The Baking Diva

Candy Cane Truffles

2011-12-09T21:12:00.001-08:00

So if you’re on Pinterest ever, you’ve probably seen the cute truffles that have been circling around that you just drop into hot milk, stir and you have delicious hot chocolate. Super cute, right? Well Cindy over at Hungry Girl Por Vida (Yes, I’m copying her, again.) upped the ante by putting peppermint in the chocolate and THEN SPRINKLING CANDY CANES ON TOP. Oh, yes. So when my sister in law told me she was doing hot chocolate at her annual Christmas party I had to tell her about this idea. After a trial run she gave it a thumbs up so I made a quadruple batch today!

This moves pretty fast once the cream is hot, so I did all of my prep work before hand.

I dumped 32 ounces of dark chocolate chips into a bowl.

Then crushed up 7 or 8 candy canes. There HAS to be a better way to crush candy canes than smashing them in a Ziploc bag. Anyone have the solution??

So now that I had everything set out, including the pans I was pouring the chocolate into, I heated up 16 ounces (1 pint) of heavy cream to scald – just under boiling.

There will be little bubbles all around the edge of the pot like this.

Dump the cream onto the chocolate chips, cover, and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Once 5 minutes have passed, start stirring it up. I went over my math four or five times in my head while I was stirring ‘cuz I was SURE I had put way too much cream in, but keep stirring….

And you’ll end up with this! Swoon! Add in 2 teaspoons of vanilla and peppermint extract.

Then pour it into your pans! My sister in law wanted to use these pretty pans, but you can always dump it into a 9x13 then cut and remove them. We’re going to cut them and let people take them out themselves.

Smooth it out…

Top it with crushed candy canes and there you are! Chill for 30-60 minutes, then cut into squares. I’m just chilling them until I take them over to my sister in law’s tomorrow.

Heat up 6-8 ounces of milk and then drop one of these bad boys in. Or two. I won’t judge.

Candy Cane Truffles
Adapted slightly from Hungry Girl Por Vida

32 ounces dark chocolate chips
1 pint heavy cream
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
crushed candy canes
6-8 ounces hot milk.

Heat cream to scald, pour over chocolate chips. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes, heating more if there are still lumps. Pour into pan and top with crushed candy canes. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes then cut into squares. Drop into hot milk, stir and enjoy. Or just eat. Again, judgment free zone.

It’s never too late for pumpkin!

2011-11-26T23:50:00.001-08:00

I know it’s a past the “traditional” time for pumpkin desserts, but they don’t have to stop at Thanksgiving, do they?? I for one love them, and being the only sweets loving girl in my boyfriend’s family I took it on myself to make the Thanksgiving dessert for the second year in a row. I think I feel a delicious tradition coming on. :)

My challenge this year was that I was oven-less which I thought was going to be a huge problem but as soon as I saw this recipe for Pumpkin Semifreddo I knew I had to make it, if only for the Sea Salt Caramel Sauce!

Considering that I started making this at 11 PM my photos leave a lot to desire and I left out a lot of stops, so I apologize!

As far as ingredients go, this recipe is pretty simple. I was lazy and didn’t make gingersnaps, but Stater Bros gingersnaps are delicious so I don’t fit the least bit bad. I also went with Libby’s pumpkin pie MIX instead of just plain pumpkin because I wanted to make sure I got a pumpkin pie-ish flavor and I’m glad that I did.

I had a crowd to feed so my pictures will all be doubled, but I’m going to give you the recipe as I had it, but know that doubling it worked perfectly for me.

Despite the fact that the caramel sauce is pretty easy to make, I almost managed to ruin it. I’m still not sure what I did wrong, since it was only my second time making caramel, but it turned out fine and it was amazing. Just boil 3/4 sugar along with 1/4 water until it gets dark brown, but be keep your eyes glued to it because it’s caramel goes from dark brown to burnt thisdangquick.

See how pretty? How well on it’s way to “dark golden brown” like the recipe says? Yeah after this picture all the liquid evaporated and I panicked a little bit so I threw in half of the cream, so then it was way too wet so I boiled it down a bit, then figured it was ok to put the rest of the cream in, but then had to boil it again….And somehow it worked out. I don’t know.

Here’s how it’s supposed to work. Once your sugar and water gets dark brown, take it off the heat and stir in half of the cream and butter. When those are nice and incorporated, stir in the rest of the cream; you may need to heat it through to help any lumps dissolve. Then stir in salt and vanilla. Taste and swoon like you’re a mid-Victorian lady.

Set your caramel aside and prep for the semifreddo. Stir the pumpkin pie mix, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon together in one bowl.

Then separate 3 eggs, setting aside the whites and holding onto the yolks.

And here’s where I’m missing my first picture! Whip up the heavy cream into soft peaks and stick into the refrigerator.

In a sauce pan combine molasses, honey, sugar and water. Heat over medium heat until it reaches 238 degrees.

Missing picture #2 – give the yolks a quick stir to break them up, then beat the syrup in a slow, steady stream with your hand mixer set on medium. Once all the syrup is incorporated, beat the mixture until it’s airy and cool. Grab the whipped cream and fold half off it into the egg yolk mixture, then half of the pumpkin mixture in as well. Repeat until everything is folded in.

Yeah. YUM. Give that a try or 5, because it is delicious!

Since I doubled mine, I used a 9 x 13, but if you stick with the original recipe, you’ll be putting this into a loaf pan. Oh, and yet another picture I’m missing – those gingersnaps? Toss a couple handfuls into the blender and let it rip til you they’re crumbs. Sprinkle an even layer on the bottom of your pan, and spread half of the semifreddo over it.

Sprinkle another even layer of the gingersnap crumbs and top with some of that glorious salted caramel sauce. Smooth the rest of the semifreddo on top and if you have any crumbs left, toss them on top for good measure.

Cover with plastic wrap and tinfoil and slide in the freezer for at least 3 hours.

Slice up and serve with extra caramel sauce if you want, which you do!

Pumpkin Semifreddo
barely adapted from Hungry Girl Por Vida

1 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons mild honey

1 tablespoon molasses

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons water

3 large egg yolks

3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup gingersnap crumbs

1/4 cup salted caramel sauce

Using a whisk and those guns of steel, or an electric mixer, beat cream in a bowl until it holds soft peaks. Refrigerate.

Separate eggs and place yolks in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Save whites for another use.

Stir together pumpkin and spices in a small bowl, set aside.

In a small sauce pan mix together honey, molasses, sugar, and water. Bring syrup to a boil over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 238F.

Whip egg yolks to break up and slowly add hot syrup while mixer is running on medium. Whip fast enough to make sure the eggs do not scramble, but try not to go so fast that the syrup does not incorporate. Once syrup is completely incorporated into yolks, whip on high until yolks are cool and airy.

Add 1/3 of the cold, whipped cream to the egg yolk mixture to lighten. Fold in pumpkin and spices, plus remaining whipped cream. Sprinkle the bottom of a prepared loaf pan with gingersnap crumbs (line with plastic wrap if you want to turn it out, if simply scooping you can skip that step), scrape half of the semifreddo base into the pan, and smooth the top. Sprinkle with more cookie crumbs and drizzle in about 1/4 cup salted caramel sauce, top with remaining semifreddo base and smooth, sprinkle with more crumbs. Cover the top of the semifreddo with plastic and then a layer of foil and place in freezer for at least 3 hours to set. Scoop or turn out and slice. Serve cold.

Salted Caramel Sauce
From Hungry Girl Por Vida

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt

In a measuring cup measure out cream and add vanilla, set aside.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan heat sugar and water over medium-high until sugar is melted and turns dark golden brown in color (the darkest you can get it before burning is best). Remove from heat and quickly whisk in butter and half of cream until combined and smooth. The mixture will steam and bubble furiously, use a oven mitt or towel to wrap your stirring hand. If there are still lumps, heat gently until smooth. Add remaining cream and salt and stir until smooth.

New Directions

2011-11-20T01:17:00.001-08:00

This poor little blog has been sadly neglected and I think that it’s time to change that. I haven’t been spending much time in the kitchen these days but I have been fortunate to get the chance to spend the day crafting with my boyfriend’s sister Ali. We made the easiest, prettiest infinity scarves and flower pins that one of my favorite bloggers posted on her super awesome website That's What WE Said that she runs with her BFF Shelly. Seriously, go check it out because they are awesome.

I got a little too caught up in having fun making these flowers that I didn’t take the best “how-to” pictures, so if you need any help, go to Kristan's post about how she did it and her pictures will probably help.

What you need for the flower pins is:

Synthetic satin – we used polyester satin like Kristan did and it worked fabulously! You really don’t need a whole lot, you really shouldn’t need more than 1/8 a yard of each color you want.

Buttons – for the center of the flower. They’ll be up front and on display so choose cute ones!
Hair clip OR sweater pins – we bought hair clips, but we both unhappy with the kind we got. I wish we had just bought pins to put on back of them, but oh well!
Needle and thread
Straight pins
Glue gun
Candle

First things first. Just embrace it and put Christmas on your Pandora. Do it, and you’ll be happy. :)

Now that you got your music set, figure out what size you want your flowers to be. Ali has a Sizzix which made our lives SO easy. We used a die set of circles to cut out our fabric. The biggest was about 4 inches and the smallest was maybe an inch-ish.

Once you have all of your circles cut out, light up your candle. Carefully hold the edges of your circles close to the flame until they start to curl up a bit. This is why you want to make sure you get synthetic satin, the real stuff won’t do it quite as well. Do me a solid, and don’t set your circle, hand,or anything else on fire.

When they’re done, they should look like this. When all of your circles are to your liking, stack them up, pin them with the straight pin if you need, and sew the button on to them. This might be fairly obvious, but I felt like it was much easier to do one stitch through all of the petals, then sew on the button than to try and do both at the same time.

What you end up with, is absolute adorableness.

Ali made this one, and I love the button she used so much!

This is another one that she made; I love that she used more than 2 colors!

So then for the infinity scarves you need…..an adult XL or XXL T-shirt. And a pair of scissors. That’s it!

If you have a rotary cutter, this would be the place for it. I don’t so I folded up the shirt twice and cut right underneath the armpits, then right above the bottom hem.

Then open up your loop, stick one end under your feet, and pull up for all you’re worth!

The shirts we bought were 50/50 cotton and polyester and they were a little hard to stretch. I’m curious of a softer shirt would stretch better, I’m going to find a cheap one and test it out.

I totally spaced getting a picture of the final product, but I will do that tomorrow!

Check it out!

2011-08-31T19:19:00.001-07:00

I was asked to guest post over at my friend Mila’s blog Free Bird Train on how I balance work and school with being a single mom. Go over to her blog and check it out!

What to do when...

2011-08-05T20:17:00.001-07:00

When you have a hungry child...

And access to the most perfect kitchen ever

And these two beauties?

Why, you pull out your cookbooks and YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE!

I've always wanted to make cinnamon rolls, but was intimidated by how long they take and just them in general. I saw Ree's recipe in her The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook and wanted to try those until I saw that it made a gazillion (give or take a few thousand) so I decided to try one of the few that Our Best Bites had posted on their site. I specifically wanted a recipe with a cream cheese frosting, which Our Best Bites didn't actually use, so I snagged the icing recipe from The Farm Chicks In the Kitchen, which is an awesome cookbook!

It all starts with some ingredients...

Apparently cars are very important in the making of cinnamon rolls.

First you microwave the butter and milk together for about a minute and set aside.

Put 2 cups of flour, yeast, white sugar and salt into the bowl of your mixer or a mixing bowl. Since I was using my Mom's kitchen I got to use her awesome Bosch. If it ever goes missing...It wasn't me. It might have been my sister.

Once the milk and butter mixture has cooled from hot to warm, pour it in and add the egg.

After that's well combined add the rest of the flour just until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. (If you're using a stand mixer, now would be the time to switch to a dough hook.) If you're using a stand mixer, let knead for 5 minutes, or turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes by hand.

Once the kneading is done, let it rest for 10 minutes on a floured surface.

Now the amazing filling. Soften the 1/2 cup of butter, then mix in cinnamon and brown sugar. Gosh, that was hard!

Roll the dough out into rectangle that's 12x14 inches. If you're me, you'll have spent the 10 minute resting time mildly panicking when you can't find your mom's rolling pin and have started considering using a glass bottle as a rolling pin (Name that book!!) when you remember where it is. Also, you will learn that 12 inches is not nearly as big as you think it is, and will have to attempt to make your rectangle smaller. No biggie.

Spread with the filling and roll the long side up.

Here's where I differed from Our Best Bites, and I wish I hadn't. They recommend that you score the roll with a knife to make sure you get even rolls and the correct number. They also swear by using floss to cut the rolls. I did neither and while I didn't have a problem cutting them, I ended up with 13 vs 12. Yup. I didn't hear anyone complain though.

Let rest for in a warm place for about 30 minutes. This is where I took a tip from The Farm Chicks - They recommend that you turn on your oven to the lowest setting it till go, let it warm up, wait 2 minutes. Turn it off, and slide your cinnamon rolls in for 30 minutes then take them out and let the oven warm up to the baking temp. My mom's oven will only go as low as 250, so I only let them rise in there for 15-ish minutes but it really worked!

You then bake them for only 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and you have beautiful cinnamon rolls!

The cream cheese frosting is super simple, but I wasn't sure if it'd make enough so I doubled the recipe and I'm glad I did!

Pure beauty! This pan didn't last a whole 24 hours and even got the stamp of approval from my non-sweet toothed boyfriend. The whole tablespoon and a half of cinnamon in the filling is what does it for me, along with the fact that these aren't very bready rolls. I wish I had a pan of them right now!

Everyday Cinnamon Rolls
Our Best Bites

Dough:

1 cup milk

4 Tbs butter, cut into chunks

3 1/4 – 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 (.25 ounce) package instant or ‘rapid rise’ yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp)

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

Filling:

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, softened

Cream Cheese Frosting
The Farm Chicks
4 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. softened cream cheese
¾ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Simple Eats

2011-06-27T00:42:00.001-07:00

One of my most favorite side dishes in this simple rice dish. I found this recipe on my all-time favorite blog www.ourbestbites.com. I tampered with it a little bit and came up with a side dish of heaven that we eat all. the. time. So give it a try!

Start by cooking up a pot of rice. Which I don't have pictures of. I usually make 8 servings worth, which is 2 cups of rice to 4 cups of water. I season the water with Lawry's Garlic Salt, a tip I learned from a room mate ages ago and I haven't cooked my rice any other way since.

While the rice is cooking chop up some cilantro. Or if you're feeding my family, a lot of it.

We LOVE cilantro, possibly even more than my gals at Our Best Bites do!

Then cut some limes in half. Or you can go my family's route and cut up a lot of them. We like lime, too.

Once your rice is cooked, put in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of butter. Again, no picture. Then squeeze your limes into the rice.

Then dump all that delicious cilantro on top and mix away. The first few times I would recommend that you hold back a few limes and some cilantro and do a mix-taste-mix-taste deal until you figure out the ratios you like.

You'll end up with this delicious bowl of goodness that everyone will gobble up!

Lime Cilantro Rice
Adapted from Our Best Bites

This is the amounts that I put in for my family, but experiment with yours!

2 cups dry white rice, cooked in 4 cups of water
6-8 limes (depending on how sassy you are feeling that day!)
2 bunches of cilantro
2 tablespoons Lawry's Garlic Salt
2 tablespoons butter.

Heat 4 cups of water in pot. Season with garlic salt. (Note: This may sound like a lot, but I heard once on the food network that when cooking rice and pasta you have to season the water that it cooks in so the rice/pasta is seasoned when it comes out. "Salty like sea water" is what the Anne (Mario Batali's sous chef) said and she has never led me wrong with that!) Once the water boils, toss in your rice. Bring back up to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover. Cook about 15-20 minutes. (Or however you make rice, everyone's method is different!) Dump in your butter and toss to coat. Then, put in your cilantro and lime, stir it up and enjoy!

My New Faves!

2011-05-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

'I am seriously slacking on this blog. My kitchen situation added with my constantly changing work schedule makes it really hard to me to cook on a regular basis and I am feeling constantly deprived of my kitchen time. I'm hoping to find a better job with a more regular schedule and have goals of starting to meal plan and figure out ways to cook around my crazy schedule.
We have been eating out a lot, which would be embarrassing to admit but you know what? I'm actually eating healthier! Here's just a few things that I'm obsessed with lately...

This oatmeal is sooooo good. The oatmeal itself is okay, but they put in apples, dried cranberries raisens and golden raisens. Oh. My. Yum! I've started getting it in the mornings that I have my 8 AM class and I'm actually able to stay awake through the whole thing! For the 9.2 ounce serving you get 260 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 18 grams of sugar and 5 grams of protein.

This salad. Oh my goodness. This salad is sooooo good. You get THREE cups of fruit and vegetables from this delicious awesomeness and it's not even that bad for you! The nutrition info isn't on the McDonald's site so I'm using the nutrition info from my weight loss site that I've fallen in love with - www.myfitnesspal.com. According to them, one salad has 390 calories, 38 carbs, 12 grams of fat, and 33 grams of protein. And that's WITH the amazing Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing. *drool*

This burger has been awesome as well. It's from Carl's Jr - Or Hardee's for all you East Coasters out there - and it's awesome. Make it a meal and substitute the fries for apple slices, and drink a Coke Zero and you have yourself some major yumminess. According to www.carlsjr.com the nutrition round up for this beauty is 470 calories, 14 grams of fat, 19 grams of sugar and 32 grams of protein.

Now I am by NO means saying you should rely on these as your 3 daily meals, but if you're forced to eat out a lot like I have been lately maybe try and steer towards these delicious alternatives and you'll see a difference. Kid you not, I just noticed the other day that my love handles are smaller and I have less back fat. HECK. YES. Give these a try and you can thank me later! ;)

Grandma Hillam's Waffles

2011-02-15T23:43:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Day morning I was bound and determined to make a fun breakfast like I remember my mom making every year for us kids. So I decided to recruit my sleepy kiddo...

round up these ingredients...

And get started! I should mention I usually toss in a teaspoon or 2 of vanilla. It isn't on the recipe but I LOVE how the waffles taste with it, I just happened to be out of vanilla and wanted waffles regardless.

While you let Mr. (or Miss) Helpful think they're helping you with something very important on the stove you're going to mix together flour, baking powder, and salt, then add sugar or honey, milk, oil, food coloring. Separate the 2 eggs and put the yolks in with the mixture. Put the whites in another bowl and set aside. Oh, and you should put vanilla in them, or different flavorings. I'm just out of vanilla right now, saaaaaaad.

You'll get something that looks like this. Set that aside to let the baking powder do it's work, and turn your attention the the 2 egg whites. Grab your hand mixer and whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. I usually am lazy and only go to soft peaks, but took them all the way to stiff peaks like you can see in the picture below, but my waffles ended up chewy so I either over whipped the egg whites or over mixed the batter.

Plop the egg whites in with the batter and gently fold in. It'll take a minute or two, but it really makes a huge difference in your batter and end product.

This is what it will look like when you are done.

Bust out your waffle maker, let it heat up, and start makin' waffles. I like to use a 1 cup measuring cup and fill almost all the way up. My waffle maker has different settings for different crust done-nesses so I've played around with them and on my favorite setting the waffles took about 6 minutes each.

Plate, and enjoy! I should have bought some strawberries and whipped cream, but they were just as good as with syrup!

Grandma Hillam's Waffles
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 TB honey or sugar
2 TB oil
2 cups milk
2 eggs, separated

Mix dry ingredients, then add honey or sugar, milk, egg yolks and oil; stir until just moistened. Whip egg whites into soft peaks and fold into batter. Ladle just under a cup of batter onto waffle maker and cook until done - watch for the steam to stop as a general indicator of doneness. Top with desired toppings and enjoy!

I'm already brainstorming green waffles for St. Patrick's day...I'm wondering how using Irish Cream coffee creamer in place of some of the milk would effect the batter. Worth a try!

So...I Suck

2010-08-29T19:16:00.000-07:00

I have been cooking a lot, especially now that I have a wonderful boyfriend to cook for. And I even have a good handful of pretty food pictures to post. Buuuuuuuut my computer is not connected to the internet. So I'm typing this on my wonderful boyfriend's computer...Which does not have my pictures on it. I'm trying to find a new place to move, which will hopefully have a big, wonderful, open, creative cooking vibe! I'm trying to concoct a dark chocolate chip cookie recipe; hopefully the results will be good enough to post!

Southern Style Strawberry Cake

2010-04-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

This is a really fun, easy, impressive cake to make. I found it while reading up on one of the best baking blogs EVER www.joythebaker.com. Joy is witty, adorable, and always has the best recipes. One day, when I have my dream kitchen, I'll make every single thing she's ever posted on her blog. For reals. Starting with this killer cake!

Southern Style Strawberry Cake

Cake:

1 (18.5 ounce) box white cake mix (without pudding)

1 (3 ounce) package strawberry jello

1 Tablespoon self rising flour

4 teaspoons granulated sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup fresh strawberries, finely diced.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, softened

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

2 (1 pound) boxes powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

pink food coloring

4 sliced strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the cake, combine to cake mix, Jello, flour and sugar in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition Add the water and strawberries and mix well. Divide the batter evenly into three 8-inch round baking pans that have been oiled and floured. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean and the layers pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer the layers from the oven to wire racks. Let them cool, still in their pans, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the inside edge of each pan, then unmold each layer onto the racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in a bowl combine the cream cheese and butter. Beat until soft and pliable and no lumps remain. Add one box of the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Beat until incorporated. Add the second box of sugar and mix until incorporated. If you would like a smoother consistency, and a slash of milk. If you would like a thicker consistency, and a bit more powdered sugar until the desired consistency is achieved.

Put the coconut in a small bowl and sprinkle with two or three drops of pink die. Mix with hands to distribute the color and wash hands immediately. Once the cake is frosted, decorate the top of the cake with the shredded coconut and sliced strawberries.

Enjoy!

Poor Man's Gumbo

2010-04-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

This dish is one of my favorite go-to recipes. It's simple to make, but has a great flavor and once you whip out the word "gumbo" around people, they get impressed.

Plus, it has bacon and bacon makes people happy.

So make someone happy and make them this today!

Like this happy guy

Or this dog. He's real good at begging.

Just don't slice your finger while trying to dice onions. It hurts and it makes it really hard to cook.

Poor Man's Gumbo
From Eveyday with Rachael Ray

12 slices bacon (about 1/2 pound)
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
One 12-ounce can solid white tuna packed in water
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon filé powder, such as Zatarain's
1-1/4 cups rice

In a large, heavy skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
Drain off all but 1/4 cup bacon fat and return the skillet to the heat. Add the celery and onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tuna and its liquid, tomato paste, jalapeño and 1 cup water and simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes. Whisk in the filé powder; remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring 2 1/4 cups salted water to a boil. Stir in the rice, cover, lower the heat and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Serve the gumbo over the rice and crumble the bacon on top.

I like to stir the bacon into the gumbo about half way into the 20 minute simmering, it gives the dish a good flavor. Also, I'd rather use red pepper flakes instead of the jalapeño. It didn't really add much taste or heat to the dish and the red pepper flakes give it a nice heat.

In honor of...

2010-02-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

...It being exactly 2 months since I have posted I'll just throw a bunch of pictures on here. I started this blog with the best of intentions but have since totally failed. I just don't have the time to sit down and create an amazing blog a la my sisters. I don't even know if anyone reads this, anyhow so it's not skin off my back. But I'm going to try and be better about posting on this thing and we'll see how that goes!

Sugar Cookie Madness

2009-12-24T15:25:00.000-08:00

Every year my family bakes up a frenzy of goodies to hand out to neighbors and fellow church goers...and to devour about half of them in the process. We've been using the same cookie recipe for years, and it's the best sugar cookie recipe I've ever had. The recipe was given to my mom by my Aunt Julie who got it from my Grandma Hillam, who got it from...Who knows! Give these cookies a try, you won't regret it!

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
1 1/2 cups margarine or butter
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
4 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 pound sour cream
9 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Cream margarine and sugar. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and sour cream, making sure to thoroughly incorporate each ingredient before moving on to the next. Add about half of the flour and mix, then add the salt and baking soda. Then add the other half of the flour and mix until it is nice and smooth. (If you're as lucky as my mother and have an amazing Bosch, use that. If not, your hand mixer is the best bet!) The cookie dough will be sticky, don't over mix!

Flour your counter and rolling pin, and turn cookie down out onto floured surface. Roll to desired thickness. (we like to roll ours out a little thicker than normal, it makes for a yummy, fluffy cookie!) Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. You may have to play around with your oven, but don't over cook them! If they are right they'll stay soft and fluffy for days!

We frost and decorate ours with store bought frosting made pretty and yummy with extracts and food coloring. Copy us or make your own, frosting is easier than you think!

Christmas Goodies

2009-12-20T19:08:00.001-08:00

Christmas and all that it entails is my favorite holiday of the year. Since graduating and moving away from home, I think that coming home for Christmas each year is the one thing I look forward to all the year long. My mom and I plot and plan what goodies we're going to make and give away, and which we're going to just keep for ourselves! Every year we bake up tons of goodies and plate them up for neighbors, church friends, and pretty much anyone who asks for them. We started in on the baking tonight, and this is the product of that!

My mother's usually spotless counter covered in gadgets and flour...Or is the powdered sugar?

Mexican Wedding cookies, about to go into the oven (after being put on a cookie sheet, of course!)

And...Mexican Wedding cookies, hot out of the oven!

My mom's famed "Sienna Bread" rising and waiting their turns in the oven

The caramel that yours truly made, by herself and from SCRATCH!
I'm not known for my willpower when it comes to food, but it positively MELTS under the spell of home made caramel! Usually we'll wrap a bit of marshmallow with the caramel and stick it in a square of wax paper, but I just wanted plain old caramels this year!
This was a new recipe, and a little odd, but it was fun to make! I got it from the December/January edition of Country Living, and you can also find the recipe at
http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/vanilla-caramels-recipe?click=recipe_sr

Vanilla Caramels
Makes: 60 pieces
Working time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 1/2 hours

Vegetable oil, for greasing (I'm lazy, I used Pam)
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Line an 9 inch square pan with foil and generously brush with vegetable oil. Set aside. In a medium saucepan over high heat, cook sugar, without stirring, until it begins to melt and bubble. Using a metal spoon, stir until completely melted, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add cream (sugar will seize into a solid mass). Add butter and corn syrup. Fit a candy thermometer to saucepan, return to stove top and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until mixture liquefies, about 30 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until caramel mixture reaches 238 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove pan from heat; stir in vanilla extract. Carefully pour hot caramel into prepared pan. Using a spatula coated in vegetable oil, smooth any bubbles on surface. Cool caramel until firm but still lightly warm, about 35 minutes. Life caramel from pan and peel away foil. Place on an oiled cutting board and cut into 1 inch squares, using an oiled knife.

About Me

2009-12-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

My name is Ashlee, and I'm at 24 year old single mom living in San Bernardino, CA. I grew up near Seattle, Washington with a Mormon Martha Stewart of a mother who is my absolute hero and a insanely creative sister who you can find here

.After months of debating I've finally decided to vamp up my creativity with a cooking and baking blog. I've always loved to cook and have been able to turn out a pretty tasty dinner and amazing dessert, if I do say so myself. I'd like to get to the point where I'm able to make up my own recipes and also become a really good baker.
Right now I'm in Washington visiting my family for Christmas, so you'll get to see all of the goodies that we make during Christmas! This year we're going to try our hand at some fancy candies and goodies, so stay tuned!