A Thank YOU...

I  just wanted to drop a huge THANK YOU to all the viewers of my blog. I'm amazed at the amount of views I've received in the past month, especially considering I've not posted much. Thank you SO much for stopping by and checking out what I have here. 


I also wanted to post a little sneak peek of an upcoming post. This has probably been the busiest week of my life and it's not over, so I'll be posting next week. I recently made some Whoopie Pies for a work Christmas party and I want to share the recipe for the Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies. :-) Here's a picture of post that's to come. 

Beef & Vegetable Stew

Today I bring you a simple post with a simple recipe. While this recipe may be simple to make, it's by far the BEST beef stew I have had thus far in my life. 

Fall for Pumpkin Bread

As I sit here in the early days of Fall I feel an overwhelming sense of comfort and inspiration to write and share stories. When I started to write this blog post I had a flood of thoughts and memories. I tried to narrow all I wanted to say into a story that wouldn't take hours to read but still held a personal element. To think, all these words I want to say came from a simple post about my favorite season, Fall, and my favorite seasonal ingredient, Pumpkin. Cheers to the power of food!

Pumpkin goes with Fall like grilling fits with Summer. It's just a natural and universal fact. It's a perfect harmony. There is nothing I like more in the Fall than to be baking pumpkin bread, pumpkin whoopie pies, or even just a plain pumpkin pie. Once that oven starts to warm the spices there is just nothing in comparison. That's one good thing about having a small kitchen and apartment, the aroma just flows throughout. It's in the warming of those spices and the release of that spicy aroma that I find my state of bliss. That natural warming scent is one that not even the best candle can reproduce. 

When I think back on the pumpkin desserts I've made I think the Frozen Yogurt Pumpkin Pie has to be the strangest one I've made. It was a simple dessert; canned pumpkin mix combined with frozen yogurt and placed in a pre-made graham cracker crust (not exactly sure of measurements and added spices). It was delicious, don't get me wrong, just weird to have the cold pumpkin. That was a one time thing I made back when I really started to get into cooking/baking. Come to think of it, I think that's the same year I attempted to make Homemade Eggnog. That was an epic fail! I'm not exactly sure, other than my serious food love for it, what I was thinking when I decided to try and make eggnog. Regardless at least one good food experiment came from that Holiday cooking adventure. 

I have to say my favorite pumpkin dessert, so far, would be the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies I came across last year. Check out my version of the recipe here. You can't go wrong with the combination of pumpkin cake/cookie and cream cheese frosting! These Pumpkin Whoopie Pies have been in high demand by those around me that have eaten them. I get hassled all the time because I don't make them enough and share them. So, if you decide to make them and share, be prepared for some serious attention. :-)

As I've already made the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies a few times this season so I thought it was time to go back to a classic, Pumpkin Bread. I decided to take a look at a few recipes and I settled on one I found in a Southern Living Holiday cookbook I have. I did make two adjustments to the recipe. I split sugar measurements into half granulated and half brown sugar. Instead of Pumpkin Pie Spice I did a spice blend similar to the whoopie pie recipe because I love the amount of flavor the combination gives to the Whoopie Pies. After a few taste tests, I liked this recipe because it reminded me of a Pumpkin Bread I would have eaten growing up, with a little extra spice. 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread        [Printable Recipe]

adapted from: Southern Living Christmas Cookbook

Yields 2 loaves

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 15 oz can pumpkin
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla

Direction:

1. In the bowl of a mixer combine the sugars and oil. Mix until incorporated. 
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, be sure to mix well after each egg.
3. Stir in pumpkin.
4. In a separate bowl combine the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients. Whisk together and add to pumpkin mixture alternating with the water.
5. Stir in vanilla.
6. Pour batter in prepared pans . Bake at 325 for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool pans on a wire.

Single Serving: Baked Mac & Cheese 1

As Fall is setting in I know most everyone is thinking about comfort food. What better comfort food is there than Baked Mac & Cheese? There is just something extra comforting about a good Baked Mac & Cheese. 

Simple Cheesecake - No longer fear baking a cheesecake!

Do you just excited, maybe even start to feel a food high, when certain ingredients are involved in a dish/meal/dessert? Cream Cheese is one of those ingredients that gets me excited. It's never just the cream cheese alone however. In this case it's the combination of cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla…that gets me to that place of bliss. Of course, there are some more ingredients and a bit of time to get to the place a bliss, a cheesecake. 

Baking in a small place for a Big cause. Part 2

So I know I've mentioned Karing for Kids a few times here on my blog but I feel it's time to take a deeper more personal look into why it's so close to me. I would also like to share my latest Cake Pop photos/adventure with you. 

Update!

After some time away from blogging and worry about what to cook and share, I'm back. At some point I just got a little busy with life and took a step back. After some thought and chatting with those close to me, I asked myself WHY DID YOU DO THAT?


Being in the kitchen and sharing my finding/recipes through the blog is very therapeutic for me. Getting the chance to create some great food and then write about it, it's a balance in my life. 


I've spent the last few days I've had off work in the kitchen. I cooked an amazing dinner and dessert last night! I'll be sharing the dessert recipe along with a few other recipes in coming posts.

I've decided to start the new posts with Cake Pops! I did them a few weeks back for a Karing for Kids fundraiser. Along with some photos of the Cake Pops (and a few tips) I want to share a more personal story that goes along with Karing for Kids. I want to share why it's so important to me. Below is a sneak peek of the Cake Pops and list of what recipes are to come...


Stay tuned for the coming post! 


- Lion, Bear, and White Chocolate Drizzle Cake Pops
- Baked Mac & Cheese
- Simple yet Delicious...Cheesecake!!

Single Serving: Asian Chicken over Ginger Cilantro Rice

This dish is a take on a favorite recipe of mine, Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I know that I've mentioned this before, but Red Ginger is one of my favorite restaurants. I first tried Asian Chicken Wraps there. Unfortunately, there is no Red Ginger closet Fort Wayne. However, lucky for me (and now you) someone worked out the recipe and I tracked it down online (sorry I don't remember where I found this recipe!). I've made the wraps a few times and I decided to change it up a little. The wrap recipe uses ground chicken and a few different ingredients and the vegetables are more minced than diced. With this recipe I used chicken tenders and then shredded them. I also added green pepper, green onion, and left the vegetables more diced than minced. Also, I served the chicken over some Ginger Cilantro Rice. I tried to make this a single serving, but you really do get two healthy portions from the recipe. Which for me, worked just right because it took care of dinner and then lunch the next day. ;-)

*Note* - I will admit that I'm not a huge fan of Minute Rice, but I certainly didn't want to take the time to cook up a single serving of rice. I really think that the dish as a whole works really well and I could look past the Minute Rice. 

Ginger Cilantro Rice

To make the rice I simply followed the directions on the box, but cut one serving in half. After the rice is added to the boiling water to set I added the ginger and about 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro. The ginger is all to your taste. I personally like a ginger flavor, yet want it all to be balanced. This dish would also be just as good over plain white rice.

Asian Chicken         [Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 chicken breast tenders
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 green pepper, diced
• 1 glove of garlic, minced
• 1 cup diced mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 Tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon green onion, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 Tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 2 Tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, and sugar in a small bowl and mix. Set aside.
2. Warm 2 Tablespoons oil in a saute pan and add chicken. Cook chicken until completely cooked, set aside.
3. Saute onion (not green onion) and green pepper in pan until onions are almost translucent. Add garlic and mushrooms.
4. Add the ginger, cilantro, green onion and cook for 4-5 minutes.
5. Add sauce and stir. Cook for just a few minutes and add the water. 
6. Enjoy!

Animal Birthday Cake!

Baking in a small place...for a big cause. Part 1

Who just adores and loves their best friend? ...Silly question, I know. My best friend Stephanie holds a very special place in my life and heart. The past 7 years of my life have been brightened beyond anything I could imagine because of her existence in my life. 

I'm such a sap sometimes. ;-) 

Me and my dearest Stephanie getting ready to make dinner. :)

Stephanie and I love nothing better than to spend an evening, day, or whenever we can manage to get together in the kitchen and COOK! We would both love to own a restaurant and create/cook to our hearts content. Maybe someday our dream will come true...not maybe, it will if we want it to! 

....

The Cause: A benefit auction.

The benefit auction was for Stephanie and her husband, Matt. Matt was recently diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. After some doctors visits, tests, and a few surgeries, the medical bills began to pile. While they both work they are not offered health insurance. The auction went well and Stephanie and Matt were incredibly thankful for all that they did receive. :-)

When Stephanie asked me to do a dessert for the benefit auction she was having for her husband, there was no way I could say no. At first we had discussed a cake to just serve along with the meal available for purchase. In the end with decided to go with cupcakes, easier clean up and we could sell them separate! I wanted to make sure we had a variety so I managed to make 4 different cupcakes. 

The Baking: Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, and Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes!

I have to admit that for these cupcakes I did cheat a little and use box mixes from the store with added ingredients to make them a little better. While they may not taste to bad, I'd much prefer to make cakes from scratch. It's worth the extra effort when they turn out and taste delicious. I say when they turn out because I seem to have a difficulty getting the cake/cupcakes to turn out every time. This is what happened this time around...

fell in the center. look below for an even worse example. 

Here's the deal, I have no AC downstairs in my apartment and I have a small kitchen...it was HOT! I think I allowed the butter to get to warm so therefore it resulted in those cupcakes. Butter needs to be at room temperature (65-68 degrees) to get the correct amount of air into the batter. Lesson learned.

Now, on to a better picture of what I did manage to create...

While all the cupcakes did turn out, I'm just going to share one recipe (it was the best one). The Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake! The chocolate cake recipe was one I found here and it's been quite popular. I came across this recipe because making chocolate cake/cupcakes from scratch has yet to be a true success for me. I really do like this recipe, with one adjustment. I decided to not add the chocolate chips...It's still really great! The frosting recipe comes from a traditional whoopie pie filling, I just had the idea of adding peanut butter. Let me just say, I could eat that frosting all day. It paired perfect with the cupcake. To make this a Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake I simply filled the cupcake liners about half full and then placed a Reese's Mini (the new tiny ones) in the center and finished filling the cupcake liner. It was my plan to also add a peanut butter cup on top of the cupcake, but someone (don't look at me) ate too many Reese's ;-) Here are the recipes...be sure to check out the website here for any questions on the recipe...they give step by step photos!

Happy Baking!

The Best Chocolate Cake Ever

Recipe from http://www.kevinandamanda.com

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 small pkg Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a very large bowl, mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans). For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 mins to whatever it says. Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 mins after that. It usually takes around 45 mins for two, 9-inch pie pans.

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 cup vegetable shortening

2 cups powdered sugar

1 small jar marshmallow creme

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat shortening, marshmallow creme, and peanut butter. Mix until combined. Slowly add in powdered sugar followed by the vanilla. Mix until smooth.