Alive again?

Here goes...the third? attempt at blogging what I make lol. Now that I've finally moved out on my own again, I anticipate cooking more often but we shall see!

Tonight's dinner is one of my current go-to one pot/pan mixture of whatever's lying around. I've fallen in love with the chewy bite of Israeli couscous and any combination of that with chopped sausage and vegetables and beans simmered in low sodium chicken broth has been a lifesaver when I need to make something fast. This is also great for me since I always have enough left over to take for lunch! Paying rent once again coupled with no longer working within walking distance of 4-5 different lunch options really forces me to think about what I can make that will stretch for lunch for at least one or two days!

Today's mix is Israeli couscous, a can of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes in juice (no salt added), 1 green bell pepper, 1 sm. yellow onion, and sundried tomato and mozzarella chicken sausages. In my eagerness to get to eating, I managed to put in a little too much chicken stock so it's a little soupy today but still good :)

3 desserts and 2 hotpots

My friends and I gathered for a holiday hot pot last night and it was quite the event. 2 hours of eating a seemingly endless amount of beef, pork, lamb, mushrooms, noodles, vegetables, tofu, etc etc all around one extended table! Winter is definitely the best season for hotpot :) Of course, I made desserts to go with the hotpot. Sticking with the Asian theme of the evening, I made almond jelly and a jasmine panna cotta. I also brought chocolate souffle cupcakes from a recipe I got from smitten kitchen I fell in love with the panna cotta and most loved the cupcakes as well so all was good :) Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos once again but I'm sure I will make these desserts again in the future!

It's been a long time...

Finishing school, moving home, and starting work completely took over my life and before I knew it, I've ignored this blog for over a year! ...which also means I've ignored the kitchen and my bountiful baking supplies for quite some time as well. Work has definitely taken over my life and it's definitely been difficult for me to work out a good work-life balance, but I am slowly trying to change my habits. Sadly, that old saying is pretty true. "Old habits die hard." (=_=) However, when the holidays roll around, there's always a little time to enjoy some quality time with the oven :) This year I made a pumpkin pie with Splenda since my dad is diabetic and I also made the super delicious Bolzano Apple Cake! Sadly, no really good photos this time, since I took them to my Aunt's for Thanksgiving, but please visit the sites for recipes and photos! I highly recommend the Bolzano Apple Cake!

Caramelized Bananas

There were 4 very overripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter when I finally had time to take a breath and spend some time at home this weekend. At first, I was going to make banana bread out of them, but having just made zucchini bread, I kind of wanted something different. H suggested caramelized bananas, so I thought, why not? It's easy to make, delicious, and I had vanilla ice cream in the freezer. Perfect! Of course, being the only one home at the moment, meant I couldn't make all 4 of the bananas into caramelized bananas...just half of one :( The rest got chopped into large bite-sized pieces to be made into chocolate covered banana discs later :D



Caramelized Bananas

Bananas
Sugar
Butter
Cinnamon

1. Cut bananas into 1/4 inch discs

2. Coat bananas in sugar

3. Melt a pat of butter in a pan, enough to cover the bottom

4. Place bananas in pan with one side down, in one layer. Fry for 3-5 minutes over medium heat, until the bottoms are golden brown.

5. Flip bananas over and let the other side brown for about one minute.

6. Turn heat off and sprinkle cinnamon over bananas and mix slightly to distribute the cinnamon.

7. Serve over ice cream and enjoy!

Bacon and Chocolate Cookies

That's right. Bacon. F found the recipe and we were feeling daring, so on one of her trips back up to the Bay F, H, and I proceeded to test out the assertion "bacon makes everything better" by making these cookies lol. The cookies came out pretty good, just don't let them sit around too long. Then they're....not so good. I believe, however, the consensus was we would have liked the cookie without bacon even better :X So there you have it. At least for the 3 of us, bacon, sadly, does not make everything better lol.



Bacon and Chocolate Cookies
adapted from recipezaar

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 lbs bacon, cooked and crumbled (about 2 cups)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugars, extracts and eggs until creamy. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir together.

2. Dough will be slightly soft. If you want a more cakelike cookie, add another 1/2 cup of flour. Mix in chocolate chips and crumbled bacon. Stir until well integrated.

3. Place dough on a sheet of wax paper and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F.

5. Remove dough from fridge. Pinch off 1 ½ -inch pieces and roll into balls. Set dough balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten dough balls in the center slightly with your fingers. Bake about 10 minutes, or until the dough starts to turn golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on a cooling rack.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

I came across this recipe, and had to try them. I never saw, heard, or even knew black bottom cupcakes existed before this! I was definitely missing out :( The combination of the chocolate cupcake and the cream cheese filling is amazing. Amazing. I love the mini chocolate chips in the filling too! I think the only thing I need to be careful of in the future is not over filling the cupcakes..some of mine turned out with a very tiny "black bottom" when cut open. Oops. (^^;)



Black Bottom Cupcakes
from Baking Bites

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Filling
16-oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 large egg whites, room temperature
2 tbsp sour cream, room temperature
1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips (not full size*)

Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, make filling. Beat together cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth.

3. Beat in egg whites and sour cream. Stir in chocolate chips and set aside.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, flour, cocoa powder and baking soda.

5. Make a well in the center and add in sour cream, water, butter and vanilla. Stir together until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.

6. Divide cake batter evenly among 24 cupcake liners. Top each portion of batter with 1 rounded tablespoon cream cheese mixture (It is ok to have a little left over).

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the side (cake only part) should come out with a few moist crumbs on it. Rotate pans halfway through baking if you are using two racks.

8. Cool in pans for 5 minutes. Cream cheese filling should sink slightly in this time. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

*Full-sized chocolate chips will sink to the bottom of the cupcakes, while miniature chips will remain suspended in the cream cheese center.

White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

These...are...delicious! I made these at least 3 times last year and I always found it incredibly hard to stop eating. There are just enough oats to give the cookies texture, and the amount of white chocolate and pecans are just right to make these cookies a sweet treat that you can't stop eating...well me anyway. lol. I am looking forward to making these again someday soon :)

White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
from allrecipes

Ingredients

1 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the rolled oats, white chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.