Pickin' Some Berries

On a brief vacation to visit my awesome friend Erin in northern Ohio, we went blueberry picking at a friend's orchard. I have always had a strong love of picking your own food, so when this opportunity arose, I was very excited to partake.

This was the final product of berry pickin'

The farm was right off a main road and just tucked back behind a nice cover of trees. It was such a fun experience, and the property was strewn with little treasures like this pretty little pond pictured below.

Delicious, delicious berries.

Erin pickin' some berries of her own.

My bounty.

So I have been wanting to jump back on the homemade ice cream wagon but have just not been inspired to try anything new lately. Well, picking my very own surplus of blueberries promptly changed that. After much searching, I used the recipe from Dorie Greenspan found here. I doubled the recipe to be able to split this delicious ice cream between my father and my boyfriend, both of whom can become very jealous if they are not included in the giving of homemade delicious food...especially ice cream. The recipe called for lemon juice, and along with that, I chose to add the zest of one lemon just before churning and can I just tell you how fantastic it was!?!?! I was very happy with the turnout of this ice cream and I have plans on using it again very soon. Enjoy!!

It's Cupcake Season!

It was my mom's birthday yesterday and what better excuse do you need to make cupcakes? I saw these cupcakes on foodgawker a while back and I've been looking for an occasion to make them, so thank you mother for having a birthday. They were just absolutely delightful! The use of pink lemonade concentrate made them tart and not too sweet. 

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

courtesy of Simply Sweet Bake Shop

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 egg whites

1/3 cup thawed frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate

1/4 buttermilk

Pink food coloring

- Preheat of to 350F. Line muffin tin with paper liners.

- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.

- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg whites and lemonade concentrate. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until just smooth.

- Add just enough food coloring to turn the batter a light shade of pink ( I didn't have any pink or red food coloring...so I just left this part out).

- Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full with batter and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before icing.

Lemonade Buttercream

3 cups + 3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons Pink Lemonade Concentrate

Pink food coloring

-Add all ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low using paddle attachment until combined.

- Turn the speed to med-high and blend until the buttercream is fluffy and uniformly pink. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

This was a great recipe, I got 9 cupcakes out of the recipe, which is the perfect number for me! The icing was a great consistency for piping but my only criticism was that the butter flavor was a little strong for my taste, in the future I think I'll substitute 4 tablespoons of shortening to cut back on the butter. Overall I look forward to making these again. Enjoy!!

Yummm

I know I've been absent these past few weeks...or months, but senior year will do that to ya. I always have my staple cookies that I make, but I've been bored with those lately and I thought biscotti would be a good alternative. These turned out fantastically crumbly and not too sweet, just how I like them.

White Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti

adapted from The Cookie Bible

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a large, nonstick cookie sheet (just to be safe).

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Cream the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

Add eggs and extract, mix well to combine.

Gradually add in the flour mixture until well blended, and stir in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Divide the dough in half and on a floured surface, shape each half into 14x1 1/2 inch log. Place, 2 inches apart, on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 25-28 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 15 minutes.

Place on cutting board and using a serrated knife, cut into 3/4 inch thick diagonal slices. Place back on cookie sheet.

Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, turning over half way through. Cool completely before storing. 

The addition of cinnamon was a great decision; just enough to have a subtle spice that helps cut the sweetness of the white chocolate. Enjoy!!

Cheesy Goodness

Have you ever had those awesome cheesy biscuits from Red Lobster? Well if you have, then you know what I'm talking about, they're DELICIOUS! I got the baking bug yesterday but just didn't want to make something sweet, so I opted for something both quick and fantastically savory. 

I finally settled with just some quick drop biscuits with some added excitement in the form of cheddar cheese, garlic and chives. They were so fast to throw together too! I will definitely use these again if I'm in need of some biscuits for dinner in a pinch. 

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits - about 24 biscuits

adapted from The Joy of Cooking's "Quick Drop Biscuits"

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit

2 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt

A generous 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 tablespoons chives (or more if you want)

5 to 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

A generous 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup milk

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the butter pieces are about the size of peas.

Add in the cheese and mix well.

Add the milk and mix to combine, the mixture will be very sticky.

Using just a kitchen teaspoon, form balls about the size of a walnut and scrape onto a baking sheet with another spoon. 

Bake for 12 minutes.

These little drops of cheesy heaven filled the house with a fantastic smell. They are best right out of the oven, but could easily be reheated in a 300 degree oven for a few minutes. Enjoy!

Mmmm Sushi

There are few things more rewarding than taking a bite into your very own, homemade sushi. My brother and I have rolled sushi a few times together and it's always just such a fun experience, nothing really fancy, just good times with good sushi. 

My friend Amanda and I have been meaning to roll sushi together for a long time and we finally got around to doing it, and as in the past, it's just simple and rewarding. I think what makes it so exciting is the presentation of it...it's so simply beautiful! It doesn't take really anything extra to make it look "perfect". 

I apologize, but there's no real recipe for this post, just some pictures and such. On this particular occasion, no raw fish was used, it being Amanda's first sushi rolling experience, we opted out of raw fish. We did use cucumbers, carrots, smoked salmon, cooked shrimp and the usual sushi rice, nori, soy sauce and wasabi. Sadly, I was unable to find an avocado, which I firmly believe is essential to sushi, but there's always next time.

So for those who may have been sushi shy in the past, I encourage you to get out there and give it a try!! Here's to the awesomeness that is sushi! Enjoy!

Crock Pot Goodness

So this weekend Kyle came in to visit me. And it is usually expected that I make a delicious dinner of his request. What I like about these requests is that they are usually very simple, cheap and easy, and if you've seen my tiny apartment kitchen, these are all good things. Just imagine the types of foods you'd feed a five year old and you'll pretty much have Kyle's favorite dinners, think: mac n cheese from the box, homemade mac n cheese, pigs in a blanket, pizza, breaded chicken, more mac n cheese...see any pattern? Anyways, for this friday, he requested crock pot chili mac n cheese...with his mother's mac n cheese recipe. 

Crock Pot Chili Mac 'n Cheese

adapted from Kyle's mom's recipe

8 oz. macaroni

12 oz. can evaporated milk

1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter

3 eggs, beaten (I think next time I will use 2 eggs, I felt like 3 made it too "custardy")

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

1-2 cans chili of your liking

3 cups cheese, any kind, divided

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook macaroni to just barely al dente and drain. 

Combine evaporated milk, melted butter, mustard and eggs in a bowl, mix well.

Season with salt and pepper.

Mix in 2 cups cheese, macaroni and chili.

Place in greased crock pot, top with remaining cup of cheese and cook on low for 3 hours. DO NOT OPEN LID DURING COOKING TIME!

I would have liked to get more pictures of this finished, but Kyle wanted to eat it...right away. Anyways, I enjoyed this recipe, but as mentioned above, I think I'll use just 2 eggs next time. I felt like it was too set by the time the 3 hours was up, and with just 2 eggs, it should be more creamy. And who doesn't like chili? What a fantastic combo, enjoy!

Piping Virgin

Well, first of all, for those who may have wondered: I am still alive. While I did indeed do a great deal of baking and cooking over winter break, I have seriously slacked on this whole blogging thing. So without further ado, here is my first post of 2009.

I hate admitting it, but I made these for valentines day. I have never really been a fan of valentines day, but it's a great excuse to make red velvet cupcakes, which happen to be Kyle's favorite. I love making these, the color is just way too exciting...I love red! When preparing to ice these little red drops of heaven, I remembered that I got a piping bag and a set of tips for my birthday that were eagerly awaiting icing. So, for the first time ever, I tried my hand at piping...and I must say, they don't look too bad. There's still definitely some room for practice though. I just love the way cupcakes look with piped icing, they're so cute!

Red Velvet Cupcakes 

adapted from Paula Dean

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

2 tablespoons red food coloring

2 eggs

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl, set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine wet ingredients and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Fill cupcake pan 3/4 full and bake for 20-22 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing

courtesy of Paula Dean

16 oz. cream cheese

2 sticks butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar, plus more to reached desired consistency

Mix all ingredients together and ice cooled cupcakes.

I love this recipe because it is just so quick and easy to make. It's just about as easy as using make mix from the box. For this occasion, I halved the recipe and still came up with 10 cupcakes, so be aware that this recipe makes a good deal of batter. Enjoy!!