A Girl's Gotta Eat!

I've tried a ton of new recipes recently, but have been remiss in sharing them. This cheesecake caught my eye in the November issue of Food Network Magazine , and I decided right away to try it. The more I thought about it, the better it sounded, so I decided to go for broke and bought ingredients to make it both for the Thanksgiving potluck at work and for dinner at my parents house later that week. It does seem like a lot of ingredients, but it was so well worth it that I would happily make it again. I went home from the work feast with only crumbs in my pan, so I'd say it was a success. You can find the recipe on Food Network website , or I've posted it below. No changes, so have at it! For the crust: 1 sleeve graham crackers (about 9 crackers) ¾ cup walnut pieces (preferably black walnuts) 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg Pinch of kosher salt For the fill...

Recently, I needed an item for a bake sale at work. I was tired of making the same old thing: cookies, brownies, etc. I wanted something out of the norm, something delicious … something with bacon. I've seen recipes similar to this one before, but always talked myself out of making them. It seemed t o o complicated, too  precise,  too  sticky. This time, however, I made the mistake of mentioning to co-workers that I was thinking about trying something new. Once I told them what it was (Bacon Bourbon Popcorn), it was all over. I was committed. Honestly, this was not as tricky as I thought it might be. I popped my corn using the stovetop method. (HINT: scoop out as many of the  unpopped  kernels as possible once the popcorn has cooled off. It's so much easier that after they're swimming in caramel sauce.) Also, I opted to cook the bacon in the oven. I've been cooking it this way for a while, and it's the best way to cook large amounts at a time and drain ...

As usual, we were watching The Pioneer Woman on a Saturday morning over coffee and breakfast. It was an episode where they're celebrating a birthday, and the cake she was making called our names loud and clear: Strawberry Shortcake Cake .  Easter was coming up, after all, and we had volunteered to bring dessert, so what better timing can there be? This is definitely a keeper. It looks more complicated than it is, and was delicious, full of fresh flavor from the strawberries. I wouldn't change a thing; Ree Drummond knows what she's doing! I didn't use quite all of the icing, but that's just personal preference. Hope you enjoy it! First, the shortcake: 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing 1 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups plus two tablespoons sugar 3 whole large eggs 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 pound strawbe...

Man…have I been slacking off, or what? Despite my lack of posts here, I have not quit cooking. On the contrary, I have tons of food pics stored up in my phone—so many, in fact, that the storage is almost full. I decided I better get some posted to make room for others. To look at my previous posts, you might be thinking to yourself that I never have kitchen mishaps, or downright disasters. Ha! I have burned dinner (just once, but still). I have overcooked a birthday cake for Mike to the point that it was totally inedible. And, I have made this pie. I really had high hopes for it…peach pie with a sunflower crust just sounded so tasty to me. I like peaches, pie, sunflowers…it seemed like a match made in heaven. I had a little trouble finding any of the specialty flours, so used whole wheat flour. I carefully followed the recipe to the letter, and yet…this just wasn’t all that great. It definitely has potential, and I would still encourage you to try it, but it just didn’t do...

I could have sworn I posted this recipe when I first started my blog, but it seems that it somehow fell through the cracks. I first made it when I needed to use some fresh peaches before they went bad, and Mike was in the mood for a cobbler, All the recipes I was finding used milk, which I currently did not have handy. Instead, I found this Simple Blackberry Cobbler Recipe from Tables of Content . Excellent…no milk required! And even though the title says blackberries, the cookbook has a note that states the cobbler is also excellent with blueberries, raspberries, or peaches. This is now my favorite, go-to cobbler recipe. I’ve only ever made it with peaches, but imagine it would be good with blackberries (like the original recipe calls for), or even a combo of the two fruits. I don’t seem to have a photo of this particular dessert, so I guess I’ll just have to make it again so I have proof of how delicious it looks. It’s best enjoyed warm, but not super hot, with a small scoop...

Many of you know that for the month of January, Mike was in Antarctica for work. What you may not know is that I wanted to surprise him when he got home with the aforementioned Lemon Raspberry Sherbet, found in Salt to Honey , the newest cookbook from the Junior League of Salt Lake City . I’ve been waiting to try this recipe for a while. Like the vanilla ice cream I previously posted, the lack of an exorbitant number of egg yolks appealed to me, as did also the combination of lemon and raspberry—two of Mike’s favorite flavors. The recipe is simple and easy to follow, and oh so tasty. The only thing I would do different next time is either A) spread my raspberries out on a larger pan (not in a baggie) before freezing them to prevent the large chunks I ended up with, or B) cheat and use already frozen raspberries, which I’m sure would work but would not have the same fresh flavor. Lemon Raspberry Sherbet 1⅓ cups sugar 2⅔ cups milk ⅓ cup cream Zest and juice of 2 large lemons 1 tab...

Yum indeed...Weight Watchers friendly cupcakes. I make a friend/co-worker a birthday treat every year, and this year we went with Hungry Girl's Boston Cream Cupcakes . The recipe was easy to follow and doubled well (I didn't want to use only half a box of cake mix), and quite tasty to boot. I do think I could have stuffed more filling into each delicious treat, but I didn't realize that until they were already being enjoyed at the office. For my first attempt at a filled cupcake, though, I was pretty pleased. Everyone else seemed pretty pleased as well, especially the birthday girl (she was really the only one who mattered anyway!) (As a side note, Hungry Girl also has several recipes utilizing won ton wrappers that I want to try.) Boston Cream Cupcakes Ingredients: Half of an 18.25-oz. box (about 1 3/4 cups) moist-style yellow cake mix 1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original ) 3 tbsp. chocolate frosting, room temperature 2 tbsp. l...

For Christmas, I received a kitchen gadget that I’ve wanted for a long time, but only recently had a place to store it when not in use—an ice cream maker. I have looked at several over the years, and read many reviews, but decided a while ago that the one for me is the Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker that attaches to my standing mixer. It requires no ice or rock salt, has the same (or greater) capacity as most other makers, and best of all, can be stored in our freezer chest, ready to make ice cream and sherbet at a moment’s notice. There are a ton a recipes I want to try (my MIL also got me a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cookbook ), but I decided the bets place to start was with vanilla ice cream. Easy enough, right? Maybe not so much…I found tons of recipes! How would I ever choose? I decided to keep it simple, so went with a recipe I found online that used no eggs, only milk and cream. I got both of these items from the dairy at the NFM , wanting the best quality available to me. (...

In an effort to raise money for United Way, my company decided to have a bake sale and cake/pie auction two days ago. As we had family arriving in town that night, and Mike had a flag football game, I opted to help out by baking a pie for the auction instead of needing to bag up individual servings for the bake sale. I found a recipe that looked tasty, but relatively easy, with high ratings on food.com . My only hope was that it would raise at least $15 in the auction... Despite the fact that I misread the recipe and ended up staying up way past my bedtime to get it finished, it was, indeed, quite easy to put together. Even better, I'm happy to report it raised $40 in the auction! Eager to try it for myself, I made another this morning to take to my parents' house for family to try. All-in-all, I would say it got pretty good reviews. I did cheat and use a store-bought pie pastry, but we can't all be Betty Crocker...My brother-in-law who is in love with my normal apple p...

Last night was our Christmas celebration with Mike's family. His mom and brother make two pots of chili (one spicy, one not so spicy), and we have snacks and something sweet to round out the celebration. This year I made Tiramisu Layer Cake. I first made it for his mom's birthday a year or so ago, and it was a HUGE hit. It's not terribly hard to make, but it does take a little extra time and isn't something I'm whipping up every weekend. In the spirit of giving and the holidays, I went for it. I especially like this recipe because it starts with a cake mix, but transforms into something much more decadent. Instead of retyping the recipe, here's a link: Tiramisu Layer Cake . Enjoy! I didn't even out the layers before stacking, but you can so it will sit straighter. There's always more than enough whipped cream to frost the whole thing. I usually pile up the extra on top.  Yumm...

Let me preface this by saying we really do work in my office, not just eat. Having said that, today was our cookie swap! We've never done one before, but the pie potluck last month was a huge hit, so we decided to give it a try. I'll share others' recipes once I get them (I may scan in the recipe cards one at time.), but below is mine. I read it in the Junior League of Galveston County's Beachside to Boardwalk . I typically choose chewy cookies, but the salty/sweet combo of these immediately enticed me. I had trouble finding flaky sea salt, so I used coarse sea salt instead and was perfectly pleased with the results. I also made my cookies slightly smaller ( 1½ tablespoons instead of 2) so they would more easily fit in the baggies I was using .  This recipe is definitely a keeper! Crispy Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies 1 cup all-purpose ¾ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons salted butter, slightly softened 1 c...

Ok, so the recipe title is actually Strawberry-Almond Thumbprint Cookies, but I thought they were delightful, and I substituted cherry preserves for the strawberry (an excellent decision on my part, if I say so myself.) Other than the one substitution, the recipe is pretty straight forward. I will give you a heads-up, though. I refrigerated the dough after mixing it up because it looked sort of "crumbly." I wouldn't advise doing so...the butter re-hardens and makes it quite a bit more difficult to roll into balls. I made them for my Thursday night book club after I was late last month due to birthday brownies for Mike. I'll even share a few tomorrow with my co-workers since I had some left over. Keep an eye out for Junior League of Wilmington's new book, which is where I found this recipe, at Cookbook Marketplace . It's definitely a must-have. There a twelve chapters/menus-one for each month of the year! Strawberry-Almond Thumbprint Cookies Cookies 1 cup ...

You may have noticed a theme on recent food magazine covers: Thanksgiving is near, and pie recipes are abundant! All the pie photography gave one of my co-workers an idea. Why not have a pie potluck, with everyone bringing something different. We even decided for some people to bring savory pies so we could have an entire lunch of pies! For my part, I decided to try a new recipe out of one of the magazines that inspired us in the first place: Martha Stewart Living . It was my first-ever Martha recipe, but her recipe for Apple Crostata with Cheddar Crust called my name from the beginning. Having never made a Martha Stewart recipe before this, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was expecting something that tasty, but a headache to make. I am happy to report I was pleasantly surprised. The recipe was simple enough; the part I usually consider the hardest part of homemade pie (the crust) was made in the food processor, and you don't have to worry about a lattice top or pretty cru...

After finishing the birthday brownies last night and sending them off with Mike, it was time to start his birthday cake. I offered to make whatever kind of treat he wanted, but he said to fix whatever I wanted. I know he likes raspberry and lemon, so I tired to find something with one or both of these flavors. I looked through quite a few books before deciding to try Lemon-Filled Pound Cake from the Junior League of Nashville’s Notably Nashville . I’ve owned this book for a while, and the recipes never disappoint, so figured it was a “safe” recipe to try for such a momentous occasion (did I mention this is his 30 th birthday?). I LOVE my pink standing mixer. It's the best for creaming butter and sugar in baked goods. I will tell you in advance that sadly, JL Nashville just sold their last copy of this book. However, it is still available on Amazon.com (just a few copies, so act fast.) I’m sure you’ll see more recipes from it on here, so you might as well go ahead and pic...