Weekend Projects

These are some of the items I did over the weekend. The first is the Pina Colada Cake for my aunts birthday. I got the first recipe from a magazine. They used chocolate cake, I used a cake mixture to make the cake  taste like Pina Colada.  The second is a very simple candy mold that I used with pretzels. Every one loved the items and they were gone in under 15 min.

Beer Pretzels Caramels

I got this recipe from Food Network Mag. I have tried it twice with the same end result. I would love to know what they did. Each time my caramels formed but did not hold  their shape. Both times the beer tasted good with them, but in the end after the listed refridgerated time, they were cut and then lost  their shape. Any suggestions I am open. If food network reads this on Twitter. Please what am I doing wrong?

Second attempt on the pretzels

Zucchini Cobbler

This was another recipe given to me to help me use up all the zucchini that I have just recived.So easy to do. I wound up having so much that it made two nine inch pies. I par boiled the zucchini in water first then drained it. Then I added the lemon juice cooked it til its soft. Then I added 1 cup sugar, a little extra this time because of the amount of zucchini, cinnamon, mace and some cardamon. The the crumb on top and bottom and bake for 45 min. No longer or the yummie liquid bubbles over. I have been told it tastes just like apple cobbler.

Crumbler is
4 c of flour
2c of sugar
3 sticks of butter. not margine, if you use margarin it doesnt taste the same.

The Great Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

 Ok here is the recipe everyone has been asking for. If you have trouble or have questions shoot me an email and I will see what I can do to respond in a timely fashion. Hope it all comes out great for you like it did for me.

 

 

4cups flour - All purpose

2 cups oat meal - quick cooking

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1`/2 cup (3 sticks) soften butter

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 can (16 oz) libby's pumpkin

1 12 oz pkg of chocolate chips

 

Cream butter and sugars. Then add the egg and vanilla.Add pumpkin, oatmeal, salt, spices and flour. After your done with the mixer, add the choclate chips in then mix by hand or spatchula. At this point I like to refridgerate it about an hour to keep it from spreading too much. Bake on parchment line baking sheets.. Preheat oven to 350 and bake cookies for10-12 min.. Cool completely Frost if  you like with cream cheese frosting see below.

 

 

Cream cheese frosting

1 stick of butter

1lb of powdered sugar

1- 8oz pkg of cream cheese, soften

blend together. add flavoring if you choose.

The Great Pumpkin Cookies

These are the pumpkin cookies that my Aunt Carol gave me the recipe for. Each batch usually makes about 9 doz or so. Depends on how big you want them. Its fall and time to break out the pumpkin, and apples and start making all the yummy goodness that goes with the chilly weather. These are good by them selves or with cream cheese frosting. I can never seem to keep them in my house longer than 3 days. They are like an oatmeal raisin cookie crossed with a pumpkin pie. I make mine small so they are bite size. I'm sure there is a way to reduce fat and sugar, but I don't think that the cookies would have the same taste. In the spirit of Paula Dean, its all butter and no substitutes. As soon as I dig out the recipe I will post it.

Happy Eating.

Apple Holler

This was an interesting place I saw on the drive home one day. We stopped there today to check it out. I would tell everyone to be prepared for it to be very crowded. There were cars lining the sides of the frontage road  for this place. It is a very neat place. They have restaurant, gift shop, then an out side grill and live entertainment. Also it is an orchard you can go and pick apples, peaches, pumpkins, pears. They also have a huge play area for the kids. Some of it is free with admission and other items you need tickets for. The restaurant is buffet only on weekends. It was a bit pricy for 2 kids and 2 adults. I would like to see their normal menu when it is not so busy. The decor was country. Most of the items on the wall were for sale, but the restaurant was attached to a gift store and bakery. Outside they had many areas where you could stop and take photos. Those wooden cut outs that you put your head through. I am sorry some of the inside photos are dark and blurry because of so many people and the dim ligh conditions. I would say this is a place I would go back to. Our family had a lot of fun. There is so much to do there it is an entire day trip there. So plan ahead and be prepared. Its a farm and orchard so I would not reccomend your Sunday best clothes.

If you got a place you want me to check out, Email me about it.

Zucchini Cream Pie

Thanks Aunt Carol for another great recipe! I wasn't so sure in the beginning about zucchini in a cream pie, but wow it turned out great. The only thing I would change is where the cinnamon and nutmeg come in. The recipe says to put them on top. I think they need to go into the mixture. A little too over powering on top. But that is for the next time I make this. I will give this recipe out if  you email me. Great way to incorporate veggies into a sweet treat.

Meet the Su Chefs

Hi, I figured I would introduce everyone to the extra help in the kitchen. These are the inspiration that keeps me going. Yes, they get into everything at times, but they make this journey fun and exciting. Cass is the youngest and Taz is the oldest. Great taste testers too. I have to add my husband has been a great help as well. They bring me up when I am stuck and frustrated. I hope to bring you some of the silly stories of the kitchen.

Old Chicago

This place we have seen many times driving through Rockford, IL. It was our usual Sunday drive, and we decided to stop. It helped that the Bears game was about to start and this place was showing it. It was a nice clean restaurant.It was a lot bigger on the inside than I would have thought from the outside. The booth dividers were old basement windows. Old Chicago, had a lot of Chicago memorabilia around the room to include CTA signs for the Cubs and Sox.  The menu was simple. Very Italian and bar food. The had some interesting menu items. We tried the Italian nachos and the Thai Pie. Very good.The Italian Nachos were part of a sampler platter. The sausage on them was a little spicy, but good. The Thai Pie had fresh vegetables with Thai Chili sauce on it. The heat really didn't hit me until the third bite. It wasn't so hot that I couldn't finish just that middle of the tongue heat.  The price wasn't too bad for 2 kids and 2 adults. I would go back to this place again. They had local, national and international  beers posted on a wall as well as the menu. If your into sampling beer, they offered a beer sampler. They had 3 a local one, a national one and a international one. I thought it might be fun to try on a day I did not have the kids with me.

Have a place you want me to check out? Let me know.

Zucchini Patties

Thanks to my Aunt. I found another way to use zucchini. Its a great starch substitute. Its very similar to potatoe pancakes. I added some North wood seasoning that I had gotten from Penzey's. It tastes earthy with a little kick to it. So it was a great complement to the zucchini. I want to say the recipe she gave me made a good stack of them. I found that my daughter loves them cold. So this is one way to get her to eat vegetables. All around it was a good find .

Happy Eating.

Disclaimer

Since I have been posting, I have a couple people ask for the recipes I post. I do not mind giving some of the recipes, but I will not give up a lot them. Most are family recipes that were given to me and others are ones that I have found along the way that I have changed to fit my need and tastes. This is not to offend anyone, I really want to make a business out of this eventually and I do not want to give up my secrets. I am great full to the people who have helped me along the way but some of these just aren't ever going to leave the secret recipe box.  Thank you again for understanding.

What to do with left over cake crumbs.

I had left over shaving from my cheese burger cake. So I crumbled them and put them in a bowl with some frosting and other goodies. and made instant cake balls.When you form them into balls, let them sit in the fridge for a few hours to firm up before dipping into candy coating. Plain and simple. These in the picture happen to be chocolate caramel.

Happy Eating.

Projects for the month

So this month I have planned to help with a surprise party. I will be making a Tiki cake, Asian chicken salad, and ham and cheese pastry ring. I also would like to begin working on Halloween cake pops and Oktoberfest Fitems like Beer pretzel caramels and German Chocolate Cake Balls. So stay tuned to see what pops up on here.  Long list of to do's. Lets see how much I can get done.

Cheese Burger Cake

So I did my first big cake. Being that's its Labor Day, and its one of the biggest and last out door grilling holidays, I did a cheese burger. It took me 6 hours. That's prep, baking, and making all the items to go with it  and assembly. I did a crumb coat then  a final coat. I am really proud of this cake. I would also highly recommend Duff's fondant if you are short on time and can't make your own. The stuff is amazing and easy to work with. It is a bit expensive, but highly worth it. You have to play with the heating instructions a bit. Its good tasting and does not have that fake, plastic taste. That being said. If anyone wants a cake, I am up to the challenge of making them for you.

Burbon Grilled Pork Chop

Tonight's dinner was Bourbon  Barbecued Pork Chops. Every thing for this was done on the grill. Or at least I tried to do most of it on the grill. I cut up purple sweet onions and tomatoes and grilled them. The sauce consists of bourbon, brown sugar, ginger, apple cider vinegar, and garlic. I am not a big fan of raw tomatoes and I have had my mind changed about this recipe. The tomatoes came out so juicy and sweet. I could say they were more like a very sweet ripe fruit that was warmed and grilled. The chops were a little over done because I could not finish it all on the grill I had to switch to the broiler. My fault, not the recipe. Over all it was a good meal. I served the grilled veggies and chops with a side of broccoli stir fry vegetables.

Cinnamon Rolls

Last night I got a little bit of energy and decided to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. It was a lot of work for never having to really deal with waiting for dough to be ready. Then once I got moving, it wasn't so bad. The whole house now smells of cinnamon sweet goodies. I will post a pictures as soon as my slow moving computer catches up to me.


Happy Eating.

Korean Style Short Ribs

My husband had brought me home some meat from the PX up where he is at. He found Korean style short ribs. I found a marinade for them. So that is tonight's project. I will post pictures when I get it all together. Wish me luck. They look very different from what I am used to. Any suggestions that is welcomed too.

Happy Eating

7 1/2lb Zucchini

My nice nurse at the dr office, had grown  too much zucchini and was had given me 3 of them to take home I have plans for them. A cobbler, a cream pie and some lasagna. I could not believe how big they were. Hopefully it will all come out and taste great. I will update when I get pictures.

Happy Eating.