Toasted Pumpkin Seeds!

I finally baked/toasted pumpkin seeds leftover from the pumpkin I carved at work (I work at a preschool). YUM! I hadn't had these in so long. My mom or dad (neither remembers this) used to make them with shoyu (Japanese for "soy sauce") and salt, so I tried that (a random amount on half of the seeds), and it worked. I lost the recipe, but it was pretty simple. All you have to do is search Google or some other search engine for toasted/baked/whatever pumpkin seeds. Because I didn't want to wait all night for them to dry out, I took the boiling route instead and then put them in a 375-or-400-degree oven. I don't remember the time. I'm a sucky food blogger now that I've gotten lazy. Dang. Sorry. I think I had the recipe bookmarked, and then my computer crashed. I usually email myself things so I can't lose them, but oh well.

Really Simple (albeit short & stubby) Popovers

Made these this past weekend (9/7/09) because it seemed too easy to be true, and others had rated it well on Recipezaar. They came out eggy and ... well, plain, but that's why you add butter and honey or jam or whatever you want. Also made 10 popovers in a regular muffin pan (the recipe poster made "big, tall" ones.

I don't know why I left the knives in this pic. ::sigh:: I plan on starting a baking blog with just clean, clear, wonderful pictures (like THIS BLOG--holy cow!), but we'll see if that ever happens.

They came out pretty good (and well). Too bad I don't have a popover pan. Muffin pans are good enough though. Don't forget to put water in the empty muffin cups if you don't have enough batter (prevents pan from warping).


The bottoms had big dents in them:


POPOVER RECIPE (original here -- pretty much the same as below except for baking time):

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Break eggs in bowl
2. Add milk, flour, & salt
3. Mix well with a spoon (original recipe says to disregard the lumps, but I ended up with little lumps of flour in my baked popovers!
4. Fill greased popover pans or muffin tins ¾ full
5. Put in oven
6. Set oven to 450 and turn on heat *YES--start with a cold oven!!*
7. Bake 30 minutes-ish. I used a regular-sized muffin pan, and so these were done in about 20 min. The person who posted this recipe made six jumbo ones.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter Frosting

Oh man...if you love peanut butter, you have to try these (I think my only complaint is that they're a little too sweet, but I think most people would be fine with this level of sweetness). Julie and Jenny came over because the three of us LOVE peanut butter. We didn't use Reese's Pieces because I was dumb and forgot, but I wouldn't have eaten them anyway (bleh!)...so sorry Julie & Jenny! :(

Baked on 7/31/09


Peanut butter-y frosting:


Peanut Butter Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter Frosting recipe (original HERE):

Peanut butter cupcakes:

2/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1) Cream together shortening and sugar
2) Add eggs & beat well
3) Add peanut butter & beat well
4) Add milk and vanilla extract alternately with the baking powder and flour (this part was funny...we weren't even sure if we were doing it correctly because it took awhile and seemed weird, although we DID understand why we had to alternate the ingredients like that)
5) Fill the muffin liners ~3/4 full with batter
6) Bake for 20-25 min or until golden brown & a toothpick comes out clean
7) Cool cupcakes completely on a wire rack & frost with peanut butter frosting

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 - 16oz box (1lb) powdered sugar
1 - stick margarine, softened (1/2 cup) ** I used butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 - tsp vanilla extract
Milk (~3 - 4 tablespoons)

1) Cream powdered sugar and margarine together
2) Add peanut butter & mix well
3) Add vanilla extract & enough milk to make it easy enough to spread
4) Beat mixture together until you have the desired consistency
5) Frost cupcakes when completely cooled

Finally Made a Dutch Baby!

Baked 6/13/09

WOW! So easy and so delicious and light-ish. Make one NOW. :D It's like a huge popover...only more custard-y and tasty and like a heavy cream puff. Or a puffy baked pancake but with a completely different texture than a pancake. I think I just ate mine plain, then with syrup, and then with ice cream, but people have recommended powdered sugar, jam, etc.

Hmm...I failed again and can't remember where I got the recipe, but it's below. I'm sure the ones on other food blogs and sites like Allrecipes.com or Youtube work just fine; it's pretty simple and easy to make. Pretty much just flour, salt, vanilla, eggs, butter, and sugar, if I'm remembering correctly, and you just need a pan that you can put in the oven. I think I'll go make some popovers now. haha




DUTCH BABY (1) RECIPE:

* 3/4 cup milk
* 1/2 up flour
* 2 large eggs
* 1 1/2 tsp sugar
* 1/2 tsp sugar
* 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1 1/2 cups fruit (optional)

1) 15 min before baking, heat oven to 450 degrees
2) Whisk milk, flour, eggs, sugar, & vanilla
3) Put butter in skillet or pie plate & place pan in oven just until butter is melted
4) Brush a coat of butter on rim & entire inside of pan
5) Slowly pour batter into pan
6) Bake for ~20 minutes
7) Reduce heat to 350 degrees & bake for about 8-10 minutes until pancake is slightly browned
8) Remove from oven & eat!!

Even Better To-Die-For Blueberry Muffins (New Favorite)

Baked 6/14/09

My new favorite blueberry muffin recipe! I've used this before, but I tried again, and now they taste better. Jenny T. and her family liked them! :)

*Recipe below (scroll down)*
- After the first try, I made these changes (still based on the original recipe):
(1) I made mini muffins + a small bowl of...muffin stuff? haha
(2) I added extra blueberries
(3) I made the whole topping recipe (the first time I only guessed how much I would need)
--> I don't recommend this. I had way too much topping left over (see picture below).
(4) I used vegetable oil (not applesauce this time)

HERE's the post I made when I first tried this recipe. The paper cups don't work too well, and I prefer these mini versions.



The topping (made too much!! This was all extra!):

To-Die-For Blueberry Muffin recipe:

RECIPE (original recipe here).

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar (a little less)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk (i used non-fat)
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (i used a little extra)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease cups or line w. muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. For Crumb Topping: Mix together sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Chocolate Cream Pie With Meringue

Baked Sunday, 6/14/09 for Jackie T's high school grad party

This was my first time making a meringue topping by myself. I didn't get to try a piece because we took it to a potluck-style graduation party, but I tried the chocolate filling and the meringue separately, and they were good. People at the party said it was good too. Thank you, Young Living in Texas/AllRecipes.com


Meringue after being stirred...but before being whipped (i.e., the foamy stage):

Meringue after being whipped:



Not the prettiest crust...haha:



CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE RECIPE (original here):
* Pretty much didn't make any changes

• 1 2/3 cups water
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 5 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 egg yolks, beate
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 (9-inch) baked pastry shells

1. Mix water and cornstarch and cocoa until smooth.
2. Stir in milk & egg yolks.
   
3. Cook until thick in saucepan or microwave.
4. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter.
5. Add vanilla.
6. Cool slightly, stirring occasionally.
7. Pour into baked pie shell (I used a pre-made Safeway dough from Vons)
   
8. Top with meringue and brown (OR you can top with whipped cream after chilling the pie).

MERINGUE RECIPE (Didn't come with the chocolate cream recipe; can't remember where I got this. Sorry!):

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons white sugar

1. In a small saucepan, combine water, 2 tablespoons white sugar, & cornstarch. Heat until clear, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
2. In a large glass or metal bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until foamy.
3. Mix in vanilla.
4. Gradually add the 6 tablespoons of sugar, beating constantly until meringue forms stiff peaks.
5. Gradually pour in cornstarch mixture, beating until stiff.
6. Spread over top of pie and seal to crust.
7. Brown in the oven at 375 degrees for 9-15 minutes, depending on the meringue's amount and size.

More Bierocks

Made some more bierocks (3rd time?)!! This time they were for my parents, brother, and grandparents, and I made the full recipe (still dunno where the original came from) this time (I used to cut everything in half because the recipe makes a lot). Pictured below is JUST batch #2 from a couple of weeks ago: the experiments. Most had the ground beef + cabbage filling, but some had cheese in them. YUM! They're also good with chocolate.

NOTE: I always have way too much meat when I make these. You'd think I'd have learned by now. Read the easy recipe here.

Homemade Strawberry Shortcake

Sooo good!

Cheri, Gail and I went to Bakesale Betty's, where we ate fried chicken sandwiches, and then we made strawberry shortcakes, inspired by the ones they sell at Bakesale Betty's:

Cheri put a lot of effort into the dough (ended up being more like a scone than a cake)!:




With sugar:


Here's the recipe Gail found (original here from Allrecipes.com):

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup butter
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 3 tablespoons white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In large bowl, mix flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and cream of tartar.
3. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives.
   
4. Stir in cream and egg.
   
5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes.
   
6. Press into a half-inch thick sheet, cut into squares, and place on baking sheets.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden.
8. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons sugar over sliced berries.
9. Let shortcakes cool before splitting and filling with strawberries.

--> Instead of splitting and filling them, we just put the hand-whipped cream Gail made on top of each square and then topped that with strawberries (as you can see in the picture above)

Here's the recipe for the whipped cream (from Bakesale Betty's site):

"Wash, hull and slice strawberries. Sprinkle with 1/4c. sugar and sit for 30 mins.

Whip cream, sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form.

Top shortcakes with a dollop of cream.

Spoon strawberries over cream."

Baking With Daniel & Vong

Daniel and Vong came over to bake on 5/20/09, and we decided to try adding marshmallows to espresso chocolate chip cookies. Didn't work out so well...but they didn't taste awful. Too sweet though.

The Food Network's Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

Made these for our Psi Chi chapter's last Cookies 'n' Cram (name stolen from Clovis West High School's Link Crew's old study group. No one was there at 6:30pm, and our room's door was locked anyway, so I sat in the Psi Chi office and studied by myself. :)

Like the teeny one? lol




This is how Kurtis and I sift our flour without a sifter:






RECIPE (from The Food Network's website:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet choc chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

1. Cream butter with sugars using an electric mixer [I just did this by hand] on medium speed until fluffy (~30 seconds).
2. Beat in egg and vanilla extract for 30 seconds.
3. In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds.
4. Stir in espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.
5. Using a 1-ounce scoop or a 2-tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet ~3 inches apart.
6. Gently press down on dough to spread out into a 2-inch circle [I didn't make them this big].
7. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges.

Bread Pudding Muffins

Baked on 3/8/09 for the third Psi Chi study group (they're not cookies, but we had Oreos there too).

These are really easy to make (recipe below). The most complicated part is cutting the bread slices into cubes. Haha.





Soak time!:



I know...switching between flash & no-flash makes the coloring inconsistent, but the flash version of this pic didn't reveal the texture very well:


I hadn't baked in ages!

Original recipe here.
Here's the recipe I used:
* Changes I made:
1) 2% milk instead of non-fat -- yeah...I usually only use non-fat, but I had extra from the first
Psi Chi Cookies 'n' Cram study group thing, which was a failure)
2) Chocolate chips instead of raisins

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
  
• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 12 slices whole wheat bread (diced into 1/2-inch cubes)
• 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Guittard)
  
  Directions:
  
  1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2) Spray a standard-size muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray
  3) Combine all ingredients but the bread and chocolate chips in a large bowl and mix well
  4) Stir in the bread and chocolate chips and let soak for 5 minutes
  5) Mound the mixture into each of the 12 sprayed muffin tins
  6) Bake for about 30-ish minutes or until firm and nicely browned
  7) Cool on a wire rack