To Do list?

thought this was interesting so i decided to try it out~
1) Copy this list into your site, including the instructions!
2) Bold all of the sweets you’ve eaten!
3) Cross out any of them that you’d never ever eat.
4) Consider anything that is not bold or crossed out your “To Do” List.

1. Red Velvet Cake
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie
4. Apple Pie
5. Beignet
6. Baklava
7. Black and White Cookie
8. Seven Layer Bar (aka Magic Bar or Hello Dolly Bar)
9. Fried Fruit Pies (sometimes called hand pies)
10. Kringle
11. Just fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with Clotted Cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle, or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macaroons
16. Banana Pudding with Nilla Wafers
17. Bubble Tea (with tapioca “pearls”)
18. Dixie Cup - I don't know what this is, and couldn't find it online...can anyone help me out?
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout Cookies
24. Moon Cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo Bar
29. Baba Au Rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavlova
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon/Mille-Fueille
40. Russian Tea Cake/Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac Biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie (this is a repeat I think)
47. Dutch Baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey Butter Cake
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku
54. Green Tea Cake or Cookies
55. Cupcakes from a Cupcake Shop
56. Creme Brulee
57. Some Sort of Deep Fried Fair Food
58. Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An “Upside Down” Dessert (pineapple upside down cake or tarte tatin)
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a Mold
65. Black Forest Cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer Torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat Pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle/ Lobster Tail
76. Pain au Chocolat
77. A Piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow Cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits Fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade Marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or Cake made with Candy Bar Flavors (Snickers Pie, Reeses Pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S’mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas Foster or some other Flaming Dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire’s Shortbread
99. Animal Crackers
100. Basbousa

Wow i need to have a lot of stuff!

Taco Soup!

What a nice dish to have on a wet cold day! And what a hit! I really thought, though, that it was more of a taco chili/soup... it was much thicker then soup but still had some brothy substance... either way it was delish and EASY!
And here you can see why we needed it...Do you see how wet it was! COLD! I made this to take the Maryland vs NC State tailgate. Even though State lost, we put up a good fight and we stayed warm at the tailgate with my chili/soup! Lets call it Chiop!

At least we had fun together too!


I got this from a crockpot blogger, who also happens to be gluten free! HMM WOW! So thanks A year of Crockpotting, it was delish!

Ingredients
2 cans of kindey beans
2 cans of pinto beans
2 cans of corn
1 large can of diced tomatoes (I have no idea why the can wasn't in this picture. I know I put it in. This is a mystery.)
1 can tomatoes and chiles
1 packet taco seasoning (if you are gluten free, stick to McCormick)
1 packet ranch dressing mix (make sure there isn't hidden gluten, I went with Hidden Valley)
1 lb browned ground turkey or hamburger (optional.)
shredded cheese and sour cream for embellishment (optional, unless you're in my house. then it's mandatory.)

The Directions:

brown meat if you are going to use it
drain fat and add to crockpot stoneware insert (the meat. not the fat.)
sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat
drain and rinse the beans and add
add the ENTIRE contents of the corn and tomato cans

cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5. I think the longer you cook soup, the better, so if you have the time, opt for cooking on low.

serve with a handful of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Return of the Apple bars!

I was just going to replace the old picture from my previous post about these (since that pic was a little blurry, but I thought these deserved another post since they were sooo amazing. I made them because Chris's good friend from college was coming into town and I wanted him to have plenty to eat, but man he and Chris ate about half of them, LAST NIGHT! For Reals! So Here's to the Apple Bars! YEA!
This is Our friend Rowdy enjoying a beer after driving four and a half hours about to see us!

Lets Drink Pork and Have a Beer Bread!

NO! I'm not an alcoholic I just saw this bread and thought WOW Chris would love it and his friend was coming into town and he would love it! YES, you use beer to make it but that's so you don't have to use yeast... and man it was tasty! AND the story behind the "Lets Drink Pork" is I had a pork tenderloin and I didn't want to just bake it or something equally boring so I baked it with seasonings and then topped it with a white wine mushroom sauce, Why YES my house was very gourmet last night!

Soo since I have an ACTUAL recipe for the bread we'll begin with that!
Here is the cheesy beer bread... thank you Elizabeth's Edible Experience for the idea!

Ingredients
3 cups flour (sifted)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 (12 ounce) can/bottle beer (I used Sam Adam's Octoberfest)
1/4 cup jalapenos ( I didn't use)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar (I used more like a cup total I think)
1/4 cup melted butter
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients and beer.
Add to mixture, 1/4 cup of jalapenos and 1/4 cup shredded cheddar (OR Only a LOT of cheese).
Pour into a greased loaf pan.
Pour melted butter over mixture.
Add 1/4 cup shredded cheddar to the top of the loaf
Bake 1 hour
remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes!


Gezzz ook OKAY! Now on to the pork. HMMM
So I'm just going to type what I did and I'll try to tell you general amounts but I really just dabbled this and that until it tasted like something I would eat.

So i Baked my pork loins in the oven on 350 for lets say around an hour?? (Just check it) Before I placed it in the oven i sprinkled with salt, pepper, parsley, garlic powder, thyme, and lets say basil.
For the sauce
I began but sauteing chives and diced onion (only like half a small onion and 1/3 a bunch of chives) in olive oil and 2 tbsp butter. Then I added some garlic salt. Later when the onions were becoming transparent I added oregano, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. I cooked that for a minute then add around a cup or so of a Chardonnay that I had in my fridge and about a cup and a half, maybe more, of chicken broth. Got that nice and warm and added sliced mushrooms (I would have LOVE cremimi BUT my grocer does not sell these so I used the standard white ones) and just kind broke them into smaller pieces as a cooked it. Then I was thinking "Self this needs something else to deepen the flavor", so I called up my trusty mom and she had the trick in mind Parmesan cheese! YEA! Threw that in, lets say 1/4 cup? Then i just let it cook... when chris got home I add a few table spoons of flour to thicken it and whisked that until it was smooth!
BASICALLY this is what I did... threw stuff in, tasted and threw more in of what I thought it needed. Some may not want as much wine, but I really enjoyed the flavor it added, etc.

When everything was ready, I sliced the pork, placed it on the plates and covered with the sauce. Chris LOVED this, I hope I'll be able to recreate it! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins!

I LOVE these! So good on a cold morning with a cup of coffee, if they aren't just out of the oven throw it in the microwave and warm is up... so good! I found this recipe on Annie's Eats and knew I had to star to it make later and I found the PERFECT time. One of Chris's best friends from college is coming into town tonight! I didn't want him to have to make his own breakfast on Friday, while Chris and I were at work, so I figured, Lets Make Muffins! YUMMM! Sadly I am not one to read the directions (only ingredients) all the way through before I begin, so I didnt' read the "freeze the cream cheese mixture" part until I was ready to start... so while I TRIED to freeze it, I didn't let it FULLY freeze, but they were STILL awesome! YEA! So here's what you do!
Ingredients

For the muffins:
3 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar

For the streusel topping:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup and 1 tsp. flour
4 tbsp. butter, cubed
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

Directions
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until smooth. Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours.

To make the muffins, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two muffin pans with paper liners. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well halfway with batter. Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices. Place a slice in each muffin well. Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

And Enjoy!!!

New ROOM!

So it isn't tasty but the Chocolate wall looks kind of tasty!!!
So this is what we did for our anniversary! YEA! The red wall is California Poppy by Behr. The other walls are Sandstone Cove (i think it's cove)... and I'm not sure what the name of the Chocolate one is... lets call it Heaven! LOL! I'm so happy!

The wonderful Fireplace

Close up of Decorations, I'm going to replace the Candles with another color.

New Star from Amish Country

These are my anniversary flowers... Chris said Red for the Fall colors and sunflowers for the wedding! What an amazing two years it's been!

Some of the fall decor on the dinning room table.

More Fall stuff, I love my ducks!

THIS is Bucky... Chris's first Buck... he is now a member of my family... honestly he's not so bad, I'm kind of attached to him now~

Hope you enjoyed my new Red Room! I know I am!

Blackend Catfish

Well for our anniversary we were fishing up painting so I didn't have time to make a big crazy wonderful meal like I was hoping but this was amazing! It was sooo fast and tasty! Thanks to Epicurious!
For the Catfish:
Ingredients
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried orégano, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 catfish fillets (about 1 pound)
1 large garlic clove, sliced thin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
lemon wedges as an accompaniment
Preparation
In a small bowl combine the paprika, the orégano, the thyme, the cayenne, the sugar, the salt, and the black pepper, pat the catfish dry, and sprinkle the spice mixture on both sides of the fillet, coating them well. In a large skillet sauté the garlic in the oil over moderately high heat, stirring, until it is golden brown and discard the garlic. Add the butter, heat it until the foam subsides, and in the fat sauté the catfish for 4 minutes on each side, or until it is cooked through. Transfer the catfish fillets with a slotted spatula to 2 plates and serve them with the lemon wedges.

For the rice, I have this AWESOME new microwave rice cooker that I wanted to try out... so I loaded in my Rice, water, and frozen veggie and cooked away. It was GREAT! Chris LOVED it... even more then the fish I think! HA!

Not to Eat but SOOO cute!

Awww now don't you just LOVE this face! I swear she will make me SO.MAD. and then give me this face... now what is a Mom to do??

Remember the line from the Wizzard of Oz "Poppies... Poppies will put you to sleep"
Yeah well in our house it's "Puppies... Puppies will put you to sleep" because they are just too darn cute and cuddly.

Now If Sadie knew I put this picture of her on here she would never speak to me again because it's not her most flattering shot BUT just LOOK at her... she LOVES pillows and fluffiness and i don't think she could have done a better job of finding either!

Wilton I, class III

This is what I did last night. I know kind of sad looking, but please let me explain. We are having a baby shower today for my coworker, so I thought HEY I can bring these to the shower! Well 1. she's having a boy (hence the color selection) and 2. It was flowers or scary looking Chucky clowns (the two things we learned in the class). So I decided "Lets Do Flower Pots!"... yea great idea IN.MY.HEAD! Didn't quite turn out the way I was hoping but HEY, they are still tasty and I'll just let the coworkers eat them now instead of ruining the beautiful shower we have planned with their presence.
So here is my "Flower Garden".

Bacon Makes EVERYTHING yummy!

So i had these REALLY CHEAP pork chops that I bought but I wanted them to be yummy so I started talking to myself again asking what would make these thin, tiny, nothing of a chop tasty and do you know what my head told me??? BACON!

I First pounded the pork chops even thinner so they would be a little bigger. Then i stuffed them with rice, gluten free Italian bread crumbs, some tomato paste, an egg, some cheddar cheese (shredded) and that might be it. I wrapped the pork chop up taco style and then wound a piece of bacon around it in a spiral and toothpicked it into place.

Then I drizzled some olive oil on top and sprinkled with Italian seasonings (these seasonings are actually supposed to be combined with olive oil so you can dip your bread in it, but i figured I could cook with it too~). I baked it for around 30mins at 350ish... you know until the bacon felt crispy!

And boy was it yummy! Like Chris said when I asked him what he thought "Bacon Makes EVERYTHING taste good!"

Wilton Course 1, class 2

So this week we practiced our star tip! The book wanted us to do rainbows or something equally stupid, so since I enjoy being different I decided what a GREAT time of year to do a Fall Cake (I know I know ingenious)!

I started with a gluten free pumpkin spice cake recipe from Karina's Kitchen. It was amazing! Even Chris LOVED it!

Recipe follows:
3 extra large organic free-range eggs
2 cups organic light brown sugar
2/3 cup light olive oil
1 15-oz can cooked pumpkin (or two cups of fresh cooked pumpkin)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups gluten-free flour mix* see notes
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 10 x 13" baking pan with greased foil or parchment.

Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl till light and frothy; add the brown sugar, beat till smooth; add the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla; beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (the GF flour mix through sea salt). Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture a little at a time and beat to combine- for two minutes.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, or until the cake is firm and a wooden pick inserted into the center emerges clean.

It is a thick batter so make sure when you put it in a pans you shake it to get it to level out.

Then for the Filling!!! I did an APPLE PIE filling! OH YEA!
Basically I just used my pampered chef chopper to get 3 granny smith apples (skinned and cored) into TINY little bitty pieces. Then I put them in a pot with around 1/2c sugar, 2 or so tbsp of gluten free flour, a tbsp or so of cinnamon, some nutmeg, and a bit of butter and I cooked until softish (can't you tell it was an exact science~).
I then lined my bottom layer with butter cream icing and filled it in and topped it off with the other layer.

My icing is just regular Wilton butter cream with almond flavoring. I would have preferred to use cream cheese frosting but the point of this cake was for my decorating class, not for personal enjoyment. HAHAH!

And that's all... enjoy the pics while I enjoy eating it!



Awww I'm so cute putting my wedding date on it!


Yea as soon as I got home Chris was like "WOW looks great woman! Cane we eat it now?" So we did!
Just LOOK at that yummy filling!

Chicken and White Bean Chili

This was so good! I got the recipe from epicurious and it will be added to our "rotation" of cold weather foods! YUMM!

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/3 cups chopped onion
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 15- to 16-ounce cans white beans, drained, juices reserved
2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add chicken; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until chicken is no longer pink outside, about 5 minutes. Mix in chili powder, tomato paste, cumin, and oregano. Add beans, 1 cup reserved bean juices, and canned tomatoes. Simmer until chicken is cooked through and chili is thickened, about 25 minutes. If chili is too thick, add more bean juices by tablespoonfuls to thin. Season chili to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in cilantro and serve.

We added Cheese and sour cream to ours and also dipped in tortilla chips! YUM!

Chicken Healing Soup

I didn't do anything CRAZY different, in fact mine is pretty basic but OOOOH Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup is SOO amazing, especially now that it's starting to feel fall like! AHHH

Ingredients

Water (enough to fill the pot once the chicken is in)
about 2 1/2-3 lbs of chicken (dark, light, whatever)
some carrots sliced
some celery sliced
a small onion chopped
box of large shells (or pasta of your choice)
about 2tbsp butter
extra organic chicken stock if needed
pepper
salt

Put your chicken in a pot and fill with water. Boil until chicken is cooked through. Pull chicken out and place in a bowl and skim off any fat you want off the top. Keep water boiling. Put in veggies (the amount really depends on how much you want in it... I also like to have frozen peas in mine... mom always did that). Once that has had a moment to cook add pasta. Begin shredding chicken from the bones and place the chicken (not the bones) in the pot. Season with the butter and salt and pepper to taste. Wha La! This makes a lot, but the noodles REALLY soak up the broth, so if you want yours more soupy the second time around add in more chicken broth, but don't forget to season more!

Fall Sunflowers!

My circle in my neighborhood had a BBQ so that we could all get to know each other. We were all asked to bring a dish so I brought deviled eggs (forgot to photograph) and these cupcakes! I tried my best to copy Katie, but alas mine needed more practice. I followed her instructions except that I used a gluten-free cake mix and I nixed the Lady Bugs because it was all I could do to make the freaking petals! Anywho, I will improve and they tasted great and were a huge hit!

For those of you who are gluten-free I used the Cocoa puffs for the center and I had to pick them off... I couldn't find the Cocoa pebbles! Enjoy!

Italian Fish

I got this recipe from Kraft.com. It was incredible. I would eat it again and again and it's also pretty healthy!

Ingredients

1 large frozen white fish Fillet (I think mine was flounder)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 reduced fat mozzarella cheese
2-4 tbsp of Zesty Italian dressing (or Fat Free Italian Dressing)
Fresh Parsley (I used dried b/c it's what I had on hand)

Preheat oven to 450. Drizzle Dressing over fish and cook frozen fish uncovered for twenty five minutes.
Then top with mushrooms then Cheese and lastly with the Parsley.
Bake an additional five minutes!
Wha LA!

I served mine with butter and garlic asparagus and gluten free mac and cheese!
Yum!