Author: Kristen

Loaded Baked Potatoes

Here in the northern hemisphere, we’re edging into the kind of weather that’s great for meals like roasts, casseroles, and, yes, loaded baked potatoes! This one has sharp white cheddar cheese, bacon, and chopped green onions…

Other topping ideas include… diced tomatoes, parmesan cheese, broccoli, and probably a lot of other leftover things you have in your refrigerator. We usually eat loaded baked potatoes as a main dish, since eating them WITH other food seems like WAY too much to eat at one sitting, but your mileage may vary of course.

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Organic Marshmallow Farmer

This design began with a really weird conversational tangent, became an Out of Context Quote, and then ended up on a t-shirt!

I think most kids would choose “Organic Marshmallow Farmer” as their desired career path if they were aware of their existence – they are a small, but growing community! *grin* Besides, marshmallows grown and harvested the all-natural way simply taste better. (Click the t-shirt to see all the apparel and other items available to advertise this environmentally humorous choice of vocation.)

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Portuguese Sweet Bread

A little while ago we bought Easy, Fabulous Bread Making: A collection of quick, no-knead, homemade bread recipes by Barbara Mack (who is an online friend and independent author. And the book is now also available in a Kindle Version) and have been practicing our art of bread making as we get a chance. These are all no-knead recipes in the book; the first rise is done entirely in the refrigerator and you leave the dough in there anywhere from 8 hours to 5 days, so plan ahead and don’t get impatient! (My biggest ‘folly’ with bread making – LOL. But let me tell you that at least 8 hours of slow ‘refrigerator’ rising gives a GREAT flavor!)

Yesterday morning I made her dough for Portuguese Sweet Bread. At about 5 p.m. I took it out of the fridge, formed it into a boule (round loaf) on an oiled baking sheet as recommended. After about 3 hours it finally started to do more than ‘unchill’ itself and started to seem more like bread dough again. But then I broke from the directions and put it in a glass bowl I could also bake it in so it retained it’s shape and more depth, as it seemed like it was spreading out more than rising. It turned out to be a good move – the final bread came out nice and round and golden brown:

As it was too hot and too late to taste it last night, I had a healthy piece for breakfast and it tastes absolutely delicious! I doubt if it will last more than a day here. I will definitely be making this again!  Thanks, Barb!

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Banana… Er… Blueberry Bread

Four+ days of hot, humid weather did not shine kindly upon the three bananas we had in the kitchen, but I didn’t realize that until I was half done making the batter for banana bread. The peels had only the usual amount of black and spots for ‘just’ overripe bananas, but the insides were unusable – bleh. After a quickly passing state of panic where I considered hightailing it to Canada and leaving the recipe remnants for the next person passing through the kitchen (probably the dog), I, instead, thought of what else I could make this bread into. I almost decided on applesauce bread since I spotted two apples in the fridge, but then, glowing like a beacon, with heavenly trumpets sounding, I saw them…. blueberries! Yes!

Instead of the bananas, I added a little milk for the necessary moisture, then mixed in a cup and a half of blueberries, spread it in a pan with a sprinkling of sugar on top for crust, put it in the oven, and crossed my fingers. (Yes, I know it wasn’t THAT much of a stretch to switch the recipe from banana to blueberry, but allow me my drama, dangit!)

Here’s what it looked like when it came out of the oven, just a little while ago:

Looks like it has a light crusty top, so that’s a good thing. And as soon as it’s cooled and I can take it out of the pan, the taste testing will begin! And continue on until it’s been tested into oblivion.

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Blond Brownies or Congo Bars Recipe

A few weeks ago I made a pan of blond brownies, or, technically Congo Bars. They were very tasty, and luckily I got a photo of one before the pan was gone:

This is an awesome recipe – just mix everything all together, and you don’t even have to grease the pan!

Congo Bars

2 2/3 cups sifted flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teasspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening, melted
2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup chopped nuts
1 6 oz. package of chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients. Pour into a 9X13 inch pan, bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I hadn’t planned on making cupcakes today, but you gotta follow your impulses! Maybe this is my way of celebrating the Spring Equinox! Yeah… I’m SURE that’s what it was… that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 😀

So I used a recipe I got from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook that we got for Christmas – Devil’s Food Cupcakes. I halved the recipe though, because I only wanted a dozen, and then I tossed together a classic vanilla buttercream frosting.

Devil's Food Cupcakes

As you can see in the photo, instead of spreading the frosting on with a knife, I got a little fancier. I made a pastry bag with wax paper (and tape), cut off the tip, inserted a decorating tip, then swirled the frosting in a spiral. Then, I sprinkled it with a touch of additional cocoa.I purposely didn’t lay the frosting all the way to the edge of the cupcake to be sure that none of it would fall off the side, to make it easier, or maybe ‘cleaner’ for the fingers, plus, I don’t like cupcakes that are overloaded with frosting.

I almost don’t want to eat them now! Of course, I don’t expect that sentiment to last long – this is CHOCOLATE we’re talking about here – LOL.

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Malted Milk Ball Ice Cream

Contrary to some beliefs, ice cream DOES taste just as good in winter as it does in summer – you just have to put on a sweater when you’re eating it. 😉 That’s the justification for the impulse I had to make some malted milk ball ice cream – it’s thin, but whatever works.

I made a custard base with cocoa and chocolate malt powder – the malt gives it a smooth consistency and the unique malt flavor, and the cocoa gives it a little more chocolatey solidity. After churning, I tossed in the cut up malt balls (whoppers) and froze it.

It was really smooth and delicious. The malt powder prevented it from getting as hard/solid as regular chocolate can, which worked out nicely.
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Cranberry Apple Torte

I had a bunch of cranberries sitting in the fridge, and didn’t want to make just another cranberry-orange bread, as delicious as those are.  Luckily, we got the  baking book from the Magnolia Bakery as a thoughtful holiday gift, so I looked up ‘cranberries’ in the index and found this torte recipe!

The recipe called for pear slices and cranberries, but we had apples so I substituted apple for the pear. It came out terrific – unsurprisingly, just like a coffee cake with fruit, topped with a crunchy but subtle sugar topping that gave it that little extra oomph.

Cranberry Apple Torte

I know, in this picture it looks like a  pizza, since I baked it in a round springform pan and not one of those ‘torte’ pans with the fancy wavy edge, but trust me, it’s definitely NOT a pizza – LOL!

Looking forward to trying more recipes from this book.

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Funky Lasagna Noodles

I made lasagna over the holidays, including homemade lasagna noodles. I’ve made them a number of times, but have never let the fresh lasagna noodles dry flat on the table (on paper towels) overnight before. When I saw them in the morning I started laughing….

lasagna noodles

Apparently, they dried on the top, open to the air, much faster than on the bottom, or at least started that way and once they were mostly elevated off the paper towels continued to dry in arcs. They seemed a little more brittle to the touch than noodles that were only dried for a little while, but they cooked up just fine in the hot water. Anyway, I just couldn’t resist sharing this image. Silly dried pasta!

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Cinnamon Twist Cookies

I have been baking quite a bit for the holidays this year, and the other day decided to make some cookies that I hadn’t made in a LONG while – Cinnamon Twists! They’re a little more time intensive and messy than other cookies, more of a pastry in some ways, but they’re also not as sweet and go really well as a classy side to hot beverages. And they look fancy:

Here’s the recipe – enjoy!

Cinnamon Twists

4 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 cups margarine
3 egg yolks
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg whites
3 tblsp. sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
sugar and cinnamon

Place in a large bowl: flour, margarine, yolks, sour cream, and vanilla. Cut in (as for pastry mix) well and chill overnight. When ready to bake, divide dough into eight parts. Roll each part onto a board dusted with confectioner’s sugar. Cut into 8 or 12 wedges. Then beat the egg whites until fluffy; gradually add sifted confectioner’s sugar. Fold in vanilla. Brush rolled dough with egg mixture. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll each wedge loosely (starting at wide end). Brush rolled slices with egg mixture and cinnamon and sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet in oven at 400 degrees. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Supposedly, this serves about 30 people.