I'm Alive!

Yes, I'm still alive, I just haven't been blogging. No real excuses...I just haven't been doing it. I've been cooking and baking, but I haven't been taking pictures...because I wasn't blogging. I. AM. SORRRY.

These are a few of the things I made while I was on my "break"...

1) Crispy Peanut Buttter Eyeballs! I took these to work for Halloween and everyone went nuts! They turned out GREAT! I used my Gramma's Christmas cookie recipe for the cookie, which basically consists of butter, rice crispies and peanut butter. You roll all of those together into a ball, put in the freezer to harden and then dip them in "candy coating" (I think it's called Candi Kwik or something) and put them back in the freezer to harden. I then used the remaining candy coating and added blue food coloring for the iris and a chocolate chip that I had taken the point off of as the pupil. Once those were dry I used a little paint brush dipped in red food coloring for the bloodshot effect. They not only tasted great...they looked great!

2) Maple Pumpkin Pie! I followed this recipe for the pie and then used the Fall "pie crust cutters" from Williams Sanoma for a decorative edge! I brought it to Thanksgiving dinner and everyone raved about it and I must say, it looked very impressive! I think they were raving more about the look than the taste. It tasted great...but I wasn't overly impressed.

3) Candy Cane Cheesecake! I made this for Christmas, and forgot to take a picture of it so I'll post the one from the site. Mine looked almost identical on Christmas Eve...but on Christmas morning...it did not. Hint...the crushed candy canes will dissolve if you decorate the sides the night before. I guess this is a "do right before serving" kind of thing. So, I woke up to find that all the crushed candy had turned into a red gel/goo on the bottom of the cake carrier. *sniff* My family didn't seem to care...they ate every single bite and I must say, they loved it. I'll definitely make this again next year!

I honestly can't remember much else I made. I know I made a low-fat Orange Cream cake which was really good and some low fat blueberry brownies that SUCKED.

I promise I'll try to do better...but I'm not going to be able to do a weekly post. It's just not going to happen. lol.

It's NOT the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

I wanted to try my hand at another souffle! I felt such satisfaction when I made my last one...since I've heard they are quite tricky to make. And since October for me was "Pumpkin month" (yes, I know it is now November...I'm behind!)...I decided to make a pumpkin souffle!

This was my third try at beating egg whites into foam peaks. I think I'm getting pretty good at it! Some might even say...I'm a pro. ;-) Just kidding! But I'm pretty darn good.

I combined all other ingredients like the directions said...and because everyone that reviewed it said there was WAY too much orange zest (1 tablespoon), I halved it. I then VERY gently folded the "egg white foam" into the rest of the mixture, put it into one large souffle dish and popped it into the oven (might I add for quite a bit longer than the recipe called for)!

I pulled the beautiful souffle out of the oven and let it sit to harden and cool for a little while. It was absolute torture...I couldn't wait to eat the deliciousness!

Casey and I cut a slice...took a few pictures and took a bite!

IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING BEYOND ALL BELIEF!!! Even though I halved the orange zest...I probably should've quartered it or even less. It was OVERWHELMINGLY orangey and bitter. So...very...horrible.

NEVER EVER MAKE THIS! BLEHK!!!!!!

Pumpkin Spice...is SO VERY Nice!

So, since I declared October "Pumpkin Month"...I wanted to find something super delicious and cute (and of course "pumpkin-y") to bring to work. I stumbled upon this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing and decided to make little fondant fall leaf/acorn "accents" to make the cupcakes even cuter! The day I found the recipe, I received a Williams-Sonoma catalog in the mail and found these "pie crust cutters"...which I thought would work perfectly with the fondant. Not only do they cut the shapes...they also imprint them as well! I headed to MacArthur Mall in Norfolk to the closest Williams-Sonoma and picked up these little $18.00 cutters (yes...I promise to use them more than once, Mom) and a few other cool items.

Since I wanted to make these cupcakes super cute, I wanted special cupcake liners! After going to Michaels, Ben Franklin and Wal-Mart...we finally found the PERFECT liners at "Factory Card Outlet". I was so very excited! I don't think anything that inexpensive has ever made me so excited. lol. Are these not the PERFECT liners? I think so!

I think this was the first time I've ever made cupcakes from scratch. Normally I just throw together a cake mix and pour the mix in the cupcake pan. Well NO WAY for these. These MUST be made from scratch! I threw all of the ingredients together as the directions said to do...and turned the mixer on high...and covered myself and the counter with the "dry mixture". Why, oh why...do I do these things? A SMART person starts on low....but I...do not. LUCKILY I had just cleaned the counters...so I just gathered the mess and threw it back in the bowl. lol. I didn't have enough ingredients to start over...and I figured...why not? I was hoping and praying that I didn't lose too much of the baking powder and soda that the cupcakes wouldn't rise or turn out.

I filled my new Williams-Sonoma Pancake Pen with the batter for the cupcakes. I figured the batter was about as thick as pancake batter so it would work. I was right...the Pancake Pen worked perfectly and made filling the cupcake liners a breeze! HOORAY!

I then popped the filled cupcake liners into the oven and to my surprise....they turned out wonderfully (although my cupcake liners absorbed some moisture from the cupcakes and turned kind of dark...boo!). I had just created 24 of the most AMAZING smelling cupcakes ever!

While the cupcakes were cooling, Casey kneaded and dyed the store-bought fondant (that's right...I BOUGHT it!). He rolled it out for me and then we went to cutting the shapes with the 18.00 pie crust cutters! They worked WONDERFULLY with the fondant...I was so excited! We made an even amount of each shape and set them out to harden overnight. (We also tasted one since we had never had fondant before, and let me say...I never want to have fondant again! GROSS!)

The next day, I made the cinnamon cream cheese icing that the recipe called for. This...was...some AMAZING stuff. I'm pretty sure it's Casey's new favorite icing! I first tried to ice the cupcakes with my pampered chef icing tool...and it was a big horrible mess. It took WAY too much frosting on each cupcake to make them look nice. Who wants THAT much frosting on a cupcake? Not me! I then scraped the icing off the one cupcake I tried and decided to do this step by hand. It definitely took awhile, but I suppose they turned out okay. I think it was much better this way...because the icing was so sweet, if I would've piled it on it would've overpowered the awesome tasting cupcakes! I then placed a dried "accent leaf/acorn" on each cupcake...and they were as cute as could be!

I packed them all up in my new cupcake carrier and couldn't wait to take them to work the next day. Once I arrived at work, I told everyone about the cupcakes and they were gone before lunchtime was even in sight. Everyone RAVED over these cupcakes! I am now being called "the Betty Crocker of Riverside". I'll take it. (Oh...and everyone took my suggestion and threw the fondant accents away! A few brave souls tried a bite...and then quickly discarded the accents as I suggested!)

Overall...this was a fairly easy recipe and it was definitely worth all the hunting for the perfect tools for the job. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect cupcake! (And PS: Amanda...seriously...how do you love making cupcakes so much? Icing them takes FOREVER! I think I'll stick with baking cakes and let you keep making your amazing cupcake creations!)

The UH-MAY-ZING-EST Cookies Ever!

Let me first start by telling Ginny THANK YOU for this recipe! It is my new favorite cookie ever. But then again...I love all things Pumpkin, and my favorite cookie is oatmeal chocolate chip. So basically...this is my heaven!

Ginny gave me her recipe for these cookies and the measurements were approximate. She eyeballs things. I was a little scared that the cookies might not turn out well...so I found this recipe that had exact measurements and was almost identical to Ginny's.

It was a pretty easy recipe...you just throw everything together and fold in the chocolate chips.

I used my new cookie scoop to scoop out uniform cookies!

Just pop in the oven and bake and you'll have the most AMAZING COOKIES EVER. Well, at least in my opinion. YUM YUM YUM! I took these to work and they were devoured! I also think these cookies would make an amazing muffin as well. The texture of the cookies was very muffin-like. I kept calling them "clammy". Next time I might make mini-muffins out of them. Mmmmmm....can't wait! ENJOY!

Apple French Toast Casserole...of Loneliness.

So, Casey was gone last week and I was MISERABLE and lonely. I don't do well without him. I would list everything I missed about him...but the list would be WAY too long and WAAAAAY too mushy. So, I'll spare you. He knows how much I missed him!

ANYWAY, I invited my mom over to watch a movie, get some dinner, etc. I also asked her to help me make the culinary creation for that week. I had decided on Recipe Zaar's Apple French Toast Caserole earlier that week since I was craving some French Toast! (Side note...if you don't want to spend the time to cook this go to Cracker Barrel and try their new Apple Streusel French Toast like I did this weekend. It's "three slices of our sweet Apple Streusel bread made with bits of real apple, dipped in eggs* and then grilled to a golden brown. Topped with our Cinnamon Apple Dumplin’ syrup and real butter." It's UH-MAY-ZING! It doesn't have the fresh cinnamon apple on top like the recipe...but it's still DARN good! It would definitely be ROCK STAR quality if they made the apples like the recipe calls for and pile them on top!).

Because my mom is my mom...she decided to do the "dangerous parts "of this recipe. First, because she loves me and doesn't want me to get hurt or even have the chance of getting hurt. Second, because she's a tad overprotective. Third, because she knows her daughter VERY well and knows that she is a disaster waiting to happen. My mother classified the "dangerous parts" of this recipe as the peeling/coring and slicing of the apples. She took over these procedures...and did a bang-up job might I add. She had quite a fun time trying to get the core out of the apple...but the slicing was a breeze thanks to my new Oneida Mandolin Slicer Set from Bed Bath and Beyond! It worked like a dream...but I do think that we should've cut the apples a little thicker because they kind of collapsed on each other in the cooking process. I think if they had been a little thicker they would've maintained their round shape a little easier. But...now I know for next time! And there WILL be a next time!

Anyway...like I said, we cooked the apple slices in some butter, brown sugar, water and cinnamon until they were tender.

We then lined the cooked apples and their sauce on the bottom of the 13x9 cake pan.

Unlike the recipe said to do...I sliced the bread and soaked each piece in the egg/milk/vanilla mixture (that's what all the reviewers said to do) and then laid each piece on top of the apple mixture. When I was finished with each piece of bread I poured the remaining mixture on top of and around the bread. Then you pop the pan in the fridge overnight to sit.

The next day I cooked the french toast and it was pretty darn good if I do say so myself. The bread was crispy and the apples warm and "cinnamon-y".

However, since it was only me...I decided to take the remainder of the french toast to work with me the next day, so it went back in the fridge until the next day. I took it to work and sliced it up in small pieces and everyone LOVED it. And I must admit...it tasted SO MUCH better the NEXT day. I'm not sure why...but it was 10 times better! The bread wasn't crispy anymore...but then again, most french toast isn't. The apples tasted even better and I think even the bread absorbed some of their flavor. This is definitely something I would make again but I'd wait until two days later to eat. And next time I make it...I'm going to make sure Casey is here to try it because he'd love it...and I hope some of you try it and love it as well!

Chicken Cordon Bleu by....WHO?

By ME! That's right...ME! I did it! I made Chicken Cordon Bleu!

And yes...I know this blog is like two weeks late, but I cooked EVERY WEEK, I just never got a chance to actually blog each week. So I'll be catching up today! I'M NOT LEAVING THIS HOUSE UNTIL I DO! lol. (PS: Amanda...how do you keep up with your blogging? GEEZ!)

I looked up a few recipes for this adventure and finally settled on this one from foodnetwork.com.

I started off at the Fresh Market to get some beautiful chicken breasts and uber expensive cheese and prosciutto. TEN DOLLARS FOR CHEESE? C'MON! (I later found out from my mother that she replaces these two pricey items with swiss cheese and some very thinly sliced deli ham. I'll definitely try that next time!)

Once home, I pounded out the chicken breasts between two pieces of saran wrap and tried to get them as thin as I could without them falling apart. This is easier said than done!

Once the chicken is nice and thin you lay your prosciutto on top and then cover it with cheese and roll up tightly, using saran wrap (KEEPING IT ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE ROLL) to keep it all tight.

I followed the recipe exactly and seasoned the flour and then mixed all the other ingredients as directed. I then lightly dusted the rolled up chicken breasts with flour, dipped in the beaten egg and then rolled in the bread crumb mixture.

I then put the chicken in the oven for the directed time, but it never browned! I left it in another ten minutes or so...and it still never browned! GRRR! I then put the chicken under the broiler for a few minutes to brown...and boy did they! I guess because the oven was already warm it browned LIGHTNING quick and a little of the breadcrumbs burned. BOO!

I scraped off the severely burned breadcrumbs and it still tasted great. The cheese was melted enough to be wonderful but not too melty to where it runs out everywhere on the plate!

This was a very good and easy recipe...but it left out a few steps I think. According to the reviews I was supposed to wrap the chicken breasts tightly in the saran wrap used to roll it up and stick it in the fridge for a while so it will maintain it's shape better. Mine maintained their shape just fine without this step however. Also, everyone else seemed to brown their breadcrumbs under the broiler as well...and the recipe never mentions this. I would encourage everyone to try this recipe...but substitute the ham and swiss cheese so it won't hurt your bank account as much!

"Orange You Glad I Made This?"

I have officially stumbled upon the MOST AMAZING RECIPE FOR CHEESECAKE EVER CREATED! I'm talking...the Cheesecake Factory should probably beg the lady who created this for the rights to it...it is TOO GOOD!

What is this magical recipe you may ask? Orange White Chocolate Cheesecake from Taste of Home! I made this recipe last weekend to take to my parents' yearly picnic/cookout with their "Old Fart Bible Study Group" at church. And yes, that's what they call themselves sometimes...so I'm not being mean. Anyway, this dessert was seriously GONE in less than 10 minutes. It was BEAUTIFUL so everyone wanted to try it...and they all just RAVED about how wonderful it was. I must admit...it was the best cheesecake I've ever had!

I went out and bought a springform pan from Bed Bath and Beyond to do this Cheesecake. I had never used one before. I was rather shocked when the bottom dropped out while I was playing with it. I didn't know the thing came apart! I brought it home and made the dreaded crust. I...HATE...MAKING...CRUSTS! MOST crust recipies I've tried I normally have to double to get enough coverage of the pan. I was happy that this one had PLENTY of crust mixture to go around...but I just do not understand how to make the sides thick enough to stand up....yet without falling apart! Everytime I added more crust mixture to thicken the sides...the whole side fell down. Finally I got it to stick enough and was as thick as it was going to get...so I was happy. I popped it in the oven and then let it cool for a few hours while we went to dinner and to The Fresh Market!

Anyway...after I came back home I made the cheesecake filling itself. I used my Mom's KitchenAid Stand Mixer that I stole (Okay, maybe I didn't STEAL it. I BORROWED it. But she just doesn't know that I'm never giving it back!) to mix up all of the ingredients. I LOVE THIS MIXER. It makes life much easier, let me tell you! Can you believe that my mother only used it twice in the few years she's had it? I've only had it a few weeks and I've already used it like 5 times! Now I want to buy all of the accessories! It made the process so much easier! I very quickly whipped it all together and poured it into my crust and stuck it in the oven for an hour and 10 minutes. I took it out and LOOK HOW TALL IT GOT? I was shocked at the big tumor in the middle. I kept hoping that the middle would fall so that it would be a lot easier to add the frosting! (I know...since when does somebody want their cake to FALL?)

I let the cake sit and come to room temperature for two hours and then took it out of the springform pan and trimmed the sides of the crust down so it would look even and nice! I think it makes the Cheesecake look so much more "clean". The uneven sides annoyed me!

I then mixed the topping and spread it on top of the cheesecake. It gave the Cheesecake a wonderful glazed look after baking it for 6 minutes and popping it in the fridge for an hour to harden. (This picture was taken before putting it in the fridge.) This topping is what gives the Cheesecake it's orange flavor. There's NOTHING orange in the actual Cheesecake filling...just the topping! It makes the Cheesecake more light and refreshing!

After letting the topping harden for an hour I took the Cheesecake out of the fridge and decorated it with the mandarin orange segments. What a BEAUTIFUL addition! I then put it in my "cake carrier" and popped it back in the fridge overnight (the recipe says for at least 4 hours...but after all the waiting for this Cheesecake off and on....it was bed time for me!).

Overall, this was a BEAUTIFUL Cheesecake and it tasted JUST as good as it looked...if not BETTER! The filling itself was very fluffy and the topping made it refreshing and light almost. This will definitely be something I'll make again when I have A LOT OF TIME...and want to impress people!

***UPDATE*** I almost forgot the MOST important part! Well, at least to me! It the process of moving the cheesecake from the sheet pan under the spring form pan that the recipe calls for...my knuckle scraped the 450 degree pan and BAM...a blister. I nice big one too! This has inspired me to include an injury/mishap list on my blog. Please look for it and any updates to it...it is located on the right side of the page under the purple "about me" box! Enjoy seeing what a klutz I can be!