Gingerbread Snack Cake...so full of aromatic spice!

I love this gingerbread cake.  It's so easy to make, tastes great at room temp or warmed...great for breakfast, coffee or as dessert. My son is a gingerbread fanatic and will try to eat the entire cake by himself.

2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon into a dry-measure cup and level off)

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

2/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Butter a 9-inch-by-2-inch round pan and line the bottom with parchment paper or buttered wax paper. Set aside.

2. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

3. Stir the flour and spices together in a large bowl.

4. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat, then (still on low heat) stir in the brown sugar, molasses and most of the water, leaving a couple of tablespoons in the measuring cup. Stir together to combine and increase the heat to medium. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

5. Stir the baking soda into the remaining water.

6. Remove the butter mixture from the heat and pour the baking soda mixture into it. Add the liquid to the bowl of dry ingredients and use a large rubber spatula to quickly fold everything together. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the gingerbread until it is well-risen and feels firm in the center and the point of a paring knife inserted in the center emerges clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then loosen the gingerbread from the side of the pan with a small paring knife if necessary, and invert it onto another rack. Peel off the paper and replace it with a rack, then invert the stack and remove the top rack. Cool completely before serving.

This recipe appeared in the local newspaper last year.



My new favorite chocolate chip recipe...

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies!

My daughter and I decided to bake some cookies today.  I'm gearing up for the baking frenzy that's coming up after Thanksgiving. I had just a spot of sour cream left over from another recipe and this was the perfect way to use it up! I have found sour cream makes for a really delicious add in to baking recipes.  One of my favorite frostings is a dark chocolate sour cream frosting.  I will have to remember to blog about that one later. On to the cookies!

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup shortening (I used butter flavored)

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 package (12 oz) chips. I used dark chocolate but any flavor of chips can be used

Heat oven to 350. Beat sugar, butter, shortening, vanilla and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

This recipe is in Betty Crocker's Cookie Book. So easy and tasty!

(the second and third images have some white balance issues...)



Garden tomatoes...soooo good!

I love tomatoes and always have. Finding a good tomato can be a challenge though-either grow 'em yourself or find a good farmer's market. These beauties were grown in my parent's garden. They are mostly the size of grapes and are just so delicious. I wish I could keep them all through the winter.  Since that's impossible I'll just sit here with my bowl of tomatoes and stack of napkins to catch all that chin dribbling juice. Delish!

Mmmmm....zucchini and Panko!

If you like breading things with breadcrumbs and haven't discovered Panko you are missing out!  They are super crispy, light and make for an incredible crunch to fried foods. One of my favorite things to bread and fry is zucchini. The other night I made pizza (see recipe a few posts below) and decided to make these delicious beauties to go with it.

I used all purpose flour (King Arthur brand...it really is a very good flour), water and Panko.  The all purpose flour went into one shallow bowl and to it I added some seasoned salt, onion powder and some dried herbs...oh, and red pepper flakes. Then in another bowl the water and in the last bowl the Panko...which I also seasoned with red pepper flakes. This is completely customizable...season it how you like it.

Breading foods by hand doesn't have to be messy-who likes digging that stuff out from under your nails? What I do is use my right hand for wet and left for dry. I took a zucchini slice, dipped it into the water with my right hand, tossed it into flour bowl and with my left hand coated it in flour. Then with my right hand I dipped it into the water again and placed into Panko bowl. And using left hand coated the slice with the bread crumbs. I know some people like to bread as they fry but it's easier for me to just bread it all at once and have it on a cookie sheet ready to go to the fryer.

Heat the fryer to 350 degrees and drop slices in.  Watch closely so they don't burn. After they are golden brown remove from oil and drain on paper towels.  Serve with pizza sauce. Oh, and sprinkle with freshly grated parm or romano cheese. I'm drooling already just thinking about them!

Fall sunrise....beautiful!

My husband was taking my son to school the other morning and when I stepped out to tell them goodbye I saw this beautiful sunrise.  I quickly dashed into the house (did I even finish telling them bye?) and grabbed the camera so I could try to do it justice.

Of course I should have set up the tripod but with the light changing so quickly I was afraid to miss any of this gorgeous color. So the photo isn't as sharp as it should be...but hey, the color is great! :-P

Another reason I love this image so much is that this view is about to be gone forever from my front porch.  They are finally building houses in that field.  The 'lone' tree will no longer stand out, the outline of the church will be hidden from my view. The only thing constant is change right?  Just have to learn to roll with it.

Most everyone loves a grilled cheese...

I love a good grilled cheese.  And a panini grilled cheese is even better!  Since we invested in a nice panini grill we eat sandwiches quite often. And of course a panini grill really creates taste bud tingling sandwiches when homemade bread is used. I use a bread machine because there are times when I'm am yeast-challenged. Usually when I use the bread machine it will turn out just fine...but if I were to do all that kneading and rising myself it flops on me 75% of the time.  Downright discouraging. There are times when I decide to get crazy and select the 'dough' cycle on the bread machine so I can mold the loaf how I like.  I live dangerous...cautiously. ;-)

Homemade Rosemary Bread (Better Homes and Gardens The Complete Guide to Bread Machine Baking)
1 1/2 lb loaf

1 cup milk
1/4 cup water
4 tsp butter
3 cups bread flour
4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp bread machine yeast
1 spring snipped fresh rosemary

Add ingredients to machine according to manufacturer's directions. Select basic bread cycle.

Here is my finished, melty and delicious panini grilled cheese.  The only ingredients I used were the homemade rosemary bread, cheddar cheese, Roma tomato and just a bit of cilantro.  Olive oil is brushed on the top of the bread and then grill in the panini press. Easy, simple and satisfying.

You want to use a Roma tomato or if you don't have a Roma then scoop out seeds-nothing fun about a soggy sandwich.

mmmm...cilantro!

brush with olive oil

My take on Paula Deen's finger sandwiches...

All you have to say is 'cream cheese' and I'm there.  I love cheesecake, I love dips made out of cream cheese, I love bagels smeared with cream cheese, I love flavored cream cheese...I do love cream cheese.  However, I don't allow myself to eat it too often-I might get carried away. ;-)  I found this recipe from the Food Network website and I believe it is called Paula Deen's Engagement Ring (Bling) Finger Sandwiches.  I never really did understand the name but who am I to question how someone names their recipes? :-P I don't do exact measurements so if you want those then do a google for that recipe name.

As a disclaimer I will state that these aren't healthy by any stretch of the imagination, and yes...I do use crappy white bread for them.  I don't think the couple times a year that I eat these the white bread will kill me-I could be wrong though! Stay tuned to find out. hehe

-One part mayonnaise to two parts cream cheese (I use reduced fat on both the mayo and the cream cheese)
-crushed pineapple-drained and patted dry with a paper towel
-tablespoon or so of powdered sugar
-loaf of thin white bread...or wheat...or a combo

Let cream cheese stand until softened. Mix mayo, cream cheese, drained pineapple and powdered sugar.  Spread on bread slice and top with another slice.  After all sandwiches are made, stack and wrap with 'clings-to-everything-but-what-it's-supposed-to' plastic wrap. Refrigerate for an hour or so.  Unwrap, cut crusts off sandwiches and cut each sandwich into 4 triangles. Sample one to see how it tastes...sample another, and perhaps another. (oh, I guess I shouldn't include that last step-that's how I finish them off) Chopped green and black olives can be substituted for the pineapple (of course that means don't throw powdered sugar into the cream cheese mix) for a savory sandwich.

Enjoy!

Everyone loves pizza night...

Who doesn't love pizza night? The kids look forward to it...the husband looks forward to it...and so do I when I'm in the mood to play with pizza dough and beer. :-) This recipe is for a bread machine so at least some of the work is done for you. And you can also make it ahead of time, wrap in clings-to-everything-but-what-it's-supposed-to-plastic-wrap and refrigerate for a few days. I have also made bread sticks with this recipe as well. Versatile I'm tellin' ya!

Bread Machine Pizza Dough (with beer!)

1 cup flat beer (I never wait for it to get flat...just make sure the bubbles have settled so you are getting an accurate measurement)

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use bread flour)

2 1/4 tsp yeast

Put beer, butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in the machine according to manufacturer suggestion. Select dough setting and press start.

Remove dough from bread machine when cycle is complete.  Roll or press dough to cover a prepared pizza pan (I spray with Pam and sprinkle with cornmeal).  Note; this dough is very sticky...have olive oil nearby and use it to spread on hands just a bit to help with dough not sticking to fingers. Brush lightly with olive oil, cover and let stand 15 minutes. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes...just to get that pre-bake to avoid soggy pizza crust.

Spread sauce and toppings, bake at 350-375 (depending on how crisp you like the crust) for 15-20 minutes...or until lightly brown and crispy on the outside. Brushing the crust with flavored oil makes it even tastier!

Enjoy!

(if anyone out there is trying these recipes please let me know how you liked them or if you put your own creative spin on it.)



Cooler weather is here...time to bake!

It's been so darn hot that being in the kitchen baking has been the LAST thing on my mind.  For about 4 months even.  It's a strange thing to be trapped in the house because of excessive heat conditions-when it's cold and I'm trapped in the house I can occupy my time with baking.  Or even cooking extravagant dinners...because using the oven and stove is fun!  Not so much when it's hot.  Food doesn't even sound good most of the time, what to speak of firing up the oven. Miserable.

But today I woke up and a cool front had come though!  It was a beautiful 64 degrees.  Woohoo!  I debated on making a zucchini/blueberry loaf but remembered we still had blueberry muffins around.  We don't want to overdo the blueberry do we? ;-)  So I decided on just a zucchini loaf...however, I would use my mini bundt pan.  I do love this pan but I hardly every use it.  Shame too because it makes the cutest little cakes. And now what would have just been a regular loaf is now dressed up to look even more special. Ok, enough of my long windedness. (is that a word?)

 

Better Homes and Gardens Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 beaten egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted (baking sheet-350 oven-5 to 10 min)

Grease bottom and sides of 8x4x2 loaf pan. In medium bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture and set aside.

In another bowl combine egg, sugar, zucchini, and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened...should be a lumpy batter. Fold in nuts and spoon into loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, remove from pan, cool completely on wire rack.  Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Nutrition Facts; 147 cals, 6g total fat, 1g sat fat, 13mg chol, 123mg sodium, 21g carb, 1g fiber, 2g protein.

Enjoy!

So, I like to collect...

I really don't know what started this collecting I've been doing lately with little sugar bowls and creamers.  It's an odd thing to collect I guess...but they are just so diverse, sometimes delicate and beautiful.  All of my finds have been from thrift stores or Goodwill.  I happened upon this little creamer (and sugar bowl not pictured) in Goodwill a couple of weeks ago.  It's a fairly nice quality piece of china and I hope to sell it on Etsy. 

Maybe it's just that I enjoy photographing them!  They don't run away, yell or scream. ;-)

Gettin' in the smoothie groove...

Still being careful about eating...it's really not fun.  But today I was actually craving a smoothie and I had all the characters required to bring it together.  Now I didn't follow a recipe but I put vanilla light yogurt, frozen blueberries and raspberries, and a splash of milk to keep it from binding up in the blender.  I pulsed until it was pulverized.  Then I poured it into this pretty glass so I could pull the camera out and use it as a model before consuming. It was so tasty that my daughter drank half of it when I wasn't looking. The variations are endless! 

Oh, that moon....

I finally have a tripod!  It's extremely helpful when trying to get shots that require more steadiness than your hand can possibly do.  (Even your heartbeat can blur a photo!)  So the very first night I had it I tried taking some moon shots...it wasn't a full moon but pretty close.  However I kept getting frustrated!  I had the tripod and yet my shots were still fuzzy.  What was going on?  Well, yesterday I just happened to stumble on something (when I wasn't even looking) that stated if your lens has image stabilization and you are using a tripod you have to turn that stabilization off.  The inner mechanics of the lens working to stabilize will cause blur. Aha!! 

I couldn't have stumbled upon that bit of information at a better time.  Last night was a beautiful, bright full moon.  So I lugged my gear out again and gave it a whirl.  This time I was able to capture what I had been trying for all along!  I even think I see some of the craters on the upper right side of the photo!

I also took this night scene photo...yes, it has TONS of digital noise and grain but I was working with a pretty high ISO and on my simple SLR camera the high ISO creates quite a bit of grain.  But it was fun to play with.

It's been a while...

I haven't really been up to much lately.  No picture taking shenanigans, baking/cooking bonanzas or fun of any kind really.  We had some cooler weather blow through and boy I was itching to get into the kitchen to make something fabulous.  However, I was having some wisdom teeth issues and was just simply unable. I won't bore everyone with the gritty, gross, and tiring details (I'll save all of those things for another topic heehee) but I am on the upswing I hope!

Hope all my readers (do I have readers?  Hello? Anyone out there? ;-) have been having a great week!

And since I can't eat anything fun right now I will post a pic of what I am craving at the moment.  Don't these look delish?  I took this photo at my dear friend Melissa's baby shower.  These were presented in lieu of cake. So pretty and tasty.

Clouds...and Light...oh my!

Since this summer was such a complete scorcher we were unable to get out for our evening walks.  I can handle 100 degrees at 7:30pm to walk but 104 is a bit much for me.  So the past couple evenings we have been walkin' the walk.  Last night the sky treated us to a particularly stunning show.  The clouds were beautiful, the light amazing.  And the sun rays!  Glorious sun rays!  It really made me regret that I didn't have my camera with me, well not the 'big' camera anyway.  But as the old saying goes 'the best camera is the one you have with you'. So I made good on that and snapped away on my phone. I really don't know where I would be without the camera built in to my phone.  Some of these were taken with Hipstamatic ( a really amazing little app for those that love taking photos-they say Hipstamatic makes your life appear 95% cooler than it is...so I advise giving it a whirl) and others with just the plain camera.  Enjoy!  I know I did.

My favorite dishes...

I have a set of dishes that I love.  They sit in a cabinet on display and I see them many times during the day when I walk past.  They are antique, simple, and beautiful.  My husband bought them for me before we had even thought about getting married.  He had heard me talk about these dishes in an antique store for a while and gifted them to me on Valentine's Day 1998.  They are very special to me.  However, we have never had a meal on them.  Since they are antique and have a pretty gold detail I'm a little worried about lead.  But I will say that I still enjoy them all the same.  I have employeed the sugar bowl and I use everyday with my morning coffee.  Lately I have even been practicing photography with some of the dishes.  They photograph so beautifully with the window light in my dining room.

The sugar bowl was the only piece that had some damage to it-that little chip up by the handle.  But I just love the cracked glazing and to me that little chip in the bowl just makes the set all the more perfect.