Sometime's Life Gets in the Way

Well...it's been a few weeks since my last blog.  My intention is to blog more often, however this time around..life just got in the way.  We've had some issues going on at work (layoffs).  I must admit most of my focus was on what "might" happen.  Well, though I was definitely impacted by the issues, I was lucky enough to stay employed, though in a different position.  Also, like most of you, my life is not perfect.  Between juggling the issues at work, our young son has been acting out at daycare.  SO!  We've had a lot on our plates.

The good news..when I get stressed...baking and cooking help me to relax. 

A friend of ours is due to have her first baby (a girl!) this January.  I've been lucky enough to receive an invite to the baby shower and have offered to make her some cupcakes for the shower.  She's a very low maintenance woman (quite the opposite of me).  Her only requirement..something kind of girly.  We've decided to go with a chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream with some sort of cute and girly decoration (still TBD).  The other is a strawberry cupcake with strawberry buttercream.  The flavors of the cupcakes are a definite, however, we are trying to decide on our decorations.  Here is a our first try:

Our chocolate cupcakes will be something like this, but with some sort of girly decorations:

We sent a few of the strawberry cupcakes down to the neighbors for a "taste test"...thankfully they passed the test  :)  I will say this is the tastiest strawberry cake recipe (and frosting) that I have ever tasted.  As I've stated in previous posts, I gather a lot of inspiration from other bloggers.  My new FAVE blog/website is Sweetapolita.  I have made several of her cake recipes (and frosting) and she is simply amazing.  Here is a link to her site and more specifically her recipe for Strawberry Cake w/Whipped Strawberry Frosting:

http://sweetapolita.com/2011/08/strawberry-layer-cake-with-whipped-strawberry-frosting/

Living in the Midwest, our Summer has quickly shifted to Autumn.  Along with the crisp air, I LOVE heartier foods.  Stews, soups and chilis are among my faves.  A few years back I came across this recipe for Root Vegetable Beef Stew.  Filled with cubes of rutabaga, parsnips, sweet potatoes and potatoes, this dish sticks with you.  Add a slice or two of buttered crusty bread to sop up the gravy..and it just doesn't get much better.

The recipe was in a little Irish cookbook put out around St. Patrick's Day.  It was a Taste of Home publication.  Here is the link to the recipe.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Root-Vegetable-Beef-Stew

Finally I had a request from the boys (including the hubby) for some chocolate chip cookies.  I've created my own recipes for chocolate chip cookies..and I've also borrowed recipes.  I can honestly say this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe that I've ever used.  The cookies end up lightly crisp on the outside and melt in your mouth soft and cakey on the inside.  Here is a glimpse of the end product.

Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Original Recipe Yield 6 dozen

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

2.    In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3.    Bake for 16 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

I guess that's it for now.  We are now at the beginning of my favorite time of the year.  BAKING SEASON!!!  Keep an eye out for more frequent posts w/pics.  I've made it easier to follow the blog by subscibing and receiving it to your email address.  Also, please feel free to post suggestions or questions regarding things you'd like to see.  Happy Kitchen Adventures!!

Something Old and Somethings New

Welcome back Friends.

These past couple of weeks have been quite hectic.  As I'm sure a lot of you are experiencing, we have school starting tomorrow.  So, getting in some end of Summer visits with friends and family, and school preparations have kept me from blogging.   However I have found some time to do a little baking and cooking.  I've tried a few new recipes (Sticky-Bun Pumpkin Muffins; Skinny Ms. Pork & Beans) and popped in a tried and true (Grandma Helen's Scottish Shortbread) as well.  I thought I'd touch base on a few of those things and also showcase some of my hubby's beautiful photography.

First of all, I have to give credit where credit is due.  The recipes that I use are not all mine.  Some are mine while others are pulled from blogs, publications and websites.  Not to mention the recipes shared amongst friends (I also have a recipe swap facebook page - Recipe Swap II).  The three recipes that I will be sharing with all of you today were borrowed from several sources.

So..my "Something Old". 

I've been craving shortbread.  I know..not a typical "craving" food.  Heck..most shortbread is dry, crumbly and tasteless.  My recipe is NOTHING like your typical recipe.  By "my" recipe I actually mean the tweaked recipe that I inherited from my paternal grandmother, Grandma Helen.  My grandmother came to the U.S. from Scotland with her family at around the age of 12.  She was once the Grand Chief Daughter of the Daughters of Scotia.  My grandmother had a few recipes that she passed to me that were so special that I still roll them out on a occasion.  One of the recipes is for Empire biscuits which are yummy little sandwich tea cookies with a raspberry filling and topped with white icing and a piece of maraschino cherry on top.  They are bits of Heaven.  The second recipe is her Scottish Shortbread.  This recipe is SO simple and absolutely DEE-vine.  Now, Grandma Helen's recipe,  though always wonderful, could sometimes end up a bit brittle and dense.  What I've learned over the years (and with the accessibility to many kitchen-aids and tools) is when creaming the pound of butter into the sugar, you must beat high for about 7-8 minutes until the butter is super light and fluffy.  This helps to make the shortbread literally melt in your mouth.  Very often you see shortbread baked in the shape of a disk and cut into wedges.  My Grandma Helen would bake her shortbread on a small cookie sheet, spreading the dough from corner to corner.  In order to prevent the cookie from bubbling (it bakes as one large cookie) Grandma Helen would take a standard kitchen fork and make "pricks" approximately one inch apar all around the cookie.  She would then lightly sprinkle sugar over the top of the cookie.  I follow all of these steps still today.  The end result is this:

I promise, if you have never been a fan of shortbread, one bit of these cookies and you will be a changed person.

And now...my "Somethings New". 

Even though the weather here in Michigan has been extremely warm, the whole "back to school" mentality has me thinking "Fall".  I recently purchased Southern Living - Best of Fall Baking special publication.  This book is loaded with yummy comfort foods and baking.  One that caught my eye was a recipe for "Sticky-Bun Pumpkin Muffins".  Now, there are several steps to making this muffin, but the work is VERY worth it.  My one word of advice - be sure to place your muffin pans on TOP of cookie sheets.  I made the mistake of not doing so, and let's just say the caramel that you place into the muffin pans prior to filling with the muffin batter tends to overflow.  When it does...it can catch your oven on fire.  Yes, experienced baker that I am..I made this amateur mistake.  UGH!  I thought for sure that the work on these muffins was for naught.  However, a quick thinking hubby had the windows opened and fans a blowin' before I could cry too many tears.  Even though we had to pull the half-baked muffins out of the oven for a few minutes in order to take care of the fire (just turn off the oven and close the door).   The muffins did go back in and finished up just fine.  Here a few pics of the proof:

These yummy, sticky little confections SCREAM Fall.  Pumpkin pie spice and canned pumpkin...these are the next best thing to pumpkin pie.  While I happen to be stuffing my face with one of these delightfully moist and flavorful treats as I type, I must admit they would be a great addition to any breakfast or brunch table. 

In case you were all wondering,  I didn't just spend my time baking in the oven.  As I stated before, I pull recipes from publications, friends, websites and other blogs.  One of the blogs I've recently started following is SkinnyMs.  http://skinnyms.com/.  This week she posted a recipes for Slow Cooker Pork & Beans.  OMG - it was SO good and really inexpensive to make.  It was as if baked beans were crossed with pulled pork and chili.  SOOO good.  Even the hubby and older son enjoyed it (AND they had seconds).  Here are a few pics of it..as last night's dinner:

This fabulously tasty and simple meal will be added to my go-to dishes.  Here is the link to the recipe:
http://skinnyms.com/slow-cooker-pork-and-beans/

Below are the recipes for Grandma Helen's Scottish Shortbread as well as the Sticky-Bun Pumpkin Muffins. Please enjoy! 

Also, as a new "blogger" I'm learning as I go.  I appreciate all of the positive comments that I've received on facebook.  I would LOVE if you would follow my blog as well.  It turns out in order for you to subscribe to me as a "follower" you must sign up for a blogger.com account (though it's free).  PLEASE...take a few secs and subscribe.  I would be SO grateful.  Thanks!!

Scottish Shortbread

Ingredients:

1 c white sugar

1 tsp water
1 lb butter, softened
4 c all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.

Pour sugar into a bowl and sprinkle with water.  Cream butter into sugar.  Add vanilla.  Add flour and salt and mix until dough pulls away from the bowl.  Press dough into ungreased cookie sheet.  Spread flat into corners of pan.  Prick with fork at one inch intervals.  Sprinkle with white sugar.

Bake for one hour, or until golden.  Cut, while hot, into rectangles (3” x 1 ½”) with pizza cutter.  Let cool before removing from pan, to wire racks.

 

Sticky-Bun Pumpkin Muffins:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sticky-bun-pumpkin-muffins-50400000116223/