Gingerbread Muffins

So I have had this fascination with the holidays and baked goods... and everything British. So I have been watching Nigella Lawson on TV and youtube for the past couple of weeks and this video inspired me to make them. The recipe isn't until the very end, about 5 minutes from the end. But that is partially what inspired me to buy the Black Treacle and Syrup.

These are so moist, and easy to make. they are actually really spicy because they have a teaspoon and a half of ginger and about 3/4 of a teaspoon of cloves with some cinnamon as well. They are just great! So... this was a success, and thanks Nigella!

New Ingredients!

I took a trip to Salt Lake this weekend to visit some friends! I knew there was a British shop called the "London Market" http://www.thelondonmarket.com/ where they sell all sorts of British goods not normally found here in the states.

For a while I have been on this foreign food craze... wanting to try traditional dishes from other countries.

I decided to purchase Black Treacle and Golden Syrup (Lyle's Brand straight from the UK). I am so excited to start using it! You can make proper gingerbread and other puddings (generally steamed cakes).

French Onion Soup

So I thought I would try out French Onion Soup. It is fairly simple... it just takes time... over an hour just to caramelize the onions, which I didn't mind. but alas... it does take time. I topped it with Swiss and Parmesan and added some homemade croutons! Delish!

Can I just tell you... I know onions cook down.. but man do they really. 5 Large onions filled a large soup pot almost to the top... and cooked down to about an inch and a half of onions. But they were sooo good!

Fried Chicken.... mmm!

So I bought some chicken cause it was on sale (98 cents a pound!). I bought some with the anticipation of freezing it and making something later.
Fried chicken it is!

It has quite a few spices but I will tell you:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• Chili powder
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Oregano
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Lemon Juice
• Hot Sauce

Mind all of that, I let it sit for a couple of hours and then added two eggs to the mess and mixed it around. Then I coated it in flour that had some of the same spices.

I then fried it till it was brown and popped it in the oven at 350 degrees F. till it was done! Delicious!

On the side is some corn on the cob and steamed baby red potatoes from the farmers market!

My new cast iron pan... and an easy french dinner

I got a cast iron pan today and just had to use it! I have been thinking a lot about Buef Bourguignon, a traditional french beef stew, but I need a dutch oven for that. I will ask for that for Christmas. I shopped around town looking at different prices for the skillet. I decided on a 10.25 in skillet by Lodge. I will purchase a lid in the near future (probably next week). I just love how heavy it is. I seasoned it and cooked my first meal it it!

My first meal was a "bifteck saute au burre avec pomme de terre sautee e carottes glacees" Broiled steak with a pan sauces, with sauteed potatoes and glazed carrots. The pan sauce on the steak was flavored with a little grainy Dijon mustard. It was absolutely amazing... even though the steak a rib steak... it was absolutely delicious! I wonder what my next meal with be... any suggestions?

Jam and Pesto

So my friend, and boss, Julie Engstrom let me pick raspberries at her sprawling country home (she might deny the sprawling part... but she does have gardens and berry bushes galore!). I got about a gallon of berries and decided to make Jam! Just sugar, berries and a little lemon juice and cooked them till they were thick! Then... I canned it! Talk about domestic! But it sure was fun!


I also got a bunch of basil from her home as well! so I made... Pesto. Walnuts, Basil, Parmesan cheese, olive oil and a little lemon juice to keep it from oxidizing. Delicious!

Tyler's Chocolate Pie... from "The Help"

So I went and saw the movie "The Help". It was such a great movie! I love it! I was inspired by the chocolate pie that was on there. I had never seen a baked chocolate pie before. I have only seen like pudding pies. Now those of you who have seen it... no, I didn't put the "special ingredient" in it.

I searched a lot for a recipe online. I also read reviews of others and even posted it on my bread forum called The Fresh Loaf that I am a part of. I chose two recipes. They were similar. One with 2 eggs and one with 3 eggs. I chose the 3 egg one and didn't like its texture... too eggy. So I created my own sort of combining the two recipes. I wanted a with to feel like it was inbetween a pudding and a brownie. I got it! Two eggs was the trick! (and I got it on my second attempt!) It was delicious!



The picture I have has it topped with a meringue just because eggs were cheaper than cream. But it is better with whipped cream! Any ways... I broke it down (hopefully I did the math right) but it only cost me $2.50 to make this pie (minus the cream). Cheap and delicious, my two favorite words together!

Told you I would forget!

Its been a month since I have written... and a lot has happened and change!

For starters... my recent creation that I remember was just this week! I made a cake (which is what I love doing), but it was a flavor I had never done before, Cookies and Cream!

The holes in the cake are there because of the candles.

I made a homemade white cake and added broken oreos to it. The filling in the cake was most heavenly! Oreo pudding and whipping cream whipped to create a delicious oreo fluffy mousse! The frosting was white butter cream decorated with Oreos! It was such a hit, and seriously delicious.

I made a half sheet cake, expecting 20 people, we only had about 12, so we had a whole quarter sheet left! Best leftovers ever!

Things have also changed with my student teaching which was going to take place this fall. It is now taking place in the winter on account of the PRAXIS: World Language Spanish test. It is still frustrating trying to figure out what I am going to do with my life at the moment because I can't student teach until I receive passing scores on the exam (which I am so close to passing!).

I have been trying to live by this quote the past little while, "If it isn't working out, it isn't the end yet." Sometimes it is hard to keep that in mind when it seems like the universe is working against you... but there is a reason all of this is happening. I am just wondering when I will get a clue into what that is.

I found a quote today that I thought was good... and funny, but Julia Child:

Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?

(Secretly that is why I am a clean freak... it makes mistakes like that more "okay").

Well, that's all for now!

Recent things I have made and an interesting little personal thought

Recently I have made a few things....

One of my roommates has being working on making homemade pasta... I thought it looked delicious... so I tried my own knack at making it! 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs and a touch of salt. All you do is mix, knead and let sit for a while before rolling it thin and slicing it.

I added some Alfredo and Parmesan cheese along with some grilled smoked sausage. Pretty good for my first go at homemade pasta.

I then had an itching for something chocolate... I thought maybe I could make some brownies from scratch (since I have yet to find a good recipe for myself I looked online). One of the first places I go is America's Test Kitchen. I love this website because they always test everything so they can make the best of the best without you having to go through all the trouble of finding that signature "great" recipe. I found a recipe for low fat brownies. I thought.... well I could be a little more healthy if I am going to eat something like this! Their whole principle is making good things taste great... even low-fat things! So I watched the video and got the ingredients. It was interesting... it only had 2 TBL of butter and 2 TBL of Sour cream to count as the fat! I thought that was neat. So I made them.... and I added some chopped walnuts. Can I just say these were the most moist chewy brownies ever... and I wouldn't be able to tell that they were low-fat!

I also had made some lentils with brown rice... a traditional Egyptian dish (it has cumin, cinnamon, and onions). I had its left overs today with some steamed corn on the cob and some steamed broccoli for lunch! It sure was a feast! I also have gotten into topping them both with some parmesan cheese as it is a lot lower in calories that a bunch of butter or cheese sauce (which is what I grew up putting on my broccoli).

I also have been watching these shows on youtube called "The heart of the Matter" by Shawn Mcraney. He is a man that left the LDS church a while back. He has since then started a TV show where he helps show the "truth" of the LDS church. I don't agree with the ways in which he does things, but he does start good discussion in response to his videos. Any who... one of them was about being born again. Now this is a topic I have dealt with before when I used to work with the missionaries and meet with those that wanted to learn about the church.

Something I thought about is that as Latter-day Saints we can be born again.... but it doesn't just happen once, it happens over and over again as we come closer and closer to Christ! It is an on going process!

Meringue Cookies

Last night, after going to the nature park and feeding the ducks and geese a friend and I (Arianne Richards) decided to make meringue cookies, or kisses as some like to call them. This was way fun!

I had been wanting to make them because they don't have a lot of calories in them (and no fat calories either). Some recipes call for 3 eggs, some for 4... some call for 1 1/4 cups of sugar while others only 1/4 of a cup. Then there is the baking tempature. The goal is to dry out the cookie... so some do it at 200 degrees F for like 2 hours! wow! and others only 30 min at 300 degrees! so I just chose a middle of the road one. 4 egg whites, 3/4 cup of sugar, a pinch of salt, vanilla, almond and some chopped chocolate. Spooned them out onto some parchment and baked them at 300 for about 20 minutes. They were dry, and chewy in the middle (and hollow) and totally delicious!

Sunday... and I am tired, but Church taught me something...

Today wasn't anything super special, however Church was quite good and the lessons made me think. In Sunday school the lesson was on the atonement (which I always love going over). One thing stuck out to me... it was something Christ said while He was on trial. "for this purpose came I into the world." Whenever I see depictions of the things my brother, Christ went through I am saddened that He suffered that kind of pain. Even when Christ asked His father, "remove this cup from me"... He still kept the perspective of the purpose of His mission. "nevertheless, not my will but thine."

Christ came into this world knowing full well of all that He should do and suffer. He professed it to those around Him without fear in His countenance. Should we not be committed as Christ was and is? In this month's (July 2011) Ensign the First Presidency Message was about being committed. President Uchtdorf says:

"Those who are only sort of committed may expect to only sort of receive the blessings of testimony, joy, and peace. The windows of heaven might only be sort of open to them. Wouldn’t it be foolish to think, “I’ll commit myself 50 percent now, but when Christ appears at the Second Coming, I’ll commit myself 100 percent”?

He ends the article with saying: In some way, each of us stands at a decision point.... It is my prayer that we will have faith, move forward, face our fears and doubts with courage, and say to ourselves, “I’m committed!”

Well, I can't end it better than he did... so looks like we have a decision to make.

Happy Sabbath!

Forgot I had a blog...

Well I have been debating to start a blog or not... mostly because I am afraid I would forget about it. I am taking the plunge anyways. Here are some recent things I have baked, some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and some granola. Both of which I tried for the first time and they turned out wonderful.

Vanilla and cinnamon granola with walnuts and crasins.

Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

I am on this new kick to try and eat more healthy (which I already do since I hardly buy prepackaged foods, I make everything!). I am trying to eat a lot more veggies, especially because it is summer and delicious things are growing. Recently, I got some fresh corn and it is really delicious! I am also starting my student teaching in Nampa, Idaho in August (I move there on August 13th) which I am pretty excited about. There is always some nervousness too. Not knowing your class size and right now I don't even know specifics on what I will be teaching. I will be teaching Spanish and a High School, but I don't even know who my cooperating teacher is... ahhh! For TESOL I believe I am teaching a Spanish class for native speakers... but that is as far as I know (and is most likely subject to change). So I have a good reason to be a little nervous, right? Any who here is a good start to my blog!