After dinner I wanted cookies, or cake, or chocolate, or something, anything, DESSERT!! Luckily, with my fully stocked kitchen and my new friend allrecipes.com, I was able to make it happen. I found a recipe for the best brownies (I think I might have searched for the "best brownies ever" to find this) that, like the soft ginger cookie recipe, had been reviewed thousands of times and saved tens of thousands of times, so I went for it. Aesthetically speaking, they were kind of a disaster. The brownies were slightly undercooked (I'm beginning to suspect I'm too afraid of burning my desserts to let them cook as long as they need to) and the consistency of the frosting was all wrong. It was too thick and when I tried to put it on the warm brownies it collapsed into the middle of the pan and then when I tried to spread it out it just pulled the surface of the brownies off. So yeah, they were sort of ugly, but other than that, they really were the best brownies ever. Much closer to fudge than cake in texture, like a brownie should be. Recipe #14 - perfection (despite appearances)
Brownies with Chocolate Frosting
Brownies:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread into prepared dish. Bake for 30 minutes.
To make frosting, combine ingredients and mix well until creamy. (More butter and less confectioners' sugar might make for a better consistency... heating it just slightly might make it spread more easily on the brownies...) Frost brownies while they are still warm. Allow to cool before cutting.
Makes 1-8x8 pan of rich brownies.
New ingredients: nothing
New skills: I finally tried a dessert other than cookies!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
#13 - Soft Ginger Cookies
For my boss's birthday I offered to make cookies, whatever kind he wanted. He said he liked gingersnaps, but then clarified that he actually liked them to be soft, not crunchy. "So ginger-softs" he laughed. After just a bit of googling I found a recipe for big, soft ginger cookies that seemed promising. It's hard to say no to a recipe that has a 5 star rating, has been reviewed over 2500 times, and has been saved by more than 77,500 people. Not surprisingly, it was on allrecipes.com, of which I've become a big fan. These turned out very well (if just slightly undercooked, I've adjusted the instructions below) and were a big hit with everyone at work. I think I like the ginger sugar cookies I made back in January better than these, but these were still very, very yummy. In other noteworthy news, I've discovered that I really like making cookies. It's a pleasant, calming activity with delightful, friendly results. Lucky recipe #13 - scrumptious!
Big Soft Ginger Cookies
2 and 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar (for rolling)
Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients.
Shape dough into walnut sized balls and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten them slightly.
Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container and they'll keep very well for a few days. Makes about 3 dozen.
New ingredients: Nothing! My goal of slowly building a fully stocked kitchen has already been reached! I had ginger, cloves, and molasses on hand!
New skills: nothing, but it's nice to get more experience baking
Big Soft Ginger Cookies
2 and 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar (for rolling)
Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients.
Shape dough into walnut sized balls and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten them slightly.
Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container and they'll keep very well for a few days. Makes about 3 dozen.
New ingredients: Nothing! My goal of slowly building a fully stocked kitchen has already been reached! I had ginger, cloves, and molasses on hand!
New skills: nothing, but it's nice to get more experience baking
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
#12 - Waffles with Strawberry Topping
mmmmmmm waffles! I had an impromptu breakfast-for-dinner party and made scrambled eggs with cheese, spicy hashbrowns, and waffles with strawberry topping. I made a giant mess of the kitchen and used just about every bowl, plate, pan, and fork I have. It took several days (seriously, DAYS) before I actually managed to finish washing all those dishes.... but, the food was good and it was nice to have a bunch of friends over. [Sidenote: We played a card game called Bohnanza and I dreamed about trading beans that night!] The pumpkin waffles I made in the past were delicious, but I didn't have any pumpkin, and I could have made pancakes, but that wouldn't have been a new recipe, so I found this classic waffle recipe on allrecipes.com. I had a pint of strawberries, so I decided to make this strawberry topping to go with it. I had some (what I thought were) old potatoes, that turned out to be rotten potatoes, but luckily Joe called from the store at just the right moment to see if I needed anything, so he brought home (orange juice and) the frozen shredded hashbrowns that I doctored up with lots of onion powder, garlic/pepper grinder stuff, salt, and red pepper. A little too spicy, but still good. And the eggs were fine, I just have to remember that they take a long time to cook when I'm making such a big batch. The waffles were perfect, but the strawberry topping was a little blah and didn't seem to have the right consistency (way too watery). I'm not counting the strawberries as a new recipe, but the waffles definitely count and I'll certainly be making them again. It's great to add a new, practical recipe to my repertoire. Recipe #12 - check!
Classic Waffles
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons white sugar
dash or two of cinnamon (I added this)
2 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups warm milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Melt butter and warm up milk. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Combine eggs, butter, milk, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry. Beat until blended. Pour into preheated waffle iron. Cook for about 2 and 1/2 minutes. (Makes 3 waffles.)
Strawberry Topping
1 pound of fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest (I didn't have/use this)
Slice strawberries in 1/4 inch slices. In a saucepan combine sugar and orange juice (and orange zest). Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Once it reaches a rolling boil, remove from the heat and pour over sliced strawberries. Let sit while making waffles. (Other recipes I looked at called for a few teaspoons of cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I think that would have helped.)
New ingredients: nothing
New skills: planning and serving a big meal!
Classic Waffles
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons white sugar
dash or two of cinnamon (I added this)
2 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups warm milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Melt butter and warm up milk. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Combine eggs, butter, milk, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry. Beat until blended. Pour into preheated waffle iron. Cook for about 2 and 1/2 minutes. (Makes 3 waffles.)
Strawberry Topping
1 pound of fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest (I didn't have/use this)
Slice strawberries in 1/4 inch slices. In a saucepan combine sugar and orange juice (and orange zest). Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Once it reaches a rolling boil, remove from the heat and pour over sliced strawberries. Let sit while making waffles. (Other recipes I looked at called for a few teaspoons of cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I think that would have helped.)
New ingredients: nothing
New skills: planning and serving a big meal!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
#11 - Tuna Noodle Casserole
YUMMY! This one might be my favorite thing I've made so far, but that's probably because I've been thinking about it for at least a week, so finally getting to eat it is very exciting. Niketa made a casserole weeks ago and posted about it on her food blog (which was what inspired me to blog about my own resolution... hers is The Weekly Nibble, if you're interested) and then a few weeks ago I saw a new casserole cookbook in a catalogue at work, so it seemed it was time to try one out myself. I think the only one I'd ever made before was green bean casserole, which only involves 3 ingredients (green beans, soup, fried onions), so this was new and a bit more interesting. I love tuna, so I knew tuna noodle casserole was exactly what I wanted to make. After some googling I found a recipe on the Land o' Lakes website that sounded good. I know you can't really go wrong with a casserole, so I added some ingredients and used a few substitutions. They're reflected in the recipe below. Joe and Niketa both agreed that my latest cooking attempt turned out well and I'm very excited that even after feeding all three of us, I still have tons leftover :) Recipe #11 - a huge success!
Tuna Noodle Casserole
- 2/3 bag of egg noodles, cooked (8 ounces pre-cooked)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup of sliced celery (2-3 ribs)
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped (1 medium)
- 1 can of condensed cream of asparagus soup (I substituted this for cream of mushroom soup because mushrooms are yucky and I figured it would be better than overpowering the whole thing with cream of celery soup in addition to the fresh celery)
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup of cheese, cubed (recipe called for American, but I used about 3/4 of a cup extra sharp cheddar and 1/4 cup mozzarella because that's what I had)
- 12 ounces of tuna, drained and flaked
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- few dashes of garlic powder (I added this)
- heavy dashes of chili powder and red pepper (I substituted this for 1 tablespoon of diced pimiento pepper because I couldn't find one in the store; this gave it a nice spiciness)
- a small bag of potato chips, crushed
- spoonful of bread crumbs (I added this)
Cook noodles according to package directions. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a large, deep, frying pan until sizzling. Add celery and onion and cook over medium heat until crisply tender (3-4 minutes). Stir in milk and soup. Continue cooking until heated through (2-3 minutes). Stir in all remaining ingredients except potato chips and breadcrumbs. Mix well in the pot you used to cook the pasta (if it doesn't all fit in the skillet). Spoon into an ungreased 13x9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and chips. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Enjoy! Makes about 8 servings.
New ingredients: nothing new this time around
New skills: experimenting with casseroles!
Tuna Noodle Casserole
- 2/3 bag of egg noodles, cooked (8 ounces pre-cooked)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup of sliced celery (2-3 ribs)
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped (1 medium)
- 1 can of condensed cream of asparagus soup (I substituted this for cream of mushroom soup because mushrooms are yucky and I figured it would be better than overpowering the whole thing with cream of celery soup in addition to the fresh celery)
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup of cheese, cubed (recipe called for American, but I used about 3/4 of a cup extra sharp cheddar and 1/4 cup mozzarella because that's what I had)
- 12 ounces of tuna, drained and flaked
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- few dashes of garlic powder (I added this)
- heavy dashes of chili powder and red pepper (I substituted this for 1 tablespoon of diced pimiento pepper because I couldn't find one in the store; this gave it a nice spiciness)
- a small bag of potato chips, crushed
- spoonful of bread crumbs (I added this)
Cook noodles according to package directions. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a large, deep, frying pan until sizzling. Add celery and onion and cook over medium heat until crisply tender (3-4 minutes). Stir in milk and soup. Continue cooking until heated through (2-3 minutes). Stir in all remaining ingredients except potato chips and breadcrumbs. Mix well in the pot you used to cook the pasta (if it doesn't all fit in the skillet). Spoon into an ungreased 13x9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and chips. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Enjoy! Makes about 8 servings.
New ingredients: nothing new this time around
New skills: experimenting with casseroles!
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