My BGEX Gift!

Here is my gift from the BGEX (Baked Goods Exchange for all you non-JKnotties out there). She made Kahlua Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Fudge Butter Cream Frosting with Halloween Sprinkles. Yum....


Kahlua Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 oz.) Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 small (1 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt (or sour cream)
¼ cup canola oil
⅓ cup skim milk (or buttermilk)
1 large egg
3 large egg whites
⅓ cup Kahlua liqueur
⅓ cup semisweet chocolate chips (some like a few more)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust with cocoa.
Place all ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer for 2 minutes or until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted int eh middle comes out clean. Cool before cutting.

Fudge Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
¼ cup shortening
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup hot fudge topping
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Cream together the butter with the shortening.
Sift the cocoa with the confectioner’s sugar and add to the creamed mixture. Mix together adding 1 tablespoon at a time of milk to keep the mixture smooth, don’t add more than ¼ cup of milk.
Add the hot fudge topping and the vanilla. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Cooking Class!

Last night I went to a cooking class at the local vo-tech. The class was Holiday Desserts and Candies. We learned abunch of different recipes. I didn't really learn any new techniques, but it was still a lot of fun. I went with 2 of my coworkers and one of their wives.

The recipes got are

• Pie Crust,


• Elegant Pumpkin-Walnut Layered Pie,


• Festive Cranberry Pie,


• Irresistible Pecan Pie,


• Buckeye Candy,


• Cheesecake Truffle Bombs,


• Peanut Brittle

My Irresistable Pecan Pie

In the middle are Buckeyes, the chocolate squares, circles with white chocolate drizzle are Cheesecake Truffle Bombs, and the other 2 things are Peanut Brittle.

French Dips

Last night I made one of the easiest meals ever, French Dips. I made this recipe about a month ago and just put it in my freezer until I was ready for it. I took it our of the freezer at lunch and put it in the crockpot (still frozen). Cooked on high for 6 hours and it was finished. I bought a bag of frozen Pilsbury French Rolls, bake in the oven for 10 minutes and you're done!

French Dips

1 roast (doesn't matter what kind)

2 cans beef broth

1 can french onion soup

I cut my roast in half and trimmed off the fat. Then I placed 1/2 the roast, 1 can beef broth, and 1/2 can french onion soup into a large ziploc bag. Then I placed both bags into the freezer. (Make sure you label the bag with what it is and how to cook it). Cook from frozen state about 6 hours on high in a crock pot. When it's finished shred the meet and serve on french rolls. Strain the remain broth that's left in the crock pot for your au jus. Yum!!

Family Signs

I'm sure everyone has seen the "family est." signs on ebay and whatnot. I didn't really want to spend $30+ on it, so I asked my grandpa to make me one. He went above and beyond what I thought he would do. We used a piece of cedar and engraved the words on the plank. It's gorgeous!

Out With the Old, In With the New!

So, after marriage, most women get the "post wedding chop." I didn't think I was going to fall into this trend, but alas I have succumbed to it.... Here is what I looked like yesterday morning. (I put my hair in a ponytail after this, so don't pay attention the the horrid straightening job I did yesterday morning.)

Last night I had my hair cut at the local vo-tech's cosmetology department. Kara, has been in the program for almost a year. She did exactly what I wanted. Let me know what you think... Surprise Mom!! :)

Marshmellow Goodness

One of my friends Nikki (http://www.illtakethatrecipe.blogspot.com/) posted a homemade marshmellow recipe. All my friends raved at how good they were, so I decided I needed to make them. They were right, they are way better than store bought.

Homemade Marshmallows
.75-oz unflavored gelatin (3 envelopes of Knox gelatin)

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cups light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Line 9 x 9-inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly oil it. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil and boil hard for 1 minute.

Pour the boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on the mixer, using the whisk attachment, to high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes.

After 12 minutes, add in the vanilla extract beat to incorporate.Scrape marshmallow into the prepared pan and spread evenly (Lightly greasing your hands and the spatula helps a lot here). Take another piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap and press lightly on top of the marshmallow, creating a seal.

Let mixture sit for a few hours, or overnight, until cooled and firmly set.In a shallow dish, combine equal parts cornstarch and confectioners’ sugar.

Remove marshmallow from pan and cut into equal pieces with scissors (the best tool for the job) or a chef’s knife. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners’ sugar mixture. Store in an airtight container.

Chili!

One of my favorite dinner's in the winter is Chili. When my mom makes it she makes a HUGE pot of it and freezes it. She always calls us kids and offers some to us. It's a super easy dinner just to heat up the chili and serve.

Meatloaf, Potatoes, and Green Beans

Last night we had a fairly economical dinner. I made "soup"ier meatloaf, steamed new potatoes with cheese, and green beans. For dessert, we had leftover apple pie and ice cream. The meatloaf doesn't look very good in the picture, but it was excellent.

"Soup"ier Meatloaf

2lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 and 1/2 c. bread crumbs
2 eggs
3/4 c. water
1/3 c. ketchup

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Place in loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until done.

This recipe is on the back of the Lipton Onion Soup Mix box.

Dinner With My Parents

Saturday evening John and I invited my parents over for dinner. John grilled ribs and sausage outside. He did three different "styles": wet (with barbeque sauce), dry (he just uses some Lowry's seasonings), and Memphis Style Dry Ribs (my favorite!). This was our first time to make the Memphis Style Rub, it was okay, still needs some tweaking though. I made bread, potato salad and ice cream. My mom brought deviled eggs and apple pie. Here are some yummy pictures.

Fresh Bread

I love fresh baked bread. I usually make it from scratch when I make it, but I have recently found a wonderful product.

It's a mix from Wal-Mart. It costs $1.96 (I think). So, if you just make bread occasionally and won't use up all the other ingredients. It's a great thing, I think.... All you need is water.

John approved of the bread. He ate 4 pieces with dinner!

My Most Amazing Husband

I have said before that I have an amazing husband. He proves his point once again tonight. I have to work late tonight (for a grand total of 13 hours at work today, yuck) and I forgot to bring something to eat for supper. So I called John about 45 minutes ago and asked if he wouldn't mind bring me something to eat. Here's what he brought. Spaghetti with pieces of chicken in it and cheese. (None of this was cooked already, meaning it wasn't just leftovers that he brought up here.) It was all still warm too. :) One of the many reasons why I married this man...

4th of July Dessert

This is one of my favorite desserts. It is usually advertised as a 4th of July dessert, but could easy be served on Labor Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day, or any other day that it sounds good on. :)

Ingredients:
Pound cake (I prefer Sarah Lee), cut into bit sized pieces
Strawberries, wash and cut into halves
Blueberries
Whipped Cream (I use low fat)

Directions:
In a clear glass dish place a layer of pound cake, then a layer of whipped cream, then strawberries and blueberries. Continue layers until the dish is full. Cover everything with a layer of whipped cream. Then, arrange the rest of the blueberries and strawberries into a flag design on the top. Enjoy!

Fajita Kabobs

I have been blessed with an amazing husband. When he gets home from "work" he usually will help me cook dinner. It was raining outside so we couldn't grill outside, so I used my griddle. I heart my griddle! Thanks RoRo for buying it for us! It's reversible so there is the smooth side (which I made the eggs in a basket on) and a grill side. We used the grill side for this.

To make fajita kabobs just mariniate beef or chicken as you would for regular fajitas. Then cut the meat into bit sized pieces. Also, cut up vegetables (whatever you like, we used onions, red bell peppers and green bell peppers) into bite sized pieces. Then thread the meat and veggies onto a kabob. If you use a wooden kabob make sure you soak it in water for about 20 minutes so it has a lesser chance of catching on fire. Then just cook, rotating frequently, until the meat and veggies are done to your liking. When they are done, take the pieces off of the kabob. Wrap in a tortilla with cheese, salsa, guacomole, sour cream, whatever you like! Good side dishes are queso, chips and salsa, black beans.....

Jello!

My mom has always made striped jello. Eating mulit-colored jello is way more fun. :) Normally I use smaller cups, but Wal-Mart was out of small clear cups, so I used the glasses I had at my house. You make it the same as regular jello. Just pour a layer of jello in the bottom of the cup, then let it set up for a couple hours, then make another color of jello and let it set up. Continue until the cup is full. Enjoy. I used sugar-free jello too, so it's a healthy snack to have.

John's Office

John has basically been a nomad for the past 4 years. Starting his freshman year of college (4 years ago) his schedule has been: In August move into the fraternity house, mid December move home, mid-January move back into the fraternity house, May move into a house then in August the whole cycle starts over, for the past 4 years. One of the things he said to me when he moved all his stuff into my (I mean our house) was "I'm so glad I have a home now." When he moved in, our current office became the dumping grounds for everything. I should have taken a picture of it, but I thought about that too late. So I did a suprise makeover of our office one Friday night. My mom and I got this desk at the Salvation Army for $25! All it need was a good coat of paint. So, this is "his" room now. I still need to add some more pictures to the grouping above the desk, but it'll work for now. (don't pay any attention the the sign on the door, John's already made fun of me because I misspelled 'surprise')

Breakfast Time

This breakfast has many names: Eggs in a Basket (this is the one we use) Eggs in a Hole, Eggs and Toast, etc. My mom made this for us many many times growing up. When we got up she would ask each of us how many we wanted. Then she turned on her griddle and started cooking. The recipe is very simple and the ingredients are normally on hand.

Ingredients

bread (1 piece of bread for each egg)

eggs (1 egg for each piece of bread)

butter

salt and papper to taste

Directions

Butter each piece of bread, both sides. Next, with a cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the middle of each piece of bread. You can use a glass if you don't have a cookie cutter. I think the shape adds a little fun to breakfast though. Then, put your pieces of bread onto your griddle or skillet. Place a piece of butter in the hole to melt. Once melted, crack an egg open into the hole. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. When it looks like it's cooked enough to flip over, flip it over. You can kinda poke the yolk to see when it's done. Here is a picture of our griddle yesterday morning.

My Very Own Blog!

It seems like everybody has a blog these days. So, I'm jumping on the bandwagon and making my own! Hopefully I'll post often... I tend to forget things though... My mom always said "Anything worth doing is worth doing pretty" so that's kinda become my motto of life. It normally just takes a couple of extra minutes to make something prettier, and if that makes my husband or I smile when we look at it, it was time well spent.