18 posts tagged “yummy”

Apple Bread!

I have been in a baking mood the past two days and my house smells GREAT! Today I am baking a yummy apple bread and a pumpkin bread. Right now the pumpkin bread is in the oven, so look for another post later. But my Carmel Apple Streusel Bread looks and smells great. Now i live in California and it's still warm here, but i think this bread will be perfect on a cold day with a nice hot cup of tea. Please try it and enjoy! Baking is so much fun and so heart warming. My three year old daughter helped me and it made for a wonderful morning spent together. I do think i used every bowl, measure cup and spoon in the kitchen. hehe! What's a few dishes when you are having fun? As a mom it's these moments i hope my children remember, fun times spent in the kitchen, the house smelling so good and a mom that loves them so much. So take sometime this fall and winter and make a mess with your kids! It's so much fun, plus you end up with some yummy breads!

Carmel Apple Streusel Bread
2 cups flour
2tep. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare camel apples, streusel topping and glaze and set aside for later. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. In another bowl, cream together butter and both brown and white sugar. Beat in sour cream, eggs and vanilla until blended. Fold in flour mixture until moist. Don't over mix! Then stir in caramelized apples and nuts, just until combined. Pour into a loaf pan; smouth top. Sprinkle with streusel topping. Bake 50-60 minutes. Let stand in pan for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan and place on a cooling rack, while the bread is still warm, not hot, drizzle with Vanilla Glaze.  And ENJOY!

I love fall and with it comes cool days and the need to fill the house with warm smells. This weekend we are going to be visiting family and I want to bring them a basket full of yummy fall baked goods. Today I make Pineapple Spice Bread. I have been wanting to make one for a while, but haven't found a recipe that i like. So i got a basic recipe and added to it. I haven't tasted it yet, but the house smells amazing! So if it tastes half as good as it smell it should be delicious. So try it on one of these cool fall days, and let me know what you think. I am hoping to make a pumpkin spice bread and a apple strudel bread tomorrow. I will let you know how they turn out as well! Happy Baking! :)

Pineapple Spice Bread with Maple Glaze

2 cups flour - sifted

Pineapple Spice Bread with Maple Glaze

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons maple extract
2 eggs
1 can crushed pineapple in juice - 8 ounces

In a large bowl, sift together first 6 ingredients. Stir in sugar, set aside. In a small bowl, mix butter, maple extract and eggs until well blended. Stir in un-drained pineapple. add to dry ingredients; stir just until moistened. Pour batter into greased loaf pan.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes or until loaf is golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove and cool on rack.

Maple Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons maple extract
3 tablespoons milk

Combine ingredients until smooth and think, if it's still not think add more sugar if it's too think add more milk. Then pour over top of cooled loaf.

My husband loves bacon, i mean LOVES bacon. A few years ago i got him a chocolate bacon bar for Christmas. Ever since then he has been obsessed with bacon and chocolate. Well last week he found a recipe on Recipe Puppy for Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies. It's all he could talk about for the past two days. So being the good wife that I am i made him some tonight.And to my surprise, they were good, really good. They were an amazing combination of salty, sweet and tasty. It reminded me of pancakes with bacon and maple syrup.

If you love cooking or trying new and different things you need to try this. The only thing that was time consuming was cooking all the bacon. However it made so much dough that we cooked half and froze the other half. So next time my hubby wants Bacon cookies he can just defrost some dough and bake it. Now these are not everyday cookies, however they are awesome and a fun treat for parties or a cookie exchange. Let me know if you make them and what you think.

Bacon & Chocolate Chip Cookies with Maple Glaze

Bacon & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 2 lbs bacon, cooked and crumbled (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 lb bacon, cooked in whole strips
• 2 cups powdered sugar, for the maple glaze
• 1 tablespoon maple extract, for the maple glaze
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, for the maple glaze
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, for the maple glaze

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugars, extracts and eggs until creamy. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir together.
2. Dough will be slightly soft. If you want a more cake like cookie, add another 1/2 cup of flour. Mix in chocolate chips and crumbled bacon. Stir until well integrated.
3. Place dough on a sheet of wax paper and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F.
5. Remove dough from fridge. Pinch off 1 ½ -inch pieces and roll into balls. Set dough balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten dough balls in the center slightly with your fingers. Bake about 10 minutes, or until the dough starts to turn golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on a cooling rack while you make the glaze.
6. Maple-Cinnamon Glaze: Mix 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon maple extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon cinnamon with enough water to make a thick glaze, about 3 tablespoons. Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. If lumpy, use a whisk.
7. Spread a small amount of glaze on top of each cookie and top with a small piece (1 to 1 ½ inches) of crisp bacon.I decided i liked it better with bacon sprinkles instead of bacon strep's it's up to you.

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You know you want to make this!

Greek Burger

Today i was in the mood to cook and create something new. Well at least new to me. Daniel and I love Greek food and recently Daniel had a Greek burger at Daphne's, and he loved it. So I thought I would try to recreate it and make it better. The burgers came out amazing, and I would highly recommended making them to anyone who loves burgers. I served them with a side of garlic fries from Trader Joes. They went together perfect!

Greek Burgers:

Burgers
4 prepared hamburger patties (fresh or frozen)
2 tablespoons steak seasoning
4 crusty buns (toasted)

Sprinkle meat patties with seasoning and grill to desired doneness.

Olive Spread
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1/2 cup canned artichoke hearts
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Puree ingredients in a food possessor until smooth.

Tzatziki Sauce
1 cup of Greek style yogurt
1/2 a large seedless cucumber (grated)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/4 onion (grated)
2 gloves of garlic (crushed)
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar 
1/4 cup feta cheese (crumbled)
1 teaspoon of salt
pepper to taste

Grate cucumber and onion with a box grater, at to mixing bowl with any liquids that have formed. Combine all ingredients and stir. Let sit for at least one hour in refrigerator, it gets better the longer it sits.

Toppers
4 pieces of Lettus
1 cup of Feta cheese

Building Your Greek Burger
Once burgers are off the grill top with 1/4 cup of Feta cheese, let cheese melt a little. Take your toasted buns and put the Olive spread on the bottom bun and Tzatziki sauce on top bun. Place burger with feta on bottom bun and top with a piece of lettuce. Cover the burger with top bun and EAT! The only thing i think i would have added would be a nice ripe tomato, but other than that this was an amazing burger. Messy and good. Salty and savory. I love the combination of the hot burger with the cold Tzatziki sauce. Everything worked together perfectly. And my husband said it was ten times better then the burger he had had at the restaurant. I think this will be our new summer special! I can't wait to make these for company.

So PLEASE make these and let me know how you like them.

Got to Love it!

I just had to post this photo. I love to make cup cakes and i love to photograph them as well. There is just something magical about their colorful frosting and fun sprinkles. I always feel like a little kids when i eat a cup cake, and there is just so few joys in life and I just love to enjoy a good cup cake! I hope this photo brings bake childhood memories for you and puts a big smile on your face!

Cookies are Good!

Today is one of those stay inside and bake days. It's cold out side and raining, I love rainy days. For some reason Californians get all weird on rainy day. They can't drive and act like the sky is falling. Well this California girl loves rainy days. It's a wonderful excuse to stay inside and play with my little girl. So after a fun morning of dress up and painting finger nails we decided to bake some cookies. I was in the mood for big soft chewy cookies. I looked online to find some chewy chocolate chip cookie recipes and didn't find any that i loved. So I took the things i liked from a few different recipes and made my own version. And you know what they turned out AWESOME! Sienna and I had fun making them and eating them. They are very reminiscent of those big soft cookies you ate in high school. Oh yeah they are that good. So if you want to warm up your cold winter day, turn on your oven and bake these delicious cookies!  And don't forget to let the kiddo's help, I have a two year old and she can pour and stir. Plus it's a fun way to spend time together. Never pass a memory making moment by, they are priceless.

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional, but it's so good with them!)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Chill the dough, for about 30 minutes, then scoop onto parchment-lined or silpat lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet (if you want big cookies you need to let them have room to groove on the baking sheet). Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Makes about 20 cookies.

Balsamic Shallot Tart

Two weeks ago my sister had me over for lunch and made this amazing tart. I'm telling you it was one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life! So once home I started to figure out how to make it myself. I guess i could have just asked her for the recipe, but where would the fun be in that? So tonight i tried to recreated it so Daniel could try it. It tasted just as good as the one my sister had made, and it was so easy. So I just had to post the recipe so you could make this yourself. If you make it PLEASE let me know how yours turned out and what you thought of it.

Balsamic Shallot Tart
(This recipe makes two tarts, serves 3 to 4 people)

Ingredients:

10-20 shallots (pealed but not cut)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pan (cast iron is best) cook shallots and garlic in melted butter and olive oil, until they start to get golden (about 5 minutes). Once the shallots and garlic get some color on them add salt, pepper, vinegar, water, and  brown sugar. Cook for at least 5 minutes then add mushrooms. Cook until syrupy about another 7 minutes. 

Put puff pastry on a greased baking sheet. fold side up to create a crust. Then poke pastry vigorously with a fork, you want lots of whole (try to avoid poking the crust). Scramble egg in a small bowl then brush the pastries with the egg. Then bake puff pastry for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Take pastries out of the oven and divide shallot mixer between the two tarts, sprinkle with goat cheese and bake for another 5 minutes until cheese becomes warm. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve! This is a very rich meal, so I recommended serving a salad with this tart.

This is a really great meal to serve for guests or as a special date night with your honey. If you have never experienced the wonder of salty sweet, you need to try this tart!

Today my husband stayed home from work sick, which is so unlike him, he only stays home when he is really sick. He had a fever and had really been feeling horrible. So I asked him what he wanted for dinner, and that i would make him what ever he wanted. And he said chili. I went through all my cook books trying to find a recipe that i liked.  Well most were either too complicated or had way too many ingredient. So I found a recipe in my Rachael Ray 30 Minute Get Real Meal Cook Book. However I wasn't completely in love with the recipe so i doctored it to my taste and came up with this great recipe. Daniel and Sienna both loved it! Daniel said it was just what he needed, which was what i wanted to do for him. Plus i have plenty left over to make gut busters with later. I also made beer bread muffins to go along side it, but corn bread muffuins would be great too! This would be perfect on a cold night, if you make it let me know how you like it!

So Good Chili Recipe
Chili:

My Chili

Cook the meat and onions together for about 5 minutes, then deglaze the pan with beer. Let cook for about 3 minutes, then add the can of tomatoes and stir to combine. Simmer chili over midium heat for about 10 minutes. Top bowls of chili with cheese, onions, sour cream and bacon.

It was so good i almost couldn't stop eating it. So next time you want something warm and comforting and fast to make, try my So Good Chili!

Well tonight Daniel is at a board meeting at church, and Sienna and I are home alone yet again. Bummertastic! I just hate being home alone at night, and i really don't like to cook for just myself. Sienna was in the mood for a cheese sandwich and I really didn't feel like having one. So i was staring into my frig just wondering what to make. You've been there right? Well I remembered a sandwich I had had at my favorite restaurants The Natural Cafe, which was a avocado sandwich, that i love. My friend Veronique just gave me some avocado's from her yard, so I thought hey I should make one for myself. Well it was fantastic! I loved it, and had no idea how filling and satisfying it would be. So if you like avocado's try out my sandwich! Because it was great!

Yummy Avocado Sandwich