Monthly Archives: September 2010

Blogs that make me wanna get up and bake!

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I think I have always loved baking. My parents bought me an Easy-Bake Oven and I loved it soooo much. I decided to google it recently and can’t get over how it has changed. Now I have traded in my easy bake oven for a real oven and a Kitchen aid Mixer. I love relaxing on the couch with the laptop and little Leo beside me searching for new recipes to bake for my friends and family. Here are a list of some Baking  blogs that you will love just as much as I do.

1. Bakerella- http://www.bakerella.com/ - Her first cookbook is out  now and is called Cake Pops. It is on backorder at Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Amazon. (Grr… we all know how much I hate waiting for cookbooks)

2. Cake Spy.com- http://www.cakespy.com/- This is a new blog that I stumbled upon a couple of days ago. My wonderful family in Seattle needs to check this place out because that is where there shop is located.

3. Annie’s Eats-http://annies-eats.com/ -love, love, love how creative this gal is.  She has great pictures of everything she cooks which I literally enjoy looking at just as much as I love reading the recipes.

Tastiest Tiramisu

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Alli and me

This is one of my top 10 favorite desserts. Alli asked me what she should bring for Break-Fast this year and all I could think of was Tiramisu. This is not a shocker at all if you read my previous post and saw that we had Fried Chicken also at Break-Fast.  Alli has made Tiramisu for me on one other occasion and I have been dreaming about the day that I could beg her to make it for me. I have not made this before but she has made it for me twice and both times were delish! She adapted a recipe from  All Recipes. I don’t think I will be able to ask her to make it again for me for a while so I will have to learn how to make it just like you! Bon Appetit

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1 1/4 cups white sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups mascarpone cheese
  • 1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 (12 ounce) packages ladyfingers
  • 1/3 cup Kahlua
  • 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
  • 1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate
  1. Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Reduce heat to low, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
  2. Add mascarpone to whipped yolks. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold into yolk mixture and set aside.
  3. Split the lady fingers in half, and line the bottom and sides of a large glass bowl. Brush with coffee liqueur. Spoon half of the cream filling over the lady fingers. Repeat ladyfingers, coffee liqueur and filling layers. Garnish with cocoa and chocolate curls. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
  4. To make the chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the chocolate bar.

Rain on my parade? I think not

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Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone who supported me with the Step Out For Diabetes 5k. Even though it was cold and rainy this past Saturday, I still loved every minute of it. I was so excited when I turned in my envelope for $300.00.  I was also excited to jog/ power walk it and finish in a good amount of time. (thanks Galina for doing the race with me)  Being a part of this event meant alot to me and I am determined to continue participating each year. My dad could not come to Minneapolis  and walk with me this year but hopefully next year we can do it together. Here are a couple of pictures I snapped while there. Thanks again for the support… I have the best cheering squad in the whole entire world!

Look who came to support us at the race

Quick hug from Leo before going off to the race!

 

It’s tradition

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I promised you a great post yesterday and  I am sorry that I had to wait and give it to you today. Everyone has fun family traditions and it keeps us true to who we are. This year I decided I wanted to host  the meal after Yom Kippur (i.e. break-fast) I wanted to take Justins families traditions and my families traditions and intertwine them. Justin’s family always has kugel at their break- fast and my fond memories are of going over to Aunt Mickey and Uncle Stanley’s for Popeyes Fried Chicken after fasting. Yes, you did read that correctly… my family has fried chicken after fasting.  It’s our tradition and I find it absolutely fabulous. So… what did I do yesterday? I made Justin drive with me to the only Popeyes in Minneapolis to get… fried chicken. Thank goodness we remembered to bring cash because fellow Minnesotans: Popeyes does not take credit/ debit cards. Here are some great pictures from our meal. I owe all of you Alli’s  addictive tiramisu recipe. You will fall in love with it as much as I have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rain, Rain, Go Away…

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It’s raining cats and dogs here and as I sit curled up with a blanket watching America’s Got Talent I thought I would fill you in on a great new cookbook I got this summer. It’s called 500 Cupcakes .  I can’t wait to try making the Cookies and Cream Cupcake and the Pop Rocks Cupcake.  I‘ll fill you in on how they turn out. I’m going to go relax now. It’s been a bit crazy this week since my schedule was altered a bit with nannying after school.  Look for  a great new recipe on Saturday. I’m hosting Break  Fast this year so you know I will have a Southern twist to add to it.

 
 

 
Leo likes to relax and watch t.v. every night.

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year (for all my fellow readers who celebrate)! Well I’m terrible and I will admit it… I worked today and did not go to synagogue…. I guess someone had to make sure the future leaders of our country were doing well in Math, Reading, Social Studies, and Science. :)   As we celebrate another year I felt it only right to share a sweet recipe on a holiday where we wish everyone a sweet new year. Get ready for a dessert that you can easily whip up in 30 minutes as long as you have these ingredients on hand: grahama cracker crumbs, salted butter, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, shredded coconut, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk… yummy: I’m sure your stomach is growling now and if its not… well something is wrong with you :)   

Magic Cookie Bars  1 stick salted butter  

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs  

1 (14 ounce can) Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk)   

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips  

1 cup butterscotch chips  

1 cup flaked coconut  

   

Magic Cookie Bars before being placed in the oven.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees for glass 13 x 9 baking dish. Melt salted butter in oven. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs evenly over butter. Then pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs. Top with butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and coconut. Press down with fork. Bake 25 t0 30 minutes or until light brown. Let cool and cut bars.  

Magic Cookie Bars that are cooling before being cut into squares.

Minnesota State Fair 2010

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A must have at the State Fair.... maybe next year they need to give you a bigger bucket so there are no dropping cookies while leaving the booth.

Maybe I’m crazy but I love the Minnesota State Fair. I love watching the news casts from the fair.  I’m a visual person so I love seeing all the new fair foods on t.v. and in person. I like going to the Fair once a year and for a couple of hours. This is my second year going and I am impressed with all the new things I saw and some of the new foods I tried. I am a bit sad though that as I hunted down all the sweet, salty, and crazy foods and attractions on our list (yes, we made a list to make sure our group hit all the must have fair foods and places) that I did not find deep fried butter but I have already pinky promised to attend either the Indianapolis Fair or the Texas Fair in pursuit of this  mesmerizing creation next year. Now before you groan or send me an article on clogging my arteries… let me explain what deep fried butter is:  “butter whipped until it is light and fluffy, frozen and  then surrounded   with dough. The butter-laden dough balls are then dropped into the deep fryer.” ( http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32665106)

Image: Deep-fried butter

                                                                                         deep fried butter

I am leaving you with some pictures from our 2010 visit. I did see the butter sculptures this year and I also went on the giant slide with Alli (sorry no picture of that). This year I did not find my fried pickles and my stomach could not handle the Australian potatoes that I thought I would eat at the end before we left. But no worries there is always next year!

 

Deep Fried Oreos that have been sprinkled with powder sugar!

The inside of the deep fried oreo! Delicious

Butter Sculpture

Aft and Adina enjoying the sweet corn!

I’m a Twin… not a tourist :)

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I can finally tell you that I have been to the new Twins Stadium (Target Field). Justin and I went with our friends Aft (Adam) and Adina on Saturday. They came in to visit us over Labor day weekend. Justin was filling me in that Aft has a goal to go to every single baseball stadium in the U.S.   I could not be more excited because I have been wanting to go but just haven’t been able to find the right time.  They played the Texas Rangers and won! Target Field is visually impressive  and I suggest that my fellow Minnesotans check it out. I loved that you could see the Minneapolis skyline!  Even if you don’t like baseball you will be impressed with the new outdoor field. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

view from our seats
 

 

I love…

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Three things I cannot live without….

 

1. Puffins- When I wake up in the morning this is a new cereal that I crave. I love it with fruit and a dash of milk.

2. Quaker Instant Plain Oatmeal- My dad would be so proud of me. He used to make me the maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal for breakfast before heading off to school. He was always saying “Erica, the plain is just as good… You should try it.” Dad, you are right and I do like the plain but I doctor it up with some sort of fruit and yes a teaspoon of brown sugar.

3. Betty Crocker Low Fat Brownies- The person that came up with these is a GENIUS! I love these brownies and I have made these plain (not adding additional ingredients) and I have doctored them up with additional chocolate chips or even a Symphony Bar.

No Fuss Potluck

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Justin has a Potluck at work tomorrow and asked me to help him out…(i.e.- make something for him to bring to work). Since this is my last week of summer vacation and the agenda for today is simply- get a work out in and  keep checking airline sites for hopes of a price drop  in tickets for Thanksgiving… I was happy to whip something up. Here is a simple and delicious recipe for Cheese Biscuits (thanks to my mom who received this recipe from a friend) … I would personally call them cheese muffins because they bring back memories of watching my dad make corn muffins from scratch.  My Birmingham friends might also find they look like a familiar cheese biscuit from a restaurant in Birmingham… Yum!

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar (or a little less depending on how sweet you want them)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup  2% milk (I used 1% because that was in the fridge)

1 egg beaten

4 tbsp salted butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix ingredients together.  Grease muffin tin. (I used a mini muffin pan. ) Then use a teaspoon to measure out an equal amount into each slot.  Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool on parchment paper.