New Years Resolutions

          Happy almost new years everyone!! I have decided to make this one a dedication to this AMAZING event! I have a challenge for you all, and for me too...new years resolutions.

1. Try at least 1 new recipe every week
2. Try 10 interesting ingredients that you have never heard of before
3. Invent 5 recipes and dedicate them to 5 people you love/5 celebrities
4. Rearrange your kitchen
5. Send me your invented recipes and ill try them. chelsea.f@shaw.ca

          Happy New Years Everyone!!!!! These are some of my cooking new years resolutions and some ones that I challenge YOU with. (PS. yes I did post early. I have to be with family again tomorrow) GOODBYE 2010!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

     Since tomorrow is Christmas and I usually post on Saturdays, I thought I would post a little early so I could spend all of tomorrow with my family and friends, but still help all you cooks out there. :)
     Now, I don't have a recipe for you today but I do have some gift ideas. Like me, you might have trouble getting presents for "everyone" or might even be financially impaired. At Christmas time, I do buy some presents, but most of my presents are homemade. Here are some ideas for homemade presents.

1. Fabrics: If you are good with your hands, you can knit, crochet, or even sew (although this is more expensive) clothes and accessories for your family and friends. I have knit a lot of presents this year.
2. Baking: Since this IS a cooking blog I have to have this one, but it’s also one of my favorites. You can get a box or a bag with nice ribbon and put a whole bunch of little samples of your favorite recipes in it. **You can also make a cookie mix or a muffin mix. Meaning, you get the ingredients (dry ingredients) and layer them nicely in a jar or a tube bag (it depends on your preference)
3. Homemade Cards
4. Mix CD's: I really like giving these, whether it’s full of Christmas music or a mix of all types of genres. It’s your decision :)

     Well there you go. you don't have to do just these things, there’s so much you can make for the Christmas holidays, these are just my favorites. Happy holidays children and peace!! :D

Chocolate Chip Muffins

     Before I show you this recipe, I would like to say that if you want to have tips on making a perfect muffin, visit my earlier post at http://pppiano99-recipeforsuccess.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-make-delicious-muffin-ps-this-is.html.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats *optional

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans *optional

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

     Combine oats and milk and allow to stand for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease each cup of one 12-cup muffin tin.
     Stir egg, oil, 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the pecans into the oat and milk mixture.
     Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add oat mixture to flour mixture, stirring until just moist. Fill each cup of one 12-cup muffin tin 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops with the remaining brown sugar and pecans.
     Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Scones

          Do you know what I love about scones? You can make them anyway you want them. Dried fruit, fresh fruit, chocolate chips, nuts, anything. This one calls for chocolate chips but you can litterally substitute whatever you want in it. You can even just take it out in general and this is the perfect breakfast, and perfect snack.


Ingredients
2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
1/2 cup (90 grams) milk or semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 - 3/4 cup (160 - 180 ml) buttermilk

*If you don't have buttermilk, and I usually don't, you can just have 1 cup of milk to 1 Tbsp. of lemmon juice/vinegar.

          Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
          In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. (The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.) Stir in the chocolate chunks (or chips) and dried cherries. In a small measuring cup whisk together the buttermilk and vanilla extract and then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until the dough comes together (add more buttermilk or flour as necessary). Do not over mix the dough.
          Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk.
          Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
          Makes 8 scones.

Fluffy Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients
1/3 cup peanut butter
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cups packed brown sugar
1 eggs
1 tbsp. Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. Baking powder
1/8 tsp. Salt

     Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
     In a large bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla one at a time. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Press each ball once with fork tines.
     Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned.

Apple Crisp/Crumble recipe

     This recipe is absolutly delicious. I found it and made my adjustments. I made it for my youth group and they loved it. I hope you enjoy:

Topping:
1/2 cup (65 grams)           all purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams)           granulated white sugar
1/4 cup (55 grams)           light brown sugar
1/2 tsp.                            Ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp.                            Fresh or ground nutmeg (optional)
1/8 tsp.                            Salt
6 tbsp. (84 grams)           cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup (30 grams)          old-fashioned rolled oats
Filling:
2 1/2 pounds (1.2 kg)      Apples; Preferably Gala (Peeled, cored, and cut into 1 inch chunks)
2 tsp.                               Lemon juice
3 tbsp. (40 grams)           white granulated sugar

     Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray with a cooking spray, a 9 inch (23 cm) deep dish pie plate or an 8 x 8 x 2 inch (20 x 20 x 5 cm) baking dish. (Can also make 8 individual ramekins.) Set aside.
     For Topping: Place all the topping ingredients (flour, sugars, spices, butter, oats and nuts) in a bowl and work in with a fork (looks like coarse meal) and there are no large pieces of butter visible. Set aside while you prepare the filling.
     For Filling: Place the apple chunks in a large bowl. Toss with the lemon juice and sugar. Transfer to your prepared baking dish. Spread the topping evenly over the apples.
     Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes (20 - 25 minutes for individual ramekins) or until bubbly, and the topping is golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes before serving.
     Serve with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat before serving.
     Makes 4 servings.

Todays Tid-Bit

     Here is a little Tid-Bit for today...it's not much but it should do. I personally think this is a good piece of advise.
     When shopping for oatmeal, go to super store. Get the no-name brand of rolled oats. It is absolutly apperent that you get rolled oats, not quick cooking ones. Let me tell you why...
     The quick cooking oats are good if your making oatmeal, so if thats all your making then disregard this post. But if you are planning on putting them in baking then the rolled oats are the best option. They have better texture, and use the moisture and sugar to your benefit. Unfortunatly they don't taste the same when making oatmeal...but that can be easily fixed. Before making oatmeal, use a food processor and grind up the rolled oats a little. (Ps. thats pretty much what the companys do to make quick cooking oats) This way everyones happy. Also you have a better tasting recipe, you buy only one kind of oatmeal, and you save money if you get the no-name brand one at superstore. Happy shopping :)

Scrumptious Banana Bread

     Today, I’m going to show you my famous banana bread recipe. It took me years to find and perfect this recipe because most recipes you find on the internet don’t turn out the way you want them to. Banana bread is an excellent recipe for you if you have bananas that are about to go off or are a little browner than you want them to be. These are the ingredients:

-3 ripe bananas (a little brown works good too)
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup oil (or butter, depending on what you like
-1 cup sugar
-1 ¼ cups flour
-1tbsp. baking soda

     Preheat oven to 350 for bread pan, and 400 for muffin tins. Mash bananas. Mix in eggs, oil, and sugar (can be done in food processor). Mix in flour and baking soda. Put in greased pan and bake 1 hour or 11-12 muffin cups for 18-20 minutes. If you double the recipe it can be baked in a round flout pan. Happy baking :)

Waffles/Pancakes With/Without Eggs

     Ok, here’s the story. I was planning on making waffles because I knew I had pancake mix in the cupboard. I make the mix and start the waffles and when I try them they taste funny. I checked the due date on them and it was MORE THAN A YEAR AGO!! So I obviously chuck them, but I still want waffles. Problem is, I have no eggs. So I look up egg replacements and find a couple. One of them was the banana trick, which most people know, half a banana and a extra ½ teaspoon of baking powder per egg, but I have no bananas. So I look at the second suggestion and it says vinegar and baking soda. I think to myself, why not. So I tried it and it was delicious! Here’s the recipe.


Ingredients:
-2 cups flour
-2 tsp. baking powder
-some salt (1/2 tsp. or less)
-2-4 tbsp sugar (or more depending on what you like)
-2 cups milk
-2 eggs/ 2tbsp vinegar & 2 tsp. baking soda

     Blend together with whisk or electric mixer until smooth. Then follow directions of waffle maker or make pancakes. This recipe is very open for substitutions. One thing I like to put in waffles is bacon. You cook bacon in microwave, but not too much, and then break them into bits and sprinkle on waffles. Delicious. Happy baking :)

Strawberry Jam

          Hey guys. Sorry for the blogger delay. Summer is a busy time for me. I work at Timberline and that is a pretty big part of my summer.

          Anyways, today the recipe is strawberry jam. You will need:

6 cups juicy strawberries

5 cups sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

          For the jars: First clean the jars with soap and hot water. Then put in a pan and put in a low oven. This will sterilize the jars. *Do not put the lids in the oven.*

          First, put the strawberries in a large pot (preferably non-stick) and mash them to desired consistency (in other words, some people like there jam chunky). Then mash in the sugar. Put on stove and start to heat. Heat to boiling and then boil for 20-30 minutes while constantly stirring. Then test and see if it sets (to do this you have to take a frozen plate, do ahead of time, and put some of the hot liquid onto the plate and put in the freezer for a couple of minutes. Then take it out and see if it runs if you hold the plate sideways. If it doesn’t than cook it for longer). If it sets, then add the lemon juice (this makes it start to thicken. It’s like a natural gelatine).

          Take the jars out of the oven and spoon the liquid into the jars. Then put lid on and let cool on counter for a bit. Then transfer to the fridge. You should keep these in the fridge.

          This recipe is curiously of my aunt. Thanks a million. Have fun cooking J

Dry Rub Chicken

          Hey, it’s your favourite blogger here. As you can see, I have renovated my blog. Looks neat right? I’m glad you like it. Anyways, I’ve been doing some serious thinking lately. What I’ve realized is that I haven’t posted in 2 months. One of the best ways that I think I can solve this problem is by making a promise to post a new thing every week. This way I can become more professional and maybe get more followers. I might or might not start this right away because it is the summer and it is difficult to find the time, but this is guaranteed for next year. Anyways, onto the post.

          This will be quite a short post but at least I’m coming back to the world of the living. Last week I was planning for my birthday party. I was had chicken for dinner. The thing is, I didn’t want it to be boring, and I wanted to impress my friend. So, I started improvising a dry rub. I don’t have exact measurements but what I remember is that I put salt (obviously), lemon pepper (this could be pepper and lemon zest but I had no lemon zest at the moment), a little cumin (not too much because it actually makes the chicken sweeter; not spicier), chives (fresh; no one likes dried chives, these could also be green onions but they don’t work as well), chilli powder (don’t be afraid because it isn’t as spicy as you think), and crushed garlic (you could also use garlic powder if you don’t have garlic). If you don’t use garlic, or if you just want a more tangy chicken, you can add just a little lemon juice (only 1 or 2 drops).

          Take the dry rub you made, and rub it onto each of the pieces of chicken you made. Since im letting you make it how you feel this doesn’t make a specific portion, but you would want to have a teaspoon for each piece of chicken, two for chicken breast. You can barbeque this of you can roast it in the oven. Make sure that you rub it on and then leave a little on the chicken as well. If you have extra use it for something else. This can work for turkey as well. Have fun cooking students or food :)

Slow Cooker Tips

          Hello everyone!! Today, I'm going to take a walk off the baking track and talk to you about some slow cooker tips (because I am using a slow cooker today and I thought it would be a nice change). Slow cookers can be used to make ANY recipe. Stews, chowders, pot roasts, gumbos, chillis, and so much more. They are the bread and butter for any busy person. For someone who is at work for a long day and is simply are too tired to make a meal, for someone who doesn't have enough room on the stove while making a large dinner for a large family, or just for someone who wants to start dinner in the morning and not have to worry about it while they spend some time with friends and family. But there are some things to worry about when using a slow cooker because even though they need little management, the food can still turn out bad if you don't remember some key things:

1. Most slow cooker recipes will be cooked on slow: if you cook on high when cooking meets they can get stringy and sometimes not very nice. If you do want to cook on high to speed up the process, you can cook on high for half the time.

2. Put different ingredients in at different times: remember that when you are cooking vegetables, roots take longer to cook than other vegetables do. So you can put them in sooner than other vegetables and you should never cut them any larger than 1 inch. Meats take longer to cook to so remember this as well. If you have sweet vegetables like green peppers, if you put them in at the beginning of the cooking process, then could turn bitter at the end, so add them later. If you have fresh herbs, you can add them at the beginning but they might lose there finesse, so you can add some extra at the end to give it that kick.

3. It CAN over cook: you can cook it for hours but if you cook it for TOO long then it may get over cooked and mushy. So try to stay as true to the cooking time as possible. The general rule for slow cooking times is meat cooks for 6-8 hours and poultry and veggies cook for 4-6 hours.

4. Use less liquid: in a slow cooker, no liquid escapes. Unless you are using a thickening agent like flour or cornstarch, you will want to have less fluid.

5. *DON'T PEEK*: I know it’s hard to resist but peeking will add 30 minutes on to the cooking time. The whole reason for the slow cooker is that all the heat gets cooped up in that pot and if you open the lid and "peek" then that’s just defeating the purpose. Only check, if needed, halfway through and at the minimum cooking time (EX: if it says cook for 4-6 hours, check at 4 hours).

          Those are the most important things to remember. Just have fun with the slow cooker because if you get used to it and start using it frequently you will see that it will be the best thing that ever happened to you. HAPPY COOKING!!

Coffee Crunch Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing

            This recipe is a real delight. It is my own invention. This recipe is a traditional vanilla cupcake but with a twist. It has a little crunch of coffee in it. It is to die for. My family ate all of them in one day. see this recipe:
Cupcake Ingredients:                         Butter Cream Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup butter                                                     4 cups icing sugar

1 /3 cup sugar                                                  1 cup butter

6 eggs                                                              2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tsp vanilla                                                     4 tbsp milk

3 cups flour                                                     Assorted food colours (If desired)

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ cup milk

¼ cup coffee

2-4 tbsp instant coffee

Directions:

            Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease of put cupcake liners in 24 cupcakes. (You can easily cut this recipe in half if you want to).

            Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla.

            In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. On low, gradually at the flour, milk, and coffee (liquid) until well blended. Add the instant coffee. Then mix on for 30 seconds.

            Evenly fill the muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes. After baking, cool for 10-15 minutes.

            For the frosting, beat the butter until smooth and well blended. Add vanilla. On low, gradually add the icing sugar. When it is all blended in, scrape the sides down and add the milk. Beat on high until it is light and fluffy (3-4 minutes). Add food colouring if desired.

Back From a Long Break...

          As you have noticed, I haven’t posted for a while. I have been really busy and haven’t been able to access a computer or access a kitchen. But now I’m back and ready to give you some awesome recipes. Because the new month of February hasn’t started yet, I have decided not to put in a recipe until tomorrow. I will start by having a theme for the month and will pick a new theme every month. I will post a two or three recipes a week. That will get your pans moving. I will also continue to pass on hints, substitutions, and home secrets that you won’t get anywhere else. I hope you read this and will be inspired to cook like you’ve never cooked before! Have a GREAT day and I will be posting soon. ; D