can use regular sized muffin pans or the small ones.

I have made up to 36 in the past. Depends on how big you want them to be.

You know they are done when the cream cheese starts to brown slightly.

Banana Day!!!

I made Banana Bread and Chocolate Banana Muffins

Dole Banana Bread

I accidently forgot the baking soda but it still tasted the same so meh

Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teasp baking powder

½ teasp baking soda

½ teasp salt

½ teasp ground cinnamon

½ cup margarine, softened

¾ cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 medium, ripe DOLE® Bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

¼ cup sour cream

1 teasp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped almonds or walnuts, toasted

Directions:

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in medium bowl; set aside.

Beat margarine and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Beat in bananas, sour cream and vanilla until blended. Add in flour mixture; beat until just blended. Stir in nuts.

Pour into 9 x 5-inch baking pan sprayed with vegetable cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees, 55 to 65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes

Chocolate Banana Muffins

These were good but a little heavy for me

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

¾ cup sugar

¾ teasp baking soda

½ teasp salt

3 lrg very ripe bananas, mashed well (1 1/2 cups)

6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled (3/4 stick)

2 lrg eggs

¼ cup whole or low-fat plain yogurt (I used sour cream)

½ cup cocoa

1 teasp vanilla extract (you can add rum,orange or any other flavoring you want)

*tip if you really like them chocolaty, try folding in about a cup of chocolate chips into the batter.

Directions:

Adjust an oven rack to lower -middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a muffin pan or place muffin liners in pan. Set aside.

Whisk the flour,cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk the mashed bananas, melted butter, eggs, yoghurt and vanilla together.

Gently fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined(do not over mix).

Fold in the chocolate chips(if using)... the batter will look thick and chunky.

Fill muffin tin 3/4 of the way with the batter and smooth the top.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, about 18-20 minutes.

Yum! :)

My Birthday Cake!!!

Sorry it's been so long since the last post I've been super busy with school and the workterm search and such .... and I kept forgetting to take pictures when I made stuff :(

Anyway I had a birthday since the last post so I made myself a Chocolate Rum Cheesecake .... and if I do say so myself it was scrumptious.

here is the recipe:

(and some pictures)

Chocolate Rum Cheesecake

After sitting in my fridge for a night it looked like this :)

Ingredients

For the crust:

1¼ cups graham cracker crumbs

1 tbsp granulated sugar

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (1/2 stick)

For the filling:

6 oz bittersweet baking chocolate

¼ cup rum (I used dark rum)

1 lb cream cheese

¾ cup superfine sugar

½ cup sour cream

1 tbsp vanilla extract

4 extra-large eggs

Yummmmmmm :)

Directions:

Position a rack in the center of an oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and cover the outside with aluminum foil, shiny side out.

In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and granulated sugar and stir to mix. Add the melted butter and stir until blended. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate and rum and melt, stirring often, about 1 minute; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Gradually add the superfine sugar and continue beating until blended. Then beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and set it over a pan of simmering water but not touching the water. Warm the mixture, stirring constantly, until completely smooth and very creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour 1 1/3 cups of the batter into another bowl and set aside. Add the chocolate mixture to the remaining batter and whisk until blended. Set the bowl back over the simmering water and stir until creamy and smooth.

Pour the chocolate batter into the prepared pan. Gently pour the plain batter over the top and make swirls in the batter with a fork.

Bake until the cake is set around the edges and the center is still a little loose, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool to room temperature, remove the rim from the pan and refrigerate overnight. Serves 10 to 12.

Cake with my candles on it :)

I'll look for the lemon poppy seed pound cake I made for my mother for mothers day and post that recipe too...but I forgot to take pictures :( sorry it was very yummy though