Cupcakes!

Cupcakes!!! 

The best cupcakes are easy to spot! perfectly filled paper cups with fluffy

full frosting! They can be any flavor, any color, any style. But there is 

no denying they are the perfect size treat.

So lets talk batter...

Confetti 

Chocolate

Vanilla bean

Strawberry

Buttery Yellow

Red velvet

Lemon

Spice

Rum

YUM!

The trick to perfect batter is the perfect design!

Find basic batter recipes and play with them. 

Make a basic mayo batter, add blueberries!

 Make an applesauce batter, add apple cider instead of water!

Make a store bought cake mix, add lemon zest!

 And don't forget to take them out just before done,

they stay moist and store longer.

Icing!!!

Glaze!!!!

Whipped Cream!!

Sprinkle with powdered sugar!

Any way you top them,

keep it simple.

The best cupcakes are simple, and elegant!

If you are pairing them with a meal, make them light and

fruity. They will be refreshing and a perfect ending.

Cupcakes are meant to be mini cakes.. less hassle than cutting a large cake!

Get baking!

<3 

Crystallized Ginger

Crystallized Ginger

Right now I have some Super Thin Slices of Ginger 

boiling away. I'm loving the aroma it's giving off. 

I'm planning to make Chewy ginger cookies on Friday or Saturday.

Jacob is going to a friends house on Saturday to split some wood.

His friends are great people and I would like to make them dinner.

I'm planning to make two large sirloin steaks with Salt potatoes and 

Fruit salad. But what meal is complete without dessert? 

So, I'm making ginger cookies.

But to make my ginger cookies I need crystallized ginger!!!

So, tonight I am making it. 

I chose tonight, because it needs time to cool, like overnight.

And I'm not sure of our plans tomorrow night. 

So here's how it's done:

Tonight I'm only doing one root of ginger, but you can do

more very easily. Here are directions for any amount.

Use a spoon to peel your ginger root, this takes away as little of the

ginger "meat" as possible. Then thinly slice the ginger. 

Put slices in the a sauce pan with just enough water to cover the ginger.

Boil till the slices are soft.

** The thinner the slices, the less time it will take to cook the ginger

*** the more you cook the ginger, or the more tender it is at this stage, 

the more tender it will be in the end result.

After ginger is tender, strain till water no longer drips from the ginger.

Weigh cooked ginger, measure out an equal amount of sugar and 

place into sauce pan with cooked ginger, and 3 Tbs of water.

Boil.

Continue to boil, stirring frequently, until ginger is mostly transparent.

Water should be mostly evaporated.

Start stirring continuously until all water has evaporated. 

Allow to cool most of the way, coat with sugar crystals.

**** at this point, you can use them for a recipe or like I am, store them

in an air tight container until you are ready to use them. 

<3 

This makes a really nice gift around the holidays. Placed in a glass jar

with a nice note! It's a huge hit, especially for someone who 

might like it with their tea. 

Enjoy!

Potato Knish!

I don't have a recipe for you!

Why?

Because I need a yummy Potato Knish recipe!

There are a few deli's on Long Island,

that have the perfect Fried Potato Knish!!!

When I lived down there, 

I would stop for a Knish once a week.

They are so good.

My favorite ones had a almost bread crumb shell.

So I'm now looking for a place that sells them

up here where I live now. 

And then I want to master them!!!

I want to create the Best potato knish recipe!

If you have never had one, find one near you and try it.

NYC has them on every corner just about!

Wish me luck!

Fruit and Veggies and Our Bodies

http://www.wimp.com/foodbody/

I found this interesting. Something to think about when you cut up your veggies next time.

Mom's Zucchini Bread

Mom's Zucchini Bread

As you all know my mom passed away in June.

So today I wanted to post a recipe she had that is pretty incredible. 

My mom was an amazing cook and she really encouraged me to 

bake and cook whenever I wanted. This recipe is kind of special to me now.

Silly things can somehow gain new meaning. =]

Enjoy!

3 eggs

2 Cups sugar

1 Cup veg. oil

2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

1 tsp vanilla

2 Cups grated Zucchini

3 Cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinn.

1/4tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 Cup almonds

bake 350 degrees

1 hour and 20 mins.

<3

Potato Chip Chicken

Amazing Recipe!

So you've all prolly had about every kind of chicken you can find.

Some people haven't tried potato chip chicken so here is the recipe

I used and found to be wonderful.

Potato Chip Chicken

2 large boneless chicken breasts (cut into strips)

Combine Crushed Potato Chips with Parmesan cheese and pepper. 

Dip chicken strips in egg and then roll in chip mixture. 

Bake in a 350 degree oven till cooked through

or 

Fry in 1 cm of olive oil in med heat.

If you choose to fry the chicken strips make sure heat has had 

at least 4 minutes to heat, otherwise potato chip mixture will fall off

of the chicken and you'll end up with oily plain chicken.

I'll post pictures of the desired outcome. 

This is the crispiest chicken I've ever had!

Enjoy!

Gnocchi!

Gnocchi!

I am making my hunny a yummy dinner of homemade Gnocchi and Chicken in a

White wine and Parmesan Sauce! 

For perfect Gnocchi:

Boil 2 Lbs of Potatoes

peal and mash while still hot

add:

1 egg

salt and pepper

mix quickly so the egg doesn't cook from

the temperature of the hot potatoes

add two hand fulls of flour and mix well.

On a cookie sheet slowly add in an additional cup of Flour.

knead in flour and roll out in long strips.

Cut little one inch pieces and roll down fork.

Boil in lightly salted water for 2 minutes.

Pictures to follow!

And once I make the sauce I'll post how I did it.

I'm not completely sure what I'm doing with the sauce yet.

Enjoy

Potato with eggs.

Very sticky at this stage.

 Gnocchi while it's boiling.

 This is the start of the sauce. I'll add that below.

This is the Gnocchi swimming in the Parmesan Sauce.

I made the Sauce by:
Sauteing chopped garlic in olive oil
I added about 1/2 cup of white wine and simmered till the alcohol cooked off.
I then added two tsp butter and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.
Poured over the Gnocchi it was very tasty! 

Kingston or Broke!

Hey everyone!

Sorry it has been a while! 

I am currently in Kingston, NY.

My boyfriend and I are getting out of 

town for a little bit. 

SO 

There are some really great food places!

Last night we ate at the restaurant in our hotel

food was great! I was pretty impressed!

It's called Roudigan's! It's a steak house.

They have huge portions and lots of fresh food.

The salad bar was very well done and 

there was plunty of variety on the menu.

In a little while we are going to pick up some 

Hard rolls from a place called Deising's. 

It's a bakery/ cafe. 

We don't have the same kind of rolls up state.

These are very yummy. 

We've heard great things about 

Frank Guido's Italian restaurant.

So if you're ever in the area check some of these places out. 

I'll post Pictures soon. 

<3

This is a picture of the bakery we went to so if you are ever there stop in a get
yourself some hard rolls!

 This is their bread display they looked so yummy. we went there at
8 am and it was already low on baked goods.

 These are a few pictures of the Catskills. It was such a beautiful day!

I want to stay in New Paltz forever!

Finding the Best Ingredients In Your Area!

You might know that I have a tendancy to move a lot.

The up side to this is that I now know how to find

the best coffee places, the best fresh produce,

and the really tough to find items in just about anywhere

I may go. I currently live in Cortland NY.

Here we don't have specialty goods stores,

or farm stands to just pop into.

But on the up side I can tell you where I go if

I need something special.

Wegman's is one of my absolute favorite stores to shop in.

I absolutely love their produce all year round. They

always have the freshest produce compaired to other grocery stores.

They have a wide range of speciality items. And their prices are pretty good.

The closest Wegman's to me, would be Ithaca, and after that Auburn.

I like the general layout of the store also.

Everything you ned is located on the outer rim of the store.

Produce, dairy, breads, meats. all on the outside of the store. 

Spice Cookies

Spice Cookies

Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit

This is very important in order to let cookies 

puff up, and not melt down to pancakes.

Mix:

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour milk

add:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

Chill for 1-2 hours

Again this is very important.

why?

Because the shortening needs to start out cold in the batter

in order for it to reach its melting point when the rest of the batter

has started to cook.

This makes the cookies higher,

thicker, fluffier, and more moist.

If you want to add raisins or nuts mix them in at the end.

Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake for 

8 minutes. 

Baked French Toast Pictures!

Here are the pictures of the Yummy

Baked French Toast!

Enjoy!

I added Cream Cheese dollops to the top.

So tasty!

Happy 2012!

Hello everyone!

Sorry it's been so long. 

I just started a new job so I have been getting 

caught up with that. Same field different agency.

It's been crazy!

So I hope everyone's Holiday's went well. 

I hope everyone survived it in one piece.

Happy 2012!

Right now, I am sitting on my couch with the cat.

Basking in the intoxicating aroma of 

Baked French Toast!

Yum!

I will upload some pictures here in a few.

The recipe is already on here for ya.

In just a few minutes I will load all my pictures from

the past few weeks onto the computer

and then update with recipes and pictures.

If anyone has any recipe requests feel free to leave some.

If I don't know a recipe off hand when you ask, I will

look into it and make one. =] 

So I'll wrap up this post and get on to the good stuff.

Enjoy <3