Bagel Sunday

I did it!

I brought Bagel Sunday back into our lives!

Having tried to make bagels a few times before, I wasn't very optimistic, but with my latest infatuation with cream cheese, I figured I'd give it another go using a recipe from about.com and they worked.

Don't get me wrong,I'd rather pay a buck for a Noah's or Old New York Deli bagel, but these don't suck, either. 

Even more noteworthy, I may finally be mastering the yeast beast that's been my nemesis for years (although really,I think patience with yeast is more likely my nemesis...I hate waiting for things to rise!).

Lets see if  next week's batch is equally successful.

Recipe:

http://kosherfood.about.com/od/kosherbreadrecipes/r/bagels.htm

{Eat yo' veggies} muffins

Although our son has a healthy appetite and will try anything once, I am always trying to find ways to get his veggies in. There's only so many goldfish I'm willing to let him jam in his face. If only goldfish crackers were made with veggies. Sigh.

A friend of mine here has a picky eater, and she concocted some pumpkin muffins into toddler muffins packed with veggies that her son will actually eat. I decided I would try my hand at it too.

Here's what I came up with:

Eat yo' veggies muffins
 (adapted from Runner's World magazine)

2 1/2 cups  flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce ( replaced oil and butter and added sweetness)
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup pureed or mashed cooked sweet potato
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk ( made by adding 1/2 TBSP lemon juice to lowfat milk and letting it sit 10 minutes)

Heat oven to 375&deg F. Grease 12 muffin cups or add paper liners.

Combine flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

In a bowl, whisk applesauce, sweet potato, egg, and buttermilk. Fold wet mixture into the dry; stir until just combined.

Fill muffin cups three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

And as expected, Sal annihilated them. I will say, as an adult, these are not very tasty ( no sugar in a muffin? Puh-lease!) but for a toddler that doesn't know any different, these were the best muffins ever and earned me a gold star in his book.

If you try them, let me know how your kids like them. Feedback is always appreciated.

Don't lay a finger....

...On my knock off Butterfinger!

Yep, that's right..I've been a recipe trial fiend this week. Corn Dogs AND homemade butterfingers, all in one week...I'm getting crazy here!

The recipe for knock-off butterfingers is so easy, it's hard to believe that just THREE ingredients and a microwave are necessary.

You ready for this??

KNOCK OFF BUTTERFINGER

16 oz. candycorn (if you wait till after the 31st it usually sells for 75% off at CVS)

16 oz. peanut butter ( the cheap stuff)

milk chocolate candy melts ( available at most craft stores in the baking area)

And here's how the magic happens...

1. Using a microwave safe tupperware, melt candy corn at 30 sec intervals until fully melted.

2. Mix in peanut butter

3. Pour out onto a silpat or silicone baking mat ( wax paper would work fine too). Shape into a rectangle measuring about 1/4 inch high.

4. Cut into bar lengths while still warm.

5. Chill in refrigerator for 1-2 hours, until cool.

6. Separate bars, leaving them on the silicone mat

7. melt chocolate over double boiler or in microwave as directed on package. I thinned mine with vegetable oil to make it coat easier.

8. Using spatula, and working quickly, spread melted chocolate on top of each bar. The consistency should drip down the sides of the bar enough to coat.

9. Chill in refrigerator to set.

Final Step: Share them before you eat them all!

..and just to share that I am far from perfect...I had some unmelted candy corns in my last batch--this people, is called impatience...one of my downfalls..but they still tasted good!

Apple Slab

Ahhh, fall.

I love you.

..and your apples.

I decided I needed to make our house smell fall-ish by baking something...

...with apples..

I have had a King Arthur Apple Slab Recipe "pinned" ( Have I mentioned I might have a little pinterest problem?? Uhm, yeah--love that site!) for about a month now, and I would start my fall baking extra-curriculars with this delicious looking dessert.

There are so many great apple varieties out there.. I went with granny smiths (plus they were on sale for 49 cents/ lb at Sprouts) for this project because I love the

tartness of them.

Pictured below: Apple slices layered over pastry crust ( store bought, I cheated) and panko crumbs, then covered in a sugar cinnamon mixture.

Next step, cover with top layer of pastry crust and pierce top randomly to let steam escape.

Bake.

Drizzle maple or apple cider glaze while still warm.

Slice and serve.

Welcome Fall!

Wedding Cake: Final product

After a nightmarish baking day on saturday which lasted from 9:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. at my house and continued on well until midnight at my sister's house to complete the 12 inch layer.

We did it, we actually pulled it off with time to spare. Sunday was a complete 180 from our experience on Saturday...Thank goodness!

Set up was a breeze, the wedding was gorgeous, and I am thrilled that my sister and I kept our cool when the kitchen got hot and walked away from this experience happy and still loving each other.

More pics later, but this girl is T-i-r-e-d!

Wedding Cake: Day 1

My sister came over at 9:30 a.m. to get started baking a red velvet and cream cheese 3 tier wedding cake with me this morning. We have been anticipating this challenge for months, and today was THE day to get it done. We started off laughing, joking, picture taking...and then...It was one disaster after another. After spending 4 hours on the 12 inch round, we trashed it..There was no saving it, as the cream cheese in the frosting caused the cake layers to slide apart which would have caused each tier to lean like the tower of Pisa.

We ended up trashing 2 cakes today..and throwing the cream cheese frosting idea out the window once my sister realized that the heat and cream cheese do not mix. So, unfortunately, to save the cake and make one that will look and taste nice tomorrow, we made buttercream frosting to frost the remaining cakes.

Today was the worst day of baking, ever.

Stay tuned for round TWO tomorrow..Everything will come together and it's going to be gorgeous!

Lem'me see your Tootsie roll

These were/have been one of my all-time favorite candies, ever. Neccos trumped them for a long while, but ever since New England Candy Co. changed their Necco recipe, I'm giving tootsie rolls a major lead in the "best candy ever" category.

One of my BFF's, Sara aka. "Ma'am", sent me this recipe a long long time ago, and I used to make these and homemade Cadbury Eggs ( only my Cadbury eggs did not turn out so egg-like, but they tasted good!..that's a whole nother post.) all the time...until I got onto a health kick, and my sunshine and I pretty much banned anything but veggies, rice, potatoes, meat and egg whites from our shopping list.

Now that we're back to living life as normal people who eat just about anything, including sugar ( sugar makes everything better...so does ranch..but don't get me started), I wanted to make something fun..and so I pulled out my trusty ol Tootsie Roll recipe and got to work tonight.

For those adventurous enough to make their own, the recipe can be found here...(courtesy of Allrecipes.com). I tried something new tonight, and it worked like a charm..wanna know what I did?

Sure you do.

I poured all of the ingredients into a Sturdy Gallon Size Ziploc, and kneaded the "dough" together through the bag, until it was mostly combined. Once it was like "clay", I dumped it out onto my silicone baking mat which was covered in powdered sugar, and kneaded it a bit more..Then I divided it into 4 sections, and rolled each into a rope, then cut pieces off and wrapped them in wax paper squares.

And voila, There you have your tootsie roll!

For the love of PB&J

Here's a snipet of the guest blog I did for my sister @ Sweetcreationsbystephanie.com...Check her blog out for the recipe to these delicious summertime cookies.

Packaging Cake Pops

Thanks to Bakerella, I love making cake balls and cake pops. I discovered their greatness last year when my college girlfriends were in town, and one of them was talking about yummy cakeballs. I googled "cake ball" and that's how I found Bakerella's website, and it was choc full of those sugar bullets.

Fast forward a year...and I still like making them, but usually opt for cakeballs due to the ease of transporting them vs. the pops.

I recently saw a cute gift giving idea using what I suspect to be floral block (or styrofoam) in a cute basket, which acted as a base for keeping the cake pops steady and upright.

After a quick trip to the Dollar Tree, I found a basket, a piece of floral block, and a cellophane basket wrapper for a grand total of $3. I decided I was going to make a cake pop stand myself. if it flopped, at least I only spent $3, right?

Step 1: evenly space and mark floral block 1" from edge. I made room for 8 pops.

Step two: trace and cut out the same size circle out of scrapbook paper. Place on top of the floral block, mark where the holes are, and use a hole punch to punch out holes to match with the holes in the floral block. ( As you can see, I used a ballpoint pen to push through a hole..lesson learned, ballpoint pens don't make clean punches)Step 3: Put the foam block covered in scrapbook paper into the basket. I used a round floral block and round basket which measured just a 1/2 inch larger around. (No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, I switched the girly floral paper for manly navy blue to go with the basket). Add cake pops to the basket. Step 4: Wrap with cellophane and tie a bow. Voila! A smile in a basket that can be delivered with ease. This one's headed to a High School Grad tomorrow night.

All American Apple Pie

With my father-in-law's Birthday approaching, I asked him what he'd like for his Birthday dessert, and his answer was apple pie. I used Paula Deen's apple pie filling recipe filled with tart Granny Smith's. He loves sailing, so I opted to give this pie a nautical twist by simply rolling out the excess dough and using an cookie cutter to cut the anchor shape out. A quick egg wash and into the oven, and voila! A Sailoriffic pie for my one-and-only father-in-law.