Is it time for lunch??
Lately all I wait for is lunchtime, is that weird? A new semester has started for us again so we have quickly become rattled with buying books (why are they so expensive???) attending classes and reading- reading- reading. I am lucky- this semester all my classes are online, which works out perfectly for me. Hubby attends night classes giving us lunchtime to catch up with each other’s day. At first he suggested we meet somewhere and grab a bite to eat? Are you crazy? Seriously look at me I’m like the Mexican version of Nigella? Really wouldn’t you rather snuggle together on the couch and feed each other- while romantic music plays in the background? Okay ya, stop- that might get messy. Well this is what I made and it was just scrumptious, and I almost wore a cashmere cardigan like Nigella, but figured it might just get a little stained while I scrubbed my bathrooms later. Enjoy!!
Chewy Toffee Almond Bars
Last week I went out to run a few errands, I in no way shape or form wanted to leave my house. I get into those funks sometimes, when all I want to do is be at home. But given the fact that if I did not leave my house to pay my bills, I might not have running water- which would make any form of cooking impossible. I also had to stop by the grocery store to pick up a few items for mealtime. So I motivated myself with the promise of toffee bars, yes if I ran all my errands and stopped at the grocery store all without losing my mind. I would treat myself to a piece of these toffee bars, no make that two pieces.
So I turn my truck on, reverse and take off. I get on the road and turn my radio on instantly hating myself for forgetting my ipod. I make a quick wish ”Please play a good song,” because there is nothing worse than running errands with crap music blaring in the background. The song comes on and ya, liking it, I’m grooving. I drive up to a stop light and it turns green, awesome. The next song came on and oh ya, love that song..cool no traffic, no stop lights.. nice. I jump off pay the water bill, no on waiting in line. Okay am I being punked? This never happens to me. I get back in my truck and think okay my streak is over, here the comes the worst song ever…no another good song, oh ya baby. I drive up to the store and I get awesome parking, OMG! I almost don’t want to get out of the truck, the whole beauty of the present situation is freaking me out. I grab my cart, fly through the meat dept-chicken, passed the dairy-milk, eggs, walked quietly by myself through the baking aisle-toffee bits, brown sugar, corn syrup, coconut, baking soda. By this time I was in a great mood, not thinking of anything but those toffee bars I would devour after dinner. I quickly checked out, loaded my truck and drove home. At that moment my favorite song came on and I drove by my house- hey the toffee bars can wait, there playing my song! Enjoy!!
1 cup sliced almonds, divided
Monday, Monday
Nap
Devil’s Food Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream
This past weekend was my little girl’s 5th bday. I knew she wanted cupcakes since lately she has been obsessed with them, for her bday she wanted two cupcake books, a cupcake purse and cupcake stickers. Hmm.. a love for baked good, I wonder where she gets this from?? She did have a special request, “I want chocolate cupcakes, with chocolate frosting but, with purple sprinkles(her fav color). No problem little one. Well the morning of her bday, my hubby thought it would be a great idea to take her to those pizza places where they have token machines for the games–you know the ones. I was hesitant at first, it’s Saturday those places get packed, and not to mention the pizza taste like cardboard. She quickly became excited, “ya let’s go, she says,” So we arrive there and it’s PACKED!! I mean packed where there was at least five hundred bday parties, count in all those guests and you get the picture. So we placed our order, found a greasy table far away from the bday parties and waited for our order. Hubby then wants to know how much cash I had to get tokens, oh my the games-everyone pushing and shoving to win at games just to get these little tickets that allow you to purchase small toys. So after we eat, we slowly walk to the game area, me silently hoping the games she wants to play are not broken. They always seem to be broken when we go. At first she wanted to ride the carousel.. cool I can do that. Then she wants to play some weird game where you pull down the lever like your fishing if you catch a fish you win tickets. She wins two tickets and is so happy-”Mommy you try!” I pull the lever and what??? forty tickets?? I never win anything. After that is was so on, I was like a crazy, starved lunatic playing for those tickets. Oh my, I hope I didn’t push any kids, in my attempt to pillage for tickets. Hubby quickly left my side, it was really bad, embarrassing but me and my daughter were having so much fun and WE WERE WINNING TICKETS!!! Well long story short- Together we made a killing- so I thought. We walk up to the counter were you pick out your prize and I was so eyeing the big prizes, when he says “okay you can pick from the bottom shelf,” What the bottom shelf? That’s where they stash the crap, you know the crap that instantly breaks while your opening it, the stuff that really has no use. “Oh mommy look at all the neat stuff,” Oh man, the innocence of a five year old, “I know, how cool-what do you want?” Well she came out with a whoopee cushion, a top, two bracelets and a set of fake teeth. Hubby was laughing when we got into the truck, ”With the money you spent on those tokens-you could of bought her something really nice at the toy store.” Funny- right?no.. it was his idea. Well she had a good time and the fun part is we had these little babies to come home to, I found these on The Cupcake Blog, from chockylit. These were moist and the frosting was just “sweet”, they taste even better the next day. These little cakes of happiness were exactly what I needed after a day of working hard for those tickets, man I was tired. Enjoy!! Oh ya if you haven’t played with a whoopee cushion in awhile, you really should– too hilarious!!
Try It…..
Well our team did not make the playoffs this year, so our typical Sunday football games have been replaced with watching movies with the girls’. The girls’ are extremely happy they don’t care for football and hubby has banned any football watching due to his intense pain. I wanted to make something different to snack on, taking any chance to introduce something new to the girls’ tastebuds. ”What’s this?” my older one asks, “It’s jicama, try it.” while giving her the look of, don’t make any weird faces or gestures when tasting it- the smaller one will see and then she won’t try it. Ya my face said all that– the funny thing is the older one understood me. So she tried it, what other choice did she have? I’m not a tyrant when it comes to food, I just believe that is someone is kind and willing to make you something, you should at least try it. Given that I am kind 365 days of the year and very willing to make breakfast, lunch and dinner for them- they at least can humor me and take on bite. Long story short- she liked it and the little one asked for seconds, so there mission accomplished. My daily dose of happiness is filled. When first approaching jicama at the store it does look somewhat weird or like a baby alien’s bottom, I know my daughter cracks me up the produce guy thought it was funny also okay I’m rambling - peel it and it becomes a delight. It’s crunchy, goes well with salads great shredded in fish tacos and add any citrus juice to it and it zings. In this recipe you can omit the chiles for a child, but the little kick of heat for the adults will be grealty enjoyed! Try it- trust me. Enjoy! Sweetlife
Sweet Sweet Promise
First let me start off by saying these pancakes are uber delicious, ya that’s totally a word- look it up! Well I made these for my girls’ as a midweek surprise and the one who ended up surprised was me. Why? Because I TOTALLY SUCK at making pancakes, I try trust me I do, but they never seem to come together like the picture I have in my mind, the pancakes are not fluffy, nor are they light. I have watched Alton many times, I also watched Ina, Martha and even Bobby throwdown pancakes– nothing. I listen, take their advice, plan and prepare myself for victory only to have pancake misery. While plating these for my girls’ they quickly poured their juice, sat down and waited for their plates. I set their plates down, walked away not sure of what to expect. “Mommy these are sooo good,” Oh I love my kids, really. At that moment I made a little promise to myself, pancakes will not take me down, I will conquer them. Be patient with me while I try different recipes to perfect my pancake making abilities. Hey we can learn together, shall we? Well given their poor appearance these chocolate pancakes, studded with chocolate chips and pecans were divine. Adjust your heat as needed, for they will brown quickly- I turned for a second to get some plates and had to toss two. Enjoy these pancakes on the weekend or for a special weekday treat. This is the second recipe from my green binder, so far so good. Have a great day! Love Sweetlife
Chocolate-pecan pancakes
Everyday Food magazine
September 2005
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans
4 tbsp vegetable oil
confectioners’ sugar (optional)
hot fudge sauce (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 225degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl bowl, whisk together milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla; pour over flour mixture, whisking to combine. Fold in chocolate chips and pecans; let batter stand until slightly thickened. 5 to 10 minutes.
2. In a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat until a water droplet sizzles; swirl to coat bottom of pan with oil. Reduce heat to medium- low. Spoon four small mounds (1 heaping tablespoon each) of batter into skillet. Cook until bubbles appear in center, 3 to 4 minutes. With a thin spatula, flip pancakes; continue cooking until set, 3 to 4 minutes more.
3. Transfer to a baking sheet; cover loosley with foil; place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining oil and batter in three more batches (adjust heat as necessary to avoid overbrowning).
4. Stack 4 pancakes on each plate, sprinkling each layer with confectioners’ sugar, if desired. Serve immediately.
The Green Binder
I have this green binder that haunts me, we have a love/hate relationship. Every month a new magazine appears in my mailbox- I instantly drop whatever I am doing to scour all the pages, happily tearing out ALL the recipes I want to make. These recipes go into that green binder, in turn the the binder keeps getting bigger and bigger each month filled with glorious recipes that I should be enjoying, I should be cooking from this binder finding new family favorites…. why don’t I ?? I have commitment issues, yes in knowing that if I try out one recipe from that binder I will have to begin the process of actually going through the binder and sorting… I hate to sort…I hate to plan…I hate to be let down. Well baby, it’s a new year, a new me– no resolutions but a promise to try new things. So I bring you the first from ”The Green Binder” and let me tell you I am proud of myself, I looked, sorted, planned, and drooled…yes drool, which is a good thing for both of us. I get to eat these marvelous things and you my friend get ideas for your next cooking adventure. This dish has meat without meat, look at those mushrooms , also peas which I love and leeks. I love everything. Enjoy!!
Linguine with Basil-Pea Cream
Cooking Light Magazine
January 2005
3 tbsp butter, divided
1/2 cup chopped leek
1 1/2 cups fat free, less sodium chicken broth, divided
2- 10oz packages frozen green peas
1 cup fresh basil
1 tbsp extravirgin olive oil
2-8oz packages presliced mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups hot cooked linguine (about 12 ounces uncooked pasta)
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leek; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in 3/4 cup broth and peas; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Place 1 1/2 cups pea mixture, remaining 3/4 cup broth, 1 cup basil leaves, and oil in a blender, and process until smooth. Place pureed pea mixture in a large bowl. Add remaining pea mixture to pureed pea mixture, and stir to combine.
2. Melt 2 tbsp butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic; saute 6 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in pea mixture, pasta, salt, and black pepper. Sprinkle chopped basil evenly over each serving.
Good Morning 2010
