Jenny Mac's Lip Smack

French Toast Casserole

2011-12-24T11:06:00.001-05:00

My present to you is something simple to pop in the oven on Christmas Morning. This casserole is soft, buttery and so yummy. Oh did I mention it's easy to make?

French Toast Casserole
from JennyMac Lipsmack

1 loaf french bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (10 cups)
8 eggs
3 cups half and half (or cream if you want it silky rich)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 strips of bacon, cooked and broken into pieces.
Topping:
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
maple syrup

Using a serrated knife cube your french bread into one inch pieces.
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add bread and mix with egg mixture to coat. Add bacon pieces and mix again.

Grease a 13X9 baking dish (those non stick glass ones are awesome). Pour all your eggy bready bacony mixture into the baking dish. Cover and place in fridge overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover and give the bread another stir. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar all over the bread cubes and dot with butter. Cover with non stick foil and bake for 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Serve with maple syrup.
So rich and creamy, I love the smokey bacon with the sweet maple and the not really sweet eggy bread.

Cooks Notes:

1. Do not cut off that fabulous crust. This recipe is awesome even with a day old loaf. I bought my bread on Tuesday and prepped this Friday afternoon. Yes, it was 'sketchy' to cut however my fingers all remained intact.
2. If you have homemade vanilla sugar hanging around like I FORGOT to use, this would be the ideal time to use it.
3. I am going to try this again with some toasted pecans on top....YUM!!!!

Post Script.....
I hope you all are healthy and WARM this holiday season! We've had a tough few weeks with no heat. Our house was built in 1959. We bought it 5 years ago knowing that the 3 Horsemen of the Homeowner's Apocalypse (the furnace, A/C and hot water heater) were OLD. We feel we were truly blessed from this whole ordeal. The Carbon Monoxide detector has been going off since last year and we were being stubborn and complacent. We thought the detector was probably old...took it down, replaced it. It didn't go off again....few months later it went off...."oh the batteries probably need to be replaced" (um, there is a signal for THAT by the way on the detector). All the while the detector was going off during the middle of the night waking us up @ 3 in the morning. The one night K-man was working through the night on a water main break and I was home alone the detector went off one hour after I turned on the heat when I came home from work. This was odd. I called K-man....what do I do? (WHAT, WHERE was my brain?- mmmm, fuzzy from fumes perhaps?)
I called the Fire Dept and waited with my neighbor outside for them to arrive. I let them in the front door and watched them come in with their CO monitor in hand. As soon as he stepped in it beeped and he said It's 148! Pointed to me. "YOU- Get out." What you may or may not know, BELOW 35 ppm (parts per million) is okay but anything above that is considered toxic and potentially lethal. I was sitting in a house where the million of the oxygen molecules were tainted with 148 carbon monoxide ones!....I had no headache, no nausea, no vomiting, wasn't sleepy....however my common sense and get up and go safety know-how was stagnant. I remember just standing there with K-man on the phone, listening to him tell me what to do and thinking/pouting...."why can't he be here and do this?" I NEVER THINK like THAT....Add the symptom of DELERIUM to list from CO exposure. Alas, a cracked heater exchange on a circa 1988 furnace was the cause.
Anyway.....since major appliances like the furnace, A/C and hot water heater a big to-do, located near one another and connected (via gas) and were ALL old. Bundle the price, work....replace them all at once. Holy crap. 1988= furnace and HWH but the A/C was the original install! None of the houses in our development had A/C originally and the original owner of our house finally broke down in the 60's to put it in. The estimator said it was a miracle we've been having any A/C in the past summers because this model belonged in a museum. LOL. So there you have it....an $11,000 to our wallet during the holidays. LOVELY. Bottom Line....YOU ALL NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A CO DETECTOR IN YOUR HOUSE AND CALL 911 IF IT GOES OFF....we are so lucky to be alive.

Enjoying our warmth and feeling blessed, we wish the very same to you as 2011 comes to a close....

POST POST SCRIPT....thanks Anonymous commenter for your tip on correcting my error on the difference between carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Clearly my brain was still not functioning right in writing this post since I DO know my chemical elements and their abbreviations usually. But thanks for your CONCERN.

Sausage, Egg and Biscuit Casserole...

2011-11-09T15:34:00.005-05:00

For Dinner? Yes!!!! Why do we feel the societal conformity that eggs, sausage/bacon and biscuits must be eaten for breakfast only and if we eat them for dinner that somehow it is weird or breaking some rule? Is the 'breakfast police' gonna break your door down saying "I'm sorry ma'am you are violating the law by eating waffles, pancakes or eggs for dinner!" LOL. Even though I had eggs for dinner growing up we still regard eggs for dinner as some guilty pleasure. Like eating cookies would spoil our appetite before a meal. So silly, isn't it?

I found this recipe in Cuisine Magazine . It's a magazine solely of recipes with no ads.
I tweaked a wonderfully sinful sausage and egg casserole I think you'd love.

Sausage, Egg and Biscuit Casserole
adapted from Cuisine Magazine by JennyMac Lipsmack

1 lb. sausage or bacon
7 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
8 biscuits (canned, leftover homemade ones that are a bit stale, frozen, bakery, what you like best)
1-1/2 cups shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 7X11 baking dish with nonstick spray. Brown sausage or cook bacon until brown/crispy. Transfer to paper towel to absorb excess grease.

In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, cream, salt and pepper.

Split biscuits in half and layer bottoms in greased dish. Sprinkle sausage/bacon over biscuits and top with 3/4 cup of cheese. Cover with biscuits tops and pour egg mixture over top.

TIME to make a decision.... EAT this NOW or tomorrow morning?

Eating now.....Bake for 30 minutes or until eggs are set (165 degrees) and no longer jiggly. Cover with cheese and cook for another 10 minutes. Let casserole stand for 10 minutes.

Eating tomorrow.....Cover with foil. Place and bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes until eggs are set. Uncover and place on 3/4 cup of cheese or until melted.

DELISH!!!!

Cook's Notes:
This dish also came with a sage gravy recipe. Any white sauce is butter, flour and milk or cream (depending how rich you want it) but I really felt this recipe was PLENTY rich and didn't really need it.
I was right, plenty moist, rich custardy eggs with cheese....a rich white sauce just made my arteries feel threatened to close.
K-man was OVER the moon with this tasty dish. I felt so guilty from eating it that I felt we should be eating some salad or fruit with it. K-man shook his head and said "just gimme TWO!"

Big Game Food

2011-11-06T13:12:00.004-05:00

The Skins have a big game today. They have lost the past 3 games, and they have been playing kinda 'eh' these days but just because your team is being 'eh' doesn't mean your "game food" has to be 'eh' too.

We love nachos but none with the canned cheese like they serve typically at stadiums. Yuck. Nachos are fun because you can tweak them so many different ways.

Super Deluxe Nachos

1 lb. SHAVED beef (this is the good quality super thin sliced beef your butcher does, similar to 'steak-um beef' but don't use that unless you are desperate.)
1 envelope Taco Seasoning
1 cup frozen corn
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
shredded cheese
Your favorite tortilla chips
Fresh salsa (I usually make my own but the summer tomatoes are gone)
Chopped Jalapenos (I used three, seeded and deveined)
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook your beef with Taco seasoning. Add corn so it will thaw. When beef is cooked add beans. Cover baking sheet with non stick foil. Layer chips on foil and hearty handfuls of cheese. Add layer of hot beef and corn mixture. Add more cheese on top of beef. Place in oven just long enough to melt cheese. About 10 minutes.
Sprinkle on fresh salsa, scoops of sour cream and jalapenos (don't forget all dairy is the ANTIDOTE for the jalapeno evils).

YUM! Have plenty of napkins, your favorite beverage of choice and you will have a happy tummy regardless of how your team plays!

Enjoy!

Nice to be appreciated...

2011-10-23T13:03:00.005-04:00

...And I appreciate YOU Katie. Thank YOU!

Some of you may have noticed that I've been dormant for a bit. I have highs and lows about my food blogging. I went strong for about a year and then perhaps a few 'know-it-alls' would comment negatively and it would bug me. Of course I know my stuff and think many people who do make rude, negative comments are idiots generally and don't know what the HELL they are talking about but these comments did trigger an overall feeling of 'why bother' blogging?

One person emailed me a few months ago..."I see you haven't posted in awhile....I guess you threw in the towel"....

Lovely.

I even stopped experimenting with fun recipes for meals for I let the negativity thwart my adventurous juices to get out and try new fun stuff. K-man will be just fine with basics...spaghetti one night, hamburgers on the grill....he was but occasionally he'd HINT about a meal. "This should go on your blog" I felt I lost my mojo. I went and found a new friend on the WWW and started playing Facebook games....they care about me! Yeah, they want me to send them stuff to get farther in the gaming. Two my foodie blog friends who were playing stopping playing the games and devoted their time in blogging....I knew that Cafe World was NOT appropriate replacement for REAL food.

TODAY I got this email (pasted word for word):

Hi Jenny, I just want to send you a quick note to let you know that I found
your blog linked through the Pioneer Woman's blog, (WHAT? I didn't know I was on there?) via your baked Salami and Mozzarella egg rolls. I just started reading your blog and I absolutely LOVE it. It's easy, fun and it makes me feel like I can cook everything myself. I am obsessed with all these wonderful food blogs out there lately, and I recently read your post about how you had been down on yourself and you felt like no one would notice if you stopped blogging. Well, now..I will notice!
I will be constantly checking your fab blog for fun recipes to make for my fiance. I am pumped to make him the jalapeno and sausage breakfast strudel! Especially since he hates anything sweet! (Party pooper!) So thanks for keeping people like me, who aren't confident enough to start my own Foodie blog, inspired enough to give these amazing recipes a whirl in our own kitchens!! So keep up the amazing work and have a wonderful day!! -Katie

AWWWWW. Katie you are so sweet! That really made my day.

I really need to stop letting my inner demons take over and just go with the flow...When something good is happening in the kitchen....blog it about it.

Luckily today with the game coming on I was making something fun to munch on:

Sweet and Spicy Meatballs
JennyMac Lipsmack Creation

1 bottle Heinz chili sauce
1 small jar of grape jelly
1 small jar of jalapeno jelly
3 packages of premade beef meatballs (they had about 12 per package)
1/2 onion minced in food processor
4 jalapenos, deveined and seeded, minced in food processor

Place all meatballs in the the crockpot. Place sauce and jellies on top. Don't worry about mixing it. When the inside gets hot enough to melt everything, THEN you can mix it. Add minced onion and peppers. Cook on HIGH until sauce is thickened and meatballs are coated. Eat with toothpicks as appetizer or as K-man wanted just some bread on the side.

Enjoy!

Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

2011-03-20T14:00:00.001-04:00

Not only do I get my recipe ideas from recipe websites and food blogs but also from the culinary mysteries I read. This recipe was from the last installment of Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke. Good stuff (story and recipes, that is)!

Carrot Oatmeal Muffins
adapted from Devil's Food Cake Murder Novel

1 and 1/2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal (I used rolled oats but she used quick oats....I enjoyed the heartiness of the rolled oats)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup FINELY shredded carrots (pack them down when you measure)
1/2 cup raisins (soaked in warm water at the start of the recipe)
1/2 cup milk (fat free was fine)
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts/pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)

Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or 24 mini muffin pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and oatmeal. Sprinkle the baking powder, soda and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.

Stir in brown sugar, Mix until everything is blended.

Shred carrots on the small holes on the grater. Fine shred is best. You want them to cook in the same time it takes the muffins to bake and turn golden brown. Add the carrots and raisins to your bowl. Mix.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, beaten egg, melted butter and vanilla. Give a stir until all combined.

Add the wet to the dry and gently stir until the dry are moistened and no dry pockets remain. Fill muffin cups with ice cream scooper. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes for regular muffin tin. Bake 15-20 for the mini. OR until toothpick comes out clean.

Set the muffin pan on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. This cooling process is essential because if you try to take the muffins out of the muffin cups now they may break in pieces- YES, they are that moist!

Makes 12 truly EXCELLENT muffins or 24 AWESOME mini muffins.

Mad for Moist Muffins,

BAKED Salami and Mozzarella Egg Rolls

2011-03-18T13:00:00.000-04:00

Did you know that you don't have to FRY an egg roll? I saw these beauties on Kaitlin in the Kitchen blog and she saw it on Guy's Big Bite. Fun twist on egg rolls, great appetizer....until I remember...you don't have to deep fat fry egg rolls I discovered last year. Very crunchy and doesn't get SOGGY! Here's how it works....

Baked Salami and Mozzarella Egg Rolls

2 Eggs
12 oz. jalapeno mozzarella cheese sticks (12 in a bag)
24 Slices Thin Salami
24 Egg Roll Wrappers
oil for coating

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl beat your eggs until combined. Unwrap your string cheese and cut each one in half. Lay a egg roll wrapper down on a flat surface and brush each side with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Place a piece of salami in the middle of the wrapper, and then 1 piece of the string cheese at the bottom of the piece of salami. Roll the wrapper up from the bottom until piece of cheese is covered, then stop and fold in each side, then continue rolling it and make sure it's sealed well. Repeat until you are done or run out of an ingredient (I had leftover salami but no extra cheese or wrappers- I think I may have eaten one stick?). Place each egg rolls on a baking sheet brush with vegetable oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Cook's Notes:
1. Don't overbake, they will start to bust open and ooze cheese. But I didn't mind the oozy cheese for those crusty puddles are an appetizer in itself!
2. These will be so crunchy that refrigerating the leftovers will NOT make them soggy, great for reheating the next day!
3. Suggested dipping sauce- marinara!
4. Did NOT miss the greasiness or calories!
5. Gonna try another version with ham or roast beef.....

Enjoy!

Irish Limey Bars

2011-03-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

Well, they aren't Irish but they are green from the lime....just in time for St. Patty's Day!

So you know you classic lemon bar recipe? Ever change it up and use lime instead? If you bring a GREEN dessert to work, no one will pinch you for not wearing green...but HUG you because they are soooooooooooo delicious.

Limey Bars

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup lime juice
zest from 3 limes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Mix 2 cups of flour and confectioner's sugar together. Cut in the butter or margarine. Mix well until the dough resembles pie dough consistency. Press the dough into a 9x13 inch baking pan.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Beat together eggs, sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, lime juice and lime rind for at least 1 minute. Pour the mixture over the baked crust.
5. Bake the bars another 20 minutes, or until the lime topping has set. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar when cooled.

Cook's Notes:
1. Awesome, nicely tart. Thick buttery, shortbread-like crunchy crust. Perfect.
2. Next to the title of the recipe, you can SEE the lime bits....it's wonderful. BUT, you may NOT get 1/2 lime juice from those 3 limes. You may have to supplement with the bottled lime juice. You know how limes are, big on flavor, little on juice. I rolled them, microwaved them for 30 sec. and still got only 1/4 cup of lime juice with all THREE, cheap bastids!
3. Go ahead use those limes you are saving for your cocktails....you got everything else in your fridge/pantry!

Happy St Patty's Day!

Copycatting the DO-si-Do Girl Scout Cookie

2011-03-14T15:00:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year when the Girl Scouts are delivering their cookies...unless you have a forgetful Girl Scout dad who is supposed to be delivering the goods to your place of work and he misplaces the order form and there is a DELAY in your cookie order. Torture. I remembered some copycat Girl Scout recipes on Baking Bites and thought I'd give her Do-SI-Do's a try.

Homemade Girl Scout Cookie: Do-si-Do
from Baking Bites

Cookies:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant or regular)

Filling:
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 350F.
Start with the cookies. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter. Beat in the sugars until fluffy, then add in the eggs one at a time, waiting until each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Stir in vanilla extract.
Working at a low speed, mix in the flour, followed by the oats (if you don’t have quick-cooking, pulse whole rolled oats in the food processor to chop them up a bit).
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, drop teaspoonfuls of batter (roughly 3/4-in. sized balls), leaving about 2 inches between each to allow for spread.
Bake for about 10 minutes, until cookies are a light golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, making small holes in 1/2 of the cookies (for the tops of the sandwiches) before they set up. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cookies have cooled, make the filling.
In a large bowl, cream together smooth peanut butter, butter and confectioners’ sugar until very smooth. Spread 2-3 tsp onto half of the finished cookies and sandwich with the remaining halves. If you chose to make yours with GS-lookalike holes in some of the cookies, use these as the tops of the sandwiches.
Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 48 sandwich cookies.

Note: Use unsalted butter with this recipe, as different brands of peanut butter can vary hugely in salt content and it’s possible you’ll end up with a too-salty cookie with the salted butter, salted peanut butter and added salt. If you must use salted butter and are using brand of peanut butter that seems a bit salty, you can always reduce or eliminate the added salt. Personally, I like the salty sweet combination with peanut butter, but it’s only fair for me to give a little warning just in case!

Cook's Notes:
1. These were really good to me for I liked how the cookie wasn't overly sweet. With a sweet peanut butter filling a sweet cookie would have been too much.
2. If you bake the dough right away....it will spread so use a small disher to get a smaller thinner cookie. If you chill your dough, they will be thick as seen here. Do what works best for you.
3. Alot of work baking the cookies, making the filling, schmearing the filling, sandwiching the cookies....not a quick bake and eat cookie....but it's taste was worth the work.....once a year. lol

Got Milk?

Jalapeño, Sausage and Egg Braid

2011-03-12T16:00:00.000-05:00

Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch or Snack? Anytime...it's awesome!

Jalapeño, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid
adapted from Myrecipes.com

1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough (I used Pillsbury thick canned pizza crust)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 lb sausage (I used hot sausage), browned and drained
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Pepper Jack cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped seeded jalapeño peppers
1 large egg white, lightly beaten (I forgot to do this and no one died)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Unroll dough onto a silpat or parchment paper; pat into a 15 x 10–inch rectangle.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sausage; cook 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in eggs; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until set. Remove from heat.

4. Sprinkle Pepper Jack lengthwise down center of dough, leaving about a 2 1/2-inch border on each side. Spoon egg mixture evenly over cheese. Sprinkle cheddar over egg mixture; top with jalapeño peppers.

5. Make 2-inch-long diagonal cuts about 1 inch apart on both sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling using a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Arrange strips over filling, alternating strips diagonally over filling. Press ends under to seal. Brush with egg white. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices.

Braided like my apple strudel just a savory filling with a pizza crust instead of puff pastry. WINNING! K-man's eyes just popped when he saw this for breakfast. You can make all the filling the day before and just assemble it that morning. Yummy stuff. Cuts nicely for snacks later if you like. I'd love to try a bacon version sometime as well!

Enjoy!

White Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions

2011-03-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

Surprise!

Another Tweak with the garlic breadsticks dough recipe from a few days ago....

White Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions
adapted from Recipe Shoebox

2 Tbsp. butter
3 cups thinly sliced sweet onions
1 tsp. thyme
2 oz. garlic herb cream cheese (I used Boursin light)
1 pre-baked pizza crust (breadstick recipe just NOT cut before baking)
1/3 cup prepared Alfredo sauce
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
1 lb. grated FRESH mozzarella cheese

Directions: Prebake Crust from link above (press into jellyroll pan and bake for only 10 minutes)

Melt butter in a skillet and cook onions for 20-25 minutes, until deep golden brown and caramelized; stir in thyme leaves.

Stir cream cheese and Alfredo sauce together.

Spread over pizza crust.

Top with chicken, then onions, then cheese.

Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until heated through. Enjoy!

Creamy, dreamy...HEAVENLY. I just love white pizzas. The original recipe used sugar with the onions...but it made it too sweet for my taste. Didn't need it.

I am not sure if a premade thin crust could handle this....the thick dough of the breadstick recipe held up with the moist Alfredo goodness. Not only is this easy recipe awesome for breadsticks as in this original recipe....it also holds up well for pizza too. Gonna have to play with this recipe for my classes since it's so quick!

Pizza-licious!

Easy Cinna Sticks!

2011-03-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

TA- DAH!

I told ya I'd tweak those Garlic Breadsticks....stop getting them from Domino's....knowing your own ingredients is DEFINITELY better! Using the same recipe from the garlic ones...here's the tweaked way.

Easy Cinna-Sticks

1 1/2 C warm water
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1/2 t salt
3 1/2- 4 C flour (amount will definitely depend on your weather)
1/4 C butter (and butter ONLY)
1/2 C cinnamon and sugar mix

1 cup powdered sugar
milk
vanilla
Tbsp of melted butter

1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a measuring cup or in the bottom of your mixer. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

2. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time, until it is well incorporated. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

3. Melt the butter and pour half of it into a jelly roll pan (large cookie sheet).

4. Place the dough in the center of the pan. Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes. Letting the dough rest makes it MUCH easier to shape.

5. Spread the dough out flat onto the pan until it reaches all of the edges. Doing all of the spreading and cutting of these bread sticks, in the pan makes cleaning up your counter so much easier!

6. Pour the other half of the butter onto the dough. Spread it around with your hands. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mix all over the dough.

7. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into three rows lengthwise, and then into about 12 little height wise rows.

8. Put the pan into a 170 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes. The breadsticks should rise about 1-inch.
9. Turn you oven up to 350 and bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

10. When they come out of the oven let them sit and rest again for about 5 minutes. Then redefine your cutting lines with the pizza cutter. You may find using a pair of kitchen shears is easier to cut the edges where the cutter can't reach!

11. In a ziploc bag (pushed in a glass with edges draped over rim to make it 'hands-free') place the powdered sugar in the bag and add milk by TEASPOONS until still thick. Add a few drops of vanilla. Pull bag out of glass, seal and mix with hands. Open and add Tbsp of melted butter. If icing looks to thick to squeeze out add just DROPS of milk at a time.

12. Snip corner of bag and squiggle on warm (not hot or icing will melt off) sticks. Let drip off a cooling rack. ENJOY, immediately!

Did my TWEAK satisfy? Oh yeah....they will~ PROMISE!

In Cinna-Heaven,

Easy Garlic BreadSticks

2011-03-06T12:44:00.005-05:00

Oh yum!

One of my favorite Bloggers Rachelle from Mommy I'm Hungry (she got it from Jamie Cooks it up!) posted about this and it caught my eye....I'm all about easy and in true Jenny Mac fashion- had to tweak it. First let me share the original recipe:

Easy Garlic Breadsticks

1 1/2 C warm water
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1/2 t salt
3 1/2- 4 C flour (amount will definitely depend on your weather)
1/4 C butter (and butter ONLY)
3/4 C grated Parmesan
Garlic Seasoning/Italian Seasoning

1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a measuring cup or in the bottom of your mixer. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

2. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time, until it is well incorporated. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

3. Melt the butter and pour half of it into a jelly roll pan (large cookie sheet).

4. Place the dough in the center of the pan. Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes. Letting the dough rest makes it MUCH easier to shape.

5. Spread the dough out flat onto the pan until it reaches all of the edges. Doing all of the spreading and cutting of these bread sticks, in the pan makes cleaning up your counter so much easier!

6. Pour the other half of the butter onto the dough. Spread it around with your hands. Sprinkle the seasoning of your choice all over the dough, and then the Parmesan cheese.

7. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into three rows lengthwise, and then into about 12 little height wise rows.

8. Put the pan into a 170 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes. The breadsticks should rise about 1 inch.
9. Turn you oven up to 350 and bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

10. When they come out of the oven let them sit and rest again for about 5 minutes. Then redefine your cutting lines with the pizza cutter. You may find using a pair of kitchen shears is easier to cut the edges where the cutter can't reach!

Break out the lasagna, spaghetti, marinara sauce or tomato soup. This stuff rawks! These definitely taste best the first day. If you eat them past the first day a little warming in the oven is better. If you are "cooking process challenged" then go directly to Jamie for pictorial directions.

OKAY, this was the unaltered recipe....I did it like a good foodie.....BUT tune in next time for my TWEAK...here's a peek. Not tellin' ya what it is yet....you gotta come check it out. Just as easy and the kids will FALL OUT!

Munch Out!

Easy Apple Strudel

2011-02-25T17:00:00.000-05:00

This was K-man's request for a dessert. I asked him what he wanted for dessert...."something crunchy, appley, cinnamony, and raisiny"....I went 'trolling around' allrecipes.com to see what I could find under EASY. Always trolling for 'easy'. lol

I took a few ideas from this recipe, and from that recipe.

1. Puff pastry a must....very easy and flaky just like a strudel.
2. Recipes using panko crumbs....hmm good idea...helps absorb the juices so it's not all runny.
3. Plain apple filling or apple cinnamon...K-man likes apples and cinnamon so it won't be authentic strudel....who cares?

So my taking a bit of this and that....this is what I came up with.....

Easy-Peasey Apple Strudel
JennyMac Lipsmack Creation

1 Granny Smith apple - peeled, cored and coarsely shredded
3 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
sugar for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place apples in a large bowl. Stir in cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins and bread crumbs; set aside. Place puff pastry on baking sheet. Roll lightly with a rolling pin. Arrange apple filling down the middle of the pastry lengthwise (taking up 1/3) . Snip with kitchen shears, one inch strips on either side of filling. Fold the pastry lengthwise around the mixture, alternating strips. Left, then right. Repeat. Whisk egg and milk together, and brush onto top of pastry. Sprinkle with sugar.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cook's Notes:
1. These had to be made on two separate cookie sheets. Make sure you alternate the sheets midway through cooking time. Clearly I got a bit distracted and one was a lil darker than the other.
2. The panko was SPOT ON.....it absorbs the juices so it was not wet and drippy in the least....very moist, held together.
3. Used the large decorator's sugar for the "sparkly effect." Very pretty. K-man gave "three thumbs up" he said. LOL
4. Use whatever apple you prefer....we like the tart to offset the sweetness. Just recommend a firm apple so it doesn't go 'mushy' on you.

Yumminess!

Smoked Mozzarella Sausage Pizza

2011-02-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you but finding smoked cheeses has been hit or miss around here lately. Sometimes I can find the smoked gouda or cheddar and smoked mozzarella is always around. I guess I need to venture farther than my local Harris Teeter? lol

I am ALL about making our own pizza. Sorry I won't do frozen pizza from a box anymore OR calling any local pizza chain either. If we are going to splurge on pizza I am going to make it. Fresh meats, homemade sauce and fresh veggies. The only cheat.....frozen pizza dough. Yup. I am not TOTALLY out of my mind here....gotta have some compromise, right?

I love fresh mozzarella. A very different affect on your pizza if you use fresh over the block stuff and two steps above if you use the 'already shredded' stuff (sorry, I gave up the preshredded stuff too when I found out they add stuff to it to keep it from sticking....I grate my own now too).
I wanted to try the 'smokey stuff' with our sausage to mix it up in our pizza makings....I was great and easy too.

Smoked Mozzarella Sausage Pizza
Lipsmack creation

1 Frozen Pizza Dough (New York Pizza Deli brand puts two in a box, they also make Whole Wheat)
Your favorite sauce (I just used a can of 29 oz store brand plain tomato sauce with 2 T of Italian seasons and some garlic)
1 lb hot italian sausage, browned
1 pint of mushrooms, cooked
1 onion, chopped and cooked
1 lb. smoked fresh mozzarella (found usually in your gourmet cheese section of grocery), sliced
fresh parmesan

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Brown your sausage. Remove from pan. In sausage drippings, saute the mushrooms and onions. Add sauce and sausage. Add fresh garlic if you like. Simmer.

While sauce is cooking, roll out dough on parchment paper. If you do not have a pizza stone, turn over a cookie sheet and that will work (WHY haven't you gotten a pizza stone yet? Just keep in in the oven 24/7 like I do....it's too heavy to take in and out....just leave it be. Actually I take it out only for T-day feast cooking). Rectangle or circle, roll out that dough. Place in oven to parbake (I sometimes have to keep a skewer handy to POP the bubbles). Just cook about 8-10 minutes to cook it through. Remove from oven.

Place sliced mozzarella on baked crust (yes you heard me right, cheese first, don't argue with me!). Place sausage/veggie sauce on cheese. Slide dough back into oven until crust is browned, cheese is melted and bubbly.

Cut into 8 slices and add fresh parmesan on top before serving.

Look at that thing of beauty. You couldn't get a tastier pizza from any box or restaurant, trust me. Homemade pizza rocks. The little extra effort is soooooooooooooo WORTH it!

Commanding you to make more homemade pizza,

Coconut Balls

2011-02-21T12:29:00.003-05:00

If you like those little Mexican Wedding Cakes or Russian Tea Cakes, (why they have so many names is beyond me) here is a variation I found on MarthaStewart.com

I love a buttery shortbread and any variation of that. So if you love shortbread and coconut, this little sweet treat is for you. Pardon my fingerprints.

Coconut Balls
MarthaStewart.com
Makes about 36

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more for dusting
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar until fluffy. Mix in flour and salt until they're just combined. Stir in coconut.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake until just starting to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Roll the warm cookies in confectioners' sugar; let cool completely.

Very easy, whether you want ground nuts or coconut, they are awesome. For a fancy party or even something like a "quick pop in your mouth" Super Bowl treat, it fills the bill.

Try it, you'll like it

There is always time for brownies!

2011-02-05T16:50:00.004-05:00

Especially before the BIG Game!

Aren't these little footballs just adorable?

I too, am busy making my little treats for the Super Bowl. Sorry I am not one of those bloggers who can be timely and post all my recipes BEFORE the big game for you to shop and make beforehand. Unfortunately, I don't cook like that or perhaps I am not the best blogger in the world. However, I want my goodies FOR the game, not one/two weeks before the game just for a blogging post. I am not a millionaire, you know.....LOL. I look at it this way, if you just LOVE what I post in the next few days for Super Bowl treats....then print it out for next year. This way you will be WAY ahead for next year's game!

After all the prep, and chopping for the food for the main event....you kinda want sometime easy for the sweet. I know you already have a box of brownies in the cabinet for emergencies....go ahead take it out.

Orange Brownie Football Bites
by JennyMac's Lipsmack
Makes 12-14 Footballs

1 box of your favorite brownie mix (and whatever else it calls for: water, oil and eggs)
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
zest of one orange
6oz of chocolate chips
1 tsp. oil
prepared white frosting in a tube or powdered sugar

Preheat the oven according to your brownie mix directions.

Place brownie mix in bowl. Drain oranges and chop into pieces.

Place oil in measuring cup and add oranges into the oil in the cup. Add water to the oil and oranges to make up to the total amount of liquid. For example: My box called for 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup oil. I put 1/4 cup oil and added oranges and filled water until it reached 3/4 cup. Wasn't much water to add for there is plenty of orange juice in those oranges.

Pour orange/oil/water mixture onto brownie mix, add orange zest and mix.

Pour into 9X13 baking pan. I always line mine with foil for easy "lift-out". Bake according to box.

Cool brownies and cut into ovals. If you have a football shaped cookie cutter GREAT. But I didn't so I used a biscuit cutter. Cut one side of circle into brownie and lifted it out and cut the other side into the other half circle making a 'somewhat oval'. You will have alot of scraps but if you have kids...I am sure they won't mind eating THESE!

Melt chocolate chips and tsp of oil in microwave until smooth. Dip ovals into chocolate and put on parchment paper either a tray or cookie sheet will do. Place in

Draw lines on your footballs when chocolate has set.

This can be done with just a plain brownie mix if you like. K-man loves the chocolate and orange combo....so I created this for him. It's all about the football tomorrow right? Not what flavor it is. LOL

Cook's Notes:
1. If you do not have prepared white frosting on hand. Place powdered sugar in a ziploc bag and add just mere DROPS of milk until you get the right consistency. Cut the corner of the bag and draw your white lines. I used the convenience Betty Crocker stuff in a bag with a tip on it....and I was NOT happy the way the lines turned out....those little tails wouldn't stop. My white lines look a hot mess. I really am not THAT sloppy, HONEST!

Good Luck to whatever team you are rooting for. If it ain't the Skins playin'...I am there for the commercials! LOL

Snack Well!

I have this problem....

2011-02-03T14:00:00.004-05:00

I am either a rebel and can't follow the rules OR way too creative to respect a recipe 'as is'.

Hello, I am JennyMac and I am a rebel....

Perhaps my rebelliousness is due to the fact when I have it in my head, "I am going to make this recipe" I go to the kitchen I and I don't have EXACTLY everything the recipe calls for. The rebel in me says something like "I don't need no stinkin' 3 bananas....I can manage with only 2"

I have made and eaten lots of banana bread. I don't like making banana bread for it always comes out very flat. Although it tastes great....looks aren't it's biggest appeal.

Found on Cutting Edge of Ordinary, I am dovetailing on Lisa's revelation of a 'secret technique' for banana bread and my rebellious change of her recipe. She used dates....I used apples. Ehhh. Dates, Shmates. Apple, Smapples. It's fruit. lol Regardless of the extra fruit....make this recipe for the SECRET TECHNIQUE....it's works!

Lisa said she found in an old Yankee Magazine back from the turn of the century. Lucky, Yankee Magazine has all their old recipe online now. Lisa gets props for bringing this to my attention. This is the original recipe from Yankee.

Banana Bread

3 large bananas
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla (sorry, I had add this - I make my own vanilla, I like to use it, so kill me)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1/4 cups nuts if desired (also chopped dates- I used chopped dried apples)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Crush bananas and whip until very light. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, then flour, soda, and nuts. Add bananas last. Turn into well-greased bread pan. Bake slowly about 1 hour.

SECRET TECHNIQUE: The bananas end up liquefied, which may be why this bread does indeed have a very delicate texture.

My REBELLION: I had only 2 bananas in my freezer....dangit...I wanted banana bread now. OH well, time to be creative then....moist fruit.....I took a handful of dried apple rings....soaked them 1/4 cup spiced rum. Pureed them in the mini chopper (with the rum) and added them to the bananas and whipped some more.

Cook's Notes:
1. Toast your nuts- always! Flavors are best this way.
2. Sprinkle top of loaf with sugar....makes it "sparkly" and a nice crunchy sweetness on top when bitten.

Be a Rebel- Go Bananas!

Spinach Stuffed Chicken

2011-02-01T13:00:00.001-05:00

I love when I can get my protein and veggies in one dish. One stop cooking is ideal some days. The versatility of this recipe is that you can change up the cheese or seasoning to tailor the dish to your tastes.

Spinach Stuffed Chicken
by JennyMac Lipsmack

olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped or 1/2 cup green onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced (mince 2 together & reserve, mince 1 & reserve)
10 ounces boxed spinach, thawed
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsp. butter
1 cup breadcrumbs (italian, plain, panko, cracker- whatever you have on hand)
1 tsp. oregano (basil, rosemary, sage- whatever floats your boat)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup cheese (feta, monterry jack, cheddar, swiss -your preference)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in small pan on medium heat. Add the onion and 2 of the reserved garlic, cook until softened 3-4 minutes. Place cooled onions in bowl with thawed spinach and season with salt and pepper. Melt butter in pan used for onions, turn off heat and add crumbs, herbs and remaining garlic. Toss around to mix herbs, crumb and butter.

Drizzle a baking dish with another 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Split each chicken breast lengthwise but not all the way (like a book). Stuff with spinach and cheese mixture, letting the stuffing overflow at the edges. Place the chicken pieces in the baking dish and top with breadcrumbs. Bake until juices run clear or internal temperature is 165 degrees or about 20 minutes.

Serves 4.

Serve with a some bread and a leafy salad and you are good. This was delicious. I can't wait for the leftovers tomorrow!

Go stuff yourself!

These are a few of my favorite.....

2011-01-29T14:45:00.006-05:00

BLOGS!

I want to share with you the links and my thoughts about some of my favorite bloggers. Some have become friends, we exchange emails when we want to share private stuff about our lives or just gossip in general. They to me are real people with personality and have things worthy to read about or great recipes to try.

Mommy I'm Hungry
Blogger: Rachelle. Mom/wife with 3 kids. Hugely busy blogger. Tons of giveaway, always sampling products, wide range of recipes. She gets top billing for she was the first to comment on my blog and welcome me into the food blog world. How she balances the products, the cooking, the support of two eldest kids in the racing world. She was smart and got away from playing Cafe World on FB. She and I comment freely on our FB or blog. I admire her yet hate how she throws in my face how beautiful the weather is in sunny Cali. LOL I consider her a friend. You rock Rachelle, not Rachel. giggle.

The Life and Loves of HoneyB
Blogger: Shelby aka HoneyB. Mom of two adult kids. Wife of Grumpy (husband). She was one of the first blogs I started following. I love the range of her blog. She is very connected to many other bloggers. She is open about her husbands likes and dislikes about what she cooks. In my opinion, he is just too picky. She grew up a vegetarian yet eats some meat nowadays. But she always gets back to her veggie roots and makes dishes with Tofu. She is health conscious for the is always seeming to post about a recipe from Cooking Light. I envision a huge bookshelf full of her past issues. She participates in many group cooking blogs, guest blogs, cooks for family occasions and her workplace. She is so very sweet and puts a personal touch in everything. Her food pix are to DIE for perfect!

Once Upon a Gourmet Gin
Blogger: Ginger aka Gin. Mom of a High-schooler and one in college. She is not one I consider a 'rabid' blogger. She too took a leave of absence from blogging as well. She is getting back into the groove of blogging again. Her recipes are wide in variety from ethnic from just plain fun home cooking. We've exchanged emails on the side talking outside the blogs about our family life. We had a cake mix cookie friendly competition frenzy awhile back. I enjoy her blog and friendship.

The Hungry Housewife
Blogger: Leslie. At home Mom of a little girl and boy. Love, love, LOVE her. She does enough videos on her site that I feel kinship to her personality. I feel like if we met we would just talk for hours and laugh our butts off. I hate when she takes the video out to her Tampa Bay backyard and shows us the fabu pool and falls set up. It's nice to have a husband with his own pool/spa business, yes? Leslie is hilarious to hear her tell stories. She is self-deprecating and doesn't care if you judge when she tells how she ate fudge out of the trash. She is skinny and gorgeous with a killer laugh and personality. If I weren't an only child and could have picked a sister....it would be Leslie and we'd be in so much trouble together. She had a brush with the Food Network and came close to being a celebrity but after the visit with Gordon Elliot, and a cooking video...Food Network said essentially they "already had someone like her....called Melissa D'arabian. Ugh. No comparison. Leslie is the shizz! Just you wait. Someone will pick her up and put her on TV....then I can say "hey I used to email her" LOL.

My Tasty Treasures
Blogger: Donna aka FFW (firefighter's wife). This woman is a HOOT. If you looked in the dictionary under the word WILD the definition would be simply: Donna. Her recipes are hearty, easy, kid friendly, appropriate for parties. She often posts a dinner and the dessert/cookie she did with it. Although Donna can be deemed as controversial for people either love her or hate her. Yes, she does get some hate mail on occasion for Donna likes to make her blog....how do I explain this....A sexy food blog. LOL. She does put up some crazy pictures and when people comment loudly how inappropriate that is; (blah, blah, blah) Donna tells them "to get over themselves and don't read her blog if it bothers you." You tell 'em GIRL! I could learn alot from Donna about doing what makes you happy and not to care what others think.

She's Becoming DoughMessTic
Blogger: Susan. Mom of Seven. Not seven children. Her miracle child, Seven. LOL. Susan has been through the wringer in her personal life yet still manages to blog wonderful things. She also caters, and does some amazing cake decorating. SOMEONE HIRE THIS CHICK IN THEIR BAKERY! (however she probably thinks she is busy enough). Kid friendly, baking, meats, salads, candies, cookout fun, all the range is there. Yet she's been around in the blogging world....gone to Martha Stewarts Show a few times (don't ask, lol), gone to conferences, does a kick-A "pantry raid" experience how to budget food and money and keep everyone fed and happy. I think she's amazing despite some marital woes yet I see her as up and coming bigger blogger... Look out for her in bigger places too.

Noble Pig
Blogger: Cathy. Mom/wife/awesome food blogger/new vineyard business owner. I loved reading all the developing stories about Cathy's life upheaval. Her life alone with the boys while her husband was looking for home with appropriate land to start a new life as vineyard-ers. The recipes of yummy, fun or fancy recipes. Sometimes many to choose from for special occasions....the move, the step by step pictures of her land being treed for planting grapes....fast forward to placing orders for wine online now. WOW. She still blogs recipes that I adore yet takes the time to thank new customers for their wine order on FB. Adore her.

OTHER BLOGS I LIKE FOR WHATEVER REASON....

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary
I think I see more of Lisa from Facebook than her blog. lol I enjoy her recipes and crafty ideas. How she posts, her lovely pictures, the recipes; to me, are just warm and fuzzy like a comfy well worn sweatshirt. Her recipes aren't from a box or hoity-toity over the top. They are twisted in just ways that I find fun to read and prepare in my own kitchen.

Orangette:
My cousin sent me the link to her favorite webpage. I had no idea food blogs existed. It started with Molly from Orangette. I checked out some of the links to her favorite food blogs and my gmail reader EXPLODED from there and a year later I started my own blog.

The Pioneer Woman:
The Goddess of food blog world. Her pictorial step by step recipes are INSANE. I have her book. I stood in line and met her at a book signing. She's been on the Food Network on Bobby's Thanksgiving Throwdown. She won. She been all over on local TV new cooking segments. Her food is wonderful. Microsoft contacted her and gave her a separate site just for recipes (Tasty Kitchen.com). Every she touches is so down home- friendly yet she is so grounded almost perfect it seems. She homeschools her 4 kids (only because the school is like close to two hours by bus in the AM and PM-their cattle ranch is remote). Women wish she was your mom, sister, next door neighbor, best friend- yes, she is THAT nice. I love her corny, naughty yet self-deprecating ways.

How to Eat a Cupcake aka Flour Child Bakery
Sadly this young 24 y.o blogger is too busy to post anymore. She's moved on from yummy postings and funny videos to opening a new bakery with her mom. I am excited that she is located in Virginia Beach. K-man and I have a time share down there and we can't wait for this summer to make a special trip down there to meet Cassie and eats her wonderful goodies. Once she gets settled after a year she will post recipes again.

Girlichef:
I just love Heather's site. She is all over the place, a smorgasbord of food varieties, an ethnic buffet, a bookstore, a book critic, a cheesemaker.....and the list goes on. She's got over 10 sections to her website and I like to use her recipes and she's part of the reason for my cookbook addiction! Very cool chick....you'll love her too!

Cake Wrecks
Just a fun site from Jen who wanted to post about her irritation for the awful cakes she's seen over her lifetime. It exploded with followers started sending more and more pictures. She's been around so long now the site is almost too big to view in one day and she has her own book now. You will just keep shaking your head over and over with these awful cakes that bakeries are producing. She does NOT make fun of personal cakes people make but the cakes that BAKERS/BAKERIES get paid good money to produce a professional cake. Or NOT. lol

I have tons of blogs on my reader. Of course, I could not post about them all. I have LOTS of favorites but these are my BESTEST faves. Partly because I have some type of connection. We either email and talk personally, have their book, met them....I feel connected to them in some way. I hope I introduced you to a new place for more cooking adventures!

Eat 'em up-

A slow return to normalcy....

2011-01-27T12:03:00.004-05:00

I am attempting to return to blogging in way that works for me. Why did JennyMac disappear into the blogosphere?

1. People send you suggestions saying you should do this or that...the occasional rude anonymous commenter who feels the need to put you in your place...makes you say to yourself at times..."who's page is this?"

2. Taking pictures is NOT the easiest thing to do at times and sometimes you end up eating the evidence. I am not one of those who snap a gazillion pix (how does Pioneer Woman do it?). One before, a few after....served with garnish maybe....OK, now let's eat. Either the recipe is NOT to my liking to post about or something isn't right with the pictures. NOW, the food is gone so retaking pix are impossible.

3. Sometimes lighting is not your friend. Let's be for real. Many of my meals are dinner and it's NIGHT. Natural sunlight is ideal, if my pic doesn't look appealing enough to eat....I don't wanna post something that looks like the cat coughed it up!

4. Then I got into Facebook, I was learning how to use it....finding old friends....getting addicted to some stupid games (first Cafe World then Frontierville....sigh).

5. Being timely....many blogs post about upcoming holidays/events BEFORE it happens. Halloween foods during the first week of October. Thanksgiving dishes two weeks before T-day. Christmas-y cookies and treats after T-day and two weeks after. Let's be for real here. I want my food and gifts to be fresh. I don't make Halloween treats in my classes Oct 1, the kids want it on Oct 31. I give out my holiday food treats a few days before the 25th not Dec 1. I am not into 'trial runs', practice, saving pix to post early for next year, etc.

6. The intimidation of the wonderfully popular and successful blogs out there. The more and more blogs I read or subscribed to, the more and more I felt unworthy. Also, I so envied my fellow bloggers successes. I see all these giveaways they have from companies contacting them, how lucky of them....I don't get that....I had a few here and there....but nothing like those popular bloggers. Bloggers talking about being invited to conferences, meeting up with other bloggers, guest blogging....posts about appearances on TV, etc. It's all so great for them, sucks for me.

After not posting for a bit, no one said anything. No emails, no inquiries....no one seemed to notice I was not posting. I said to myself "well no one saying anything or asking where I went, so don't bother posting anything because no one is reading my blog obviously...." What a vicious cycle I created for myself in my own little blogging world.

Then something snaps you out of it(hopefully?). You FINALLY get one email from a person who says they appreciate and miss your posts. A co-worker tells you they enjoy your blog and suggests a neat tool I should check out and share with my followers.

Bottom Line: I must do my blog because I enjoy it. I am who I am, I do what I do because it's me. No one else matters and I shouldn't set myself up for failure by comparing my blog to others. How many times did we get that lecture about "being yourself" growing up? Clearly I needed a booster shot. So I am going to share what I share only because it's something that works for me, not something that I think would impress the 'public'. BAH!

I made this and it's absolutely easy and so yummy. WHIR in the processor. I was apprehensive to try this for I am not a huge fan of cilantro but the combo intrigued me and POOF! I think perhaps I've turned a corner.....

Jalapeno Pesto
by JennyMac Lipsmack

1 cup fresh Cilantro
3 Jalapeno Peppers
2 Garlic Cloves
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, Shredded
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup Olive Oil

1. Chop and toast walnuts for a few minutes in 350 oven until kitchen is fragrant (about 5-7 minutes). Set aside to cool.
2. In a food processor put a cup of washed cilantro.
3. Using gloves to cover your hands, slice in half the jalapenos, seed and devein. Remember the heat is from the veins, so do what you need to to do to make it hot or not; be careful or haphazard when removing those veins. Roughly chop and place peppers in food processor.
4. Peel garlic and add it in with the walnuts, lemon juice, Parmesan, salt, pepper in the food processor.
5. Pulse until combined and you don't see big chunks of garlic or whole cilantro leaves.
6. Slowly stream in the olive oil until incorporated.
7. Taste....add more salt, pepper or lemon if needed. Add more olive oil to make it consistency you want. Warm water can be done to keep the fat content lower and yet 'loosen' the mixture up.

THUD, this was beyond my expectations....We ate this during a football game with crackers and cheese but the tortilla chips tasted best. You can use instead of mayo on a sandwich. Top on an enchilada or taco....Add some plain rice vinegar or warm water to make it into a salad dressing. We loved this! I can't wait to try this on grilled chicken. I want to spread this on a roast beef sandwich. I am growing tons of cilantro this summer!

Enjoy!

Easy Crock Chicken

2010-11-13T15:56:00.003-05:00

Do you like Beef Stroganoff? Well let me introduce it's distant poultry cousin....It's quite yummy and easy to put together.

Easy Crock Chicken
JennyMac Lipsmack creation

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or use a combo of breasts and thighs
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
2 pints sliced mushrooms, sauteed
8oz. sour cream
salt and pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder

Pat dry chicken (either leave whole or cut into cubes....you decide how you like them). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garlic powder. Place in crock pot. Mix together undiluted soups. Pour over chicken. Add mushrooms that have been already sauteed/cooked. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. When ready to serve, stir in sour cream. Serve over rice or broad noodles.

Garnish with chopped chives or K-man's suggestion is to add French's Onion Rings on top.
Delish!

Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

2010-11-07T16:00:00.001-05:00

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos
adapted from My Wooden Spoon

15 jalapenos (when cut in half, makes 30)
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 pkg. of bacon each slice cut in half
toothpicks

Cut jalapenos in half and clean out. If you want more heat leave in the veins and seeds. Put as much cream cheese as you can on that half and wrap with a half slice of bacon. Try to cover the open end and the top really good there is less cream cheese leakage;) Stick a toothpick in from the top to bottom to hold bacon in place and prevent rolling up for falling off.

Cook in preheated oven at 350 degrees for about an hour or desired crispiness. THUD! These are freakin' awesome! Thanks Lori!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin-Apple Gingerbread

2010-11-06T15:24:00.004-04:00

It's Fall, y'all. Have you recovered from Halloween yet? I love this time of the year for pumpkin isn't over and done with as soon as Halloween is gone. It's one of those dual holiday foods. When I was poking around the Pillsbury site I found this recipe that combines the pumpkin and gingerbread....the apple was definitely a bonus but shredded into it into of obnoxious chunks to tear up the cake.

Pumpkin-Apple Gingerbread
adapted from Pillsbury.com

4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 large green apple, peeled, shredded (1 cup)
1/2 cup molasses
Powdered sugar, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening (do not use cooking spray); coat with flour. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, ground ginger, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice; set aside.
2 In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add eggs 2 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin, apple and molasses. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Spoon into pan.
3 Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling rack 15 minutes. Place cooling rack upside down on pan; turn rack and pan over. Remove pan. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve each slice on serving plate topped with about 2 tablespoons whipped cream if desired.

Cook's Notes:
1. I did not have use the whole can of pumpkin puree. I had some left in a bag in the freezer. It was slightly under. I know that the pumpkin and apple were all about giving this cake the moisture it needed. I added a few tablespoons of apple butter to the puree to make up the 15 oz. to ensure I did not upset the moisture balance. Since there is cinnamon and apple in the cake...I knew it would not change it flavor-wise.
2. My oven temperature gauge did say 350 degrees. Yet I try to always check cakes before the called time (I have a pizza stone and it tends to make the oven hotter). My cake rose GREAT yet was ready shortly after 1 hour. Test your earlier too.
3. This was an awesome cake. Kirk was sad I didn't add raisins...but I am not a fan of raisins like he is and I didn't want it to tear up the cake when I cut it.

Enjoy!

Meaty Orzo Pasta Dish

2010-10-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

I absolutely despise jarred sauces. They are full of sugar and other 'stuff'. I am aware of the addiction children get to the sugar in these jars when after my 8th graders made some lasagna with a sauce from scratch a student came up to me and asked if she could have some sugar to put on her lasagna....I about fell on the floor. Absolutely NOT! was my answer to her request. See? You don't think something like jarred spaghetti sauces could feed an addiction to sugar and that was your proof. I had a similar request when I my first year of teaching when a High-Schooler asked to put sugar on the chili they made. THUD.

Here is a fun, meaty pasta dish with sauce from scratch and it's not difficult or lengthy to make.

Meaty Orzo Pasta Dish
by JennyMac Lipsmack

1 lb bulk Italian Sausage
10 large meatballs, cut in half (leftover or from frozen convenience bag)
1 pint sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1- 29 oz canned diced tomatoes
1- 6oz can tomato paste
1 cup chicken or beef broth or water (more may be needed)
2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning (or any combo of basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary and parsley)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup orzo
fresh Parmesan

In a large skillet or pot. Brown the sausage, halved meatballs with the onion and mushrooms in the oil. Add the minced garlic and seasonings. Pour the canned diced tomatoes over the meat mixture. Add the tomato paste and meat broth. Stir carefully to incorporate the paste into the broth. Salt and pepper to taste. Let meaty sauce cook for 10 minutes. Mixture should still look watery. Add orzo (it will need a watery sauce to absorb). Cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring every so often to move the orzo around. Keep an eye on the sauce if it's looking dry add 1/2 cup more of broth at a time as needed. This dish/pot can also be baked if desired. Serves 4.

Serve in bowls with freshly grated parmesan (you can put shredded mozzarella on it if you baked the dish). Great with crusty garlic bread!

The effort to put this sauce together was minimal and much better than a jarred sauce. Less chemicals in a can of tomatoes than a jar of sauce too!

Buon Appetito!

Yukon Gold Breakfast Hash

2010-10-28T12:00:00.001-04:00

Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning, great for early Saturday that is hearty enough to carry you through a busy Saturday of errands or even ideal for one of those 'breakfast dinners' during the week.

I like using Yukon Gold potatoes for they are not as starchy as the russet variety and are quite 'velvety' when cooked.

Yukon Gold Breakfast Hash

6-8 small Yukon Gold Potatoes (or 3-4 medium)
6-8 slices of thick bacon, cooked and crumbled
half an onion, chopped
1/4 cup pepper, chopped (I used jalapenos from the garden)
salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs
1 cup colby jack cheese, shredded
minced chives for garnish

Wash potatoes and microwave for 6-10 minutes until soft (time depends on size and amount)
In large ovenproof skilled, cook bacon and drain on paper towels. Keep bacon fat in skillet and add chopped pepper and saute onions until soft/clear. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or later cook on stove top, your preference). Coarsely chop potatoes with skins and put in skillet. Keep breaking up potatoes until resembling hash and mixing the bacon fat around them. Salt and pepper to taste.
Press potatoes into pan and use spoon to make four 'divots' or dents in potato hash where eggs will go. Crack eggs into custard cup and gently put into each 'designated divot/dent'. Place in hot oven and cook until eggs are starting to set up. Sprinkle on crumbled bacon and top with cheese. Place back into oven until cheese is melted.

Cut the circle of hash into 4. Making sure there is one egg in each quarter. Garnish with chives and serve with fruit! Oh the smell!

Crispy bottom, velvety creamy potatoes, crunchy smoky bacon, runny egg, gooey cheese. THUD! All the senses are being hit. AWESOME way to start a day! Loved it!

Enjoy!

Chicken and Mushroom Rotini

2010-10-27T14:00:00.001-04:00

You saw that beautiful roasted chicken yesterday? Here is it's leftovers! Don't ya just love that. Sliced Roast Chicken one night....totally different chicken the next!

Chicken and Mushroom Rotini
by JennyMac Lipsmack

2 cups leftover cooked chicken
1 package fresh sliced mushrooms
half onion, chopped
drizzle oil
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1 cup leftover chicken broth
1 cup cream
Half package rotini pasta
chopped chives for garnish

Cook pasta according to directions, drain and set aside.
Saute onions and mushrooms with drizzle of oil until cooked. Add butter and melt, add flour. Cook for about a minute until flour starts to smell 'nutty'. Slowly add chicken stock and cream. Stir until thickened. Add chopped/shredded leftover chicken. Mix in cooked pasta.
Garnish with chopped chives.

Easy leftover chicken dish, you'll love it. We did!

Sage and Garlic Chicken

2010-10-26T13:20:00.002-04:00

A roasted chicken cooking in our house just makes me want to float in the air instead of walking...come to think of it...so does bacon, cookies, fresh bread, tomato sauce. Ok get a hold of yourself Jenny, clearly you love food smells.

Sure I like the ease of boneless chicken parts to cook with mostly but on the weekend I can appreciate the slow roasted chicken when I have more time to spend on preparing it and cooking it.

Sage and Garlic Roasted Chicken
by JennyMac Lipsmack

1 whole chicken roaster
handful of fresh sage, finely chopped (my last from the garden)
2-3 garlic cloves
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 Tbsp vinegar
1 onion quartered
8-10 whole carrots, washed and peeled

Wash and peel your carrots and line your roasting pan with them. Your chicken will cook on top of them. Unpackage your chicken and be sure to read the directions how long per pound. Don't totally rely on those pop up timers! I've have them not POP before. Be sure to remove the 'chicken stuff' on the inside of you chicken. Dry off chicken and thoroughly salt and pepper it all over inside and out.

Grind up your sage, garlic and olive oil and vinegar in a blend, food processor or mini food chopper (just perfect). Rub mixture under skin, over skin and inside chicken. Place quarter onions inside chicken. Bake in a preheated oven @ 350 degrees.

BEFORE:

*I know this picture does not depict how the carrots were instructed to be used in the recipe but after a few attempts, the recipe above rendered more tender and tasty carrots. This picture was attempt number one....I preferred attempt #2's carrots.

AFTER:

I know I should have trussed or tied my chick's legs together, but oh well I figured she'd endured enough animal cruelty! LOL. I made this one afternoon for dinner and something came up and didn't get home in time to cook it. It was great to pop into the oven the next day, already to go. The garlic really was infused throughout the chicken....so juicy too. Don't forget to let your chicken sit for about 10 before carving to let the juices redistribute!

Great lazy Sunday dinner choice!

Goya Product Tastemaker

2010-10-24T12:07:00.003-04:00

Would you like some Black Bean and Jalapeno Rice on the side?

I received from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program some FREE Goya products. YUM! Since I live in diverse area some stores here have a pretty large Goya section. They have many interesting products that I have not used before and when I signed up to take part in the Tastemaker they sent me nothing scary to use. I received a can of black beans, garbanzo beans (chick peas), yellow rice, green olives, olive oil and two recipe booklets highlighting Mexican and Carribean recipes. I noticed in the book the also had two booklets on Central and South American recipes. DRAT, I would have liked those books instead for most of my students come from those areas. I guess that is what the Goya site is for!!! LOL There I found the section for Central America and found a recipe for pupusas. This food item is HOT at our school. Parents bring them in for food events, trucks come to sell them on special events and my students bring them for cooking projects. The pupusa is loved by all -especially the 'gringos'. LOL. Great, I've been waiting for a good recipe!

Enough small talk and onto the recipe. For my recipe, I decided to use:

There were no recipes for any 'bean' and rice mixture side dishes. I guessing that the Hispanic culture are purists and like their beans separate from the rice (I am guilty of when I go to Mexican places I mix my refried bean and rice sides together). Not me I am a rebel! Instead of jazzing up the beans with spices and making a rice side plain; I added plain beans to the rice that was seasoned already and jazz it up with the last of my jalapenos from my garden!

BEFORE COOKING NOTE:
Two questions need to be answered before you approach this recipe.
How do you want your peppers?
1. Hot and Spicy, Zingy or Mild?
2. Crunchy or Soft?

Cooking Approach to those answers:
1. The heat depends on the chopping process. If you want them HOT. Just chop off the stems and chop. All the heat is in the veins and seeds. But cooking them will also reduce the 'caliente' scale as well.
2. If you want them with some crunch, stir them in at the end before serving. If you want them 'par cooked' stir them in the rice when they are sitting for the 5 minute rest. If you want them soft: Cook the peppers with the rice.

Now proceed....

Black Bean and Jalapeno Yellow Rice
by JennyMac Lipsmack

1 box Goya Yellow Rice
1 Tbsp Goya Olive Oil or butter
1 can Goya Black Beans
half an onion, chopped
jalapenos (you decided how many you can handle)

Read the instructions on how you want to prepare your rice. Stove Top or microwave. I like the microwave option for I don't have to babysit it and can do other things. Plus, I think this rice comes out PERFECT from the microwave.

Chop your onion, big or small chunks, your preference. Stir the onions, oil or butter, and water with the rice and follow your cooking directions. 5 Minutes on High and 20 minutes on 50% power. Devein and/or chop jalapenos (see below)Open black beans, drain and rinse. When rice is ready the last direction asks you to let the rice 'set' to absorb last of moisture. Stir in beans and peppers and cover for five minutes. Serve with chicken and garnish with freshly chopped cilantro.

To remove the heat from jalapenos:
1. Put on gloves. I have not worn gloves and washed hands several times...washed hair the next morning and still found some "heat" under my nails!
2. Slice one side off pepper from stem to tip. This first slice should be shallow enough to cut off the "meat" of the pepper, leaving the vein with the seeds inside. One quarter turn the pepper and repeat the cut. After the third cut you will have all the seeds and most of the veins on the remaining quarter. Remove stem and use gloved finger to scoop out veins and seeds. Either julienne cut your quarters or finely chop.

Again, THANK you Foodbuzz and Goya. Those of you interested in more Latino Flavor to your recipes definitely hit up Goya's site....very user friendly and authentic recipes easy to follow.

Delish!

Buttermilk Biscuits

2010-10-18T18:18:00.003-04:00

I love biscuits!

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack....whenever....buttery, jammy, sandwichy....I am not picky. I guess I got the biscuit bug from my grandmother who used to make them all the time. Many biscuit recipes use just plain milk but I really think the buttermilk really makes them tender.

I troll around the food blogs and Cathy from Noble Pig always seems to get me off my butt to try her recipes. Even a biscuit recipe when I've made millions of biscuits by now. I was intrigued by Cathy's tips and the use of cake flour made it different enough that I wanted to give them a try.

Basic Buttermilk Biscuits
Discovered on Noble Pig and she made from Cuisine at Home

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups cake flour
5 Tablespoons cold vegetable shortening, cubed
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
1-1/4 cups buttermilk
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450o F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment. Whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a bowl; set aside. Pulse cake flour, shortening and cubed butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until fats are pea-sized flakes. Mix in all-purpose flour mixture just until blended. Add buttermilk to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened. To avoid overmixing the biscuit dough, stop when the ingredients are just moistened. Even though the dough is wet, don't add more flour, that leads to overmixing.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead just until dough holds together. Do not overwork it. Flour your hands to keep the dough from sticking before patting dough into a 1" thick circle. Using a 2" thick biscuit cutter, cut dough into 10 biscuits. Pull cutter up without twisting, as you remove. Twisting results in jagged edges on the biscuits.

Transfer the biscuits to prepared baking sheet and bake until golden, 15-18 minutes. Brush tops with melted butter during last few minutes of baking.

Cathy's Tips & Tricks for High-Rise Biscuits

-For bigger rise, place any tools, especially the stand mixer bowl and paddle into the bowl, into the freezer for a few minutes before mixing to ensure the fats won't melt until they are in the oven.

-Patting the dough into a circle compresses it less than rolling it with a rolling pin, giving you a loftier biscuit.

-Use a sharp biscuit cutter to cut your biscuits. The sharp edges don't seal the sides thus promoting rising . Juice glasses and tin cans trap air and compress biscuit dough, sealing the sides and reducing rise.

-Excess flour on the tops and bottoms can make the biscuits seem dry, brush off any excess flour from both sides before baking.

-You can reroll the dough once (you'll need to) and still yield tender biscuits. To do so, brush any flour from the scraps and gently fold the dough back together before patting into a circle.

I made mine a bit 'blonde' for I wanted to be able to put them in the freezer and reheat when I needed a biscuit fix, not wanting to over cook them. These were fabulous. The cake flour really made the delicate. Give these a try. Thanks Cathy!

Enjoy!

Smoky Jalapeno Cheesesteak

2010-10-16T14:02:00.005-04:00

Welcome Back! Where you been? Haahahahahaha. No long story what I've been up to....just stuff. Sometimes you just aren't feelin' it. I've felt my cooking at home either was not worthy to blog about or the camera battery was dead when I had something fabulous made. It's always something, right?
Right.

Regardless....today fun sandwich is:

Smokey Jalapeno Cheesesteak
by JennyMac's Lipsmack
makes 2 large sandwiches or 4 average

Sandwich Rolls/Hoagie Rolls (per person)
6 layers of Steak-Um meat or slivered beef (about 1/2 pound)
1 onion thinly sliced
6 jalapenos, deveined/seeded and julienned
Smoked Cheese

Slice onions and peppers and saute in pan until soft. Slice beef into strips and add into onion mixture until beef is no longer pink (take just a minute or so).

Prepare your rolls by heating them up in the oven (if you desire a crusty roll). Slice cheese thinly. Slather on the mayo. Put meat into "mayoed' rolls top with cheese. Serve with your favorite chips -hope your mouth is big enough!

Cooks Notes:

1. The smoked cheese is not something you will find in the grocery with all your other cheeses. This cheese I found at a Farmer's Market. It was actually a Smoked Horseradish Cheese....yummy. BUT normally when a recipe calls for a smoked cheddar I have to go to the section of the grocery when I need Saga Brie, Manchego or Guyere cheeses. Look for it. Today I noticed they had a smoked Guyere right next to the smoked provolone and mozzarella. Wow, they are increasing their stock! It shouldn't be too hard to find. These smoky cheeses are also great on burgers for it tastes like you have bacon on it....when you
don't!

2. As for jalapeno....don't be scared to use this and opt for the plain bell pepper. The heat of you sandwich is directly related to how well you remove the seeds and the veins in the pepper. This is your source of heat. When I am feeling crazy for some heat I just slice them up without regard...and also don't forget the cheese on your sandwich is also your saving grace. Any dairy is the antidote to pepper pain!

Blueberries and Cream Cookie and Ponderings

2010-08-29T10:29:00.004-04:00

Ok, so it's been awhile since I've posted....I am really taking my summer off seriously. A vacation from everything? Including my lil blog?....apparently so. Don't worry, back to work on Monday and School after labor day and back to blogging.

So I get the new Bon Appetit magazine this month. I see that some of the most popular recipes from Momofuku Milk Bar are being included. I can't rip through the mag fast enough....is it in here?...really?....drat no. I was looking for the coveted Compost Cookies everyone tries to copycat but what I did find is Christina Tosi's of Milk Bar popular Blueberry and Cream Cookies. I am open to a fruit cookie now and then...it helps balance out all the chocolate ones I seem to make most often.

I'd also seen this recipe from on my 'cookie of the day' email from Martha Stewart and had contemplated it (K-man loves blueberries!). But here is the pondering...

Are you like me and when you see a recipe that has a lot of steps... OR seems too complicated OR takes too long (overnight) - you lose interest in it? I am not the total 'easy breezy' cook here now. "Gimme a can of soup and cook five minutes....Bang -I am there".....NO, not quite. I like the happy medium recipes. But if it doesn't have a final picture to suck my interest in....and a long list of ingredients, too many steps I find that I put it off 'for some day' and I never come back to it. Does that ring any bells for you too?

So, it's my last hurrah for the summer. My time will be tight again. The lady of leisure's last laborious recipe for the summer. Yes, I know baking cookies in the summer does not seem appealing but we've been blessed with my last week of leisure with days in the 80's so I jumped on the opportunity...(next week will be back in the 90's when I am in an overly a/c'ed school all day)

The low down here is; the creator Christina Tosi was an odd duck growing up. She ate lima beans with ranch dressing. Doritos with miracle whip. Kraft's Mac and Cheese mixed with spaghetti-O's. Yes, the very one who created the compost cookie with pretzels, potato chips, coffee grounds and a other wacky things. Although her taste as a child was somewhat gross she developed into an risk taking/avant garde type of baker, that clearly WORKS.

I've included the original recipe as supplied by Bon Appetit, followed by Martha's recipe although it is 'tweaked' it is HALF of the recipe shown here. After the recipes is my review and more pix.

Blueberry and Cream Cookies
from Bon Appetit Magazine by Christina Tosi/Momofuku Milk Bar/NYC

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 large eggs
5 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 cups Milk Crumbs (see below)
1 1/2 cups dried blueberries

Preparation

Combine butter, both sugars, and corn syrup in large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and pale, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 3 minutes. Add eggs; beat on medium-high speed until mixture is very pale and sugar is completely dissolved, about 10 minutes. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat on low speed just until blended, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Add Milk Crumbs; mix on low speed just until incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer. Stir in blueberries just until evenly distributed (dough will be very sticky).

Using 1/4-cup ice cream scoop for each cookie, drop dough onto 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 24 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled until baking time.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large (18x12-inch) rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Transfer 6 chilled dough scoops to each sheet, spacing at least 4 inches apart (cookies will spread). Bake cookies, 2 sheets at a time, until golden, reversing sheets halfway through baking, 20 to 22 minutes total. Repeat with remaining chilled dough, cooling and relining sheets between batches. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.

Milk Crumbs

3/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preparation of Crumbs

Preheat oven to 275°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Combine milk powder, flour, sugar, cornstarch, and coarse salt in medium bowl; toss to mix evenly. Add butter; stir with fork until clusters form. Spread mixture evenly on prepared sheet. Bake until crumbs are dry and crumbly but still pale, about 10 minutes. Cool Milk Crumbs completely on sheet. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blueberry and Cream Cookies
inspired by Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk bar but recreated by MarthaStewart.com

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup (8 ounces) Plugra European-style unsalted butter (please! regular will work here....sheesh)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
1/4 cup glucose (duh-corn syrup, why does MS gotta be all extra fancy?)
1 large egg
3/4 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup Milk Crumbs

Directions

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together butter, sugars, and glucose until well combined. Add egg and mix until well combined.
3. Add flour mixture and mix until well combined. Add blueberries and milk crumbs and mix until well combined. Using an ice cream scoop about 2 1/8 inches in diameter, scoop dough into balls and place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Transfer baking sheets to refrigerator until dough is chilled, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until cookies are golden brown and tops begin to crackle, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Milk Crumbs

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon nonfat milk powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup white chocolate, melted

Crummy (lol) Directions

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk powder, flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter until well combined. Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake until dried and crumbly, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove milk crumble from oven and let cool completely.
3. Transfer milk crumble to a large bowl and fold in remaining 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk powder and white chocolate. Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Cook's Notes:
1. Very surprised and happy with the results. I am glad I exerted the effort.
2. Crunchy edge....soft and chewy center. Those dried berries were working hard in that fridge by soaking up some of the moisture and were plumper and juicier than the ones I was snacking on while making the dough!
3. Recipe says makes 35...I got 37. I am sure it's because I added more blueberries near the end when I noticed less blueberries in the dough.

4. Really watch when you are baking the crumbs...keep them light...keep mixing them to brown evenly. Stay by that OVEN!
5. If you don't have a oven thermometer, get one, you really need to make sure your oven is 375 degrees, no more, no less. Just two minutes extra (by accident) and I felt the cookies were overly brown.

6. As you can see, don't squeeze any more than six. The recipe says 1/4 cup ice cream scoop (your standard one probably in your drawer).
7. Bon Appetit says from Christina to sit in fridge for 24 hours yet Martha's says 15 minutes chilled. I made some later that evening and this morning. It rendered the same result. I am not sure if 15 minutes would be enough. But one trial cookie being baked wouldn't hurt.

8. I included Martha's recipe only because I thought her 'tweak' using white chocolate in the crumbs was worth trying the recipe again. Good that her recipe is HALF the amount. I baked half of these cookies and put the other half in the freezer. These are THICK, chewy and hearty cookies. One will suffice unless you are REALLY starving. I like cookies that satisfy with eating ONE.
9. Very milky, creamy, buttery really. With two sticks in the recipe of course it's buttery. A nice change from what we normally have for cookies here. I felt it was worth the effort and time. Yummy cookie, give it a try for yourself.

Enjoy!

Zebra Cake

2010-08-11T18:15:00.001-04:00

I bet you are dying to see what lurks under this yummy chocolate ganache. What does a Zebra Cake look like? Before I give you the recipe I wanted to ask you something. Have you tried any baking using the WEIGHT method versus VOLUME (using measuring cups)? Baking is definitely a science that can be unforgiving if your measuring is off. Get a little heavy handed with the flour or scoop it wrong and it won't rise alot or it's too dry/dense. I will tell you get a little scale from Bed Bath and Beyond (about 20-30 bucks) and use it. I've done it a few times and wished all my recipes were in weight form....so much easier. Give it a try?

Zebra Cake
from King Arthur Flour/Baker's Banter

1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk (whole, 2% or 1%)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Double Dutch Dark Cocoa

or if you'd like to weigh it out.....

7 ounces granulated sugar
4 large eggs
8 ounces milk (whole, 2% or 1%)
7 ounces vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 1/2 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Double Dutch Dark Cocoa

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9" x 2" round baking pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment, and spritz again. Set the pan aside.

2) In the bowl of your mixer, blend the sugar and eggs until lightened, about 2 minutes. On low speed blend in the oil, milk and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

3) In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to remove any lumps. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients. Combine on medium speed 1-2 minutes or until the batter is smooth and lump free. Be sure to scrape down the bowl halfway through mixing.

4) Remove 2 cups of the vanilla batter and place it in the measure you used for the liquid ingredients. Sift the cocoa over this batter, and stir well to combine. Be sure to use a sifter to avoid cocoa lumps in the batter.

5) Now for the stripes. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of vanilla batter into the center of the cake pan. Next, spoon 3 tablespoons of the chocolate batter into the center of the vanilla batter. This causes the vanilla batter to spread out. Continue to alternate batters, in bulls-eye fashion until all batter is used. You will now have thin rings of each batter on the outer edges of the pan, thicker rings towards the center.

6) Bake the cake in the center of the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost as desired.

Chocolate Ganache
from allrecipes.com

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

In a heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips with cream over low heat. Remove from the heat. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally.
For a pourable ganache, cool until mixture reaches 85 degrees F-90 degrees F and is slightly thickened, about 40 minutes. Pour over cake, allowing some to flow down the edges to completely coat. Spread ganache with a spatula if necessary to evenly coat, working quickly before it thickens. Chill until set.
For spreadable ganache, chill until mixture reaches a spreadable consistency. Spread over cake. Chill until set.

Keep the amounts of each chocolate and vanilla mixture as exact as you can. For you can see that I had more chocolate mixture left and it upset the 'balance' of the stripes. I guess I could have just stopped and didn't put the extra in. But I figured K-man will be so wowed over the stripes (so would your cake eating guests) that it probably wouldn't be noticed. Very fun....easy to do in one pan....Yummy too! The ganache was perfect!

Enjoy!

Almond Joy Scones

2010-08-08T13:00:00.002-04:00

I don't know about you but every so often I really like the coconut, almond and chocolate combination. Just like some people like the chocolate/peanut combo....Or my favorite the sweet/salty pairing as in chocolate covered pretzels. I saw a recipe for a coconut scone and I tweaked it up like one of my favorite candy bars. You can certainly leave out the almond paste or the coconut to restyle it your own way too.

Almond Joy Scones

JennyMac Lipsmack creation

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup toasted coconut
1/2 package chocolate chips
1/4 cup almond paste
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
1/2 cup milk or cream
1 large egg
1/2 package chocolate chips, melted

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter and almond paste into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; or use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in chocolate chips and coconut.
3. In a small bowl, whisk milk/cream, coconut extract and egg until smooth.
4. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
5. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool on cooling rack.
6. Melt remaining 1/2 package of chocolate chips and stir in oil until smooth. Drizzle chocolate on cooled scones. Serve when chocolate is set.

Yummy! I think these would have been better with the mini chocolate chips....but the regular is what I had on hand.

Although the first picture appearing on this post looks luscious with the chocolate drizzle. It took longer to cool and was not so easy to store. I think they are good with or without the drizzle buy easier to store and tote around for a snack without the drizzle. Regards....delish!

Enjoy!

Baked Zucchini Chips

2010-08-07T15:52:00.002-04:00

We had mini chicken salad sammies for lunch today. Instead of having chips the side (whether they were the evil or BAKED ones) I decided to make a different kinda chip. Here's a fun treat I made. Take advantage of zucchini while it is the summer bounty and make something to eat that you don't have to feel guilty about. Here is the solution. Crunchy outside, soft inside and you can dip it in anything you want! I've included some shortcuts to make it easier.

Baked Zucchini Chips

One large zucchini or two smaller ones
large ziploc bag
approx. 1/3 c. flour
2 eggs
dash hot sauce
seasoned salt (I used Paula Deen's House Seasoning)
pepper to taste
about 2 cups Panko
few shakes of canola or olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare breading station:
1. Put flour in ziploc flour and add a "fingersful" of salt and pepper. Seal and shake.
2. Beat 2 eggs in bowl and mix in few dashes hot sauce.
3. Place panko in something like a pie pan and also season with salt and pepper. Mix
4. Line cookie sheet with nonstick foil.
5. Arrange each in a line in the order as prepared with the cookie sheet last.

Slice zucchini into 'coins' about 1/4 inch thick. Place into flour bag and shake until all coated.

Remember to keep one hand sticky (from flour to the egg) and the other hand dry (panko to cookie sheet)

Take about 2 zucchini from the bag, place them in the egg and keep flipping them over until the egg soaks into the flour. Sticky hand puts zucchini slice on panko....Dry hand grabs more panko from pan and places it on the zucchini coin and press. Dry hand flips over coin and puts on more panko and PRESS. Turn 'coin' on its side so loose panko can fall back into pan. Place on cookie sheet. Season with salt and pepper again.

Repeat until all zucchini is coated and on cookie sheet. Drizzle a little of oil on zucchini and into between 'coins'. Bake until lightly brown (approx 10 min.). Turn over and drizzle a bit of oil again and bake another 10 minutes.

So delish. I dipped mine in a little bit of green goddess dressing. Great side dish, snack or appetizer. Much easier to eat than a half one baked. WE loved it. Give it a try!

Enjoy!

Spice Cake Mix Cookies

2010-08-03T15:10:00.003-04:00

Sometimes other people in our lives move us to do something. I was wanting to make these spice cake mix cookies for two reasons.

1. K-man LOVES spice 'anything' especially with raisins. He also loves maple. I combined all these favorites of his in a cookie so he'd be very happy. However, summer time is not when we associate 'spicy' baked goods. We tend to think of fall or winter or the holidays for that kinda stuff. I didn't really care about that kinda like wearing white after labor day.

2. I have a friendship with a fellow food blogger. Ginger from Once Upon a Gourmet Gin, she is just a casual blogger just like me....nuthin' ferocious. One thing that we had in common was our love to create new cookies from cake mixes. I swear we both were chugging out like 1-2 a month for awhile there. I think we may have 20 creations between us. Anyhow, Gin has not been blogging lately but devoting more time with her family rather than blogging and I miss her. I made this cookie as a shout out to her. Miss ya Girl!

So if baking cookies NOW in the heat is not your thing....or the spice part of it is a turn off during the summer then perhaps print this out to use when you ARE in the mood for a soft spice cookie. Okay? Good. Let's commence the cookie goodness.

Spice Cake-Mix Cookies
JennyMac Lipsmack Creation

1/2 tsp. rum extract (substitute any extract you prefer)
1/2 cup raisins
very hot water
1 box spice cake mix
sprinkle of cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
few drops maple extract
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
variable milk (approx 1 Tbsp)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place raisins in a small bowl, cover with hot water; stir in rum extract. Let soak to 'plump' while you prepare the mix.

In a large bowl place the cake mix and sprinkle some extra cinnamon to your liking. Mix. In a short drinking glass, beat up the two eggs, extract then the oil. Pour into cake mix and combine.

Pour off hot water from raisins. Take your hand and squeeze the excess water and put the raisins into the cake mixture. Stir well.

Drop by Tablespoon (or small cookie scoop) onto parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes.

Prepare the frosting in a small bowl. Add powdered sugar, a few drops of maple extract and 1 Tbsp. maple syrup. Mix. Use milk to achieve the perfect consistency. Not too stiff not too soupy. Add drop by drop if need be. Set aside until cookies are cool or slightly warm.

Do not glaze cookies right out of oven or you will have more frosting on the counter than the cookie....

Frost cookies with approx 1 tsp of glaze. Swirling spoon around to form a small circle. Gravity will take care of the rest.

Moist, cakey, spicy, chewy....I tasted one for quality control. The rest go to K-man....I am a chocolate girl.

Gin, here's to ya! I've not forgotten about you my friend and cake-mix buddy!

Here is a link to my cake mix labeled cookie posts and Gin's Most Lemony Cookie of all time.

Enjoy!

Orange Monkey Bread

2010-07-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

I am a bread lovin' fool...sweet, savory... I've been making that no knead Artisan Bread in 5 minutes recipe every week (added below) and I love it. I used that dough instead of the canned biscuits shown here. I've done both....so use what is most convenient for you!

This is a great alternative from the cinnmon-y type monkey bread standard. I love the buttery orangey flavor...the crispy, crunchy outside yet spongy soft inside. Delish!

Orange Monkey Bread

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh orange zest
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup melted butter
2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated biscuit dough, separated and halved

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan.
2. Toss the sugar and orange zest together in a small bowl. Whisk the orange juice and melted butter together in a separate small bowl.
3. Roll the biscuit dough pieces into balls. Dip each ball into the orange juice mixture and then roll in the sugar mixture. Arrange the coated balls evenly in the prepared pan. Pour the remaining orange juice mixture over the biscuits.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes before turning out onto a serving platter. Serve warm.

If you want the "make your own dough" adventure....this is really no fuss dough recipe...

1. In a large lidded container... mix

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. granulated yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
6 1/2 cups flour

2. Let rise for 2 hours....I wait until it's doubled or gets flat on top. No biggie really.
3. Put in fridge for whatever/however you want to make from it....see the link to their site for ideas.
4. If you use this dough for the monkey bread, you have to let it rise until doubled then bake it. Its easier to do this before bed and put in the oven first thing when you wake up. Great weekend treat!

Here is what I've made with this GREAT dough so far:

Jalapeno Bread
Pepper Jack Rolls
Sticky Caramel Rolls (with or without bacon)

Honestly I have made at least 15 other things....but we ate them up too fast before I could get a picture....cloverleaf rolls, flat breads, pizza...it's so cool to always have dough in the fridge to get creative with! I will try to post more about my dough creations!

Enjoy!

Zucchini Pepper Jack Mac

2010-07-22T11:00:00.005-04:00

My summer bounty, I average one every other day sometimes two.....

Searching under those large leaves each day is like an Easter Egg Hunt. Constantly I am heard saying "OMG!" Mother Nature amazes me yet I saw this yesterday....

WHUT? Methinks this little zucchini is confused. He thinks that if he poses as a CROOKNECK squash that I won't eat him? Sowwy, little guy...I eat all squash, all colors, all shapes, I do not discriminate! Here is what I made from large zucchini....and so easy.

Zucchini Pepper Jack Mac
created by JennyMac Lipsmack

1 large zucchini, shredded
1/4 onion, grated
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup milk, cream, or even FF evaporated milk if you like
1-1/2 to 2 cups Pepper Jack cheese, shredded (from a block, don't use the bagged stuff)
2 cups cooked pasta (macaroni, egg noodles, penne or whatever you have on hand)
1 cup plain bread crumbs, panko, crushed ritz crackers or potato chips
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix your crumbs of choice with melted butter, set aside.

2. Shred your cheese, set aside your pile. Shred your zucchini and place in large bowl. Shred the onion and mix into the zucchini.

3. Cook your pasta according to the directions. Drain and mix into zucchini and onion mixture.

4. In the used pot from the pasta, start your white sauce. Melt butter, add flour and cook flour until it smells nutty. About one minute. Slowly whisk in your milk. (It's ok if it's thick for the water from the zucchini, onion and pasta will help thin it out.) Add shredded cheese and mix over low heat until no lumps remain.

5. Add pepper jack cheese sauce to zucchini/pasta mixture. If you think the mixture is not 'loose' enough you can mix a little more milk if so desired.

6. Place cheesy pasta mixture in a greased glass baking dish/casserole, approx 2 quart size. Top with butter and crumb mixture.

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until mixture is hot and bubbly and crumbs are light brown.

Great sidedish with your favorite grilled steak or chicken. Nice brunch item as well... creamy, yummy and the shredded zucchini cooks up in a flash this way.

Enjoy!

Cowboy Cookies and New use for a Pan

2010-07-21T11:00:00.008-04:00

I am always a sucker for good homemade cookie. If it's chocolate or got chocolate in it...done deal!
Of course, during the summer who wants to heat up the kitchen. Save these for one of those rainy days when it isn't so hot and want something to do with the kids!!!

Cowboy Cookies
3 dozen large cookies; 6 dozen small cookies

3 C Flour
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
1 Tbsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1½ c. Butter (3 sticks), at room temperature
1½ c. Sugar
1½ c. Light Brown Sugar, packed
3 Eggs
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
3 c. Semisweet Chocolate Chips
3 c. Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
2 c. Sweeten Coconut Flakes
2 c. Chopped Pecans (8 oz)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and brown sugar to butter and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg.
Add vanilla and beat.

4. Add flour mixture and stir until combined. Do not over mix.

5. Hand mix the chocolate chips, oats, coconuts and pecans and combine.

Place ¼C (use either a measuring cup or an ice cream scoop) of dough on ungreased baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15- 17 minutes or until edges start to brown.

Remove cookies and let sit on tray for about 1-2 minutes before placing on a cooling rack. OR

For smaller size cookies use a regular size cookie scoop. My cookie scoop measures about 1 Tbsp. Bake for about 10-12 mins.

NOW FOR THE UNIQUE USE OF A PAN!!!!

I purchased one of those "Perfect Brownie" Pan sets. Ironically, I have not used them for brownies yet. LOL

I put one scoop of each cookie in each space. ( I put the remaining cookie dough formed in balls in a ziploc bag in the freezer for future cookie cravings) Baked @ 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Lower pan on stand, lift dividers out come your squares. I loved how each square had it's own crusty edge. YUM.

Delish!

Summer Corn and Tomato Salad

2010-07-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

Got tomatoes coming out of your ears? We do. No worries just restyle them each dinner time for a great side dish. No cooking, easy wonderfully tasty!

Summer Corn and Tomato Salad
adapted from Chow.com

2 cups sweet white corn kernels, from 3-4 medium cobs
1 tablespoons lime juice
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 /2 cup grape or juliet tomatoes (seen here), halved (can use cherry or pear)
1/4 cup red onion, small dice
6-8 leaves fresh basil, chiffonaded (sliced into ribbons

1. This could be a great use of leftover corn from dinner or I just used raw corn removed from the cob...so sweet and refreshing. Cook in microwave for 4 minutes if you prefer if cooked.

2. Combine lime juice, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. While continuously whisking, add oil in a steady stream until completely incorporated. Add remaining ingredients and cooled corn and toss until well coated. Serve.

Cook's Notes:
I found that if you refrigerate this, you may want to let it sit out before serving. Olive oil tends to cloud over and tighten in the fridge. Either use canola to keep it from seizing but if you enjoy the flavor of olive oil a few minutes in a bowl on the table before you eat dinner it should be fine and loosen up.

Enjoy!

Grilled Spicy Meatballs

2010-07-19T10:19:00.006-04:00

If you have the same type of kitchen I do, no matter how much you have the A/C on or ceilings fan or both....the kitchen still gets hot in the summer (and it goes right up to the the bedroom for us to sleep in later, UGH). We always look how we can cook anything and everything on the grill during July and August.

I found on Life's Ambrosia a fun meatball recipe that I tweaked to work for me...They were STUPENDOUS! We cooked them on the grill without some special meatball grill cookware and had nothing to clean afterward....Check out what I did...

Grilled Spicy Meatballs
adapted from Life's Ambrosia

1 pound ground meat (I used 90% beef or you can use turkey)
1 egg beaten
1/3 cup dry plain bread crumbs (see how I made my own multi grain crumbs)
1/2 red onion, pureed in food chopper
bunch of chives, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (in food chopper)
2 tablespoons sriracha
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons oil

1. Combine all ingredients except oil in a bowl. Mix well to combine. Roll into 20 (or so) meatballs. Place in fridge until ready to grill.
2. Heat up grill on high. Pull off a large piece of non-stick foil bend up the sides and pinch the corners to form a 'faux' cookie sheet. Place foil 'sheet' on grill and drizzle the oil on the foil (hahaha). Place meatballs on oiled foil and turn every so often for even browning. Approx 15 min.
3. Serve plain with a dab of more sriracha sauce. Also, as a leftover suggestion...nice bun, sliced herb cheese and re-heated meatballs for a sandwich...

Throw away that foil and no dirty frying pan or yucky grill. Easy clean up. Zingy meatballs! Loved them. Ate them with grilled zucchini and corn the first night and I had a tasty meatball sandwich the next day for lunch. I offered it to K-man to take for lunch but he said "the guys were doing "Friday lunch out"....*yay, fist pump*... K-man's loss was my gain. Even better the next day. Cook these on your grill and tweak your aromatics like I did...but DON'T forget the sriracha....gotta have THAT.

Enjoy!

Most Yummy Jalapeno Cheesey Bread and a Winner

2010-07-15T11:58:00.011-04:00

Years ago at one of those wholesale clubs I always got their jalapeno cheese bread. Loved it!

Either they don't make it anymore or I don't go that club anymore but I don't see it anymore (I only go to BJ's now and not very frequently) Sometimes I see a smaller version in the grocery but they just don't seem to have much flavor either.

Inspired by a cinnamon roll boule style bread I saw this is what I came up with....

Jalapeno Cheesy Bread
JennyMac Lipsmack Creation

2 thawed bread dough loaves (found in your freezer section) or the 1/2 recipe for no knead bread dough
1/2 stick melted butter
6-8 sliced jalapenos (don't use those pickled ones!)
1 lb. shredded mild cheddar or colby cheese (don't use the stuff in the bag!)

1. Shred your mild cheddar cheese (the sharp stuff just doesn't taste right with the zingy jalapeno). I really have stopped using those bagged cheese not only to save money on buying blocks but the flavor is SOOOOOO much better. The cornstarch/flour they put on the pre-shredded stuff really mutes the cheese flavor I feel.

2. Slice your jalapenos. Remember the seeds and the veins inside hold the heat. If you want your bread zingy....slice with abandon. I take a few of the peppers and dig out the seeds and veins to help balance out the heat. Some bites are zingy so not AS zingy. Every bite is a surprise! If you do half seeded and half not....mix up your pile so they distribute well through the bread.

3. Set aside your peppers, cheese and melted butter.

Sorry I don't have step by step pictures of this....It's a pain to keep wiping off doughy hands to snap a pix. I need an assistant....

4. On a floured surface, roll out your dough. Don't worry so much about the size. Just as big as you can get without it the dough getting too thin. Spread on the melted butter. Sprinkle on half of the cheese and half of the jalapenos. Roll up from the longest edge and pinch edges.(kinda like making cinnamon rolls!)

5. Hopefully your roll with be nice and thick from the pepper and cheese. Very gently with both hands roll back and forth (like you did with play dough as a kid) to 'snake' it out longer. Just aim for double in length. Mine was about 2-1/2-3 feet at first and it slowly shrinks as you work with it more.

6. Take one end and start to curl it into itself making one big spiral. Be sure to grab a bunch of cheese and jalapenos as you roll along. Roll, stuff with cheese and peppers. Roll and stuff with cheese and peppers, etc.

7. Top with remaining cheese and space out the peppers. Generously grease a 10 inch springform pan. Cover with towel and let rise in warm place until double or filled the pan.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

8. Bake for 45 minutes. You can cover the top of the bread with foil if you feel it's overbrowning after 30 minutes. You can also remove the bread from the springform ring and bake on parchment for the final 15 minutes to get the rest of the bread 'crusty'.

9. Let cool on cooling rack until room temperature. Do not try to cut this bread while hot. You will flatten it and the cheese will ooze out.

OH GAWD, the smell.....

The GOOEY cheese....

Someone get me some butter..... Heaven!

I've also got so distracted by this bread that I failed to announce my Good Earth Giveaway Winner....Cheryl from The Lucky Lady Bug she journals and has a separate blog where to lists who is having giveaways. You should check her out. Congrats Cheryl....dinner is on MyBlogSpark and the wonderful people at Good Earth!

Enjoy!

Got Leftover Grilled Veggies?

2010-07-05T11:53:00.006-04:00

As I was looking at my kitchen counter this morning....I noticed that we are being taken over by the tomatoes and zucchini here (no complaints, really) AND the fact that we have leftovers of summer grilling in the fridge as well.

I used this recipe before with great success. So whether you use fresh veggies, leftover grilled ones or a combo of each (as I did), this is a great brunch, lunch, snack or side dish. Give it a try?

(Leftover?) Garden Veggie Bake
adapted from bettycrocker.com

1 cup grated FRESH Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 cup chopped zucchini (either leftover grilled or parcooked)* see note
1/2 cup corn kernels(mine was leftover roasted with onion from the grill)
1 medium tomato, chopped (1 or 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sauteed mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup) (omitted since onions were in the mushrooms and corn)
3/4 cup Bisquick Heart Smart® mix
1 cup fat-free (skim) milk (I used FF evaporated milk)
1/2 cup fat-free egg product or 4 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used Paula Deen's House seasoning, love it!)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese in baking dish. Top with zucchini, corn, tomato, mushrooms and onion. I sprinkled more 1/2 cup more cheese in between the veggie layers as well.
2. In small bowl, the baking mix, milk, eggs and seasonings until blended. Pour over vegetables and top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese over vegetables.
3. Bake uncovered 32 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Cook's Notes:

The corn, mushrooms and tomatoes were great! Even though the zucchini was cut in small pieces, they still were a bit 'firm'. If you look at the pic above, notice the one cube on the left side and you can SEE the line of cooked versus 'less cooked'. Don't get me wrong, the zucchini wasn't CRUNCHY or hard. But if you like your zucchini tender crisp then follow the recipe as listed. I know that when I reheat this, it will be perfect.
I think fresh, raw onion would be not only crunchy but heavy in onion taste, if you are into it.
Mellowing out or making the zucchini and/or onion softer could be done easily in the microwave cooking it for a minute or two until both are 'not so raw'.

STILL TIME LEFT! ENTER MY GOOD EARTH GIVEAWAY!

Enjoy!

Blue Cheese and Broccoli Salad

2010-07-03T13:00:00.001-04:00

Back in my college days I used to work at a department store called Woodward and Lothrop (sniff-sniff...RIP, woodies!) and one of my favorite lunches in the mall was this broccoli salad. After awhile I wised up and started making my own at home....certainly cheaper. That was back in the 80's....I have never seen this salad in any deli or store since. I don't know why but I love it!

Another reason I am sharing this recipe with you is because Elena from Mann's contacted me asked if I wanted a few coupon's for some of their product and blog about it. YIPEEEEE! I have used their bagged cut up broccoli mixes several times in a pinch and was always happy....but more for FREE.....YES (fist pump!)

Blue Cheese Broccoli Salad
from JennyMac and published on allrecipes.com

1 bag of Mann's Broccoli Wokly
1 tomato, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 -1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste
optional crumbled bacon bits

In a bowl, place broccoli and soak in very hot tap water for 5 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Broccoli should be very green and show no bluish/grayish surface.
Over dried broccoli place the salad dressing and mix well. Add chopped tomatoes either one large chopped or grape tomatoes halved. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you are feeling adventurous crumble some bacon on top. Since I had used a newly tried yogurt based blue cheese dressing I felt I could spare the fat grams!

Mann's products are available @ Food Lion, Bloom and Giant Food. You can go on their website for a location near you AND get some cool recipes! Thanks again Elena and Mann's!

BTW, the recipe link to allrecipes.com is my original version, the recipe on this post was created to be used with Mann's packed product.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GOOD EARTH GIVEAWAY!

Enjoy!

Kraft Homestyle Product Review

2010-07-02T15:00:00.002-04:00

Who hasn't eaten Kraft's mac and cheese out of the blue box? Either I ate too much of it in college or my palate has changed over the years. I gave it up...way too ORANGE to be good.
Then I found out that that orange powder has no cheese in it whatsoever! ACK!

I've made my own mac and cheese for years. It's a labor of love for sure. But don't get me started on my battle with K-man liking and not liking my versions of mac and cheese!!!

I received some free coupons for some new products from Kraft's First Taste program this was one of them. They offer the classic orange cheese version and/or a Parmesan. I took the Parmesan for I didn't think the 'orange cheese' version was going to really change my feeling about it. But free was free and on a busy night....what the heck?

Do you want two hefty meals or four small side out of this? I was impressed! It was pretty good. I like my mac and cheese to be a bit more saucy and creamy but the flavor was good. Even the tiny crumbs for the topping had great crunch.

All I had to provide was 2 Tbsp of butter and some milk. Kraft provided the pasta, cheese, seasoning and crumb topping. Cost? About $3.29. I am sure the 'cheese content' in this product is no different than it's orange cousin!

But if you want good flavor and have put convenience ahead of nutrition give it a try...tell me if you liked or how the 'orange cheese' compared to the traditional box type.

I will still be making my own mac and cheese in the future for I feel better knowing what exactly I am eating. I have plans for a mac and pepper jack coming soon! Stay tuned.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GOOD EARTH GIVEAWAY!

Enjoy!

Good Earth Giveaway

2010-07-01T16:43:00.004-04:00

I've returned! LOL Anyone notice I was gone? Well not gone but crazy busy and no energy to snap pix and blog. Well I've missed you and ready to kick off my summer vacay with a GIVEAWAY!

The generous people at MyBlogSpark and Good Earth sent me this fun package. A reusable grocery bag, a bamboo cutting board, 2 sets bamboo flatware and two small plates and a box of Good Earth of Mediterranean Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta to try out. I love the bamboo! So cute. Made with 100% whole grain, no trans fat, no artificial flavors, no artificial preservatives, no MSG. Gotta love that!

I gave the package dinner a try one night when I wasn't in the mood to coordinate a full dinner. All I had to do was add my own chicken and all the sauce, seasonings and pasta was provided. Dinner in a snap. Very tasty too! I am sad that I didn't get more flavors to try to compare because sadly Good Earth has not shown up in our stores yet.

Do I pass? Does it look like the picture on the box? Well perhaps it would have if there wasn't a random clump of 'something' in the front there. Oh well. I am by far the pro photog!

I know the 4th of July holiday weekend is coming up and perhaps you want an easy meal to prepare after all your hard work from your holiday prep! Won't you put in a comment how you are a package dinner queen or what you'd like to do with your new bamboo products or just a quick comment about how much you missed me!

Just in case you are going away this giveaway will be held for one week! Give you plenty of time to enter.....

Thanks again MyBlogSpark and Good Earth!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS FOR STOPPING BY.

Enjoy!

DUTCH, baby!!!

2010-05-31T13:07:00.003-04:00

I've made Dutch Babies once in a blue moon....but LOOK at this one! Wow, I don't know if it was just the recipe or how the milk and eggs were at room temperature. But this was Monster. Similar to the popover and tastes pretty much the same....this is too easy to make. This recipe is a keeper. AND, made in a cake pan. I chose square today.

Monster Dutch Baby

2 large eggs (mine were extra large, double yolked farm fresh eggs)
1/2 cup whole milk (I used Fat Free evaporated milk)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
scant flavorings, cinnamon, etc optional
3 Tablespoons of butter

1. Place a cake pan in your oven. Then preheat your oven to 450° Fahrenheit. You know, screaming hot. I suggest using a oven thermometer always.

2. Using a wire whisk, blend your eggs, milk, flour, salt. Set aside.

3. When your oven is fully preheated and your cake pan hot, remove the cake pan from the oven. Put in 3 Tablespoons of butter and quickly swirl the pan so the butter does not brown or burn. When most of the butter is melted, pour in your Dutch Baby batter.

4. Place the pan bake in the hot oven and bake for 7 or 8 minutes. You may need an extra minute or two, depending on your oven. Watch the monster rise!

Serving suggestions:

Drizzle with maple syrup
squeeze of lemon juice and powdered sugar
smear favorite jam, preserves
slices of fresh fruit and whipped cream
sauteed mushrooms and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

K-man had his piece with orange marmalade, I chose this new jar of rhubarb and raspberry preserves. I needed nothing else. The salty butteriness the sour of the rhubarb and sweetness of the raspberry...I was in heaven. I ate 3 pieces. K-man got one. LOL

BAKED Egg Rolls

2010-05-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, I said 'baked' WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Two things are going down over here at Lipsmack Land:

1. Counting down the days until summer vacation.
2. Restyling some of my class recipes to cut costs*.

That is when I discovered you can BAKE egg rolls...OMG....why didn't I think of this sooner? First, I hate using so much oil just to fry egg rolls for one class. Second, I know I could use that oil to make other things during the day...but trust me frying foods all day long is not fun (been there done that). I kn0w I could store the oil for later use but again...I don't have the time to wait 3 hours after school for it to cool down....ANYWAY. I don't know why I am justifying myself here (warding off comment making the aforementioned suggestions I guess)....it's MY blog....sheesh. lol

My students love Egg Roll day. I make the filling ahead of time and I teach them how to fold it, roll it and fry it. Kinda sketchy for some kids who are afraid of oil....but I am there to assist....no one ever burned (that badly- lol- kidding) I found this recipe for baked egg rolls and totally ignored the recipe but read the process. I love MY recipe....just was not thrilled over the amount of oil that is being consumed. Problem NOW solved.

Of course my recipe is enough to feed 30 students, several staff members and a carry out plate of like 6-8 for my BFF coworker and me. Forwarning...this recipe makes alot** (60?). Not a number for your typical family of four. Have an egg roll making party! Freeze half of the batch. Share some with neighbors. Eat only egg rolls for dinner one night. Set up an egg roll stand in front of your house. Encourage your child to do a report on China and bring these in to their class.....

Baked Egg Rolls

Filling:

1lb ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 napa cabbage, shredded (use a food processor)
4-5 carrots, peeled and grated (use the smaller holes on the food processor)
1 pkg; cellophane noodles, softened
season salt/pepper

Egg Rolls:

3 pkg egg roll wrappers (about twenty each package)
1 egg, beaten
oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Boil hot water and soak cellophane noodle in a bowl until soft. Cut noodles with scissors to make shorter pieces. Set aside to cool.

Prepare filling by: cooking turkey, onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until turkey is no longer pink. Cool turkey mixture while preparing vegetables.

Using a food processor, shred washed cabbage, grate carrots. Set aside.

Mix cooled turkey, cooled noodles with vegetables in large bowl. Add season salt and pepper to taste. DON'T SALT YOUR MIXTURE IF YOU ARE PUTTING IN FRIDGE OVERNIGHT. The salt will pull out the water and leave your mixture soggy as though the cabbage was cooked.

Put 1/4 cup of turkey mixture in the center of egg roll wrapper.

Kinda like the bottom of an envelope.

Making sure being gentle yet tightly tucking filling and rolling.

Brush the top of the unrolled wrapper with egg wash.

Place on foiled line cookie sheet with seam side down; brush with oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 15 minutes.

I am never deep fat frying these egg rolls ever again!!! These were absolutely the same. Crispy, crunchy. Great texture inside, not over cooked. Bring on the hot mustard and duck sauce!!!

*The cost cutting was not from this recipe but swapping this recipe being done as a lab experience and the chicken with broccoli stir fry as a demonstration. I was able to buy considerably less chicken and vegetables by doing it as a sample demonstration. During lab they would get a hefty portion with rice. Sad to say that buying a package of 100 chopsticks is probably the cheapest I have to buy.

**Look at the bowl of filling....I said a LOT. Perhaps you could only shred half of the cabbage....or use half a package of noodles....1/2 lb of turkey and one package of egg rolls wrappers. Dunno, play around with what works for you. Honestly I just think you should file this recipe under...party appetizers and keep the amount so you don't have half a cabbage, half cellophane noodle and half an open package of turkey to use up afterward. Hey, the more you make, the more friends you will keep. Works for me!

Don't be intimidated. If my 8th graders can do this...so can you!

Rolling around in the joy of less fat in my egg roll,

Snickerdoodle Pie

2010-05-24T10:00:00.001-04:00

Have you ever read someone's blog entry of the day and immediately made it? Cathy from Noble Pig has that effect on me sometimes.

On May 5, I made this scrumptious snickerdoodle pie, took pictures, uploaded them, ate it all up and life interfered....'the wind down of the school year' is upon me and it's sometimes crazy for me. When I finally returned back to my blog, I said...."snap, I forgot to post this !!!" Sorry guys, I am awake now.

Snickerdoodle Pie
adapted from Noble Pig that she got from Better Homes and Gardens

1 rolled refrigerated unbaked piecrust or your favorite homemade pie crust (9")
1 Tablespoon raw sugar or coarse sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
3/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1/2 cup butter plus 1 Tablespoon, divided (some softened, some melted)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons light colored corn syrup
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350o F. Prepare pastry and line 9" pie plate. In a bowl combine raw sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Brush melted butter over crust. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon-sugar mixture and pecans. Set aside.

For syrup, in saucepan combine brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, the water, corn syrup and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil gently 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Set aside.

In mixing bowl beat 1/4 cup softened butter with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Beat in granulated sugar, powdered sugar, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar until well combined. Beat in egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually beat in milk until combined. Beat in flour. Spread evenly in crust-lined plate.

Slowly pour syrup over filling in pie plate. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture. Cover edges of pie with foil.

Bake pie 25 minutes; carefully remove foil. Bake 20 minutes more or until top is puffed and golden brown and a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes on wire rack. Serve warm.

OMG! Yummy, yummy, yummy. Very rich and something that could be served as thin as a cheesecake slice with some ice cream. Shhhhh, but I tucked an emergency piece in the freezer! Don't tell K-man! Pardon the 'darkish' picture, sigh.

Enjoy!

Happy Chocolate Chip Day!

2010-05-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe on Picky Palate's blog....oh boy! How appropriate with today being Chocolate Chip day! Let's celebrate with a big fat XXL cookie!!! Jenny from PP used M&M's....that was my springboard....so I hit the candy aisle....lookee what else I put on the cookie...

What makes these cookies so large is that you use the muffin top pans. I have 3 of them at my school so I borrowed them for this recipe. Perfect! If you'd like more of a tutorial how to use these pans with these cookies check out Jenny's Picky Palate blog for more detailed pix...

XXL Candy Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Picky Palate

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup packed light brown sugar (I used half dark brown and light brown)
2 extra large eggs
2 Tablespoons pure vanilla
3 3/4 Cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 oz bag chocolate chips
1 bag M&M’s, Reese's Pieces, Almond or Peanut M&M's, Heath Bar Bits

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter and sugars until well beaten. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl; mix. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips. Do not mix in M&M’s!!

2. Scoop 1/4 Cup of dough and press into a muffin top pan (or just press onto a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet) using your hands or the bottom of a moistened glass. Now, press your M&M’s onto pressed cookies. I did a pan of M&M's (dark) and a pan of Reese's. Another pan of Heath Bar bits....Bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges just start to turn golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes on muffin top pan or cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

About 18 XXL cookies!

I made a DOUBLE batch to take to my GIRL's weekend at the beach. I know we all needed to have some homemade chocolate lovin' from the oven.

Don't worry....I left a few (like 10) for K-man to enjoy while he spends the weekend alone. Care to guess how many will be left when I return after 3 days?

Thanks Jenny....this XXL ROCKED....I hope we don't eat them all on the drive over to the beach!

Doughnut Cake Pan- A review

2010-05-10T11:00:00.001-04:00

Nuff said...pretty good likeness. Unlike my review of the cookie cake pan with not so good results.

I made this for dessert for our Mother's Day dinner. The family joke is about my grandmother's love for doughnuts. No matter the brunch spread...she will gravitate to the doughnuts. We have gotten her shirts as gifts about liking doughnuts. One year someone gave her some doughnut cologne. Another year during the holidays a family member bought a ginormous boston cream doughnut. It was about the size of a large pizza. It was only fitting that when I saw this pan from Williams Sonoma that I get it to make for grandmom's birthday. Well, since her b-day is in August....and it was Mother's Day....the cake came early!

Honestly, I didn't bother with the recipe on the box for time was lacking. I doctored up a cake mix and had some leftover frosting from another cake in the freezer. I also scooped up some cake to make holes to add some dulce de leche pudding in the middle for a cream filling doughnut affect.

I didn't think this cake pan wouldn't have problem due to the lack of 'detailing' on the cake pan. I will try the cake again using the recipe for I think any cake recipe or mix would work without a problem and so far even a cake mix was just fine. One day I will surprise my homeroom with a 'doughnut' for breakfast. I sure will be a hit for any food or sugar makes them happy always!

So if doughnuts are popular in your family this would be perfect to make with the kids and it will give you huge brownie.... err....doughnut points if you made this.

Enjoy!

MMMmmm....Spinach Brownies

2010-05-09T14:00:00.004-04:00

Ha-Ha, made you look!

My 7th grade students are currently doing a research/presentation on fruits and vegetables. I was sitting with Rosie and helping her catch up from her absence and showing her how to format her slide on her least favorite vegetable task. I asked her for a vegetable that she'd eat....but it wasn't her favorite (she said corn was her fave). Her answer was spinach. OK, good.

Next, I took her to the allrecipes.com site to get some spinach recipes. We typed in 'spinach' in their search window. One of the first hits we got was for "spinach brownies" I said "SPINACH BROWNIES?" kinda loud and many surrounding students went EWWWWWWWWW. We laughed. So I looked at Rosie and said 'let's look'....

I didn't think at all it was a chocolate item but still the name of it made me curious. It looked good....so good I made it two days later. That says something. I am including it for our Mother's Day dinner and saving one to bring to school for Rosie to try. Not sure if Rosie kept this recipe I helped add to her project as a suggestion....but it is sure being added to my recipe collection at home.

Spinach Brownies
adapted from allrecipes.com

2 (10 ounce) package spinach, frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped green onions
1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup romano cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

2. Place spinach in a medium bowl and microwave until thawed. Use a clean dishtowel to squeeze dry. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in eggs, milk and butter. Mix in spinach, onion and cheeses.

4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool before serving.

So THANKS ROSIE, who would have thought a student would be providing recipe idea to her FACS teacher! This is called a happy accident! YUM....best tasting accident evah! I will be touching base later with Rosie's reaction to my sample she tried....

Enjoy!

Mean Green Chicken

2010-05-08T15:26:00.004-04:00

When you have the abundance of something from your garden have you considered how you could use it for a marinade for your chicken instead of throwing it away?

When I went to the farmer's market I usually store the green onions soaking in water in a glass. In order for them to fit on the shelf in the fridge I have to WHACK off a good 1/3 of the greens. I can't get over how almost double in length they are compared to the ones at the store. All those green onion ends are too much for a salad yet those flavorful goodies aren't not going to waste! Go grab some of your other favorite fresh herbs some garlic and POW some mean green marinade.

Lookee, what I made....

Mean Green Chicken
JennyMac Lipsmack

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 full cup of chopped green onions
2 garlic cloves, pressed
handful of chives, chopped
One sprig of oregano, leaves plucked
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves slid off
one handful of parsley, chopped
salt and pepper (tsp of each)

Put olive oil and lemon juice in food processor or food chopper. Place the green onions and puree coarsely. Add the garlic cloves, pulse. Add the chives, do a few more pulses. Add the oregano and thyme. Pulse a few times again. Lastly parsley, pulsing a few last times.

The mixture doesn't need to be finely blended like pesto. It's okay for it to be chunky....gives it character! Place mixture in ziploc bag. Salt and pepper the chicken. Place chicken in bag and smoosh it around. Place bag in fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Grill as you would your boneless chicken normally. Approximately 7 minute per side. I find that if you take it off earlier than when you THINK its ready....it will continue to cook (carry over cooking) as you are plating the rest of your dinner.

These mean green beauties practically melted in our mouth. AWESOME. They were great reheated as slices on my salad the next night too.

Enjoy!

Food Product Review

2010-05-07T11:00:00.000-04:00

I've received a few Tastemaker products from Foodbuzz and on occasion some free samples. Soyjoy was offering free samples through Foodbuzz. Or Foodbuzz was offering free samples from Soyjoy. LOL.

I've seen these advertised on TV. I am picky about my soy choices. Not a huge fan....especially of the Tofu. But I do eat the veggie burgers on occasion, dried soybeans or edamame.

But they were Free and thought perhaps I'd throw them in K-man "energy bars for biking stash"

When I got them I dunno....perhaps this brightly purple flyer with my two free bars made me smell blueberries? The flyer says that it tastes like a blueberry muffin. Perhaps it was my morning coffee brewing and my lack of breakfast.

The package called to me...."try me," it whined softly.....mmmmm blueberry muffin with my hot coffee.....oh what the heck!

OH MY!.....The blueberry aroma filled my nostrils as I opened the package that I barely looked over the bar and bit off a chunk. I started to chew more slowly....thinking something is going to give. It will have an aftertaste....the texture will be weird....come on disappoint me.....

NO, IT DID NOT! Shocker. I was pleasantly surprised. This was really good. See don't knock the stuff until you try it. Now I am curious how the other flavors are!

As I sat licking my fingers and washing down my last bite with my steaming hot coffee....I sadly eyed the second or LAST Soyjoy....am I going to give K-man this for his next bike trek afterall?

Thanks Foodbuzz, Thanks Soyjoy....You have a new fan! Well two....K-man loves it too. Yeah, I caved and shared....

Try something new today- it may surprise you!

A Survival Guide to a Book Signing....

2010-05-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.....

The Pioneer Woman was in town for a book signing. YAY, I was so excited. I RSVP'ed through Facebook that I would attend. I warned K-man a month earlier and we plotted the best way to go about it. Afterall, he wouldn't want to be hanging around some many women and yet parking could be an issue. We saw that the Guitar center was across the street and Harley Davidson was nearby so he was entertained while I was doing the book signing thing. He was done in an hour....little did I know I still have a very time time to go....

I called Border's ahead after I raced home from work. How was this being handled? I was told that you arrived and got a slip (colored coded by groups and the groups would be taken in order). She was due to speak @ 6:00pm and start signing by 6:30 and the groups would be lined up one at a time. They were on group 4 already. They had ten groups slotted. 50 per group.

I got there @ 5:30. I got a beige slip and was group 6. The crowd in the back of the store was packed...I sidled off to the side hoping I could see. Thankfully, Ree was on time. She was nervous (as her per usual) about speaking and didn't want to be so formal and just opened up the floor for questions. Meanwhile, everyone is clicking their digital cameras above their heads. I must have taken 10 pictures of someone else's camera who got in my way as I snapped. Grrrrrr.

Who would think that raising your hand above your head and pressing the button to focus would make your hand shake so much. The only clear pix I got were of Ree's head turned and one with a 'unpleasant' grimace. She was probably swallowing or something. I finally gave up of after deleting ten more blurry pix of PW with two heads.

She spoke for only 15 minutes for she wanted to get started on the signing. YAY. Then we waited. I thought the groups colors thing would free us up from being stuck in line for hours. WRONG! They started calling the colors and someone took your name on a post it and put in your book where Ree would sign then they ushered your group over to the OTHER side of the store to line up for her to sign your book. Border's employees decided to start giving out post-its to any color as long as they didn't get in line before they called. COOL. I will get my post-it and get an iced coffee.

Luckily I was second in line...there was only 1 guy working the counter. I thought it odd to have only one staff member there on an evening when there would be so many customers. The food case had one brownie and two bagels left. Another bad sign. About 10 more people get in line for sustenance, poor coffee guy...he's in for it now. As I get my coffee I hear "LAST CALL BEIGE" Huh...what? I walked over and he was starting the pink group by the time I got to the other side of the building. I told the employee I was beige, he said, "Well your pink now." Sigh.

So you know all those bookshelves in the store?....they don't just hold books....they make a great LABYRINTH of corridors for organizing a line of people..... Oh and that calling one group at a time so you could at least pass the time by shopping? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Everyone was all lined up like cattle for slaughter zigging and zagging between each bookshelf from one end of the store to the other. We were stuck for hours in a line.

The Good:

Bring a friend, husband, boyfriend to keep you company while you wait. They also serve purpose for keeping your place in line while you go to the bathroom. Which will have another long line BTW.
Having another person with you is also essential for foraging food or drink from the outside since there is nothing at Border's to sustain you. If you thought you would WHIZ through and get dinner afterward, you are sadly mistaken.
Many different people to talk to who are ahead, behind or across from you. I passed out a few of my blog business cards that Foodbuzz gave me last year. Perfect occasion for it.
Having an iPhone to place an order to Chipotle and walk down to pick it up in 10 minutes. Sit on the floor for a Mexican picnic. We did not partake in this activity but the smell of burritos was driving me crazy.
Having your husband there to walk the kids around, sit with them, take them out for a snack for waiting in a long line is NOT something a small child can endure.
Bring your laptop, homework, reading material to keep yourself busy.
Good to have your 'conversation piece' ready for when you meet Ree to appear charming, witty and NOT look like a total nerd without having to say: "HI, I am your number one fan!"
A guy in line was saying "if I knew this author was so popular I would have rethought doing this." Our surrounding bevy of women asked why and he said he was surprising his girlfriend with a signed copy of the cookbook. We all say "AWWWWWW .....oh no....you will get MAJOR brownie points for this...good call!"
Having K-man come over and surprise me with a diet coke because he knew I was parched and when I could get a drink was questionable.

The Bad:

Staff at the coffee counter said they were not informed of the book signing when asked by the customers why there wasn't any food left. They also said that they usually have water bottles and little snacks to pass around during a signing. Who dropped the ball on this?
Ree sat at a little meager table in front of a display of books of some other author. Why did she not have her OWN backdrop of her book with her picture? Or a big banner with her name? There was NO signage anywhere indicating that she was coming or even there!
Bringing small children all by yourself. Lots of crying of bored and cranky children were heard. Many of them wanted a drink or snack and Mommy was not prepared it seemed.
The Border's employees talking aloud about the event and not realizing that we could hear. For example: they thought only 150 people who RSVP'ed on FB were the ones attending. 500 showed up.
They ran out of PW books to sell for signing @ 6pm. Perhaps they only ordered 150?
A border's employee (with a cigarette behind his ear) yelling as he walked through the crowd..."EXCUSE ME! YOU ALL NEED TO KEEP AN OPEN PATH FOR THE EMPLOYEES TO GET TO THE BREAK ROOM."
The girl behind me opened her book to place her post it and realized in horror she purchased a book that was already signed. She was very disappointed she waited in line with the rest of us to get her name added.

The Ugly:

A group of fans singing their own version of "Home on the Range" personalized about Pioneer Woman.
A woman yelling on the phone to her husband about buying a bag of Frito's for Ree. I guess I made some kind of face for she immediately explained to me that Ree said her dog Charlie smelled like Frito's and since she was away from him and missed him dearly that these Frito's were a gift for her to open and smell to remind her of dear dog. OK FREAK.
Many attendees were bringing gifts to Ree. Was there a star in the sky? Is Ree the next Messiah we have to bring gifts to? GEEZ people. Although gifts are a nice gesture, these gifts really put a HUGE delay on the line moving along for Ree felt compelled to gush and thank and listen to their story WHY they bought their gift. By the time my turn came up there was a pile of 20 some odd gifts. How is Ree supposed to carry all these into her hotel room?
I was about 5 people away from my turn. The lady who was taking our cameras to snap came over to me and said "where are you in line?" I said "Behind that gentleman in the blue shirt (he was 5 feet away between some bookshelves)" She said smiling fakely "well you need to get back into line." I was standing at the end of the book shelving waiting for him to get closer to me. My mouth gaped open over her micromanaging comment as another attendee spoke up. "We've been standing at the ends here waiting so the line doesn't go back into bookshelves....all these people packed between them makes it incredibly hot and I am about to pass out from it being so hot back there" "OH," the control freak employee replied and went back to her fake smile as she took the camera of the next person.

All in all I am glad to have my cookbook signed....as for my wonderful memorable comment to Ree...it was "hi....she said 'good to meet you and thanks for coming' I said 'thank you ' and took my book (after the picture of course)....I was so tired, hungry and with an aching back that I just wanted to get out of there. I hope Ree didn't hear me say to K-man on my way out..."SWEET FREEDOM!" If she did.....hope she didn't take it personally.

At least the good outweigh the bad but I sat finally at 9:35pm in the car and we ate dinner at 10:05pm. I am too old for this stuff.

Taking a nap now!

Supreme Pizza Bubble Bread

2010-05-05T10:00:00.001-04:00

When you have all the makings for a nice supreme pizza...it really bites when your only 'bread' is some canned biscuits. I said to myself...."I REFUSE to press them out to make mini pizzas! Nor am I going to press them all together to FAKE pizza dough!"

So here is what I did to make my pizza 'outside' the box....

Supreme Pizza Bubble Bread
JennyMac Lipsmack Creation

2 cans of refrigerated biscuits (10 count each)
1 cup of chunky tomato sauce (mine is just canned whole tomatoes mooshed with my hands with Italian seasoning, garlic powder and parmesan cheese added to taste)
1/2 cup onions, chopped.
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 pint mushrooms (raw or sauteed)
1/2 cup pepperoni, chopped in half
1/2 cup Italian sausage, (however styled, mine was leftover from a hot sausage sub night, chopped)
4 mozzarella cheese sticks, chopped
1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded.
Freshly grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the sauce, onions, peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni, sausage and chopped mozzarella sticks. Cut each biscuit into quarters and mix into the 'supreme' mixture.

Put supreme mixture on lightly oiled pizza pan (not the ones with holes). Spread it out about 1 inch from edge. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and bake for additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with freshly grated Parmesan. Pizza can be served as a slice and eaten with fingers or just serve from pan in center of table and everyone just pull and eat!

Here have a bite!

Fun pull apart type of dinner that is kid friendly and chocked full of veggies! Also, this was NOT a supremely EVIL pizza if that is what you are thinking, I used turkey pepperoni and sausage, the mozzarella was reduced fat. So there.

Supreme Lipsmacking,

Cookie Cake Pan Review

2010-05-04T10:00:00.003-04:00

Hey there Kids!

Lookee, what I got.

I saw this pan months ago on Baking Bites (I searched her page forever under "Gear and Gadgets" and couldn't find the post but she has posted about other Williams Sonoma cake pans.) Of course, being the Cookie Club Sponsor at my school; I had to get it.

And it sat. Why you ask? Because I read W.S. site's mixed reviews about it. Hmmmm. How to accomplish this cake task without wasting my time and ingredients?

Step One: Purchased Wilton's Cake Release - many complained about the cake sticking. Well look at all that detail...of course you can expect sticking. Some said to use the recipe on the back of the box....others said 'don't use THAT recipe on the box...use a brownie mix....ugh!

Step Two: Williams Sonoma produced their own cake mix to use with the pan. Ok, will try it...but I really hate box mixes they all have the same chemical under-taste to me

Step Three: Bake the cake box mix according to their directions and it should look like this:

Not this:

And if you bake their recipe on the BACK of the box that the pan came in it should look like this:

NOT this:

A comparison....

Here are my observations:

1. The box mix tells you to FLOUR the greased pan....ewwwww look at the 'ashy' residue to the cake on the right (above) yet the recipe on the box tells you to dust the greased pan with unsweetened cocoa (that looks better).

2. The box mix raised much like a cake (I should have leveled off the tops like you do when you make a layer cake....my sixth graders were too impatient for that step plus I forgot.

3. The homemade recipe off the box baked much like a brownie with a shiny, flat and crackly top.

4. The box mix came out of the pans with no problem at all....too bad they looked so ugly. Actually they looked worse but I dusted them with some cocoa with a basting brush and they still came out like above.

5. The homemade recipe took some 'banging' to get it out. The first pan came out eventually. The second one- half fell out, half remained in the pan. I had to do 'surgery' to get it out. All I can say is....thank god it was able to be hidden underneath the frosting as the bottom layer.

6. A LOT of butter was used to make both of these cakes. I'd say roughly a POUND of butter each. Two stick for the cake...and two sticks for the frosting. Speaking of which....the homemade frosting....no brainer....anything with two sticks of butter with powdered sugar...YUM. Yet the frosting from the box. It was vanilla flavored powdered sugar. For it called for the same amount of butter and milk added to the FAKE smelling vanilla powdered sugar. ACK....hated the taste.

7. Perhaps the frosting could have used less milk...although it was soft for both....as soon as you put the top 'cookie' on the frosting....the oozing started. QUICK....start cutting!!!!

8. Oh yeah THAT, the cutting. What a hot mess. The picture seen here was NOT how my cake sliced. If you remember one of the pictures above....I had 4 cracks working on one. And I took the picture pretty much after I placed it on top. All I can say is that thank gawd I wasn't serving this to impress a party....I would have been embarrassed. The sixth graders didn't care. They were drooling over the sugar fix they were about to satisfy at 8:30am....BREAKFAST of CHAMPIONS! Two got a piece of each to try for comparison sake.

9. The kids picked the homemade recipe from the box as a better tasting one! Phew!

10. Clean up with the pans....the cake mix stuck very little and clean up wasn't so bad with hot water, soap and good sponge. The homemade recipe...OMG...I soaked and scrubbed and soaked and scrubbed. I finally had to resort to a toothbrush for all those nooks and crannies.

It amazes me over the range of reviews from "horrible-the pans are going back" to "looks better than the picture" They all ranged from using the mix to a store box cake mix. ALL over the board. So what do I tell you? Buy it or not?

Well, I won't be making this anytime soon...I am still exhausted over it. 3 days of demonstration to my students. But since I see that there are people out there who are making this 'nicely' I feel challenged to get it right. I am hopeful to find the right combination. So if you are up to a challenge and looking for a fun thing to make with your kids get the pans....not the mix. Start with the recipe on the box and try other recipes....unless you are a box cake fan...ick. Not me.

Purebred Cookies Rock!

Cascadian Farm Giveaway Winner!

2010-05-03T17:41:00.004-04:00

YAY!

Congrats to Jane Valentine!

She is the lucky winner of a boatload of organic cereal from Cascadian Farm and MyBlogSpark!

I appreciate all the entries and your sharing of the 'green' things you do to make our earth a better place.

Since I required it for entry it is only fair that I tell you how we attempt to be greener.....

1. We reduce the amount of trash by recycling. Our city takes quite a bit of everything, most plastic (including lids), phonebooks, disposable pie pans, rinsed aluminum foil (to name a few)

2. I use (and getting quite a collection it seems) of the reuseable grocery bags. I just got a new one yesterday for trading in some of my plastic grocery bags for a cloth one (our city incentive to stop using plastic)

3. I grow as many vegetables as my little garden can fit. This year we have tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers, yellow peppers and jalapenos. I have every herb imaginable hanging off my deck railing.

4. Starting yesterday and every Sunday I save all my produce shopping for our local farmer's market. It is good to support your local farmers. Bring cash. When you doing something like buying asparagus 5.00 per pound and the scales tip to 5.10, if the farmer says 5.00 pay them what you owe. I told the farmer...."oh no, those dimes makes dollars. You get the full amount, don't cheat yourself."

5. We unplug most of all electrical items not in use, you know the fridge, stove and a few other big items we can't reach behind...they stay plugged in.

6. We wash only in cold water and use the RECOMMENDED amount of concentrated laundry soap!

7. We shower by getting wet, turn off the water, soap up/shampoo, turn the water back on to rinse off.

8. When it is just the two of us in the house....we follow the 'if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down' policy. This policy is waived when guests are around....LOL.

I know we could do more. I toy with the composting thing. Since I've seen raccoons eating the bread I put out for the birds....I am fearful of the compost bin being 'ransacked' by that masked varmit. But as I said....it's the little things that if we all did it together it would start to make an impact.

Thanks again Cascadian Farm and MyBlogSpark and Jane....stock up on that milk GIRL!

Enjoy!

Only two days left....

2010-05-01T17:05:00.003-04:00

Who wants some wonderful crunchy organic cereals for their shelves?

You have until Sunday to comment on here what you do to help the environment or being "green"....nothing major....just one will suffice and POOF, you've entered the giveway from Cascadian Farms and MyBlogSpark.

Add yourself to my Facebook Fanpage and PING, you've entered a second chance.

Just think of all the breakfasts, streusel toppings for muffins, haystacks, granola bars...you can make.....

Giveaway is NOW CLOSED! Thanks for visiting!

Enjoy!

Lime Thyme Chicken

2010-04-30T11:00:00.002-04:00

Need another recipe idea for an easy grilling marinade? Here you go....

Lime Thyme Chicken

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. lime zest
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts
2-3 tbsp. melted butter
sliced avocados

Directions:
Combine the lime zest, lime juice, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper in a large zipper-lock plastic bag. Seal the bag and shake well to blend. Place the chicken in the bag with the marinade, pressing out excess air and sealing once more. Refrigerate and let marinate for 2 hours.

Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and place on grill, reserving the leftover marinade. Brush the top of each piece of chicken with melted butter.

Grill chicken until juices run clear. Halfway through grilling, pour/brush the remaining marinade over the chicken. Once fully cooked, cover loosely with foil and let rest 10 minutes before serving. Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with slice avocados and serve.

Sprinkle a bit of lime on top of your avocados as well....great flavor of chicken with the creamy avocado. YUM!

Enjoy!

Brownies on Steroids?

2010-04-29T10:00:00.002-04:00

The Incredible Hulk of Brownies needs to be put in a glass jail for your safety?

Um, that is a definite YES....for the safety of your waistline....keep under lock and key. I found this recipe on the Cutting Edge of Ordinary. I saw them and said "these look a lot like those Magic 7 layer bars made with sweetened condensed milk".... Sure enough...they are. OH MAN a chocolate version of an already decadent bar cookie? My waistline is in TROUBLE.

I was in trouble alright when I was in the middle of making it and realized what I thought was sweetened condensed milk in the pantry was evaporated milk. OH SNAP! Quick run to the computer to look up how to make your own sweetened condensed milk (I'd seen it before yet never tried it).

These babies are rich. See the size of these squares?....Half of that will suffice a sweet tooth.... unless you are having a super stressful day, then eat TWO big ones.

Death by Black Magic Bars
adapted from Lisa's The Cutting Edge of Ordinary recipe

1 & 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa (I used the Hershey's Dark)
3/4 cup cold butter (1 & 1/2 sticks), cut into 1-inch squares
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk *(see recipe for emergency below)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup Coconut Cream Hershey's Kisses, chopped
1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1/3 cup English toffee bits or Heath Bar bits (toffee with chocolate)

Oven to 350. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and cocoa. Add the butter and pulse just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into the bottom of a well-greased 13×9″ baking dish. Bake on center rack at 350 for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, combine condensed milk, vanilla extract and 1 cup of chopped Coconut Cream kisses in heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth. When crust has cooked for 10 minutes, remove from oven and pour chocolate mixture directly over crust, spreading gently with a spatula if necessary.

Sprinkle top with coconut, nuts, heath bar bits and 1 cup chocolate chips. Press down to set, and return brownies to oven to continue baking at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool, and cut into squares of desired size.

*For the rare emergency that you don't have Sweetened Condensed Milk when you need it....

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

Ingredients:
3/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. water
1 C. plus 2 T. powdered milk

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients. Heat to boiling. Cook until thick, this will take 15 to 20 minutes.
This equals one can.

Notes:
This is a great way to make this milk, especially if your recipe calls for it and you don't have any in the house. It is lot cheaper to make it this way, and it does work nicely for baked goods.

Thanks Lisa.....awesome recipe! I made sure I brought some to work and gave some to my neighbor for no way I was letting all that BLACK MAGIC hit my hips! Besides....it's good to share. Thanks for sharing Lisa, you DA BEST!

Enjoy!

Easy Corn Pudding

2010-04-28T11:00:00.002-04:00

I was in the mood for making some corn pudding with dinner. Holy cow, I didn't realize that I had so many corn pudding recipes....

Some with corn kernels, some not. Some with creamed corn only or some with regular corn AND creamed corn.
Some with cornmeal or some with corn muffin mix.
Some with buttermilk or some with sour cream.
ACK!!!!

And the winning corn pudding recipe choice? From She's Becoming Doughmesstic. Susan has such a myriad of recipes....she's fancy one day, down home the next, decorating cakes or catering. Emulating Julia Child....living on 100 bucks for food for the month (with a family of 3) Yep, she's a regular box of chocolates, I tell ya!

I love some recipes on occasion when you open the can/box, mix and bake. Done!

Corn Casserole
found on She's Becoming Doughmesstic....

1 (14 oz) can cream style corn
1 can whole kernel corn (I just filled the 'creamed' corn can with some frozen)
1 (8oz) package Jiffy Corn muffin mix
1 cup sour cream
1 stick butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1-1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together both corns, muffin mix, egg, sour cream and melted butter. Pour into greased 8X8 dish/pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with cheese. Return to oven for 5-10 minute or until cheese is melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm.

Cooks Notes:

I've had many versions and some are on the sweet side and some more savory. Although, this was tasty and moist, I was conflicted since the cornbread part was sweet and the cheese on top was not. I normally enjoy a sweet and salty combo. Since I enjoyed the EASE and how moist and corny this was, I'd just adjust the sweetness by substituting the creamed corn with another whole corn whirred in the food processor. That should cut down on some of the sugar. Texture-wise, LOVED this recipe.
OR I can nix the cheese and just enjoy it's sweetness.
I emailed Susan from Doughmesstic for her link to the recipe and she TRIED to credit Paula Deen....so I trotted over to the 'butter queen bible' and NOPE Paula didn't use egg or cheese in my cookbook. So, good try Susan....it's a DOUGHMESSTIC recipe....unless Paula is losing her mind and makes 10 different versions....well no WONDER....

Enjoy!

Impossible Coconut Pie

2010-04-27T11:00:00.004-04:00

Do you like coconut? Do you like creamy custard like pies? Do you like EASY!!!!

Nah, I didn't think so.

I haven't made an impossible pie in years. They have many versions now. I stumbled upon this coconut one and I was happy because, less crust means less fat and calories.

So tasty and light!

Easy Impossible Coconut Pie
adapted from bettycrocker.com

1 cup flaked or shredded coconut
1/3 cup splenda
1/2 cup Original Bisquick® mix (reduced fat type)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups fat free evaporated milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch pie plate with shortening or cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, stir all ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate.
3. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown and knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

Cooks Notes:

I made the original version and the second time with splenda and the FF evaporated milk. I couldn't get over how still rich the FF evaporated made this pie...I find skim milk doesn't cut it richness-wise in some recipes.
I didn't want to get TOO extreme by using egg beaters and smart blend butter.....perhaps another time.

Enjoy!

Quesadilla Burgers!

2010-04-26T10:00:00.004-04:00

It's grilling season KIDS! We wanted something fun and original to kick off the season. "Nacho" ordinary burger HERE!.....

Quesadilla Burger
JennyMac's Lipsmack

1 lb pound lean ground beef
1 cup salsa, drained of liquid
1 tbsp. McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 tbsp. Taco seasoning
8 oz. Pepper Jack Cheese (yes, they make lower fat version now!), sliced
1 tomato, sliced
shredded lettuce
2 large tortillas
extras, ketchup, mustard, mayo

Mix ground beef, salsa and taco seasoning in a large bowl. Press into one LARGE burger* (slightly larger than your tortilla) Sprinkle steak seasoning on both sides and grill until center is the temperature of your favorite (medium, rare, well done). Place cheese on burger for last minute to melt and the tortillas on the upper rack to 'warm and toughen' up a bit.

Place tortilla on cutting board, then tomato, burger, lettuce and finish with tortilla. Cut into quarters or sixths with a serrated knife.

We just dipped our burger quarters in our ketchup. This keeps the tortilla from sliding all around and making it more messy to eat. These were fun and Tasty!

*I realize that a large burger will be difficult to handle for you. If you have a pizza peel (we have a metal one) putting it on the grill and flipping it is a breeze. But if you don't, chill burger until firm before you put it on the grill and put it on with TWO hands. Use two turners to lift it onto a plate. Invert it onto another plate and slide it back on the grill.

OH before I sign off....Looky what I found in my tortilla bag....

Do you know what you are looking at yet?

Someone in the Mission Tortilla factory wasn't paying attention! When they changed from whole wheat dough to flour dough.....the quality inspector blinked or sneezed or something....

and missed this SPECIAL tortilla. Half flour and half low carb. My package was for 8 tortillas. THIS WAS A BONUS or 9th tortilla. How fun. I am sure there are some unappreciative people out there who would call/write and complain about this error to the company.

I said "SCORE." I kinda don't wanna eat him either....I could put it up on e-bay next to the Virgin Mary toast....

Enjoy,

Cascadian Farm Giveaway

2010-04-25T09:00:00.001-04:00

What did you do to on Earth Day? Hopefully you aren't one of those people who only do something "GREEN" on Earth Day.

Everyday should be Earth Day!

I am not sure when I first heard the term of "green" (not being a color) but it seems that I've always known that I need to conserve energy and preserve Mother Earth.

Rookies of 'being green' can start with recycling, reusing and reducing with many little things and working their way up. No one expects you to live in a grass hut and eat 100% organic from your own yard as a lifestyle but if everyone just did some little things, everywhere....it could make a HUGE difference.

So to encourage you to think outside the box and keep treating each day as Earth Day, let's keep the 40th anniversary going...

I am hosting a "Live Green Together" prize pack from Cascadian Farm provided by MyBlogSpark! It has cereals and granola bars, including: Fruitful O´s cereal, Cinnamon Crunch cereal, Chocolate Chip Chewy granola bars, Dark Chocolate Almond Granola, Dark Chocolate Almond granola bars, Oats & Honey granola, and an eco-friendly grocery bag.

How do I enter, you are asking?

First- I'd like you to go to Cascadian Farm page on Facebook. Choose from eight different pledges, ranging from reusing clothes to reducing your speed while driving on the highway, and find the one that fits your lifestyle. For each person that signs a pledge now through May 31, 2010, Cascadian Farm will donate $1, up to $40,000, to the Organic Farming Research Foundation, which fosters the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems.

Second, leave a comment here telling me what you are doing to be GREEN to enter for the GINORMOUS prize pack. I was lucky enough to get one as well....oh my....we gots FIBER for months here! WOW. K-man already snagged the two boxes of granola bars to take on his bike rides!

BUT WAIT....you can have a second ENTRY for this giveaway!!! Become a Fan of JennyMac's Lipsmack Facebook page and leave a comment there about being a new fan and you have a second chance!

Winners will be announced next Sunday May 2 (the first day of our local Farmer's Market- yay support your local farmers!!!) I will contacting you for your address to send to MyBlogSpark so they can send off your HUGE box of organic goodness!

Huge Thank you to Cascadian Farm and MyBlogSpark for these wonderful products for my family and my fans to devour!!!

Giveaway is NOW CLOSED! Thanks for visiting!

It can be easy being Green,

All-Bran® Bran Buds® Brownies

2010-04-24T11:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know, hard to believe there is BRAN in here!

I promised some Brownies made with bran from the cereal I got from my Tastemaker samples and here they are....YUMMMMMMMMMMMM. So moist. If you think BRAN makes things DRY and all 'fibery' tasting....you are WRONG!

All-Bran® Bran Buds® Brownies
from all-bran.com

Ingredients
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Dark)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup All-Bran® Bran Buds®
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted, cooled
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
1. Stir together flour, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light. Add sugar gradually, beating until fluffy. Fold in KELLOGG'S ALL-BRAN cereal, vanilla and margarine. Fold in flour mixture and walnuts. Spread evenly in 8 x 8-inch pan coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 350° F about 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan.

Definitely being made AGAIN,

Mexican Combination Dinner?

2010-04-23T10:00:00.001-04:00

I haven't tried making my own pupusas yet. I will I promise. I have the recipe I am gonna try but until then...this is how we eat them.

What?

You don't know what a pupusa is?

It is like a cheese or bean filled tortilla.

Yes, FILLED.

They are popular here due to our Salvadoran residents who have immigrated here.

I can bang out tortillas easy....but making a pupusa takes a bit more skill.

We like to JAZZ up our pupusas.

If you have taco meat leftover in the freezer (I always do, so we don't get sick of eating Tacos for too many nights in a row). Instead of using a tostada shell...put it on a PUPUSA. Hopefully you have a latino section of your grocery to get these. If not you will have to come back another day when I finally make a pupusa from SCRATCH!

Taco Topped Pupusas
JennyMac's Lipsmack

4 pupusas (premade from grocery store in refrigerated Hispanic section)
1 cup taco meat (leftover or premade from Taco Bell/El Paso in meat section)
1 ½ cup shredded cabbage (bagged in produce section)
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ cup pepper (green or poblano) julienned or chopped
1/4 onion sliced
sour cream and salsa for garnish

Bake pupusas in 350 degree oven to heat while you prepare the toppings.

In medium bowl, place cabbage, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, onion and pepper. You may want to taste so the seasoning or balance of sweet and sour balance is good for you!

Heat up taco meat in microwave.

Plate your pupusas, top with taco meat, top with cabbage mixture, top with sour cream and a bit of salsa.

Of course, we always try to have fresh avocado whenever we can!!

I'd like to see THIS for a menu selection in our favorite Mexican Restaurant.

Here Mexico meets El Salvador by a gringa's hands!

Delicioso!

Strawberry Muffins

2010-04-22T10:00:00.001-04:00

Strawberry Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups chopped strawberries 0r any other berry or combination.
sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Lightly butter twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups or place paper muffin cups in the muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to combine and make a well in the center. In another medium bowl, whisk the milk, oil and eggs. Mix well and pour into the well. Stir just until blended. Fold in the berries. Spoon equal amounts of the batter into the muffin cups, filling them about three-fourths full. Sprinkle some sugar on top.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins and serve warm or cool on a wire rack.

Very moist!

Very Berry!

Great for snacking or for a quick breakfast!

Spinach Stuffed Potatoes

2010-04-21T11:00:00.001-04:00

We love twice baked potatoes!

We love spinach!

Who says we can't put the two together?

No one.

This recipe is for two but you can change the amounts to make for your family.

Just keep tasting the mixture before you stuff your potatoes until it is the way you want!

Spinach Two Baked Potatoes
JennyMac's Lipsmack

1 russet potato, cleaned and cooked in microwave until soft
4 oz. reduced fat or Fat Free cream cheese
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 tsp. dried onions
¼ tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded (regular or 2%)
¼ c. milk or cream

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Microwave potatoes until soft. Cut in half and scoop out potatoes leaving 1/4 inch on skin.

3. Place in medium bowl the hot potatoes and mix with cream cheese until combined. Add spinach, onions, garlic powder, salt and pepper and milk/cream. Taste for seasoning to your liking.

4. Add half of the cheese to potato mixture and scoop into potato shells. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot. Add remaining cheese on top to melt and serve.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layered Cupcakes

2010-04-20T11:00:00.001-04:00

I am always in the mood for Chocolate and Peanut Butter Combinations! I found these on Pillsbury's site!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layered Cupcakes
from Pillsbury.com

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa (I used Hershey's Dark)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter chips
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate baking chips

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 18 regular-size muffin cups.
2. In large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add oil, water, vinegar and vanilla to flour mixture, stirring just until smooth (do not overmix).
3. In another large bowl, beat egg, cream cheese, peanut butter and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until creamy.
4. Spoon 1 level tablespoon chocolate batter into each cup; evenly spread 1 level tablespoon peanut butter filling on top. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.
5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

Recipe says makes 18.

We shared with two neighbors. One was moving and this was my goodie for them in case they got hungry during the move. The remaining ones I left for K-man and I were gone in 3 days!

Easy and so yummy!

Mac and Cheese?

2010-04-19T11:00:00.001-04:00

Is it or isn't it?

Looks are deceiving for sure. This is my FAUX Mac and Cheese made with cauliflower!

Faux Mac and Cheese
JennyMac's Lipsmack

1 bag (14 oz) frozen cauliflower
2 cups cheese, shredded (I used half sharp and half 2%)
½ c. egg substitute
1/4 cup milk/cream or Fat Free evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper

TOPPING:
1 c. bread crumbs
1/2c. French’s onion rings, crushed
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place bag of cauliflower in microwave and cook at 1 minute intervals until hot (rotating and turning over with each-took me about 4 intervals) Drain in colander and cool slightly.

In medium mixing bowl, add cheese(s) egg substitute, milk and seasoning. Mix well.

In a small bowl, mix ingredients for topping. Mix well.

Chop cauliflower into pieces that would resemble the size of elbow macaroni (I used a pair of kitchen shears in bowl). Add to egg cheese mixture and mix well.

Place cauliflower mixture into greased 1 quart casserole and top with bread crumb mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes until firm and bread crumbs are browned.

Lipsmacking Notes:

Very yummy! If you are going for the lower carbs, omit the crumbs. K-man loved it and he's the picky one about his Mac and Cheese!

Enjoy!

All Bran Tastemaker!

2010-04-18T13:05:00.000-04:00

I remember watching my uncle eating Bran cereals for breakfast after his triple bypass. Poor guy I was thinking as I bit into my bacon. We only had Cracklin' Oatbran or Raisin Bran for cereals (no froot loops or cocoa pebbles for me growing up!) So bran wasn't always on my FAVE list. As I've gotten older and wiser, I know NOW bran is not my enemy and fiber is essential in our diet.

Lucky me, got sent some ALL-BRAN cereal samples from Kellogg's courtesy of Foodbuzz's Tastemaker Program.

I was sent All-Bran® Original, All-Bran® Bran Buds® and Complete® Wheat Bran Flakes. Kellogg's also sent a few recipe cards for me to try and a letter informing me that they do have a website with more recipes....yeah 400 of them. Is it really possible to have that many recipes to incorporate fiber into our diets? YUP!

I found at least 7 new recipes and printed them out since I have a plethora of bran cereal to use now! I found a Honey Muffin recipe but in true Lipsmack fashion....I had to tweak it.

Apple Honey Muffins
adapted from all-bran.com
Servings: 9 regular muffins, 6 texas size muffins

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup All-Bran® Original
1/3 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1 egg
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup dried apples, chopped (the ones from Wal-mart are super soft)
For Sprinkling on top: extra All-Bran® Original and 2 Tbsp light brown sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven @ 400°F

2.Stir together flour, baking powder, soda, salt and chopped apples. Set aside.

3. In medium mixing bowl, combine Kellogg's® All-Bran® cereal and buttermilk. Let stand about 2 minutes or until cereal softens. Add egg, honey and butter. Beat well. Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined. Portion evenly into 6 texas sized muffin cup that have been sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with muffin papers. Original recipe says it makes 9 regular.

4. Sprinkle with some more All-Bran® Original and some light brown sugar on top.

5. Bake at 400°F about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

ALL-Bran's NOTE:

Variation: To make sour milk, stir 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice into 1 cup milk.

To substitute milk for buttermilk or sour milk, omit buttermilk or sour milk and use 2/3 cup milk, 1/4 cup honey, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and omit baking soda.

Lipsmack Notes:

These were yummy! I am now thinking about making a berry one now. Will it have a filling? Hmmmm.

Come back soon for the Bran Bud Brownies!

Thank you Foodbuzz and Kellogg's....these were great to have and play around with! Love it!

Don't be hatin' on Bran anymore!

A blogger has died and gone to heaven...

2010-04-03T10:00:00.001-04:00

Well, to Chocolate World....also known as....Hershey Pennsylvania!

Yeah this is my cropped pic of the 2oo dollar haul of souvenirs, mementos, treats for K-man and future baking posts!

Have any of you been to Hershey's PA? I live only 2 1/2 hours away and never have gone. Don't say shame on me! Blame my parents....they never took me nor had the desire to go. I also had to take myself to Disney World as well 4 years ago!

As my birthday present, I told K-man I wanted a trip to Hershey while we had the time also known as SPRING BREAK. We planned a mid week trip left Wednesday and came back on Friday. (OH MY, you should have seen the line on the way into Hershey for the FIRST day opening of Hershey Park!!! We didn't care cuz we were LEAVING...lol)

First, I have been to many an amusement park, we were not going there to ride the rides @ Hershey Park. I wanted to check out the chocolate! Second, I wanted to go to Hershey when it wasn't crazy from park attendees - middle of the week and BEFORE the park opened for the spring season was ideal!

I had read the book The Emperors of Chocolate (the story of Hershey vs. Mars) and I was intrigued. Milton Hershey was all about community and giving back. His school is attended by 1500 kids of NEED (stopping myself from going on, because it's an amazing story). Just the story about how he worked for years to make milk chocolate perfect, makes me shake my head how he worked so hard wavered on the brink of bankruptcy a few times. Also, are many people who think Hershey's chocolate is awful (but doesn't everyone have their OWN opinions about ANY/EVERY product?)...but he was only trying to make it available for average and poor people...chocolate was for the rich (again, there is so much more to this story....stopping myself).

For family fun...the Hershey Park is the way to go. I think the parking lot for it is bigger than the park. I can't speak of the rides and park itself for we "jetted" before it opened for the season.

Much of Hershey is all about the history and philanthropy:

The Hershey Story museum is a self guided tour seeing the artifacts of Hershey's life.
The Trolley ride through town is a physical trolley ride around all the buildings (actually I learned more detail about the school through this trip than I did reading books-the kids on the trolley were getting wiggly impatient- was it because they were JACKED on chocolate?)
Big 3D show, very cartoon-y for the kids....you smell smells, get rained on...hokey cute but the kids loved it.
Chocolate Tour - a ride that SUBSTITUTES a factory tour. Singing cows, videos of chocolate bar productions, simulated candy on conveyor belts....It was fun (getting off and on the ride car was cool-room in perpetual motion thing)

There are many places to actually experiment with chocolate.

Cafe Zooka (in the Hershey Story Museum)just a little sandwich/coffee cafe that offers a Tasting of chocolate shooters (for 13 bucks) to enjoy 6 different sauces from chocolate beans from 6 different countries,
The Chocolate Lab -you can sign up for classes to make things from chocolate (they were making Spring Tulips with balloons during our visit).
In Chocolate World (down the street two blocks) the kids can sign up to be an apprentice and package some chocolate kisses. The get a employee id badge, hat, box of kisses they packaged and a picture of the process. (Don't ask me the price....I didn't look into it since I couldn't play)
You can get your picture put on a Chocolate bar or bottle of syrup.
Coming this spring, you will get to customize (nuts, rice crispies, graham cracker bits, peanut butter, etc) your own chocolate bar....DRAT...too early for the next exhibit!
Chocolate Tasting in Chocolate World was a classroom setting where you were more educated about chocolate and the tones and flavors and pairings, etc. You receive a 'Master's in Chocolate Tasting' (I didn't understand why parents were taking small children in for this...I can't see them caring about the different beans or the world and how they taste....all they want is chocolate in any shape or form!?)

I could not GET OVER the amount of free samples that were given out.

On the trolley ride...a dark kiss, then a hug....then a regular kiss....then a mini peanut butter cup. Although, great for us adults...not sure it's good idea with young kids who are trapped for an hour listening to an old guy speak of Hershey History. At the end of the trolley ride you received a regular Hershey Bar when you stepped off the trolley.
We got a peppermint patty after the Chocolate Tour ride.
We got sour filled twizzlers from the 3D show.

We planned when to do 'the SHOPPING'.....

I had to decide....we DO I get from Chocolate World? OMG...chocolate and candy everywhere!!!....A chocoholics best dream or nightmare!!! (yes, there were shirts, keychains, hats, and a million other souvenirs)....
SO- K-man picked up a basket and braced himself....for he knew a FOOD BLOGGER was on the PROWL!!!

(seen here DARK reese pieces..., chocolate toffee baking bits, COCONUT kisses, cinnamon chips, DARK miniatures, DARK reeses cups.- except for the almond joy pieces NONE of these are available in our area.)

Instead of me putting all my pix on here....I embedded a slideshow from flickr...

You will be seeing my new apron, the HUGE 5lb candy bar (I am donating that to our school's Silent Auction), extra long twizzlers for classrooms rewards, some other products I have never seen or tried, cookbooks for me the blogger, K-man eating, picturesque Hershey from the trolley.

If you have any questions about my STUFF or suggestions what to make with them...go to my JennyMac Lip Smack Fan Page on Facebook (link on the right side margin) where we can chat more !!!

I highly suggest you visit Hershey! If you haven't....don't wait until your 44th birthday like me!

Chocoholic for life,

That's the way the cookie crumbles...

2010-04-02T10:00:00.001-04:00

And a HUGE one at that!

I saw these one my Cookie a day email from MarthaStewart.com. I love simple-quickie-like cookies but I also love a shortbread cookie. This was perfect.

Giant Nut Crumb Cookie
adapted from MarthaStewart.com

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups finely ground nuts, toasted slightly (I used almonds and pistachios)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I put the nuts on a cookie sheet while the oven preheated to get a little 'toast' on. Butter a 10-inch springform pan; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk almonds, flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly. Work in butter until completely incorporated with no dry crumbs.
As you start to smell the nuts, take them out of the oven and whirl them around in the food processor until fine. Mix into crumb mixture.
Transfer all but 1 1/2 cups of mixture to pan. Press mixture into pan to compress dough (I used the bottom of a custard cup to make it easily even). Sprinkle with reserved 1 1/2 cups of mixture; transfer to oven.
Bake, rotating pan two to three times, until cookie begins to turn golden, about 25 minutes. Reduce temperature to 300 degrees. bake until golden brown and fairly dry, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove from pan. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

The recipe suggests to serve whole and break into chunks when serving for affect. I knew crumbs would be 'flying' all around if broken at the table. I used a pizza cutter to make it a bit neater.

Can you tell how many pieces above are missing that I had to sample for quality control?

I love the little bits of pistachio. So simple yet so delicious!

Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers as a sidedish

2010-04-01T11:00:00.001-04:00

Mushroom and Rice Stuffed Peppers
created by JennyMac

2 green peppers
1 package of favorite flavored rice (I used Uncle Ben's Chicken Rice)
1/2 cup cooked mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (divided 3/4 cup and 1/4 cup)
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice peppers in half, core, seed and de-vein. Prepare rice according to package directions. Under cook rice by five minutes since you will be baking this in the peppers later. Rice will seem a bit wet, this is okay.

Mix mushrooms, green onion with 3/4 cup cheddar cheese and pepper. Mix in cooked rice and scoop into pepper halves and press gently. Bake for half hour or until peppers are soft or tender crisp. Top with last 1/4 cup of cheese and let melt while you prep the rest of your dinner.

Your double dose of veggies, your starch and some dairy to round out your protein for dinner. This went great with our baked chicken!

Enjoy!

No ordinary buns for this pork BBQ!!!

2010-03-31T11:00:00.001-04:00

Pepper Jack Rolls Baby!

I've been a fan of the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes book and have made my own bread a few times. Yummy! I used the Vermont Cheddar Bread recipe (page 106) as my springboard idea.

Pepper Jack Rolls
adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. granulated yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
6 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup white cheddar powdered cheese
1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 egg, beaten

1. Mix the yeast, salt and sugar with the water in a 5 quart bowl (I used my lidded non air tight food container that I store my dough in).

2. Mix in the dry ingredients, grated cheese, powdered cheese and pepper flakes without kneading, using a spoon. You can use a 14 cup food processor with a dough attachment but mixing this dough directly in the container was just fine.

3. Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial use, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 7 days.

5. When baking rolls, dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off dough pieces roughly equal portions (about the size of a plum) Shape each one into a smooth ball. Allow them to rest and rise on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for 40 minutes (or just 20 minutes if using fresh unrefrigerated dough).

6. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone placed on the middle rack Place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.

7. Just before baking, coat with beaten egg and stick a few jalapenos on top.

8. Slide the rolls directly onto hot stone. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm.

Here is one of the final rolls in relation to the place size. Ginormous! Honestly too much bread for me. I think I overestimated my size of plums. LOL. Although K-man was ecstatic about his man sized pork BBQ sandwich!

I could have probably put more pepper flakes in the dough as you can BARELY see the pepper. The bread wasn't a cheesy as I thought it would be. Although bread was fluffy and tender. The crust held up GREAT to the smooshy BBQ inside.

AWESOME!

But when you still have BBQ left and a bit of dough what do you do to restyle your dinner?

BBQ Pork Rolls!

The dough that remained after making 6 ginormous sandwich rolls was just enough to cut into 6 small circles. Using my greased TEXAS sized muffin tin....

Place a handful of green onions on the dough about 1/4 cup BBQ on the onions. Pull up dough around the filling and place in greased muffin tin dough edges down.

Throw a few slices of jalapenos around the dough in the muffin tins. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and put tin on the stove to let dough rise enough to fill up the muffin cups.

Bake for 20 minutes until brown. Serve with chilly coleslaw...sprinkle a bit of chili powder on top of it to compliment your BBQ rolls. Pickles, some extra BBQ sauce on the side for dipping and PERFECTION!

BTW, making your own Pork BBQ is very easy too!

Bake a Pork Butt according to package directions. Rubbed with favorite dry BBQ dry rub (mine was 6 lbs and it took about 4 hours). Stick a fork in the roast until when twisted is falling apart. Remove from pan and put on plate and let cool until able to tear apart with a fork. Add your favorite bottle of BBQ sauce to pork shreds. DELICIOUS!

Made enough for 4 HUGE sandwiches, 6 pork rolls and package of BBQ for two more average sandwiches for the freezer for a quick dinner another night!

Oink!

German Devil's Food Cake?

2010-03-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

Or should it be Devil's Food German Cake?

Regardless, it was K-man's birthday and it was time to make some YUMMY chocolate cake. (BTW, I love having a workplace with 4 kitchens and TONS of space where I can make stuff during my planning time and then take it home after work.)

So made in usual JennyMac style, I could not follow any traditional recipe and had to tweak and create my own.

German Chocolate Cake has a lighter, gentler chocolate flavored cake with the trademark coconut and pecan frosting.

Devil's Food, dark, rich and moist cake with fudgy frosting.

Let's PUT the TWO together!!!!

Devil's Food German Chocolate Cake
an original by JennyMac

CAKE:
one box devils food cake
one package instant coconut pudding (you can substitute instant chocolate pudding if you like)
eggs, oil and water (as directed by the package)
1 cup chocolate chips

FILLING:
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut, toasted
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup milk

GANACHE FROSTING:
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 lb. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to the temperature as directed on the box. Place cake mix in your bowl and add pudding mix. Add eggs, oil and water as directed on the box. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour mixture in two 8 inch greased and floured pans. Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

In a large saucepan, bring cream, sugar and salt to a boil. Remove from heat; add chocolate and let stand, without stirring for 1 minute. Whisk just until combined. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until spreadable, about 1 hour.

Combine all the ingredients from the filling list. Mix well.

Plate your bottom layer of cake on the desired serving plate, rounded top up. Be sure to use a knife or cake leveler to even out to the top of the cake. Put coconut filling on bottom layer. Level out top layer and turn upside down so that the bottom of the cake is the top surface. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the prepared chocolate ganache.

Top with any leftover toasted coconut if desired.

This was so moist with little fudgy bit of chocolate. The coconut pudding in the cake was not overpowering in the least. The coconut and pecan filling is a nice surprise when cut. The ganache frosting I could not keep my fingers out of to lick off. Scrumptious!!!

K-man loved this cake so much that he ate TWO pieces for dessert!

Enjoy!

It's that time of the year...

2010-03-29T08:25:00.006-04:00

When my after school program Cookie Club comes to a close! Our big event at school is called Celebrate Gunston and this year it was scheduled earlier than it's usual late April date.

Normally we make the traditional fare of cookies like Chocolate Chip, brownies, snickerdoodles, etc. Since we had an international theme going on it seemed only appropriate to research the country origins of some of the cookies we bake or look up countries and learn what cookies are indigenous there. Do you know how difficult this was? We wanted to make EVERYTHING! 'Oh that looks good....mmm, that sounds like a good one.'

Here's our list of cookies and their origin, following by their pictures and recipes.

Nanaimo Bars (Canada)
Brownie Nut Biscotti (Italy)
Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Kourambiethes (Greece) (nutty, butter cookie coated with powdered sugar)
Scottish Oat Cakes (did you guess Scotland?)
Rosettes (Scandinavian regions)

Nanaimo Bars
from allrecipes.com

CRUST:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds (optional)
FILLING:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons custard powder
2 cups confectioners' sugar

TOPPING:
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet baking chocolate
2 teaspoons butter

In the top of a double boiler, combine 1/2 cup butter, white sugar and cocoa powder. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Beat in the egg, stirring until thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the graham cracker crumbs, coconut and almonds (if you like). Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8x8 inch pan.
For the middle layer, cream together 1/2 cup butter, heavy cream and custard powder until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over the bottom layer in the pan. Chill to set.
While the second layer is chilling, melt the semisweet chocolate and 2 teaspoons butter together in the microwave or over low heat. Spread over the chilled bars. Let the chocolate set before cutting into squares.

Cook's Notes:
Extremely rich, cut into small bars for sure. K-man's favorite of the bunch. We opted to drizzle the chocolate on top after we cut them. I know that chocolate has a tendency to 'crack' when on top of a bar cookie. We like the results this way.

Brownie Nut Biscotti
from allrecipes.com
1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Dough will be stiff, so mix in the last bit by hand. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
Divide dough into two equal parts. Shape into 9x2x1 inch loaves. Place onto baking sheet 4 inches apart. Brush with mixture of water and yolk.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm. Cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes.
Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves diagonally into 1 inch slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, placing them on their sides. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes on each side, or until dry. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Cook's Notes:
Using a white chocolate drizzle would have been a better 'eye-popper' but we were using up what we had. Good flavor, very chocolatey.

Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes and Kourambiethes (Greece)
-the same cookie but from different countries -allrecipes.com

1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, roll in remaining confectioners' sugar. I also like to roll mine in the sugar a second time.

Cook's Notes:
I have seen these using pecans, walnuts and almonds. Just pick whichever nut appeals to you. I prefer them with almonds. Be sure to always TOAST your nuts before putting them in your recipe.

Scottish Oat Cakes
from Cooks.com

1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1 c. sugar
1 tsp.
1/2 tsp.
1 c. Crisco
1/4 c. cold water

Mix dry ingredients by hand. Mix in Crisco until well mixed. Add cold water to form sticky dough. Roll out fairly thin on well floured board. Cut into 1 1/2 inch squares. (I use a pizza cutter). Bake on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove to rack immediately.

Cook's Notes:
I really was pleasantly surprised by these. Simple easy...low in sugar. Not complicated with several different flavors competing with each other (like the Nanaimo bars) K-man said you should NOT eat these after eating a Nanaimo bar. Those were so rich and sweet that these were almost tasteless in comparison. I guess I just enjoy a simple, hearty, grainy, less sweet cookie every so often. So these were my favorite.

Rosettes
recipe from Allrecipes.com

2 eggs
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine eggs, sugar and salt; beat well. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.
Heat a rosette iron in deep, hot oil (375 degrees) for 2 minutes.
Drain excess oil from iron. Dip in batter to 1/4 inch from the top of the iron, then dip iron immediately into hot oil (375 degrees).
Fry rosette until golden, about 30 seconds. Lift out; tip upside down to drain. With fork, push rosette off iron onto a rack placed over paper towels.
Reheat iron 1 minute; make next rosette.
Sprinkle rosettes with confectioners' sugar.
Norpro Rosette Timbale Maker

Cook's Notes:
Shown above are the IRONS you need to make these. Not too expensive to have in your cooking tools for a fun treat for the kids every so often. BUT.....These were the overall winner of our customers. Despite our signs in front of the cookie trays (with descriptions!!) the customers would come to the table and ask for 'funnel cakes'. LOL Everything was pre-made except for the rosettes, which I was making at the table. They smelled exactly like funnel cakes (oh please....just a hot oil smell) and they resembled funnel cakes except for they were smaller and not at ALL cakey. Very light, airy, crispy and guaranteed to leave you with a dusting of powdered sugar on your chest! Great way to make money for nobody had a problem paying 3 for 1.00 (if they only knew that this stuff was PENNIES to make!)

Next year, I think we are nixing the making so many different cookies. FUNNEL CAKES are the way to go. Put on your calendar: Funnel Cake Sale, spring 2011- 1 small for a 1.00 - 1 large for 5.00....place your order now!

That's the way the cookies did not crumble....

Meat and Veggies Rolled into one....

2010-03-18T11:00:00.002-04:00

Literally! Here you have spinach and ground turkey all in rolled into a moist meatball!

I made this recipe a few years ago when I first got Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats. On a side note, how does this woman churn out so many cookbooks, be on her own talk show, travel for shows for the Food Network and still have a life with her husband? I swear she has a clone...or maybe time machine....

Anyway, back to the recipe. I really liked these meatballs and have made them many times. The original recipe is made with a Alfredo-like sauce but I wanted them a little on the lighter side. If you are a big fan of meatballs, she has many meatball recipes in this book: Chipotle Chicken Rolls, Turkey and Sage Rolls, Lamb and Feta Rolls Wingless Buffalo Chicken Rolls, Mexican Meatballs and the one I will highlight today are the Florentine Meatballs.

Florentine Meatballs
adapted from Rachael Ray's 365: No repeats

10 oz box frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1.3 lb ground turkey
3 Tbsp. onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
3 handfuls of crushed potato chips (I used Baked Lay's Barbecue)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place meatballs on cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes. Makes 24 golf ball-sized meatballs

Cook your favorite noodle....prepare your favorite sauce and serve how you see fit.

Here is a simple presentation of the meatballs with noodles and sauce.

Here is a casserole style way to make your meatballs. Sauce mixed with meatballs. Bake for 20 minutes until hot. Cover with shredded cheese. Garnish with French's onions.

Very moist and flavorful meatball!

These could also be made smaller and served as appetizers too!

Enjoy!

It's crummy, I know....

2010-03-17T10:00:00.002-04:00

It all started when I was watching Cake Boss. He showed how he made (roughly-no recipe is provided by TLC) his crumb cake. A special order was sold by accident and he had to 'whip' one up. How he made those crumbs on his cake HUGE.....they looked so good....so I've stalking the internet for crumb cake recipes. Buddy from Cake Boss said his dad got his 'secret crumb cake' when he first bought the bakery. How lucky is that....no only buying a bakery space but getting their recipes too? Apparently New York Crumb Cake is famous...here is my first attempt with a crumb cake. I found on Vanilla Sugar. She made it with Raspberry with lemon crumbles. I made it with Blackberries and I did not like the lemon crumbles. I don't know why....but I normally LOVE lemon.

I made it again with Blueberries with no lemon....much better.

Berry Buttermilk Crumb Cake
adapted from vanilla sugar

cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1- ¼ cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. orange or lemon zest
1 large egg & 1 egg yolk
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries, blueberries, strawberries or blackberries

crumb topping:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled

Preheat oven to 350°F
Make crumb topping by melting the butter, letting it cool. In a bowl mix the flour, brown sugar, salt and add the cooled butter to it and stir well. Set aside till ready. Butter and flour a 10" round springform pan.

In small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream (with mixer or by hand) the butter, sugar until pale yellow and fluffy; add the zest, eggs, and beat well for an additional 2-3 minutes.
In batches, add the flour, alternating with the buttermilk until all is combined.

Pour 1/2 the batter into the baking pan and use a spatula to smooth. Top batter with 1/2 the berries. Top with remaining batter and rest of berries. Push the berries only half way into batter.

Using your hands, grab and squeeze crumb mixture putting large chunks on top of batter. Make smaller clumps of crumb mixture and filling between the large clumps. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly into between the large and medium 'crumbs'.

Bake for approximately 30 - 35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean and the top is golden brown. (I suggest using foil to cover your crumb cake to keep it from over browning like my first attempt did.)

Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, before releasing the sides of the spring form and sliding off bottom to transfer to a cooling rack (with the berry/sugar side up).
Let cool completely before serving.

These crumbs were great. I've had some crummy crumb cake where the crumb topping just melted all over the top. These crumbs were big and they kept their shape.

I have another crumb cake recipe that I found and I will do a compare and contrast soon. Perhaps no berries, just plain this time.

Got milk?