Muffins and Bread

I bought this book at ReStore, remember? It is totally awesome! It has a ton of bread recipes that do not use yeast so they can be made quickly. Get it, quick breads? Anyway, I decided that I will try to make one bread a week. Last week I made a peanut butter banana bread, no picture. It was pretty good but it looked ugly. This week I made blueberry ginger muffins.

yum!! They tasted more molasses-y than gingery,  I thought. And I think they would be better with butterscotch chips instead of blueberries. I will definitely be making this recipe again.

I pretty much followed the recipe except I used regular milk instead of buttermilk.

Baby shower!

Mike and I hosted our first ever baby shower last week! It was a success!

We played games...

baby food is weird.

We served food!

I made ham biscuits, a spiced pear cake, assembled a veggie tray with hummus and blue cheese dip, and made grape salad! It is easy to make and delicious...

We played bingo!

While Nichol and Joseph opened their baby gifts.

Albert the dog helped.

The parents to be!

Grape Salad recipe (from my Mother-in-law's friend)

2 lbs. green seedless grapes

2 lbs. red seedless grapes

8 ounces sour cream

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup crushed pecans

• Wash and stem grapes; set aside to dry.
• Mix sour cream, cream cheese, white sugar, and vanilla by hand until blended.

• Stir grapes into mixture and pour in large serving bowl.
• Combine brown sugar and pecans.
• Sprinkle over top of grapes covering completely.
• Chill overnight.

The entire recipe serves around 12-15. 

When I made this, I only used brown sugar and I did not use 4 lbs of grapes! That is way too much, so I added a little less of everything. It was a big hit!

Sundays are good cooking days.

I have been cooking/baking up a storm today! This was the second time I made the curried golden vegetable soup. This time I made it a little differently. I didn't use leeks, I used a red onion and this time I didn't measure anything, just dumped it in. And I didn't use raisins either time, I think raisins are kind of gross.

I also used Joy the Baker's recipe for sea salt and poppy seed crackers. Who would think it make homemade crackers?? But, they are very easy and delicious! I might try to make some different types of crackers, pretty fun.

I also made banana bread.. no photo. And I am planning on making some english muffin pizzas. Yummers.

ps. A post is still coming on how my first time ever hosting a baby shower! I made another Joy the Baker recipe for it!

Yum and starting artomat art again!

I made this delicious cake last weekend. It is a recipe form design*sponge. It looks fancy and tastes very good, but the recipe is simple! My ideal recipe. I will be making this again and again with different fruit combos.



And I finished my first artomat piece! I started a few peanut rugs, pretty fun.

Vegan Chocolate Avocado cake!

I made this cake on Friday night to bring to Nichol and Joseph's! I used the Vegan Chocolate Avocado cake from Joy the Baker.

Very Tasty! I really loved the cake, very fudgy and chocolatey! I have to admit that the icing was a little weird, it was good though. I think I might even make it again next weekend for the neighborhood block party!

Derby!

This summer I realized that I love roller derby! Not playing, I am not a good skater and have crappy health insurance but it is so fun to watch! Here are some shots from last night...




My garden has not been as fruitful as I had hoped! So far we have only eaten one tomato and there is one little green tomato still on the vine.



The tomato we did eat was delicious! Sprinkled with a little salt, pepper and feta! Yum! I think next year I will try a few varieties of tomatoes.

Texas recipes!

These recipes are from "License to Cook Texas Style".

Bleeding Armadillo Bread

ingredients:
2 c. warm water
2 pkgs dry yeast
1/4 sugar
6 ounces pimientos, pureed (I used a 4 oz can of chopped pimientos)
1/4 c veg oil
3 eggs, beaten
2 t salt
1 T Tabasco sauce
7-8 bread flour
1 egg
1 T water
1/2 t paprika

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar; set aside. After bubbling occurs (about 10-15 min.), add pimientos, oil, beaten eggs, salt and Tabasco. Beat in flour, cup by cup until mixture leaves sides of cowl. Turn onto floured surface and knead in remaining flour for 10 minutes. Dough should feel satiny, like an ear lobe. (that is my favorite description in a recipe ever!)

Let rise in a greased bowl covered in plastic wrap and a towel in a cold oven until doubled, about 90 min. Punch dough down, let rest 10 minutes, and then mold into an armadillo!! Basically, oval body, oval head, rolls of dough along back, tail and 4 legs. ALthough, it will just get enormous and blobby, so I wouldn't try to get too fancy.

After molded, let rise until doubled (goodbye cute armadillo features, hello giant blob) about 45 minutes. Combine the remaining egg, T of water and paprika. Brush the armadillo with the egg wash. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped.



This was a pretty fun recipe, I did like trying to mold it and I think next time I would mold it into 2 smaller armadillos and maybe that would be cuter. It ends up the size of 4 regular loaves, so it is definitely a loaf to make for a big bread party!

Also, here is an easy and delicious recipe...

Frosty Texas Citrus Refresher

2 grapefruits
2 c. sliced strawberres
1 c. pineapple sherbet
1-2 T honey

Juice grapefruit. In a blender, combine all the ingredients! Total yum!
When I made these, I did not really measure, I just dumped a bunch of ingredients in a blender and it worked out.

Texas sized dinner

Eventhough I am very sad my friends are moving to Texas, I was very happy that they brought me a Texas cookbook from their trip apartment hunting! Last night we had them over for a cowboy-themed dinner party. Mike and I dressed like cowboys and I made 3 recipes from the Texas cookbook. One being this crazy thing...





"Bleeding Armadillo Bread" There are a few misleading things about that title, first of all, it does not look like an armadillo- it looks like a ginormous blob. Secondly, bleeding? Gross.

It was pretty fun to make, eventhough it is a very high maintenance recipe!

I also made these delicious cookies!



I got the recipe from We Are Not Martha! Yum!

Armadillo Bread recipe coming soon!

um.. yum!

I have been seeing a lot of blogs with bacon cinnamon rolls, so I thought this was a perfect week to try them out! My bacon-loving friend was visiting! The bacon was definitely overpowered by the cinnamon rolls, so I think if I made them again I would buy a different type of cinnamon roll that would be easier to unroll and add more bacon! Or, I would probably cook the rolls and bacon separately and then put a strip of bacon on top. Overall, very fun and super easy.

Birthday!!

Yesterday we had a backyard summer party! I have been telling Mike that "This is the summer of the yard!" I didn't make a ton of food, only blue/bleu cheese dip, guac and cookies and a lot of cracker/chip things. Mike made a delicious pumpkin pie with walnut strudel.



Mike and I both wore special B-day outfits!



I bought that dress in a Virginia Goodwill when we were there for Thanksgiving and I have been saving it for this special bday occasion! I found Mike's shirt at the Salvation Army in Bloomington. I think it is the most beautiful shirt I have ever seen!



And I got to hold a tiny baby!

I didn't take any pictures of the blue cheese dip but it was a big hit at the party!
Recipe:

Hunk of blue cheese crumbled up
Sour Cream- about a cup
Couple twists of the pepper grinder

Stir up and refrigerate! Super easy.

Pesto Change-o!

I made "pesto" and froze it last weekend. I don't know if serious pesto people would consider this real pesto. I made it by putting basil and oregano (from my garden!), olive oil, almonds and garlic into our mini mixer. Real pesto uses pine nuts but they are super expensive!

We had "pesto" with brown rice pasta, chicken and veggie dumplings from Trader Joe's, and a salad with tomatoes, avocado and blue cheese.

well, I ate brussel sprouts

And was super impressed! I had sworn off brussel sprouts since I was a kid and my mom told me they were "candy", she did not have me fooled and I thought they were disgusting. However, I found a good-sounding recipe and tried them out again. Totally delicious!! We also had lemon pepper pasta tossed with olive oil and an aprium ( apricot/plum hybrid). The meal could have been served without the fruit but Mike photographed it for me and said it needed something red or orange.



Here is the recipe, modified from Shutterbean's recipe!

1 bags of TJ’s Brussels Sprouts
butter ( I didn't really measure)
1/2 c. onion
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 cloves of garlic

Take sprouts out of their packaging. Soak in water & rinse. Cut the ends off all the sprouts & quarter the sprouts. Set aside. Place butter in a pan on medium heat. Stir in onions & garlic. Cook on medium until onions are translucent. Add sprouts & toss them in the butter/onion mixture. Let sit- stir occasionally. At this point, you are working on steaming them. When the sprouts are softened (about 10 minutes), add brown sugar & remaining butter. Turn the heat to high and brown the sprouts. The brown sugar & butter help caramelize them.

Delish!! I will be making this again!

Happy Birthday Nichol! and avocado soup!

My friend Nichol's birthday was Thursday, so on Friday we had her and her hubby over for dinner. I made this avocado soup!



The presentation is very fun but the soup was so-so. It was just like eating guacamole, which is good but weird as a soup. I would make it again but would serve it with chips. I got the recipe from Design Sponge - my favy blog.

Here is the recipe I used:

Chilled Avocado Soup in an Avocado Half
Yield: 6 servings
3 ripe avocados

2/3c. water

lime juice- about 3 tablespoons
1-2 cloves of garlic

a fistful of cilantro
 (from my garden!!!)
1 tsp. salt

Prepare the avocados: Use the line where the avocado meat turns from light to dark green as a guide to help you scoop out a regular amount from each avocado half (you should be leaving 1/4″ of meat). If you have to prepare the avocados more than an hour ahead of time hold them in a bowl of water with a bit of lemon juice or vinegar, and then drain before serving.
Blend your Soup: Place the avocado meat, water and cilantro in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add garlic, lime, cilantro and salt to taste (do not add all the garlic at once, some garlic is stronger and you want just enough to add an edge to this dish). Also check to make sure that your garlic is incorporating well, not stuck under the blade of your blender. Adjust the amount of water until your soup is just liquid enough to pour (it should still be quite thick). The proper amount of cilantro will make the pigment of the soup match the darker green meat left in the the avocado bowls. Chill for 20 minutes.
Serve: Pour soup into avocado halves. Garnish with sour cream and a sprig of parsley.

Memorial Day!

I have been reading this blog, http://www.shutterbean.com/, lately and it has been making me super hungry. So, I made 2 recipes from it today!




My food photography is lacking quite a bit! I made Chewy Molasses Ginger cookies.

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies 
(recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookie Book) 
Makes about 36

 Ingredients:

-2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

-1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 1/2 cups sugar

-3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

-1 large egg

-1/4 cup molasses
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a shallow bowl, place 1/2 cup sugar; set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and remaining cup of sugar until combined. Beat in egg and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in dry ingredients, just until a dough forms. Put dough in the fridge and chill it for at least an hour.
3. Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to 1 tablespoon. Roll balls in reserved sugar to coat.
4. Arrange balls on baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges of cookies are just firm, 10 to 15 minutes (cookies can be baked two sheets at a time, but they will not crackle uniformly). Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; transfer to racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 4 days

I pretty much followed the recipe except I didn't have nutmeg so I used pumpkin pie spice. Yum.

I also made zucchini pancakes. They didn't turn out very pancake like, but still very good! Next time I will chop the zucchini smaller and maybe add more flour/egg to thicken them up a bit. I topped the "pancake" with sour cream and fresh dill.

We also had a salad with spinach, avocado, onion and a dressing I made with olive oil, vinegar, lime juice and zest, whole grain mustard, sugar and pepper!

I love summer dinners.

Peanut Butter Bread fail

It fell apart when I took it out of the bread pan! Sad. But, it is still delicious with nutella spread on top!


I used the recipe from...
http://www.cpbgallery.com/2009/04/18/peanut-butter-bread/

Happy Easter!

Last night we had an Easter dinner party. I love dinner parties. I made brown sugar pound cake cupcakes with brown butter glaze, very buttery! We also made asparagus and mushroom tarts and shrimp bruschetta, but no pictures of those.

Happy Easter!

Oscars!

In honor of the oscars and wanting an excuse for a "fancy" dinner, I made this...

Black Bean tacos with cole slaw, onions, cilantro and feta! A kind of weird, but very tasty combo. And very quick and easy to make, bonus!


I had another pie crust so I made this again, although this time I also used raspberries. Yum.

Yummers dinner.

I made/assembled this simple, fresh dinner from things I bought yesterday.

"rustic mediterrean bread", tomato basil goat cheese, and tomato slices. This is the kind of food I want to eat all summer. With some avocado thrown in and pineapple on the side. Come on summer!! Bring your sunny, warm weather and delicious in season fruits!

Now that I am a foodie...

I will be taking photos of food. These onions were smiling at me.

Fun weekend!

Mike's parents visited us this weekend, we had a blast! We ate at a lot of good restaurants, yum. We also went to Indianapolis and went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art!



LOVE sculpture! So cute! I didn't know that the IMA would be so big and nice- it is a really great museum. They also have a really nice garden, we saw a wedding couple taking pictures and I guess getting ready for their big day! It was really cute.
We also played my favorite game, masterpiece and I tried a new recipe, Minty Pea Green Guacamole- it was pretty good.

Green Pea Guacamole:


1 handful mint

juice from 2 limes

1/2 cup lowfat sour cream
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 cup green peas

1 garlic clove

1/2 t curry powder

1/2 t cumin

salt and pepper to taste


Put it all in the food processor and blend!

We ate it with tostito scoops. Also, I accidentally used tumeric instead of cumin, and I added a whole bag of frozen peas.