Cheeseburger Macaroni This delicious, incredibly cheesy dish is another one of our favorite weeknight dinners. It’s beefy, hearty and whips up in less than 20 minutes. Hope you love this one as much as we do! Start with one pound of lean hamburger meat, browned and drained. Add a package of taco seasoning. And one can of this. You don’t even have to bother to drain it! Gosh, I really like Rotel. Add two cups of beef broth. (You can also just use water if you want.) And one cup of elbow macaroni. By the way, I’ve tried other shapes of pasta in this recipe, and none of them seem to work as well as good old macaroni. Stir to combine, and heat to boiling. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add 2 tablespoons of flour. Whisk to combine, and continue to cook, whisking until the roux is fragrant and light brown in color, about 5 minutes. Whisk in 3/4 cup of milk. And bring the sauce to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Glorious!
Cinnamon Bun Pancakes Are you a cinnamon lover? You are going to love me. LOVE me, I tell ya! The players: Griddle or Frying Pan – preheat to medium/low heat and grease with butter, margarine, or that nasty spray (which I used, by the way). Dry (though not completely humorless) ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3 Tbsp white sugar 1/2 tsp salt 4 tsp baking powder 1 Tbsp Cinnamon (or more if you’re a cinnamon freak, like me) In a medium bowl, combine these dry ingredients together. When these dry ingredients are mixed nicely, then you can mix together these remaining ingredients in a SEPARATE bowl. 2 eggs (whole) beaten – feel free to take out your frustration on these innocent little eggies 1 Cup of milk (or a little more if your batter isn’t runny enough for you) 2 Tbsp Corn Syrup (I only had regular table syrup on hand – worked fine) 1/4 Cup butter or margarine, melted 1 Tbsp vanilla Beat together these wet ingredients, then add them to the dry. The How-To: 1 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cups butter – melted
Cheese and Onion Butterflies & Kayotic Kitchen What to do with only a few lonesome puff pastry sheets? You make Cheese & Onion Butterflies of course! It’s crazy simple and so tasty. Best part; only two puff pastry sheets can go a long way. Ingredients: puff pastry sheets 1/2 cup sharp cheddar 1/2 cup Gouda 1/3 small onion Directions: I splurged. You’ll need a grater, though. Grate until you have about 1/3 cup of each cheese. You knew I’d throw in an onion, didn’t you? Grate 1/3 of a small onion. Thaw the pastry sheets. Sprinkle a generous amount of cheese on top of the pastry sheets, and add some grated onion. Roll both ends towards each other until they meet in the middle. Use a very sharp knife to cut them in about 1/3 inch slices. Place them on a cookie sheet—I’m using baking paper for this. They are best when served warm/luke-warm.
the parsley thief Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies Alright, confession time. My first impression of these cookies was not a super positive one. I mean, don’t get me wrong…I love a good chocolate chip cookie. And Oreos easily top the list among my favorite “store bought” cookies. The idea of combining them just threw me. I am really not even sure how to describe these. Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe from the fantabulous Jenny of Picky Palate 2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon pure vanilla 3 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 10 oz bag chocolate chips 1 pkg. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. NOTE: Some bakers have had some trouble with their dough spreading too much during baking. Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE cookies. stumble
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes All week I have been taunting you with my pumpkin spice cupcakes… It wasn’t very nice, and I’m sorry. But, I think they are worth the wait! The thing is, I have been working up to the completed cupcakes all week long. I’ve already shared the details of the fall themed cookies topping the cupcakes that I decorated for the September Daring Bakers challenge. Since I had just finished decorating all of the mini pumpkin and leaf cookies, I knew I wanted a cupcake that embraced and added to the fall theme that I had going on. Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes (Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, makes about 2 dozen) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat together the butter and brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl – flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, filling the cups approximately 2/3 full.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Flaming Strawberries Call me easily amused, but these little torch-topped cupcakes delight me. Besides being a cute novelty item for a party, I think they would add a little drama to the end of a romantic meal. I've been looking for something different to serve for Valentine's dessert, and this is definitely different. The strawberries are hollowed out and filled with a bit of liquor, then ignited with a match. For the cake portion, I chose a One Bowl Chocolate Cupcake recipe because 1. it's quick 2. it is easy, and 3. it fits my prerequisite for a light ending on date night. I should say, a light ending provided you don't eat too many. The cakes are just sweet enough, and have a light, fluffy crumb - the perfect vehicle for rich chocolate buttercream. Notes for flaming strawberries:Any alcohol below 80 proof will not ignite well. Shaina made a margarita version of this on Babble Food. Chocolate Cupcakes with Flaming Strawberries Yield: About 20 cupcakes [click to print]Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Raspberry and peach popsicles - Sucettes glacées aux framboises et aux ... Raspberry and Peach Popsicles We’ve been eating cold-to-refresh-your-entire-body popsicles. Tons of them. Some made with raspberries; others with strawberries and apple juice, with or without yogurt. And then there were these. The fruit was spectacular. Before last week, Lulu had never eaten a popsicle. Can you remember the last time you discovered a food for the first time? And I must say, Lulu was pretty amazing. Ouah ! That’s what my grandfather E. would have done too. “Je préfère mordre dans la glace,” (I prefer to bite into ice cream) he used to tell my brother B. and me with an amused expression on his face as he was biting into a cone of vanilla ice cream coated with chocolate, his favorite by far. And inevitably, the three of us would end up sitting on the couch in my grandparents’ small dining room, with each of us biting into an ice cream cone while watching something on TV. It was special. Raspberry and peach popsicles You need: The raspberry coulis: The peach and yogurt purée:
Garlic Potato Fries I’m never going to make garlic potato fries any other way. These garlic fries, win hands down as the best garlic french fries I’ve ever made. Plus they are baked – so I won’t feel too guilty if I make it every time I’m craving for some potato comfort. When I read that there is garlic infused oil involved, my heart skipped a beat (in a good way, not the way oil would otherwise treat your heart). I got down to making them immediately. crispy golden baked fries These garlic fries are incredibly simple to make and are so full of flavour. crunchy potato skin Garlic Fries Adapted from: Lottie + Doof Ingredients: 8 garlic cloves, minced or grated 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 russet potatoes (about 8oz each), each cut into 12 wedges 3 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour 1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper ½ tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper Tools:Microplane to grating the garlic warm and soft interior Tagged as: garlic, garlic baked fries, savory bakes, sides
Cookie Dough Dip Go put on your stretchy pants. Seriously. Do it now. Some days, I find that certain recipes speak to me. Better-Than-Crack-Brownies, Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles, Cake Batter Bark… those things excite me. This is the situation I found myself in late Monday evening. Or the couch from which I was laying on after eating 16 snickerdoodles. You can only imagine what I did first thing yesterday morning. So let’s hit all the major points: 1. 2. 3. Or you can do dirty things like eat it with a spoon. Cookie Dough Dip makes about 1 1/2 cups 1/2 cup butter 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cups chocolate chips Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar for 60 seconds. Garnish with additional chopped chocolate. Oh! I think I love this girl.
Perfect Buttercream | stetted You know the scene – you’re at a party, and it’s time for the cake to be served. The cake sure looks beautiful, but the frosting … well, you never can tell with frosting. On the cake it all kind of looks the same. The flavor is a mystery. Both can ruin a good cake and cause people to doubt the skills of the cake baker. Last week I was roped into asked to coordinate last-minute baby shower for one of our temps whose last day was Friday. Megan’s Perfect Buttercream makes enough to fill and frost a 9-inch two-layer cake 2 sticks (8 ounces total) butter, softened 6 cups sifted powdered sugar 4 tablespoons milk (I use whole) 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon almond extract Dump everything into a large bowl (preferably stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment). * Tip – the trick to getting smooth frosted cakes is to frequently scrap off excess frosting and dip your spreader into a cup of warm water, then continue spreading.