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Showing posts from June, 2010

Half and Half Cookies

Remember these cookies from our Spanish themed party a few weeks ago? Several people asked me to get the recipe so here it is :) 1 stick of butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 egg yolk, slightly beaten 1 tablespoon water 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 2 cups flour 1 12oz package semi-sweet chocolate morsels Sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add egg yolks, water, and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients and mix well. Pat out onto a greased 11X16 jelly roll pan, and sprinkle with chocolate morsels. Meringue Topping 1 cup brown sugar 2 egg whites Beat egg whites (at room temperature) until foamy; gradually add brown sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue evenly over chocolate morsels. Bake at 350 about 25 minutes or until done. Cut into squares

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

The party we went to today had BBQ pork, brisket, coleslaw, rice and beans, potato salad, fruit salad etc. To go with the BBQ type food my husband decided to make jalapeno cheddar cornbread muffins. These were made in mini muffin tins. Jalapeno-Cheddar Cornbread Mini-Muffins makes ~84 mini-muffins (7 dozen) Ingredients * 2 (8 ounce) boxes Jiffy cornbread mix * 2 eggs * 1/2 cup milk * 1 (8 or 8.5 ounce) can cream-style corn * 8 ounces sour cream * 6 large jalapenos, diced * 8oz sharp cheddar, shredded coarsely Directions 1. Preheat oven to 425. 2. Beat eggs. Gently blend in milk, sour cream and corn, then the cornbread mix. 3. Gently fold in the cheese and jalapenos. 4. Bake in greased mini-muffin tins for 11 minutes, or until edges are browned. Allow to cool on pan for a couple minutes before turning them onto a cooling rack. Re-grease/spray pans between batches. If you'd like to skip the mini-muffin pan and use a regular sheet cake pan, you'll need to more than double the ba

Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake

We went berry picking yesterday and black raspberries are in season. I made a chocolate kahlua cheesecake with a black raspberry ribbon for a party we went to today. This cheesecake has a lot of steps. Preheat oven 350 degrees Raspberry Sauce Ingredients 2 1/2 cups fresh raspberries 2/3 cup sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 2 teaspoons lemon juice Raspberry Sauce Directions Puree berries in a blender of food processor. Press through a sieve into a measuring cup; discard berries into another cup. Add water to seed and press through sieve again. Add water to berries in measuring cup if necessary to measure 1 cup of berry juice. In a sauce pan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in raspberry juice; bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Let sauce cool Crust Ingredients 2 cups Oreo cookies, crushed 1/3 cup butter, melted 2 tablespoons sugar Crust Directions Combine crust ingredients to make crust; press into bottom and up sides of a gr

Bridal Shower Sugar Cookies

I went to a bridal shower a few weekends ago. It was hosted by my mom so she made sugar cookies and I decorated them just like we did for my friend's baby shower. I decorated these in a hurry. I did them after work and before my brother's deck party. I almost died when I saw that she had made heart cookies with a heart cut out of the middle because then I needed to outline each cookie twice.

Onion Rings and Smothered Pork Chops

We have a hit and a miss here for dinner tonight. I wanted a breaded smothered in gravy pork chop. I tried this recipe It was not successful. The cooking time was also WAY under for the chops I bought. I ended up sticking it in the oven to finish cooking Adding buttermilk to the thickened gravy just made it watery again. I don't understand the reasoning behind that step. I wasn't impressed with the end result with the gravy. For onion rings I followed this recipes ingredient list and technique. I seasoned the flour with the same seasonings except I only have black pepper instead of white at home. My husband did the dipping method, flour mix, then buttermilk, then back in the flour. He heated vegetable oil in our electric wok and fried away. I ground some sea salt on top while they were hot They were great! Very flaky.

Annual Summer Party-Spanish theme

We had so much food yesterday for our annual summer house party that I do not have photos for all of it. I will start with my personal contribution. I doubled the recipe and got about 60 empanadas. I also used store bought pie crusts. I loved the result and honestly it took me several hours just to make the filling, cut the circles in the dough, fill them and bake them. Beef and Potato Empanadas Filling: 2 medium potatoes, boiled for 5 minutes 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 pound extra lean ground beef 1 onion, chopped 1 teaspoon chile powder 3/4 teaspoon round cumin Salt and pepper to taste Grate the potatoes and set aside. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the ground beef and brown, breaking up as it cooks. Add potatoes, onion, spices and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until ingredients are soft. Cool. Served with Chimichurri Sauce 1/2 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley 1 clove garlic 2 minced shallots 1 teaspoon minced basil, thyme or

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

It was my co-worker and friend's birthday over Memorial weekend. She told me she really wanted a chocolate chip cake. I told her I had never made one before and asked her to describe it. She said it could be made in a loaf pan or bunt pan and it didn't usually have frosting. I looked up chocolate chip pound cakes. Here is the recipe I used. I did make the glaze but I would change the glaze recipe the next time around. If you want to top this cake I think I'd just melt chocolate chips with butter. I wouldn't fool around with the milk and powdered sugar.

Greek Pitas

I roasted a boneless leg of lamb weeks ago. Then I made some rice to go with it, bought some pitas (that didnt have a pocket) and my husband made tzatziki sauce. The lamb was fantastic. I highly recommend the Harris Teeter pre seasoned boneless leg of lamb. It was so good I couldn't stop cutting pieces off and just eating them. The rice was a Rice o Roni type packet. The odd pitas that I cut in half with a serrated knife.