2010 cookies

I don't hink I ever told you how many cookies I made last Christmas from the poll...it was 1019.
I had grand expectations to put how much of each ingredient I used....yeah...still didnt get that far.

First Snow of 2011

Happy 11/11/11

She missed the first snow of 2011 so I wanted to make sure I captured it for her.

HAHAHAHA

Pica Cake (Almond Cake) recipe included

At the end of September I was asked to make a Pikachu Cake:

an Almond Cake with Marachino Cherries in it.

We don't eat almonds so I wasn't sure how this would turn out,

but I was like, Ok I can do this.

So Hubby goes and gets the supplies:

Did you know Canned Almond Paste looks like this?? lol

And here is a shot of my Beautiful Toaster oven =)

Love it!

Mixed up the batter, plopped cherries in it.

Here it is cooling...not too bad.

Then I made a few yellow cupcakes, in case the Almond cake was yuk.

But it went over well!

Almond Cake

from David Lebovitz (who adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Shere)

http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/2011/08/almond-cake.html

(But of Course I did my own thing and added some sour cream for more moisture)

1 cup (140 g) flour, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups (265 g) sugar

8 oz (225 g) almond paste

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

6 large eggs, at room temperature



Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour.



Whisk 3/4 cup (105 g) of the flour, the baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.



Combine the sugar, almond paste and the remaining 1/4 cup (35 g) of the flour in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the almond paste is finely ground and the mixture is crumbly like sand. Add the butter and both extracts to the bowl and process until the batter is smooth and fluffy. One at a time, add the eggs, pulsing a few times to incorporate after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl and pulse two or three times to incorporate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl one last time then add the remaining dry ingredients and pulse a few more times, just until incorporated. Do not overmix.



Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 60-65 minutes, or until the cake is a dark golden brown and springs back when pressed in the center. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and run a thin knife around the outside to loosen the cake from the pan. Let the cake cool completely in the pan, then remove the outer ring. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.



(Wrapped tightly, the cake will keep at room temperature for about 4 days.)

Hi!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

Anyone going black Friday Shopping?
What are you buying? =)

whoopie pies

We bought this frosting in a carton at GFS called Bettercreme and let me tell you

that is going to be stocked in my fridge!!!

IT IS SO GOOD!

It whipps up like heavy whipping cream

So we used it to fill Whoopie Pies

The Cake was super easy and I did not use a special pan for them.

The recipe is below.

CAKE MIX WHOOPIE PIES

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,186,158190-233199,00.html

Content Copyright © 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.



1 lg. box chocolate cake mix

1/3 c. water

3 tbsp. oil

2 eggs


Mix together and drop by teaspoon (spread out) onto greased cookie sheets. Bake about 8 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool on rack.



FILLING: <---I did not use this so I don't know what it tastes like.



1 c. shortening

1 c. confectioners' sugar

1 c. marshmallows

1/2 tsp. vanilla


Beat together well.

Cheesy Pork Chops--for real this time

A few months back I made Cheesy Pork Chops and used chicken.

I got the recipe from 5dollardinners.com

See recipe below.

This time I used Philadelphia Cooking creme in Italian Herb instead of the Sour Cream and used an Italian cheese blend.

• boneless pork chops <-- All I had were very thin bone in chops

• 10 tsp sour cream <---Italian Cooking Creme



• seasoning salt or whatever you like to use



• 2 cups shredded cheese <-- Italian Blend cheese



Directions



1) line the pan with your chops and sprinkle with your favorite seasoning.



2) smother with 1 tsp sour cream per chop.



3) add enough shredded cheese to cover the top.



4) bake at 350. Adjust the cooking time to the thickness of the meat . Thin pork chops are done in 15 minutes. For an inch and a half of chop, I’d bake for 35 – 40 minutes.

I wanna join in

THIS IS A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM...THIS IS ONLY A TEST....
maybe...

Everyone is going to panic...like War of the Worlds all over again...

It's kind of scary that they have never used this before...is something coming that they feel we need to test so we are ready...?

Everyone make their emergency kits!

Go to http://www.ready.gov/natural-disasters to help you prepare for the worst.
(Like Y2K, remember?? Please if you are still stockpiled from that check expiriation dates and get fresher water.) 

That link above shows you what to do in various emergency situations and helps you prep an emergency kit.

This Concludes this test...

It was only a test, right?! RIGHT???
I need to go hide now...where's my cat...

Pumpkin Heads!

Happy Halloween!

Here is a Taste of Home Recipe I make every year for Halloween.

It is from their November 2007 magazine.

Get some biscuits and roll them out

Brown up meat and season them how you like.

I used Garlic, Carrots, Onion powder, Garlic Powder, cheese and mustard.

Put the meat mix on 8 flatten biscuits

Roll out the other 8 and make faces in them, place them on top of the meat mix.

Brush with egg wash.

Bake @ 350* until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!!

meat ball subs

We went to GFS and they had these small cookie sheets that fit perfect in my toaster oven!!

So here we are getting ready to make meatball subs

On the reviews for the toaster oven someone said it does everything well but toast...

I think they were doing it wrong...

Mmmm

I just vooked meatballs, threw some of my sauce on them, and put it on hot dog buns =)