Tag Archives: kitchen

Baking Peanut Butter Cookies

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Recently, my husband and I both had a craving for peanut butter cookies. However, not just any peanut butter cookies would do. We wanted some that had the taste and texture of the ones we bought many years ago while on a trip several hundreds-of miles away.
Not wanting to trek halfway across the states to buy some peanut butter cookies, I decided to start trying to make our own. I bought a couple packs of peanut butter cookie mix of a familiar and trusted brand.
I got my supplies together and made the cookies.
I haven’t baked cookies in quite a long time. Even with the mix and easy directions, I figured I’d mess them up.
Oh dear, the cookies turned out ever so tasty and the texture was perfect. My husband and I really enjoyed them. They were just as tasty on the second day when only 2 cookies were left to enjoy. (And this is the reason I don’t bake cookies much anymore. lol)

I wonder if the cookies years ago were as tasty as I remember or if it’s just my happy thoughts of a pleasant place in time.
I would have made cookies from scratch, but I’ve don’t have the same level of confidence in my skills at cookie baking from scratch as I did 30 or so years ago when my son was a child.
These peanut butter cookies are as close as I’m going to get to the ones from years ago. I’ll happily make them again!

Have you ever tried to recreate a tasty food from a memory of a place far away and long ago?

Here’s wishing you all success in making your favorite foodies from mix or scratch.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

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The other day, I was watching an old black and white movie and a woman in the movie said that she had made ‘Chicken Cordon Bleu’.
I’d heard of cordon bleu entrées several times over the years, but usually in reference to a restaurant menu. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that it could be made at home. I wondered just how hard it would be to make.
I went surfing around and came upon a really good recipe and decided to give it a go. I’m surprised at how easy the ‘Homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu’ recipe is to make.

This is one of the few recipes that I made real close to the published recipe.
I used:
Panko bread crumbs
Deli Black Forest Ham
Swiss Cheese slices
I didn’t use toothpicks, the chicken stayed rolled up quite nicely without them.
I checked the internal temperature of the chicken and made sure it was over 165°. I’m real careful about that.

I served the Chicken Cordon Bleu with baked squash and a baked yukon gold potato.
It was a hearty meal and very tasty. My husband sure enjoyed it too.I condsider my attempt at making Chicken Cordon Bleu a success. I’m always happy to add another tasty recipe to our menu.

Have you tried any recipes that were inspired by a mention on a movie or tv show?
Was it a success?

Wishing you a successful rest of the week.

 

 

recipe can be found at:
Taste of Home – Homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu

 

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Chocolate Ice Cream Bread

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chocolatebread1Well, here it is ‘Chocolate Ice Cream Bread’.
It tastes like a cross between a brownie and a chocolate cake.
chocolatebread2I’m happy that I’ve tried all 3 flavors in the Neapolitan ice cream.
It’s an easy recipe and bakes up beautifully.

Wishing you all fun with creative cooking.

 

*I used a small batter made like my basic ‘Boiled Custard Bread’ recipe.
Use melted ice cream instead of boiled custard.
Add flour a little at a time to the melted ice cream until the batter is a creamy consistency.
If you get the batter too thick, thin it with a little bit of water.

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Strawberry Ice Cream Bread

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P1050425Well, it was bound to happen, that’s right, I made ‘Strawberry Ice Cream Bread’. One can only bake around with vanilla ice cream or custard for so long before the other flavors become too tempting not to try too.

I had been playing with the idea to use strawberry or chocolate ice cream to make some ice cream bread. I mentioned it to my supportive & wonderful husband and he went out and brought home a gallon of neopolitan ice cream.

P1050416I made a small loaf of strawberry ice cream bread. I’m so amazed how this bread can rise so lovely and come out of the pan without sticking. The strawberry bread has great texture and wonderful taste. I love the pretty color too.

This was such fun to try. Now next up is chocolate. I hope it does as well. I’ll let you know.

Happy creating!

 

*I used a small batter made like my basic ‘Boiled Custard Bread’ recipe.
Use melted ice cream instead of boiled custard.
Add flour a little at a time to the melted ice cream until the batter is a creamy consistency.
If you get the batter too thick, thin it with a little bit of water.

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Recycle a plastic cola bottle – scouring pad bowl & bell jar

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IMG_5517-1bottlebottomsI originally was going to make a post about using the scalloped shaped bottoms of plastic bottles as a holder for a scouring pad. I discovered that the scalloped design helped the scouring pad dry better.
It’s not 100% fool proof, occasionally I’ll find a bit of rust in the bowl from steel wool scouring pads.
It’s only a temporary holder for the yarn scrubbies because they’re so thick they won’t dry out before souring.
None-the-less this is something I wanted to share on my blog.
The other day when I was washing out a plastic bottle, it occurred to me that I should also post something to recycle the upper portion of the cut off bottle.
A bell-jar was my first choice because it’s simple and useful,but I needed to think of something handy to use as a base. After thinking on it awhile I decided to use a bowl lid, cardboard and contact paper to make a base.
So, now, this post is about more than a scouring pad bowl, it’s also about recycling a bottle and a couple other things as well.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.spring-017

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Click on photo to open a larger image

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Under the Influence (Cheese-ball)

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IMG_8886I got a little brainwashed during the days leading up to the super bowl. Normally, I don’t pay commercials any attention. However, after several decades of being exposed to them, one can’t help but experience some influence… and that’s why for the first time ever, I felt the need to make a cheese-ball.

I went in search of a cheese-ball recipe and it was over whelming. I got the general gist of what makes a cheese ball. Cream cheese was a reigning requirement, the majority of recipes called for 2 packs. I don’t usually have cream cheese on hand, but amazingly enough I had one pack left over from the holidays.

Many recipes called for chopping up things like onions, garlic, nuts and peppers to add to it. That’s okay, but I was in no mood to deal with that much work.

Mix everything together. Form into a ball. Refrigerate til firm.

Mix everything together.
Form into a ball.
Refrigerate til firm.
Roll cheese-ball in crushed crackers or crushed nuts.
Serve with crackers

So, I created my own recipe. It’s plain and a bit blandish, but served on Italian Herb Flatbread (crackers), it tastes quite good.IMG_8892

I’ll probably, make my cheese-ball a part of our traditional holiday recipes.
Fortunately, I can add anything I want in it and change it up special for whatever holiday or occasion I make it for.IMG_8904

Happy cooking!
chefspflwrsln

PineApple Upside-Down Bundt Cake

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IMG_3501PineApple Upside-Down Bundt Cake <– direct link to recipe

To celebrate Father’s Day, I made my first ever Pineapple upside-down cake. I used a recipe by Betty Crocker using a bundt pan. It was really easy to make and turned out well, even though I didn’t have enough pineapple slices. I didn’t realize that the small can only contained 4 slices. But all-in-all I’m quite happy with my 1st effort and I intend to make another someday in the future.

Thankfully, my Husband & Grandson really enjoyed it and that’s what matters most. 🙂

The one thing that I would do differently is:
I would use a large can of pineapple slices.

If you try the recipe, let me know how you like it.

Have a sweet rest of the week.

chef

 

😀
spgrnbgln

Baked Bruschetta Toasties

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Now that some of our green onions are mature enough to harvest, it’s time to make some Bruschetta toasties.  Later on in the season, I’ll be replacing a few more of the ingredients with homegrown. But for now, we have fresh onions and we’re happy with that. 🙂

Bruschetta can be used in many ways. It can be eaten like a small side dish or mixed in a salad. It’s makes a dandy pizza topping. We enjoy it made into toasties, the recipe is quick and easy. It goes well as toppings on baked chicken too. I’m figure there’s quite a few ways of using bruschetta to make  tasty foodies.

I’ve altered my 2012 Bruschetta Recipe to accommodate our new low sodium diet. I’ll post the original recipe under my new one.

If you try one of my recipes, I hope you’ll let me know how it turns out for you and any changes you made to it.

🙂

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Bruschetta Mix (2014)

1 can (14.5 oz) Hunts ‘No Salt Added’ Diced tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano – drained
1 can (8 oz) Mario ‘Low Sodium’ medium black olives – drained & chopped
1 cup chopped onions
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb
1/4 tsp Morton ‘Lite’ salt mixture
1/8 tsp black pepper

Mix all these ingredients together and put them in an airtight bowl and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Baked Bruschetta Toasties
Sara Lee Honey Wheat bread
Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican

Preheat oven to 350°
Place slices of Sara Lee’s Honey Wheat bread on a cookie sheet
Put Bruschetta mix on slices of bread and cover with shredded cheese.
Bake for 8 to 12 minutes until cheese is melted.
allow to cool
enjoy

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brd81
Bruschetta Mix (2012)

1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes – drained
(you can use chopped fresh tomatoes)
1 can (8 oz) medium black olives – drained & sliced
3/4 to 1 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
optional ingredients:
chopped mushrooms
chopped bell peppers

Mix all these ingredients together and put them in an airtight bowl and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Baked Bruschetta Toasties
Preheat oven to 350°
For this you need your choice of sliced bread. (We like herb bread)
Place slices of bread on a cookie sheet
Put Bruschetta mix on slices of bread and cover with shredded cheese.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
allow to cool
enjoy

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Wishing you all a great week & delicious foods!chef

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Flashback Friday – Egg-Free Dairy-Free Nut-Free Chocolate CupCakes

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Today I’ve chosen my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe to share on this Flashback Friday.
I hope you try it and like it as much as we do.

The recipe is called “Egg-Free Dairy-Free Nut-Free Cake“.
Wow! Isn’t that a tempting lure of a name for a cake recipe. It was more than this ol’ gal could resist.

This recipe is listed at Allrecipes.com. Here’s a direct link:
Egg-Free Dairy-Free Nut-Free Cake

I made a few miner adjustments to the recipe,
I used olive oil instead of the vegetable oil,
I used lite-salt instead of regular salt
and also I didn’t put chocolate chips in it.

I made the mix into cupcakes, so I can freeze most of them for snacks for another day. The first time I made these, I didn’t think they would look like a normal cupcake. I figured they’d be rather flat looking and flat tasting because the batter is somewhat thin. When I put them in the oven, I thought they may be a waste of time… I even frowned a moment or two… I’m pleased as peaches that these cupcakes proved me wrong and rose quite well.
They have a nice texture and taste really good too. I’m so nicely surprised.

edited in: *It occurs to me that a person could use a sweetener like Stevia and make this an even healthier snack
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If you try this cake recipe, let me know if
you made changes and how it did for you.

Here’s wishing you a weekend of yummy treats.

chef
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