The worst blogger in the world

If there was a blog award for lack of consistency and broken promises, I would win. The year is half over, and I'm only 1/4 of the way to my goal. But, that isn't going to stop me from posting some recipes and pictures today!

Recipe #27: Lemon-pistachio chicken over greens

This was a very tasty, light summer meal, but it was a pain in the ass to shell all of the pistachios. Do they sell already shelled pistachios? Regardless, we really enjoyed this one. The honey made it have a slightly sweet flavor, which I really liked, but then again I was one of those weird kids who dipped her chicken nuggets in honey. Did anyone else do that?

Recipe #28 Almond sour cream pound cake

This recipe is from Paula Deen, so I knew it would be tasty. I didn't have orange extract on hand, but I think it was delicious without it. I heaped some fresh strawberries on top along with fresh whipped cream (not pictured).

Cupcake Madness

I wondered about posting this as a recipe because I didn't make the cupcakes, but I think our hard work should be documented. For Caitlin's roommate's wedding, she was commissioned to make over 200 cupcakes, and I served time as her sous-chef (I made the frosting). Because of this, the frosting recipe will forever be etched in my mind. I'm not sure if Caitlin wants to share the cake recipes, but if she does I will post those later. There were three flavors: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry. All had vanilla frosting.

Frosting:
4 cups powdered sugar
2 sticks of butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Steak Chili

Recipe # 25: Steak Chili

We've had a very long winter this year, so I've been making lots of soups and stews to keep us warm. Matt always requests chili, and this time I decided to mix it up a bit and use steak instead of ground beef.

My only confusion with this recipe was the ingredient of "chili starter." I hadn't heard of this and couldn't find it in the grocery store, so I added a can of chili beans in sauce and a packet of chili seasoning. Whatever I did worked, because it turned out really good! I ate mine over Fritos with cheese, because I didn't feel like being healthy (do I ever?). Matt just ate his plain, and raved about it all week.

April Fool's Day Cupcakes

Don't these cupcakes look delicious? I mean, check out that tasty swirl of smooth whipped frosting! I bet it will be soooo sweet and creamy.

That's what my coworkers thought too, until they bit into them and discovered they were:

Recipe # 22: Meatloaf cupcakes with cream potato frosting

Here they are straight out of the oven:

These cupcakes were created for our company potluck, which happened to fall on April Fool's Day. It was my way of getting back at my coworkers for the disaster of the first potluck. For the first potluck I made some tasty vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and berries (below), and NO ONE ELSE BROUGHT ANYTHING. I made three dozen cupcakes, and the others couldn't even manage to pick up a veggie tray or bag of chips. But, that didn't stop them from gobbling up my tasty treats.

Regardless, I got to play a nice trick on my officemates. Unfortunately, one of my favorite people in the office (who also happens to be one of the nicest ladies ever) was the first person to bite into my creation. I had told them they were carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. My coworker got a bite ready on her fork, and said, "I'm so excited for these! I love carrot cake, and you always do a good job baking." I felt guilty as she put the bite in her mouth, then proceeded to immediately spit it out in her hand.

The next person who fell for the trick is the guy in the office who will eat anything. He's sort of a human garbage disposal. He ate a bite, made a weird face, then ate the rest of the meatcake like it wasn't a big deal.

After the secret was out, people microwaved my treats and enjoyed them as mini-meatloafs. They were actually pretty tasty, and I might use the recipe for a full-sized meatloaf in the future.

Here is recipe #23, Moist Vanilla Cupcakes (I'm not going in order, obviously), the cupcakes from the first potluck.

I topped these bad boys with cream cheese frosting and berries. Ironically, my "moist" cupcakes came out a little dry, but the toppings made up for it. I am pretty sure this is my own fault though, because I overbaked them a bit. Since this recipe was so easy and I usually have all the ingredients on hand, I will probably try it again and see if it becomes my go-to cupcake recipe.

Homemade marinara sauce

Recipe #21: Homemade marinara sauce

I am ashamed to admit that I do not make my own red sauce. Even when I make lasagna, the sauce comes from a jar. But, I was happy to find that making my own sauce was not only very easy and tasty, but it was also cheaper than using the jarred crap, because I bought a case of canned tomatoes during a case-lot sale a while back.

I didn't have a bay leaf and I ended up adding some sugar and oregano, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I garnished my pasta with chunks of fresh mozzarella, which got nice and melty (is that a word?) after a couple minutes. We ate it alongside some roasted broccoli for a semi-healthy meatless meal.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Recipe # 20: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

This is yet another recipe I made before I got sick--only about 4 more to post until I'm all caught up!

Do you love chocolate chip cookie dough, but don't like the idea of eating raw eggs? If so, this is the recipe for you. For the record, I am not afraid of eating raw eggs; I heard it's more likely to get salmonella from unwashed vegetables anyway. Plus, I'm hardcore.

These cupcakes were super sweet, so if I make them again I will leave out the filling. And, it's a pain to core the cupcakes. The frosting tastes exactly like cookie dough, and the cake tastes like a baked cookie. I fed them to my nieces, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, then took the rest to work. The consensus was that while they were very tasty, they were very sweet and rich.

Oreo Cheesecake

Recipe # 19: Oreo Cheesecake

This is a recipe I made a while ago, but forgot to post. Our friends invited us over for dinner a couple months ago, and I offered to bring a dessert. 

Cheesecakes are a specialty of mine (if I do say so myself), so I copied Caitlin and make an Oreo version of my favorite cheesecake recipe, Eagle Brand's Creamy Baked Cheesecake. I substituted Oreos for the graham crackers, and put 1/2 cup of Oreo crumbs in the batter.

I was really happy with how this came out. I baked it in a water bath, and it didn't crack at all on top. To do this, put your cheesecake on a jelly roll pan and put about 1/2 inch of water in the pan. This makes the oven nice and steamy, and your cake won't crack on top.

I decorated the top with whipped cream and mini-Oreos:

Chicken and White Bean Chili

Recipes #17: Chicken and White Bean Chili
Recipe #18: Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Muffins

I love green chiles, so when I saw this recipe for chili with chicken, cannellini beans, and green chiles, I had to make it immediately.

I made the chili exactly as the recipe stated, except I reserved about a tablespoon of the jalapenos for my corn muffins, and only used 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. I was glad I made those modifications, because the chili was super spicy (or maybe I am just a wuss).

I made some corn muffins to go along with the chili. I am not sure if this should count as one of my recipes, but I'm in charge and I'm behind in my posts, so I am counting it!

Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Muffins
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 TBSP diced jalapenos
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Bake at 350 for 15 min.

Breakfast Quinoa

Recipe #16: Breakfast Quinoa with Strawberries and Cream

Quinoa is a favorite in our house, but this is the first time I've made a sweet version. We usually have it mexican-style with black beans, green chilies, tomatoes, and avocados. I'll post that recipe as soon as I make it again and get a decent photo. I love the versatility of this grain, and the healthiness of it is an added bonus.

I was out of milk this morning, but had some cream on hand (a perk of being a coffee addict), so I made some improvisations. I omitted the milk and put about 1 cup of cream in, but otherwise followed this recipe. I thought it was still very creamy, and we topped it with fresh strawberries. It was a tasty breakfast, and a fun alternative to oatmeal or another hot cereal. If you like Cream of Wheat, I suggest giving it a try.

Chicken Taco Soup

Recipe #15:  Chicken Taco Soup

As I said in my last post, I have been sick the past 3 weeks, which has kept me from both cooking AND blogging (unless you want me to post my recipe for homemade grilled cheese and purchased soup from Paradise Bakery). But, I do have a stockpile of photos and recipes that I made before I caught the cold from hell (CFH). 

Since Matt caught the CFH before I did, I made him this tasty soup for him. I wanted to stray from the path of traditional chicken soup, and thought something with a little spice would help clear his sinuses. 

So, I made this Chicken Taco Soup that was recommended by my mom. I added some diced avocados on top, and I had forgotten to buy cilantro so I left it out. 

The soup was good, but it wasn't as spicy as I wanted so I added a 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper. I served this soup with some tortillas. If I haven't made a plug for uncooked flour tortillas yet, here it is: BUY THEM IMMEDIATELY! My grocery store sells them in the cheese section, and they take about one minute to cook in the pan (no oil, just put them in the pan for about 30 seconds then flip). They will change your life.

Apologies

Sorry for not updating the blog, but I've been sick. I promise I'll add a ton of recipes and pictures this week!

Roasted veggies

Recipe #14: Oven Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

For Valentine's Day this year we decided to go to Sunday brunch instead of a dinner. But, I still wanted to make a tasty meal on V-Day instead of going through our normal Monday routine of eating pork burritos at Cafe Rio. So, I made these tasty roasted vegetables using what I had on hand. I only had russet potatoes, so I reduced the cooking time by about 5 minutes, because I once heard that red potatoes need to cook longer than russet potatoes.

The reason I chose this recipe was because it featured my favorite herb, rosemary. 

The vegetables were a nice complement to my simple pan-fried honey balsamic chicken (recipe coming later).

This message brought to you by my recent purchase.

Recipe #12: Neopolitan cupcakes
Recipe #13: Golden Brussels Sprouts.

Matt and I have a rule that every time we go to Costco we make a stupid purchase. In the past, the stupid purchases have been treats of some sort. Ex: cream puffs, frozen cookie dough, a case of muffins, a frozen cheesecake sampler, and the case of Tootsie Pops that currently resides at my desk.

But today, we really outdid ourselves, and purchased something I've been wanting for years.

Here we are together. Isn't she lovely? I only wish I had this beauty when I baked 12 dozen mini-cupcakes as Christmas gifts.

Naturally, I had to break in my new toy by making a batch of cupcakes. Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I made some Neapolitan cupcakes--vanilla/chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting.

The cake part is from two box mixes--one chocolate, one vanilla. Using a boxed mix in a new mixer is sort of lame, but I was feeling a little lazy. I was more excited about making some frosting!

This may sound conceited, but my frosting is the shiznit. There's nothing special about it, but whenever I make it people ask for the recipe. I think it's because they're used to the canned frosting.

My recipe is based on this one, but I usually end up adding one more cup of powdered sugar. 

For the strawberry frosting, I just added about 3/4 cup of pureed strawberries to my trusty buttercream recipe and an extra 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and the result was a smooth strawberry frosting that tasted like strawberry ice cream. I contemplated adding some strawberry JELL-O to give it the strawberry flavoring. The Utard (Utahan? Utahite?) in me likes JELL-O with a little vodka in it. (Fun fact: JELL-O is the official "state snack" of Utah.) If it's good enough for Bill Cosby, it's good enough for me. But, in the end I decided to go all purist on these cupcakes, and used real strawberries. 


I wrote this recipe out myself, so forgive me if it sounds like a third-grader wrote it.

Strawberry Buttercream
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream (I think this is about right; I just sort of poured some in until I liked the consistency)

1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup pureed strawberries

Cream butter using mixer. Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Add the cream, the vanilla, and strawberries. Mix well. Add the rest of the powdered sugar. Add more cream or powdered sugar until it is the consistency you like.

After Matt ate five cupcakes (this is not an exaggeration), I decided to make some dinner, since it's not acceptable to eat cupcakes for every meal. Besides, everyone knows cupcakes are a breakfast food.

As my dinner sidedish, I decided to try my hand at cooking some Brussels Sprouts. Brussels Sprouts, or B.S. as I like to call them, get a bad rep at the dinnertable. Many a child has whined about eating them, but I actually think they are pretty tasty. Plus, you can pretend you're a giant eating heads of lettuce while eating them. No, I'm not drunk right now. 

I read up a little about B.S., then decided on this basic recipe: Golden Brussels Sprouts. I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar on mine while they were cooking in the pan, because I like to live dangerously.

The result? Tasty B.S. with a carmelized side, sprinkled with fresh parmesan. I accidentally cut mine the wrong way, so they looked like little roses.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Recipe #11: Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

For Christmas, my mom made the most amazing red velvet cake. So, I took the recipe she used (from Cook's Illustrated), and made them into cupcakes. While they tasted delicious, they looked horrible. They didn't raise for some reason, and were completely flat on top. A couple were even a little sunken in. Luckily I'm a frosting lover, so I just swirled on a ton of cream cheese frosting, and no one noticed, or if they noticed, they were all too polite to say anything about it. I even checked my baking soda and made sure it wasn't expired.

 

All of the comments I received about the cupcakes were positive, but the real affirmation came when people went back for a second (or third, or fourth) cupcake.

Superbowl snacks: BBQ Chicken Sliders and Potato Skins

Recipes #9 and 10:  BBQ Chicken Sliders and Potato Skins

It's not a secret that I don't really care about football. Our team, the Panthers, finished last in the conference, so I tuned out long ago. But, what I do care about is food, especially football-watching food. I love the type of food eaten during games, aka "bar food." This includes the following: chicken wings, nachos, onion rings, potato skins, cheese fries, chili cheese dogs (yes, Tiff, I will eat a chili dog during a game), dips of all varieties, pizza, etc.

So, planning a Superbowl menu was a challenge, because I wanted to make/eat it all. Since it was just Matt and I, I had to limit it to a couple items, barbecue chicken sliders, potato skins, and margaritas (those were for me; Matt had beer).

I know I'm supposed to be using other people's recipes (and not my own) for the purpose of this blog, but calling the chicken sandwiches a recipe is a stretch--it's basically just chicken and sauce on a bun. So, here's my version. I always use Sweet Baby Ray's sauce, because it's my favorite.

BBQ Chicken Sliders
Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts 
• 1 can of chicken broth
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp of "jarlic" (jarred garlic--feel free to use fresh if you want)
• 1 cup of barbecue sauce(or more, depending on your preferences)
• Dinner rolls, hamburger buns, or whatever you want to use to eat your meat

Directions:

Cook chicken breasts, broth, salt and pepper, and garlic in the crockpot on high for 4 hours. Drain liquid off chicken, and shred. Add BBQ sauce to your liking. Put on a roll/bun. Eat.

I basically follow the same recipe for pulled pork, but instead of broth I use a can of Coke. The acids in the Coke break down the pork and make it really tender, and the sugars caramelize and give it a nice sweet flavor. I haven't tried Coke on my chicken.

For the potato skins, I followed this recipe, and served them with ranch dressing instead of sour cream:
Potato Skins

For the margaritas, I followed the directions on the bottle of margarita mix (Costco brand).

Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Recipe #8: Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

When making this tasty recipe, I failed to read the text at the top: "Each baking dish serves four; bake one tonight, and freeze the other for a ready-made dinner later on. When ready to cook, bake it straight from the freezer."

So, I ended up with TWO casserole dishes of pasta. Luckily, Matt and I both enjoyed this meal, because we'll be eating it as leftovers in our lunches all week long... Er, *I* will be eating it; Matt will be traveling on business and likely eating steak and lobster for all of his meals. I should have frozen one to bake later, but thanks to Costco, I didn't have room in my freezer. Hey, I needed that box of frozen cookie dough!

The only change I made to this recipe was that I used three chicken breasts instead of two, and shredded it instead of slicing it. The cheeses and Paula Deen-like quantity of butter (6 tablespoons!) in the sauce made it very rich, but the addition of the tomatoes added some tartness. Matt doesn't like mushrooms, so I cut them up very small and didn't tell him they were in this recipe, and he didn't even notice. I think he likes mushrooms and just doesn't know it. If I made this again, I would add some salt to the sauce, because it definitely needed it!

We ate ours alongside some steamed green beans.

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

Recipe #7: Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

I have been following the Skinny Taste blog for a while, even back when it was called Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes--or something like that. I've made several of her recipes, and have yet to find one I didn't like. They have all been flavorful, healthy, and relatively easy to prepare.

I've had the Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken on my "to make" list for a while, and finally made it this weekend. When making this recipe, I was skeptical about the amount of cayenne pepper in it. I've used cayenne before, and have found it to be pretty spicy. I initially added 1/4 tsp of it into my crockpot, but after tasting it decided to add the full amount.

The only change I made was the cooking time. I only had chicken breast tenders, so I cooked it on high for about 4 hours. The chicken was very tender, and shredded nicely.

We ate ours over rice, like the recipe recommended, with diced avocado and cheese on top. But, the real magnum opus of this dish was how I ate it last night--over nachos. For those of you who oppose eating a snack food like nachos for dinner, let me remind you that there are vegetables and protein in the Santa Fe Chicken, which balances out the unhealthiness of the nachos. And nachos are delicious and you should take every opportunity you can to eat them.

Matt ate his leftovers on a hamburger bun with salsa and BBQ sauce, making a weird pulled-mexican chicken sandwich. Some of his food choices are questionable, because he also puts ketchup AND gravy on his pot roast. Maybe I'll let him write a guest blog soon.

Lemon Cake and Alfredo

Recipe #5: Glazed Lemon Bundt Cake

Recipe #6: Fettuccine Alfredo with Bacon

Matt and I both love lemon-flavored desserts, so when I saw this recipe, I had to give it a try. I didn't have any lemon extract on hand, so I just added some lemon juice from some fresh lemons. I was worried it would mess up the chemistry of the cake (too much acid, not enough base), but it was delicious!

 As you can tell by this photo, the batter was really fluffy:

Then came the moment of truth. I've had a few tear-jerking moments when cakes haven't come out of the pan, so I made sure to flour the hell out of this one, then let it cool for about 15 minutes. If you don't let it cool for a bit, it will most definitely come out in chunks. Miraculously, it came out perfect! I didn't even care that it was covered in flour. Pick your battles, you guys.

I made a glaze out of powdered sugar, water, and lemon juice, and drizzled it over the top. I ate mine plain, but Matt cut up some kiwis on top of his. I think it would also be good with fresh berries and some whipped cream.

Matt has been requesting that I made alfredo, which I don't really care for, so when I saw this recipe for fettuccine alfredo with bacon, I knew we could have a compromise.


I added chicken to mine, and served it with green beans and some toasted sourdough bread (left over from my sandwiches).

Golden Gate Grilled Cheese

Recipe # 4:  Golden Gate Grilled Cheese

One of my favorite foods is grilled cheese. Actually, I love any combination of a carb + cheese: grilled cheese, nachos, quesoadillas, macaroni and cheese, potatoes au gratin, cheese fries, etc. I'm sort of a health freak.

So, when I saw this recipe I was naturally drawn to it. It is the illegitimate lovechild of two of my favorite foods, french toast and grilled cheese, with some recessive genes of turkey and avocado thrown in. Back when I first heard of  Monte Cristo Sandwiches, I have been dying to try one. It's basically a ham and cheese sandwich dipped in an egg batter (like french toast), then fried.

This sandwich was love at first bite. It has several of my favorite ingredients: sourdough, avocados, cheese, turkey and of course, butter. Matt gobbled up his sandwich before mine was even out of the pan, proclaiming that it deserved 9 out of 10 stars--a high rating from him.

The parmesan crust was very salty, but the nuttiness of the avocado balanced out the flavor. The only change I made was the addition of some red onions.

Next time, I'm going to add a strip (or three) of bacon. My only tip for this recipe is to use fresh parmesan; the crust has a starring role in this sandwich, and the stuff in the green canister just won't cut it. I got mine at Harmon's, a local grocery store here in Utah, which has an amazing selection of cheeses.

I recommend serving it with a bowl of tomato soup or a nice spinach salad.

What a Ham!

First off, I'd like to mention that I forgot to add the recipe number in my last post. So, from now on, I will make sure to keep a countdown of the number of recipes I have left. This post will be about my second recipe of the year.

Last week, I bought a spiral, fully cooked half ham (still on sale from the holidays). With just the two of us to eat the whole 7 pounder, I had to be a little creative with the leftovers. Don't get me wrong, I love a good ham sandwich, but ham is such a versatile ingredient. We used it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I cooked the ham up in a oven bag, slathered in a mixture of about 1/4 cup light brown sugar and 2 Tbs. maple syrup (fake stuff, what I had in the pantry). I cooked it for about an hour and a half at 300 degrees, just to heat it through. I'm not counting this as one of the 100 recipes, because I really just heated it up.




As a side dish, what I will count as my second recipe, I made corn pudding. I was first introduced to corn pudding by my grandma long ago. She made it for Christmas dinner this year and I was reminded of its goodness. If you've never had it, corn pudding is sooo good. I could seriously eat it all day, every day. I think it is technically classified as a spoon bread. It's like cornbread, only softer and you eat it with a utensil. I found the recipe here. It's really easy, you just mix everything together and bake.

(I am not counting this next recipe) The next morning, Christian and I made a potato hash using the leftover ham. It was a filling and delicious brunch. We just made the recipe up as we went along.

Ham and Potato Hash

1 1/2 lbs russet potatoes
1 cup cooked, diced ham
2 green onions, chopped
2 fried eggs

Peel and dice the potatoes into 1 inch pieces. Heat 2 Tbs. vegetable oil in a hot skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook 25 minutes, covered for the first 10 minutes. Add ham and cook a couple minutes until the ham caramelizes a little. Remove from heat and stir in the green onions. Top with a fried egg and serve with a piece of toast!

My next post will include two more hammy recipes.

Recipes made: 2
Recipes left to make: 98

Banana bread with streusel topping

Recipe #3: Banana Bread with Streusel Topping

One of Matt's favorite treats is banana bread, but we have a problem in our house that prevents me from making it. We always end up eating the bananas before they can reach that perfect overripe state needed for banana bread. So, the last time we went to the grocery store we bought about 5 extra bananas and practiced some self-restraint and let them get all nice and mushy. It was hard work, you guys!

I debated not posting this recipe, because it didn't seem fancy or complicated enough for a cooking blog. Then, I decided that I have to be true to myself. While I do use gourmet cheeses and things like rosemary-infused grapeseed oil (thanks, Aunt Robynn!), I also buy Doritos and Oreos and eat them straight out of the bag. I'm not claiming to be Ina Garten or Martha Stewart, so I'll try to remain unpretentious. Besides, banana bread is classic, and every beginning baker should give it a try. If you don't like it, then I'm not sure we should be friends.

I used the recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook--you know, the red and white checkered one (mine's pink and white for breast cancer awareness). Here's the link to the recipe online: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/quickbreads/banana-bread/

Lastly, here are my banana bread pointers:
1. Mash up the bananas in a large Pyrex measuring container (if you have one). This makes it easy to measure the bananas, since most recipes call for the mashed bananas in cups, not number of bananas. My recipe said five bananas would be around the right amount, but mine were large so I only needed four. Here they are unmashed:

2. Use a potato masher for the bananas. You can also use a fork, but that will take longer.
3. Feel free to customize it to your liking. I left out the nuts, because Matt doesn't like them, and I added some vanilla extract. I've also seen versions with chocolate chips.
4. Don't try to take it out of the pan immediately, or it may come out in chunks.
5. If it does come out in chunks, eat those chunks immediately to destroy the evidence. No one has to know!


I didn't get any chunks this time.

Electric Cable Cars

Hello, all! This is my first blog post ever, so bear with me.

Yesterday was my roommate Casey's 25th birthday. He loves rum, so Christian and I decided to whip up a fancy cocktail. Now when I say fancy, I am really just referring to any beverage with 3 or more ingredients, something that involves muddling, shaking or simple syrup. An internet search led to a famous cocktail called a Cable Car. Let me drop a little knowledge on ya about the history of this drink. According to Wikipedia, The Cable Car was invented in 1996 by Tony Abou-Ganim to be the signature drink of San Francisco's Starlight Room. We were sold with the fact that the main ingredient was rum, coupled with the San Francisco origins.


Cable Car

Sugar and cinnamon for rim, if desired
1 ½ ounce Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
¾ ounce orange Curacao
1 ½ ounce fresh lemon sour *
orange spiral for garnish, if desired

*To make a fresh lemon sour: Mix 2 parts fresh squeezed lemon juice with one part simple syrup.

Makes 1 drink.

We ran into a little problem when we got to the liquor store to purchase the ingredients. No orange curacao? Thanks a lot, Utah! Where's the BevMo when you need it!? Not wanting to splurge on the other orange liqueurs, (Cointreau: $23.99, ouch!) we settled for blue curacao (still orange flavored, just bright blue in color).

The blue curacao made the drinks look like they belonged at the beach with a pineapple chunk and umbrella, but they were still very tasty. I thought they had just the right amount of tang and sweetness. It was definitely worth it to make the homemade lemon sour instead of the bottled sweet and sour mix. They were fresh, flavorful and fun. I have renamed our version with the blue curacao "Electric Cable Cars".

Cheers!
-Caitlin

Gnocchi Mac n' Cheese and Panko breaded Chicken Strips

Recipes #1 and #2:  Gnocchi Mac n' Cheese and Panko breaded Chicken Strips

This past weekend I broke one of my own cooking rules*--I made some substitutions in a first-time recipe. I partially blame my local grocery store for not carrying a variety of cheeses (their most exotic cheese was monterey jack), but it was really my own fault because I was too lazy to drive to another store.

So, my first home-cooked meal of 2010 was Panko Chicken Strips and Gnocchi Mac n' Cheese.

It's the grown-up version of chicken nuggets and that nasty blue boxed crap Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. The aforementioned substitution was the cheese in the Gnocchi Mac n' Cheese; I had to use cheddar instead of the decadent Gruyere and Fontina. I also used chicken strips instead of nuggets, because I wanted to make myself feel like I was making a meal for an adult, not a toddler.

The verdict? While it definitely wasn't the fanciest meal, Matt and I agreed that it was pretty tasty. The gnocchi was a lot fluffier than macaroni, and the sauce was really rich. The gnocchi, which I bought pre-made, is made of potatoes, so I expected it to be really dense and sort of like potatoes au gratin, but they were very soft and surprisingly noodle-like.

The chicken was good, but not amazing. It is a good generic chicken tender/nugget recipe, but it might disappoint someone who wants more spice or something out of the ordinary, and they definitely needed some salt. The panko breading is a lot crunchier than your normal breadcrumbs, and the buttermilk made it very tender (I think? Or maybe something else made them tender?), but if I made this again I would use my mom's famous "meat rub" as the seasoning.

Now that I think about it, I probably should have made some sort of vegetable to balance out my fatty meal. But, since this is my first recipe post, you can cut me some slack. Comfort food is definitely needed every once in a while (or more often).

So, 2 recipes down, 98 to go! Here's hoping my cooking and photography skills improve!


*In case you were wondering, here are my cooking rules (subject to change as I learn more or get lazier):
1. Always pour yourself a glass of water (or other drink of choice) before you start cooking. It gets hot in the kitchen and you'll likely get thirsty after sampling your creation. I usually put a straw in my beverage so I don't have to touch my glass with messy hands.
2. Never try out a new recipe on guests, unless your guest is your 24-year-old brother. In that case, he'll eat anything.
3. When trying a new recipe, always follow it exactly (or as close as you can) the first time. You can tweak things and make substitutions the next time you make it.
4. Have a backup plan, and improvise if necessary. Your cake that stuck to the pan and came out in chunks? It's now a trifle.
5. Read the recipe all of the way through before you start. You don't want any surprises.
6. Wear an apron, even if you're just making some Rice Krispy treats in the microwave. If you feel fabulous, whatever you're cooking will seem extra-decadent.